WizardSpire Games

Community Codex Adaptive RolePlay System v1.0.0-rc3

Contents

Page 2

What is CCARPS?

Community Codex Adaptive RolePlay System, often referred to as its acronym, “CCARPS”, is an open source ruleset licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike. This system has been developed to promote storytelling within a minimal ruleset. We believe that the game should be about the characters so the rules shouldn’t get in the way of the story. This is a Community Codex; players and developers alike can actively participate in the shaping and refinement of this rule system. It is adaptive; the base rules are meant to be a generic starting point that can support any style of gameplay and world. While the main goal is roleplay, the system is built in a character-centric way that can be used to power any type of gameplay that involves tracking player statistics.

While the rules here are complete and you can play as-is, this is just the Base Ruleset. It is meant to be used alongside an existing game world and/or campaign. This means that we have not included any game content within these pages.

The Essentials

Players

Players are the main characters in a role-play adventure story. Players drive the story through actions and and interactions with the game story. Every player adds value and interest to the game and together they help write the story.

Game Master

The Game Master is the narrator, tour guide, and final word in all story related matters. The most important job of a game master is to guide and influence the character in ways that move the game story along. A good game master must be prepared, decisive and above all else flexable. No matter where the Game Master wants to go with the story the players, through no fault of their own, will derail the plans like a herd of stampeeding bovine crossing the great trans-continental rail road.

Non-Player Characters

Non-Player Characters or NPCs are the creatures and people the players interact with in the game story. The Game Master handles all actions, contests, and relations for all of the NPCs the Players will encounter.

Dice

CCARPS exclusively uses six-sided dice. Dice rolls are indicated by appending a “d” after the number of dice; “4d” means “four six-sided dice.” Each player will utilize between two and five dice in an attempt to roll as low as possible. The number of dice a player rolls is determined by the character’s skill dice for an applicable skill.

Target Numbers

Any complex activity has an associated target number based on the difficulty of the task and the amount of time the character has to execute the task. Players use a number of dice to determine the outcome of these activities.

Modifiers

Attributes, Skills, and some Oddities have Modifiers, as will some situational details, and equipment. These Modifiers are used to alter a given Target Number. Situational modifiers are applied to the base Target Number by the Game Master before or as the Target Number is given to the player depending on the Game Master’s preference. The active character’s Modifiers increase the given Target Number. If it is a contested roll, the opposing character’s Modifiers reduce the Target Number. The larger the Target Number becomes, the more likely the active character will succeed.

Rolling for Success

There is only one dice-roll mechanic in CCARPS: a base Target Number is assigned, all modifiers are applied to the base Target Number, and dice are rolled in an attempt to roll lower than the Modified Target Number. This is achieved by using the two lowest dice in any dice roll set. This applies to all rolls made by a Player, or Game Master. The Game Master makes rolls for game environment conditions, and all NPCs in an encounter. A Target Number is the base difficulty for performing an action under the current situational conditions. Modifiers do not affect dice rolls only target numbers. All modifiers from weapons, armor, and skills must be accounted for and the target number adjusted before the player rolls any dice for the given action.

Page 3

Your character is sneaking around (base target number 3) in a dark (situational modifier +1) and unfamiliar place (situational modifier -2). Your character has a “Stealth” skill with a modifier of 3 and quiet shoes with a Modifier of 1. The base Target Number to sneak undetected is a 3 the Game Master will add in the situational modifiers +1 for dark -2 for unfamiliar and call out a Simple Target Number of 2. You add your character’s modifiers, Stealth 3 and Quiet Shoes 1 to the Simple Target Number 2 for Skilled Target Number of 6; you must roll under a 6. Your novice level for Stealth gives you 3 dice. you roll 3d and get a 3, 2, and 4. Adding up the two lowest dice, the result is 5. Your character is successfully stealthy. A patrolman walks nearby, which contests your active “Stealth” skill. The Simple Target Number is equal to your success roll of 5. The patrolman has a “Detect” skill modifier of 3, which makes the Modified Target Number an 8. You call out your defensive action and make your character stop moving to push the target number down by 1 making the Opposed Target Number a 7. The Game Master rolls 3d for the patrolman and gets a 5, 6 and a 2. Remembering that the lowest two dice are the only ones that matter, they are added (2 + 5) for a total of 7. The patrolman fails to detect your character as he walks by and moves out of sight.

