OGL Ancients

Credits development and layout Richard Neale additional text Alejandro Melchor cover art Scott Clark cartography Jesus Barony interior illustrations Jesus Barony, Eric Bergeron, Andrew Dobell, Martin Hanford, Jon Netherland, Tony Parker, Phil Renne, Ronald Smith & Jason Walton studio manager Ian Barstow production manager Alexander Fennell playtesting Mark Gedak, Kent Little, Murry Perry, Patrick A. Kossmann, Tammy Gedak, Mark Howe, Mark Sizer, Daniel Scothorne, Mark Billanie, Micheal Young, Alan Moore, Daniel Haslam, Jamie Godfrey, James Sparling, Shannon Sparling, Shannon Sparling, Jimi Braun, Jason Thornton, Bill 'Urklore' Schwartz

Contents Introduction

2

Characters

8

Ancient Skills

47

Ancient Feats

79

Equipment

94

Combat

117

Adventuring

154

contents

adrian bott

Magic and Miracles 160 Timeline of the Ancient World

190

Religions and Philosophies

199

Death And Beyond

226

Artifice

232

Bestiary

244

Character Sheet

254

Licences

256

proof reading Mark Quennel OGL Ancients is ©2004 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of non-Open Game Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. OGL Ancients is presented under the Open Game License. See page 256 for the text of this licence. With the exception of boxed story text and character names, character creation rules detailing the mechanics of assigning dice roll results to attributes and the character advancement rules detailing the effects of applying experience, all text within OGL Ancients is declared as open content. Printed in China.

1

Introduction introduction

Welcome to the past that never was. OGL Ancients is a roleplaying game set in a world long past, where Greek heroes do battle with horrendous monsters and Egyptian priests pray to weird, animalheaded divinities. This is an environment that many roleplayers will not have ventured into before. Instead of taverns, castles and dungeons, the environment is one of great columned temples, amphitheatres, pyramids and hanging gardens, where wise or corrupt kings rule over their sprawling empires and wars are fought for generations over the hand of one beautiful queen. The world of OGL Ancients is one where true heroes are remembered forever after, where a man favoured by the Gods can rise from the humblest of beginnings to command the world. OGL Ancients is set before the rise of the Roman Empire and focuses on the two most influential civilisations of the ancient world, the Egyptians and the Greeks, though other cultures also appear. Those who wish to play the game as a ‘straight’ re-enactment of history may do so, drawing upon accurate historical depictions of weapons, armour, equipment and societal structure. Others, who may prefer the more fantastical may include such mythic elements as the wrangling of the Gods, the emergence of heroes with divine blood and the appearance of monsters truly worthy of the name.

If you’ve never played a roleplaying game before… Then welcome to OGL Ancients and the shortest explanation of roleplaying ever written. One participant – the ‘Games Master’ – describes the scene, and the players decide how their characters will react. ‘You pull back the sheets of your bed and find an angry cobra waiting for you’, says the Games Master, ‘the cobra rears, baring its fangs, ready to strike. What do you do?’ Run? Hide? Call for assistance? Throw it out a window? The Games Master, using the rules as a guideline, decides what results your actions have. Repeat all that over the course of a few hours, mixing in mythic creatures, cryptic texts, intrigues and conspiracies, tragic heroes, madness, death and pain, and you have a session of OGL Ancients.

2

The world of OGL Ancients is one of strong fantasy, in keeping with the ‘heroic golden age’ of the history of that time. Although it can be played without the fantastic elements, with such sections as the Gods being used as a cultural reference for added realism rather than a catalogue of beings who actually exist, many players will prefer the larger-than-life feeling of the myths. To walk in the Ancient world is to live in a time when magic is a fact, when witches weave spells in secret glades under the full moon. The spirits of the dead really do revisit the living and wicked spectres lurk in the pestilent places of the earth. Sometimes, even the dead arise and walk again. In a world without technology, the strange and marvellous are dominant. There is no science yet; instead, artificers work mechanical miracles, while priests petition the Gods for their divine intervention. In OGL Ancients, the Gods are always close at hand. Choose your deity carefully and be sure to heed them well, for their support can literally be your salvation and their displeasure, your annihilation. Those who the Gods love may prosper, even going so far as to have the use of the Gods’ own weapons and equipment, for use in their own divine cause. If you have ever wished to sail with Jason on the Argo, to dare the labyrinth in the footsteps of Theseus or to twist men’s bodies into the shapes of swine like Circe; if you would besiege the white walls of Troy or fly amid the clouds on winged sandals. If you would walk in columned halls and practice the magic that ibis-headed Thoth teaches, or learn the secrets buried in the hearts of the pyramids; if you would leave your body and, in spirit form, meet with the witches on lonely mountains. If you long to spread your wings with the artificer Dedalus and hunt with silver Artemis, listen to the Orphic melodies and aspire to the feast that awaits a true hero in Olympus... then read on!

ogl ancients system and other ogl games The basic system used in OGL Ancients is fundamentally similar to those used in the other Core books from Mongoose Publishing. The skills and feats are similar, as are the combat and task resolution systems, though there are some important changes. If you are familiar with other games using this same system, then feel free to skip right over this chapter.

characters in the ancient world

There are two styles of play available in OGL Ancients. If you wish to recreate the atmosphere of heroic legends in which the Gods walked the earth and terrible monsters lurked in forsaken places, then you can play in the Mythic Age. This kind of game is essentially a fantasy world built on a Graeco-Egyptian theme. The Gods are real, there is such a thing as witchcraft and magic and the powers of heroes and their ilk are supernatural. When the strength of Heracles is spoken of, people mean that he genuinely can tear a tree up by the roots or hurl a boulder for a mile. Monsters such as the Gorgons or the Minotaur are very real. This is the recommended option for players who want magic, adventure and the broadest range of powers. Films such as ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ or ‘Clash of the Titans’ typify this style of play. Alternatively, you may play in the Classical Age. This is a recreation of ancient Greece and Egypt as they were, incorporating a measure of poetic licence to allow for easy game play. In this version of the game, miracles do not

Characters and Dice When an Egyptian archer draws back his bowstring and looses a shot at a charging barbarian, he may hit or he may miss. In a movie, his success or failure would be part of the script. In a roleplaying game, this is determined by random chance based on the skill of the archer in question. Since there is a variable involved, dice become a necessary part of the roleplaying medium. This is part of the excitement of roleplaying; you can never be certain that what you have in mind will come to pass, and you are always taking a chance whenever you do anything dramatic. The story of your character is not written in advance and even the Games Master respects the results of the die rolls. Strange though it may sound, dice make a game more realistic and enrich the challenge of the game. Just as in the real world, you never know quite what is around the corner.

introduction

Players in OGL Ancients take the role of heroes, characters who stand a head and shoulders above ordinary men and women. Each player’s character, even at the lowest level of experience, is an exemplar in his field, capable of performing tasks far out of reach of ordinary folk. They are the warriors, sages and artificers whose deeds will eventually enter the realm of legend or be commemorated in epic poems.

occur and the myths are only stories. Those creatures that the legends record as ‘monsters’ are exaggerations of the truth; the Cyclops was only a brutish human with one eye and the Minotaur was the deformed son of King Minos, hidden away in a labyrinth. You may prefer to play in the Classical Age if you like a more realistic campaign or if you want to tie events in world history into the adventures.

When a person fires arrows at a straw target, the variance of their shots is mostly based on their skill but can also be influenced by luck, timing and a thousand other factors. These are summed up by rolling a d20 (that is a 20 sided die) with a high number representing more of these factors aligning in a favourable way and a low number representing the opposite. Dice are used to determine success when using your character’s skills, when deciding how enduring

3

or intelligent they might be and when determining whether the swing of a sword has severed the hissing head of the Gorgon – or not.

introduction

Dice Terminology Dice in roleplaying games go by a series of shorthand codes that are very easily to learn but look confusing at first glance. A four-sided die (the singular form of dice) is also called a d4. In this book, dice will be referred to by this code preceded by the number of them needed for any given roll required by the rules. For example, if the ghastly Chimera were to open one of its three mouths and breathe a cone of flame at a band of unfortunate heroes who had woken it from its sleep, they would need to roll Reflex saving throws on 1d20. (Do not despair; terminology like ‘Reflex saving throws’ will be explained soon.) Note that the 1 is simply assumed if no other number is listed or needed, so ‘rolling d20’ is the same as rolling 1d20. If this d20 check is successful, the heroes would only suffer half the amount of damage. The flaming breath of the Chimera inflicts 4d8 damage to any victims within the area of effect. 4d8 means the Games Master would roll one eight sided die, note the number, then roll it again three more times and add the results to the first roll. Alternatively, if he happened to own four eight-sided dice, he could roll them all at once for a quicker calculation. Out of 4d8, a player can get a range of numbers from 4 (all dice roll a 1) to 32 (every die rolls an 8). When multiple dice are indicated by this shorthand code, the values of the rolls are always added together. One last dice note concerns the idea of a d100, also called a d%. This is also called a percentile roll in roleplaying parlance. To do this, roll a d10 twice. The first roll is for the tens; the second roll is for the digits. If you were to roll a 4 and then a 2, that generates the number 42. When rolling a percentile, two 0s count as the number 100. Some dice sets have a special d10 with a two-digit number (10,20,30 and so on) stamped on each of its faces to make this easier, but such dice are certainly not essential.

Multipliers Certain modifications to dice rolls exist within the rules; these, instead of adding a set number or an additional die or dice to a roll, multiply the result. These are listed as ‘x2’ or some other multiplication value. Multipliers apply to every numeric modifier and the basic dice involved in the roll but not to additional dice added as a modifier to the roll. For example, if the hero Theocles (being especially favoured of Apollo, God of the Sun) has been provided with a searing arrow which inflicts 2d6 additional fire damage and he inflicts a critical hit when he smites a foe with

4

it, the attack would deal the arrow’s normal 1d8 damage rolled twice (for the critical hit) plus the 2d6 fire damage rolled once, for a grand total of 2d8 piercing damage plus 2d6 fire damage. Note that multipliers mean you roll a die or dice multiple times, not that you roll a result and then multiply that. A multiplier of x2 applied to a d6 roll does not mean that you would roll, say, a 5, then double that to 10. Instead, you would roll 2d6 and total the results. Multipliers can stack but regardless of their values, they stack in a specific way. When a check or value has two or more multipliers, the highest value multiplier is kept and every additional multiplier increases the first one’s value by 1. For example, if Ankh-af-na-Menthu successfully scored a critical hit with a spear (for x3 damage) against a Serpent of Set that was trapped in a Temple to Osiris and suffering x2 damage from all attacks, the attack would inflict 4 (x3 modified to x4 by the additional x2 modifier) times the normal damage, not 5 times.

Actions Once you have a character worked out and some dice, you have all the tools you need to begin playing OGL Ancients. Most play usually consists of the Games Master, the person guiding the story and the action of a game, describing scenes and filling in details, then asking the players what they are doing next or listening to any spontaneous declaration from a player that he wishes to do something. Everything a character wishes to do, from waking up and putting on his socks to filling a band of street thieves full of arrows, is an action. Actions come in different types and have different rules associated with them. Simple actions are things that do not require rolls except in the most adverse of conditions. Under normal circumstances, a character is allowed to sit down at a table, eat a loaf of bread and hold a rational conversation without needing to make a die roll for success. If that same character were to swim across the Nile, with scorpion venom in his veins, a bleeding wound in his thigh and have had no sleep in three days, it might be a different story. Whenever a character needs to make a simple action, something they can normally do everyday with no special skill or talent required, the Games Master will generally simply declare success or, like in the example just given, require a roll (also called a ‘check’) or simply declare failure. Players have a realistic idea of what their characters can do, so most of the time there will be no absurd statements or challenges to the consensual reality of the game. Contested actions make up the largest part of the rule mechanics for combat and skills. Everything that a

The Core Mechanic

� � �

Roll a d20. Add any relevant modifiers. Compare the result to a target number. If the result equals or exceeds the target number, the character succeeds. If the result is lower than the target number, the character fails.

character does that might have a chance of failing because of someone else’s actions, skills or abilities, is called a contested roll. Shooting an arrow at a thief is an example of a contested action; your attack roll is contested by the thief ’s Active Defence, representative of his ability to avoid being hit. Contested checks are never guaranteed and even the most masterful of archers can miss his mark once in a while. Saving throws, which are a special type of check made to see if a character can escape the effects of an adverse condition, are another kind of contested roll. A term used during contested rolls is DC, short for Difficulty Class. The DC of a contested check is the minimum number a d20 check, plus or minus modifiers, must roll to succeed. A roll that is lower than the given DC for an action fails. The d20 is the most common type of die rolled during an average gaming session, making it crucial to the system and the single most important die for any player to own. Astute players may have realised at this point that if contested checks have to beat a listed DC and they are all made using a single d20, then actions with a DC of 21 are considered impossible. On the surface, this is correct, that is where characters come in. Characters and the skills and abilities they possess come with modifiers that are added to or subtracted from certain kinds of checks. These modifiers can theoretically make any check possible, no matter how high the DC might be.

ability scores

Every character in OGL Ancients has six basic abilities. Each one represents different aspects of that character’s mental or physical prowess. Some types of creature may possess a non-ability, such as undead monsters which do not truly possess a Constitution score, this being the ability governing health. In most cases, a character will have a positive value of some kind in each of the six scores, indicating some development – or lack thereof – in that area.

Ability Modifiers Each ability, after changes brought about by age or other campaign factors, generally has a modifier ranging from –5 to +5. The Ability Modifiers Table shows the modifier for each score. Ability score modifiers can range higher than +5, but they cannot go lower than -5 because the status of a creature or object changes when its ability scores drop to 0. See below for further details.

introduction

When in doubt about how to resolve any given action, keep this simple piece of advice in mind. Any attempted action that has some chance of failure can be handled by rolling a twenty-sided die (d20). To determine if a character, be it a player or a character controlled by the Games Master, succeeds at a task, use the following simple steps:

indicate automatic success or failure will be clearly marked in the text of the rules themselves.

The modifier is the number you apply to the die roll when your character tries to do something related to that ability. You also use the modifier with some numbers that are not die rolls. A positive modifier is called a bonus and a negative modifier is called a penalty.

The Abilities Each ability partially describes your character and affects some of their actions. Abilities are not the sum total of a character’s personality or capabilities; these are up to the player to determine. They do, however, provide the framework around which skills and checks are typically made, making them a very important part of the character’s description.

Strength (STR) Strength encompasses your character’s muscle or body development and physical power. Strength also measures the amount of equipment your character can carry. Characters with high Strength are often labourers or warriors, as they have built up their bodies over years of hard work. You apply your character’s Strength modifier to:

Though it is often a convention with games usingthe d20 rules to allow all rolls of 20 on a d20 to be an automatic success, this is not always the case. By the same token, a roll of 1 (called a ‘natural’ 1 because it is the actual result on the die roll, just as with a ‘natural’ 20) is not an automatic failure. Instances in the rules where a natural 1 or 20

 

Melee attack rolls. Damage rolls when using a melee weapon or a thrown weapon, including a sling. (Exceptions: Off-hand attacks receive only one-half the character’s

5

introduction

Strength bonus, while two-handed attacks receive one and a half times the Strength bonus. A Strength penalty applies to attacks made with a bow that is not a composite bow.)



Climb, Jump and Swim checks. These are the skills that have Strength as their key ability.



Strength checks (for breaking down doors and the like).

Dexterity (DEX) Dexterity measures hand-eye co-ordination, agility, reflexes and balance. This ability is the most important for characters who typically wear lighter armour or none at all and for anyone who wants to be a skilled shot.

Fortitude saving throws, for resisting poison and similar degenerative threats.



Concentration checks. Concentration is a skill, highly important for spellcasters, which has Constitution as its key ability.

If a character’s Constitution score changes enough to alter their Constitution modifier, the character’s hit points also increase or decrease accordingly.

Ability Modifiers Table Score

Modifier

Intelligence (INT) Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons. It is important for any character who wants to have a wide assortment of skills.

1

–5

2–3

–4

4–5

–3

6–7

–2

8–9

–1

10 – 11

+0

12 – 13

+1

14 – 15

+2

16 – 17

+3

18 – 19

+4

20 – 21

+5

22 – 23

+6

24 – 25

+7

26 – 27

+8

28 – 29

+9

30 – 31

+10

32 – 33

+11

34 – 35

+12

36 – 37

+13

38 – 39 Constitution (CON) Constitution represents your character’s 40 – 41 health and stamina. A Constitution 42 – 43 bonus increases a character’s hit points, 44 – 45 so the ability is important for all classes. Combat-oriented characters need hit points to survive wounds, while spellcasting characters use up hit points to fuel their spells. A high Constitution also lessens your chance of suffering a grievous wound.

+14

You apply your character’s Constitution modifier to:

You apply your character’s Wisdom modifier to:

You apply your character’s Dexterity modifier to:



Ranged attack rolls, including those for attacks made with bows, thrown knives, hurled spears and other ranged weapons.



Active Defence, provided that the character can react to the attack.



Reflex saving throws, for avoiding explosions and other attacks that you can escape by moving quickly.





6



Balance, Escape Artist, Hide, Move Silently, Ride, Sleight of Hand, Tumble and Use Rope checks. These are the skills that have Dexterity as their key ability.

Each roll of a Hit Die (though a penalty can never drop a result below 1 – that is, a character always gains at least 1 hit point each time he or she advances in level).

You apply your character’s Intelligence modifier to:

+15 +16



The number of languages your character knows at the start of the game.



The number of skill points gained with each level. Note that your character always gains at least 1 skill point per level.



Appraise, Craft, Decipher Script, Debate, Forgery, Hekau, Knowledge, Medicine, Search and Solve Conundrum checks. These are the skills that have Intelligence as their key ability.

An animal has an Intelligence score of 1 or 2. A creature of humanlike intelligence has a score of at least 3.

Wisdom (WIS)

Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, +17 common sense, perception and intuition. While Intelligence represents one’s ability to analyse information, Wisdom represents being in tune with and aware of one’s surroundings. If you want your character to have acute senses, put a high score in Wisdom. Every creature has a Wisdom score.



Will saving throws, for negating the effect of mindaltering phenomena or spells.



Heal, Listen, Prayer, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot and Survival checks. These are the skills that have Wisdom as their key ability.

Charisma (CHA)

You apply your character’s Charisma modifier to:



Bluff, Disguise, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Presence, Perform, Rhetoric and Witchcraft checks. These are the skills that have Charisma as their key ability.



Checks that represent attempts to influence others.

When an ability score changes, all attributes associated with that score change accordingly. Most of these changes are also retroactive; a character receives or loses additional hit points for previous levels if an increase or decrease

Grievous Wound Threshold Your Grievous Wound Threshold is the average of your Strength and Constitution ability scores, rounded down. It determines how serious a given wound is for you. If an attack deals damage in one blow that is less than your Grievous Wound Threshold, then it is recorded as a normal wound. If the damage scores equal to or higher than your Grievous Wound Threshold, then it is recorded as a grievous wound. Grievous wounds are more disabling than ordinary wounds and will not heal without medical attention.

introduction

Charisma measures a character’s force of personality, persuasiveness, personal magnetism, ability to lead and comeliness. This ability represents actual strength of personality, not merely how one is perceived by others in a social setting. Every creature has a Charisma score.

in Constitution occurs. One important exception to this retroactive rule regards Intelligence. A character does not retroactively get additional skill points for previous levels if she increases her intelligence, nor are skill points lost if Intelligence is lowered for any reason.

Ability Score Loss Various attacks can cause ability score loss, in the form of either ability damage or ability drain. Points lost to ability damage return at the rate of one point per day, or double that if the character is able to take complete bed rest to each damaged ability. Certain chemical or mechanical effects can also offset ability damage. Ability drain, however, is permanent, though some effects can restore even those lost ability score points. While any loss is debilitating, losing all points in an ability score can be devastating.



Strength 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He lies helpless on the ground.



Dexterity 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He stands motionless, rigid and helpless.

 

Constitution 0 means that the character is dead.



Wisdom 0 means that the character has withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares and is helpless.



Charisma 0 means that the character has withdrawn into a catatonic, coma-like stupor and is helpless.

Intelligence 0 means that the character cannot think, is unconscious in a coma-like stupor and is helpless.

Keeping track of negative ability score points is never necessary. A character’s ability score cannot drop below 0. Having a score of 0 in an ability is different from having no ability score whatsoever. Some effects and abilities impose an effective ability score reduction, which is different from ability score loss. Any such reduction disappears at the end of the effect or ability’s duration and the ability score immediately returns to its former value.

7

Characters

characters

Your character is your alter ego in a game of OGL Ancients, defined by his ability scores, background, class features and other variables. To generate a set of ability scores for a character, roll 4d6 and discard the die with the lowest face value. This will create a score between 3 (all four dice rolling 1’s) and 18 (three of the four dice coming up as 6’s). Being able to remove the lowest number inclines the average value of each score and tends to create characters with higher than average abilities. Repeat this procedure five times. Once you have generated six values in this way, either assign them in the order rolled or place them in any order desired into the six corresponding ability scores.

backgrounds

All characters must select a background, showing where they came from geographically and socially. Your background limits your choice of character class and modifies your ability scores. It may also apply background modifiers to certain skill checks that can affect a character’s chances of success. For example, all slaves are deemed to be uneducated, so although they are physically robust, they have little in the way of intellectual knowledge. The first thing to decide is where your character comes from. OGL Ancients is focussed on the Greek and Egyptian cultures, so the options available for characters from those cultures are significantly greater than others. You may be Greek, Egyptian or a foreigner, such as an Assyrian. Having done that, you must select one background for your character. If you are playing in a mythic campaign, then you may choose to select a mythic background. If you are Greek or Egyptian, you may then further customise your character by specifying your city of origin. OGL Ancients is oriented around the Greek and Egyptian cultures and, as a result, these civilisations have more options available, though players need not play characters from these civilisations. If you are not Greek or Egyptian, then your background is simply your region of origin as a ‘foreigner’, such as Nubian or Assyrian. Foreigners may not take the Greek Priest, Egyptian Priest, Hetaera or Noble Warrior character classes, as these are specific to the Greek and Egyptian cultures.

Gender You must decide whether your character is male or female. This is not a trivial issue. The ancient world is run along very clear lines of gender division. Women,

8

for example, are not allowed to become warriors, much less noble warriors, though they may serve as priestesses. Men are not allowed to enter the secret cult of the witches, nor may they become hetaerae. Your gender does not affect your ability scores at all, though it does restrict the character class you may take. At the Games Master’s discretion, a female character from a civilisation other than Greece or Egypt could be allowed to become a warrior or noble warrior. There were indeed some examples of warrior queens in ancient times. However, such examples were far from being the rule. The prohibition here is not intended to restrict anyone’s enjoyment of the game, but simply to keep to historically sound conventions. A mythic campaign can always look to the Amazons to balance things out, while a historical campaign can draw inspiration from the likes of Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus or Queen Samsi the Midianite. There may have been more female warriors than records indicate; men, after all, wrote the records. Ultimately, it is your game and you can decide which restrictions to apply.

Social Class If you have a Greek or Egyptian nationality, then your next background choice is your social class within that society. Your social class determines how others react to you and how much regard they have for you. In the ancient world, there is no political correctness and there are no equal opportunities. The aristocracy are in control. They look down on the merchants, who in turn look down on the workers and slaves. In OGL Ancients, all social classes have their advantages and disadvantages but those who are born to the nobility are always entitled to respect and deference from those of a lower social class. If you are a foreigner, then how others regard you depends entirely on the standing your country has at the time. Nobody cares what your social rank was back in your own land. If your country is well regarded, then you will be treated well; if you are an enemy, then you can expect to be treated as such. For example, the Spartans in Greece were either the enemy or the ally of the Persian Empire, depending on what Persia was doing at the time and how it influenced Sparta’s main rival, Athens.

Greek And Egyptian Social Classes These backgrounds apply to any character who was raised in the Greek or Egyptian culture or who has rank in that culture, such as by marrying into it. They do not have anything to do with your race. In OGL Ancients, the racial origin of a character is irrelevant. It is cultural background that counts.

Slaves benefit from a +2 increase to Constitution, as only robust slaves last for any length of time and suffer from a –1 penalty to Intelligence, as they do not benefit from education. For the same reason, all Knowledge skills are automatically cross-class skills to them. Slaves are limited to the Warrior, Bard, Thief and Artificer character classes. One of the most famous storytellers of ancient times, the bard Aesop, was a slave. Slaves start play with no wealth of their own at all. If one of the other players owns a slave character, he may choose to give the slave some possessions. Slaves are very challenging characters to play but the rewards of starting right at the bottom and working your way to the top are immense. Worker Workers are the largest class of society. They are the common people, the ‘hoi polloi’, who do all of the work and are allowed no say in their own government. In times of war, they are drafted into military service if they are male, whether they know how to fight or not. They enjoy more rights than slaves do and are counted as citizens, though this only means that they have certain basic freedoms, such as the freedom to own property and earn a living, that slaves do not. They cannot vote, nor can they take any character class that requires noble birth. If you wish, you can take the Worker background and start the game as an ex-slave, who has earned his freedom. This nets you no advantages other than having no owner. Socially, you are still looked upon as a slave in essence until you make something more of yourself. Some ex-slaves have gone on to amass fortunes for themselves, so there is no reason to suppose you could not do likewise. As workers live by their skills, they gain an additional skill point per level. Each worker is a specialist in one of the Craft skills, so he or she may choose one Craft skill and receives a +2 background bonus to all checks made with that skill. Workers are not eligible for the priesthood, nor may they take any character class that requires noble birth. Workers begin play with 1d4x5 silver drachmas or goods to that value in a campaign set before the advent of coinage. They are also allowed a number of bonus items of the kind

that are made by their Craft skill, to a total value of no more than 30 silver drachmas, to represent goods that the character has made for himself. For example, a blacksmith might own a bronze-headed spear, an iron pot or a metal shield. Middle Class The educated members of this social class are likely to be merchants, traders and slave-owners. They may take any character class except those that require noble birth. Socially, they are superior to the workers and slaves but still far beneath the nobility. For all their riches, they cannot hope to achieve noble rank unless it is conferred upon them or they marry into it. Nobles have more contempt for middle class characters than for workers; as the middle classes have had to work for their wealth. At least the workers know their place, while the middle classes are determined to rise above theirs through trade.

characters

Slave As a slave, you are socially the lowest of the low, even if you appear to be groomed and well dressed. Another person, who may or may not treat you fairly, owns you. Much like a household pet, you are property. It is recommended that any slave characters are owned by other players, as this makes integrating them into the game much easier. If a slave character is owned by a Non-Player Character, it sets greater limits on what he can do.

Trade is not seen as a fit occupation for a hero; nonetheless, many middle class characters become warriors, simply because they can afford to. Armour and weapons made from more robust materials than leather and wood cost a lot of money and not every level of society can afford them. All members of the middle class gain a bonus feat at first level, resulting from their broad experience of life and their determination to improve their lot. The starting wealth for a middle class character is 5d4x10 silver drachmas. A middle class character also owns 1d3 slaves, who may be brought along on adventures if the character sees fit; if they are killed, the character will have to buy new ones. Noble, Female Of highborn blood yet assigned to a lower station because of her gender, the female noble is widely educated and eloquent and may even be a secret practitioner of magic. Female nobles may take the Greek Priest, Egyptian Priest, Courtesan, Witch or Aristocrat character classes. The starting wealth for a female noble is 5d4x20 silver drachmas. She also owns 1d3 slaves, who may be brought on adventures or left behind as the player sees fit. The slaves of a female noble are more likely ladies in waiting or handmaidens than burly bearers. Noble, Male The top of the social pyramid, male nobles take part in government or lead armies in the field. They are disadvantaged by the expectations their families place upon them (in their way, they are more indentured than some slaves) and by their lack of practical,

9

characters

worldly experience. Male nobles may take the Greek Priest, Egyptian Priest, Noble Warrior or Aristocrat character classes. Some nobles enter the priesthood but these are considered an oddity.

For example, the Hittites were a spent force after around 1200 BC, while the Assyrians were no longer a power to be reckoned with after the destruction of Nineveh by the Medes in 612 BC.

Greek and Egyptian Warriors Warriors from a Greek background, irrespective of social rank, are proficient with all martial weapons. For their Weapon Focus, they may choose between the spear, the javelin, the sarissa, the xiphos and the kopis.

Amazon (Mythic) The Amazons were said to be a tribe of ferocious warrior women encountered by several of the Greek heroes. One of Heracles’ most notable achievements was to retrieve the girdle of Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen, while Theseus is said to have married her.

Warriors from an Egyptian background, irrespective of social rank, are proficient with all martial weapons except the kopis, the sarissa, the labrys and the Cretan stabbing sword. For their Weapon Focus, they may choose between the composite self bow, the composite recurved bow, the kopesh or the mace.

If you are from the tribe of the Amazons, you may be female and a warrior or noble warrior. This is the easiest way to have a female warrior character in OGL Ancients. Amazons are unfortunately mythical, so you may only take this option in a mythic campaign.

Foreign Backgrounds

Amazon warriors are proficient with all martial weapons and have the composite self bow as their Weapon Focus.

These backgrounds may only be taken by characters who come from lands other than Greece or Egypt. They are included for the Games Master’s use in creating Non-Player Characters. Players may take these backgrounds, though they will be at a distinct disadvantage in Greece or Egypt unless the civilisation from which they hail is an ally or at least neutral. Refer to the Timeline Of The Ancient World on pg. 190 to see the standings of the various ancient civilisations at a given point in time. Some foreign backgrounds are not available at certain points in time, as the civilisation concerned collapsed.

10

Assyrian Assyrians dominate the Fertile Crescent and occupy Egypt around 700 BC. Initially a people without cavalry, they were pushed into learning the arts of fighting from horseback when horse-mounted invaders kept assaulting their lands. Assyrians were among the best archers of the ancient world, rivalling the Egyptians in their expertise with the bow and using the chariot as a mobile archery platform, much as the Egyptian forces did. Special armour was developed to protect the archers, who could not carry a shield to defend themselves.

Assyrian characters benefit from the Chariot Combat feat for free, even if they do not meet the usual prerequisites to qualify for this feat. Assyrian warriors are proficient with all axes and spears and have the composite recurved bow as their Weapon Focus.

As they are accustomed to running for long distances, they have a base Speed of 40 feet, so long as they are wearing only light armour. If they wear heavier than light armour, they lose this ability. Barbarians treat all Knowledge skills as cross-class skills, except for Knowledge (nature) and Knowledge (local). They receive a +2 background bonus to all Survival skill checks, as they are half-wild and accustomed to living in the natural world. Barbarian warriors are proficient with all axes and spears and have the hand axe as their Weapon Focus.

Nubians benefit from a +1 background bonus to Strength and to Will saving throws. They are, however, limited in their choice of equipment. Nubians dislike armour and are uncomfortable fighting in it, as they are accustomed to fighting with bare skin. Any body armour (but not shields) worn by a Nubian has its armour check penalty increased by +1.

characters

Barbarian ‘Barbarian’ is a catch-all term for those who come from uncivilised lands. For the purposes of OGL Ancients, barbarians are a brawny, tribal people whose main interest is in fighting and gaining both land and riches for themselves. Barbarians are illiterate and may not take any character class other than warrior or thief, as the culture does not allow for more sophisticated roles. They are looked down upon as scum by civilised societies and are believed to have no regard for learning at all.

Nubian The Nubians, a people from the region of Africa south of Egypt, are admired among the Egyptian soldiery for their courage and strength. The elite core of many a Pharaoh’s troops was a force of Nubian mercenaries, who could be relied upon to terrify the enemy with their vicious, relentless fighting.

Nubian warriors are proficient with all axes and spears and have the hand axe as their Weapon Focus. Persian Originally vassals of the Assyrians, the Persians expanded their empire to become one of the most splendid and mighty civilisations in world history. The Persian character is noble, magnanimous, strict and absolutely convinced of its own superiority. Like other empires in later years, they believe that expanding their territory by taking new cities is the best thing for the conquered as well as the conquerors. Persians never forget a slight and they will always go out of their way to avenge insults upon their honour. They are a patient people, capable of nursing a grudge for years, but they will always act upon it eventually.

11

characters

Persians benefit from a +1 background bonus to their Charisma ability scores. In addition, their natural expressiveness and concern with appearance means that Presence is always a class skill for a Persian character, even if it is not among the listed class skills. Persian warriors are proficient with all martial weapons and may choose from the bow (any), the akinakes or the spear as their Weapon Focus. Hittite The Hittites were capable warriors, the first to exploit iron weapons to any significant degree. Opponents of the Egyptians for many years, they eventually made an alliance with the marriage of an Egyptian king to a Hittite princess. Hittite characters are not available from around 1200 BC onwards, however, owing to the collapse of their empire in previous years. Hittite warriors are proficient with all martial weapons and have the spear as their Weapon Focus. Phoenician The Phoenicians are a constant presence for almost two millennia in the ancient world. As so many of their cities are coastal, they were one of the first civilisations to develop an extensive naval force. Rather than becoming military aggressors, they became sailors and traders. In the time period around 1000 BC, the cities of Tyre and Sidon were renowned for their wealth and prosperity throughout the ancient world. The Phoenicians were the founders and occupants of Carthage, which would in time come to be a dominant power in the region, so much so that a lengthy war would result between the Phoenicians and the Romans. All Phoenicians are adept traders and sailors. They receive a +2 background bonus to all Appraise, Bluff and Swim skill checks and receive Profession (sailor) as a class skill, irrespective of their character class. Phoenician warriors are proficient with all swords and spears and have the javelin as their Weapon Focus. Scythian Hailing from the regions of northern Iran, the Scythians were a frequent thorn in the side of the Medes. They perfected the recurved composite bow and became adept at using it from horseback, becoming one of the only early civilisations to use mounted archer units. The Scythians have a reputation for being savage, aggressive and implacable, dominating others ruthlessly and celebrating their victories with drinking binges that last many days. All Scythians receive a +2 background bonus to Ride skill checks and have the Mounted Archery feat for

12

free, even if they do not meet the usual prerequisites for this feat. They suffer from a -2 background penalty to Intelligence, owing to their disdain for learning and study applied to anything other than conquest. Scythian warriors are proficient with all axes, spears and bows and have the composite recurved bow as their Weapon Focus.

City and Regional Backgrounds Characters of the ancient world often have loyalty to their city or region and identify themselves by referring to it, such as by calling themselves ‘Timmaeus of Athens’ or ‘Ankh-fn-khonsu the Theban’. This is especially important for Greek characters, as ancient Greece was not a unified country but a land in which numerous city-states fought for space and resources. See the Ancient World chapter for more details on how ancient Greece functioned. Your city gives you certain advantages and disadvantages. Athenians, for example, are trained in philosophy and the arts, giving them bonuses to Rhetoric and Debate skill checks, while Spartans are taught to discipline their bodies and become more resistant to pain, giving them the Athletic feat for free and an increased Constitution. Spartan The citizens of the city-state of Sparta belong to a strong warrior culture. Education is structured around the body and mind in harmony, developing both to their highest possible peak. Spartans are trained to be tough and unsentimental, disdaining soft or luxurious things in favour of a hard-bitten warrior life. To this day, the word ‘spartan’ is used to mean simple, plain and functional. Spartan methods of education were designed to produce a warrior citizenry. At the time of their greatest glory, their military power dominated most of the Greek lands. Spartan athletes were the finest in the ancient world and Spartan fighting men the most feared. Spartans are physically tough and disciplined but have a harsh, forbidding manner about them. Any male Spartan character benefits from a +1 bonus to Constitution and suffers from a -2 penalty to Charisma. All Spartans have a base Speed of 40 feet, as they are trained in physical fitness. They also receive the Athletic feat for free. Female Spartans do not benefit at all from being brought up in the city. Their ability scores are not modified, nor do they receive any free feats. Their Charisma is assuredly not modified at all, as the most beautiful human being of all time was a female Spartan. Athenian Citizens of the city-state of Athens, the holy city of the Goddess Athene, are trained to follow the culture of the

characters

mind. In keeping with the nature of the city’s patron Goddess, wisdom is prized. Every action has to be prefaced with a proper degree of thought. Athens was a great centre of philosophy in the ancient world and provided human civilisation with the earliest known form of democracy. Eventually, Athens would come to dominate the whole of Greece, creating one of the most profound, widespread and lasting cultural influences in the history of the planet. Athenians place great value on justice and fairness, believing that if everyone fulfils their allotted role without trying to break the rules, their society would work. They are, in conventional terms, fundamentally lawful. Athens and Sparta are often in a state of intense rivalry and mutual apprehension. The Athenian society is dedicated to the cultivation of intellect while the Spartan is dedicated to the cultivation of the physical body; the Spartan is naturally the stronger of the two when their rivalry comes to blows, a perception that worries many Athenians. Characters from Athens with anything other than a slave background receive a +2 background bonus to all Rhetoric, Debate and Knowledge checks. Thessalian Thessaly is a region well known for its witches. The cult of Hecate thrives in Thessaly, images of the triple-faced Goddess stand at every crossroads and it is said that one woman in every ten is secretly a witch. Whether this legend is true or not, the women of Thessaly are well suited to the pathes of the witch or the more persuasive aristocrat.

They are not as well educated as the males, but have learned to succeed via guile and keen perception. The women of Thessaly receive a +1 background bonus to their Charisma ability score and a +2 background bonus to all Sense Motive checks, but a -2 penalty to all Knowledge checks. The men of Thessaly are not especially remarkable and tend to be under the thrall of their womenfolk. Cretan The folk of Crete are said to be cunning and wily. Like the famous labyrinth that is rumoured to lie beneath the palace of old Minos, one-time ruler of the island, their minds are full of twists and turns. It is said that one should never trust a promise made by a Cretan unless it is recorded in writing and that even then, one should bring one’s own scribe. All Cretans receive a +2 background bonus to Bluff and Sense Motive checks made against anyone but another Cretan or a person who has spent more than three years living in Crete. Those who grow up on the island learn to recognise each other’s ways. Cretans also receive a +2 background bonus to all Solve Conundrum checks. They are, however, handicapped by a rather insular approach to life; though they are very persuasive, they are not well liked. They therefore suffer from a -2 penalty to any Charisma based skill check made to influence another’s attitude. Cretan warriors are proficient with all bows, all spears and the kopis. Their Weapon Focus is the composite recurved bow. Cretans are well renowned for their bowmanship.

13

characters

Theban Thebes in Egypt (not to be confused with the city of the same name in Greece) is the sacred city of the God Horus. Those who dwell in Thebes partake of the God’s nature, becoming strong in both mind and body. They are more likely to become warriors for Pharaoh than the denizens of any other city. The Thebans are sometimes called the Spartans of Egypt. Together with the Nubian mercenary forces, they make up the cutting edge of the ancient Egyptian army. Thebans receive a +1 background bonus to all Will and Fortitude saving throws and a +1 background bonus to all melee attacks and ranged attacks with a thrown weapon made against human infantry. They also gain the Toughness feat for free. The strong military ambience of their city does make them less concerned with learning and spiritual matters; accordingly, they receive a -2 penalty to all Intelligence-based skill checks. Karnak Karnak was the centre of Ancient Egyptian society for many generations. Those raised there are exposed to all manner of political discussions, theological debates and demonstrations of Pharaonic power. Nobles of Karnak are well educated, but are spared any manual work or fighting, as a result of which they are less physically developed than they otherwise could be. A character of noble origin who comes from Karnak receives a +2 background bonus to all Presence and Hekau checks, but a -1 penalty to Fortitude and Reflex saving throws. Characters of any other origin than noble do not receive any modifiers.

14

Mythic Backgrounds This section allows players to create heroic characters along the lines of the ancient myths. Mythic characters are those whose powers must either be explained away as the exaggerations of myth or who genuinely do have superhuman ability, depending on the kind of campaign being run. Many mythic characters’ fates are directly bound to the Gods. They are either agents of the Gods or are related to them in some way. Mythic character backgrounds may only be used with the agreement of the Games Master. There are three ways to create a mythic character. They may have divine blood, divine patronage or a divine boon. Divine Blood Like the Pharaohs of Egypt or the demigod heroes of ancient Greece, the character is directly descended from a deity. The character may, for example, be the son of Zeus like Heracles. Such a character has one divine parent and one mortal parent, they are never the child of two Gods. Having divine blood guarantees the character considerable advantages. You gain an inherent bonus to at least one of your ability scores, as you take after your divine parent, you are beloved by them automatically (see Religions and Philosophies) and you also gain a +2 background bonus to any Prayer skill check that involves your parent. There are, however, disadvantages to being the progeny of a deity; these come in the shape of other deities. As the son or daughter of one deity, you automatically gain the hatred of another deity, who then despises you. This may never be removed with atonement, as the deity hates you for who

you are rather than what you have done. A good example of this kind of character is Heracles, who was hated by the Goddess Hera for having been fathered by her adulterous husband Zeus.

Having a divine parent is, traditionally, an attribute of Greek heroes rather than Egyptian ones. The only notable Egyptian who is said to be of divine parentage is Pharaoh, who is the son of Ra. If the Games Master wishes to allow players to be the children of other Egyptian gods, then suitable benefits can be derived by using the table below as a guideline.

Astounding Beauty: The character is possessed of the kind of beauty that launches ships in their thousands. They have a Charisma score of 25.

Divine Parentage

The Divine Parentage table shows the benefits and disadvantages of having a divine parent.

Parent

Benefit

Hated By

Aphrodite

+2 Charisma

Ares

Apollo

+1 Strength, +1 Charisma

Hermes

characters

There are some Gods and Goddesses who you may not choose as parents, simply because they did not interbreed with mortals, or in some cases with anyone. Athene and Artemis are virgin Goddesses, who have no children by any male, divine or mortal. Hephaestus and Asclepius are also not known to have sired any children.

Divine Boon The character received a single boon from the Gods in the early years of his life, with a concomitant vulnerability. The example here is Achilles, who was almost invulnerable with a single fatal flaw, namely that a blow dealt to the one vulnerable part of his body would kill him. Similar boons are available to players, granting an across-the-board, supernaturally heroic benefit with an accompanying flaw. The Games Master has the final say on which divine boons a player may have, as they represent a level of power that only the key figures of the legends ever had, second only to the Gods themselves. A player may choose from the following four divine boons:

Godlike Accuracy: The character practically never misses a target. They receive a +10 divine bonus to all melee or ranged attack rolls. You must choose at character generation whether the character will excel at melee attacks or ranged attacks.

Ares +1 Strength, +1 Constitution Aphrodite Divine Patronage Demeter +1 Constitution, +1 Charisma Poseidon The character has the Dionysus +1 Wisdom, +1 Charisma Apollo ongoing support of a Hecate +1 Wisdom, +1 Charisma Apollo deity. These favoured individuals receive Hera +1 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity Zeus the ongoing help Hermes +1 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence Apollo and advice of a deity, Invulnerability: The Poseidon +1 Strength, +1 Constitution Demeter while they in turn character is practically Ra +1 Strength, +1 Wisdom Apophis benefit from having immune to damage an agent on the world from weapons and Zeus +2 Strength Hera of mortals. The most other physical sources. readily recognisable Magical sources of character of this kind is Jason, who received the advice and damage such as drain life still affect him normally, as does aid of Hera throughout his Quest for the Golden Fleece. drowning. They are treated as having natural armour that ignores 30 points of damage of any kind and successfully Divine Patronage gives the player the favour of the deity wards off a blow with any Coverage check result other than at the start of the game, see the Religions and Philosophies a 1. The character may of course wear ordinary armour in chapter for more details. This deity need not be the same addition to this. as the one who the player personally follows. The character may communicate with the deity once per level for a period Uncanny Luck: The character is blessed with supernatural of one minute. The deity reserves the right to give the power to avoid misfortune. He benefits from a +5 divine character instructions, such as ‘travel to this land and slay bonus to all saving throws. this monster’. A character with divine patronage is a pawn in the chess games of the Gods, often sent on quests or set Along with a divine boon, the character must choose a tasks as the patron deity requires. If the character has not tragic flaw from the following list: lived up to the deity’s expectations or has angered the deity in any way, assistance may be refused and the disfavour of Vulnerability: The character suffers triple damage from the deity may be earned. any attack that penetrates armour and causes a wound.

15

characters

Friend-Slayer: Whenever the character rolls a 1 on an attack roll, irrespective of whether it is a ranged or melee attack, they have struck a friend. This can only happen if there is an ally within range. If there are no allies, then they strike an innocent bystander with the attack. If there are no innocent bystanders, they strike and wound themselves. Loathed From On High: The character is the subject of the hatred of more than one of the Gods. The Games Master chooses three deities, all of whom despise the character (see Religions and Philosophies). He may do nothing to atone for this, ever and the condition is irreversible. Misfortune: The character brings bad luck and misery to those around him. Any allies within 30 feet of the character suffer a –3 penalty to all saving throws and skill checks. This flaw has no effect on the character themselves.

character classes

Players may select character classes from those listed here. Every class uses certain similar terminology, when reading about the capabilities of each class, keep the following terms in mind.

Hit Die The die type used by characters of the class to determine the number of hit points gained per level. A player rolls one die of the given type each time their character gains a new level. The character’s Constitution modifier is applied to the roll. Add the result to the character’s hit point total. Even if the result is 0 or lower, the character always gains at least one hit point. A 1st level character gets the maximum hit points rather than rolling and their Constitution modifier is still applied.

Class Skills This section of a class description provides a list of class skills, the number of skill points the character starts with at 1st level and those gained each level thereafter. A character’s Intelligence modifier is applied to determine the total number of skill points gained each level. Characters always gain at least one point per level, even for a character with a negative Intelligence modifier. A 1st level character starts with four times the number of skill points they receive upon attaining each level thereafter. The maximum ranks a character can have in a class skill is the character’s level +3.

16

A character can also buy skills from the skill lists of other classes, unless that skill is exclusive to that class, a Greek priest cannot buy skill ranks in Hekau, for example. Each skill point buys a half rank in these cross-class skills and

a character can only buy up to half the maximum ranks of a class skill.

Exclusive Skills Certain skills are exclusive to one class. These are as follows:

 

Hekau is exclusive to Egyptian priests. Witchcraft is exclusive to witches.

Nobody but the designated class may ever gain ranks in these skills, with one exception. A sage can purchase ranks in exclusive skills as cross-class skills as they are broadly educated and have travelled extensively. As a result they may have picked up knowledge that others have never had a chance to acquire.

Class Table This table details how a character improves as they attain higher levels in the class. It includes the following information. Level: The character’s level in the class. Base Attack Bonus: The character’s base attack modifier and number of attacks. Shield Defence Bonus: The character’s base shield defence modifier and number of uses per round, if applicable. Fort Save: The base save modifier for Fortitude saving throws. The character’s Constitution modifier also applies. Ref Save: The base save modifier for Reflex saving throws. The character’s Dexterity modifier also applies. Will Save: The base save modifier for Will saving throws. The character’s Wisdom modifier also applies. Class Features: Level-dependent class features or abilities, each explained in the section that follows.

Class Level Bonuses An attack roll or a saving throw is a combination of three numbers, each representing a different factor: a random element (the number you roll on the d20), a number representing the character’s innate abilities (the ability modifier) and a bonus representing the character’s experience and training. This third factor depends on the character’s class and level. Each class table summarises the figures for this third factor.

Base Attack Bonus Check the table for your character’s class. When making an attack, apply the number from the Base Attack Bonus column to the roll. Use the bonus that corresponds to the Character’s level. Numbers after a slash indicate additional attacks at reduced bonuses: ‘+12/+7/+2’ means that a character of this level makes three attacks per round, with

Experience and Level Dependent Benefits Experience

Class Skill Max Ranks

Cross-Class Skill Max Ranks

Feats

Ability Increases

1st

0

4

2

1st , 2nd

-

2

1,000

5

2.5

-

-

3

3,000

6

3

3

-

4

6,000

7

3.5

-

1st

5th

10,000

8

4

-

-

6th

15,000

9

4.5

4th

-

7

21,000

10

5

-

-

8

th

28,000

11

5.5

-

2nd

9th

36,000

12

6

5th

-

10

45,000

13

6.5

-

-

11

th

55,000

14

7

-

-

12th

66,000

15

7.5

6th

3rd

13

78,000

16

8

-

-

14

91,000

17

8.5

-

15

105,000

18

9

7

-

16

th

120,000

19

9.5

-

4th

17th

136,000

20

10

-

-

18th

153,000

21

10.5

8th

-

19

171,000

22

11

-

-

20

190,000

23

11.5

-

5th

nd rd th

th

th

th th th

th th

a base attack bonus of +12 for the first attack, +7 for the second and +2 for the third. Ability modifiers apply to all these attacks. When a character’s base attack bonus reaches +6, they are entitled to make an extra attack at a +1 base attack bonus. However, if the character’s attack bonus reaches +6 or higher as a result of applying modifiers, no extra attacks are gained. For example, a 6th level thief has a base attack bonus of +4. When using a sling or other ranged weapon, she adds her Dexterity modifier. Even if this increases her attack bonus to +6 or higher, she does not gain an additional attack.

Shield Defence Bonus Warriors and noble warriors receive an increasing bonus to their Shield Defence checks. When making a Shield Defence check, roll 1d20 adding any positive Wisdom modifier as well as the shield’s coverage bonus plus the Shield Defence bonus. If your shield defence bonus contains two figures, such as +6/+1, then you may make two Shield Defence checks per round, the first at the higher bonus and the second at the lower in a similar way to making additional attacks as detailed above.

rd

characters

Character Level

th

Base Save Bonuses Check the table for your character’s class. It lists the base saving throw bonuses for the three types of saves: Fortitude, Reflex and Will. Use the bonuses that correspond to the character’s level to modify these rolls.

Level-Dependent Benefits In addition to attack bonuses and saving throw bonuses, all characters gain other benefits from advancing in level. The following summarises these additional benefits.

Class Features This entry details special characteristics of the class, including bonus feats and unique talents that are gained as a character attains higher levels in the class. Experience: This column shows the experience point total needed to achieve a given character level. As a character accumulates experience points through game play or by Games Master allowance, their level increases to match the one given on this chart. Unless specific campaign rules dictate otherwise, a new level is gained as soon as a character’s experience point total equals or exceeds that level’s threshold.

17

characters

Class Skill Max Ranks: The maximum number of ranks a character can have in a class skill is equal to his character level +3. A class skill is a skill associated with a particular class. Class skills are listed in each class description in this chapter. Cross-Class Skill Max Ranks: For cross-class skills – those skills not associated with a character’s class – the maximum number of ranks is one-half the maximum for a class skill. Maxing out a cross-class skill costs the same amount of points as buying the maximum rank in a class skill. (For example, at 1st level, a character can pay four points for 4 ranks in a class skill or spend the same four points for 2 ranks in a cross-class skill.) The half ranks (.5) indicated on the table don’t improve skill checks; they simply represent partial purchase of the next skill rank and indicate that the character is training to improve that skill. Feats: This column indicates the levels at which a character gains feats (two at 1st level, one more at 3rd level and one more at every three levels thereafter). See the Feats Chapter for feat descriptions. Ability Increases: This column indicates the levels at which a character gains ability score increases. Upon attaining 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th level, a character increases one of their ability scores by one point. The player chooses which ability score to improve. The ability improvement is permanent. Example: Illa, a witch with a starting Charisma of 16, intends to move up the ecclesiastical ladder might wish to improve her Charisma to 17 at 4th level. At 8th level, Illa might improve her Charisma again, from 17 to 18, as this would increase her ability modifier for Charisma to +4.

aristocrat

These noble-blooded politicians achieve their ends through resources, persuasion and movement in the circles of power. Though they are born into their rank, they choose not to invest in armour and weapons. Instead, they devote themselves to rulership and verbal politics. An aristocrat does not fight; she has servants and allies to do that for her. Aristocrats have many roles in the ancient world. They act as ambassadors to other countries or city-states, raise forces to invade their neighbours, fund expeditions, hatch plots and conspire in the circles of power. Aristocrats are the natural spokesmen for a group of characters and often assume a leading role when the group is engaged in social combat. An aristocrat will often go adventuring with a noble warrior of the same family. For example, a female Greek aristocrat might go on a diplomatic mission

18

to a rival city-state with her noble warrior brother as her escort. It is important to distinguish between an aristocrat’s personal wealth and the wealth that she can access. Aristocrats may draw funds or resources from their investments or family holdings, above and beyond any personal fortunes she might have. They do not gain any Reputation bonus from her societal role, even though the amount of money that she could access over the months could exceed the amount necessary to gain a Reputation bonus.

The Aristocrat Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1st

+0

+0

+2

+2

Access Resources

2

+1

+0

+3

+3

Requisition Entourage

3

+1

+1

+3

+3

Diplomatic Significance

4

+2

+1

+4

+4

Authority

5

+2

+1

+4

+4

Evasive +1

6

th

+3

+2

+5

+5

Native Land +1

7th

+3

+2

+5

+5

Aura of Importance

8

+4

+2

+6

+6

Resolute +1

+4

+3

+6

+6

–

10

+5

+3

+7

+7

Evasive +2, Divine Audience

11

+5

+3

+7

+7

–

12

th

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

Native Land +2

13th

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

–

14

+7/+2

+4

+9

+9

Resolute +2

15

+7/+2

+5

+9

+9

Evasive +3

16

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

Voice of Command

17

th

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

–

18th

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

Native Land +3

19

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

–

20

+10/+5

+6

+12

+12

Evasive +4, Majesty, Resolute +3

nd rd th th

th

9

th th th

th th th

th th

Each aristocrat is part of a household or organisation of some sort. The player must specify what this is. The household may, for example, be that of a wealthy family or a royal personage. The organisation may be the government of a Greek city-state or an extended alliance of Egyptian nobles. Marrying well is very important for an aristocrat. All characters start the game unmarried; there is an especial pressure on an aristocrat character to find a husband or wife of suitable background. Examples of aristocrats from the myths include the Grand Vizier of Luxor, King Aeetes, King Minos, Hecuba, Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. Deity: Any. Aristocrats who are also governors follow Zeus, Athene or Ra. Hit Die: d4.

Class Skills The aristocrat’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Debate (Int), Forgery (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Presence (Cha), Prayer (Wis), Profession (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), Ride (Dex) and Rhetoric (Cha).

characters

Level

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the aristocrat. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: An aristocrat is proficient with all simple weapons and one martial weapon of her choice. She is not proficient with armour or with shields. Access Resources: The aristocrat may draw upon an assured supply of wealth. Alone of all the character classes, the aristocrat does not need to adventure to gain riches. Once per month, an aristocrat may garner funds from his family’s holdings of 2d6x10 silver drachmas. Requisition Entourage: From 2nd level onwards, the aristocrat may requisition slaves, warriors and noble warriors allied to her house, region or city-state. See the table below for details of how big an entourage the aristocrat can request. Modifiers: Several factors can affect an aristocrats ability to requisition an entourage, causing it to vary from the base Requisition score (Character level + Cha modifier).

19

characters

A character’s reputation (from the point of view of those she is trying to attract) raises or lowers her Requisition score: Aristocrat’s Reputation

Modifier

Great renown

+2

Fairness and generosity

+1

Special power

+1

Failure

–1

Aloofness

–1

Cruelty

–2

The Aristocrat . . .

Modifier

Has a stronghold, base of operations, guildhouse, or the like

+2

Moves around a lot

–1

Has caused the death of other entourage members

–2*

Requisition Score: An aristocrat’s base Requisition score equals her level plus any Charisma modifier. In order to take into account negative Charisma modifiers, this table allows for very low Requisition scores. Outside factors can also affect the aristocrat’s Requisition score, as detailed above. Level: The aristocrat can requisition a slave, warrior or noble warrior of up to this level. The Games Master has the final say on which is assigned to the character. Regardless of a character’s Requisition score, she can only recruit a warrior or noble warrior who is two or more levels lower than herself. The entourage member should be equipped with gear appropriate for its class and level. The entourage member does not count as a party member when determining their experience points. Entourage members earn experience points as follows:

* Cumulative per entourage member killed.

20

When the aristocrat tries to recruit an entourage, use any of the following modifiers that apply.

Requisition Score

Level

1st

—— Slave Numbers by Level —— 2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

1 or lower

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

2

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

3

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

4

3

—

—

—

—

—

—

5

3

rd

—

—

—

—

—

—

6

4th

—

—

—

—

—

—

7

5

th

—

—

—

—

—

—

8

5th

—

—

—

—

—

—

9

6

—

—

—

—

—

—

10

7

th

5

—

—

—

—

—

11

7th

6

—

—

—

—

—

12

8

8

—

—

—

—

—

13

9

10

1

—

—

—

—

14

10

15

1

—

—

—

—

15

10

20

2

1

—

—

—

16

11

th

25

2

1

—

—

—

17

12th

30

3

1

1

—

—

18

12

35

3

1

1

—

—

19

13

40

4

2

1

1

—

20

14

50

5

3

2

1

—

21

15

th

60

6

3

2

1

1

22

15th

75

7

4

2

2

1

23

16th

90

9

5

3

2

1

24

17

110

11

6

3

2

1

25 or higher

17

135

13

7

4

2

2

st nd rd

th

th th th th

th th th

th th



Divide the entourage member’s level by that of the aristocrat with whom they are associated.



Multiply this result by the total experience points awarded to the aristocrat and add that number of experience points to the entourage member’s total.



If an entourage member gains enough experience points to bring it to a level one lower than that of the aristocrat, the entourage member does not gain the new level – its new experience points total is one less than the amount needed attain the next level.

Slave Numbers by Level: The aristocrat can also requisition up to the indicated number of slaves of each level. Slaves are similar to warriors and noble warriors, except that they are generally low-level Non-Player Characters. Because they’re generally five or more levels lower than the aristocrat they follow, they are rarely effective in combat. Slaves do not earn experience and thus don’t gain levels. However, when the aristocrat attains a new level, the player consults the table above to determine if she has acquired more slaves, some of which may be higher level than the her existing entourage.

Authority: At 4th level, the aristocrat begins to acquire the steely tone of voice and steady eye that characterises a person who is used to being obeyed. She benefits from a +2 competence bonus to all Bluff and Presence checks. Evasive: The aristocrat learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As she is not a combatant by nature, she has to make sure that she can survive if combat should find her. She receives the indicated bonus to all Active Defence checks. Native Land: The aristocrat has ties with her native land that steel her against the magic of foreigners and the followers of other Gods. As a noble, she has a bond to the earth that others do not. Aristocrats are ultimately protectors of their land and their land protects them in turn. When an aristocrat is on her native soil, she becomes resistant to the magical effects of those who are not themselves native to that region. She benefits from the indicated bonus to saving throws against such effects. ‘Region’ is here defined as ‘city-state’ or ‘home province’ for a Greek character. For an Egyptian character, the ‘native region’ is extended to all of Egypt. Aura of Importance: The aristocrat is now self-evidently a person of power and influence, so much so that lesser characters find it hard to countenance the idea of harming her. Any character of lower level than the aristocrat must succeed at a Will saving throw in order to attack her at all. If a character fails their saving throw, they cannot summon up the courage to attack the aristocrat. The DC of the saving throw is 10 plus the aristocrat’s level of experience. The saving throw may be made afresh with each passing round. Only other human beings are affected by the aura of importance, animals and undead creatures have no such compunctions about attacking such individuals and are not affected by this ability. Resolute: As the aristocrat’s power grows, so too does her confidence. It becomes harder to unseat her by appealing to the Gods. The most entrenched of aristocrats come to consider themselves ‘as constant as the northern star’, coming dangerously close to risking the ire of the Gods with their faith in their own powers. The aristocrat with this feature gains indicated bonus to Prayer checks made

in concert with spending divine points, whether to oppose another’s attempt to reduce her own die rolls or to reduce those of another. Divine Audience: The aristocrat is a figure of influence in the mortal world, which makes her very interesting to the Gods. She may open a direct channel to her deity. So long as the aristocrat is not in disfavour with her deity, she may take an automatic result of 20 on a single Prayer check once per day. If playing a less mythic setting, Games Masters may prefer to represent this ability by replacing the deity with the ear of a powerful public figure. Doing so grants the aristocrat an automatic result of 20 once per day to any single Presence check. Voice of Command: The aristocrat’s inherent authority strengthens as she gains experience. The competence bonus she gains to Bluff and Presence checks is now +4.

characters

Diplomatic Significance: An aristocrat of 3rd level is recognised as a person of importance by aristocrats of other city-states or countries. This is a campaign detail rather than a game benefit. If the aristocrat is injured, captured or killed, there will automatically be reprisals. An aristocrat who has earned diplomatic significance can expect her household or city-state to look for her if she goes missing, rescue her if she gets into trouble and bail her out if she should run into trouble with the law.

Majesty: Only those who become kings and queens of legend gain this ability. The character’s aura of importance has developed to mythic proportions. An aristocrat with majesty has such presence that lesser characters fear to approach her, let alone attack him. A character who attempts to attack the aristocrat and fails their saving throw may not simply try again next round. Instead, they are stricken with panic for 1d6 rounds plus the aristocrat’s Charisma ability score modifier. A panicked character drops whatever they are holding and flees as fast as they can go away from the source of their fear, avoiding obstacles in the way. They can take no other actions and suffer a –2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks and ability score checks. If a panicked character is cornered, they cower and will use the total defence option if forced to fight.

artificer

The artificers are the inventors of the ancient world, learned and creative men who create some of the most memorable and enduring structures of legend. They marry ingenuity and patient experimentation to create weapons and armour that are not only beautifully, but specially crafted, balanced and shaped to suit the requirements of one and only one user. The most famous of artificers was Dedalus, who built the labyrinth of Crete for King Minos. An artificer is essentially a craftsman with a gift for creating incredible things. It is not so much the quality of his work as its creativity that is the key to the artificer’s skill. Master craftsmen can produce items of astounding beauty and precision, but only an artificer can make a wondrous construct or a truly unique bow.

21

The Artificer Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1

st

+0

+0

+0

+2

Artifice, Evasive +1, Make Plans

2nd

+1

+0

+0

+3

–

3

+1

+1

+1

+3

–

4

+2

+1

+1

+4

–

5

+2

+1

+1

+4

Evasive +2

6

+3

+2

+2

+5

–

7

th

+3

+2

+2

+5

–

8th

+4

+2

+2

+6

–

+4

+3

+3

+6

–

10

+5

+3

+3

+7

Evasive +3

11

+5

+3

+3

+7

–

12

th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

–

13th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

–

14

+7/+2

+4

+4

+9

–

15

+7/+2

+5

+5

+9

Evasive +4

16

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

–

17

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

–

18

th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

–

19th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

–

20

+10/+5

+6

+6

+12

Evasive +5

characters

rd th th th

9

th th th

th th th th

th

Artificers who can build the more outlandish mechanical wonders belong entirely in mythic games. Their abilities rely on the laws of physics operating differently to the way they work in the real world. No craftsman of history could genuinely create wings that let a man fly too close to the sun. An artificer in a historical game would be able to build marvellous weapons and armour and create such mechanical wonders as the Archimedes screw or a bronzeage crane, but would not be able to build bronze men that walked and talked. The Games Master must be the final arbiter of what a given artificer in a historical campaign may build. The best approach is to limit historical artificers to what logically could have been achieved by a craftsman at the time. Wings might not be allowable but a primitive hang-glider could certainly have been designed and built, as could a very basic diving bell.

22

Class Skills The artificer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (any) (Int), Debate (Int), Forgery (Int), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Wis) and Solve Conundrum (Int). Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the artificer. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: An artificer is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield.

Artificers specialise in the Craft skills, repairing and improving armour and weapons as well as making enchanted items and can even create constructs. What the sage is to Knowledge skills, the artificer is to Craft skills.

Evasive: The artificer learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As he is not a combatant by nature, he has to make sure that he can survive if combat should find him. He receives the indicated bonus to all Active Defence checks.

Deity: Usually Hephaestus or Ptah. Hit Die: d6.

Artifice: Artifice is the ability whereby these legendary inventors of the ancient world created their marvels. You can design plans from which marvellous items and personalised pieces of equipment can be built. These

designs ensure an artificer’s creations can feasibly be realised.

Artificers often live in a state of servitude to monarchs as resident designers and inventors. They are little more than prisoners, although they are always well looked after and treated with respect. These artificers are expected to build up a stockpile of plans, from which the kingdom’s other, lesser artificers can work. Such plans are important military secrets and are kept under careful guard. To a monarch of the ancient world, a talented artificer is a research scientist who can win wars for him. Famous artificers are therefore often hesitant to reveal themselves as such, in case they should be hauled off to do ‘important private work’ for one despot or another.

characters

Make Plans: If – and only if – an artificer is literate, he can prepare plans as he creates a marvellous item or a mechanical wonder. Having plans to hand means that he can create a similar item more easily in future. Using plans gives an artificer a +2 insight bonus into any Craft skill checks that he might need to make in order to build his creation. Artificers can also work from each others’ plans, so long as they can decipher them; artificers’ plans are notoriously abstruse, full of shorthand notes and scrawlings that only the artificer himself can easily understand, despite his protestations that it is all perfectly simple. If

the artificer who created the plans is not present to explain them, a Solve Conundrum skill check at DC 20 is needed to understand them.

Only another artificer can use an artificer’s plans. Ordinary craftsmen simply cannot make the plans work, no matter how hard they try. They are lacking that essential spark of creative genius mingled with insanity that allows the artificer to perform his feats of invention. As artificers are so scarce and have no means of passing on their insights other than to each other, there are many incredible inventions of the ancient world whose secrets are doomed to be lost. This is, of course, exactly what happened and nobody is quite certain how some of the engineering marvels of the ancient world were achieved. This region of historical uncertainty gives players and Games Masters a good deal of freedom when artificers are dreaming up their inventions. There is no reason why an artificer should not invent gunpowder, the hot air balloon or the submarine centuries before these discoveries were accessible to the other civilisations of the world. Such innovations are limited to the lifespan of their creator and, therefore, will not change the course of human history.

Bard Friezes in Greece and Egypt alike depict bards, musicians of supreme skill roaming freely between the cities and earning a living from their talents or engaged in service to the nobility or military. Ancient cultures understood the power of music on the battlefield and a Greek phalanx would have an accompanying bard who would sing inspiring songs for the warriors. Spartans, on the other hand disdained song but understood the value of percussion, so their bards beat drums to raise the spirits of their warriors and to keep them marching in time. The musicians of the ancient world use music to serve their Gods. Music not only has magical powers in its own right, it assists magical activities such as use of the Prayer skill. Such bards as the legendary Orpheus can play music so powerful as to lull dragons to sleep.

23

characters

Bards are the heralds and messengers of the ancient world, travelling from city to city, bringing with them gossip, song and the legends of civilisation. Each bard can hold in his memory many thousands of verses and it needs to be. The tales of old are always learned by rote and very rarely written down, as writing is still a comparatively rare skill. Deity: Usually Apollo, Dionysus, Bastet or Hathor. Hit Die: d6.

Class Skills The bard’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Debate (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (n/a), Rhetoric (Cha), Swim (Str) and Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the bard. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A bard is proficient with all simple weapons and one martial weapon of his choice. He is not proficient with armour or shields.

these abilities fall under the category of bardic music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, playing an instrument or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance. Each ability requires both a minimum bard level and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill to use. If a bard does not have the required number of ranks in at least one Perform skill, he may not use the bardic music ability until he acquires the needed ranks. Utilising a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Fascinate: A bard with three or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poems to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard and able to pay attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creature. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability.

To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to Bardic Knowledge: A bard fascinate that creature again Bardic Knowledge DC’s may make a special bardic for 24 hours. If its saving DC Type of Knowledge knowledge check with a throw fails, the creature bonus equal to his bard 10 Common, known by a substantial number sits quietly and listens to level plus his Intelligence of the populace, such as common and local the song, taking no other modifier to see whether legends. actions, for as long as the he can recall some relevant bard continues to play 20 Uncommon but available, known by only a information about local and concentrate (up to a few people. notables, legendary items maximum of one round 25 Obscure or hard to come by, known by few. or places. If the bard per bard level). While has five or more ranks in 30 Extremely obscure, known by very few, fascinated, a target takes a Knowledge (history), he possibly forgotten by most who once -4 penalty on skill checks gains a +2 synergy bonus knew it or known only by those who do made as reactions, such as on this check. not understand the significance of the Listen and Spot checks. knowledge. Any potential threat A successful bardic requires the bard to make knowledge check will not another Perform check and reveal the powers of a divine item but may give a hint as allows the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to its deity of origin. A bard may not take 10 or take 20 to the new Perform check result. on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, Bardic Music: Once per day per bard level, a bard can use casting a spell or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, his song or poems to reproduce magical effects on those automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is a bewitchment around him, often including himself, if desired. While (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.

24

The Bard Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

1st

+0

+0

+2

+2

Bardic music, Bardic Knowledge, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1

2nd

+1

+0

+3

+3

Song of Devotion +1

3rd

+2

+1

+3

+3

Inspire Competence

4th

+3

+1

+4

+4

5th

+3

+1

+4

+4

Evasive +1

6th

+4

+2

+5

+5

Dominate Will

7th

+5

+2

+5

+5

Song of Pleading

8th

+6/+1

+2

+6

+6

Inspire Courage +2, Song of Devotion +2

9th

+6/+1

+3

+6

+6

Inspire Greatness

10th

+7/+2

+3

+7

+7

Evasive +2

11th

+8/+3

+3

+7

+7

12th

+9/+4

+4

+8

+8

13th

+9/+4

+4

+8

+8

14th

+10/+5

+4

+9

+9

Inspire Courage +3, Song of Devotion +3

15th

+11/+6/+1

+5

+9

+9

Inspire Heroics, Evasive +3

16th

+12/+7/+2

+5

+10

+10

17th

+12/+7/+2

+5

+10

+10

Song of Slumber

18th

+13/+8/+3

+6

+11

+11

Mass Domination

19th

+14/+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

20th

+15/+10/+5

+6

+12

+12

Song of Devotion: A bard of 2nd level or higher with four or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poems to assist another person’s religious observances. To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing. The effect lasts for as long as the bard continues singing. All Prayer checks made by allies of the bard who can hear him sing are made at a +1 morale bonus. At 8th level and every six levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th and +4 at 20th). The Song of Devotion is a mindaffecting ability.

–

characters

Inspire Courage: A bard with three or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poems to inspire courage in his allies, including himself, bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can hear the bard’s song and for five rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 8th level and every six levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th and +4 at 20th). Inspire Courage is a mind-affecting ability.

Special

– Song of Freedom –

–

– Inspire Courage +4, Evasive +4, Song of Devotion +4

Inspire Competence: A bard of 3rd level or higher with six or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poems to help an ally succeed at a task. The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard. The bard must also be able to see the ally. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with one particular skill, to be determined before any rolls are made, as long as they can hear the bard’s music. Certain uses of this ability are infeasible. The effect lasts as long as the bard concentrates, up to a maximum of two minutes. A bard cannot inspire competence in himself. Inspire Competence is a mind-affecting ability. Dominate Will: A bard of 6th level or higher with nine or more ranks in a Perform skill can dominate the will (as the spell, see pg. 167) of a creature that he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not break the bard’s concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect. Dominating another’s will does not count against a bard’s daily limit on bardic music performances.

25

characters

A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 bard’s level + bard’s Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature (but see Mass Domination, below). Dominate Will is a bewitchment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language dependent ability. Song of Pleading: A bard of 7th level or above with 10 or more ranks in a Perform skill can play his music so as to move a person’s heart and persuade them to grant the bard’s request. This is done on such occasions as making an appeal for mercy on another person’s behalf, petitioning a ruler to let a captive go free or begging a conqueror to show mercy. The most spectacular use of this class feature was when Orpheus successfully used his music to persuade grim

Hades to let the shade of Euridyce leave the underworld and have a second chance at life. The bard makes a Perform skill check to represent his petition, to which he also adds his Rhetoric skill ranks as a circumstance bonus. The total is then treated as if it were the result of a Rhetoric skill check. Inspire Greatness: A bard of 9th level or higher with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poems to inspire greatness in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting them extra fighting capability. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 9th, he can target one additional ally with a single use of this ability (two at 12th level, three at 15th, four at 18th). To inspire greatness, a bard must sing and an ally must hear his song. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for five rounds thereafter. A creature inspired with greatness gains (2d10 + the character’s Constitution modifier) temporary hit points, a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves. Inspire Greatness is a mind-affecting ability. Song of Freedom: A bard of 12th level or higher with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poems to free a single creature from the effects of a single magical effect. The bard must succeed a Perform check the DC of which is equal to the casting roll of the being who originally enchanted the target creature. Using this ability requires one minute of uninterrupted concentration and music and functions only on a single enchantment placed on a target within 30 feet. A bard cannot use Song of Freedom on himself. Inspire Heroics: A bard of 15th level or higher with 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poems to inspire tremendous heroism in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet. For every three bard levels the character attains beyond 15th, he can inspire heroics in one additional creature. To inspire heroics, a bard must sing and an ally must hear the bard sing for a full round. A creature so inspired gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to Active Defence. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for up to five rounds thereafter. Inspire Heroics is a mind-affecting ability.

26

Song of Slumber: A bard must be of 17th level or higher with 20 or more ranks in a Perform skill to use this ability. The bard may use soothing music and/or song to lull a creature to sleep. The creature must first be fascinated by the bard’s performance. For every round that the bard continues playing, the creature must make additional saving throws against the music’s effect. As soon as it fails, it falls into an enchanted sleep where it remains for as long as the bard continues to play. The creature automatically wakes 1d4+1 rounds after the music ceases.

Mass Domination: This ability functions as Dominate Will, above, except that a bard of 18th level or higher with 21 or more ranks in a Perform skill can simultaneously dominate the will of any number of creatures that he has already fascinated (see above). Mass Dominate is a bewitchment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language-dependent ability.

courtesan

One of the few roles available to women, the courtesan is a trained companion to men, whose skills are ostensibly dedicated to providing men with pleasure and relaxation. As well as this socially prized function, courtesans are expert information gatherers, manipulating those less intelligent than themselves and engaging in intrigue. Courtesans in the ancient world often took on the role of spies and tactical seducers. Some may even function as assassins. The Greek hetaera is an elite courtesan, specially trained to be expert not only in the amatory practices but also in the other arts of civilisation. A hetaera is far from being a mere prostitute; she is more akin to a classical version of the geisha. In the ancient world, hetaera are exclusively female and a product of the Greek civilisation, but a Games Master who wished to broaden the definitions – at the expense of historical accuracy – could allow characters with other backgrounds to take the class. Deity: Usually Aphrodite or Hecate. Hit Die: d6.

Class Skills The Courtesan’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Debate (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Presence (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (n/a), Rhetoric (Cha) and Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the courtesan. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A courtesan is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield.

Exhaust: The courtesan is especially good at wearing down the physical strength of those with whom she has intimate relations. This ability is used slyly in order to weaken people, such as making sure that a person stays asleep for a long time, sapping the energy of a warrior before a fight or lowering a person’s defences prior to an assassination attempt. The target of an exhaust effect must make a Fortitude saving throw after spending private time with the courtesan (the DC is 10 plus the courtesan’s level plus her Dexterity modifier) or become exhausted. If he successfully saves, he is fatigued. Note that this ability may only be used if the target is willingly submitting to the courtesan’s embraces. It cannot be imposed forcibly. The courtesan must also make a Fortitude saving throw against DC 10 or become fatigued herself.

characters

Evasive: The bard learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As he is not a combatant by nature, he has to make sure that he can survive if combat should find him. He receives the indicated bonus to all Active Defence checks.

Evasive: The courtesan learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As she is not a combatant by nature, she has to make sure that she can survive if combat should find her. She receives a bonus of the degree indicated to all Active Defence checks.

An exhausted character moves at half speed and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity; after an hour of complete rest, he becomes fatigued. A fatigued character cannot run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength, Dexterity and Shield Defence. Crippling Blow: The courtesan’s familiarity with tender spots in the male body allows her to make an unarmed attack that deals a large amount of non-lethal damage. If the courtesan makes a successful unarmed attack of which none of the damage is obstructed by armour or a shield, then she may add the additional dice of non-lethal damage shown. Sneak Attack: If a courtesan can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage. The courtesan’s attack deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to Active Defence (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not) or when the courtesan flanks her target. Should the courtesan score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks cannot count as sneak attacks for courtesans. Fascinating Dance: A courtesan of 5th level or above has the power to cause one or more male onlookers to become fascinated with her, by performing a beguiling dance. Each person to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the courtesan, interested in women in principle, which not all males are, especially in Classical Greece, and able to pay attention to her. The courtesan must also be able to see her targets. The distraction of a nearby

27

characters

combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. The courtesan may target one person per courtesan level. To use the ability, a courtesan makes a Perform (dance) check. If the courtesan has five or more ranks in her Presence Skill she gains a +2 synergy bonus to this check. Her check result is the DC for each affected person’s Will saving throw against the effect. If an observer’s saving throw succeeds, the courtesan cannot attempt to fascinate that person again for 24 hours. If his saving throw fails, the creature enthusiastically watches the dance, taking no other actions other than to cheer and clap, for as long as the courtesan continues to dance and concentrate, up to a maximum of one minute per courtesan level. While fascinated, a target takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat requires the courtesan to make another Perform or Presence check and allows the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to the new check result. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinating Dance is a bewitchment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.

Extract Information: Courtesans are able to do interesting things to men’s minds as well as their bodies, teasing their secrets out of them without them even realising. A courtesan may attempt to extract information that her target would otherwise have kept secret. To do this, she makes a Presence check opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check for each piece of information that she is trying to extract. Success indicates that the target reveals the information, thinking that there is no harm in it. Failure means that he does not reveal the information and becomes suspicious of the courtesan’s duplicity. If the target is off guard, such as in a state of intoxication or dreamy reverie, he makes his check at a –2 penalty. Assist Recovery: Courtesans were employed to boost the spirits of weary soldiers and aid the recovery of those who have been wounded. A courtesan can help sick or ill people to hold on to life. The ministrations of a courtesan add a +2 circumstance bonus to any Medicine check made to tend grievous wounds or help a person recover from disease. Death Attack: Having had plenty of chances to study men when they are off their guard, the courtesan now knows how to kill with a single stroke. If the courtesan studies

The Courtesan Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1

st

+0

+0

+2

+2

Evasive +1, Exhaust

2nd

+1

+0

+3

+3

Crippling Blow +1d4

3

+1

+1

+3

+3

Sneak Attack +1d6

4

+2

+1

+4

+4

–

5

+2

+1

+4

+4

Fascinating Dance

6

+3

+2

+5

+5

Crippling Blow +2d4

7

th

+3

+2

+5

+5

Extract Information

8th

+4

+2

+6

+6

Evasive +2

+4

+3

+6

+6

Sneak Attack +2d6

10

+5

+3

+7

+7

Crippling Blow +3d4

11

+5

+3

+7

+7

Assist Recovery

12

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

–

13

th

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

Death Attack

14th

+7/+2

+4

+9

+9

Crippling Blow +4d4

15

+7/+2

+5

+9

+9

Sneak Attack +3d6

16

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

Evasive +3

17

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

Under The Thumb

18

th

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

Crippling Blow +5d4

19th

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

–

20

+10/+5

+6

+12

+12

Withering Scorn

rd th th th

9

th th th th

th th th

th

28

Under The Thumb: The courtesan can cause a male to fall in love with her through guile, mental manipulation and physical ability. This ability can only be used on a person who is voluntarily engaging in intimacies with the courtesan. When the courtesan targets a willing subject with this ability, they must make a Will saving throw against a DC equal to 10 plus the courtesan’s level plus her Charisma modifier after every visit. Once they have failed three such saving throws in a row, they fall completely in love and act accordingly. Only the most irrefutable of evidence of the courtesan’s lack of genuine feelings for the target can change their mind.

characters

completely helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus one round per level of the courtesan class. If the victim’s saving throw succeeds, the attack is resolved as a normal sneak attack. Once the courtesan has completed the three rounds of study, she must make the death attack within the next three rounds. If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes his saving throw) or if the courtesan does not attempt the attack within the three rounds of completing the study, the courtesan must start this manoeuvre again.

Withering Scorn: Courtesans know how to build up the male ego and they also know how to crush it like an eggshell. The courtesan may insult a male character as a standard action. Unless he makes a Will saving throw (DC equal to 10 plus the courtesan’s level plus her Charisma ability modifier) he suffers humiliation and despair, giving him a –4 morale penalty to all skill checks and saving throws for 1d10+Charisma modifier days.

egyptian priest

The mysterious priests and priestesses of Egypt learn the skill of Hekau or Egyptian magic, as well as the rites of prayer. They are able to produce magical effects, craft scarabs and engrave tablets with mystic powers, as well as calling down the wrath or blessing of their Gods. As with their Greek equivalents, they are affiliated with a particular temple of their deity. her victim for three rounds and then makes a successful sneak attack with a melee weapon that deals damage, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralysing or killing the target; the courtesan chooses which. While studying her victim, the courtesan may take other actions (such as flirting or dancing) so long as her attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect or recognise the courtesan as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails his Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + the courtesan’s level + the courtesan’s Intelligence modifier) against the fatal version of this death attack, they die. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim’s mind and body become enervated, rendering him

Egyptian priests are also charged with the onerous responsibility of embalming the dead and making sure that their remains are interred with proper ceremony. The dead must be carefully tended to or the soul (ka) of the deceased will suffer. In OGL Ancients, this is not merely a superstitious belief, it is a fact of life. See Death and Beyond for a description of how these beliefs work in game terms. All Egyptian priests begin play with a consecrated image or symbol of their deity. See the Magic chapter for more details on these items.

29

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

characters

PRIESTS OF ANHUR also have Ride (Dex) and Presence (Cha) as class skills. PRIESTS OF ANUBIS also have Survival (Cha) and Search (Wis) as class skills. PRIESTS OF APOPHIS also have Move Silently (Dex) and Hide (Dex) as class skills. PRIESTS OF BASTET also have Tumble (Dex) and Perform (Cha) as class skills. PRIESTS OF HATHOR also have Presence (Cha) and Perform (Cha) as class skills. PRIESTS OF HORUS also have Presence (Cha) and Knowledge (strategy and tactics) as a class skill. PRIESTS OF ISIS also have Medicine (Int) and Knowledge (architecture and engineering) as a class skill. PRIESTS OF PTAH also have Craft (any) and Knowledge (architecture and engineering) as class skills. PRIESTS OF RA also have Presence (Cha) and Rhetoric (Cha) as class skills. PRIESTS OF SET also have Survival (Wis) and Sense Motive (Wis) as class skills. PRIESTS OF THOTH also have Debate (Int) and Knowledge (mysteries) as class skills. PRIESTS OF WEPWAWET also have Survival (Wis) and Knowledge (nature) as a class skill.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the Egyptian priest. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: An Egyptian priest is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield. Literate: Egyptian priests receive the Literate feat free at 1st level. They learn to read and inscribe Egyptian hieroglyphs. Request Miracle: An Egyptian priest may use the Prayer skill to petition his deity for miracles. See the Magic chapter for more information on this use of the Prayer skill.

Deity: Any Egyptian. Hit Die: d4.

Class Skills The Egyptian Priest’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Heal (Wis), Hekau (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion, Egyptian) (Int), Listen (Wis) and Prayer (Wis).

30

Cast Hekau Spell: At 3rd level, the Egyptian priest learns how to use the skill of hekau to produce magical effects. See the Magic chapter for details. Lower Casting Cost: The Egyptian priest gains an increasing mastery of spellcasting. At 10th level, it costs an Egyptian priest 25% less than the stated amount to cast any spell with Prayer. The cost to sustain a spell remains the same. Only the initial casting becomes easier. When an Egyptian priest reaches 20th level, the cost to cast any spell for him is 50% less than the stated amount.

The Egyptian Priest Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1st

+0

+0

+0

+2

Request Miracle, Literate

2nd

+1

+0

+0

+3

–

3rd

+1

+1

+1

+3

Cast Hekau Spell

4th

+2

+1

+1

+4

–

5th

+2

+1

+1

+4

–

6th

+3

+2

+2

+5

–

7th

+3

+2

+2

+5

–

8th

+4

+2

+2

+6

–

9th

+4

+3

+3

+6

–

10th

+5

+3

+3

+7

Lower Casting Cost –25%

11th

+5

+3

+3

+7

–

12th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

–

13th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

–

14th

+7/+2

+4

+4

+9

–

15th

+7/+2

+5

+5

+9

–

16th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

–

17th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

–

18th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

–

19th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

–

20th

+10/+5

+6

+6

+12

Lower Casting Cost -50%

greek priest

Class Skills

The priest or priestess of any of the Olympian deities focuses on the use of the Prayer skill, the making of necessary sacrifices and the interpretation of the will of the Gods. Such characters are vital for ensuring the success of a venture, as to offend the Gods is to invite chaos. The priesthood is essential to ancient Greek society, as the Gods are believed to watch the deeds of mankind constantly.