CCARPS has three types of Target Number modification:

Degrees of Success

There are some situations where an Oddity or Skill’s action will depend on the Degree of Success. To find the Degree of Success, subtract the successful roll from the Target Number. The difference is the Degree of Success.

Coming across a stray dog, you use your character’s “Animal Empathy” skill to assess its hostility. following the action process, The Simple Target Number is 4 your character has 2 points in animal empathy which gives her a modifier of +1 and 2d, the Skilled Target Number is 5. You roll a 2 and a 1 for a final roll of 3. Subtract 3 from 5 to find Your character’s Degree of Success: 5 - 3 = 2, which is enough for your character to know that the dog is happy, but has most likely lost its owner.

Critical Success, Critical Failure

A Critical Success happens when all dice in a roll set are 1. The more dice you roll, the more often your character will succeed, but the harder it will be for your character to get a Critical Success. A Critical Success means the action succeeds and has a better than expected result. The more dice in a set, the more amazing a critical will be. The Game Master has the honor of determining what “amazing” looks like, and what events will be triggered because of a critical success. Conversely, a Critical Failure happens when all dice in a roll set are 6. When you roll more dice your character will fail less often; therefore, it will become less likely that your character will critically fail. A Critical Failure has worse than expected results. The more dice in a rolled set, the more dangerous the Critical Fail will be. The Game Master has the misfortune of determining what “danger” will befall the player group, and what events will be triggered because of a critical fail.

Automatic Success

There are a lot of actions that characters will take that are trivial or common sense. These do not require a roll and are counted as automatically succeeding. The only time these will need a roll are when there are adverse conditions (weather, battle, impeding injury, etc.) or when the Game Master says.

Walking in a straight line on a summer day would have no roll. Attempting to walk in a straight line on sheet ice during a snow storm would require a roll to keep footing and a roll to maintain the correct direction of travel.

Page 4

Disposition

The sum of a character’s Attributes, Health, Oddities, and Skills, is referred to as their Disposition. A character’s Disposition is tendency to act in a specific way. Much like the real world, a character’s skill set, demeanor, and overall health oftentimes shines through in their personality. This can be said as generalizations for groups, communities, and nations as well.

• Attributes are the core of a character. They greatly influence everything about the character. The base Attributes are averaged into secondary Attributes and converted into modifiers through a personal/skill modifier table to make Skill creation and use easier, as well as to more accurately reflect the nature of attributes as a complex system.

• Health Meter is the sum of a character’s Mental, Physical, and Spiritual health. The healthiest characters have nothing checked or marked in these boxes.

• Oddities are traits that are taken at character creation and provide a defining factor in a character’s strengths and weaknesses, while also providing fuel for creative roleplay. Oddities have a permanent passive effect on the character; they may boost skill sets, but may come at a cost of Health detriments (or the other way around).

• Skills are learned abilities that a character possesses. These are what a character knows how to do.

Character Creation

It is great to sit down to play a game with well written characters. It is even better when the character’s attributes and abilities are reflected in the story. Many players and game masters take pride in designing the characters and adventures they play, from the environment and backstory to appearance, to attitude and social disposition. They create interesting characters with compelling and intriguing lives. In these stories the characters are center stage and the Game Master is the guide.

Starting Points

Every character, whether it is the Player or NPC, has starting points. These are the points that you will spend on Oddities and Skills. In order to be ready for the game, the sum of the points spent on Oddities and the character’s Skills points must equal the sum of the Starting primary attribute Points for your character. The ability to sum and balance the character sheet is one feature that lends itself to translating the CCARPS system into other forms of media such as video games. A character’s starting points are equal to the sum of the character’s primary attributes.

Starting Age

Starting Age is used to help add variety to the group’s characters, where physical growth and past experience are taken into account. A character’s starting age adds depth and a sense of connection between the character, their past, and their place in the game world. The first step in character creation is to choose the character’s starting age. Second step is to find the character’s starting age on the Starting Age Table to determine how many dice to roll for each attribute.

Figure 1: Starting Age in Years

The third step is rolling your character’s Primary Attributes. In general players roll five sets of dice according to the Starting Age Table and record each set in one of the primary attribute boxes. The primary attributes each have two boxes associated with them. The Accumulator box, and the Points box. The Accumulator box is used for storing adventure points during game play and is labeled Acc. see Improving Your Character for more information. The Points box, labeled Pts., is used to record the initial values for the character’s primary attributes.