The Greek Priest’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion, Greek) (Int), Listen (Wis), Prayer (Wis) and Rhetoric (Cha).

Each priest or priestess is affiliated to a temple. They are expected to take part in rituals of worship, accept sacrifices from worshippers and defend the faith from the assaults of foreigners or even from those who follow other deities, should their interests clash. Travelling priests must make sure that their deities are properly propitiated when they need to be. See the Sacrifice section in the Religions and Philosophies chapter for more details.

PRIESTS OF APHRODITE also have Bluff (Cha) and Presence (Cha) as class skills. PRIESTS OF APOLLO also have Climb (Str) and Jump (Str) as class skills. PRIESTS OF ARES also have Knowledge (tactics & strategy) as a class skill. PRIESTS OF ARTEMIS also have Survival (Wis) and Ride (Dex) as class skills. PRIESTS OF ATHENA also have Debate (Int) and Sense Motive (Wis) as class skills. PRIESTS OF ASCLEPIUS and Hera also have Medicine (Int) as a class skill. PRIESTS OF DEMETER also have Knowledge (nature) (Int) as a class skill. PRIESTS OF HECATE also have Craft (Herbalism) (Int) and Hide (Dex) as class skills.

All Greek priests begin play with a consecrated image or symbol of their deity. See the Magic chapter for more details on these items. Deity: Any Greek. Hit Die: d6.

characters

Level

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

31

characters

PRIESTS OF HEPHAESTUS also have Craft (any) and Knowledge (architecture and engineering) as class skills. PRIESTS OF HERMES also have Bluff (Cha) and Disguise (Cha) as class skills. PRIESTS OF POSEIDON also have Ride (Dex) and Swim (Str) as class skills. PRIESTS OF ZEUS also have Presence (Cha) and Search (Wis) as class skills.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the Greek priest. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A Greek priest is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield. Literate: Greek priests receive the Literate feat free at 1st level. They learn to read and inscribe their own language. Request Miracle: A Greek priest may use the Prayer skill to petition his deity for miracles. See the Magic chapter for more information on this use of the Prayer skill. Free Miracle: Upon reaching 4th level, the Greek priest is allowed to appeal his deity for one ‘free’ miracle a day. This miracle does not increase the DC of the next miracle for which the priest appeals, whether or not it is successful. Ordinarily, a successful miracle raises the DC of the next miracle that day by +2 and a failed miracle raises the DC of the next miracle by +1. A free miracle is, however, subject to the DC modifier incurred by previous appeals that day. The Greek priest is entitled to a further free miracle per day at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th level.

noble warrior

A class only available to those of noble birth, the noble warrior benefits from courtly training as well as military discipline. Noble warriors are expected to be heroes in the truly classic sense. They crave glory on the battlefield, testing their mettle against worthy foes and spurning those that they consider to be beneath them. To a noble warrior, a battle is a blessed chance to seek out an equally famous enemy and challenge him to single combat. In mythic battles, such as those recorded in the siege of Troy, the clash of champions would decide who won the day, rather than having ranks of warriors fighting with each other. Many ordinary warriors prefer the heroic ideal of combat, as it means that there is less wastage of life. The nobles settle the matter between themselves in single combat and the rank and file do not need to be committed to the fray. Noble warriors have the best in armour and equipment because they can afford to. Coming from a noble background means that you can invest in a good bronze corselet and a helm instead of a set of stiff leather bands. This link between independent wealth and equipment quality is the main reason why the noble warrior exists as a character class at all. Aristocrats place nobles into positions of military responsibility because they have the tools to do the job, whether they have the skills or not.

32

The Greek Priest Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1

+0

+0

+2

+2

Literate, Request Miracle

2

+1

+0

+3

+3

–

3

+2

+1

+3

+3

–

4

+3

+1

+4

+4

Free Miracle

5

th

+3

+1

+4

+4

–

6th

+4

+2

+5

+5

–

7

+5

+2

+5

+5

–

8

+6/+1

+2

+6

+6

Free Miracle

+6/+1

+3

+6

+6

–

10

+7/+2

+3

+7

+7

–

11

th

+8/+3

+3

+7

+7

–

12th

+9/+4

+4

+8

+8

Free Miracle

13

+9/+4

+4

+8

+8

–

14

+10/+5

+4

+9

+9

–

15

+11/+6/+1

+5

+9

+9

–

16

+12/+7/+2

+5

+10

+10

Free Miracle

17

th

+12/+7/+2

+5

+10

+10

–

18th

+13/+8/+3

+6

+11

+11

–

19

+14/+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

–

20

+15/+10/+5

+6

+12

+12

Free Miracle

st nd rd th

th th

9

th th

th th th th

th th

The noble warrior is expected to be a leader of men as well as a fighter. Their background means that noble warriors have fewer practical skills than ordinary warriors, as they are accustomed to paying their way rather than roughing it; consequently, they are not used to fending for themselves. Examples of noble warriors from history would be Achilles, Theseus, Agamemnon and Hector. Deity: Greek: Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Hera, Zeus. Egyptian: Anhur, Horus, Ra, Wepwawet, Sekhmet, Set, Apophis. Hit Die: d10.

Class Skills The noble warrior’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Debate (Int), Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Presence (Cha), Rhetoric (Cha), Ride (Dex) and Swim (Str). Skill Points at 1st Level: (4+Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4+ Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the noble warrior.

characters

Level

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A noble warrior is proficient with all simple weapons, light armour, medium armour, heavy armour and shields. He is proficient with one or more martial weapons, as determined by his background. The weapon specifications for warriors in the backgrounds above apply equally to noble warriors. Bonus Feats: At 1st level, a noble warrior gets a bonus combat-oriented feat. The noble warrior gains an additional bonus feat at 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th level. These bonus feats must be drawn from the following list: Blind-Fight, Cleave, Chariot Combat, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Combat Sense, Deflect Projectile, Dodge, Far Shot, Great Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialisation, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical, Improved Decapitate, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Grapple, Improved Hamstring, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Weapon Proficiency, Mobility, Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Ride-By Attack, Shield Another, Shoot on the Run,

33

characters

The Noble Warrior Level

Base Attack Bonus

Shield Defence Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

1st

+1

+1

+2

+0

+0

Bonus feat, Officer Rank, Weapon Focus

2nd

+2

+1

+3

+0

+0

Bonus feat

3

+3

+1

+3

+1

+1

–

4

+4

+2

+4

+1

+1

Bonus feat

5

+5

+2

+4

+1

+1

–

6th

+6/+1

+2

+5

+2

+2

Bonus feat

7

+7/+2

+3

+5

+2

+2

–

8

+8/+3

+3

+6

+2

+2

Bonus feat

+9/+4

+3

+6

+3

+3

–

10

+10/+5

+4

+7

+3

+3

Bonus feat

11

th

+11/+6/+1

+4

+7

+3

+3

–

12th

+12/+7/+2

+4

+8

+4

+4

Bonus feat

13

+13/+8/+3

+5

+8

+4

+4

–

14

+14/+9/+4

+5

+9

+4

+4

Bonus feat

15

+15/+10/+5

+5

+9

+5

+5

General Rank

16

+16/+11/+6/+1

+6/+1

+10

+5

+5

Bonus feat

17

th

+17/+12/+7/+2

+6/+1

+10

+5

+5

–

18th

+18/+13/+8/+3

+6/+1

+11

+6

+6

Bonus feat

19

+19/+14/+9/+4

+7/+2

+11

+6

+6

–

20

+20/+15/+10/+5

+7/+2

+12

+6

+6

Bonus feat

rd th th

th th

9

th th

th th th th

th th

Spirited Charge, Spring Attack, Stunning Fist, Trample, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialisation, Whirlwind Attack. A noble warrior must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats gained through character advancement. A noble warrior is not limited to this list of bonus feats when choosing those feats. Officer Rank: The noble warrior is of officer rank from 1st level onwards. He is entitled to command a group of warriors on behalf of his family, city-state or ultimate overlord. At 1st level, the noble warrior commands a retinue of five 1st level warriors. The Games Master shares limited control of these warriors as Non-Player Characters with the player. At 5th level, his retinue is increased to ten 1st level warriors. These warriors advance in level as the noble warrior does, gaining one experience level for every three levels gained by the character. So, at 11th level, the noble warrior commands ten 3rd level warriors.

34

Special

Although these warriors are available to the noble warrior, they are not automatically present wherever he is. If he takes them away from their home region, they must be provided for. If the warriors are killed, they are not automatically replaced. The noble warrior must return to his home in order to be issued with more. The noble warrior must provide the basic provisions and equipment for his subordinates out of his own pocket. He is allowed to name their unit and decide which formation feats they have. An example of such a unit from the myths is the Myrmidon retinue of Achilles. Weapon Focus: All noble warriors have a culturally preferred weapon. At first level, any noble warrior character gains the Weapon Focus feat as a bonus feat, with the weapon determined by his background. The weapon specifications for warriors in the backgrounds above apply equally to noble warriors. General Rank: The noble warrior is entitled to command an army in service to his city-state or overlord. The size of the army is left to the Games Master to determine,

sage

A sage receives more skill points than any other class. Sages may also gain ranks in the Witchcraft and Hekau skills, as cross-class skills.

characters

The sage is a walking encyclopaedia, a one-man library of the ancient world. He is well-travelled and has studied in many halls of learning. Aristocrats and noble warriors, who want to make sure that their actions are backed up by the best information available, turn to sages as advisors. Young or inexperienced sages are almost always scribes by profession; they are automatically literate and this is the easiest way to earn a living. It is in fact their early acquisition of literacy that allows the sage to develop such a broad base of knowledge.

Deity: Usually Zeus, Hermes or Thoth. Hit Die: d4.

Class Skills The sage’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Debate (Int), Forgery (Int), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Prayer (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Rhetoric (Cha), Solve Conundrum (Int) and Swim (Str). Skill Points at 1st Level: (8 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 8 + Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the sage. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A sage is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield. Evasive: The artificer learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As he is not a combatant by nature, he has to make sure that he can survive if combat should find him. He receives the indicated bonus to all Active Defence checks. Literate: The sage gains the Literacy feat free at 1st level. Profound Knowledge: The sage receives a +2 competence bonus on all Knowledge skill checks.

dependent upon the campaign background. As a rule of thumb, assume that the noble warrior can call upon five hundred 1st level warriors in the course of his duties.

Sages Knowledge: The sage’s studies give him a similar broad, general knowledge to that which the bard has. A sage may make a special sages knowledge check with a bonus equal to his sage level plus his Intelligence modifier to see whether he can recall some relevant information about local notables, legendary items or places. If the sage has five or more ranks in any one Knowledge skill, he gains a +2 synergy bonus on this check.

35

The Sage Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1

+0

+0

+2

+2

Evasive +1, Literate, Profound Knowledge

2

+1

+0

+3

+3

–

3

+1

+1

+3

+3

Sages Knowledge

4

th

+2

+1

+4

+4

Secret Lore

5th

+2

+1

+4

+4

Bonus Feat

6

+3

+2

+5

+5

Evasive +2

7

+3

+2

+5

+5

–

8

+4

+2

+6

+6

Secret Lore

st

characters

nd rd

th th th

9

+4

+3

+6

+6

–

10

th

+5

+3

+7

+7

Bonus Feat

11th

+5

+3

+7

+7

–

12

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

Evasive +3, Secret Lore

13

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

–

14

+7/+2

+4

+9

+9

–

15

+7/+2

+5

+9

+9

Bonus Feat

16

th

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

Secret Lore

17th

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

–

18

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

Evasive +4

19

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

–

20

+10/+5

+6

+12

+12

Bonus Feat, Secret Lore

th

th th th th

th th th

A successful sages knowledge check will not reveal the powers of a divine item but may give a hint as to its deity of origin. A sage may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random.

Secrets of Inner Strength: The seer gains a +2 bonus to all Will saves. Weapon Trick: The seer gains a +1 bonus to their Base Attack Bonus.

Secret Lore: At 4th level and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th and 20th), the sage chooses one piece of secret lore from the table below. Sages may not choose the same secret lore twice.

Bonus Feats: At 5th level, a sage gets a bonus feat in addition to the feats gained by normal character progression. The sage gains an additional bonus feat at 5th level and every

Applicable Knowledge: The seer may select one additional feat. This may be selected from any of the feats listed in the Feats chapter. The seer must meet all of the prerequisites for the selected feat as normal. Dodge Trick: The seer gains a +1 competence bonus to their Active Defence checks. The Lore of True Stamina: The seer gains a +2 bonus to all Fortitude saves. Secret Knowledge of Avoidance: The seer gains a +2 bonus all Reflex saves. Mastery: The seer gains four ranks in one skill in which they currently have no ranks. Secret Health: The seer gains an additional three hit points.

36

Sages Knowledge DC’s DC

Type of Knowledge

10

Common, known by a substantial number of the populace, such as common and local legends.

20

Uncommon but available, known by only a few people.

25

Obscure or hard to come by, known by few.

30

Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it or known only by those who do not understand the significance of the knowledge.

Deity: Any. Hit Die: d4.

Class Skills

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features All of the following are class features of the seer. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A seer is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield.

characters

The seer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Debate (Int), Forgery (Int), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Prayer (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis) and Rhetoric (Cha).

Interpret Divine Will: The seer receives the Interpret Divine Will feat free as a bonus feat. He does not need to have the usual prerequisites. Evasive: The seer’s connection to the divine and limited ability to foretell the future makes it much more easy for him to avoid blows. He gains a bonus of the degree indicated to his Active Defence checks.

five levels thereafter (10th, 15th and 20th). These bonus feats must be drawn from the following list; Alertness, Animal Affinity, Diligent, Investigator, Meditate, Negotiator, Keen Mind, Self-Sufficient and Skill Focus. A sage must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat.

seer

The seer specialises in augury, prediction and divination. He has a magical connection with the world around him that becomes stronger with each passing year. At an early age, the seer learns the art of soothsaying and is able to interpret the will of the Gods by reading their signs and omens. As he ages, he begins to understand the languages of wild creatures and wield enough power to pronounce a doom upon a person or place. The seer is able to influence another person’s destiny by foretelling it. If a seer ‘foretells’ a grim event or happening to another person, then that is the equivalent of a curse of sorts; although the seer interprets only what the fates already have in store for a person. Players are encouraged to decide and roleplay the exact nature of the destiny their character foresees for others.

Personal Reading: The soothsayer may prepare a personal forecast for a character. With a successful Intelligence check (DC 10) he may assign one day in the next seven as ‘auspicious’ and one other as ‘inauspicious’. He must make each assignation (the foul and the fair) and may not pick only one day. On the auspicious day, the player in question receives a +1 morale bonus to all attack rolls, saving throws and checks; on the inauspicious day, he receives a –1 morale penalty to the same rolls. This reading may only be undertaken with the consent of the character in question. Tongues Ability: At the levels indicated, the seer gains a new tongues ability as listed below. These may be taken in any order. Abilities that allow communication with creatures that are other than human must take into account the Intelligence of the creature. An animal does not become more intelligent just because you are able to speak to it. Tongues of all men: The seer is gifted with the magical power to make sense of anything that anyone ever says to him, such is the depth of his comprehension. He can understand and speak any human language. He may not, however, read or write it unless he has the Literate feat. Tongues of the beasts: The seer may understand and communicate with any animal or mythical beast.

37

characters

Tongues of the seas: The seer may understand and communicate with any ocean or water-dwelling creature, such as a fish or dolphin. Tongues of the birds: The seer may understand and communicate with any avian creature. Tongues of the trees: The seer may understand and communicate with any living plant larger than a bush. Pronounce Doom: The seer may use his divinatory readings to spell doom for a target. Once per day, he may make a pronouncement of doom upon a given person or group of people, conditional upon a given date or event that is not currently occurring. For example, he might pronounce doom upon an aristocrat on a certain day in March or pronounce doom upon a warrior if he should face a man wearing only one sandal. (You may not pronounce doom upon the same target more than once in a month.) This requires a successful Rhetoric check. The DC of the check depends upon the size of the group, for which see the table below. A person upon whom doom has been pronounced automatically receives a result of 1 for their first Active Defence check or saving throw when the date or event comes to pass. They cannot spend divine points to alter this result. Group Size

Rhetoric Check DC

One person

10

2-5 people

15

6-20 people

20

21-40 people

25

40-100 people

30

Army

35

City

40

Cast Augury: The seer can divine what the fates have in store. Each augury takes half an hour of work. An augury can tell the seer whether a particular action will bring good or bad results for them in the immediate future. The base chance for receiving a meaningful reply is 70% + 1% per seer level, to a maximum of 90%; this roll is made secretly by the Games Master. A question may be so straightforward that a successful result is automatic or so vague as to have no chance of success. If the augury succeeds, the seer may one of four results:

38

If the augury fails, result is ‘nothing’. A seer who divines ‘nothing’ has no way to tell if their augury was successful or not. The augury can see into the future only about half an hour, so anything that might happen after that does not affect the result. Thus, the result might not take into account the long-term consequences of a contemplated action. All auguries produced by the same person about the same topic use the same dice result as the first casting.



Weal (if the action will probably bring good results).

 

Woe (if the action will probably bring bad results). Weal and woe (if the action will probably bring both).

Avoid Calamity: The seer is aware of hazardous events before they happen. Once per day, he may add a +10 divine bonus to any Active Defence check or saving throw.



Nothing (if the action will not have especially good or bad results).

Auspicious Event: The seer may, in studying a proposed undertaking, such as an invasion, a wedding or a festival,

The Seer Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1

+0

+2

+2

+2

Interpret Divine Will, Evasive +1

2

+1

+3

+3

+3

Personal Reading

3

+1

+3

+3

+3

Evasive +2

4

th

+2

+4

+4

+4

Tongues Ability

5th

+2

+4

+4

+4

Pronounce Doom

6

+3

+5

+5

+5

Evasive +3

7

+3

+5

+5

+5

Cast Augury

8

+4

+6

+6

+6

Tongues Ability

st nd rd

th th th

9

+4

+6

+6

+6

Evasive +4

10

th

+5

+7

+7

+7

Avoid Calamity

11th

+5

+7

+7

+7

12th

+6/+1

+8

+8

+8

13

+6/+1

+8

+8

+8

14

+7/+2

+9

+9

+9

Auspicious Event

15

+7/+2

+9

+9

+9

Evasive +6

16

th

+8/+3

+10

+10

+10

Tongues Ability

17th

+8/+3

+10

+10

+10

18th

+9/+4

+11

+11

+11

Evasive +7

19

+9/+4

+11

+11

+11

Prophecy

20

+10/+5

+12

+12

+12

Tongues Ability

th

th th th

th th

Evasive +5, Tongues Ability

determine the most and least favourable times on which to commence it. (The Games Master should determine these dates randomly.) A successful Intelligence check (DC 15) is required to use this ability; failure wastes a day’s work and the check may not be undertaken again for a week. Any person engaged in the undertaking who is aware of the seer’s proclamation receives either a +1 morale bonus to all attacks, checks and saving throws or a –1 morale penalty to the same, depending on whether the date is auspicious or inauspicious for them.

of the offices of thief and assassin. A thief is one who can be trusted to be untrustworthy. Many thieves are little better than hired thugs and most thieves will happily put their conscience to one side in return for hard cash.

Prophecy: At 19th level, the seer receives the Prophecy feat free as a bonus feat.

Deity: Usually Hermes, Hecate, Apophis or Set. Hit Die: d6.

thief

A class that is not available to noble characters, the lowly thief lives by his wits. He makes a living stealing what he can. Advanced thieves can become highly prosperous, acquiring the status of robber kings in their home region. Undesirable as they are, thieves do have their place. Generals of armies employ thieves as scouts. Sometimes, a thief will be commissioned by a rich patron to steal an item for him. It is quite common for thieves to be hired as assassins, too. In the ancient world, there is no separation

characters

Level

In Egypt, thieves are likely to be tomb robbers. There is a fortune to be made plundering royal tombs and stripping their occupants of their grave-goods. This is of course a capital crime in Ancient Egyptian society, punishable by death.

Class Skills The thief ’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Rhetoric (Cha), Swim (Str) and Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

39

The Thief Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1st

+0

+0

+2

+2

Evasive +1, Sneak Attack +1d6

2

+1

+0

+3

+3

3

+1

+1

+3

+3

Backstab +2

4

+2

+1

+4

+4

Sneak Attack +2d6

5

th

+2

+1

+4

+4

Evasive +2

6th

+3

+2

+5

+5

Backstab +4

7

+3

+2

+5

+5

8

+4

+2

+6

+6

Sneak Attack +3d6

+4

+3

+6

+6

Backstab +6

10

+5

+3

+7

+7

Evasive +3

11

+5

+3

+7

+7

12th

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

13

+6/+1

+4

+8

+8

14

+7/+2

+4

+9

+9

15

+7/+2

+5

+9

+9

Backstab +10, Evasive +4

16

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

Sneak Attack +5d6

17

th

+8/+3

+5

+10

+10

18th

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

19

+9/+4

+6

+11

+11

20

+10/+5

+6

+12

+12

nd

characters

rd th

th th

9

th th th

th th th th

th th

Class Features All of the following are class features of the thief. Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A thief is proficient with the club, dagger, quarterstaff and one martial weapon of his choice and with light armour. He is not proficient with heavier armour or with shields. Evasive: The thief learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As he is not a combatant by nature, he has to make sure that he can survive if combat should find him. He receives a bonus of the degree indicated to all Active Defence checks. Sneak Attack: If a thief can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from his attack, he can strike a vital spot for extra damage. The thief ’s attack deals extra damage any time his target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to Active Defence

40

Backstab +8, Sneak Attack +4d6

Backstab +12 Evasive +5, Sneak Attack +6d6

(whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not) or when the thief flanks his target. Should the thief score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks can be made as sneak attacks within a range of 30 feet. Backstab: A thief can attempt to place a blow so that it lands on a part of the opponent’s body that is not covered by armour. A thief may take a full-round action to make a single attack against an opponent, which must be made with a small melee weapon that does piercing damage. If the attack hits, the DC of the coverage check that the target makes for his armour is increased by the factor indicated. A backstab may be combined with the bonuses of a sneak attack.

warrior

Warriors are the staple members of the armies of the ancient world. More than just armed commoners, they have had military training. Unlike the noble warrior, however, the ordinary warrior has had no special privileges and has made his way in the world through bravery, ferocity and dedication to his fighting prowess. Such famous figures as the Greek Hoplite or the Egyptian chariot archer are examples of these warriors. A warrior makes his living by fighting when there is fighting to be done, either as a mercenary or as a member of a household guard. Some warriors have a second career that they pursue in peacetime, such as basket weaving or brewing, only donning their armour and taking up their spear when the call to arms is sounded.

A warrior can rise through the ranks, acquiring prestige, renown and authority. This can make him the equal in rank (though not in social class) of a noble warrior. It is not unknown for a warrior of humble origins to sit side by side with a noble warrior, both of them generals, discussing the plan of battle. In the siege of Megiddo led by the Pharaoh Tuthmosis, one of his generals was born to the nobility while another was of common stock, yet both were treated with equal respect.

The crucial difference between the warrior and the noble warrior is that the warrior fights in groups, relying on formation tactics, while the noble warrior engages in single combat with other socially elevated opponents. Warriors are most effective when fighting side by side with others

characters

of their kind; while noble warriors fight alone. The noble warrior really represents a much older style of combat, in which the clash of two champions would decide the day. The ordinary warrior sets the example for what is to come, for a historical era in which ranks of fighting men would eclipse the old heroic standard, leading ultimately to the Roman legions and their domination of much of the world.

Deity: Greek: Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Zeus. Egyptian: Anhur, Horus, Ra, Wepwawet, Sekhmet, Set. Hit Die: d12.

The Warrior Level

Base Attack Bonus

Shield Defence Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

1

st

+1

+1

+2

+2

+0

2nd

+2

+1

+3

+3

+0

3

+3

+1

+3

+3

+1

4

+4

+2

+4

+4

+1

Bonus Feat

5

+5

+2

+4

+4

+1

Formation Feat

6th

+6/+1

+2

+5

+5

+2

7th

+7/+2

+3

+5

+5

+2

8

+8/+3

+3

+6

+6

+2

+9/+4

+3

+6

+6

+3

10

+10/+5

+4

+7

+7

+3

11th

+11/+6/+1

+4

+7

+7

+3

12th

+12/+7/+2

+4

+8

+8

+4

13

+13/+8/+3

+5

+8

+8

+4

14

+14/+9/+4

+5

+9

+9

+4

15

+15/+10/+5

+5

+9

+9

+5

Formation Feat

16

th

+16/+11/+6/+1

+6/+1

+10

+10

+5

Bonus Feat

17th

+17/+12/+7/+2

+6/+1

+10

+10

+5

18th

+18/+13/+8/+3

+6/+1

+11

+11

+6

19

+19/+14/+9/+4

+7/+2

+11

+11

+6

20

+20/+15/+10/+5

+7/+2

+12

+12

+6

rd th th

th

9

th th

th th th

th th

Special Weapon Focus, Formation Feat

Bonus Feat Formation Feat, Officer Rank Bonus Feat

Bonus Feat, Formation Feat, General Rank

41

Class Features All of the following are class features of the warrior.

characters

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A warrior is proficient with all simple weapons, light armour, medium armour and shields. He is proficient with one or more martial weapons, as determined by his background. Weapon Focus: All warriors have a culturally preferred weapon. At 1st level, any warrior character gains the Weapon Focus feat as a bonus feat, with the weapon determined by his background. Bonus Feats: At 4th level, a warrior gets a bonus combatoriented feat. The warrior gains an additional bonus feat at 8th level, 12h level, 16th level and 20th level. These bonus feats must be drawn from the following list; Armour Proficiency (Heavy), Blind-Fight, Cleave, Chariot Combat, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Combat Sense, Deflect Projectile, Dodge, Far Shot, Great Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialisation, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical, Improved Decapitate, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Grapple, Improved Hamstring, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Weapon Proficiency, Mobility, Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Ride-By Attack, Shield Another, Shoot on the Run, Spirited Charge, Spring Attack, Stunning Fist, Trample, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialisation, Whirlwind Attack. A warrior must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats gained through character advancement. A warrior is not limited to this list of bonus feats when choosing those feats.

Class Skills The warrior’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str) and Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

42

Formation Feat: At the levels indicated, the warrior gains a formation feat. This reflects the additional expertise he has gained from fighting alongside other warriors with similar training to himself. Groups of warriors with the same formation feat can fight much more effectively than single heroes. For formation feats, see the Feats chapter. Officer Rank: The warrior is of officer rank from 10th level onwards. He is entitled to command a group of warriors on behalf of his family, city-state or ultimate overlord. At 10th level, the warrior commands a retinue of ten 3rd level warriors. The Games Master shares control of these warriors as Non-Player Characters with the player.

These warriors advance in level as the warrior does, gaining one experience level for every three levels gained by the character. So, at 16th level, the warrior commands ten 5th level warriors.

General Rank: The warrior is entitled to command an army in service to his city-state or overlord. The size of the army is left to the Games Master to determine, dependent upon the campaign background. As a rule of thumb, assume that the warrior can call upon five hundred 1st level warriors in the course of his duties.

Witch A class that is only available to women (unless the Games Master specifically allows exceptions), the witch deals solely with the darker energies. Unwelcome in civilised places, she uses her powers to befuddle the wits, to bewitch the senses and to transform the very shape of creatures. Witches such

The witch depicted here is very much the Greek version. Witches could be allowed from other cultures, such as the Persian Empire; such a witch would be more akin to those depicted in the ‘Sinbad’ tales. The template below may, however, be used as the basis for other types of witch.

characters

Although these warriors are available to the warrior, they are not automatically present wherever he is. If he takes them away from their home region, they must be provided for. If the warriors are killed, they are not automatically replaced. The warrior must return to his command headquarters in order to be issued with more.

as Medea and Circe, who have power to transform men into pigs or create ointments that turn aside sharp blades, represent the heights of what may be attained by these dark devotees. Such women are, however, obliged to be ruthless and uncompromising. They are not always actively evil, even if such a term could be applied to them, though they are merciless. For example, when she was helping Jason escape aboard the Argo, Medea slashed her brother into pieces and threw the bits overboard in order to delay her royal father, who stopped to gather the fragments up so that he could be properly buried. This should be a good guide for anyone thinking of playing a witch.

All Greek witches are members of an secretive sisterhood. They are honour-bound to help one another and defend the secrets of their organisation. Any witch who betrays a sister will be tracked down and slain by her vengeful colleagues.

The Witch Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

1

+0

+0

+0

+2

Evasive +1, Witchcraft

2

+1

+0

+0

+3

3

+1

+1

+1

+3

Use Witches’ Herbs

4

th

+2

+1

+1

+4

Evasive +2

5th

+2

+1

+1

+4

6th

+3

+2

+2

+5

7

+3

+2

+2

+5

8

+4

+2

+2

+6

9

th

+4

+3

+3

+6

10th

+5

+3

+3

+7

11

+5

+3

+3

+7

12

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

13

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

14

+7/+2

+4

+4

+9

15

th

+7/+2

+5

+5

+9

16th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

17

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

18

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

19

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

20

+10/+5

+6

+6

+12

st nd rd

th th

th th th th

th th th th

Evasive +3 Lower Casting Cost -25% Evasive +4

Evasive +5

Lower Casting Cost -50%, Evasive +6

43

Deity: Any female or Dionysus. favour Hecate. Hit Die: d4.

Witches frequently

characters

Class Skills

Class Features Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A witch is proficient with the club, dagger and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armour or shield.

The witch’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (any) (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Presence (Cha), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str) and Witchcraft (Cha).

Evasive: The witch learns to stay out of the way of trouble. As she is not a combatant by nature, she has to make sure that she can survive if combat should find her. She receives a bonus of the degree indicated to all Active Defence checks.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Witchcraft: At 1st level, the witch learns how to use the skill of witchcraft to produce magical effects. See the Magic chapter for details. Use Witches’ Herbs: The witch gains the ability to employ special herbs in her casting. These are detailed in the Equipment chapter. Casting spells with herbs allows the witch to draw upon the potency of the herbs instead of using up her own hit points. Lower Casting Cost: The witch gains an increasing mastery of spellcasting. At 10th level, it costs a witch 25% less than the stated amount to cast any spell with Witchcraft. The cost to sustain a spell remains the same. Only the initial casting becomes easier. When a witch reaches 20th level, the cost to cast any spell for her is 50% less than the stated amount.

character advancement

As characters in OGL Ancients have adventures, go on quests and overcome foes, they gain experience. This new experience translates into advancement in character level. There are five recommended ways to determine level advancement. Players can start at whatever level the Games Master deems appropriate for the campaign. Advancement by Experience Points Experience for advancing in level rests in the hands of the Games Master. There are no hard and fast rules for awarding experience in OGL Ancients, however, typical characters should gain experience quite slowly. Gaining between 400 and 600 experience points per four to eight hour game session is reasonable. Particularly combatintensive sessions, multiple conundrums, intrigues and mysteries uncovered – and survived – in a session and the conclusion of a story arc should all reward the characters with increased experience for their successful endeavours.

44

Advancement by Game Session This is the easiest of the options to use. Characters below 10th level advance one level after every five game sessions, while characters above 10th level advance after every ten

game sessions. This progress takes no account of the relative contribution made by each character to the group’s goals but has the advantage of being simple to calculate.

Advancement by Games Master Fiat In this method, the Games Master awards levels of experience as and when they see fit. The Games Master’s decision determines who advances and who does not. Judgement can therefore be exercised as to who has engaged with the various challenges the most and who has made the most significant contributions to the game sessions. If you are using this system, it is legitimate to make level advancement one of the stated rewards for achieving a set goal, such as fulfilling a quest. If the players know that a new level awaits them if they succeed, then they have something definite to work towards. Advancement by Deity This method places level advancement in the hands of the character’s deity, as played by the Games Master. The deity allows level advancement as they see fit. This is very similar to the Advancement By Games Master Fiat method, with the exception that the character’s deity sets the conditions for advancement. This means that the conditions of level gain need not be the same for all players. Every character can have their own private agenda as set by their deity, fulfilment of which will result in the gaining of a new level. This is one of the better options to use if the players are interested in high levels of character interaction and roleplaying and are comfortable in a situation in which everyone has a different set of objectives.

multiclassing

Multiclassing is very unusual in OGL Ancients. In general, a character can have levels in as many different classes as he likes, though it is rare for characters of the ancient world to have more than one class, having more is rarer still. Most of the legendary characters of the ancient world, while being distinctly individual, are easy to box into a single one

Each time a multiclass character attains a new level, he either increases one of his current class levels by one or picks up a new class at 1st level. When a multiclass character increases one of his class levels by one, he gains all the standard benefits that characters receive for attaining the new level in that class: more hit points, possible bonuses on attack rolls, Defence and saving throws (depending on the class and the new level), a new class feature (as defined by the class) and new skill points. Other level-dependent bonuses are also accrued normally. A character advancing from 5th to 6th level will gain a bonus feat regardless of which class he advances in.

characters

Advancement by Legend This method calls for a good deal of work on the part of the players but is the closest akin to the ancient system of renown. After every game session, the player records notable – and only the notable – activities of their character. Once the character’s notable activities cover as many pages as his current experience level, he gains a new level of experience. So, a 6th level character would have to fill six pages with their heroic deeds and recent adventures in order to advance to 7th level. A character may never go up more than one level at a time by this method. If this method is used, the style should be one of report rather than narrative and extensive dialogue should not be counted towards the final page count.

of the classes listed here, so multiclassing is uncommon for a great many characters as they develop.

Skill points are spent according to the class that the multiclass character has just advanced in (see the individual class descriptions for skill points per level). Skills are purchased at the cost appropriate for the class level that grants them to the character.

How Multiclassing Works Ixion, a 4th level Aristocrat, is required by an impending invasion to expand his repertoire by improving some of his combat abilities. When Ixion accumulates 10,000 XP, he becomes a 5th level character. Instead of becoming a 5th level Aristocrat, however, he decides to become a 4th level Aristocrat/1st level Noble Warrior. Now, instead of gaining the benefits of a new level of Aristocrat, he gains the benefits of becoming a 1st level Noble Warrior. He gains hit points from a 1st level Noble Warrior’s Hit Die (d10 plus his Constitution modifier), +1 bonus to their attacks, +1 bonus to Shield Defence, +2 Fortitude save bonus, the Noble Warrior’s Officer Rank, Bonus Feat and Weapon Focus and their skill points (4 + his Intelligence modifier). When purchasing skills for this new level, Ixion uses the Noble Warrior’s class skill list to determine whether a skill point buys 1 rank or .5 rank. If he wants to add ranks to one of the Aristocrat’s class skills, that skill is considered cross-class for him at this level. The benefits described above are added to the scores Ixion already had as a Aristocrat. Will and Reflex save bonus do not increase because these numbers are +0 for a first level Noble Warrior. He does not gain any of the benefits a 5th level Aristocrat gains. He could spend some of his new skill points to improve his Aristocrat class skills, but some of them (such as Bluff ) would be treated as cross-class skills for this purpose – these skill points would each buy only .5 rank. He also gains a Bonus feat chosen from the Noble Warrior class’ list. Upon accumulating 15,000 XP, Ixion becomes a 6th level character. Having found glory and renown

45

characters

in the recent battles to turn back the invaders to continue the path of the Noble Warrior, so he increases his Noble Warrior level once more instead of increasing his Aristocrat level or picking up a level in a third class. Again he gains the Noble Warrior’s benefits for attaining a new level rather than the Aristocrat’s. At this point, Ixion is a 6th level character: a 4th level Aristocrat/2nd level Noble Warrior. At each new level he attains, Ixion must decide whether to increase his Aristocrat level or his Noble Warrior level. Of course, if he wants to have even more diverse abilities, he could acquire an additional class.

moral conduct

Characters select a patron deity, who then defines his moral conduct. For example, followers of Horus are obliged to be heroic, fearless and stalwart, while followers of Set may be as treacherous as they please. A character who acts in a way that his deity finds offensive will find himself punished by that deity; if he pleases his deity, he will attract the enmity of that deity’s foes. There are no abstract morals involved. A character simply picks a God and acts accordingly. A character may choose to reject all of the Gods. If he does so, he is not eligible for divine feats (see the Feats chapter) nor may he spend divine points or use the Prayer skill. He is, however, just as likely to encounter divine interference as a character who accepts one of the Gods as a patron.

reputation

When dealing with those who know them, a character is entitled to their full Reputation rating automatically. In order to use this Reputation rating when dealing with those who do not have cause or reason to know them, the character must wear, wield or have with them some tangible proof of their wealth. A minimum amount of wealth (Reputation bonus x100 sd) must be worn for a character to benefit from their full Reputation bonus when dealing with strangers. If they are only wearing, or otherwise displaying, enough to earn them a lesser bonus, then that is all they gain, rather than the full one. It does not matter if they are a king in their own country; if they arrive shipwrecked on a foreign shore with none of their finery or slaves with them, no one will have cause to believe their outlandish claims. The most powerful figures in the ancient world make sure they received foreign guests in audience chambers that displayed their wealth, so that they benefit from their full Reputation bonus. The principal advantage of Reputation for a hero of the mythic era is that they may use it to augment their Presence checks, especially when intimidating foes on the battlefield. The richer and more resplendent a character’s armour and shield are, the more Reputation they can draw upon. For this reason, heroes strive to gain as much precious equipment and wearable wealth as they can. A character must have their wealth with them in a form that is clearly designed to be demonstrative of their status. They cannot carry a statue of themselves around and expect to be taken seriously, but if they were to wear a mask of pure gold, then that is another matter altogether.

Reputation is a measure of how well known a character is The other way to for a character benefit from their wealth and how significant they are in the ancient world. It is when interacting with strangers is to have it accompany based on how much that person owns. Renown gained them directly; wives, daughters and slaves all count as from heroic deeds is already covered wealth. Unpleasant though this might by a character’s level of experience and be to a modern audience, it was a fact Reputation from Wealth the skill points invested in such skills of the heroic age. The Trojan War was as Rhetoric and Presence. Only goods Total Wealth Reputation fought over a stolen wife. acquired from heroic activity count 500 1 towards a hero’s Reputation rating, a Gifts given or loaned by the Gods do 1,000 2 trader’s stock would, therefore, have not count towards a character’s overall no bearing on his social standing. If 5,000 3 wealth. They are not their property; they lose such goods, they also lose 10,000 4 these are merely entrusted to them. the Reputation that those goods grant. 20,000+ 5 Noble characters start with a certain Ransom: A character’s reputation amount of wealth and thus benefit determines the amount an enemy will from a small bonus to their starting demand in ransom to release them if Reputation. they are captured in a battle or turn over their body if they A character may add their Reputation rating as a reputation bonus to the following skill checks: Bluff, Diplomacy, Prayer, Presence and Rhetoric. They may also add their reputation bonus to Charisma checks made to change other people’s attitudes towards them.

46

are killed. The more renowned and wealthy a character is known to be, the more their people can afford, so the more will be demanded. A character’s ransom is one tenth of the minimum total wealth needed to reach their reputation score. For example, if they had a reputation of three, their ransom would be wealth to the value of 500 silver drachmas.

Ancient Skills

If buying a skill from a character’s list of class skills, they gain one rank – equal to a +1 bonus on checks with that skill – for each skill point they attribute to it. If you buy other classes’ skills (cross-class skills), you gain half a rank per skill point. The character class descriptions in the Characters chapter indicate which skills can be purchased as class skills and how many skill points (modified by a character’s Intelligence modifier, to a minimum of one per level) are gained when a character takes a level in that class. Your maximum rank in a class skill is your character level + 3. Your maximum rank in a cross-class skill is one-half of this number; do not round this figure up or down. Half ranks do not improve your skill check, but two ½ ranks make 1 rank. You cannot save skill points to spend later.

acquiring skill ranks

Ranks indicate how much training, experience or innate talent a character has with a given skill. Each skill has a number of ranks, from 0 (for a skill in which a character has no training at all) to 23 (for a 20th-level character who has increased a class skill to its maximum rank). Skill Skill Points per Level modifiers can be much Class higher than 23 once ability bonuses, enhancements and Aristocrat other factors are added in, Artificer but skill ranks themselves Bard can never be higher than Courtesan 23. When making a skill check, a character adds their Priest (Egyptian/Greek) skill ranks to the roll as part Noble Warrior of the skill modifier. Sage Unless a Games Master Seer wishes to roleplay this Thief process out and set his Warrior own prices for training, Witch the OGL Ancients assumes that a character can always find a way to learn any skill

For your convenience, the number of skill points gained by acquiring levels in the various classes is revisited here. Remember that only at the first character level, the value listed is multiplied by 4 to simulate the amount of experience gained before play begins.

using a skill

Various points in the game call for the use of skills. For example, if the witch Callaia has been tied hand and foot by brigands and her friend Xeno the thief (temporarily without a knife) is trying to untie the knots and free her, he would make a Use Rope skill check to achieve this. When a character uses a skill, the player makes a skill check to see how well they do. The higher the result of the skill check, the higher the degree of their success. Based on the circumstances, the result must match or beat a particular number (a DC or the result of an opposed skill check) for the check to be successful. The harder the task, the higher the number a player needs to roll.

ancient skills

Skills represent the different arts, sciences, branches of learning, crafts and physical disciplines that a character has learned. The character’s class has a major influence on the skills they can learn. A character has a certain number of ranks in each skill, with a minimum of zero.

and does so between levels of advancement. Of course, a soldier trying to find someone to teach him could make for a great story.

Circumstances can affect this check. A character that is free to work without distractions can take their time making a careful attempt and avoiding simple mistakes. A character that has lots of time can try over and over again, thereby ensuring the highest possible chances of their success. If others help, the character may succeed where they would otherwise have failed.

Skill Checks A skill check takes into account a character’s training (skill rank), natural talent (ability modifier) and luck (the die

1st-Level Skill Points

Higher-Level Skill Points

(6 + Int modifier) x4

6 + Int modifier

(6 + Int modifier) x4

6 + Int modifier

(6 + Int modifier) x4

6 + Int modifier

(6 + Int modifier) x4

6 + Int modifier

(4 + Int modifier) x4

4 + Int modifier

(4 + Int modifier) x4

4 + Int modifier

(8 + Int modifier) x4

8 + Int modifier

(6 + Int modifier) x4

6 + Int modifier

(6 + Int modifier) x4

6 + Int modifier

(2 + Int modifier) x4

2 + Int modifier

(4 + Int modifier) x4

4 + Int modifier

47

ancient skills

roll). It may also take into account their background training in performing certain tasks (background bonus) or what armour they are wearing (armour check penalty) or certain feats the character possesses.

Difficulty Class Examples Difficulty (DC)

Example (Skill Used)

Very easy (0)

Notice something large in plain sight (Spot)

Easy (5)

Climb a knotted rope (Climb)

Average (10)

Hear an approaching temple guard (Listen)

succeeds, while the lower result fails. In case of a tie, the higher skill modifier wins. If these scores are the same, roll again to break the tie.

Trying Again In general, a character can try a skill check again if they fail and can keep trying indefinitely. Some skills, however, have consequences of failure that must be taken into account. A few skills are virtually useless once a check has failed on an attempt to accomplish a particular task. For most skills, when a character has succeeded once at a given task, additional successes are meaningless.

Tough (15) Rig a chariot wheel to fall off To make a skill check, roll (Craft) 1d20 and add the character’s skill modifier for that Challenging (20) Swim in stormy water (Swim) skill. The skill modifier Formidable (25) Find a single tiny bloodstain in incorporates the character’s a large temple (Search) ranks in that skill and the Heroic (30) Leap across a 30 foot chasm ability modifier for that skill’s (Jump) key ability, plus any other Nearly Unpick the legendary Gordian miscellaneous modifiers impossible (40) knot without cutting it (Solve that may apply, including Conundrum) background bonuses and armour check penalties. The higher the result, the better. Unlike with attack rolls and saving throws, a natural roll of 20 on the d20 is not an automatic success, in turn a natural Untrained Skill Checks roll of 1 is not an automatic failure. Some skills do not require formal training, because everyone has a certain degree of basic competence in them. Difficulty Class For example, anyone can use the Balance skill to try to Some checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). balance on a narrow ledge; they do not automatically fall The DC is a number (set using the skill rules as a guideline) off just because they have not received training in a Spartan that you must score as a result on your skill check in order gymnasium. to succeed a given task. Generally, if a character attempts to use a skill they do Opposed Checks not possess, they make a skill check as normal. The skill An opposed check is a check whose success or failure modifier does not have a skill rank added because the is determined by comparing the check result to that of character has no ranks in the skill. Any other applicable another character’s. In an opposed check, the higher result modifiers, such as the modifier for the skill’s key ability, are

Example Opposed Checks Task

Skill (Key Ability)

Opposing Skill (Key Ability)

Persuade someone to believe a lie

Bluff (Cha)

Sense Motive (Wis)

Convince someone else that you are right

Debate (Int)

Debate (Int)

Pretend to be someone else

Disguise (Cha)

Spot (Wis)

Create a false map

Forgery (Int)

Forgery (Int)

Hide from someone

Hide (Dex)

Spot (Wis)

Awe an aggressor with your beauty

Presence (Cha)

Special1

Sneak up on someone

Move Silently (Dex)

Listen (Wis)

Steal a coin pouch

Sleight of Hand (Dex)

Spot (Wis)

Tie a prisoner securely

Use Rope (Dex)

Escape Artist (Dex)

A Presence check is opposed by the target’s level check, not a skill check. See the Presence skill description for more information. 1

48

that modify how well the character has to perform the skill to succeed change the DC. A bonus to the skill modifier and a reduction in the check’s DC has the same ultimate result, namely a better chance of success. However, they represent different circumstances and sometimes that difference is important.

Favourable and Unfavourable Conditions

Using a skill might take, take no time, a round, several rounds or even longer. Most skill uses are standard actions, move actions or full-round actions. Types of actions define how long activities take to perform within the framework of a combat round (6 seconds) and how movement is treated with respect to the activity. Some skill checks are instant and represent reactions to an event or are included as part of an action. These skill checks are not actions. Other skill checks represent part of a character’s movement.

Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill check or a change in the DC of the skill check. The chance of success can be altered in four ways to take into account exceptional circumstances.









Give the skill user a +2 circumstance bonus to represent conditions that improve performance, such as having the perfect tool for the job, gaining help from another character (see Combining Skill Attempts) or possessing unusually accurate information. For example, if Imhotep the artificer is looking for a secret entrance to a tomb and has been told what to look for, he receives a +2 circumstance bonus to his Search check. Give the skill user a –2 penalty to represent conditions that hamper performance, such as being forced to use improvised tools or having misleading information. For example, if Melissa the hetaera, having listened to inaccurate gossip, has dressed herself entirely in blue silks in the hope of impressing a local merchant whose real preference is for girls in red, she would receive a –2 penalty to her Presence skill check. Reduce the DC by 2 to represent circumstances that make the task easier, such as having a friendly audience or doing work that does not have to be done to a basic standard. For example, if the bard Lucius is playing for the entertainment of the customers in his regular tavern, they already know him and are appreciative of his talents, so he does not have to work so hard to make them happy. Increase the DC by 2 to represent circumstances that make the task harder, such as having an uncooperative audience or doing work that must be flawless. For example, the traps devised by a long-dead artificer to guard his liege’s burial chamber are of exceptional quality and Xeno the thief must work especially hard to deactivate them with his Disable Device skill.

Conditions that affect your character’s ability to perform certain tasks change the skill check’s modifier. Conditions

time and skill checks

ancient skills

applied to the check. Many skills, referred to as Trained Only skills, can be used only if a character actually has ranks in them; they cannot attempt a check using a skill that cannot be used untrained. For example, you cannot use a Knowledge skill untrained, because Knowledge skills represent an awareness of facts that have to be taught. A skill that is both Trained Only and is not available to a given character class represents a kind of skill check that the character will never be able to make. A warrior, for example, will never have access to the Witchcraft skill.

Checks without Rolls A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually while under some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favourable conditions and eliminate the luck factor, as he either does a completely standard job, unmodified by luck or gives his whole attention to the task and does the best he possibly can. These two possibilities are called ‘taking 10’ and ‘taking 20’. Taking 10: When a character is not threatened or distracted, they may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check; calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful, as indeed they would be in real life. It is not necessary to make a rolled skill check for every little thing. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure. A player knows or expects that an average roll will succeed but fears that a poor roll might fail, so they elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll would not help. For example, Telemachus the warrior wants to moor a boat to a quay, which will require a Use Rope skill check. Tying up a ship is not especially difficult and there are no rewards for doing it well, but if it is done badly, the knot could come loose and the boat would drift away. If Telemachus takes 10 on his Use Rope skill check, he is certain to succeed, whereas if he rolled the check, he might roll low and lose his boat. Taking 20: When a character has plenty of time, generally two minutes for a skill that can normally

49

ancient skills

be checked in one round, one full-round action or one standard action, are faced with no threats or distractions and the skill being attempted carries no penalties for failure, they can take 20. In other words, eventually they will roll a 20 on 1d20 if they roll enough times. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, just calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20. Taking 20 means a character is trying until they get it right and assumes they will fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes twenty times as long as making a single check would take. Since taking 20 assumes that the character will fail many times before succeeding, if they attempt to take 20 on a skill that carries penalties for failure, the character would automatically incur those penalties before they could complete the task. Common ‘take 20’ skills include Escape Artist, Search and Solve Conundrum.

Ability Checks and Caster Level Checks The normal ‘take 10’ and ‘take 20’ rules apply for ability checks. Neither rule, however, applies to caster level checks.

Combining Skill Checks When more than one character tries the same skill at the same time and for the same purpose, their efforts may overlap. This can be done in several different ways; each combination is adjudicated using its own set of rules.

Individual Events Often, several characters attempt some action and each succeed or fail independently. The result of one character’s Climb check, for example, does not influence the results of another’s Climb checks. Each is working for themselves alone.

50

Aid Another You can help another character achieve a successful skill check by making the same kind of skill check in a co-operative effort. If you roll a 10 or higher on your check, the character you are helping gains a +2 bonus to their check, as per the rules for favourable conditions. A character cannot take 10 on a skill check to aid another. In many cases, a character’s help will not be beneficial or only a limited number of characters can help at once. In cases where the skill restricts those who can achieve certain results, characters cannot aid another to grant a bonus to a task that the character could not achieve alone. For example, even if they have the Perform skill, they cannot help a bard perform bardic music unless they are a bard yourself.

Skill Synergy It is possible for a character to have two skills that work well together. In general, having five or more ranks in one skill gives the character a +2 synergy bonus on skill checks with

Skill Synergies in Brief Five or more ranks in…

Gives a +2 bonus to…

Bluff

Diplomacy, Presence, Sleight of Hand and Disguise checks

Craft (any)

Appraise checks

Escape Artist

Use Rope checks

Handle Animal

Ride

Jump

Tumble

Knowledge (any)

Debate checks

Knowledge (agriculture)

Prayer checks

Knowledge (architecture and engineering)

Search checks

Knowledge (art and literature)

Rhetoric checks

Knowledge (geography)

Survival checks

Knowledge (history)

Sages and Bardic Knowledge checks

Knowledge (local)

Gather Information checks

Knowledge (nature)

Survival checks

Knowledge (nobility and royalty)

Presence checks

Knowledge (philosophy)

Solve Conundrum checks

Knowledge (religion)

Prayer checks

Knowledge (tactics and strategy)

Initiative checks

Search

Survival checks

Sense Motive

Rhetoric checks

Solve Conundrum

Use Rope and Sense Motive checks

Survival

Knowledge (nature)

Tumble

Balance and Jump checks

Use Rope

Climb and Escape Artist checks

each of its synergistic skills, as noted in the skill description. In some cases, this bonus applies only to specific uses of the skill in question and not to all checks made with it. Some skills provide benefits on other checks made by a character, such as those checks required to use certain class features.

Ability Checks Sometimes a character tries to do something for which no specific skill really applies. In these cases, they must make an ability check. An ability check is a roll of 1d20 plus the appropriate ability modifier. Essentially, they are making an untrained skill check, since using a skill that a character does not have any skill ranks in is effectively an unmodified ability check. In some cases, an action is a straight test of one’s ability with no luck involved. Just as characters would not make a height check to see who is taller, they would also not make Strength checks to see who is stronger. The Games Master is responsible for determining what situations call for ability checks, which ones have skill checks as a more appropriate method of adjudication and when rolls are not required at all.

skill descriptions

This section describes each skill, including common uses and typical modifiers. Characters can sometimes use skills for purposes other than those noted here. The following is the format in which the skill descriptions are presented.

Skill Name The skill name line includes (in addition to the name of the skill) the following information.



Key Ability: The abbreviation of the ability whose modifier applies to the skill check. Speak Language has ‘None’ as its key ability because the use of this skill does not require a check.



Trained Only: If this notation is included in the skill name line, you must have at least one rank in the skill to use it. If it is omitted, the skill can be used untrained (with no ranks). If any special notes apply to trained or untrained use, they are covered in the Untrained section (see below).



Armour Check Penalty: If this notation is included in the skill name line, an armour check penalty applies (when appropriate) to checks using this skill. If this entry is absent, an armour check penalty does not apply.



Check: What a character (‘you’ in the skill description) can do with a successful skill check and the check’s suggestedDC.



Action: The type of action using the skill requires or the amount of time required for a check.



Try Again: Any conditions that apply to successive attempts to use the skill successfully. If the skill does not allow you to attempt the same task more than once or if failure carries an inherent penalty (such as with the Climb skill), you cannot take 20. If this paragraph is omitted, the skill can be retried without any inherent penalty, other than the additional time required.



Special: Any extra information that applies to the skill, such as special effects deriving from its use or bonuses that certain characters receive by way of class, feat choices or background.



Synergy: Some skills grant a bonus to the use of one or more other skills because of a synergistic effect. This entry, when present, indicates what bonuses this skill may grant or receive from others.



Restriction: The full utility of certain skills is restricted to characters of certain classes or characters that possess certain feats. This entry indicates whether any such restrictions exist for the skill.



Untrained: This entry indicates what a character without at least one rank in the skill can do with it. If this entry does not appear, it means that the skill functions normally for untrained characters – if it can be used untrained – or that an untrained character cannot attempt checks with this skill – for skills that are designated as ‘Trained Only’.

ancient skills

Check individual skill descriptions for full details of skill synergies.

The skill name line is followed by a general description of what using the skill represents. After the description are several additional pieces of information:

Appraise (Int) Whether it be an urn of dubious merit or a mysterious fleece of gold, you can use this skill to determine the quality of items that come into your possession. Check: You can make an informed appraisal of the value and quality of common or well known objects with a DC 12 Appraise check (see the Quality of Items table in the Equipment chapter). Failure means that you estimate the item’s quality at either 1d2 ranks lower or 1d2 ranks higher (roll randomly) than it actually is. The quality of an item is indicative of its likely trade value. You automatically know what the base value of a common item is. The quality rank of the item determines any modifier applied to the base value.

51

ancient skills

Note that a wholly forged item, such as a counterfeit coin, has no value. Success when appraising a forged item means that you not only estimate the true quality of the item, but also identify it as a deliberate forgery. The DC to identify a cleverly made forgery may be higher than 12 (see the Forgery skill for details). Appraising a rare or exotic item requires a successful check against DC 15, 20 or higher. If the check is successful, you estimate both the quality and the base value correctly; failure means you cannot estimate the item’s quality, as you cannot identify its base value. A ground lens, a very hard item to come by, can give a +2 equipment bonus on Appraise checks involving any item that is small or highly detailed, such as a piece of ritual jewellery. A merchant’s scale can also give a +2 equipment bonus on Appraise checks involving any items that are valued by weight, including anything made of precious metals. These two bonuses stack.

Balance DC Modifiers Narrow Surface

Balance DC1

Difficult Surface

Balance DC1

7–12 inches wide

10

Uneven flagstone

102

2–6 inches wide

15

Hewn stone floor

102

Less than 2 inches wide

20

Sloped or angled floor

102

Add modifiers from Narrow Surface Modifiers, below, as appropriate. 1

Only if running or charging, failure by four or less means the character cannot run or charge but may otherwise act normally. 2

Narrow Surface Modifiers Surface DC Modifier1 Lightly obstructed

+2

Action: Appraising an item takes 1 minute (ten consecutive full-round actions).

Severely obstructed

+5

Lightly slippery

+2

Try Again: No. You cannot try again on the same object, regardless of success.

Severely slippery

+5

Sloped or angled

+2

Add the appropriate modifier to the Balance DC of a narrow surface. 1

Special: A character with the Diligent feat gains a +2 bonus on Appraise checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in any Craft skill, you gain a +2 bonus on Appraise checks related to items made with that Craft skill. Untrained: For common items, failure on an untrained check means no estimate. For rare items, success means an estimate of 1d3 ranks more or less than actual quality.

Balance (Dex; Armour Check Penalty) Whether sliding across rooftops or walking the deck of a pitching ship, characters often find themselves in situation where maintaining equilibrium is the best alternative to falling to a gruesome end below. Check: You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your base speed along the surface for one round. A failure by four or less means you cannot move for one round. A failure by five or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the surface, as the following table indicates. Apply any modifiers applicable to the circumstances. These modifiers stack.

52

Being Attacked while Balancing: You are considered flatfooted while balancing, since you cannot move to avoid a blow and thus you may not add your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence checks. You may make a single Shield Defence check per round at a –4 penalty; to do so while balancing counts as a move action, so you may not do this if you have already taken a move action in the round. If you have five or more ranks in Balance, you are not considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing. Accelerated Movement: You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a –5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Balance checks, one for each move action used. You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Balance check for each multiple of your speed – or fraction thereof – that you charge. Action: None. A Balance check does not require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.

Special: If you have the Agile feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Balance checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +2 bonus on Balance checks.

Check: A Bluff check is opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check. See the accompanying Bluff Examples table for examples of different kinds of bluffs and how they affect a target’s Sense Motive check for each one. Favourable and unfavourable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. The two most common circumstances to weigh against you are as follows: If the bluff is hard to believe or the action that the target is asked to take goes against its own self-interest, nature, personality or orders. If it’s important, you can distinguish between a bluff that fails because the target does not believe it and one that fails because it just asks too much of them. For instance, if the target gains a +10 bonus on its Sense Motive check because the bluff demands something risky and the Sense Motive check succeeds by 10 or less, then the target did not so much see through the bluff as prove reluctant to go along with it. A target that succeeds by 11 or more has seen through the bluff.

Example Circumstances

Sense Motive Modifier

The target wants to believe you. ‘No, the armour is not stolen; it was a family heirloom. Alas, I am now too fat to wear it and I need the money’.

–5

The bluff is believable and does not affect the target much. ‘I saw nothing, sir. I have been tending the temple flame all night’.

+0

The bluff is a little hard to believe or puts the target at some risk. ‘The Greeks have all gone home, Trojan. They left this enormous wooden horse as a present’.

+5

The bluff is hard to believe or puts the target at significant risk. ‘We are not plotting the death of the Pharaoh. We are rehearsing a play. These daggers are only real because they have to look right’.

+10

The bluff is almost too incredible to believe. ‘I warn you, mortal, I am Zeus in disguise! Let me pass or I shall call down the very lightning to smite you!’

+20

A successful Bluff check indicates that the target reacts as you wish, at least for a short time (usually one round or less) or believes something that you want them to. Bluff, however, is not a dominate will spell.

strange creature’s body language; you take a –4 penalty on your Bluff check. Against a creature of animal Intelligence (1 or 2) such as a chimera, the task is even harder; you take a –8 penalty. Against a non-intelligent creature, such as an animated skeleton, it is impossible to feint.

A bluff requires interaction between you and the target as creatures that are unaware of you cannot be bluffed.

Feinting in combat does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Feinting in Combat: You can also use Bluff to mislead an opponent in melee combat so that they cannot dodge your next attack effectively. To feint, make a Bluff check opposed by your target’s Sense Motive check, but in this case the target may add its base attack bonus to the roll along with any other applicable modifiers.

Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use the Bluff skill to help you hide. A successful Bluff check gives you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of you. This usage does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

If your Bluff check result exceeds this special Sense Motive check result, your target is denied its Dexterity bonus to Active Defence for the next melee attack you make against it. This attack must be made on or before your next turn. Feinting in this way against a non-humanoid, such as a ravening harpy, is difficult because it is harder to read a

ancient skills

Bluff (Cha) Convince an angry cyclops that you would not make a tasty meal or use misdirection to convey a secret message. This skill encompasses all the traits that go with being a convincing liar and teller of tall tales.

Bluff Examples

Delivering a Secret Message: You can use Bluff to gain a message across to another character without others understanding it. The DC is 15 for simple messages or 20 for complex messages, especially those that rely on gaining across new information. Failure by four or less means you cannot gain the message across. Failure by five or more means that some false information has been implied or inferred. Anyone listening to the exchange can make a

53

ancient skills

Sense Motive check opposed by the Bluff check you made to transmit in order to intercept your message (see the Sense Motive skill for more details).

Climb DC

Example Surface or Activity

0

A slope too steep to walk up or a knotted rope with a wall to brace against.

5

A rope with a wall to brace against or a knotted rope.

10

A surface with ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a very rough wall or a ship’s rigging.

15

Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds, natural or artificial, such as a very rough natural rock surface, a tree or an unknotted rope or pulling yourself up when dangling by your hands.

20

An uneven surface with some narrow hand and footholds, such as a typical wall in a dungeon or ruins.

Special: If you have the Persuasive feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Bluff checks.

25

Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy, Presence and Sleight of Hand checks, as well as on Disguise checks made when you know you’re being observed and are attempting to act in character.

A rough surface, such as a natural rock wall, brick wall, overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds.

Climb DC Modifier1

Action: Varies. A Bluff check made as part of general interaction always takes at least one round and is at least a full-round action, but it can take much longer if you try something elaborate. A Bluff check made to feint in combat or create a diversion to hide is a standard action. A Bluff check made to deliver a secret message does not take an action; it is part of normal communication. Try Again: Varies. Generally, a failed Bluff check in social interaction makes the target too suspicious for you to try again in the same circumstances, but you may retry freely on Bluff checks made to feint in combat. Retries are also allowed when you are trying to send a message, but you may attempt such a retry only once per round. Each retry carries the same chance of miscommunication.

–10

Climb (Str; Armour Check Penalty)

Climbing a chimney, artificial or natural or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls.

–5

Use this skill to steal a roc’s last egg from its cliff-top nest or simply scale an inconvenient wall.

Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular.

+5

Surface is slippery.

Check: With a successful Climb check, you can advance up, down or across a slope, wall or some other steep incline, even a ceiling with handholds at one-quarter your normal speed. A slope is considered to be any incline at an angle measuring less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline at an angle measuring 60 degrees or more. A Climb check that fails by four or less means that you make no progress and one that fails by five or more means that you fall from whatever height you have already attained. The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. Compare the task with those on the following table to determine an appropriate DC. A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface cannot be climbed

54

Example Surface or Activity

You need both hands free to climb, but you may cling to a wall with one hand while you cast a spell or

These modifiers are cumulative; use any that apply.

1

take some other action that requires only one hand. While climbing, you cannot move to avoid a blow, so you cannot make Active Defence checks at all. You also cannot make Shield Defence checks while climbing. Any time you take damage while climbing, make a Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall from your current height and sustain the appropriate falling damage. Accelerated Climbing: You try to climb more quickly than normal. By accepting a –5 penalty, you can move half your speed instead of one-quarter your speed. Making Your Own Handholds and Footholds: You can make your own handholds and footholds by pounding spikes into a wall. Doing so takes one minute per spike and one spike is needed per three feet of distance. As with any surface that offers handholds and footholds, a wall with spikes in it

has a DC of 15. In the same way, a climber with a handaxe or similar implement can cut handholds in an ice wall.

Catching a Falling Character While Climbing: If someone climbing above you or adjacent to you falls, you can attempt to catch the falling character if they are within your reach. Doing so requires a successful melee attack against the falling character, who can of course avoid making an Active Defence check. If you hit, you must immediately attempt a Climb check (DC = wall’s DC + 10). Success indicates that you catch the falling character, but their total weight, including equipment, cannot exceed your heavy load limit or you will automatically fall. If you fail your Climb check by four or less, you fail to stop the character’s fall but do not lose your grip on the wall. If you fail by five or more, you fail to stop the character’s fall and begin falling as well. Action: Climbing is part of movement, so it is generally part of a move action and may be combined with other types of movement in a move action. Each move action that includes any climbing requires a separate Climb check. Catching yourself or another falling character does not take an action. Special: You can use a rope to haul a character upward – or lower a character – through sheer strength. You can lift double your maximum load in this manner. If you have the Athletic feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Climb checks. Some creatures can climb as a natural ability. A creature with a climb speed has a +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks. The creature must make a Climb check to climb any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but it can always choose to take 10, even if rushed or threatened while climbing. If a creature with a climb speed chooses an accelerated climb (see above), it moves at double its climb or at its land speed, whichever is slower and makes a single Climb check at a –5 penalty. Such a creature may make Active Defence checks while climbing and opponents gain no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Use Rope, you gain a +2 bonus on Climb checks made to climb a rope, a knotted rope or a rope-and-wall combination.

Check: You must make a Concentration check whenever you might potentially be distracted, by taking damage, harsh weather and so on, while engaged in some action that requires your full attention. Such actions include praying for a miracle, casting a spell, concentrating on an active spell, directing a spell, using a spell-like ability or using a skill that would provoke an attack of opportunity. In general, if an action would not normally provoke an attack of opportunity, you need not make a Concentration check to avoid being distracted. If the Concentration check succeeds, you may continue with the action as normal. If the check fails, the action automatically fails and is wasted. If you were in the process of casting a spell, the spell is lost. If you were concentrating on an active spell, the spell ends as if you had ceased concentrating on it. If you were directing a spell, the direction fails but the spell remains active. If you were using a spell-like ability, that use of the ability is lost. A skill use also fails and in some cases a failed skill check may have other ramifications as well.

ancient skills

Catching Yourself When Falling: It is practically impossible to catch yourself on a wall while falling. Make a Climb check (DC = wall’s DC + 20) to do so. It is much easier to catch yourself on a slope (DC = slope’s DC + 10).

Concentration (Con) You possess the gift of being able to focus your mind, maintaining your thoughts against all external pressures.

The table below summarises various types of distractions that cause you to make a Concentration check. If the distraction occurs while you are trying to pray for a miracle or cast a spell, you must add the save modifier of the magical effect you are trying to produce to the appropriate Concentration DC. If more than one type of distraction is present, make a check for each one; any failed Concentration check indicates that the task is not completed. Action: None. Making a Concentration check does not take an action; it is either a free action, if attempted reactively or part of another action if attempted actively. Try Again: Yes, though a success does not cancel the effect of any previous failure, such as the loss of a spell you were casting or the disruption of a spell you were concentrating on. Special: You can use Concentration to cast a spell, use a spell-like ability or use a skill defensively, so as to avoid attacks of opportunity altogether. This does not apply to other actions that might provoke attacks of opportunity. The DC of the check is 15, plus the magical effect’s save modifier if praying for a miracle, casting a spell or using a spell-like ability defensively. If the Concentration check succeeds, you may attempt the action normally without provoking any attacks of opportunity. A successful

55

ancient skills

Concentration DC1

Distraction

10 + damage dealt

Damaged during the action.2

10 + half of continuous damage las dealt

Taking continuous damage during the action.3

Distracting spell’s save DC

Distracted by non-damaging spell.4

10

Vigorous motion (on a moving mount, taking a bouncy wagon ride, in a small boat in rough water, below decks in a storm-tossed ship).

15

Violent motion (on a galloping horse, taking a very rough wagon ride, in a small boat in rapids, on the deck of a storm-tossed ship).

20

Extraordinarily violent motion (earthquake).

15

Entangled.

20

Grappling or pinned. (Only eye spells may be cast with Witchcraft or Hekau while pinned.)

5

Weather is a high wind carrying blinding rain or sleet.

10

Weather is wind-driven hail, dust or debris.

Distracting spell’s save DC

Weather caused by a miracle or spell, such as storm of devastation.4

If you are trying to pray for a miracle or cast, concentrate on or direct a spell when the distraction occurs, add the magical effect’s save modifier to the indicated DC. 1

Such as during the casting of a spell with a casting time of 1 round or more or the execution of an activity that takes more than a single full-round action. Also, damage stemming from an attack of opportunity or readied attack made in response to the spell being cast (for spells with a casting time of 1 action) or the action being taken (for activities requiring no more than a full-round action). 2

3

Such as from acid.

4

If the spell allows no save, use the save DC it would have if it did allow a save.

Concentration check still does not allow you to take 10 on another check if you are in a stressful situation; you must make the check normally. If the Concentration check fails, the related action also automatically fails with any appropriate ramifications and the action is wasted, just as if your concentration had been disrupted by a distraction. A character with the Combat Casting feat gains a +4 bonus on Concentration checks made to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability while on the defensive, while grappling or pinned.

Craft (Int) Like Knowledge, Perform and Profession, Craft is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Craft skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill. Artificers usually have several Craft skills, representing their broad range of talents. The Craft skills available in the ancient world are: Blacksmith (makes armour, shields, tools, weapons and other metal items) Brewer (makes beer) Builder (makes buildings, monuments and carvings, typically of stone)

56

Carpenter (makes statues and carvings, typically of wood) Embalmer (makes mummies from dead bodies) Fletcher (makes arrows from wood or rushes) Herbalist (brews herbal concoctions including poisons) Jeweller (makes items from precious metal and gems) Potter (makes items in clay) Reed Presser (makes papyrus) Shipwright (builds boats and ships) Tanner (makes leather goods and parchment) Vintner (makes wine) Weaver (spins and weaves cloth and turns it into garments) Wheelwright (makes wheeled vehicles such as chariots) Woodworker (makes wooden items and weapons such as bows) A Craft skill is specifically focused on creating something. If nothing is created by the endeavour, it probably falls under the heading of a Profession skill. Check: You can practice your trade and make a decent living, keeping yourself alive and healthy. You know how to use the tools of your trade, perform the craft’s daily tasks, supervise untrained helpers and handle common problems relating to it. Those who depend on their craft

If you fail a check by four or less, you make no progress this week.

The basic function of the Craft skill, however, is to allow you to make an item of the appropriate type. The DC depends on the complexity of the item to be created. The DC, your check results and the base value of the item determine how long it takes to make a particular item. The item’s base value also determines the cost of raw materials required to manufacture such items.

Progress by the Day: You can make checks by the day instead of by the week. In this case your progress (check result times DC) is in oboli instead of silver drachmas.

All crafts require artisan’s tools to give the best chance of success. If improvised tools are used, the check is at a –2 penalty. On the other hand, masterwork artisan’s tools provide a +2 equipment bonus on the check. To determine how much time and money it takes to make an item, follow these steps;



Find the item’s value in silver drachmas, whether coins are in use or not.

 

Find the DC from the table below.



Make an appropriate Craft check representing one week’s work. If the check succeeds, multiply your check result by the DC. If the result times the DC equals the value of the item in silver drachmas, then you have completed the item. If the result times the DC equals double or triple the price of the item in silver drachmas, then you have completed the task in one-half or onethird of the time. Other multiples of the DC reduce the time in the same manner. If the result times the DC does not equal the price, then it represents the progress you’ve made this week. Record the result and make a new Craft check for the next week. Each week, you make more progress until your total reaches the value of the item in silver drachmas.

Acquire raw materials worth one-third of the item’s base value.

If you fail by five or more, you ruin half the raw materials and have to acquire half the original amount of raw materials again.

Creating Masterwork Items: You can make a masterwork item – a weapon, suit of armour, shield or tool that conveys a bonus on its use due to its exceptional craftsmanship. To create a masterwork item, you create the masterwork component as if it were a separate item in addition to the standard item. The masterwork component has a value of 50% of the item’s base value and a Craft DC of 20. Once both the standard component and the masterwork component are completed, the masterwork item is finished. Sabotaging Items: If you know how to build something, you know how to dismantle or cripple it so that it will not function properly. Use this function of the Craft skill to sabotage any item that you have the skill to make. You can also sabotage any item with a simple Intelligence ability score check against the same DC. For example, if you had ranks in the Craft (blacksmith) skill, you could make a skill check to tamper with a person’s armour so that it would fall off after being worn for a few rounds. Without ranks in that skill, you could make an Intelligence ability score check to achieve the same thing. The Craft check to sabotage an item is made secretly, so that you will not necessarily know whether you have succeeded. The DC depends on how complicated the item is. Disabling, rigging or jamming a fairly simple device has a DC of 10; more intricate and complex devices have higher DCs.

If the check succeeds, you sabotage the device, so that it must be repaired before it can be used again. If it fails by four or less, you have failed but can try again. If you fail by five or more, something Example goes wrong. If the device is a trap of some Make a leather helmet kind, you spring it. If you’re attempting unwearable some sort of sabotage, you think the device Sabotage a chariot is disabled, but it still works normally. wheel

Device

Time

Craft DC1

Simple

1 round

10

Tricky

1d4 rounds

15

Difficult

2d4 rounds

20

Cripple an ancient crane

Wicked

2d4 rounds

25

Cleverly sabotage a pair of mechanical wings

If you attempt to leave behind no trace of your tampering, add 5 to the DC. 1

ancient skills

for a living are seen as lower-class citizens in the ancient world, especially potters and reed pressers. Those with noble blood may learn a craft but are expected to make their way in the world by other means. Only artificers are seen as an exception to this rule, because of the ingenuity of their work.

You also can rig simple devices such as saddles or wagon wheels to work normally for a while and then fail or fall off some time later, usually after 1d4 rounds or minutes of use. The amount of time needed to

57

value of 1% of the item’s base value, so you will need that amount of raw materials of the same kind used to make the item. If you cannot gain the raw materials, you cannot repair the item.

ancient skills

Repairing items is dangerous, as the item is already broken and may possibly be damaged yet further. If you fail a Craft check by more than 10 when repairing an item, you ruin it so that it cannot be repaired in future. The item can still be broken down to recover some of the raw material (see the Wealth section in the Equipment chapter). When you use the Craft skill to make a particular sort of item, the DC for checks involving the creation of that item are typically as given on the table below.

make a Craft check to disable a device depends on the task, as noted above. Disabling a simple device takes one round and is a full-round action. An intricate or complex device requires 1d4 or 2d4 rounds. Repairing Items: Generally, you can repair an item by making checks against the same DC that it took to make the item in the first place. To do this, you craft a repair component as if it were a separate item. The repair component has a

58

Herbalism: Craft (herbalism) checks are not made in the same way as ordinary Craft checks. Herbalism is the art of extracting the essence of herbs and making them into useful treatments or concoctions. You make a Craft (herbalism) check to turn a unit of herbs of a given type into a herbal item of a given type. For example, you could turn a unit of soporific herbs into a sleeping draught. The DC of the check is usually 15 and the process takes ten minutes. Failure to make the check destroys the unit of herbs. You may also attempt a Craft (herbalism) check to identify a given herb or herbal product. Embalming: Craft (embalmer) checks are also not made in the same way as usual. Embalming a body and turning it into a mummy is a straightforward process. The DC is 10 and the cost is five silver drachmas’ worth of spices, unguents and preservatives, which will usually be paid for by the family of the deceased. Embalming one person takes eight hours of work. If you fail the Craft check, the body

Item

Craft Skill

Craft DC

Armour or shield (metal)

Blacksmith

10 + Coverage bonus

Armour (leather)

Tanner

10 + Coverage bonus

Shield (wood based)

Woodworker

10

Recurved bow or self bow

Woodworker

12

Composite recurved bow or composite self bow

Woodworker

15

Composite recurved bow or composite self bow with high strength rating

Woodworker

15 + (2 × rating)

Simple melee or thrown weapon

Blacksmith or Woodworker

12

Martial melee or thrown weapon

Blacksmith or Woodworker

15

Very simple item (wooden spoon)

Varies

5

Typical item (iron pot)

Varies

10

High-quality item (statue of a God)

Varies

15

Complex or superior item (chariot)

Varies

20

Assembling more complicated creations, such as composite mummies, is more difficult. Such creations have their own DC to manufacture. Action: Does not apply. Craft checks are made by the day or week, as noted above. Try Again: Yes, but each time you fail the check by five or more, you ruin half the raw materials and must find some more to the same value. You may voluntarily add +10 to the indicated DC to craft an item. This allows you to create the item more quickly since you will be multiplying this higher DC by your Craft check result to determine progress. You must decide whether to increase the DC before you make each weekly or daily check. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in a Craft skill, you gain a +2 bonus on Appraise checks related to items made with that Craft skill.

Debate (Int) Debate is the art of using cold logic and reasoned argument to convince another person of something. You use Debate to talk your way out of a situation with an appeal to common sense, draw upon established textual authority to justify your position or to argue a point. Debate is very different from Rhetoric, though they seem similar at first glance. While Debate is an intellectual course such as philosophers use when conversing with one another, Rhetoric is a poetic appeal to the emotions of the audience. Debate encourages people to set their feelings aside and think clearly, while Rhetoric encourages them to act out of emotion and ignore rational objection. Debate works best on one person at a time, while Rhetoric can be used with crowds. Check: You can convince others that your point of view is correct with a Debate check; the other person does not necessarily like you any better than they did before, but they are forced to admit the sense of your words. They may alter their planned course of action to take account of this. You can only attempt to convince another person of something that you honestly believe yourself; attempting to convince another person of an untruth involves a Bluff check.

Circumstance

DC

Other person is willing to engage in debate

Opposed Debate check

Other person is initially indifferent

10

Other person is initially sceptical

15

Other person is initially contemptuous

20

Other person is in an extreme emotional state, such as anger or sorrow

+5 to DC

Opposed Debate checks resolve situations when two advocates or diplomats argue opposite cases in a hearing before a third party, such as in a council meeting or a symposium. In this case alone, when you are arguing in order to persuade another person, you may oppose a Debate check with a Rhetoric check and vice versa.

ancient skills

is not properly embalmed and decays, meaning that the ka of the dead person cannot return to the world. You cannot try again if you fail such a check. Your skill as an embalmer determines how many hit points the ka of the deceased may have; the better a job of mummification you do, the stronger the resultant spirit will be.

The following table determines the DC of a Debate check: Action: Arguing a point with Debate generally takes at least one full minute, that is, 10 consecutive full-round actions. In some situations, this time requirement may greatly increase. A rushed Debate check can be made as a full-round action, but you take a –10 penalty on the check. Try Again: No. If you lose an argument, you cannot try to argue the same thing again. Special: If you have the Keen Mind feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Debate checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in any Knowledge skill, you gain a +2 bonus on Debate checks having to do with that skill.

Disguise (Cha) You may use makeup, costume and acting to disguise your appearance, including imitating another person. Check: Your Disguise check result determines how good the disguise is and it is opposed by others’ Spot check results. If you do not draw any attention to yourself, others do not gain to make Spot checks. If you come to the attention of people who are suspicious, such as a guard who is watching commoners walking through a city gate, it can be assumed that such observers are taking 10 on their Spot checks. You gain only one Disguise check per use of the skill, even if several people are making Spot checks against it. The

59

Disguise

Disguise Check Modifier

Minor details only

+5

Disguised as different gender1

–2

Disguised as different race

–2

Disguised as different age category1

–22

ancient skills

1

Escape Artist (Dex; Armour Check Penalty) Check: The table below gives the DCs to escape various forms of restraints.

1

These modifiers are cumulative; use any that apply.

Restraint

Escape Artist DC

Per step of difference between your actual age category and your disguised age category. The steps are: young (younger than adult), adult, middle age, old and venerable.

Ropes

Use Rope check at +10

Net

20

Manacles

30

Tight space

30

Grappler

Grappler’s grapple check result

2

Disguise check is made secretly, so that you cannot be sure how good the result is. The effectiveness of your disguise depends in part on how much you’re attempting to change your appearance. If you are impersonating a particular individual, those who know what that person looks like gain a bonus on their Spot checks according to the table below. Furthermore, they are automatically considered to be suspicious of you, so opposed checks are always called for. Usually, an individual makes a Spot check to see through your disguise immediately upon meeting you and each hour thereafter. If you casually meet many different creatures, each for a short time, check once per day or hour, using an average Spot modifier for the group. Action: Creating a disguise requires 1d3×10 minutes of work. Try Again: Yes. You may try to redo a failed disguise, but once others know that a disguise was attempted, they’ll be more suspicious. Special: Magic that alters your form grants you a +10 bonus on Disguise checks; see the individual magical effect descriptions. You must succeed on a Disguise check with a +10 bonus to duplicate the appearance of a specific individual using the disguise self spell. If you have the Deceptive feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Disguise checks.

60

Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on Disguise checks when you know that you’re being observed and you try to act in character.

Familiarity

Viewer’s Spot Check Bonus

Recognises on sight

+4

Friends or associates

+6

Close friends

+8

Intimate

+10

Ropes: Your Escape Artist check is opposed by the binder’s Use Rope check. Since it’s easier to tie someone up than to escape from being tied up, the binder gains a +10 bonus on their check. Manacles: The DC for manacles is set by their construction. Tight Space: The DC noted on the table is for squeezing through a space where your head fits but your shoulders do not. If the space is long you may need to make multiple checks. You cannot gain through a space that your head does not fit through. Grappler: You can make an Escape Artist check opposed by your enemy’s grapple check to gain out of a grapple or a pinned condition, so that you are only grappling rather than pinned. Action: Making an Escape Artist check to escape from rope bindings, manacles or other restraints except a grappler requires one minute of work. Escaping from a net is a fullround action. Escaping from a grapple or pin is a standard action. Squeezing through a tight space takes at least one minute, maybe longer, depending on how long the space is. Try Again: Varies. You can make another check after a failed check if you are squeezing your way through a tight space, making multiple checks. If the situation permits, you can make additional checks or even take 20, as long as you’re not being actively opposed. Special: If you have the Agile feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Escape Artist checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Escape Artist, you gain a +2 bonus on Use Rope checks to bind someone.

If you have five or more ranks in Use Rope, you gain a +2 bonus on Escape Artist checks when escaping from rope bonds.

Condition

Reader’s Forgery Check Modifier –2

Forgery lets you prepare forged written documents, including appropriate seals or counterfeit items. It was a powerful – if treacherous – weapon in ancient times. During the Trojan War, a letter found in a soldier’s tent, reading ‘The gold that I have sent you is the reward for betraying your comrades’, resulted in his execution. You must have the Literacy feat in order to use the Forgery skill.

Type of document somewhat known to reader

+0

Type of document well known to reader

+2

Handwriting not known to reader

–2

Handwriting somewhat known to reader

+0

Check: Forgery requires writing materials appropriate to the document being forged, enough light or sufficient visual acuity to see the details of your writing, wax for seals, if appropriate and time. To forge a document on which the handwriting is not specific to a person, such as military orders, a governmental decree, a ransom demand or the like, you need only to have seen a similar document before to gain a +8 bonus on your check. To forge a person’s individual seal or mark, you need a copy of it and you gain a +4 bonus on the check. To forge a longer document written in the hand of some particular person, a large sample of that person’s handwriting is needed.

Handwriting intimately known to reader

+2

Reader only reviews the document casually

–2

Forgery (Int)

The Forgery check is made secretly, so that you’re not sure how good your forgery is. As with Disguise, you do not even need to make a check until someone examines the work. Your Forgery check is opposed by the Forgery check of the person who examines the document to check its authenticity. The examiner gains modifiers on their check if any of the conditions on the table below exist. A document that contradicts procedure orders, previous knowledge or one that requires sacrifice on the part of the reader can increase that character’s suspicion and thus create favourable circumstances for the checker’s opposing Forgery check. Action: Forging a very short and simple document takes about one minute. A longer or more complex document takes 1d4 minutes per page. Try Again: Usually, no. A retry is never possible after a particular reader detects a particular forgery. But the document created by the forger might still fool someone else. The result of a Forgery check for a particular document must be used for every instance of a different reader examining the document. No reader can attempt to detect a particular forgery more than once; if that one opposed check goes in favour of the forger, then the reader cannot try using his own skill again, even if he is suspicious about the document.

ancient skills

Type of document unknown to reader

Special: If you have the Deceitful feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Forgery checks. Restriction: Forgery is language-dependent; thus, to forge documents and detect forgeries, you must be able to read and write the language in question.