Page 5

Character Rank

Character rank is the sum of the character’s Primary Attributes. After the player has rolled the character’s primary attributes he or she willl sum all of the primary attributes together and use this table to determine the starting rank of their character.

• Beginner: 75 points

• Novice: 90 points

• Advanced: 105 points

• Heroic: 120 points

• Epic: 135 points

• Legendary: 150 points

Game Master Note: If you want to boost characters rank, have the players roll extra dice sets to replace lower rolls, or have players re-roll all ones when rolling primary attributes to increase the total value for attribute points. Alternatively, the Game Master can assign a number of points that the player may distribute to boost their stats to more closely match the rank required by the adventure. See Character Creation Conventions at the end of this section for alternate methods of rolling up characters.

Primary Attributes

CCARPS characters have five Primary Attributes:

• Strength (S): Capability of producing and/or withstanding great physical force.

• Dexterity (D): Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands.

• Constitution (C): A person’s physique or temperament; the general health of a person.

• Intelligence (I): The faculty of thinking, judging, abstract reasoning, and conceptual understanding.

• Willpower (W): The unwavering strength of will (intention, desire) to carry out one’s wishes.

Secondary Attributes

The secondary attributes are average combinations of the primary attributes. Once the secondary attribute base is calculated use the skill modifier table to determine the secondary attribute modifier. Skills are based on secondary attributes as are any action rolls where a character does not have a related skill.

Unskilled Action Rule Unskilled action rolls always use 2d, are limited to simple actions, are immune to critical success and failure, and are subject to all situational modifiers. Characters may not use the unskilled action rule to perform complex actions. A Complex Action is any action that is composed of two or more simple actions. Complex Action example: firing an arrow from a bow; knock an arrow, draw, aim, and release. This would require 4 separate dice rolls under the unskilled action rule, one for each of the simple actions. To successfully fire the arrow, the character would have to succeed on all of the rolls in succession for the simple action steps to complete the complex action required to fire a bow. A failed roll would cause the character to start the whole process over from the beginning.

• Charisma (CHA): Personal charm or magnetism, as determined by the health, and will of the character. Average of Willpower and Constitution. (W + C) / 2

• Speed (SPD): The rate of motion or athletic action. Average of Strength and Dexterity. (S + D) / 2

• Reflex (RFX): An automatic response to stimulus which does not require mental processing. Average of Dexterity, and Intelligence. (D + I) / 2

• Lift (LFT): To exert the strength for raising or bearing. Average of Constitution and Strength. (C + S) / 2

• Perception (PER): Conscious understanding of something; to be aware of. Average of Intelligence and Willpower. (I + W) / 2

Oddities

Oddities may only be taken at character creation. Oddities are used to gain advantages and to make trade off’s to provide flexibility and role-play interest in character options, in other words, Oddities add “character” to your characters. Your Game Master may modify a character’s Oddities based on role-play events or extraordinary situations. Oddities may make permanent Health changes

Page 6

based on the description of the oddity, or Game Master’s discretion.

The general rule with Oddities is that each Oddity must have a balanced cost and benefit. Some oddities have a positive effect and cost points, while others have a negative effect and give points. Use your best judgement when selecting oddities for your character, but be reasonable a character with too many oddities or conflicting oddities can be difficult or impossible to role-play accurately. Basic Oddities

During character creation, there are two Oddities that are reccomended. These are Wealth and Social Influence. There are no Modifiers with these; instead, they help give characters some “roots” into the game world. If no Wealth or Social Influence is taken, it is assumed they are Middle Class with no contacts out of the ordinary. Wealth is a measure of a character’s accumulation of material value, including things such as property (home, car, horses), finery (cloths, tools, weapons), etc. and defines the character’s starting currency according to the Wealth Table. The points spent or given are meant to represent the character’s perception of wealth and their ability to move in social circles. A person raised with a filthy rich lifestyle would stand out like a sore thumb on skid row, just as a dirt poor person would at a country club.