Gather Information (Cha) You are able to easily discover what the local gossip is, whether it be a brave crew sailing to adventure or the unfaithfulness of a neglected wife. Check: An evening spent frequenting drinking houses, talking to commoners, asking bards what the news is and a DC 10 Gather Information check gain you a general idea of a city’s major news, assuming there are no obvious reasons why the information would be withheld. The higher your check result, the better the information. If you want to find out about a specific rumour, item, obtain a map or do something else along those lines, the DC for the check is 15 to 25 or even higher. Action: A typical Gather Information check takes 1d4+1 hours. Try Again: Yes, but it takes time for each check. Furthermore, you may draw attention to yourself if you repeatedly pursue a certain type of information. Special: If you have the Investigator feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Gather Information checks. You may add your Reputation bonus to a Gather Information skill check, but if you do so, you automatically attract attention to yourself.

61

ancient skills

Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (local) for an area, you gain a +2 bonus on Gather Information checks made within that area.

Attack (DC 20): The animal attacks apparent enemies. You may point to a particular creature that you wish the animal to attack and it will comply if able. Normally, an animal will attack only humanoids, monstrous humanoids, giants or other animals. Teaching an animal to attack all creatures, including such unnatural creatures as undead and aberrations counts as two tricks.



Come (DC 15): The animal comes to you, even if it normally would not do so.



Defend (DC 20): The animal defends you or is ready to defend you if no threat is present, even without any command being given. Alternatively, you can command the animal to defend one specific character.



Down (DC 15): The animal breaks off from combat or otherwise backs down. An animal that does not know this trick continues to fight until it must flee due to injury, fear effect or its opponent is defeated.



Fetch (DC 15): The animal goes and gains something. If you do not point out a specific item, the animal fetches some random object.



Guard (DC 20): The animal stays in place and prevents others from approaching.



Heel (DC 15): The animal follows you closely, even to places where it normally would not go.



Perform (DC 15): The animal performs a variety of simple tricks, such as sitting up, rolling over, roaring or barking and so on.



Seek (DC 15): The animal moves into an area and looks around for anything that is obviously alive or animate.



Stay (DC 15): The animal stays in place, waiting for you to return. It does not challenge other creatures that come by, though it still defends itself if it needs to.



Track (DC 20): The animal tracks the scent presented to it. This requires the animal to have the scent ability.



Work (DC 15): The animal pulls or pushes a medium or heavy load.

Handle Animal (Cha; Trained Only) Use this skill to drive a chariot, control a rearing horse or tame a fierce wolf. Check: The DC depends on what you are trying to do. Task

Handle Animal DC

Handle an animal

10

‘Push’ an animal

25

Teach an animal a trick

15 or 201

Train an animal for a general purpose

15 or 201

Rear a wild animal

15 + HD of animal

See the specific trick or purpose below.

1

General Purpose

DC

General Purpose

DC

Combat riding

20

Hunting

20

Fighting

20

Performance

15

Guarding

20

Riding

15

Heavy labour

15

Handle an Animal: This task involves commanding an animal to perform a task or trick that it knows. If the animal is wounded or has taken any non-lethal damage or ability score damage, the DC increases by two. If your check succeeds, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action. ‘Push’ an Animal: To push an animal means to gain it to perform a task or trick that it does not know but is physically capable of performing. This category also covers making an animal perform a forced march or forcing it to hustle for more than one hour between sleep cycles. If the animal is wounded or has taken any non-lethal damage or ability score damage, the DC increases by two. If your check succeeds, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action.

62



Teach an Animal a Trick: You can teach an animal a specific trick with one week of work and a successful Handle Animal check against the indicated DC. An animal with an Intelligence score of 1 can learn a maximum of three tricks, while an animal with an Intelligence score of 2 can learn a maximum of six tricks. Possible tricks and their associated DCs include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following;

Train an Animal for a Purpose: Rather than teaching an animal individual tricks, you can simply train it for a general purpose. Essentially, an animal’s purpose represents a predetermined set of known tricks that fit into a common scheme, such as guarding or heavy labour. The animal must meet all the normal prerequisites for all tricks included in the training package. If the package includes more than three tricks, the animal must have an Intelligence score of 2. An animal can be trained for only one general purpose, though if the creature is capable of learning additional

tricks above and beyond those included in its general purpose, it may do so. Training an animal for a purpose requires fewer checks than teaching individual tricks does, but no less time. Combat Riding (DC 20): An animal trained to bear a rider into combat knows the tricks attack, come, defend, down, guard and heel. Training an animal for combat riding takes six weeks. You may also ‘upgrade’ an animal trained for riding to one trained for combat riding by spending three weeks and making a successful DC 20 Handle Animal check. The new general purpose and tricks completely replace the animal’s previous purpose and any tricks it once knew. Warhorses are already trained to bear riders into combat and they do not require any additional training for this purpose.

Try Again: Yes, except for rearing an animal. Special: You can use this skill on a creature with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 that is not an animal, but the DC of any such check increases by five. Such creatures have the same limit on tricks known as animals do. If you have the Animal Affinity feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Handle Animal, you gain a +2 bonus on Ride checks.



Fighting (DC 20): An animal trained to engage in combat knows the tricks attack, down and stay. Training an animal for fighting takes three weeks.



Guarding (DC 20): An animal trained to guard knows the tricks attack, defend, down and guard. Training an animal for guarding takes four weeks.



Heavy Labour (DC 15): An animal trained for heavy labour knows the tricks come and work. Training an animal for heavy labour takes two weeks.

Heal checks are primarily used to treat individual wounds, it can also be used to stabilise a dying character or counter the effects of poison.



Hunting (DC 20): An animal trained for hunting knows the tricks attack, down, fetch, heel, seek and track. Training an animal for hunting takes six weeks.



Performance (DC 15): An animal trained for performance knows the tricks come, fetch, heel, perform and stay. Training an animal for performance takes five weeks.

Check: The DC of a Heal check to bind a normal wound or cauterise a grievous wound is equal to the size of the wound you are treating (see the Wounds section in the Combat chapter). Binding a wound is a standard action.

Untrained: If you have no ranks in Handle Animal, you can use a Charisma check to handle and push domestic animals, but you cannot teach, rear or train animals.

Heal (Wis)

Riding (DC 15): An animal trained to bear a rider knows the tricks come, heel and stay. Training an animal for riding takes three weeks.

Stabilise: You can use the Heal skill to save a dying character. The DC of the check to do this is 15. If a character is dying from his wounds and is losing hit points, you can make them stable. A stable character regains no hit points or points of Constitution, but stops losing them.

Rear a Wild Animal: To rear an animal means to raise a wild creature, such as a wolf or bear, from infancy so that it becomes domesticated. A handler can rear as many as three creatures of the same kind at once. A successfully domesticated animal can be taught tricks at the same time as it is being raised or it can be taught as a domesticated animal later.

Treat Poison: To treat poison means to tend a single character that has been poisoned and who is going to take more damage or suffer some other effect from the poison. Every time the poisoned character makes a saving throw against the poison, you make a Heal check. The poisoned character uses your check result or their saving throw, whichever is higher.

Action: Varies. Handling an animal is a move action, while pushing an animal is a full-round action. For tasks with specific time frames noted above, you must spend half this time – at the rate of three hours per day per animal being handled – working toward completion of the task before you attempt the Handle Animal check. If the check fails, your attempt to teach, rear or train the animal fails and you need not complete the teaching, rearing or training time.

Action: Stabilising a character, binding or cauterising a wound or treating poison is a standard action.



ancient skills



If the check succeeds, you must invest the remainder of the time to complete the teaching, rearing or training. If the time is interrupted or the task is not followed through to completion, the attempt to teach, rear or train the animal automatically fails.

Try Again: Varies. You cannot attempt to bind a wound twice. Cautery checks can be attempted again but the DC increases with each attempt and further damage is inflicted. You can always retry a check to stabilise a dying character, assuming the target of the previous attempt is still alive.

63

ancient skills

Special: A character with the Self-Sufficient feat gains a +2 bonus on Heal checks. A herbal poultice gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks.

Hekau (Int; Trained Only; Armour Check Penalty) Hekau is the term given to the Ancient Egyptian arts of ritual and magic. These depend heavily on the use of symbols, specifically words and written hieroglyphs. Hekau magic is entirely verbal; if a person is prevented from speaking, he cannot cast a Hekau spell, though he may pray silently. Hekau has a ritual use as well as its active magical use, in particular, it is used to prepare the dead and their items. Characters who have the Cast Hekau Spell class feature can use the Hekau skill to produce magical effects (see the Magic chapter for more details). Funerary Rites: The Hekau skill is used to prepare an Egyptian’s body for the grave. This is not the same as embalming (see the Craft (embalmer) skill). The Hekau process protects the body from occupation by evil spirits. A Hekau skill check at DC 10 is needed to perform the

proper funerary rites over a corpse and place the right amulets in specific places on the body. Success means that wicked spirits such as death-lanterns cannot take possession of it. This use of the skill takes one hour. Dedicate Object: The Hekau skill is used to dedicate objects for the use of the dead in the afterlife (see Death and Beyond for further details on this use of the skill). Action: Funeral rites take one hour to perform, while dedications take 10 minutes. Try Again: Varies. You cannot attempt to perform funeral rites twice. Dedicate checks can be attempted again but the DC increases by one with each attempt.

Hide (Dex; Armour Check Penalty) Disappear into the local terrain, be it a dense and foreboding wood or a Cretan labyrinth. Check: Your Hide check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone who might see you. You can move up to one-half your normal speed and hide at no penalty. When moving at a speed greater than one-half but less than your normal speed, you suffer a –5 penalty. It is practically impossible (– 20 penalty) to hide while attacking, running or charging. A creature larger or smaller than Medium takes a size bonus or penalty on Hide checks depending on its size category: Fine +16, Diminutive +12, Tiny +8, Small +4, Large –4, Huge –8, Gargantuan –12, Colossal –16. You need cover or concealment in order to attempt a Hide check. Total cover or total concealment usually, but not always obviates the need for a Hide check, since nothing can see you anyway. If people are observing you, even casually, you cannot hide. You can run around a corner or behind cover so that you are out of sight and then hide, but the others then know at least where you went. If your observers are momentarily distracted, such as by a Bluff check, you can attempt to hide. While the others turn their attention from you, you can attempt a Hide check if you can gain to a hiding place of some kind. As a general guideline, the hiding place has to be within one foot per rank you have in Hide. This check, however, is made at a –10 penalty because you have to move fast.

64

Sniping: If you have already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then immediately hide again. You take a –20 penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.

Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use Bluff to help you hide. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion needed to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of you.

Special: If you are invisible, you gain a +40 bonus on Hide checks if you are immobile or a +20 bonus on Hide checks if you are moving. If you have the Stealthy feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Hide checks.

Jump (Str; Armour Check Penalty) Use this skill to cross crevasses, straddle walls, or win at the Olympic games. Check: The DC and the distance you can cover vary according to the type of jump you are attempting (see below). Your Jump check is modified by your speed. If your speed is 30 feet then no modifier based on speed applies to the check. If your speed is less than 30 feet, you suffer a –6 penalty for every 10 feet of speed less than 30 feet. If your speed is greater than 30 feet, you gain a +4 bonus for every 10 feet beyond 30 feet. All Jump DCs given here assume that you gain a running start, which requires that you move at least 20 feet in a straight line before attempting the jump. If you do not gain a running start, the DC for the jump is doubled.

Long Jump Distance

If your check succeeds, you land on your feet at the far end. If you fail the check by less than five, you do not clear the distance, but you can make a DC 15 Reflex save to grab the far edge of the gap. You end your movement grasping the far edge. If that leaves you dangling over a chasm or gap, gaining up requires a move action and a DC 15 Climb check. High Jump: A high jump is a vertical leap made to reach a ledge high above or to grasp something overhead. The DC is equal to four times the distance Jump DC1 to be cleared.

5-ft.

5

10-ft.

10

15-ft.

15

20-ft.

20

25-ft.

25

30-ft.

30

Requires a 20-ft. running start. Without a running start, double the DC. 1

High Jump Distance1 Jump DC2 1-ft.

4

2-ft.

8

3-ft.

12

4-ft.

16

5-ft.

20

6-ft.

24

7-ft.

28

8-ft.

32

1

Not including vertical reach; see below.

2 Requires a 20-ft. running start. Without a running start, double the DC.

Distance moved by jumping is counted against your normal maximum movement in a round. If you have ranks in Jump and you succeed on a Jump check, you land on your feet (when appropriate). If you attempt a Jump check untrained, you land prone unless you beat the DC by five or more.

ancient skills

Action: Usually none. Normally, you make a Hide check as part of movement, so it does not take a separate action. However, hiding immediately after a ranged attack (see Sniping, above) is a move action.

Long Jump: A long jump is a horizontal jump, made across a gap like a chasm or stream. At the midpoint of the jump, you attain a vertical height equal to one-quarter of the horizontal distance. The DC for the jump is equal to the distance jumped in feet.

If you jumped up to grab something, a successful check indicates that you reached the desired height. If you wish to pull yourself up, you can do so with a move action and a DC 15 Climb check. If you fail the Jump check, you do not reach the height and you land on your feet in the same spot from which you jumped. As with a long jump, the DC is doubled if you do not gain a running start of at least 20 feet. Obviously, the difficulty of reaching a given height varies according to the size of the character or creature. The maximum vertical reach – height the creature can reach without jumping – for an average creature of a given size is shown on the table below. As a Medium creature, a typical human can reach eight feet without jumping.

Quadrupedal creatures do not have the same vertical reach as a bipedal creature as they can rear up on their hind quarters; treat them as being one size category larger. Hop Up: You can jump up onto an object as tall as your waist, such as a table or small boulder, with a DC 10 Jump check. Doing so counts as 10 feet of movement, so if your speed is 30 feet, you could move 20 feet, then hop up onto a counter. You do not need to gain a running start

65

ancient skills

Creature Size

Vertical Reach

Colossal

128-ft.

Gargantuan

64-ft.

Huge

32-ft.

Large

16-ft.

Medium

8-ft.

Small

4-ft.

Tiny

2-ft.

Diminutive

1-ft.

Fine

½-ft.

to hop up, so the DC is not doubled if you do not gain a running start. Jumping Down: If you intentionally jump from a height, you take less damage than you would if you just fell. The DC to jump down from a height is 15. You do not have to get a running start to jump down, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start. If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did. Action: None. A Jump check is included in your movement, so it is part of a move action. If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action (either on this turn or, if necessary, on your next turn) must be a move action to complete the jump. Special: Effects that increase your movement also increase your jumping distance, since your check is modified by your speed. If you have the Run feat, you gain a +4 bonus on Jump checks for any jumps made after a running start. If you have the Acrobatic feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Jump checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +2 bonus on Jump checks. If you have five or more ranks in Jump, you gain a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.

Knowledge (Int; Trained Only) Like the Craft and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of unrelated skills. Knowledge represents a study of some body of lore, possibly an academic or even scientific discipline. Below are listed typical fields of study.

66



Agriculture (crops, farming, husbandry, soil, fertilisers, domesticated animals)



Architecture and engineering (buildings, bridges, fortifications)



Art and literature (epics, poetic works, heroic myths, statuary, culture)

 

Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people)



Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions)



Mysteries (initiatory cults, witchcraft activity, obscure beliefs, hidden history)



Nature (wild animals, monstrous creatures, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin)



Nobility and royalty (lineages, family trees, feuds, mottoes, personalities)



Philosophy (major philosophies, eternal verities, questions, paradoxes, the human condition)



Religion, Egyptian (the Egyptian Gods, the Duat, the rites and rituals)



Religion, Greek (the Olympians, other deities, mysterious cults, appropriate sacrifices, the underworld)



Tactics and strategy (military command, military history, troop deployment)

History (royalty, wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities)

Check: Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 for really easy questions, 15 for basic questions or 20 to 30 for really tough questions. In many cases, you can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In general, the DC of such a check equals 10 + the monster’s HD. A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every five points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information. Action: Usually none. In most cases, making a Knowledge check does not take an action. You simply know the answer or you do not. Try Again: No. The check represents what you know and thinking about a topic a second time does not let you know something that you have never learned in the first place. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (agriculture) and your deity is Demeter or Osiris, you gain a +2 bonus on Prayer checks.

Untrained: An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check. Without actual training, you know only common knowledge (DC 10 or lower).

Listen (Wis) Be it the hissing of a cobra, the creaking of a floorboard or the knocking of an arrow, this is the skill to call upon to prevent such unwanted surprises. Check: Your Listen check is either made against a DC that reflects how quiet the noise is that you might hear or it is opposed by your target’s Move Silently check. In the case of people trying to be quiet, the DCs given on the table could be replaced by Move Silently checks, in which case the indicated DC would be their average check result. Action: Varies. Every time you have a chance to hear something in a reactive manner, such as when someone makes a noise or you move into a new area, you can make a Listen check without using an action. Trying to hear something you failed to hear previously is a move action.

Listen DC

Sound

–10

A battle

0

People talking1

5

A person in medium armour walking at a slow pace (10-ft./round) trying not to make any noise

10

An unarmoured person walking at a slow pace (15-ft./round) trying not to make any noise

15

A 1st level thief using Move Silently to sneak past the listener

15

People whispering1

19

A cat stalking

30

An owl gliding in for a kill

ancient skills

If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (art and literature), you gain a +2 bonus on Rhetoric checks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (mysteries), you gain a +2 bonus on Witchcraft and Hekau checks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (architecture and engineering), you gain a +2 bonus on Search checks made to find secret doors or hidden compartments. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (geography), you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks made to keep from gaining lost or to avoid natural hazards. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (history), you gain a +2 bonus on Lore checks, if you are a bard or sage. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (local), you gain a +2 bonus on Gather Information checks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (nature), you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks made in above-ground natural environments, such as aquatic, desert, forest, hill, marsh, mountains or plains. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (nobility and royalty), you gain a +2 bonus on Presence checks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (philosophy), you gain a +2 bonus on Solve Conundrum checks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (religion: Greek or Egyptian), you gain a +2 bonus on opposed Prayer checks when reducing another’s die roll result with Divine Points. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (tactics and strategy), you gain a +2 bonus on Initiative checks. If you have five or more ranks in Survival, you gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) checks.

If you beat the DC by 10 or more, you can make out what’s being said, assuming that you understand the language. 1

Listen DC Modifier

Condition

+5

Through a door

+15

Through a stone wall

+1

Per 10-ft. of distance

–5

Listener distracted

Try Again: Yes. You can try to hear something that you failed to hear previously with no penalty. Special: When several characters are listening to the same thing, a single d20 roll can be used for all the individuals’ Listen checks. A fascinated creature suffers a –4 penalty on Listen checks made as reactions. If you have the Alertness feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Listen checks. A sleeping character may make Listen checks at a –10 penalty. A successful check awakens the sleeper.

Medicine (Int; Trained Only) Medicine is the science of assisting recovery from ailments or wounds over time. It is contrasted with Heal, which is simple first aid performed in the field. It is most commonly used to treat grievous wounds. Medicine is also used to treat diseases. Check: The DC of a Medicine check is usually the size of the grievous wound being treated. Treat Grievous Wound: Medicine can treat grievous wounds without resorting to the horrors of cautery

67

ancient skills

(see Grievous Wounds in the Combat chapter). You can treat multiple grievous wounds in a day, so long as you have time. You can treat a grievous wound on your own body at a –5 penalty to the check. No one grievous wound may be treated more than once per day. Treat Disease: To treat a disease means to tend a single diseased character. Every time they make a saving throw against disease effects, you make a Medicine check. The diseased character uses your check result or their saving throw, whichever is higher. Action: Treating a grievous wound requires 30 minutes of intense work. Try Again: Yes. You can always retry a check to treat a grievous wound, assuming the target of the previous attempt is still alive. You may not, however, treat the same wound more than once in a day.

Move Silently (Dex; Armour Check Penalty) For those not inclined to the harsh ways of the warrior, sneaking around can be rather appealing. Use this skill to approach a guard unseen or escape the clutches of a sleeping captor. Check: Your Move Silently check is opposed by the Listen check of anyone who might hear you. You can move up to one-half your normal speed at no penalty. When moving at a speed greater than one-half but less than your full speed,

Check Modifier

Surface Noisy (scree, shallow or deep bog, undergrowth, dense rubble)

–2

Very noisy (dense undergrowth, deep snow)

–5

you suffer a –5 penalty. It is practically impossible (–20 penalty) to move silently while running or charging. It is difficult to move silently across some surfaces, such as bogs or undergrowth. When you try to sneak across such a surface, you suffer a penalty on your Move Silently check as indicated below. Action: None. A Move Silently check is included in your movement or other activity, so it is part of another action. Special: If you have the Stealthy feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Move Silently checks.

Perform (Cha) Like Craft, Knowledge and Profession, Perform is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Perform skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill. Each of the nine categories of the Perform skill includes a variety of methods, instruments or techniques, a small list of which is provided for each category below.

     

Act (drama, ritual performance)

  

String instruments (lute)

Clowning (buffoonery, pratfalls, joke-telling) Dance (belly dancing, classical dance) Oratory (epic, ode, storytelling) Percussion instruments (drum, tambourine, gong) Satire (mockery, parody, comic impressions, ridicule, sending up individuals) Wind instruments (pan pipes, trumpet) Sing (chant, intone, melody)

Check: You can impress audiences with your talent and skill. A masterwork musical instrument earns you a +2 circumstance bonus on Perform checks that involve its use.

68

Perform DC

Performance Routine performance. Trying to feed yourself by playing in public is essentially begging. You earn enough food to feed yourself and a bed for the night.

15

Enjoyable performance. Your rewards meet your daily needs adequately.

20

Great performance. You are rewarded with ample foodstuffs and offered a choice of comfortable accommodations. In time, you may be invited to join a professional troupe and may develop a regional reputation.

25

Memorable performance. People compete for your attention. You can live comfortably for a week. In time, you may come to the attention of noble patrons and develop a national reputation.

30

Extraordinary performance. You can live comfortably for a month. In time, you may draw attention from distant potential patrons or even from the Gods themselves.

Action: Varies. Trying to earn money by playing in public requires anywhere from an evening’s work to a full day’s performance. The bard’s special Perform-based abilities are described in that class’s description. Try Again: Yes. Retries are allowed, but they do not negate previous failures and an audience that has been unimpressed in the past is likely to be prejudiced against any future performances. Increase the DC by two for each previous failure.

Prayer (Wis) Your ranks in the Prayer skill represent your affinity with the divine and your ability to contact your deity when you need to. Characters will mostly be using Prayer to oppose another’s attempts to reduce their die rolls with divine points. Priests and priestesses have the Request Miracle class feature, which enables them to use Prayer to petition their deity for miracles. Check: A Prayer check is made against a given DC to petition a deity for a miracle. This is a standard action requiring concentration and provokes an attack of opportunity.

Reducing Another’s Roll With Divine Points: Opposed Prayer checks made when spending divine points to reduce another’s die roll are made as free actions. Warding Off and Dismissing Undead: You can pray to your deity for protection against the attacks of wicked spirits, including those that have been bound into a dead body, such as a composite. For more information on the walking dead and discarnate entities (see Death and Beyond and the Bestiary chapter). A more challenging prayer can be made to banish the corrupt spirit altogether, sending it from the material world into the afterlife. Discarnate creatures are dismissed, while creatures with bodies made from dead matter are destroyed and their animating spirits banished.

ancient skills

10

Religious Rituals: You make a Prayer check at DC 10 to carry out the basic religious rituals of your faith. If you are a priest, you may use this check to conduct services and similar rituals. In the Greek traditions, it is also used to sanctify a corpse after death and prevent wicked spirits from claiming the body for their use. The Egyptian traditions use the Hekau skill for similar purposes.

Prayer checks made to ward off undead creatures or dismiss their troubled spirits are made against a DC of 10 plus the creature’s Hit Dice plus its manifestation bonus in the case of warding off or 15 plus the same variables in the case of dismissal. A Prayer check made to ward off or dismiss a creature is made as a standard action that requires concentration and provokes an attack of opportunity. Action: Religious rituals take one hour to perform. Try Again: Varies. You cannot attempt to perform funeral rites twice. Dedicate checks can be attempted again but the DC increases by one with each attempt.

Presence (Cha) Presence is the ability to use your force of personality and striking appearance to your best advantage. A warrior bellowing on the field to intimidate foes, a priest speaking from the temple steps to awe a congregation and a witch overcoming the willpower of a hero with her beauty are all examples of Presence in action. Check: You can change another’s behaviour with a successful check. The opposing check depends on the purpose for which you are using Presence. Intimidation: Your Presence check is opposed by the target’s modified level check (1d20 + character level or Hit Dice + target’s Wisdom bonus, if any). If you are using Presence to intimidate, your target may add any bonuses against fear effects; if you are using it to seduce, your target may add any bonuses against charm effects.

69

ancient skills

If you beat your target’s check result, you may treat the target as friendly, but only for the purpose of actions taken while it remains intimidated. While intimidated, the target retains its normal attitude, but will chat, advise, offer limited help or advocate on your behalf. The effect lasts as long as the target remains in your presence and for 1d6×10 minutes afterward. After this time, the target’s default attitude toward you shifts to unfriendly or, if normally unfriendly, to hostile. If you fail the check by five or more, the target provides you with incorrect and useless information or otherwise frustrates your efforts. Seduction: Your Presence check is opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check. If you beat your target’s check result, you may treat the target as friendly. The target is allowed a new Sense Motive check every hour. He is also entitled to a Sense Motive check every time you steer him into actions that involve risk to himself or a challenge to his personal belief system. Once he has made this check, he resumes his default attitude towards you. If you fail the check by five or more, the target becomes one step less friendly than he was before; an indifferent target becomes unfriendly and an unfriendly target becomes hostile. Demoralise Opponent: You can also use Presence to weaken an opponent’s resolve in combat. To do so, make a Presence check opposed by the target’s modified level check (see above). If you win, the target becomes shaken for one round. A shaken character takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks and saving throws. You can demoralise only an opponent that you threaten in melee combat and that can see you. Action: Varies. Changing another’s behaviour requires one minute of interaction. Intimidating an opponent in combat is a standard action. Try Again: Optional, but not recommended as retries usually do not work. Even if the initial check succeeds, the other character can be impressed only so far. If the initial check fails, the other character has probably become more firmly resolved to resist the power of your presence and a retry is futile. Special: When you use Presence for intimidation, you gain a +4 bonus on your check for every size category that you are larger than your target. Conversely, you suffer a –4 penalty on your check for every size category that you are smaller than your target.

70

When you use Presence for seduction, you gain a +2 bonus on your check for every social rank that you are higher than your target. A character immune to fear cannot be intimidated with Presence and a character immune to charm cannot be seduced. Non-intelligent creatures are not affected by Presence at all. If you have the Persuasive feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Presence checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on Presence checks.

Profession (Wis; Trained Only) Like Craft, Knowledge and Perform, Profession is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Profession skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill. While a Craft skill represents ability in creating or making an item, a Profession skill represents an aptitude in a vocation requiring a broader range of less specific knowledge. When creating a character, you may only select Profession skills appropriate to the character’s original social class. Some professions can only be taken by slaves, as they are not fit to be undertaken by more refined citizens. The character classes of Warrior, Noble Warrior, Sage and Courtesan are all Professions in their own right as well as being character classes. If you are a member of one of these classes, you automatically have a number of skill ranks in Profession (character class) equal to your level of experience. In the context of the game, a profession also includes an office, such as governor, judge or commander. Typical professions are given below. Professions in italics are available to women; those that are exclusively available to women are obvious. Upper Class Professions: Landlord, governor, judge, council member, commander, functionary Middle Class Professions: Merchant, scribe (only if literate), shopkeeper, innkeeper, moneylender, moneychanger, slave trader, guardsman, messenger, nursemaid, midwife Lower Class Professions: Farmer, fisherman, reed-cutter, sailor, herder, water-seller, woodsman, charcoal burner, beggar Slave Professions: Servant, handmaid, labourer, digger, concubine, miner Women of any social class except slaves may take the household manager profession, which represents the

organisational skill to organise a household and the slaves working within it.

Action: Not applicable. A single check generally represents a week of work. Try Again: Varies. An attempt to use a Profession skill to earn an income cannot be retried. You are stuck with whatever weekly wage your check result has brought you. Another check may be made after a week to determine a new income for the next week. An attempt to accomplish some specific task can usually be retried. Untrained: Untrained labourers and assistants, characters without any ranks in Profession, earn an average of one oboli per week, unless they are slaves, in which case they earn nothing save good treatment.

Ride (Dex) The cultures of the ancient world do not use riding saddles; at most, a cloth is put on the horse’s back to sit upon. Stirrups are not invented until later years. Nonetheless, bareback riding is a skill that many learn. Check: Typical riding actions do not require checks. You can mount, ride and dismount from a mount without a problem. The following tasks do require checks.

Task

Ride DC

Task

Ride DC

Guide with knees

10

Leap

15

Stay mounted

10

Spur mount

15

Fight with warhorse

10

Control mount in battle

20

Soft fall

15

Fast mount or dismount

201

1

Armour check penalty applies.

Stay Mounted: You can react instantly to try to avoid falling when your mount rears or bolts unexpectedly or when you take damage. This usage does not take an action. Fight with Warhorse: If you direct your war-trained mount to attack in battle, you can still make your own attack or attacks normally. This usage is a free action as it is used reactively. Soft Fall: You can react instantly to try to avoid injury should you fall off a mount – when it is killed, hamstrung or when it falls, for example. If you fail your Ride check, you take 1d6 points of falling damage. This usage does not take an action as it is used reactively.

ancient skills

Check: You can practice your trade or fulfil the duties of your office and make a decent living. If you are playing in the historical era, you earn half your check result in silver drachmas per week for an upper or middle class profession and half the check result in oboli for a working class profession. Slave professions do not earn any money; a successful check means a satisfactory week’s work in the eyes of your masters, with good treatment as your reward. In addition to keeping yourself alive, you learn how to perform the profession’s daily tasks, how to supervise helpers and how to handle common problems.

Guide with Knees: You can react instantly to guide your mount with your knees so that you can use both hands in combat. Make your Ride check at the start of your turn. If you fail, you can use only one hand this round because you need to use the other to control your mount.

Leap: You can gain your mount to leap obstacles as part of its movement. Use your Ride modifier or the mount’s Jump modifier, whichever is lower, to see how far the creature can jump. If you fail your Ride check, you fall from the mount when it leaps and take the appropriate falling damage, at least 1d6 points. This usage does not take an action, but is part of the mount’s movement. Spur Mount: You can spur your mount to greater speed with a move action. A successful Ride check increases the mount’s speed by 10 feet for one round but deals one point of damage to the creature. You can use this ability every round, but each consecutive round of additional speed deals twice as much damage to the mount as the previous round (two points, four points, eight points and so on). Control Mount in Battle: As a move action, you can attempt to control a light horse, pony, heavy horse or other mount not trained for combat riding while in battle. If you fail the Ride check, you can do nothing else in that round. You do not need to roll for warhorses or warponies. Fast Mount or Dismount: You can attempt to mount or dismount from a mount of up to one size category larger than yourself as a free action, provided that you still have a move action available that round. If you fail the Ride check, mounting or dismounting is a move action. You cannot use fast mount or dismount on a mount more than one size category larger than yourself. Action: Varies. Mounting or dismounting normally is a move action. Other checks are a move action, a free action or no action at all, as noted above.

71

ancient skills

Special: The Ride skill is a prerequisite for the feats Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, RideBy Attack, Spirited Charge and Trample. If you have the Animal Affinity feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Ride checks. If you attempt to ride a creature that is ill suited as a mount, you suffer a –5 penalty on your Ride checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Handle Animal, you gain a +2 bonus on Ride checks.

Task

Search DC

Ransack a chest full of junk to find a certain item

10

Find a word scratched into a wall

15

Notice a typical secret door or a concealed pit

20

Find a dropped earring on a grass lawn

25

Notice a well-hidden secret door

30

Find a footprint

Varies1

A successful Search check can find a footprint or similar sign of a creature’s passage, but it will not let you find or follow a trail. See the Track feat for the appropriate DC. 1

Rhetoric (Cha) Rhetoric is the art of speaking persuasively in order to influence the emotions of the listener. Whether you are addressing one person or a hundred, you can use body language, well-chosen phrases, emotive terms and classical illusions to move their hearts. Rhetoric is very different from Debate. Rhetoric appeals to the heart, while Debate appeals to the mind. You must have the willing attention of your audience in order to use Rhetoric. Someone who is staring at you with hatred, about to hurl a spear at you, is giving you their willing attention. Rhetoric is a languagedependent skill; the audience must be able to understand you in order for it to work. Check: You can use Rhetoric to change your audience’s attitude towards you or towards another person known to them. For example, you can attempt to make an indifferent person friendly towards you or you can attempt to make an indifferent crowd hostile towards a specific person. Rhetoric is the skill used in ‘rabble rousing’, in which one person stirs up hatred against others. Rhetoric can also be used to influence morale on the battlefield by giving inspiring speeches. A successful Rhetoric check against DC 10 grants the listeners a +1 morale bonus to all morale-related checks and saving throws, such as Will saving throws against fear effects. Failure by more than 5 on this check imparts a –1 penalty to the same checks and saving throws. If the warriors are already dispirited or depressed, the Games Master may raise this DC to 15 or 20. Special: If you have the Persuasive feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Rhetoric checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on Rhetoric checks.

Search (Int) With this skill you can uncover the secrets of your surroundings, be it a hidden tomb, a deadly trap or a secret passageway.

72

Check: You generally must be within 10 feet of the object or surface to be searched. The table below gives DCs for typical tasks involving the Search skill. Action: It takes a full-round action to search a five foot by five foot area or a volume of goods five feet on a side. Special: If you have the Investigator feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Search checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Search, you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks to find or follow tracks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (architecture and engineering), you gain a +2 bonus on Search checks to find secret doors or hidden compartments.

Sense Motive (Wis) Think that the innocent looking merchant in front of you is really an evil king bent on your eventual destruction? Use this skill to determine whether you are being told the truth, or whether the person before you is all they claim to be. Check: A successful check lets you avoid being bluffed (see the Bluff skill). You can also use this skill to determine when something odd is going on or to assess someone’s trustworthiness. Task

Sense Motive DC

Hunch

20

Sense enchantment

25 or 15

Discern secret message

Varies

Hunch: This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. You can gain the feeling from another’s behaviour that something is wrong, such as when you’re talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can gain the feeling that someone is trustworthy. Sense Enchantment: You can tell that someone’s behaviour is being influenced by a mind-affecting effect, even if that

Sleight of Hand (Dex; Trained Only; Armour Check Penalty)

person is not aware of it. The usual DC is 25, but if the target is dominated (see dominate will), the DC is only 15 because of the limited range of the target’s activities.

Action: Trying to gain information with Sense Motive generally takes at least one minute and you could spend a whole evening trying to gain a sense of the people around you. Try Again: No, though you may make a Sense Motive check for each Bluff check made against you. Special: If you have the Negotiator feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Sense Motive, you gain a +2 bonus on Rhetoric checks.

Use this skill for a spot of thievery or conceal a weapon within the folds of your cloak to avoid a suspicious sentry. Check: A DC 10 Sleight of Hand check lets you palm a coin-sized, unattended object. Performing a minor feat of legerdemain, such as making a coin disappear, also has a DC of 10 unless an observer is determined to note where the item went. When you use this skill under close observation, your skill check is opposed by the observer’s Spot check. The observer’s success does not prevent you from performing the action, just from doing it unnoticed. You can hide a small object, including a light weapon or an easily concealed ranged weapon, such as a sling on your body. Your Sleight of Hand check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone observing you or the Search check of anyone frisking you. In the latter case, the searcher gains a +4 bonus on the Search check, since it is generally easier to find such an object than to hide it. A dagger is easier to hide than most light weapons and grants you a +2 bonus on your Sleight of Hand check to conceal it. An extraordinarily small object, such as a coin, gem or ring, grants you a +4 bonus on your Sleight of Hand check to conceal it and heavy or baggy clothing, such as a cloak, grants you a +2 bonus on the check. Drawing a hidden weapon is a standard action and does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Influencing Attitudes Use this table to determine the effectiveness of Rhetoric or Charisma checks made to influence the attitude of a character or group of characters. Initial Attitude

ancient skills

Discern Secret Message: You may use Sense Motive to detect that a hidden message is being transmitted via the Bluff skill. In this case, your Sense Motive check is opposed by the Bluff check of the character transmitting the message. For each piece of information relating to the message that you are missing, you suffer a –2 penalty on your Sense Motive check. If you succeed by four or less, you know that something hidden is being communicated, but you cannot learn anything specific about its content. If you beat the DC by five or more, you intercept and understand the message. If you fail by four or less, you do not detect any hidden communication. If you fail by five or more, you infer some false information.

————— New Attitude (DC to achieve)————— Hostile

Unfriendly

Indifferent

Friendly

Helpful

Hostile

Less than 20

20

25

35

50

Unfriendly

Less than 5

5

15

25

40

Indifferent

—

Less than 1

1

15

30

Friendly

—

—

Less than 1

1

20

Helpful

—

—

—

Less than 1

1

Attitude

Means

Possible Actions

Hostile

Will take risks to hurt you

Attack, interfere, berate, flee

Unfriendly

Wishes you ill

Mislead, gossip, avoid, watch suspiciously, insult

Indifferent

Does not much care

Socially expected interaction

Friendly

Wishes you well

Chat, advise, offer limited help, advocate

Helpful

Will take risks to help you

Protect, back up, heal, aid

If you try to take something from another creature, you must make a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check to obtain it. The opponent makes a Spot check to detect the attempt, opposed by the same Sleight of Hand check result you achieved when you tried to grab the item. An opponent who succeeds on this check notices the attempt, regardless of whether you got the item. You can also use Sleight of Hand to entertain an audience as though you were using the Perform skill. In such a case,

73

your ‘act’ encompasses elements of legerdemain, juggling and the like.

ancient skills

Sleight of Hand DC

Task

10

Palm a coin-sized object, make a coin disappear

20

Lift a small object from a person

Action: Any Sleight of Hand check normally is a standard action. However, you may perform a Sleight of Hand check as a free action by taking a –20 penalty on the check. Try Again: Yes, but after an initial failure, a second Sleight of Hand attempt against the same target or while the same observer is watching you who noticed your previous attempt increases the DC for the task by 10. Special: If you have the Deft Hands feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks. Untrained: An untrained Sleight of Hand check is simply a Dexterity check. Without actual training, you cannot succeed on any Sleight of Hand check with a DC higher than 10, except for hiding an object on your body.

Solve Conundrum (Int) This skill covers the ability to unscramble a mental puzzle of any kind in your mind. The Solve Conundrum skill is used to overcome deliberate attempts to confuse or bewilder a person by presenting them with a riddle or paradox. Solve Conundrum is used to decipher visual puzzles and to navigate labyrinths. You cannot use it to avoid gaining lost in the wilderness, as that is a natural hazard, but you can use it to avoid becoming lost in a maze of passages. Check: The DC for solving a conundrum varies according to its complexity.

74

Conundrum

DC

Average conundrum, such as a tavern riddle

20

Difficult conundrum, such as the Cretan labyrinth

25

Challenging conundrum, such as the riddle of the Sphinx

30

Legendary conundrum, such as the Gordian Knot

40

Success when making a Solve Conundrum check to navigate a maze means that you know exactly where you are and do not risk becoming lost. Success when using the skill to solve a physical puzzle, such as opening a locking mechanism on a tomb door, means that the puzzle is solved outright. If you successfully use the Solve Conundrum skill to solve a riddle, the Games Master may choose to give you a hint rather than giving you the answer outright, for the sake of roleplaying consistency. Decipher Glyphs: If you have the Literate feat, you may make a Solve Conundrum check at a DC of 20 to assess the general meaning of an inscription written in a language that you do not understand. You can only ever tell the gist of the inscription, not the precise meaning. Action: Attempting to solve a conundrum is a full-round action. Special: If you have the Agile Mind feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Solve Conundrum checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Solve Conundrum, you gain a +2 bonus on Use Rope checks to untie a knot and on Sense Motive checks made to oppose uses of the Bluff skill.

Speak Language (None; Trained Only) Action: Not applicable.

The Speak Language skill does not work like other skills. Languages work as follows.



At 1st level you know one language – based on your background – plus an additional number of languages equal to your starting Intelligence bonus.



You can purchase Speak Language just like any other skill, but instead of buying a rank in it, you choose a new language that you can speak.



You do not make Speak Language checks. You either know a language or you do not.



A literate character can read and write any language they speak.

The available languages in the ancient world are Assyrian, Greek, Egyptian, Hittite, Nubian, Persian, Phoenician and Scythian.

Spot (Wis) Might the mysterious hooded lady before you really be a dangerous hag intent on turning you into a frog? Us this skill to see through a disguise, read a person’s lips or notice a creature waiting in ambush. Check: The Spot skill is used primarily to detect characters or creatures that are hiding. Typically, your Spot check is opposed by the Hide check of the creature trying not to be seen. Sometimes a creature is not intentionally hiding but is still difficult to see, so a successful Spot check is necessary to notice it. A Spot check result higher than 20 generally lets you become aware of an invisible creature near you, though you cannot actually see it. Spot is also used to detect someone in disguise (see the Disguise skill) and to read lips when you cannot hear or understand what someone is saying. Spot checks may be called for to determine the distance at which an encounter begins. A penalty applies on such checks, depending on the distance between the two individuals or groups and an additional penalty may apply if the character making the Spot check is distracted or otherwise not concentrating on being observant.

Penalty

Per 10-ft. of distance

–1

Spotter distracted

–5

Read Lips: To understand what someone is saying by reading lips, you must be within 30 feet of the speaker, be able to see them speak and understand the speaker’s language. This use of the skill is language-dependent. The base DC is 15, but it increases for complex speech or an inarticulate speaker. You must maintain a line of sight to the lips being read. If your Spot check succeeds, you can understand the general content of a minute’s worth of speaking, but you usually still miss certain details. If the check fails by four or less, you cannot read the speaker’s lips. If the check fails by five or more, you draw some incorrect conclusion about the speech. The check is rolled secretly in this case, so that you do not know whether you succeeded or missed by five.

ancient skills

Try Again: Not applicable. There are no Speak Language checks to fail.

Condition

Action: Varies. Every time you have a chance to spot something in a reactive manner you can make a Spot check without using an action. Trying to spot something you failed to see previously is a move action. To read lips, you must concentrate for a full minute before making a Spot check and you cannot perform any other action other than moving at up to half speed during this minute. Try Again: Yes. You can try to spot something that you failed to see previously at no penalty. You can attempt to read lips once per minute. Special: A fascinated creature suffers a –4 penalty on Spot checks made as reactions. If you have the Alertness feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Spot checks.

Survival (Wis) This skill encompasses many outdoor activities, such as following basic tracks, guiding your fellows across a flat and barren desert or hunting game for the evening meal. Also useful for avoiding the dangers of nature, such as a crocodile waiting in the reeds or shifting sands near an innocent looking oasis. Check: You can keep yourself and others safe and fed in the wild. The table below gives the DCs for various tasks that require Survival checks. Survival does not allow you to follow difficult tracks unless you have the Track feat; see the Restriction section below. Action: Varies. A single Survival check may represent activity over the course of hours or a full day. A Survival check made to find tracks is at least a full-round action and it may take even longer.

75

ancient skills

Survival DC

Task

10

Gain along in the wild. Move up to one-half your overland speed while hunting and foraging (no food or water supplies needed). You can provide food and water for one other person for every two points by which your check result exceeds 10.

15

Spend an hour foraging for herbs (see the Finding Herbs section in the Equipment chapter).

15

Gain a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saves against severe weather while moving up to one-half your overland speed or gain a +4 bonus if you remain stationary. You may grant the same bonus to one other character for every one point by which your Survival check result exceeds 15.

15

Keep from gaining lost or avoid natural hazards, such as quicksand.

15

Predict the weather up to 24 hours in advance. For every five points by which your Survival check result exceeds 15, you can predict the weather for one additional day in advance.

Varies

Follow tracks (see the Track feat).

Try Again: Varies. For gaining along in the wild or for gaining the Fortitude save bonus noted in the table above, you make a Survival check once every 24 hours. The result of that check applies until the next check is made. To avoid gaining lost or avoid natural hazards, you make a Survival check whenever the situation calls for one. Retries to avoid gaining lost in a specific situation or to avoid a specific natural hazard are not allowed. For finding tracks, you can retry a failed check after one hour, if outdoors or 10 minutes if indoors, of searching. Restriction: While anyone can use Survival to find tracks (regardless of the DC) or to follow tracks when the DC for the task is 10 or lower, only a character with the Track feat can use Survival to follow tracks when the task has a higher DC. Special: If you have five or more ranks in Survival, you can automatically determine where true north lies in relation to yourself. If you have the Self-Sufficient feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks.

76

Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Survival, you gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) checks. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (nature), you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks in natural environments such as aquatic, desert, forest, hill, marsh, mountains and plains. If you have five or more ranks in Knowledge (geography), you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks made to keep from gaining lost or to avoid natural hazards. If you have five or more ranks in Search, you gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks to find or follow tracks.

Swim (Str; Armour Penalty) Always useful if you are thrown from the side of your galley by a passing god or the far more mundane issue of merely staying afloat. Check: Make a Swim check once per round while you are in the water. Success means you may swim at up to onehalf your speed as a full-round action or at one-quarter your speed as a move action. If you fail by four or less, you make no progress through the water. If you fail by five or more, you go underwater. If you are underwater, either because you failed a Swim check or because you are swimming underwater intentionally, you must hold your breath. You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but only if you do nothing other than take move or free actions. If you take a standard or full-round action, such as making an attack, the remainder of the duration for which you can hold your breath is reduced by one round. Effectively, a character in combat can hold their breath only half as long as normal. After that period of time, you must make a DC 10 Constitution check every round to continue holding your breath. Each round, the DC for that check increases by one. If you fail the Constitution check, you begin to drown. The DC for the Swim check depends on the water, as given on the table below. Water

Swim DC

Calm water

10

Rough water

15

Stormy water

201

You cannot take 10 on a Swim check in stormy water, even if you are not otherwise being threatened or distracted. 1

Each hour that you swim, you must make a DC 20 Swim check or take 1d6 points of non-lethal damage from fatigue.

Action: A successful Swim check allows you to swim onequarter of your speed as a move action or one-half your speed as a full-round action.

A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature always can choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.

Tumble (Dex; Trained Only; Armour Check Penalty) Be you a gymnast performing for a discerning monarch or an adventurer dodging swinging axe traps, this is the skill for you. Check: You can land softly when you fall or tumble past opponents. You can also tumble to entertain an audience, as though using the Perform skill. The DCs for various tasks involving the Tumble skill are given on the table below.

Accelerated Tumbling: You try to tumble past or through enemies more quickly than normal. By accepting a –10 penalty on your Tumble checks, you can move at your full speed instead of one-half your speed. Action: Not applicable. Tumbling is part of movement, so a Tumble check is part of a move action. Try Again: Usually no. An audience, once it has judged a tumbler as an uninteresting performer, is not receptive to repeat performances.

ancient skills

Special: Swim checks are subject to double the normal armour check penalty and encumbrance penalty. If you have the Athletic feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Swim checks. If you have the Endurance feat, you gain a +4 bonus on Swim checks made to avoid taking non-lethal damage from fatigue.

Obstructed or otherwise treacherous surfaces, such as natural cavern floors or undergrowth, are tough to tumble through. The DC for any Tumble check made to tumble into such a square is modified as indicated below.

You can try to reduce damage from a fall as an instant reaction only once per fall. Special: You cannot use this skill if armour or items that you are carrying have reduced your speed. If you have five or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to Active Defence when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2 dodge bonus to Active Defence. If you have five or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +6 dodge bonus to Active Defence when executing the total defence standard action instead of the usual +4 dodge bonus to Active Defence. If you have the Acrobatic feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.

Tumble DC

Task

15

Treat a fall as if it were 10 feet shorter than it really is when determining damage.

15

Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past in the order in which you pass them; in case of a tie, the choice of order is yours. Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the Tumble DC.

25

Tumble at one-half speed through an area occupied by an enemy (over, under or around the opponent) as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you stop before entering the occupied area and provoke an attack of opportunity from that enemy. Check separately for each opponent. Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the Tumble DC.

Surface Is . . .

DC Modifier

Lightly obstructed (scree, light rubble, shallow bog*, undergrowth)

+2

Severely obstructed (natural cavern floor, dense rubble, dense undergrowth)

+5

Lightly slippery (wet floor)

+2

Severely slippery (sheet ice)

+5

Sloped or angled

+2

* Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog.

77

Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +2 bonus on Balance and Jump checks.

ancient skills

If you have five or more ranks in Jump, you gain a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.

Use Rope (Dex) Use this skill to secure your ship on a quayside or tie up a troublesome bandit Check: Most tasks with a rope are relatively simple. The DCs for various tasks utilising this skill are summarised on the table below. Use Rope DC

Task

10

Tie a firm knot

10*

Secure a grappling hook

15

Tie a special knot, such as one that slips, slides slowly or loosens with a tug

15

Tie a rope around yourself onehanded

15

Splice two ropes together

Varies

Bind a character

* Add two to the DC for every 10-ft. the hook is thrown; see below. Secure a Grappling Hook: Securing a grappling hook requires a Use Rope check (DC 10, +2 for every 10 feet of distance the grappling hook is thrown, to a maximum DC of 20 at 50 feet). Failure by four or less indicates that the hook fails to catch and falls, allowing you to try again. Failure by five or more indicates that the grappling hook initially holds, but comes loose after 1d4 rounds of supporting weight. This check is made secretly, so that you do not know whether the rope will hold your weight. Bind a Character: When you bind another character with a rope, any Escape Artist check that the bound character makes is opposed by your Use Rope check. You gain a +10 bonus on this check because it is easier to bind someone than to escape from bonds. You do not even make your Use Rope check until someone tries to escape.

78

Action: Varies. Throwing a grappling hook is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Tying a knot, tying a special knot or tying a rope around yourself one-handed is a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Splicing two ropes together takes five minutes. Binding a character takes one minute. Special: A silk rope gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Use Rope checks. If you have the Deft Hands feat, you gain a +2 bonus on Use Rope checks. Synergy: If you have five or more ranks in Use Rope, you gain a +2 bonus on Climb checks made to climb a rope, a knotted rope or a rope-and-wall combination. If you have five or more ranks in Use Rope, you gain a +2 bonus on Escape Artist checks when escaping from rope bonds. If you have five or more ranks in Escape Artist, you gain a +2 bonus on checks made to bind someone.

Witchcraft (Cha, Trained Only) Witchcraft is the ability to manipulate magical energies by the force of will and the use of natural power. It is not an exclusively female skill but women are much more adept at its use than men are; male characters always make Witchcraft checks at a –4 penalty. Check: You make a Witchcraft check to produce magical effects or prepare magical objects. A Witchcraft check is made as a standard action and provokes an attack of opportunity. Special: Other characters can assist a caster to produce magical effects with Witchcraft; see the Group Casting entry in the Magic chapter for further details.

Ancient Feats

Feats are the most important part of customising a character as each one grants some small advantage that characters without that specific feat do not have. All noble warriors have the same class skills, but not every noble warrior has the ability to Cleave their enemy. The limited nature of feats, with most characters having no more than eight by the time they reach 20th level, makes the choice of which feat to take each time one becomes available a major part of character progression in OGL Ancients.

Prerequisites Some feats have prerequisites. Your character must have the indicated ability score, class feature, feat, skill, base attack bonus or other quality designated in order to select or use that feat. A character can gain a feat at the same level at which they gain the prerequisite. A character cannot use a feat if they have lost a prerequisite.

Feat Descriptions All feats in OGL Ancients are presented in the following format;

Feat Name [Type of Feat] Prerequisite: A minimum ability score, feat or feats, a minimum base attack bonus, a minimum number of ranks in one or more skills or a class level that a character must have in order to acquire this feat. This entry is absent if a feat has no prerequisite. A feat may have more than one prerequisite. Benefit: What the feat enables the character (‘you’ in the feat description) to do. If a character has the same feat more than once, its benefits do not stack unless indicated otherwise in the description. In general, having a feat twice is the same as having it once. Normal: What a character who does not have this feat is limited to or restricted from doing. If no particular drawback results from not having the feat, then this entry is absent. Special: Additional facts about the feat that may be helpful when you decide whether to acquire the feat.

Divine As a spellcaster’s knowledge of magic grows, they can learn to cast spells in ways slightly different ways. Preparing and casting a spell in such a way can often be harder on the caster than normal but, thanks to divine feats, it is possible to modify spells and their effects.

Formation Feats A formation feat is a special kind of feat that is available to warriors only. Formation feats represent the additional efficiency of a trained unit fighting as such. For any character to benefit from a formation feat, he must be in the appropriate formation with at least one other character who has the same feat. (To be in a formation, the characters simply have to be in a stated position relative to each other, such as a line.) If other characters in the formation do not have the feat, then the benefit is not applied. When multiple characters with the same formation feat are in formation, then every character in the formation benefits from the effects of the feat. You do not have to take any special action to ‘form’ a formation. All that matters is where the various participating characters are standing.

ancient feats

Feats are impressive special abilities that characters gain as they progress. They represent extraordinary ability in a given region, the knack of pulling off a stunt or the power to ignore a limitations that other characters have.

types of feat

For example, if three warriors have the Form Phalanx feat and are standing side by side, then they can benefit from a bonus to all their Shield Defence checks. This is because the shields in the phalanx are held so as to overlap. Some formation feats require the characters in the formation to act simultaneously in order to benefit from the effects of the formation feat. To do this, characters must use the delay action option (see Combat) and take their action when an agreed member of the group does so.

General Feats Any character class can select any feat designated as a general feat. This designation, therefore, does not restrict any particular character class from selecting these feats, assuming that they meet any prerequisites.

Acrobatic [General] You are physically lithe and in good shape, capable of making strong leaps and mid-air flips. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Jump checks and Tumble checks.

Agile [General] You have excellent control over your body, knowing what your muscles are doing at any given time. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Balance checks and Escape Artist checks.

79

ancient feats

Alertness [General]

Blind-Fight [General]

Your senses are exceptionally keen. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Listen checks and Spot checks.

You are accustomed to fending off enemies that you cannot see properly and are good at guessing where an unseen assailant might be. Benefit: In melee, every time you miss because of concealment, you can re-roll your miss chance percentile roll once to see if you actually hit.

Animal Affinity [General] You relate extraordinarily well to animals. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Handle Animal checks and Ride checks.

Armour Proficiency (Heavy) [General] You have been trained in the use of heavy armour and are comfortable in it. Prerequisites: Armour Proficiency (light), Armour Proficiency (medium). Benefit: See Armour Proficiency (light). Normal: See Armour Proficiency (light). Special: Noble warriors automatically have Armour Proficiency (heavy) as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

Armour Proficiency (Light) [General] You have been trained in the use of light armour and are comfortable in it. Benefit: When you wear a type of armour with which you are proficient, the armour check penalty for that armour applies only to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand and Tumble checks. Normal: A character who is wearing armour with which they are not proficient applies its armour check penalty to attack rolls and to all skill checks that involve moving, including Ride. Special: All characters except artificers, courtesans, sages and witches automatically have Armour Proficiency (light) as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

Armour Proficiency (Medium) [General]

80

An invisible attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you in melee. That is, you do not lose your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence and the attacker does not get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible. The invisible attacker’s bonuses do still apply for ranged attacks, however. You take only half the usual penalty to speed for being unable to see. Darkness and poor visibility in general reduces your speed to three-quarters normal, instead of one-half. Normal: Regular attack roll modifiers for invisible attackers trying to hit you apply and you lose your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence. The speed reduction for darkness and poor visibility also applies. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Blind-Fight as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Cleave [General] You can make blows so powerful that when one creature drops, you move on to attack another. Prerequisites: Str 13+, Power Attack. Benefit: If you deal a creature enough damage to make it drop (typically by dropping it to below 0 hit points or killing it), you gain an immediate, extra melee attack against another creature within reach. You cannot take a five foot step before making this extra attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. You can use this ability once per round. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Cleave as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Chariot Combat [General]

You have been trained in the use of medium armour and are comfortable in it. Prerequisite: Armour Proficiency (light). Benefit: See Armour Proficiency (light). Normal: See Armour Proficiency (light). Special: Warriors and noble warriors automatically have Armour Proficiency (medium) as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

Prerequisites: Balance 1 rank, Mounted Combat. Benefit: The penalty you take when using a ranged weapon while riding in a chariot is halved: –2 instead of –4 if the chariot is taking a double move and –4 instead of –8 if the chariot is ‘running’. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Chariot Combat as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Athletic [General]

You are adept at focusing your mind on higher matters while in the throes of combat. Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on Concentration checks made to produce a magical effect or use a spell-like ability

You are physically fit and are good at covering ground. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Climb checks and Swim checks.

Combat Casting [Divine]

while on the defensive or while you are grappling or pinned.

Combat Expertise [General]

Combat Reflexes [General] You are quick to take advantage of the opportunities that combat affords for additional blows against an opponent. Benefit: You may make a number of additional attacks of opportunity equal to your Dexterity bonus. With this feat, you may also make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed. Normal: A character without this feat can make only one attack of opportunity per round and cannot make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Combat Reflexes as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Combat Sense [General] You can tell ahead of time whether an enemy’s attack is going to hit its target or not. Benefit: When you have this feat, you may see the results of an attacker’s die roll before deciding whether or not to react and what reaction to choose. This allows you to avoid wasting Shield Defence checks or wasting time on such reactive moves as dropping to the floor to avoid attacks that would not have hit you anyway. You can also tell when an attack will strike another character, even if they, themselves, cannot; this allows you to take defensive action to help them, if you are capable of doing so. Normal: A character without this feat must choose his reaction to an attack without knowing what the opponent’s die roll result was. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Combat Sense as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Command Efficiency [General] Prerequisite: Officer rank, Intelligence 13+ Benefit: You may deploy your troops with greater tactical

ancient feats

You can sacrifice some of the accuracy of your own blows in return for a better ability to avoid the blows of others. Prerequisite: Int 13+. Benefit: When you use the attack action or the full attack action in melee, you can take a penalty of as much as –5 on your attack roll and add the same number (+5 or less) as a dodge bonus to your Active Defence. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The changes to attack rolls and Active Defence last until your next action. Normal: A character without the Combat Expertise feat can fight defensively while using the attack or full attack action to take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and gain a +2 dodge bonus to Active Defence. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Combat Expertise as one of his warrior bonus feats.

efficiency than they would otherwise have, keeping them in line and making sure they compensate for each other’s weaknesses. If you succeed at a Knowledge (tactics and strategy) check, you can increase the benefit gained from any formation feat by +1. If your opponents are also being led by a commander, you must make your Knowledge (tactics and strategy) check as an opposed check against your opposite number. Otherwise, it is made against a DC of 10. For example, you could increase the benefits conferred by a Concerted Assault formation feat from +1 to attack and damage to +2. You may only increase the benefit of one formation feat with Command Efficiency. Only one person may use Command Efficiency on any one formation. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Command Efficiency as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Concerted Assault [Formation] You are trained in attacking alongside others, forming a single decisive strike. Benefit: This formation feat allows multiple characters to attack at the same time. The inertia of a simultaneous attack makes the blows harder to block or dodge. Melee attacks and damage rolls are made at a +1 circumstance bonus. These bonuses stack with those derived from other formation feats, such as Meat Skewer. Formation: The formation necessary for a concerted assault must contain at least three characters. Each character involved must be within five feet of another with this feat. The formation may be of any shape. Special: All characters in the formation must attack on the same initiative count for the benefits of this feat to be applied, which means that some characters must delay their action (see the Combat chapter for more information on delaying actions).

Concerted Fire [Formation] You are especially good at firing missiles at a target that others are also attacking, thus making it harder for the target to evade. Benefit: This formation feat allows several characters with bows or slings to attack a single target simultaneously, making it much harder for the target to get out of the way. It is most often used when a single tactically important person has to be brought down. Warriors in the mythic era have also used this formation feat to bring down monsters. The target of an attack by bows or slings from characters using this feat suffers from a –4 penalty to Active Defence checks to evade the projectiles. Formation: The formation must contain at least three characters. All characters with this feat must be within ten feet of each other for the benefits of the feat to apply. The formation need not be of any particular shape. Special: All characters in the formation must attack on the same initiative count for the benefits of this feat to

81

be applied, which means that some characters must delay their action(see the Combat chapter for more information on delaying actions).

ancient feats

Deceitful [General] You are naturally good at lying and getting away with it. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Disguise checks and Forgery checks.

Deflect Projectile [General] You can slap an incoming projectile aside. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike. Benefit: You must have at least one hand free (holding nothing) to use this feat. Once per round when you would normally be hit with a ranged weapon, you may deflect it so that you take no damage from it. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. Attempting to deflect a ranged weapon does not count as an action. Unusually massive ranged weapons, thrown rocks and ranged attacks generated by magical effects cannot be deflected. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Deflect Projectile as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Deft Hands [General] Your powers of manual manipulation are exceptional. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Sleight of Hand checks and Use Rope checks.

Diehard [General] You are exceptionally difficult to kill. Prerequisite: Endurance. Benefit: When reduced to 1 or 2 Constitution by wounds, you automatically become stable. You do not have to roll d% to see if you lose one hit point each round. When reduced to 1 or 2 Constitution, you may choose to act as if you were disabled, rather than dying. You must make this decision as soon as you are reduced to 1 or 2 Constitution. If you do not choose to act as if you were disabled, you immediately fall into unconsciousness. When using this feat, you can take either a single move or standard action each turn, but not both, and you cannot take a full round action. You can take a move action without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action or any other action deemed as strenuous, including some free actions you take one point of damage after completing the act. If you reach 0 Constitution, you immediately die. Normal: A character without this feat that is reduced to 1 or 2 Constitution is unconscious and dying.

82

Diligent [General] You are thorough and exacting in your appraisal of an item or a situation, considering all the possibilities. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Appraise checks and Solve Conundrum checks.

Divine Connection [Divine] You have an exceptionally strong bond with your deity, which helps you to pray for assistance for yourself. Benefit: You may use Divine Points to influence one of your die rolls after you know the result. This applies only to the use of Divine Points to raise your own die rolls, not to lower those of others. Normal: Characters without this feat must decide whether or not to spend divine points before the relevant roll is made.

Divine Smite [Divine] You have an exceptionally strong bond with your deity, which helps you to pray for ill effects to be visited upon others. Benefit: You may use Divine Points to lower another’s die roll result once the roll has been made; this must be done immediately afterwards. You still have to succeed at an opposed Prayer check against the person whose die roll you are attempting to lower. Normal: Characters without this feat must decide whether or not to spend divine points before the relevant roll is made.

Dodge [General] You are better at getting out of the way of blows than others. Prerequisite: Dex 13+. Benefit: During your action, you designate an opponent and receive a +1 dodge bonus to Active Defence checks against attacks from that opponent. You can select a new opponent on any action. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses. Also, dodge bonuses stack with each other, unlike most other types of bonuses. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Dodge as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Empower Magical Effect [Divine] You can lend additional force to your magical effects, at the cost of making them harder to produce. Benefit: You may attempt to produce an empowered magical effect with Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer. All variable, numeric effects of an empowered magical effect are increased by one-half.

Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables. An empowered magical effect has its DC to produce increased by +4 and its hit point cost increased by 150%.

Far Shot [General] You can fire or throw weapons further than usual. Prerequisite: Point Blank Shot. Benefit: When you use a projectile weapon, such as a bow, its range increment increases by one-half (multiply by 1.5). When you use a thrown weapon, its range increment is doubled. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Far Shot as one of his bonus feats.

Great Cleave [General] You can fell multiple opponents with the force of your blows. Prerequisites: Str 13+, Cleave, Power Attack, base attack bonus +4 or higher. Benefit: This feat works like Cleave, except that there is no limit to the number of times you can use it per round. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Great Cleave as one of his bonus feats

Great Fortitude [General] Your body is inherently tough and resilient. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saving throws.

Greater Weapon Focus [General] Your familiarity with a chosen weapon is even greater than before. Choose one type of weapon for which you have already selected Weapon Focus. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple as your weapon for purposes of this feat.

A warrior or noble warrior must have Greater Weapon Focus with a given weapon to gain the Greater Weapon Specialisation feat for that weapon. A warrior or noble warrior may select Greater Weapon Focus as one of his warrior bonus feats.

ancient feats

Endurance [General] Your body is used to punishment; you can just keep on going for hours, with excellent stamina. Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on the following checks and saves: Swim checks made to resist non-lethal damage, Constitution checks made to continue running, Constitution checks made to avoid non-lethal damage from a forced march, Constitution checks made to hold your breath, Constitution checks made to avoid non-lethal damage from starvation or thirst, Fortitude saves made to avoid non-lethal damage from hot or cold environments and Fortitude saves made to resist damage from suffocation. Also, you may sleep in light or medium armour without becoming fatigued. Normal: A character without this feat who sleeps in medium or heavier armour is automatically fatigued the next day.

Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, warrior or noble warrior level 8th. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including the one from Weapon Focus (see below). Special: You can gain Greater Weapon Focus multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.

Greater Weapon Specialisation [General] You are so gifted at the use of your chosen weapon that you can cause tremendous damage with it. Choose one type of weapon for which you have already selected Weapon Specialisation. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple as your weapon for purposes of this feat. Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, Greater Weapon Focus with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, Weapon Specialisation with selected weapon, warrior or noble warrior level 12th. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on damage rolls, including the one from Weapon Specialisation (see below). Special: You can gain Greater Weapon Specialisation multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon. A warrior or noble warrior may select Greater Weapon Specialisation as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Group Charge [Formation] You have been trained to charge into combat alongside others, attacking as a single force. Benefit: Characters with this formation feat are trained to charge and attack as one. The overwhelming force of a group charge enhances the effectiveness of the attack. When the group charge formation feat is used, the targets who are attacked by the charging characters suffer a –2 penalty to Active Defence checks made against such attacks. As with the usual rules for charging, only melee attacks benefit from any bonus. Charging characters using this feat still suffer the usual penalty to Active Defence checks and the bar to Shield Defence checks.

83

ancient feats

Formation: The formation necessary for a concerted assault must contain at least three characters. Each character involved must be within five feet of another with this feat. The formation may be of any shape. Special: All characters in the formation must move and attack on the same initiative count for the benefits of this feat to be applied, which means that some characters must delay their action (see the Combat chapter for more information on delaying actions).

Hail of Missiles [Formation] You have been trained to work with fellow archers or slingers to loose a close-packed shower of projectiles that are devastating against groups. Benefit: A group of warriors with bows or slings can attack simultaneously, making it harder for the targets to avoid the incoming shower of projectiles. To use this feat, the attackers designate a region the same size and shape as their own formation. The larger the formation, the larger the area it can target. All ranged attacks that round must be directed at targets within this region. All targets within the region suffer from a –2 penalty to Active Defence checks against these attacks, as the missiles come thick and fast. Formation: The formation to produce a hail of missiles must contain at least three characters. Each character must be within five feet of another with this feat. The shape of the formation is not fixed and may be arranged as the warriors or their commander prefer. Long linear formations are chosen when an enemy rank needs to be attacked, while close clustered formations are chosen when a massed body of warriors needs to be attacked. Special: All characters in the formation must attack on the same initiative count for the benefits of this feat to be applied, which means that some characters must delay their

action (see the Combat chapter for more information on delaying actions).

Improved Bull Rush [General] You are a master of the art of ramming into people. Prerequisites: Str 13+, Power Attack. Benefit: When you perform a bull rush you do not provoke an attack of opportunity from the defender. You also gain a +4 bonus on the opposed Strength check you make to push back the defender. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Bull Rush as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Critical [General] You know just how to use a weapon so as to strike vital organs and cause massive tissue damage. Choose one type of weapon. Prerequisite: Proficient with weapon, base attack bonus +8 or higher. Benefit: When using the weapon you selected, your critical threat range is doubled. Special: You can gain Improved Critical multiple times. The effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon. This effect does not stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon, such as a weapon being of marvellous manufacture. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Critical as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Decapitate [General] You strike off the heads of foes with confidence. Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +6 or higher. Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when making a Decapitate attempt, though you do still incur the –4 penalty to Active Defence and Shield Defence checks for the remainder of the round. Normal: A decapitation attempt provokes an attack of opportunity when made without this feat. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Decapitate as one of his warrior bonus feats.

A group of Persian Spearmen charge under cover of a hail of missiles from their comrades

84

Improved Disarm [General]

Improved Feint [General] You make your feints much more quickly and economically. Prerequisites: Int 13+, Combat Expertise. Benefit: You can make a Bluff check to feint in combat as a move action. Normal: Feinting in combat is a standard action. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Feint as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Grapple [General] You can launch a grapple attack with such speed and confidence that your opponent does not have a chance to strike at you first. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike. Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when you make a touch attack to start a grapple. You also gain a +4 bonus on all grapple checks, regardless of whether you started the grapple. Normal: Without this feat, you provoke an attack of opportunity when you make a touch attack to start a grapple. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Grapple as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Hamstring [General] You are especially competent at disabling creatures by slashing at their legs. Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +2 or higher. Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when making a Hamstring attempt. Normal: A hamstring attempt provokes an attack of opportunity when made without this feat. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Hamstring as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Initiative [General] You are exceptionally quick off the mark, assessing a combat situation in instants. Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on initiative checks.

Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Initiative as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Overrun [General] You know just how to barge into an opponent and knock him over. Prerequisites: Str 13+, Power Attack. Benefit: When you attempt to overrun an opponent, the target may not choose to avoid you. You also gain a +4 bonus on your Strength check to knock down your opponent. Normal: Without this feat, the target of an overrun can choose to avoid you or to block you. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Overrun as one of his warrior bonus feats.

ancient feats

You are better than most at knocking a weapon from a foe’s hands. Prerequisites: Int 13+, Combat Expertise. Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when you attempt to disarm an opponent, nor does the opponent have a chance to disarm you. You also gain a +4 bonus on the opposed attack roll you make to disarm your opponent. Normal: See the normal disarm rules. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Disarm as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Precise Shot [General] You place your ranged attacks with astonishing accuracy. Prerequisites: Dex 19+, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +11 or higher. Benefit: Your ranged attacks ignore the Passive Defence bonus granted to targets by anything less than total cover and the miss chance granted to targets by anything less than total concealment. Total cover and total concealment provide their normal benefits against your ranged attacks. In addition, when you shoot or throw ranged weapons at a grappling opponent, you automatically strike at the opponent you have chosen. Normal: See the normal rules on the effects of cover and concealment. Without this feat, a character who shoots or throws a ranged weapon at a target involved in a grapple must roll randomly to see which grappling combatant the attack strikes. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Precise Shot as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Shield Bash [General] You can strike an opponent with your shield and return to guarding yourself with it in the blink of an eye. Prerequisite: Shield Proficiency. Benefit: After making a Shield Bash attack, you may make your normal number of Shield Defence checks, albeit at a –4 penalty to each check. Normal: When you make a shield bash attack, you may not perform any Shield Defence checks at all in the remainder of the round. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Shield Bash as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Trip [General] Tripping opponents up in combat is second nature to you. Prerequisites: Int 13+, Combat Expertise.

85

ancient feats

Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when you attempt to trip an opponent while you are unarmed. You also gain a +4 bonus on your Strength check to trip your opponent. If you trip an opponent in melee combat, you immediately get a melee attack against that opponent as if you had not used your attack for the trip attempt. Normal: Without this feat, you provoke an attack of opportunity when you attempt to trip an opponent while you are unarmed. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Trip as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Improved Unarmed Strike [General] You are used to fighting with punches and kicks. Benefit: You are considered to be armed even when unarmed – that is, you do not provoke attacks or opportunity from armed opponents when you attack them while unarmed. However, you still get an attack of opportunity against any opponent who makes an unarmed attack on you. In addition, your unarmed strikes can deal lethal or nonlethal damage, at your option. Normal: Without this feat, you are considered unarmed when attacking with an unarmed strike and you can deal only non-lethal damage with such an attack. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Improved Unarmed Strike as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Interpret Divine Will [Divine] You can find out what the Gods intend and how they regard a person. Prerequisite: Prayer 10 ranks. Benefit: You may make a Sense Motive check (DC 20) once per hour to find out what a given God desires in sacrifice to achieve a given end or what a given person’s status is in terms of divine favour, disfavour, love and hatred.

Intuitive Grasp [Divine] You have the kind of mind that intuitively understands theological and magical matters, making new magical effects less daunting to you. Prerequisites: Wis 13+, one or more ranks in Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer. Benefit: All magical effects are automatically familiar to you. You thus do not suffer from the +4 modifier to a magical effect’s DC when you cast it for the first time, nor from the +2 modifier to the DC when you cast it for the second time after an initial success.

86

Normal: All characters begin without any magical effects being familiar to them and suffer from an increased DC to produce the effect until they have successfully done so twice in total.

Investigator [General] You know how to pick up information from all around you. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Gather Information checks and Search checks.

Iron Will [General] You are exceptionally driven and strong-headed. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws.

Keen Mind [General] You know how to pick up on an inconsistency and exploit it. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Debate checks and Solve Conundrum checks.

Lightning Reflexes [General] Your reflexes are catlike, helping you avoid danger. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Reflex saving throws.

Literate [General] You have been taught the arts of reading and writing. Benefit: Literate characters can read and write any language that they can speak. Normal: No character in OGL Ancients is automatically literate. A character who cannot read or write must employ the services of a scribe to write letters for him and read them back.

Magical Effect Focus [Divine] You are especially gifted with a certain kind of magical effect, making it harder for the target to resist it. Choose a class of magical effect, such as Bewitchments or Unmakings. Benefit: Add +1 to the saving throw modifier of all magical effects from this class when cast by you when calculating the target’s saving throw, though not when calculating the DC of a Concentration check while casting the spell. Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new class of magical effect.

Magical Casting Focus [Divine] You are uncannily proficient with a given class of magical effect, so that it is much easier for you than for others. Choose a class of magical effect, such as Curses or Exorcisms. Benefit: You gain a +2 insight bonus to uses of Witchcraft,

Prayer or Hekau to produce magical effects of this class. You must specify which skill this feat applies to when you first take it. Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new class of magical effect.

You have been trained in the use of a martial weapon. Choose a type of martial weapon. You understand how to use that type of martial weapon in combat. Benefit: You make attack rolls with the selected weapon normally. Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls. Special: Warriors and noble warriors are proficient with selected martial weapons of their nation, they need not select this feat to use those weapons. You can gain Martial Weapon Proficiency multiple times. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.

Maximise Magical Effect [Divine] You can produce magical effects that are of superlative power, though they are more challenging to produce. Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of a magical effect modified by this feat are maximised. Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are magical effects without random variables. A maximised magical effect has a DC of +6 to produce. An empowered, maximised magical effect gains the separate benefits of each feat: the maximum result plus one-half the normally rolled result.

Mobility [General] You are not so easy to hit when moving around in a fight as others are. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Dodge. Benefit: You gain a +4 dodge bonus to Active Defence against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.

ancient feats

Martial Weapon Proficiency [General]

Benefit: You may enter a trance state that allows you to recover lost energy at an increased rate. By spending an hour in meditation and taking no action at all, you may recover 1d4 hit points. You may not heal wounds by meditating, so you can only recover hit points up to your maximum hit points minus your total wounds. Alternatively, you may spend an hour in meditation and recover all non-lethal damage that you have suffered. This feat is primarily used by spellcasters to recover after using Witchcraft or Hekau. You can only use this feat if you are within your body.

Dodge bonuses stack with each other, unlike most types of bonuses. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Mobility as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Mounted Archery [General] You are accustomed to using a bow from horseback, as the Scythian raiders do. Prerequisites: Ride 1 rank, Mounted Combat.

A Spartan ephor meditates bringing him closer to the perfection of self

Meat Skewer [Formation] You have been trained to attack from the second rank of a phalanx or further, past the man in front of you. This formation feat is only available to Greek warriors. Benefit: The meat skewer – a toned down version of the original term that the Greeks used for the formation, which was much more obscene – involves the use of long spears to stab past the man in front of you in a phalanx. A warrior wielding a spear in a meat skewer formation gains a +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls. Formation: A character using a reach weapon from directly behind an allied character is in meat skewer formation.

Meditate [General] You can place your body and mind into a trance state, allowing you to restore energy. Prerequisite: Concentration 5 ranks.

87

ancient feats

Benefit: The penalty you take when using a ranged weapon while mounted is halved: –2 instead of –4 if your mount is taking a double move and –4 instead of –8 if your mount is running. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Mounted Archery as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Mounted Combat [General] You know how to fight from horseback in such a way as to keep your mount alive. Prerequisite: Ride 1 rank. Benefit: Once per round when your mount is hit in combat, you may attempt a reactionary Ride check to negate the hit. The hit is negated if your Ride check result is greater than the opponent’s attack roll. Essentially, the Ride check result becomes the mount’s Active Defence check if it is higher than the mount’s own Active Defence. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Mounted Combat as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Negotiator [General] You have a good grasp of what other people really want. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Rhetoric checks and Sense Motive checks.

Persuasive [General] You are extremely good at getting others to believe you, which lends credibility to your threats and promises. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Bluff checks and Presence checks.

Phalanx Front Rank [Formation] You know how to fight alongside a fellow trained warrior so that your shields defend each other as well as yourselves.

The massed ranks of a Grecian phalanx

88

Warriors trained in phalanx combat can assume a front or a middle rank position. Selecting this feat gives you Phalanx Rear Rank for free. Benefit: The famous phalanx formation allows warriors to band together side by side for mutual defence. The large shields used by Greek Hoplites are perfect for this purpose. You cannot form part of a phalanx if you are wielding a shield with a Coverage bonus of less than +4. When in phalanx formation, warriors are tightly bunched and covered by each other’s shields, allowing little chance for an enemy blow to penetrate. Characters in a phalanx formation receive a +3 coverage bonus to Shield Defence checks and to coverage checks made against blows that have not been actively defended against. The person on the right hand end of a phalanx does not gain this benefit, though he does contribute to the formation. Formation: To be in phalanx front rank formation, a character must be standing alongside another character with this feat. Such characters must be adjacent to their neighbours; if they are as much as five feet away from them, they do not count as part of the formation. Special: Characters in a phalanx can opt to move as one, to avoid breaking up the line. In such an arrangement, characters may take a standard action on their own initiative counts, then a simultaneous move action on an initiative count of 1. Any character who leaves himself unable to take a move action or who is rendered incapable of doing so, does not move forward with the rest of the phalanx that round. The commander of the phalanx may order the warriors not to move forward under such circumstances. It is up to each individual warrior whether he chooses to move with the phalanx or not.

Phalanx Rear Rank [Formation] You have been trained to fight in the rear rank of a phalanx and are competent to defend the rear against arrows by raising your spear.

Point Blank Shot [General] You are especially accurate with ranged weapons at close range. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Point Blank Shot as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Power Attack [General} You can make forceful attacks that are less accurate but more damaging when they hit. Prerequisite: Str 13+. Benefit: On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn. Special: If you attack with a two-handed weapon or with a one-handed weapon wielded in two hands, instead add twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls. You cannot add the bonus from Power Attack to the damage dealt with a light weapon (except with unarmed strikes or natural weapon attacks), even though the penalty on attack rolls still applies. A warrior or noble warrior may select Power Attack as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Prophecy [Divine] You can make utterances concerning the future that always come true.

Prerequisite: Interpret Divine Will. Benefit: Once per game session, you may ask the Games Master for a prophecy regarding any person, city, object or anything else you wish. You may not ask specific questions, such as ‘where is the treasure of Minos?’ You may only ask for a prophecy concerning the named subject. This prophecy always comes true. The Games Master can ignore any die roll result in favour of the outcome predicted by the prophecy. The Games Master gives you the prophecy in secret; it is up to you whether you share it or not. This prophecy may be cryptic or explicit as the Games Master chooses. You are not allowed to decide the prophecy yourself. Note that many prophecies are phrased so as to be ambiguous, such as the famous one received by Croesus (see The Ancient World chapter for more information).

Precise Shot [General]

ancient feats

Warriors trained in phalanx combat can assume a front or a middle rank position. Selecting Phalanx Front Rank gives you Phalanx Rear Rank for free. Benefit: When a full phalanx is formed by a large group of warriors, only the front two ranks of a phalanx have their spears lowered. Ranks behind the first two have their spears held upright. Any warrior with his spear upright in a phalanx rear rank formation gains a +4 cover bonus to Passive Defence against missile attacks, as the forest of spears breaks up missile fire. Formation: To be in phalanx rear rank formation, a characters must be standing both beside one character with the Phalanx feats and behind another one. They must be adjacent to their neighbours; if they are as much as five feet away from them, they do not count as part of the formation. The rearmost rank of any phalanx does not gain any benefit from this feat. Special: Characters in a phalanx can opt to move as one, to avoid breaking up the line. See Phalanx Front Rank for details.

You place your ranged attacks with unusual accuracy. Prerequisite: Point Blank Shot. Benefit: You can shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee without taking the standard –4 penalty on your attack roll. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Precise Shot as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Quick Draw [General] You can have a weapon in your hand in an instant. Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1 or higher. Benefit: You can draw a weapon as a free action instead of as a move action. You can draw a hidden weapon (see the Sleight of Hand skill) as a move action. A character who has selected this feat may throw weapons at his full normal rate of attacks, much like a character with a bow. Normal: Without this feat, you may draw a weapon as a move action or, if your base attack bonus is +1 or higher, as a free action as part of movement. Without this feat, you can draw a hidden weapon as a standard action. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Quick Draw as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Rapid Shot [General] You can loose arrows or other ranged weapons one after another with exceptional speed. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Point Blank Shot. Benefit: You can get one extra attack per round with a ranged weapon. The attack is at your highest base attack bonus, but each attack you make in that round – the extra one and the normal ones – suffers a –2 penalty. You must use the full attack action to use this feat. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Rapid Shot as one of his warrior bonus feats.

89

ancient feats

Repel the Damned [Divine] You have a gift for keeping malign spiritual and undead creatures back. Prerequisites: Prayer 5 ranks. Benefit: Your invocations against undead creatures and spiritual creatures are more potent than most. You receive a +3 competence bonus to all uses of the Prayer skill to keep such creatures at bay. This bonus does not apply to uses of the Prayer skill to disrupt such creatures.

Ride-By Attack [General] You can make an attack from horseback and keep moving. Prerequisites: Ride 1 rank, Mounted Combat. Benefit: When you are mounted and use the charge action, you may move and attack as if with a standard charge and then move again, continuing the straight line of the charge. Your total movement for the round cannot exceed double your mounted speed. You and your mount do not provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent that you attack. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Ride-By Attack as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Rock Hurler [General] You are an expert with the hurled boulder as a weapon of combat. Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1 or higher. Benefit: You are counted as proficient with hurled rocks as weapons, so you no longer take a –4 penalty to attack rolls with thrown rocks. In addition, you may throw a Heavy or Very Heavy rock with both hands, adding one and a half times your Strength bonus to the damage roll. Normal: Characters are not ordinarily proficient with the hurled boulder as a weapon and suffer a –4 penalty to attack rolls with them.

Rugged [General] Your body is capable of sustaining worse wounds than it would ordinarily be able to. Prerequisite: Endurance. Benefit: Your Grievous Wound Threshold is raised by one.

Run [General] You are a fast runner. Benefit: When running, you move five times your normal speed – if wearing light or no armour and carrying no more than a light load or four times your speed – if wearing medium or heavy armour or carrying a medium or heavy load. If you make a jump after a running start (see the Jump skill description), you gain a +4 bonus on your Jump check. While running, you retain your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence.

90

Normal: You move four times your speed while running – if wearing light or no armour and carrying no more than a light load or three times your speed – if wearing medium or heavy armour or carrying a medium or heavy loads – and you lose your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence.

Self-Sufficient [General] You are good at fending for yourself. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Heal checks and Survival checks.

Shield Another [General] You are experienced at using your shield to protect other people next to you as well as yourself. Benefit: You receive a +2 competence bonus to your Shield Defence checks when you are protecting another person with your shield rather than yourself. This feat is most commonly taken by dedicated shield bearers, such as those who ride in chariots alongside an archer. Men wear their helmets and their breastplates for their own needs, but they carry shields for the men of the entire line. - Plutarch, Moralia

Shield Proficiency [General] You know how to use a shield of a given type. Benefit: You can use a shield and take only the standard penalties. Normal: When you are using a shield with which you are not proficient, you take the shield’s armour check penalty on attack rolls, Active Defence checks and all skill checks that involve moving, including Ride checks. Special: Warriors and noble warriors automatically have Shield Proficiency as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

Shining Example [General] Prerequisite: Officer rank, Charisma 15+. Benefit: You can make yourself the focus of attention for your troops, even more so than that which is normally enjoyed by a mere commanding officer when leading your troops into battle. So long as you are on the offensive and standing, any friendly or allied warrior within 60 feet and under your command benefits from a +1 morale bonus to all attack and damage rolls. If you are cut down or retreat, your troops suffer from a –1 morale penalty to the same rolls. All troops benefiting from this bonus must be able to see you. If more than one character in the same area has this feat only the bonus of the highest ranking officer apply. These bonuses do not stack.