Figure 2: Wealth and Standing

Social Influence is measured by the number of people you have in your contact list, and the quality of the contact relationship eg. An Acquaintance (a low quality contact) will accept your call and listen to your request, they may even provide information if asked the right question but the information has a 50% chance of being inaccurate. A Friend (an average contact) is like a good friend, you can trust them to tell you what they know but they have limited access to high level information, and generally will not get into harms way for you. A Confidant (a high quality contact) will have good access to information and be trustworthy and reliable and will defend you at his or her own risk up to but not including risk of his or her own life. Conversely you can choose contacts that are detramental to your character. eg. the Antagonist is most often hyper competative in all your dealings and may even enjoy seeing your character struggle through a problem they coaxed or goaded your character into. A Nemesis will actively seek ways to interfere with your character and their dealings up to but not limited to setting you up for a major setback or even your hapenstance death. An Arch-Nemesis is the most dangerous type of contact the Arch-nemesis will actively plot your character’s demise often in the most diabolical way. At character creation your character can take a maximum of three contacts and your character cannot spend or receive more than 15 points in total unless the Game Master says otherwise.

• -15 points: Arch-nemesis

• -10 points: Nemesis

• -5 points: Antagonist

• 0 points: No-one out of the ordinary.

• 5 points: Acquaintance

• 10 points: Friend

• 15 points: Confidant

Speach Impediment

Character has an obvious difficulty speaking. Common impediments include: Studder, Mute, Cluttering (speaks too fast, often running words together.)

* -50 points: Extreme - Character cannot communicate verbally due to impediment

* -25 points: Severe - Character has -9 to all deplomacy and influence checks

* -10 points: Moderate - Character has -3 to all deplomacy and influence checks * -5 points: Mild - Character has -1 to all deplomacy and influence checks

Natural Resistance (Specify Type)

Character is naturally resistant and suffers reduced influence from the specified type. (examples: Poison, Fire/Heat, Acid, etc.)

* 50 points: Immunity suffer no effect from source type

* 25 points: Reduce all effect from source type by 6

* 15 points: Reduce all effect from source type by 3

* 5 points: Reduce all effect from source type by 1

Alergy (Specify Substance)

Character suffers negatively from contact with the specified substance. (examples: Nuts, pollen, Shellfish, etc.)

* -50 points: Extreme - Character will suffer an imediate and life threatening reaction on contact with the Specified substance.

* -25 points: Severe - Character applies -9 to all target numbers for 3 hours after contact with the Specified substance.

* -10 points: Moderate - Character applies -3 to all target numbers for 1 hour after contact with the Specified substance.

* -5 points: Mild - Character applies -1 to all target numbers 20 minutes after contact with the Specified substance.

High Pain Tolerance

* 50 points: Ignore all Mental modifiers, Will not lose unconsiousness from pain or mental trauma.

* 25 points: Ignore all Mental modifiers due to damage

* 10 points: Ignore the first 3 points of Mental modifiers due to damage

* 5 points: Ignore the first 1 point of Mental modifiers due to damage

Player Note Further oddities can be found in the world content framework, and in the world content for the adventure you are playing.

Page 7

Skills

Skills determine what your character can do as well as what they know. Adding one point to a skill is the equivalent of the character experimenting with new ideas, or reading a basic instruction manual, or taking an introductory lesson from one who knows the skill at an advanced level or higher. This gives the character the ability to use the skill to perform a complex action with a single die roll.

Using a skill to perform a Complex Action. example: firing an arrow from a bow; knock an arrow, draw, aim, and release. one point in Archery skill would alow the character to make one roll to determine the result of the four simple acctions required to fire an arrow.

/// Each skill has an Attribute associated with it. These attributes are skill requirements; at character creation no skill may have points that are greater than the associated attribute modifier. For example, if your Charisma Modifier is +2, you cannot have more than 2 points in your Intimidate skill at character creation./// Before a character can attempt to use a skill they must apply at least one point to it for it to be useful. To use a skill without any proficiency see Unskilled Action rule under Secondary Attribute section.

Basic Skill List

Martial Arts Grappling (LFT)

Grappling includes techniques, maneuvers, and counters used against an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, escape from, force to submit, or cause injury or death. Grappling does not include striking or the use of weapons. Street Fighting (SPD) Street fighting is handto- hand combat in public places, between individuals or groups of people using primarily punching, kicking, and throwing attacks. may include use of weapons of opportunity eg: chair, bottle, dirt, etc.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (RFX)

Hand-tohand combat is any formal discipline of lethal or non-lethal physical confrontation between two or more persons at very short range that does not involve the use of weapons. A Hand-to-hand combat discipline is any system that is composed of precise physical strikes to inflict optimal trauma to subdue or kill an opponent.