Shoot on the Run [General]

Simple Weapon Proficiency [General] You know how to use the most basic of weapons. Benefit: You make attack rolls with simple weapons normally. Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls. Special: All characters except for artificers, priests, sages, seers, thieves and witches, are automatically proficient with all simple weapons. They need not select this feat.

Skill Focus [General] You are exceptionally proficient in the use of a given skill. Choose a skill except for Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer. Benefit: You gain a +3 bonus on all checks involving that skill. Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new skill.

Skirmish Defence [Formation] You have been trained to support other warriors in skirmish formation, helping defend them even as they defend you. Benefit: Warriors who have been trained in skirmish defence watch each other’s backs, defend each other’s space and make it harder for an assailant to score a hit on any member of the unit. Skirmish defence is used by small groups of melee combatants in the field. Skirmish defence adds a +1 dodge bonus to the Active Defence checks made by characters in the formation. Formation: Between three and six characters with this feat can be involved in a skirmish formation. For the formation to be maintained, every character must be within fifteen feet of two other characters. A character who is not within fifteen feet of two other characters no longer counts as part of the formation.

Smite the Damned [Divine] You have a gift for disrupting spirits and the undead with the force of your prayers. Prerequisite: Repel the Damned

Benefit: Your prayers to banish wicked spirits, including those that animate undead creatures, are more effective. You receive a +3 competence bonus to all uses of the Prayer skill to disrupt undead creatures and spiritual creatures.

Snatch Projectile [General] You can grab flying projectiles out of the air. Prerequisites: Dex 15+, Deflect Projectile, Improved Unarmed Strike. Benefit: When using the Deflect Projectile feat you may catch the projectile instead of simply deflecting it. Thrown weapons can immediately be thrown back at the original attacker even if it is not your turn or kept for later use. You must have at least one hand free (holding nothing) to use this feat. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Snatch Projectile as one of his warrior bonus feats.

ancient feats

You can move, fire and move again. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, base attack bonus +4 or higher. Benefit: When using the attack action with a ranged weapon, you can move both before and after the attack, provided that your total distance moved is not greater than your speed. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Shot on the Run as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Spirited Charge [General] You make powerful attacks when charging on horseback. Prerequisites: Ride 1 rank, Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack. Benefit: When mounted and using the charge action, you deal double damage with a melee weapon or triple damage with a lance. Special: A fighter may select Spirited Charge as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Spring Attack [General] You are exceptionally mobile in combat, able to combine moves and attacks with greater freedom than usual. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Dodge, Mobility, base attack bonus +4. Benefit: When using the attack action with a melee weapon, you can move both before and after the attack, provided that your total distance moved is not greater than your speed. Moving in this way does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the defender you attack, though it might provoke attacks of opportunity from other creatures, if appropriate. You cannot use this feat if you are wearing heavy armour. You must move at least five feet both before and after you make your attack in order to utilise the benefits of Spring Attack. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Spring Attack as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Stealthy [General] You are good at avoiding the notice of others. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Hide checks and Move Silently checks.

91

ancient feats

Stunning Fist [General] You can strike a person so hard that he reels and is unable to concentrate. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Wis 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, base attack bonus +8 or higher. Benefit: You must declare that you are using this feat before you make your attack roll, thus, a failed attack roll ruins the attempt. Stunning Fist forces a foe damaged by your unarmed attack to make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + ½ your character level + your Wisdom modifier), in addition to dealing damage normally. A defender who fails this saving throw is stunned for one round – until just before your next action. A stunned character cannot act or make Shield Defence checks, loses any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence and suffers a –2 penalty to Active Defence. You may attempt a stunning attack once per day for every four levels you have attained (see Special) and no more than once per round. Spiritual creatures, undead creatures and similar creatures immune to critical hits cannot be stunned. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Stunning Fist as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Benefit: To find tracks or to follow them for one mile requires a successful Survival check. You must make another Survival check every time the tracks become difficult to follow. You move at half your normal speed; or at your normal speed with a –5 penalty on the check or at up to twice your normal speed with a –20 penalty on the check. The DC depends on the surface and the prevailing conditions, as given on the table below: Very Soft Ground: Any surface (fresh snow, thick dust, wet mud) that holds deep, clear impressions of footprints. Surface

DC

Surface

DC

Very soft ground

5

Firm ground

15

Soft ground

10

Hard ground

20

Condition Every three creatures in the group being tracked

Survival DC Modifier –1

Size of creature or creatures being tracked:1

Throw As One [Formation] You are trained to use thrown weapons in concert with others, to bring down a single target. Benefit: This formation feat allows several characters with thrown weapons to attack a single target simultaneously, making it much harder for the target to get out of the way. It is most often used when hunting, when spears thrown from several directions at once will transfix a single large animal. Warriors in the mythic era have also used this formation feat to bring down monsters. The target of an attack by thrown weapons from characters using this feat suffers from a –4 penalty to Active Defence checks to evade the thrown weapon attacks. Formation: All characters with this feat must be within 50 feet of each other. No closer formation than this is required. Special: All characters in the formation must attack on the same initiative count for the benefits of this feat to be applied, which means that some characters must delay their action. For more on delaying actions, see the Combat chapter.

Fine

+8

Diminutive

+4

Tiny

+2

Small

+1

Medium

+0

Large

–1

Huge

–2

Gargantuan

–4

Colossal

–8

Every 24 hours since the trail was made

+1

Every hour of rain since the trail was made

+1

Fresh snow cover since the trail was made

+10

Poor visibility:2

Toughness [General] You are physically tough and can sustain extra damage. Benefit: You gain +3 hit points. Special: A character may gain this feat multiple times. Its effects stack.

Overcast or moonless night

+6

Moonlight

+3

Fog or precipitation

+3

Tracked party hides trail (and moves at half speed)

+5

For a group of mixed sizes, apply only the modifier for the largest size category. 1

Track [General] You know how to follow the tracks that other creatures leave behind.

92

2

Apply only the largest modifier from this category.

Soft Ground: Any surface soft enough to yield to pressure, but firmer than wet mud or fresh snow, in which a creature leaves frequent but shallow footprints.

Hard Ground: Any surface that does not hold footprints at all (bare rock, indoor floor, most streambeds also fall into this category, since any footprints left behind are obscured or washed away). The creature leaves only traces (scuff marks or displaced pebbles). Several modifiers may apply to the Survival check, as given on the table below. If you fail a Survival check, you can retry after one hour, if outdoors or 10 minutes if indoors, of searching. Normal: Without this feat, you can use the Survival skill to find tracks, but you can follow them only if the DC for the task is 10 or lower. Alternatively, you can use the Search skill to find a footprint or similar sign of a creature’s passage using the DCs given above, but you cannot use Search to follow tracks, even if someone else has already found them.

Trample [General] You are good at flattening others under the hooves of your mount. Prerequisites: Ride 1 rank, Mounted Combat. Benefit: When you attempt to overrun an opponent while mounted, your target may not choose to avoid you. Your mount may make one hoof attack against any target you knock down, gaining the standard +4 bonus on attack rolls against prone targets. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Trample as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Weapon Finesse [General] You are quick and deadly with light weapons, substituting accuracy of placement for brute force. Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1 or higher. Benefit: With a light weapon, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. If you carry a shield, its armour check penalty applies to your attack rolls. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Weapon Finesse as one of his warrior bonus feats.

A warrior or noble warrior may select Weapon Focus as one of his warrior bonus feats. He must have Weapon Focus with a weapon to gain the Weapon Specialisation feat for that weapon.

ancient feats

Firm Ground: Most normal outdoor surfaces lawns, fields, woods or exceptionally soft or dirty indoor surfaces (thick rush matting and very dirty or dusty floors). The creature might leave some traces (broken branches or tufts of hair), but it leaves only occasional or partial footprints.

Weapon Focus [General] You are exceptionally proficient with one type of weapon. Choose one type of weapon. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple as your weapon for purposes of this feat. Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, base attack bonus +1 or higher. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.

Weapon Specialisation [General] You can use a weapon with which you are already exceptionally proficient to deal extra damage. Choose one type of weapon for which you have already selected the Weapon Focus feat. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple as your weapon for purposes of this feat. You deal extra damage when using this weapon. Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, warrior or noble warrior level 4th. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon. Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon. A warrior or noble warrior may select Weapon Specialisation as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Whirlwind Attack [General] You can lash out at all enemies within reach. Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Int 13+, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, base attack bonus +4 or higher. Benefit: When you use the full attack action, you can give up your regular attacks and instead make one melee attack at your full base attack bonus against each opponent within reach. When you use the Whirlwind Attack feat, you also forfeit any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats, spells or abilities. Special: A warrior or noble warrior may select Whirlwind Attack as one of his warrior bonus feats.

Natural weapons are always considered light weapons.

93

Equipment

equipment

This chapter deals with the most important possessions a character in the ancient world could have.

wealth, riches and currency in the ancient world

In a game set in the Mythic Era, coinage does not exist. Coins were introduced in Greece in around 650 BC and came to Egypt with the Ptolemies in around 285 BC. Before that time, people relied on the barter system. Goods that were farmed or manufactured were simply traded from one person to another in exchange, with no abstract standard to which any deal could be referred. Without a system of currency, there was no way to formalise exchange rates; it was not a matter of ‘one of these is worth ten of those’, but instead ‘I will give you this if you give me that’. A base value for items is given in the equipment listing. For convenience, this value is given in silver drachmas, just to provide an idea of the item’s value and make Craft checks possible. The base value of an item is modified by its quality. The quality of an item is an indication of how well made it is, the condition it is in and its intrinsic excellence. A good quality sword, for example, has been competently made from metals blended together in the proper way, while a good quality animal is healthy, has no wounds and is obedient. An item’s material is what it is primarily made from. The materials listing gives an indication of the value of various substances in the ancient world. You can break a ruined metal item down into its base components and sell it for scrap value, in which case it is worth the same amount as the same weight of the unworked metal. For example, a broken iron sword that is no good to anyone could be sold for 3 silver drachmas as it contains three pounds of iron. Each type of material has a value per pound; when items are traded in their raw state, weights of roughly equivalent value are exchanged. Again, the material’s worth is measured in silver drachmas in a historical campaign. In a mythic campaign, treat the worth as an abstract sum, as it is never converted into coins.

Trade in the Mythic Era

94

If you are playing a mythic era campaign, there are no coins to use but this is not a drawback as there is not much buying or selling to be done anyway. Some cultures use ingots of copper or silver as currency but this

is not practised widely enough or consistently enough to form the basis of any kind of economy. In the mythic era, you amass wealth by seizing treasures, such as beautifully made armour or ornaments. Wealth increases your reputation, irrespective of what form it is in. In the mythic era, it is perfectly all right to raid enemies for personal gain or even to carry out piracy against foreigners who have not assaulted you personally, but it is not considered heroic to engage in trade. In the Iliad, Euryalus insults Odysseus with the words: ‘You seem to be like one who plies his trade with a manylocked ship and like a ruler of men who sails to trade. You appear to be one who is ever mindful of his own cargo and what he can get in exchange, with his mind on voracious gain. You certainly don’t seem like an athlete’. Goods are either given away as presents from those who have them to those who do not or taken from enemies and shared out among the victors. The honour code means that strangers can ask for hospitality and receive food and drink. Heroes generally ask for what basic requirements they need and are given them. A commander of men in the mythic era must share out the booty from a raid fairly or he has offended against the honour code. A warrior who does not receive his due has just cause for complaint and may refuse to obey further orders. The worth of an item in the mythic era is given only so that a character can measure his own wealth, which then determines his Reputation (see the Characters chapter). Characters do not use wealth to buy things. If they need a service performed, such as having an artificer make an item for them, they will either demand the service as their right and punish the other character if he refuses or reward the character with an item of the appropriate value from their hoard.

Wealth Other Than Items In the ancient world, whether the campaign is mythic or historical, human beings that are part of your household count as wealth. In particular, your spouse, your sons and daughters and your slaves (if you have any) count as wealth and add to your overall Reputation. You can seriously undermine another person’s power and authority by taking his goods or members of his household away from him. You can also reward a character or pay him for a service by giving him a human being that is yours to give, such as a daughter. The other measure of wealth is your livestock. An abundance of sheep and cattle is the sign of a rich man

Quality of Items Quality

Value

Example Items

1

Atrocious

10%

Ruined standard armour; cracked pot; massively adulterated silver; mildewed wheat; diseased or dying animal

2

Very Poor

20%

Battle-damaged chariot with wheel falling off; blunt but usable axe head; bow that does not shoot straight;

3

Poor

50%

Battered standard armour; edible but gritty wheat; unhealthy or illtempered animal

4

Mediocre

75%

Damaged standard armour, coarsely woven cloth

5

Average

100%

Mint standard armour; grain of standard quality; precious metals used as currency; sharp new axe; healthy animal

6

Good

125%

Finely woven cloth; fresh spices; fine animal

7

Exceptional

150%

Any masterwork weapon or armour; breeding quality animal

8

9

Sublime

Legendary

300%

-

Any marvellous weapon or armour; cloth woven by Arachne Items fashioned by Gods; the star of ruby; the purest possible gold

in the ancient world. There is no dishonour in raiding foreigners to garner such things for yourself.

Coins in the Ancient World The ancient Greek currency system is based upon silver and copper coins. This is a great simplification of the actual situation at the time, with a balance struck between historical accuracy and game playability. The rate of exchange is as follows: 8 copper chalkoi (cc) = one silver oboli (so) 6 silver oboli (so) = one silver drachma (sd) 2 silver drachmas (sd) = one silver stater (ss) 100 silver drachmas = one mina 6000 silver drachmas = one talent A mina and a talent are both units of weight rather than coins. One talent is approximately sixty pounds and was

Egyptian Currency The Egyptian civilisation did not use coins until the time of the Ptolemies, after the reign of Alexander the Great. Before that point, grain was the main medium of currency, with the kingdom’s grain reserves acting as banks. Precious metals were also used in barter. For the era following Greek control of Egypt in a historical campaign, use the coinage system above.

equipment

Rank

thought to be as much as a typical man of Greece could easily carry. The most common unit of currency is here the silver drachma, for mathematical convenience, although the most popular coin in Greece was actually the stater. To give an indication of the relative value of coins, one drachma was the set daily wage for a mayor or a member of Parliament in 5 BC. A craftsman or trader could also earn about a drachma to a drachma and a half per day.

Scarcity of Materials Material

Value Per Pound

Copper

3 so

Bronze

2 sd

Iron

2 sd

Silk

60 sd

Spices

60 sd

Lapis Lazuli

100 sd

Faience

100 sd

Grain

4 cc

Oil

0.2

Papyrus

4 cc

Horn

3 so

Cloth

3 so

Wood

4 cc

Clay

4 cc

Electrum

1,000 sd

Silver

200 sd

Gold

2,000 sd

Combat Fatigue and Hot Weather Historically, Egyptian warriors rarely wore armour heavier than leather bands, simply because of the climate. They became used to evasive tactics and shield use, rather than the heavy bronze corselets favoured by the Greeks. You can wear armour in mild weather conditions with no ill effects. Wearing armour or wielding a shield in hot weather while exerting yourself will rapidly exhaust you,

95

equipment

making you sluggish, weak and unable to react quickly. Worn armour and readied shields apply their armour check penalty to the Fortitude saving throw that must be made every 10 minutes against the effects of hot weather when engaging in strenuous activity, such as fighting, climbing, running and hard manual work. A character that fails this saving throw takes 1 point of non-lethal damage and each additional ten minutes of strenuous activity deals twice the damage taken during the previous ten minutes, with no save allowed. A character that takes any non-lethal damage from strenuous activity in hot conditions becomes fatigued. A fatigued character cannot run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength, Dexterity and Shield Defence. Eliminating the non-lethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

egyptian armour and shields

Egyptians fighting on foot very rarely wear armour, preferring to use shields alone. The blazing Egyptian sun makes armour impractical for a foot soldier, who is always on the move. Egyptians who fight in chariots do not move around nearly as much and are thus more likely to wear armour, but even in this case it is likely to be simple banded leather or scale at the very heaviest. Egyptians do not wear heavier than scale armour. The Pharaoh and select noble warriors wear a richer version of scale armour that offers better protection.

Man-sized Egyptian Shield (Heavy) This cumbersome shield is a relic of the early days of Egypt, before the Egyptians had come into conflict with the Asiatic peoples. It is the height of the wielder’s whole body and resembles a primitive version of the modern day riot shield. It is very efficient at defending against arrows, which were the primary offensive weapon in that time. Against hand-to-hand weapons, it is far less efficient. Tall shields fell gradually into disuse during the second millennium. Smaller shields that were easier to handle against melee attacks proved a better choice for defending against swords and battleaxes. Construction: Wood frame with leather covering. Cost: 20 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 30. DR/DA: Piercing 7/3; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +10. Armour Check Penalty: -5. Special: A man-sized Egyptian shield gives a –8 penalty to Shield Defence checks against melee attacks, as it is extremely hard to move around. It also imposes a –4 penalty on Spot checks, as the character’s field of vision is limited. A character using a man-sized shield can move at only half his usual speed and cannot run nor charge. You cannot use a man-sized shield to defend another person than yourself.

Standard Egyptian Shield (Medium) The shield most commonly used by the Egyptians for hand-to-hand combat is rectangular with a rounded top,

Egyptian Armour and Shields Piercing DR/DA

Slashing DR/DA

Bludgeoning DR/DA

Coverage Bonus

Armour Check Penalty

Max. Dexterity Bonus

Light Armour

Cost

Hit Points

Leather Armour

15 sd

25

2/2

1/3

3/0

+3

+0

Standard Shield

15 sd

20

7/3

5/6

5/10

+4

-2

Round Wooden Shield

15 sd

15

7/3

5/6

5/10

+3

-1

Scale Armour

40 sd

25

3/2

3/3

4/0

+3

-1

+6

Royal Armour

800 sd

25

5/2

5/3

4/1

+3

-2

+6

Man-sized Shield

20 sd

30

7/3

5/6

5/10

+10

-5

–

Light Helmets

Cost

Hit Points

Piercing DR/DA

Slashing DR/DA

Bludgeoning DR/DA

Listen Penalty

Spot Penalty

Leather Helmet

10 sd

10

0/2

0/3

4/0

-1

-0

20 sd

25

4/2

4/3

6/0

-2

-0

Medium Armour

Heavy Armour

Heavy Helmets Metal Helmet

96

equipment

like an archway, as shown on many frescoes and papyri. This shield is the one used by Egyptian shieldbearers riding in chariots, with which they defend the archers who ride alongside them. Construction: Wood frame with leather covering. Cost: 15 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 20. DR/DA: Piercing 7/3; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +4. Armour Check Penalty: -2.

Round Wooden Shield (Medium) These shields were not indigenous to Egypt and were brought into the country by the so-called Sea Peoples, who fought as mercenaries against the enemies of the Pharaoh. They were however used in preference to the standard Egyptian shield by some troops. Construction: Wood frame with leather covering. Cost: 15 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 15. DR/DA: Piercing 7/3; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +3. Armour Check Penalty: -1.

Egyptian Leather Armour (Light) The leather armour worn by charioteers and their ilk was extremely simple. It was little more than two broad leather straps, crossing over the torso in a harness arrangement. It offered little protection but allowed freedom of movement and did not encumber the wearer very much. The legs were left completely unprotected, because the wearer would usually have been in a chariot, the sides of which provide hard cover as if the occupant were standing behind a wall. Construction: Leather straps. Cost: 15 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 25. DR/DA: Piercing 2/2; Slashing 1/3; Bludgeoning 3/0. Coverage Bonus: +3. Armour Check Penalty: 0. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +6.

Egyptian Scale Armour (Medium) The much rarer scale armour sometimes worn by the ancient Egyptians was a modification of the leather harness, in which little metal scales were sewn across the leather in order to provide an extra layer of protection. The armour’s Damage Resistance is thus increased without affecting

97

equipment

its Damage Absorption. As with the basic form of Egyptian leather armour, the legs are unprotected. Construction: Leather straps with bronze scales. Cost: 40 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 25. DR/DA: Piercing 3/2; Slashing 3/3; Bludgeoning 4/0. Coverage Bonus: +3. Armour Check Penalty: -1. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +6.

Egyptian Royal Armour (Medium) The finest armour available in Egyptian lands is that which the Pharaoh himself would wear when riding his chariot into battle. It is fashioned in the same manner as Egyptian leather armour, with a layer of inlaid semi-precious stones covering the leather. This has the effect of toughening the armour, as the stones are usually harder than the tips and edges of the weapons that slam into them. Construction: Leather straps inlaid with semi-precious stones. Cost: 800 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 25. DR/DA: Piercing 5/2; Slashing 5/3; Bludgeoning 4/1. Coverage Bonus: +3. Armour Check Penalty: -2. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +6.

Egyptian Leather Helmet (Light) The standard issue Egyptian helmet looks like a leather cap, from the top of which emerge cords with pendants at the end. Most Egyptian troops do not bother with helmets at all, but those who do wear these. Construction: Shaped leather with dependent cords. Cost: 10 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 10. DR/DA: Piercing 0/2; Slashing 0/3; Bludgeoning 4/0. Penalty To Listen Checks: -1. Penalty To Spot Checks: 0.

Egyptian Metal Helmet (Heavy) The helmets worn by Egyptian nobles and by the Pharaoh are smooth swept-back head coverings, slightly longer than the head of the wearer. That worn by Pharaoh is fitted with the royal Uraeus serpent. No historical examples of this helmet have been found to exist; it pertains to mythic campaigns only. Construction: Bronze. Cost: 20 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 25. DR/DA: Piercing 4/2; Slashing 4/3; Bludgeoning 6/0. Penalty To Listen Checks: -2. Penalty To Spot Checks: 0.

98

greek armour and shields

The armour detailed here is that which would be available to a hero in the mythic era or to a warrior or noble warrior in the historical era. Bronze armour is expensive but without it one cannot call oneself a Greek warrior of any stripe at all. One cannot serve as a Hoplite and guard one’s polis unless one can afford the proper equipment. The Hoplite Almost all Greek warriors of the historical era are Hoplites. A properly equipped Hoplite, fit to form a phalanx alongside his comrades in arms, needs a bronze corselet, a Corinthian helmet, a Hoplite shield and a spear. Many Hoplites also carry a short sword as a backup weapon, in case an enemy comes too close for the spear’s reach. This standardisation of equipment is the key to the phalanx’s effectiveness. If one member of the phalanx did not have a suitable shield or a long enough spear, the efficiency of the whole group would be compromised. A phalanx in the era of Alexander the Great uses a very long spear called a sarissa for the ranks of the phalanx beyond the first. This enables even the warriors in the midst of the phalanx to use their spears against the enemy. The members of a phalanx using the sarissa will inevitably have the Meat Skewer formation feat.

Bronze Plate Corselet (Heavy) This armour is a stiff, bell-shaped cuirass, made from a breastplate and a back plate. It offers good protection but is cramped and confining to wear. It is the early version of the bronze plate armour that was excavated at Dendra and was in use between the sixth and the fifth centuries BC until the lighter scale girdle supplanted it. Any Hoplite active during this time period is expected to outfit himself with this armour. Construction: Worked bronze plates. Cost: 300 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 60. DR/DA: Piercing 6/2; Slashing 6/3; Bludgeoning 8/1. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -8. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +0. Special: Running speed is reduced in a bronze plate corselet. (See Chapter 9, Adventuring.) This is the reason why it was phased out in favour of the bronze scale girdle. Hoplites opted to forego protection in favour of additional manoeuvrability.

Bronze Scale Girdle (Medium) The most popular form of Greek armour during the Macedonian era was a composite of bronze shoulder pieces, a girdle of bronze scales sewn on to cloth and a form of kilt

Greek Armour and Shields Piercing DR/DA

Slashing DR/DA

Bludgeoning DR/DA

Coverage Bonus

Armour Check Penalty

Max. Dexterity Bonus

Cost

Bronze Scale Girdle

250 sd

40

5/1

5/2

6/0

+6

-1

+1

Peltast Shield (pelta)

60 sd

25

7/3

5/6

5/10

+3

-1

–

Figure-of-Eight Shield

20 sd

15

4/2

4/6

4/10

+4

-1

–

Dipylon (hourglass) Shield

50 sd

30

6/2

5/6

5/10

+4

-2

–

Plate Bronze Corselet

300 sd

60

6/2

6/3

8/1

+8

-8

+0

Shaped Bronze Plate

800 sd

60

6/2

6/3

8/1

+8

-5

+2

Hoplite Shield

80 sd

30

7/3

5/6

5/10

+5

-3

–

Bronze Shield

500 sd

50

8/3

8/6

8/10

+5

-5

–

Heavy Helmets

Cost

Hit Points

Piercing DR/DA

Slashing DR/DA

Bludgeoning DR/DA

Listen Penalty

Spot Penalty

Corinthian Helmet

100 sd

40

4/2

4/3

6/0

-4

-4

Thracian Helmet

120 sd

30

4/2

4/3

6/0

-2

-2

Boar’s Tooth Helmet

120 sd

20

3/2

3/3

4/0

-2

-0

Heavy Armour

made from leather straps. It was the armour of choice for Hoplites, as it combines good protection (should a blow get past the shield) with excellent manoeuvrability. Alexander the Great himself is shown wearing a suit of armour of this kind. Construction: Bronze scales and plates sewn on to cloth. Cost: 250 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 40. DR/DA: Piercing 5/1; Slashing 5/2; Bludgeoning 6/0. Coverage Bonus: +6. Armour Check Penalty: -5. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +1.

Shaped Bronze Plate (Heavy) The development of the bronze scale girdle did not entirely do away with the metal plate variety of armour. As metalworking techniques became more sophisticated, the blacksmiths of the ancient world developed a technique of shaping bronze plate to the specific body contours of the person whom was intended to wear it. This is the beginning of the fashioned breastplate that resembles a human body, which reaches its apex with the Roman breastplates of later years. Shaped bronze plate covers the torso and the upper part of the thighs, with a front and a back plate lashed together, as with the earlier bell-shaped cuirass.

equipment

Medium Armour

Hit Points

Shaped bronze plate is made for one wearer only. The Coverage bonus, armour check penalty and maximum Dexterity bonus given below assume that the person using the armour is the person for whom it was designed. If anyone else uses the armour, the Coverage bonus is only +7, the armour check penalty is –8 and the maximum Dexterity bonus is 0. Construction: Worked bronze plate made to the measurements of one person. Cost: 800 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 60. DR/DA: Piercing 6/2; Slashing 6/3; Bludgeoning 8/1. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -5. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +2.

Corinthian Helmet (Heavy) The Corinthian helmet is an integral part of the armour of a Hoplite. It is instantly recognisable as the helmet most commonly depicted in Greek art, with a high crest of horsehair and a T-shaped opening in the front, with a long nose guard. Corinthian helmets are made from a single sheet of beaten bronze. They offer excellent protection to the head and face. The trade-off is the limitation they place upon vision and hearing.

99

equipment

Construction: Beaten bronze. Cost: 100 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 40. DR/DA: Piercing 4/2; Slashing 4/3; Bludgeoning 6/0. Penalty To Listen Checks: -4. Penalty To Spot Checks: -4. Special: The great crest that tops a Corinthian helmet was said to be a terrifying sight by commentators of the ancient world. It seems to have been added for intimidation purposes as much as for decoration. If the Games Master wants to acknowledge this function of the crest, then it can be allowed to bestow a +1 circumstance bonus to any Presence check made to intimidate a foe during combat.

Thracian Helmet (Heavy) The Thracian helmet comes into use during the 5th century BC. Its appearance is based on a woollen or leather cap common in the northern parts of Greece. It consists of a high dome with a short visor to protect the forehead and separate cheek pieces, very similar to the later Roman helmet. The wider gap for the eyes and mouth makes it easier for the wearer to hear and see. The Macedonian army of Alexander made extensive use of this design of helmet. Construction: Worked bronze. Cost: 120 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 30.

100

DR/DA: Piercing 4/2; Slashing 4/3; Bludgeoning 6/0. Penalty To Listen Checks: -2. Penalty To Spot Checks: -2.

Boar’s Tooth Helmet (Heavy) This is a very early variety of helmet, used during the Mycenaean period (16th to the 14th centuries BC) and also spoken of by Homer in The Iliad. It is a typical helmet for heroes of the mythic era to wear. It consists of a leather or felt cap on to which rows of boar tusks are sewn, forming a strong protective layer. As 30 to 40 pairs of tusks are needed to make a single helmet, it is a heavy item to wear. Construction: Tusks sewn on to leather. Cost: 120 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 20. DR/DA: Piercing 3/2; Slashing 3/3; Bludgeoning 4/0. Penalty To Listen Checks: -2. Penalty To Spot Checks: 0.

Hoplite Shield (hoplon) (Heavy) The hoplon or round shield gives its name to the warrior who bears it in Ancient Greece, the Hoplite. It is a splendid example of the armourer’s craft that altered the nature of battle forever afterwards. A hoplon is made from wood faced with bronze, is convex in form (allowing blows to be more easily deflected) and measures approximately

Peltast Shield (pelta) (Medium) The pelta is the shield of the medium Greek infantryman (the Peltast) just as the hoplon is the shield of the heavy infantryman or Hoplite. A pelta is crescent-shaped, held so that the tips point upwards. As it is only classed as a medium shield rather than a heavy one, the Peltast can run at top speed rather than a reduced speed. Peltasts do not wear body armour (again, for the sake of manoeuvring speed) and their shield is their only protection. The Persian Empire borrowed this design from the Greeks when they learned of it. Construction: Wood frame with bronze facing. Cost: 60 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 25. DR/DA: Piercing 7/3; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +3. Armour Check Penalty: -1.

Figure-of-Eight Shield (Medium) This is a very old variety of shield that belongs to the Mycenaean period. In design it is essentially a round shield that has had part of its surface cut away. As blows rarely land on these parts of the shield, the amount of cover the shield offers is not seriously reduced, whereas the weight of the shield is greatly lessened. The result is a trade-off of cover and structural strength for lightness and ease of use. The figure-of-eight shield may have fallen out of favour in Greece because of its lesser effectiveness against missile attacks. Construction: Wood frame with leather covering. Cost: 20 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 15. DR/DA: Piercing 4/2; Slashing 4/6; Bludgeoning 4/10. Coverage Bonus: +4. Armour Check Penalty: -1. Special: The figure-of-eight shield has only a +2 coverage bonus against missile attacks such as slings and arrows. It offers its ordinary coverage bonus against attacks from thrown weapons such as javelins.

Dipylon (Hourglass) Shield (Medium) This is the shield most associated with heroes of ancient Greece such as Achilles and Ajax. It dates from the Geometric period of circa 8 BC. It is very probably a later version or redevelopment of the figure-of-eight shield (see above) but shaped deliberately into an hourglass form rather than resembling a round shield that has been customised. It was the immediate precursor of the hoplon, which replaced it around 700 BC. The dipylon shield is stronger than the figure-of-eight variant, owing to its bronze fittings but has the same lesser protection against missile attacks. It is much easier to ward off a swung blow with a diplylon shield than it is to ward off an incoming arrow. Construction: Wood frame with bronze facing. Cost: 50 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 30. DR/DA: Piercing 6/2; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +4. Armour Check Penalty: -2. Special: The dipylon shield has only a +2 coverage bonus against missile attacks such as slings and arrows. It offers its ordinary coverage bonus against attacks from thrown weapons such as javelins.

equipment

one yard in diameter. Unlike earlier forms of shield, it is borne upon the whole arm rather than held in the hand. It is customary to personalise your hoplon by paying the craftsman to fit metal ornaments to the front. This then serves to identify you on the battlefield, as your helmet hides your face. Construction: Wood frame with bronze facing. Cost: 80 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 30. DR/DA: Piercing 7/3; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +5. Armour Check Penalty: -3.

Bronze Shield (Heavy) Shields made entirely from bronze did exist but were extremely rare. In an OGL Ancients game, solid bronze shields are likely to be from sets of ceremonial armour or designed to be ornamental rather than practical. Solid bronze is not as efficient at stopping blows as one might expect and wood with a leather covering can in fact do the job more efficiently, as contemporary scientific tests have demonstrated. Construction: Worked bronze plate. Cost: 500 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 50. DR/DA: Piercing 8/3; Slashing 8/6; Bludgeoning 8/10. Coverage Bonus: +5. Armour Check Penalty: -5. Special: Though they can be carried like any other item, solid bronze shields are painfully heavy to wield. A character can only wield a bronze shield for ten minutes per point of Strength ability modifier. After this point, he must make a Fortitude saving throw against DC 15 every passing minute or suffer one point of non-lethal damage due to fatigue. A character that suffers any non-lethal damage in this way becomes fatigued. A fatigued character cannot run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength, Dexterity and Shield Defence. Eliminating the non-lethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

101

miscellaneous armour and shields

equipment

This section covers the varieties of armour and shields that grew up in regions other than Greece and Egypt.

Assyrian Helmet These simple helmets are standard issue for all Assyrian warriors, irrespective of the weapon they use or their position on the field. The helmet is a conical cap of metal, layered over with woven leather cords. Construction: Layers of woven cord over metal. Cost: 25 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 15. DR/DA: Piercing 1/2; Slashing 1/3; Bludgeoning 4/0. Penalty To Listen Checks: -2. Penalty To Spot Checks: 0.

Assyrian Wicker Shield (Light) This is a round shield of woven wicker, good for fending off hacks and bashes but less useful against arrows and similar piercing attacks, as its woven substance slows a projectile down but offers no solid barrier. The impact of a slashing or bludgeoning attack is however spread across the shield, which disperses it quite efficiently. The great advantage of this shield is that it is very cheap and easy to make. It is the customary shield of Assyrian foot troops, who wear no additional armour. It stands up very well to hand-to-hand combat against opponents with simple weapons such as clubs and axes. This variety of shield is commonly used to defend archers, particularly when the archer is in a chariot. A dedicated shield bearer, without a weapon of his own, uses the shield to fend off attacks against the archer. Construction: Interwoven wicker strands. Cost: 5 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 10 DR/DA: Piercing 3/1; Slashing 5/3; Bludgeoning 10/2. Coverage Bonus: +5. Armour Check Penalty: -2. Special: Any piercing damage that exceeds a wicker shield’s DR/DA is applied to the person the shield is protecting. In this way it is possible for arrows and similar projectiles to pass straight through the shield and into the person on the other side. The wielder

102

is still entitled to a Coverage check for his armour, if he is wearing any.

Assyrian Scale Armour (Heavy) An unusual design of armour, this garment resembles a long leather cape or overcoat that is sewn with metal (bronze) scales. It reaches all the way to the ankles. This was not customarily used by foot troops as it restricted their movements too much. The users of this armour are the Assyrian archers who need both hands to hold their bows and therefore cannot defend themselves with a shield. Although the armour counts as heavy, thus restricting the running speed of the wearer, it is not so restrictive of movement that it greatly impedes the archers’ aim. Construction: Leather with bronze scales. Cost: 150 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 30. DR/DA: Piercing 3/2; Slashing 3/3; Bludgeoning 4/0. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -4. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +2.

Persian Iron Scale Armour (Medium) Described by Herodotus as ‘looking like the scales of fish’, this armour is that worn by the heavier Persian and Mede infantry. It is composed of a multicoloured garment with cloth sleeves, on to whose front and back an array of tough iron scales are sewn. The most important of the Persian warriors, such as the Ten Thousand Immortals, have goldplated scales.

Miscellaneous Armour and Shields Piercing DR/DA

Slashing DR/DA

Bludgeoning DR/DA

Coverage Bonus

Armour Check Penalty

Max. Dexterity Bonus

Cost

Scythian Quilted Cloth Armour

6 sd

10

2/1

1/3

4/0

+8

-2

+8

Assyrian Wicker Shield

5 sd

10

3/1

5/3

10/2

+5

-2

–

Nubian Shield

8 sd

15

7/3

5/6

5/10

+2

-0

–

Persian Iron Scale Armour

200 sd

50

4/2

4/3

5/0

+6

-3

+2

Hide Armour

3 sd

20

2/2

1/3

3/0

+8

-8

+0

Spara Shield

8 sd

12

3/1

5/3

10/2

+8

-3

–

Assyrian Scale Armour

150 sd

30

3/2

3/3

4/0

+8

-4

+2

Iron Corselet

900 sd

80

8/2

8/3

12/1

+8

-8

+0

Light Helmets

Cost

Hit Points

Piercing DR/DA

Slashing DR/DA

Bludgeoning DR/DA

Listen Penalty

Spot Penalty

Assyrian Helmet

25 sd

15

1/2

1/3

4/0

-2

-0

Medium Armour

equipment

Light Armour

Hit Points

Heavy Armour

Construction: Cloth or leather with iron scales. Cost: 200 silver drachmas. (Gold plated version 2,000 silver drachmas.) Hit Points: 50. DR/DA: Piercing 4/2; Slashing 4/3; Bludgeoning 5/0. Coverage Bonus: +6. Armour Check Penalty: -3. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +2.

Scythian Quilted Cloth Armour (Light) This armour was ideal for skirmishing in under Bronze Age conditions. It allowed protection against clubs and allowed great freedom of movement. In later eras, it became the garment that metal armour was worn over, rather than being seen as armour in its own right. Construction: Quilted linen cloth. Cost: 6 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 10. DR/DA: Piercing 2/1; Slashing 1/3; Bludgeoning 4/0. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -2. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +8.

Nubian Shield (Light) This is the typical shield used by the elite Nubian warriors who fought under Pharaoh. Structurally it resembles the standard Egyptian shield but is smaller and rounder. In keeping with Nubian tactics, it is suited more to hand-tohand combat than to defence against ranged attacks.

Construction: Wood frame with leather covering. Cost: 8 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 15. DR/DA: Piercing 7/3; Slashing 5/6; Bludgeoning 5/10. Coverage Bonus: +2. Armour Check Penalty: 0.

Spara Shield (Medium) This is the characteristic shield of the Persian front ranks of infantry. It is about shoulder height, tall and rectangular in shape and made of light materials. The spara has a unique feature among shields. A prop on the rear side means that it can be stood up on its own and sheltered behind as portable cover. This is especially useful for defending archers. A defensive barrier can be erected in minutes. Setting up a spara shield as a freestanding barrier is a full-round action. Construction: Cane and wood. Cost: 8 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 12. DR/DA: Piercing 3/1; Slashing 5/3; Bludgeoning 10/2. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -3.

Iron Corselet (Heavy) This armour is included for those Games Masters who wish to set a historical campaign right at the latter end of the era covered by OGL Ancients, when the Roman power is beginning to come to the fore. An iron corselet is the forerunner of the armour that would be worn by the Roman legionaries.

103

equipment

Construction: Worked iron plates. Cost: 900 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 80. DR/DA: Piercing 8/2; Slashing 8/3; Bludgeoning 12/1. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -8. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +0.

Hide Armour (Medium) This is extremely crude armour made from ragged skins stitched together. None but the most primitive tribes and the most savage monsters, such as the Cyclops, use it. Construction: Tough hides sewn together or worn as a cape. Cost: 3 silver drachmas. Hit Points: 20. DR/DA: Piercing 2/2; Slashing 1/3; Bludgeoning 3/0. Coverage Bonus: +8. Armour Check Penalty: -8. Maximum Dexterity Bonus: +0.

weapons Missile Weapons In the Greek lands, those warriors who supported the heavy infantry used missile weapons on the battlefield. Bows and arrows were not the most popular choice, though they were widely used. The ranged weapon of preference in Greece was the sling, with the javelin and the hurled rock used for close-range combat. Archery was nonetheless of major importance and many of the victories of Athens were attributed to the success of the citizens’ bow attacks. In Egypt and Assyria, by contrast, the bow was the master of the battlefield. The military power of Egypt is attributed to the skill, speed and sheer overwhelming number of its arrow attacks. Egyptian bow technology was inventive and ahead of the rest of the world for a long time. The artificers of the Egyptian people used their skill to improve on the simple curved length of wood, creating a variety of recurve bows that enabled their archers to fire their arrows further than before.

Weapons Simple Weapons

Cost

Dmg (M)

Critical

Range Increment

Weight

Type

Unarmed strike

—

1d3

x2

—

—

Bludgeoning

Dagger

4 sd

1d4

19–20/x2

10-ft.

1 lb.

Piercing or slashing

Mace, stone headed

2 sd

1d6

x2

—

4 lb.

Bludgeoning

Sickle

3 sd

1d6

x2

—

2 lb.

Slashing

Light Melee Weapons

One-handed Melee Weapons Club

—

1d6

x2

10-ft.

3 lb.

Bludgeoning

Flail

4 sd

1d6

x3

—

4 lb.

Bludgeoning

Mace, bronze headed

6 sd

1d8

x2

—

8 lb.

Bludgeoning

Shortspear

5 sd

1d6

x2

20-ft.

3 lb.

Piercing

—

1d6

x2

—

4 lb.

Bludgeoning

Longspear

10 sd

1d8

x3

—

9 lb.

Piercing

Spear

8 sd

1d8

x3

20-ft.

6 lb.

Piercing

Staff

—

1d6

x2

—

4 lb.

Bludgeoning

Stake, sharpened

—

1d8

x2

—

7 lb.

Piercing

Dart

1 sd

1d4

x2

20-ft.

1/2 lb.

Piercing

Javelin

5 sd

1d8

x2

20-ft.

2 lb.

Piercing

Javelin, Mycenaean

6 sd

1d6

x2

30-ft.

1 1/2 lb.

Piercing

Rock, throwing

—

Varies

x2

Varies

Varies

Bludgeoning

Sling

—

1d4

x2

50-ft.

0 lb.

Bludgeoning

Stones, sling (10)

—

—

—

—

5 lb.

—

Two-handed Melee Weapons Crook 4

Ranged Weapons

104

Horn Bow The horn bow is made from two antelope horns, joined by a single piece of wood at the centre. Horn bows are described by Homer in the Iliad, though we must allow him some poetic license as some of the bows he mentions would not actually have worked. A horn bow has very limited range compared to other types of bow.