Deplomacy and Influence Acting (CHA)

The work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theater, television, film, or any other story telling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play.

Persuasion (CHA)

The practice of convincing someone to do or believe something.

Intimidation (CHA)

Frighten or overawe someone, especially in order to make them do what you want.

Subversion Escape (RFX)

The craft of evading capture, or extricating ones self from forced confinemnt or control.

Stealth (RFX)

The practice of cautious and surreptitious action or movement so as not to be seen or heard.

Lock Picking (RFX)

The craft of unlocking a lock by analyzing and manipulating the components of the lock divice without the original key.

Athletics Acrobatics (SPD)

The performance of extrordinary feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Diving, walking on a tight rope or balance beam, swinging on a trapeze, etc.

Climbing (SPD)

To scale a surface vertically using the hands and feet.

Swimming (SPD)

The ability to propel ones self through water (or other liquid-like surfaces) by natural means, without the aid of a solid surface or object.

Deduction Tracking (PER)

The craft of following tracks or clues left from physical movement through the environment.

Observation (PER)

The action or process of looking at something or someone carefully or in order to gain information. Search (PER) The practice and knowledge of systematically reviewing the contents of a container such as a room, box, or article of clothing. See world content supplement for world specific skills

Page 8

Character Creation Conventions

The conventions used to roll up characters for your adventure will influence the feel of the adventure. Some methods are more Hard Core than others while some are down right campy. None of the methods you choose are necessarily bad or good just different. CCARPS is designed to be adaptive so that it can naturally support whatever style you and your group wish to play. We would like to provide some examples for you to think about, these are not to be considered an extensive list and by no means exhaustive.

• Hard Core: this method will generally create characters that will require many hours to build and is not recommended for the faint of heart. For your Hard Core roll play, roll your dice according to your age chart and record them in the order they are rolled directly onto the character sheet. First roll = Strength, second = Dexterity, third = Constitution, fourth = Intelligence, and fifth = Wisdom. No re-rolls; limit the number of Oddities to five and require the sum of all oddities to = 0; limit the maximum starting skill points for any one skill to the associated Attribute’s modifier.

• Fantasy: this method will create characters that are moderately easy to play. It is a good choice if you like a serious story Figure 3: Modifier Table but moderately challenging game play. For Fantasy style, roll five sets of dice according to the Age Table, and record them on the back of your character sheet. Assign each set according to your preference for the type of character you wish to play. Limit the number of Oddities to seven and the maximum starting skill points to two times the associated Attribute’s modifier.

• Campy: this method is a great way to play a quick game loaded with silliness and amazingly funny antics, but is not a good campaign setting, as normally the rewards are handed out liberally to support the entertainment value for the players. For a campy game, roll 10 sets of dice according to the Age Table, re-rolling all ones. Record your best five sets in any order you choose. Limit the number of Oddities to the system maximum of ten. There is no limit on starting skill points.

Wealth and Influence count as Oddities so they will each take up a slot if they are taken. If they are not taken wealth will only be used to determine your starting currency, and Social influence will have no effect on your character.

Page 9

Character Appearance

The appearance of a given character is generally up to the player. However, it is a good idea to use character Attributes, Oddities, and Skills as guidelines. The range of possible values in a base Attribute is 5 to 30 for an adult character (21 years or older). Just as a person with an Intelligence of 5 would be seen as an imbecile, a person with 5 in Charisma would be a rather unlikeable fellow. It would be unusual for a character who is perceived to be strong to have low Strength. It should be noted that CCARPS characters range the average Human height: from 4 feet 6 inches to 7 feet. Any other heights are up to the Game Master.

Character Background

This is pretty much open to player creativity. Background story can go a long way toward identifying a character’s habits of mind, body, and spirit. This can aid the player in making good believable decisions and greatly enhance the role play experience as well as add to the group dynamics so put some thought into this part. Take this opportunity to be creative and make your character interesting. The character’s Disposition is a great thing to keep in mind when writing their story. See Disposition section for more information. Also you may want to give some thought to the world your character exists in, this will help you to fit in and guide you in role playing your character.

Improving Your Character

Points are earned through adventuring. As a general rule, each player should earn an average of between 10-15 points per session that they actively roleplay. Commonly points can be earned by: performing an action that directly furthers the plot; rolling a Critical Success on a plot-related action; performing an action that helps the group at great risk to self; remaining in character when there is a great pressure to break the fourth wall, etc. It is up to the Game Master, how many points each character receives, and when. Character teams that work together to deliberately coordinate their actions to further the plot (without having hints given by the Game Master) generally obtain more points than ones that are always squabbling.

Point Assignment

Points must be assigned within the session they are given; points cannot be stored up. At the beginning of any session where a character has unassigned points, those points must be assigned to a Skill or into an Attribute accumulator before play begins.

Once points are assigned to a skill they may not be moved or re-assigned. Skills are increased by adding points to them. Modifier bonuses are gained according to the Modifier Table (see Modifier Table ). The maximum points a Skill can have is 36. New Skills can be learned through a trainer, reading the appropriate book, or similar learning adventures. Even when learning a new Skill this way, one must use the points given during that session.

For example: Bob the Bouncer wants to add a combat skill to gain a block/parry advantage for when he has to confront unruly people. At the end of the session, Bob has earned 3 points; he either locates a trainer or self-teaches by reading a book. The player writes the skill name into the skill list, applies all three points he has earned to the new Skill, locates and records the modifier and dice for a skill with 3 points.

Combat

Combat is represented as a series of actions. All actions are rosolved throught skill tests. Each action has a base Target Number that is determined by a difficulty table. The base target number is modified by the Game Master for Sutuational Difficulty, the active Player for Character Skill Modifiers, and the opponent for Defensive Skill Modifiers.

• Situational modifiers can be positive or negative depending on the current conditions.

• Active Skill modifiers are always positive.

• Defensive Skill modifiers are always negative.

The combat sequence is as follows:

• Active Character Initiates combat by describing their intended action.

• Game Master determines the base target number and applies the situational modifiers.

• Opposing Character subtracts his or her reflex modifier and defencive skill modifiers.

• Active Character makes a skill test and subtracts his or her skill modifiers and weapon

attack Modifiers.

• Upon success, the Active Character sums the weapon damage and any damage Modifiers.

• Active Character reports the number and damage type to the Opposing Character.

• The Opposing Character subtracts their appropriate resistances from the damage.

• The Opposing Character records the damage in the related damage type box.

If the damage is below one, no marking is done. See Damage Overload below if damage exceeds the number of available boxes.

If the attack roll was a Critical Success the final damage staging number is doubled. Critical Failure may result in the attackar harming self or any friend nearby (at Game Master’s discretion).

Page 10

Range and Reach Modifiers

Range and Reach are how far a character can use projectiles or hit with melee weapons. Each weapon has its own range or reach, and will have the distance number and units listed for each section: Short, Medium, Long, Extreme. These are represented in the character sheet in the weapon section as S, M, L, E.

Combat Modifiers

Combat Modifiers are degrees of difficulty when using projectiles or hitting with melee weapons. These help appropriately change the base Target Number into something more fitting to the situation. The harder the action, the lower the Modifier. Some things, such as aiming or charging toward an enemy may normally gain a bonus Modifier, instead.

General

• Character is making a Called Shot: -4

• Character is concentrating before attack: cumulative +1 per turn, up to three turns. This includes aiming, meditation, and other mental and perception preparations.

• Character is wounded: Already applies to everything, since Health Meter Modifiers are global to the character

• Character’s weapon has longer reach: Modifier is difference in Reach

• Character only needs to make contact, not necessarily inflict damage: +2

• Character is attacking multiple targets: -1 per target

• Visibility is obstructed: Depends on the situation(?) Ranged

• Character is running while attacking: -2 to -4, depending on situation

• Character is in melee combat: -3

• Character is shooting from cover: -1 to -3 depending on type of cover(?)

• Character is shooting blindly: -6

• Target has partial cover: -1 to -3 depending on amount of cover Melee

• Character is charging into attack: +2

• Character has the superior position: +2

• Target is prone: +3

Page 11

Damage

The damage system is based on the ancient Greek’s beliefs regarding human existence, where a person was measured by the strength and health of their mind, body, and spirit. The optimal case would be to have all three in equal amounts such that they could be represented by an equilateral triangle: Mental -> Physical -> Spiritual -> Mental. Dealing and taking damage is handled through a series of check boxes. There are ten boxes for each of the three types of health. Damage is counted by checking a number of boxes equal to the amount of damage dealt starting at the damage level noted by the weapon’s damage type and rating, and all boxes below that level. If a character has already taken damage beyond the indicated level, the new damage is counted by checking off boxes on the next available damage type until all the damage is applied. Damage levels are Light, Moderate, Heavy, and Deadly. In CCARPS damage comes in three forms; Mental, Physical, and Spiritual.

Damage is represented as a series of three connected bars of ten boxes each. Box ten on the Mental bar is connected to box one on the Physical bar, and box ten on the Physical bar is connected to box one on the Spiritual bar. The tenth box of Spiritual is connected to box one of the Mental bar.

Damage overload occurs when the normal damage bar for the given damage index is full, and more damage of the same type is dealt to a character. The overload damage is then applied to the next damage meter. When a character fills an entire damage bar, that character will lose consciousness.

Once a character is unconscious, the player must roll 2d against their Charisma Modifier as their Basic Target Number. On a failure, the character takes 1 point of damage, following the order of damage overload. A character is permanently dead when all three bars are filled completely. Any character that has two bars of damage filled, they cannot be revived without intervention of a trauma surgeon (or other world and/or campaignspecific skills).

Damage types include Stun, Shock, Bludgeon, Cutting, Piercing, and Energy (some worlds call this “magic”).

Mental

Mental Health is the overall well-being of a character’s mental state. Mental damage can be caused by a variety of things, from a punch to the face to a flash bomb or electrocution. Spiritual damage overflows into Mental Health.

Physical

Physical damage comes primarily from physical attacks, but can also be caused by Mental Health overload.

Spiritual

Spiritual damage is primarily caused by attacks of wit (interrogation, debate, etc.), but can also come from energy-based (or magical) attacks. Physical Health damage overflows into spiritual health.

Damage Levels

Damage is represented by three sets of ten boxes. Each damage type (as mentioned above) has its own Damage Meter Bar. Damage levels are separated into Light, Moderate, Serious, and Deadly. When a character reaches the first box on a given meter, that character will take a -1 penalty to all Target Numbers. At the third box the character takes a -2 to all Target Numbers. At the sixth box the character takes a -3 to all target numbers.

These penalties are cumulative. If a character has registered three physical and six mental damage the total penalty will be -1 + -2 + -3 for the mental damage plus -1 + -2 for a total penalty of -9. These penalties will remain until the damage is healed below the given level.

Figure 4: Damage Meter Bar

Collateral Damage

In the case that a player misses an attack, the Game Master rolls to hit all logically available targets, once for each possible target.

Figure 5: Collateral Damage

Page 12

Damage Recovery

Mental Health heals over time;

Physical Health heals with medical attention;

Spiritual Health requires an act of faith, affirmation, or some other type of belief, to heal.

/// Mental Health recovery time is equal to 10 minutes times the number of damage boxes checked in all three damage indicators. A character with 5 boxes of Mental, 2 box of Physical, and 1 box of Spiritual, marked. 5 + 2 + 1 = 8. 8 * 10 minutes = 80 minutes. After that time, or whenever the Game Master says (in the event they speed time up), all Mental Health boxes are cleared. MH Recovery = 10 * # damage boxes filled Physical Health can be recovered by the application of first aid for up to 3 boxes (first aid can only be used once for each wound, A field medic with a standard field medical kit, can heal up to 6 boxes once for each wound. The character can to be treated by a doctor in a hospital or medical clinic to heal up to 10 boxes. In any case, the recovery time is 10 hours times the initial number of damage boxes checked in all three damage indicators, divided by the Tech Level of the character rendering aid. Spiritual Health is the most difficult to regain. Each point of Spiritual damage marked will require a number of hours spent in the act of meditating, praying, or otherwise feeding the soul/spirit to heal. The amount of time is equal to 10 hours times the number of Spiritual Health boxes marked. The spiritual rebuilding exercise must be coordinated through the Game Master and must be in accordance with the character’s stated belief system.///

Hit Location Chart

When a player designates a target and launches a projectile, the player must roll below the modified target number in order to hit. If the player rolls above the target number the projectile completely misses.

Figure 6: Hit Locations

Shot from the Hip

In the case of a hit without a called shot, the gm rolls two hit dice to determine where the projectile hits the target. (See hit location chart.)

Called Shot Miss

When a player designates an area to hit on a target, the player must roll below the modified target number to hit. if the player’s roll is equal to or greater than the modified target number the players shot will miss. As you may have guessed, this is where Sir Issaic Newton’s first law comes in: “An object in motion tends to stay in motion”, etc. etc. so that thing; fist, arrow, bullet must go somewhere. The following chart and 1d6 will help you figure out what force will cancel the motion of the object.

Imagine a circle cut into 6 slices overlaid on the target with its center point on the called location. Now roll 1d and count the pie slices clockwise from the top to determine which direction the miss took.

Newton’s Second Law is “the relationship Force equals mass times acceleration (F = m * a). Use the difference between the Modified Target Number and the player’s roll to determine the magnitude. Then, let Sir Isaac prove his stuff by knocking the F out of the projectile, and into the unintended location. The creativity gets going when applying Newton’s Third Law:”To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction."

Page 13

Critical Fail Wheel

In the case of a Critical Fail, we have a Critical Fail Wheel. The Active Character is in the middle of the wheel (as shown below) and any nearby characters, both friendly and enemy, will fall within a certain number. The Active Character rolls 2d, with the sum being the direction in which their action went. This works for both ranged and melee combat.

Figure 7: Critical Fail Wheel

Height-based Modifiers

Height modifiers are calculated by taking the Opposing Character’s Height (rounded) in feet and subtracting the Active Character’s height (rounded) in feet. For example, if the Active Character is 7 feet tall and the Opposing Character is 3, the Active Character will have a -4 Modifier to hit and a +4 Modifier to damage. However, when the Opposing Character becomes Active, they will have a +4 Modifier to hit and a -4 Modifier to damage. This helps prevent giant characters from always being able to hit tiny characters as if they were equal in height.

Figure 8: Target Size Chart

Dodge, Block, Parry

• *Defender’s Rule:

• Dodge is to evade an attack avoiding all damage on success.

• Trade off:* defender must forgo any actions including simple actions until defenders next turn.

• • Block is to absorb an attack with an object other than the intended target of a given attack

• -4 to repose attack and -2 damage on success.

• Parry is to deflect an attack by exerting a complementary force to move the impact to a more favorable location

• +2 to repose attack, requires an armed melee skill, cannot use called shot.

Movement

Base Movement Target Numbers Under non-stressful situations, walking generally doesn’t require a roll. This is a base Modifier Table for reference when a character has impediments, such as high encumberance, stress, or during extended combat.

Figure 9: Basic Movement Target Numbers

Page 14

Encumberance

Player characters can carry mass equal to 10 times their Lift modifier. Every pound over the maximum adds -1 to all physical actions. When a character’s Encumberance Modifer brings the overall action Modifier below 0, that character must roll to succeed on simple actions such as walking upright, turning around, stopping quickly, etc. Armor also affects freedom of movement, depending on armor type and class.

Disposition

A character’s Disposition is the sum of their character sheet. Oddities make up the largest and most lasting permanent changes to a character; they give permanent bonuses and detriments. They are the only part of character creation that can modify any aspect of a character, including (especially) Attributes, Resistances, and the Health Meter.

Base Odditites

Militaristic:

“Might makes right” is the motto. The character has an ideology that the military is the foundation of a society’s security, thus being the most important aspect.

Figure 10: Disposition Map

Opportunistic:

The practice of taking advantage of any situations or people to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences. Despotic: Government by a singular authority, either a single person or tight-knit group, which rules with absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.

Pacifistic:

The doctrine that disputes (especially between countries) should be settled without recourse to violence.

Heroic/Just:

Regard for others, both natural and moral without regard for oneself; devotion to the interests of others; brotherly kindness; selflessness; contrasted with egoism or selfishness.

Libertine:

One who is freethinking in all matters.

Neutral:

Neither beneficial nor harmful; this is the default state of all characters.

The oddity definitions above are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported and taken from Wiktionary.

Technology Levels

A character’s technology level helps define level adjustments and target numbers when interacting with any technology, from a basic tool (like a club or lever) to a super computer on an interdimensional time machine.

Use the list below to determine target numbers. A general rule is to add the tech level difference to the target number if the technology is at a lower level than the character’s tech level and subtract from the target number if the technology is at a higher level.

Page 15

Figure 11: Technology Levels

Contributors

This book is a collaborative effort. The following is a list of contributors.