Martial Weapons

Cost

Composite Self Bow Composite bows were one of the greatest military innovations of the ancient world. When a bow is drawn, the outside face stretches and the inside face is compressed. Instead of making a bow with the same material all the way through, ancient artificers made bows with elastic material (such as sinew) on the outside face and springy

Dmg (M)

Critical

Range Increment

Weight

Type

One-handed Melee Weapons Axe, throwing

6 sd

1d8

x2

10-ft.

2 lb.

Slashing

Hammer

4 sd

1d4

x2

20-ft.

2 lb.

Bludgeoning

Axe, hand, cutting

6 sd

1d8

x3

—

3 lb.

Slashing

Axe, hand, piercing

6 sd

1d6

x3

—

3 lb.

Piercing

Net

10 sd

—

—

10-ft.

—

Special

Whip

8 sd

1d3

x2

—

2 lb.

Slashing

Shield, light/medium

-

1d3

x2

—

Special

Bludgeoning

Sword, short stabbing

10 sd

1d6

x2

—

2 lb.

Piercing

Akinakes

16 sd

2d4

18-20/x2

—

2 lb.

Slashing or piercing

Axe, large

20 sd

2d6

x3

—

6 lb.

Slashing

Sword, Cretan stabbing

12 sd

1d6

18–20/x2

—

2 lb.

Piercing

Kopesh

25 sd

2d6

19–20/x2

—

4 lb.

Slashing

Kopis

25 sd

2d6

18–20/x2

—

4 lb.

Slashing

Xiphos

20 sd

2d4

19-20/x2

—

2 lb.

Slashing or piercing

Shield, heavy

-

1d4

x2

—

Special

Bludgeoning

Trident

12 sd

1d8

x2

10-ft.

4 lb.

Piercing

equipment

Self Bow This unremarkable bow is the sort that a villager of Bronze Age Greece might employ or a common warrior of Egypt in

the Old Kingdom. It could also be made in the wild with little difficulty. It is made from a shaped, bent length of wood and a strand of sinew or other cord.

Two-handed Melee Weapons Greatclub

10 sd

1d10

x2

—

8 lb.

Bludgeoning

Labrys, two-handed

25 sd

3d6

x3

—

12 lb.

Slashing

Sarissa

18 sd

3d6

x3

—

20 lb.

Piercing

Bow, horn

20 sd

1d8

x3

30-ft.

2 lb.

Piercing

Bow, self

16 sd

1d8

x3

50-ft.

2 lb.

Piercing

Bow, composite self

30 sd

1d8

x3

80-ft.

2 lb.

Piercing

Bow, composite, recurve

40 sd

2d6

x3

100-ft.

2 lb.

Piercing

Arrows, bone tipped (20)

1 sd

—

—

—

3 lb.

—

Arrows, ivory tipped (20)

3 sd

—

—

—

3 lb.

—

Arrows, bronze tipped (20)

6 sd

—

—

—

3 lb.

—

Ranged Weapons

105

equipment

material (such as horn) on the inside. This took advantage of the different kind of work done by the different parts of the bow, allowing much more powerful shots. A character with a composite bow may add his Strength ability score bonus to the damage done by the arrow. Composite bows were in use to an extent in the Old Kingdom, though (for game purposes) the recurve version does not appear until the New Kingdom was established. Composite Recurve Bow This was the bow that made Rameses the Great victorious at the Battle of Quadesh. A recurve bow larger than a self bow and is made so that it bends outwards at the ends, adding additional power and range to the bow shot. Sling A sling is a simple leather loop fashioned for hurling stones. Your Strength modifier applies to damage rolls when you use a sling, just as it does for thrown weapons. You can fire, but not load, a sling with one hand. Loading a sling is a move action that requires two hands and provokes attacks of opportunity. Bone-tipped Arrow Tipping an arrow with a sharpened bone point is the standard way to make such an article in the ancient world. Bone is plentiful and easy to sharpen, though it is brittle and does not offer the best penetration. Bone-tipped arrows are the kind that a primitive tribe (such as barbarians) will be most likely to use. A culture that uses bone-tipped arrows will usually use ivory-tipped arrows as well, though these will be kept for the best archers, so that they are not wasted. Ivory-tipped Arrow Ivory is a much better substance for tipping an arrow with than bone. It can be filed to a sharper point and is less likely to shatter on impact. As there is much less ivory available than bone, these arrows are only issued to the best archers in an army. Ivory-tipped arrows receive a +1 enhancement bonus to their damage roll. Bronze-tipped Arrow Arrows tipped with bronze heads are the best kind available. The needle-sharp bronze can easily rip through all but the toughest armour and cause horrific internal injuries.

106

It is even possible for a bronze-tipped arrow fired from a composite bow to punch straight through a shield and into the arm of the wielder. Bronze-tipped arrows receive a +1 enhancement bonus to their damage roll. In addition, they are the only weapon that has any effect upon an armour (but not a shield) Coverage check; the slim, hard bronze heads are exceptionally good at turning armour aside. The DC for the Coverage check to see whether armour has caught a bronze-tipped arrow or not is 21 rather than 20.

Thrown Weapons Throwing Axe This is a simple bronze-headed axe, designed to be thrown at a target. Javelin A javelin is a slender spear, shaped for throwing. It can be used in hand-to-hand combat as a stabbing weapon without penalty. Standard practice is for a Greek light infantryman to carry two javelins as well as his spear and short sword. Egyptian warriors carry javelins in their war chariots, using them for close-up combat in preference to bows.

Mycenaean Javelin This variant design of the javelin is slightly lighter than the regular article and incorporates a throwing loop, so that the wielder can hurl it to a greater distance. The lesser mass means that the javelin is easier to throw further but does not strike with so much force when it reaches its target.

The table below gives the weapon statistics for thrown stones. The heavier a rock is, the more mass it has and the more damage it inflicts upon impact. You must have a certain minimum level of Strength in order to throw a stone effectively. You add your Strength ability score bonus to the damage from a thrown stone. As thrown stones are not shaped for throwing, all attackers who do not have the Rock Hurler feat are treated as nonproficient with them and receive a –4 penalty to their attack rolls when using them.

Throwing Stones Stone

Minimum Strength

Range Increment

Damage

Light (1-5 lb.)

-

10-ft.

1d4

Medium (6-10 lb.)

12

10-ft.

1d6

Heavy (11-15 lb.)

14

5-ft.

1d8

Very Heavy (16-20 lb.)

16

5-ft.

2d6

Melee Weapons These weapons are used in hand-to-hand combat in the ancient world. Dagger A dagger is a long knife used for stabbing or slashing, common to all cultures in the world of OGL Ancients. You get a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal a dagger on your body. See the Sleight of Hand skill for more information. Akinakes This is an iron shortsword used by Persian troops. It is only eighteen inches in length at most but has sharpened

Cretan Stabbing Sword This unusually slim weapon, which is up to three feet long and made from bronze, is an ancestor of the rapier. It is a long, slim blade used for stabbing rather than slashing. Its use should be restricted to Cretans if the Games Master wishes to be historically stringent. You may use the Weapon Finesse feat to apply your Dexterity ability score modifier to your attack roll with a Cretan stabbing sword, instead of your Strength modifier. Stone Axe A stone axe is a primitive cutting tool, made from sharpened flint bound to a wooden haft. It is more commonly used to chop wood than to attack other human beings.

equipment

Throwing Stone It may come as a surprise to modern readers to learn that hurled rocks were an extremely common sight upon the ancient battlefield. In Homer’s Iliad, frequent mention is made of heroes fighting with rocks that they pick up and throw at one another. This was not seen as any less honourable than transfixing a person with a spear. Some warriors even specialised in rock throwing, as the extract from Tyrtaeus makes plain. In the frenzy of combat, any warrior would use a stone if he had to. As spears and javelins frequently shattered on impact, it became necessary to find other weapons and a flung rock was as good as anything else.

edges as well as a keen point, meaning that it can be used to slash or stab.

Bronze Cutting Axe The bronze axe is a significant improvement upon the stone version, with a good metal edge that is used to hack at the limbs of enemies. Bronze Piercing Axe Historically, the piercing axe was developed as a response to the increased use of helmets. Often, the only armour that a Bronze Age opponent would wear was a helmet, which often made the difference between life and death. As a helmet is more efficient at warding off slashing damage than piercing damage, a simple weapon was created to take advantage of this fact. Piercing axes are rather like shorthandled picks. Wooden Club A wooden club is simply a length of wood that can be swung and used as a weapon. Stone Mace A stone mace is little more than a club. A heavy, shaped rock is bound to a wooden haft with strips of hide. In the Egyptian version, a disc of stone with a hole in the centre is fixed to a wooden handle. By the time of OGL Ancients, only relatively primitive peoples use stone maces. Bronze Mace A very common weapon in the Middle East, the bronze mace is a heavy sphere of bronze on a wooden haft. The strength and weight of the bronze mace-head lend additional force to the wielder’s blows. A +1 enhancement bonus is added to the weapon’s damage rolls. Sharpened Stake This crude weapon is simply a length of wood (from two to four feet long) with the end chopped to a point,

107

equipment

hardened in fire. It is the simplest form of spear there is. It can be used as a thrown weapon but it is not at all aerodynamic, so the thrower is automatically treated as non-proficient with it and receives a –4 penalty to the attack roll. Short Thrusting Spear This simple spear has a point of sharpened bone, flint or ivory. A spear can be thrown. If you use a ready action to set a spear against a charge, you deal double damage on a successful hit against a charging character. Bronze Tipped Shortspear This is the typical spear used for close-up fighting by Greek warriors. A spear can be thrown. If you use a ready action to set a spear against a charge, you deal double damage on a successful hit against a charging character. Bronze tipped spears have a +1 enhancement bonus to their damage rolls. Bronze Tipped Long Spear (Reach) This is the spear used in a phalanx, the primary weapon of a Hoplite. A long spear has reach. You can strike opponents 10 feet away with it, but you cannot use it against an adjacent foe. If you use a ready action to set a longspear against a charge, you deal double damage on a successful hit against a charging character. Bronze tipped spears have a +1 enhancement bonus to their damage rolls. Sarissa (Bronze Tipped) The sarissa was developed by Alexander the Great to be the ultimate spear weapon for use in phalanxes. It is essentially a 20 foot long spear, so huge that it has to be wielded two handed. A sarissa may be used to attack opponents up to 20 feet away, but cannot be used against an adjacent foe or a foe that is closer to hand than twenty feet away. Bronze tipped spears have a +1 enhancement bonus to their damage rolls. Trident A trident is a three-pronged bronze spear. This weapon can be thrown. If you use a ready action to set a trident against a charge, you deal double damage on a successful hit against a charging character. Net A net is used to entangle enemies. When you throw a net, you make a ranged attack against your target. The defender cannot use a Shield Defence check to ward the attack off and must avoid it with Active Defence if he can. A net’s maximum range is 10 feet. If you hit, the target is entangled. An entangled creature takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, a –4 penalty on Dexterity, can move at only half speed and cannot charge or run. If you control the trailing rope by succeeding on an opposed Strength check while holding it, the entangled creature can move only within the limits

108

that the rope allows. If the entangled creature attempts to cast a spell, it must make a DC 15 Concentration check or be unable to cast the spell. An entangled creature can escape with a DC 20 Escape Artist check (a full-round action). The net has 5 hit points and can be burst with a DC 25 Strength check (also a fullround action). A net is useful only against creatures within one size category of you. In order to be thrown effectively, a net must be folded up. The first time you throw your net in a fight, you make a normal ranged attack roll that cannot be warded off with Shield Defence. After the net is unfolded, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls with it. It takes 2 rounds for a proficient user to fold a net and twice that long for a non-proficient one to do so. Labrys A labrys is an axe with two bronze cutting heads shaped like half-moons. Versions sized for single-handed and double-handed use exist. The labrys is not often used in actual combat, being more of a ceremonial weapon. It dates back to Minoan Crete, where it is believed to have been the sacred symbol of an ancient Goddess about which too little is known. The labrys is the traditional weapon for witches to use. Kopesh The kopesh, referred to as the ‘weapon of victory’, is the bronze sickle sword of ancient Egypt. It has a curved blade and is used for hacking. Unlike an actual sickle, the blade is sharp on its outer edge. Egyptian troops usually wield a kopesh for close-up combat. Short Stabbing Sword The Greek infantry used this sword before their weapons and armour were revised and the kopis (see below) replaced it. It is essentially a long dagger, designed to be shoved between the joints of the opponent’s armour. Kopis The kopis, or Greek sabre, is a backup Hoplite weapon. It is a short curved sword used for slashing. Standard Hoplite fighting strategy is to butcher one’s enemies at a distance by using long spears, then switch to the kopis to finish them off if they should manage to come closer than the spear’s reach. Xiphos This is a double-edged, pointed Greek sword, used in the classical era. Lighter than the kopis, it is most commonly used by less heavily armoured troops. Whip A whip deals non-lethal damage. Any attack with a whip that connects with armour (following a successful Coverage

Masterwork Weapons A masterwork weapon is a finely crafted version of a normal weapon. Wielding it provides a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls. You cannot add the masterwork quality to a weapon after it is created; it must be crafted as a masterwork weapon (see the Craft skill). Masterwork ammunition is damaged (effectively destroyed) when used. The enhancement bonus of masterwork ammunition does not stack with any enhancement bonus of the projectile weapon firing it. Even though some types of shields can be used as weapons, you cannot create a masterwork version of such an item that confers an enhancement bonus on attack rolls. Instead, masterwork armour and shields have their armour check penalties reduced by one or their Maximum Dexterity Bonus increased by one. Masterworking any item adds 600 sd to its base cost.

Herbs Herbs are a vital part of life in ancient Greece and Egypt. They are used in the home, on the battlefield, in the temples of the Gods and in the secret meeting places of the witches. This section details the different herbs that a character may find and the uses to which they are put. Common herbs usually sell for 1 drachma per bunch unless otherwise noted. Rarer herbs sell for 30 silver drachmas per bunch unless otherwise noted. Herbs in italics are never available for open sale and must be foraged for by the player or a black market source found.

Foraging For Herbs A character may make a Survival check at a DC of 15 to spend an hour foraging for herbs. Herbs are useful to witches, who use them in spellcasting and to herbalists who can make healing poultices and other herbal products from them. When foraging in regions where many herbs

grow, such as forests, add a +2 circumstance bonus to the Survival skill check. If the forager makes a successful check, roll once on the Common Herbs table to find out the yield. If the check succeeds by more than 10, roll once on the Common Herbs table and once on the Rare Herbs table. You cannot forage for herbs in arid or drought-stricken areas. The Games Master has the final say on where you may forage. The word ‘herbs’ is used here as a catchall term. The actual plants used would include mushrooms, spices, mosses, berries, bark, insects and sundry other ingredients. The Games Master can therefore be fairly lenient in allowing players to forage for herbs in most places, since many different plants have similar properties and a ‘herb’ in this context is not always something which is green, leafy and grows in the ground.

equipment

check) is blocked altogether. The whip is treated as a melee weapon with 15 foot reach, though you don’t threaten the area into which you can make an attack. In addition, unlike most other weapons with reach, you can use it against foes anywhere within your reach, including adjacent foes. Using a whip provokes an attack of opportunity, just as if you had used a ranged weapon. You can make trip attacks with a whip. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the whip to avoid being tripped. When using a whip, you get a +2 bonus on opposed attack rolls made to disarm an opponent (including the roll to keep from being disarmed if the attack fails). You can use the Weapon Finesse feat to apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to attack rolls with a whip.

The more mysterious herbs are here categorised by use, such as ‘witches’ herbs’ and ‘poisonous herbs’ rather than being mentioned by name. Although to do so would be more historically authentic, we feel that giving the actual names of such things as hallucinogenic herbs might encourage people to experiment, so we refrain from doing so on the grounds of social responsibility. A Games Master who wishes to give the game true historical accuracy should consult any reputable text of herbalism to find out which herbs have which alleged properties, such as Culpeper’s Herbal. Herb Yield: The yield indicates how many units of each kind of herb the character finds. A single unit of herbs is enough to prepare a crafted herbal item. For example, you can use one unit of herbs to make one herbal poultice with a single Craft (herbalism) check. Witches do not need to turn units of their herbs into crafted items in order to use them; a witch can use up a unit of herbs freshly plucked from the ground in her spellcasting. Herbs in italics are inherently suspicious to have, as they are used to work ill in the eyes of most citizens. A person with these herbs is as good as a criminal or a professional poisoner. If you are found to be cultivating these, the authorities will confiscate them, unless you are of high enough rank to talk your way out of it. Storing Herbs: You can dry herbs out and keep them for later use. Common herbs remain usable for up to one year after they are first picked. Rare herbs are only usable for six months following picking. Herb Gardens: A character with their own garden of herbs may choose three types of herb to cultivate, though they should bear in mind the likely social reaction to cultivating forbidden herbs. (A clever character can make a secret herb garden in a secluded space, which only she knows how

109

equipment

110

to find.) Your herb garden gains one new unit of herbs of each type per month, to a maximum of 10 units of herbs of each type. You may harvest these and use them as you see fit. If you ever harvest all the units of herbs of a given type, that kind of herb no longer gains new units, as you have used it all up.

Common Herbs d100 roll

Herb Yield

1-30

1d4 Cooking Herbs

31-40

1d4 Stinking Herbs

41-60

1d4 Healing Herbs

61-65

1d4 Cleansing Herbs

66-75

1d4 Witches’ Herbs

76-80

Fragrant Herbs: These herbs have an unusually pleasant smell and are used in the manufacture of incense. Some of them are chewed to sweeten the breath, an important consideration in an age long before the invention of toothpaste. Fragrant herbs have some commercial value, but little use for mortal characters beyond that. A packet containing five units of fragrant herbs would sell for approximately one drachma in the marketplace.

1d4 Soothing Herbs Cleansing Herbs: Used instead of soap in the ancient world, these herbs have a 1d4 Poisonous Herbs 81-90 detergent property and are used to bathe 1d3Narcotic Herbs 91-93 people and clothes. Hyssop is the most 1d3 Soporific Herbs 94-96 famous of such herbs. Regular washing Fragrant herbs are of much more 97-100 1d3 Purgative Herbs of wounds is important when helping significance to spiritual creatures. A Craft them to heal properly. Cleansing herbs (herbalism) check can be used to turn one add a +2 circumstance bonus to any Medicine check made unit of fragrant herbs into one unit of incense, which can to cure a grievous wound through daily care, as opposed to then be burned as an offering to a spiritual creature. Any cautery. Cleansing herbs are simply added to water and do spiritual creature can absorb offerings of incense made to not need to be prepared with Craft (herbalism). it and gains hit points by doing so. See the rules covering spiritual creatures in the Death and Beyond chapter. Cooking Herbs: These are some of the commonest herbs and are used to give flavour to cooking. They include such Hallucinogenic Herbs: Powerful narcotics, these herbs familiar stew ingredients as parsley, sage and rosemary. induce vivid visions of things that are not truly there. A Cooking herbs are of little practical use in the game and herbalist can use the Craft (herbalism) skill to turn one unit are included as a ‘better than nothing at all’ discovery of these herbs into one liquid or solid dose of hallucinogen. when foraging for herbs; they are the commonest herbs of This is essentially poison that does temporary damage to all. When freshly picked, they can add a +2 circumstance the ingester’s Intelligence and Wisdom ability scores; both bonus to any Craft (cook) skill check. Herbs do have his ability to think clearly and his perception of the world some monetary value and herb-gathering can be a means around him are muddled by the swirling apparitions he sees of raising small amounts of money when it is desperately around him. See the Poisons section in the Adventuring needed, such as to buy food or a place to spend the night. chapter for more information. A packet containing ten units of cooking herbs would sell for approximately one obol in the marketplace. Healing Herbs: These goodly herbs have antiseptic properties that fight infection and help wounds to heal. Deadly Herbs: These herbs are Unlocking their healing quality spoken of with fear and dread, as takes the hand of a learned herbalist. Rare Herbs they are poisonous enough to kill To be used, they must be made d100 roll Herb Yield you outright. One unit of deadly into a herbal poultice with a Craft herbs is enough to prepare a dose (herbalism) check. One dose of 1-10 1d4 Staunching Herbs (liquid or solid) of toxin whose healing herbs is enough to prepare 1d4 Hallucinogenic 11-20 ingestion will almost always result one herbal poultice. A single herbal Herbs in death. A Craft (herbalism) skill poultice adds +2 to the Heal check to 21-30 1d4 Stimulant Herbs check is needed to prepare the herbs; bind any given wound. 1d3 Witches’ Herbs 31-40 the DC for this skill check is 20 (potent) as the herbs are difficult to work Holy Herbs: Occasionally, a sprig with. If the skill check is failed by of herbs has an origin in legend that 1d3 Paralysing Herbs 41-50 more than 10, then the herbalist has makes it especially blessed by the 51-60 1d3 Fragrant Herbs accidentally poisoned himself and Gods; it may be said to have sprung 61-70 1d3 Holy Herbs must make a saving throw against from the blood of one of them or the effects of the poison. For the full to have been given by them for the 71-80 1d3 Visionary Herbs description of deadly poison, see the benefit of mankind. Holy herbs 1d3 Witches’ Herbs 81-86 Poisons section in the Adventuring are used in religious ritual, where (extra potent) chapter. they form the basis of the ritual 1d3 Deadly Herbs 87-00 preparations that go on before a

major prayer is made. See ‘ritual preparations’ in the Magic chapter for additional details.

Paralysing Herbs: These rare herbs induce rigour of the muscles, making the imbiber unable to move. A lesser dose leaves the unwise imbiber sluggish and uncoordinated. You can make a Craft (herbalism) check to turn one unit of paralysing herbs into a mild draught or two units into a strong draught. See the Poisons table for the effect of each kind of draught upon the ingester. Poisonous Herbs: These plants can be used to make poisons of varying degrees of severity. A Craft (herbalism) check can turn a unit of poisonous herbs into a dose of ingestive poison, in liquid or powder form. See the section entitled ‘Poisons’ in the Adventuring chapter for information on how poisons work. You can use multiple units of herbs to produce a more concentrated poison. Each unit of herbs that you add to the brew increases the DC of the saving throw to resist its effects by 2; you may include a maximum of 3 units of herbs when brewing a given poison. The extracts of poisonous herbs are not guaranteed to be fatal, though those who ingest them often die of the effects.

Soothing Herbs: These benign herbs help to break fevers and aid those suffering from disease. A character with Craft (herbalism) can use a unit of these herbs to prepare a tonic, which helps their body to fight off infection. A single unit of herbs creates one dose of tonic, which when drunk adds a +2 herbal bonus to the character’s saving throw that day to resist the effects of a disease or recover from it. Soporific Herbs: These herbs induce drowsiness and in greater quantity place the imbiber into a deep sleep. They are used to calm those who suffer from insomnia or nightmares and to assist those who are wounded to sleep peacefully and recover their strength. A Craft (herbalism) check turns one unit of soporific herbs into a mild sleeping draught or two units of soporific herbs into a strong one. See the Poisons table in the Adventuring chapter for the effects of sleeping draughts.

equipment

Narcotic Herbs: Drugs, in a word, these herbs induce euphoria and detachment from the world. A Craft (herbalism) check can turn narcotic herbs into a liquid or resin form that allows them to be ingested. A preparation made from narcotic herbs is technically a poison that causes temporary Wisdom ability score damage; see the Poisons table in the Adventuring chapter. This entry does not cover those herbs that are used to induce a state of religious ecstasy, since those do not numb the senses so much as bring them into harmony with the deity. Herbs for religious use are covered under ‘holy herbs’ below.

to vomit, then no benefit is derived. Some purgatives work on a laxative basis rather than an emetic (causing vomiting) basis but we feel that such modifications are best left to any Games Master who wishes to add a serious level of historical authenticity to the game.

Staunching Herbs: These herbs help to stem the blood flow from a wound, aiding clotting and thus healing. They are used in ancient medicine to treat cuts and perforations. A Craft (herbalism) check can turn a unit of staunching herbs into a dose of special herbal ointment, which can be used to treat any wound caused by slashing or piercing damage. If the Heal check to bind the wound is successful, an additional point of damage is healed from the wound.

Purgative Herbs: These bitter herbs cause the ingester’s body to convulse and sweat, provoking vomiting and other purgative processes, so that poison can be driven from his system. As usual, a Craft (herbalism) check is required to turn a unit of purgative herbs into an ingestible pill or phial of liquid. Many aristocrats carry a small phial of purgative, in case they should have poison slipped to them in their food.

Stimulant Herbs: These herbs have the property of waking the imbiber up, making him alert and tense. Guards on duty use stimulants, sages who study for long hours and scouts who have to keep on the go for long periods of time. The juice prepared from stimulant herbs by a Craft (herbalism) check grants a +2 herbal bonus to all Spot and Listen checks made while the herbs are in effect and allows the user a +2 herbal bonus to any Fortitude saving throws made to resist the effects of fatigue, such as from running flat-out for a long time. A dose lasts for 8 hours, following which the user suffers 1d8 points of non-lethal damage.

When a character ingests purgative, he must make a Fortitude saving throw at a DC of 15 or vomit up his stomach contents. He may voluntarily fail this saving throw if he wishes to, as indeed most users of purgative do. A bout of purgative-induced vomiting and sweating after ingestive poison has been swallowed allows the purged individual to make his next Fortitude saving throw against the secondary damage of the poison at a +4 herbal bonus to the roll. If, for whatever reason, he holds on to his stomach and fails

Stinking Herbs: These noxious substances are used in exorcisms, as the power of their stench can overcome evil spirits. According to the folklore of the ancient world, pungent smells can be used to drive evil away (the use of garlic to ward off vampires is a good example) and foul preparations such as asafoetida were believed to be effective at purging a place of demonic infestation. In game terms, stinking herbs, when burned, add a +2 circumstance bonus to all attempts to ward off or dispel wicked spirits (though

111

equipment

not incarnate undead) within a 15 foot radius of the burning herbs and to all Prayer, Witchcraft or Hekau skill checks to produce exorcism effects directed against discarnate spirits. A single dose burns for half an hour. The smoke smells unpleasant to mortals and is readily recognisable but has no ill effects. You do not have to make stinking herbs into any kind of a preparation to use them in this way. You can simply burn them.

to turn one unit of witches’ herbs into a dose of so-called ‘flying ointment’. (This does not itself enable witches to fly, although they can do so with other magics. It helps them to separate their spirits from their bodies.) This then suffices for a single casting of the project the soul effect. The project the soul effect can be cast without the use of the ointment but the Witchcraft skill check to do so is made at a –4 penalty.

You can use stinking herbs to wake up an unconscious character. So long as he is not also dying, the smoke from a dose of stinking herbs held close to the character’s nose allows him to make a fresh Fortitude saving throw at a +2 circumstance bonus in order to wake up.

Witches’ Herbs (potent): The scarcer witches’ herbs are eagerly sought after by followers of the craft, as they allow even more draining magical effects to be cast with impunity. A single dose of the potent variety of these herbs can supply 10 hit points’ worth of magical energy for spellcasting purposes. As with the ordinary variety, a dose of the herbs can be tapped only once, even if the additional energy is not used.

Visionary Herbs: These extremely rare herbs are similar to those that induce hallucinations. However, the visions granted by visionary herbs are genuinely prophetic. Many seers cultivate small gardens of visionary herbs, as they are so useful when prophesying. The smoke from a burning unit of visionary herbs lasts for 30 minutes and assists any uses of the Interpret Divine Will feat made during that time. See the Feats chapter for details. Some natural gases duplicate the effects of visionary herbs; those in the cavern occupied by the Pythoness, the chief seer of Apollo, exude constantly from a crack in the earth, giving her the visions that she then passes on to those who come and consult her. Witches’ Herbs: Steeped in folklore, these herbs are a source of magical power and can be used by witches to fuel spells instead of using their own vital energy. (Hekau casters can use power amulets in the same way.) Witches’ herbs are said to soak up the power of the moon, a power that can then be diverted into witchcraft effects. Ordinary witches’ herbs can supply up to five hit points of energy for casting purposes, which then need not be drawn from the body of the caster. Witches carry with them a supply of the herbs, so that they can cast their spells freely without taxing themselves too much. It is also customary for a newly initiated witch to be given a small supply of herbs for her own use. When you use the herbs to aid in spellcasting, they do not need to be turned into any kind of preparation; they may be used in their raw state. A single unit of herbs can only be used once, even if you do not use up all of the latent magical energy within it. Herbs can only supply energy for casting spells in the moment, not for creating magical objects; that kind of energy must always come from the body of the caster. Witches’ herbs have one other use, which does require preparation. A Craft (herbalism) check can be made

112

Witches’ Herbs (extra potent): The most powerful of witches’ herbs, these extraordinary substances contain a vast reservoir of lunar energy in a very small receptacle. One dose of these herbs can supply up to 15 hit points’ worth of energy for casting with. By using these herbs, even a young and inexperienced initiate into witchcraft can safely produce effects so powerful that the energy drawn from her body would ordinarily kill her on the spot.

miscellaneous gear

A few of the pieces of miscellany found in the Goods and Services table are described below; along with any special benefits they confer on the user – ‘you’. Caltrops: A caltrop is a four-pronged iron spike crafted so that one prong faces up no matter how the caltrop comes to rest. You scatter caltrops on the ground in the hope that your enemies step on them or are at least forced to slow down to avoid them. One two-pound bag of caltrops covers an area five square feet. Each time a creature moves into an area covered by caltrops or spends a round fighting while standing in such an area, it might step on one. The caltrops make an attack roll (base attack bonus +0) against the creature. For this attack, the creature’s shield, armour and deflection bonuses do not count. If the creature is wearing shoes or other footwear, they receive a +2 armour bonus to their Passive Defence. If the caltrops succeed on the attack, the creature has stepped on one. The caltrop deals 1 point of damage and the creature’s speed is reduced by one-half because its foot is wounded. This movement penalty lasts for 24 hours or until the creature is successfully treated with a DC 15 Heal check or until it receives at least 1 point of magical curing. A charging or running creature must immediately stop if it steps on a caltrop. Any creature moving at half speed or

slower can pick its way through a bed of caltrops with no trouble. Caltrops may not be effective against unusual opponents.

Most manacles have locks; add the cost of the lock you want to the cost of the manacles.

Trade Goods Cost

Item One pound of wheat

1 so

One pound of flour or one chicken

2 sd

One pound of iron

10 sd

One pound of tobacco or copper

Chain: Chain has hardness 10 and 5 hit points. It can be burst with a DC 26 Strength check.

2 sd

One pound of cinnamon or one goat

4 sd

One pound of ginger or pepper or one sheep

Crowbar: A crowbar it grants a +2 equipment bonus on Strength checks made for such purposes. If used in combat, treat a crowbar as a onehanded improvised weapon that deals bludgeoning damage equal to that of a club of its size.

6 sd

One pig

3 sd

One square yard of linen

14 sd

One pound of salt or silver

20 sd

One square yard of silk or one cow

Flint and Steel: Lighting a torch with flint and steel is a full-round action and lighting any other fire with them takes at least that long.

30 sd

One pound of saffron or cloves or one ox

100 sd

One pound of gold

1,000 sd

One pound of platinum

Candle: A candle dimly illuminates a five foot radius and burns for one hour.

Grappling Hook: Throwing a grappling hook successfully requires a Use Rope check (DC 10, +2 per 10-ft. of distance thrown). Hammer: If a hammer is used in combat, treat it as a onehanded improvised weapon that deals bludgeoning damage equal to that of a spiked gauntlet of its size. Ink: This is black ink. You can buy ink in other colours, but it costs twice as much. Jug, Clay: This basic ceramic jug is fitted with a stopper and holds one gallon of liquid. Lock: A lock may be smashed off using a weapon, to do so roll to hit as in standard combat using the DC 14 to hit the Diminutive target and work out damage normally. All locks have a hardness of 10 and a lock’s hit points depend on the lock’s quality: simple (5 hp), average (8 hp), good (12 hp) or superior (20 hp). Manacles: Manacles can bind a Medium creature. A manacled creature can use the Escape Artist skill to slip free (DC 30 or DC 35 for masterwork manacles). Breaking the manacles requires a Strength check (DC 26 or DC 28 for masterwork manacles). Manacles have hardness 10 and 10 hit points.

For the same cost, you can buy manacles for a Small creature. For a Large creature, manacles cost ten times the indicated amount and for a Huge creature, one hundred times this amount. Only specially made manacles can hold Gargantuan, Colossal, Tiny, Diminutive and Fine creatures. Oil: A pint of oil burns for six hours in a lantern. You can pour a pint of oil on the ground to cover a five feet square, provided that the surface is smooth. If lit, the oil burns for two rounds and deals 1d3 points of fire damage to each creature in the area.

equipment

6 cc

Rope, Hemp: This rope has 2 hit points and can be burst with a DC 23 Strength check. Rope, Silk: This rope has 4 hit points and can be burst with a DC 24 Strength check. It is so supple that it provides a +2 equipment bonus on Use Rope checks.

Torch: A torch burns for one hour, clearly illuminating a 20 foot radius and provides shadowy illumination out to a 40 foot radius. If a torch is used in combat, treat it as a one-handed improvised weapon that deals bludgeoning damage equal to that of a gauntlet of its size, plus one point of fire damage. Vial: A vial holds one ounce of liquid. The stoppered container usually is no more than one inch wide and three inches high.

tools and skill kits

Alchemist’s Lab: An alchemist’s lab always has the perfect tool for making alchemical items, so it provides a +2 equipment bonus to Craft (alchemy) checks. It has no bearing on the costs related to the Craft (alchemy) skill. Without this lab, a character with the Craft (alchemy) skill is assumed to have enough tools to use the skill but not enough to get the +2 bonus that the lab provides. Artisan’s Tools: These special tools include the items needed to pursue any craft. Without them, you have to use

113

equipment

Miscellaneous Gear

Cost

Weight

Item

Cost

Weight

Pouch, belt (empty)

2 sd

1/2 lb.

Papoose (empty)

4 sd

2 lb.

Rations, trail (per day)

8 so

1 lb.

Barrel (empty)

4 sd

30 lb.

Rope, hemp (50-ft.)

2 sd

10 lb.

Basket (empty)

7 sd

1 lb.

Rope, silk (50-ft.)

20 sd

5 lb.

Bedroll

10 so

5 lb.

Sack (empty)

10 so

1/2 lb.

Bell

2 sd

—

Sealing wax

2 sd

1 lb.

Blanket, winter

8 sd

3 lb.

Sewing needle

8 so

—

Bottle, wine, pottery

4 sd

—

Signal whistle

14 sd

—

Bucket (empty)

8 sd

2 lb.

Sledge

2 sd

10 lb.

Caltrops

2 sd

2 lb.

Spade or shovel

4 sd

8 lb.

Candle

1 so

—

Tent

20 sd

20 lb.

Canvas (sq. yd.)

10 so

1 lb.

Torch

1 so

1 lb.

Case, map or scroll

2 sd

1/2 lb.

Vial, ink or potion

2 sd

1/10 lb.

Chain (10-ft.)

60 sd

2 lb.

Waterskin

2 sd

4 lb.

Chalk (1 piece)

1 so

—

Whetstone

2 so

1 lb.

Chest (empty)

4 sd

25 lb.

Crowbar

4 sd

5 lb.

Item

Cost

Weight

Firewood (per day)

1 so

20 lb.

Alchemist’s lab

1,000 sd

40 lb.

Fishhook

10 so

—

Artisan’s tools

10 sd

5 lb.

Fishing net (25-sq.-ft.)

8 sd

5 lb.

Disguise kit

100 sd

8 lb.

Flask (empty)

3 so

1-1/2 lb.

Healer’s kit

100 sd

1 lb.

Flint and steel

2 sd

—

Holy symbol, wooden

2 sd

—

Grappling hook

2 sd

4 lb.

Holy symbol, silver

50 sd

1 lb.

Hammer

8 so

2 lb.

Musical instrument

10 sd

3 lb.

Ink (1 oz. Vial)

16 sd

—

Scale, merchant’s

4 sd

1 lb.

Ink pen

10 so

—

Jug, clay

3 so

9 lb.

Item

Cost

Weight

Ladder (10-ft.)

5 so

20 lb.

Artisan’s outfit

2 sd

4 lb.

Lock

114

Item

Tools and Skill Kits

Clothing

1 lb.

Priest’s vestments

10 sd

6 lb.

Very simple

80 sd

1 lb.

Cold weather outfit

16 sd

7 lb.

Average

160 sd

1 lb.

Courtier’s outfit

60 sd

6 lb.

Good

320 sd

1 lb.

Entertainer’s outfit

6 sd

4 lb.

Amazing

600 sd

1 lb.

Noble’s outfit

150 sd

10 lb.

Manacles

60 sd

2 lb.

Peasant’s outfit

10 so

2 lb.

Mirror, small steel

20 sd

1/2 lb.

Royal outfit

400 sd

15 lb.

Mug/Tankard, clay

2 so

1 lb.

Scholar’s outfit

10 sd

6 lb.

Oil (1 pt flask)

10 so

1 lb.

Papyrus (sheet)

7 sd

—

Item

Cost

Weight

Parchment (sheet)

4 sd

—

Ale

Pick, miner’s

6 sd

10 lb.

Gallon

5 sd

8 lb.

Pitcher, clay

2 so

5 lb.

Mug

4 so

1 lb.

Piton

10 so

1/2 lb.

Banquet (per person)

20 sd

—

Pole (10-ft.)

4 sd

8 lb.

Bread (per loaf )

2 so

1/2 lb.

Pot, iron

8 so

10 lb.

Cheese, chunk of

10 so

1/2 lb.

Food, Drink and Lodging

Item

Weight

Good

8 so

—

Common

5 so

—

Poor

2 so

—

5 so

1/2 lb.

Common (pitcher)

2 sd

6 lb.

Fine (bottle)

20 sd

1-1/2 lb.

Item

Cost

Weight

Bit and bridle

4 sd

1 lb.

Dog, guard

50 sd

—

Donkey or mule

16 sd

—

Feed (per day)

5 so

10 lb.

Horse, heavy

400 sd

—

Horse, light

150 sd

—

Pony

60 sd

—

Warhorse, heavy

800 sd

—

Warhorse, light

300 sd

—

Warpony

200 sd

—

Military

40 sd

30 lb.

Pack

10 sd

15 lb.

Riding

20 sd

25 lb.

Military

120 sd

40 lb.

Pack

30 sd

20 lb.

Meals (per day)

Meat, chunk of Wine

Mounts and Related Gear

Horse

Saddle

Saddle, Exotic

Riding

60 sd

30 lb.

Saddlebags

8 sd

8 lb.

Stabling (per day)

8 so

—

Item

Cost

Weight

Light Chariot

700 sd

200 lb.

Heavy Chariot

1,200 sd

300 lb.

Assyrian War Chariot

1,800 sd

350 lb.

Cart

30 sd

200 lb.

Galley

120,000 sd

—

Rowboat

100 sd

100 lb.

Oar

4 sd

10 lb.

Sled

40 sd

300 lb.

Transport

improvised tools (–2 penalty on Craft checks), if you can do the job at all.

Disguise Kit: The kit is the perfect tool for disguise and provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Disguise checks. A disguise kit is exhausted after ten uses. Healer’s Kit: It is the perfect tool for healing and provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks. A healer’s kit is exhausted after ten uses. Holy Symbol, Silver or Wooden: A holy symbol focuses positive energy. A priest may use it as the focus for his spells and as a tool for turning undead. Each religion has its own holy symbol. Musical Instrument: A masterwork instrument grants a +2 circumstance bonus on Perform checks involving its use.

equipment

Cost

Scale, Merchant’s: A scale grants a +2 equipment bonus on Appraise checks involving items that are valued by weight, including anything made of precious metals.

clothing

Artisan’s Outfit: This outfit includes a simple shirt, a skirt or pants with a drawstring, sandals and perhaps a cap or hat. It may also include a belt or a leather or cloth apron for carrying tools. Priest’s Vestments: These ecclesiastical clothes are for performing priestly functions, not for adventuring. Cold Weather Outfit: A cold weather outfit includes a heavy woollen cloak, linen shirt, woollen cap, thick pants or skirt and strong leather sandals with fur inserts. This outfit grants a +5 circumstance bonus on Fortitude saving throws against exposure to cold weather. Courtier’s Outfit: This outfit includes fancy, tailored clothes in whatever fashion happens to be the current style in the courts of the nobles. Anyone trying to influence nobles or courtiers while wearing street dress will have a hard time of it (–2 penalty on Charisma-based skill checks to influence such individuals). If you wear this outfit without jewellery (costing an additional 50 gp), you look like an out-of-place commoner. Entertainer’s Outfit: This set of flashy, perhaps even gaudy, clothes is for entertaining. While the outfit looks whimsical, it’s practical design lets you tumble, dance, walk a tightrope or just run (if the audience turns ugly). Noble’s Outfit: This set of clothes is designed specifically to be expensive and to show it. Precious metals and gems are worked into the clothing. To fit into the noble crowd, every would-be noble also needs a signet ring (see Adventuring Gear, above) and jewellery (worth at least 100 gp).

115

equipment

Peasant’s Outfit: This set of clothes consists of a loose shirt and baggy breeches or a loose shirt and skirt or overdress. Cloth wrappings may also be included to cover the wearer’ feet. Royal Outfit: This is just the clothing, not the royal sceptre, crown, ring and other accoutrements. Royal clothes are ostentatious, with gems, gold, silk and fur in abundance. Scholar’s Outfit: Perfect for a scholar, this outfit includes a simple robe, a rope belt, a cap, soft sandals and possibly a cloak.

mounts and related gear

Donkey or Mule: Donkeys and mules are stolid in the face of danger, hardy, surefooted and capable of carrying heavy loads over vast distances. Unlike a horse, a donkey or a mule is willing (though not eager) to enter strange or threatening places. Feed: Horses, donkeys, mules and ponies can graze to sustain themselves, but providing feed for them is much better. If you have a guard dog, you have to feed it at least some meat. Horse: A horse, other than a pony, is suitable as a mount for an adult human. A pony is smaller than a horse and is a suitable mount for a child or adolescent. Warhorses and warponies can be ridden easily into combat. Light horses, ponies and heavy horses are hard to control in combat. Saddle, Exotic: An exotic saddle is like a normal saddle of the same sort except that it is designed for an unusual mount. Exotic saddles come in military, pack and riding styles. Saddle, Military: A military saddle braces the rider, providing a +2 circumstance bonus on Ride checks related to staying in the saddle. If you’re knocked unconscious while in a military saddle, you have a 75% chance to stay in the saddle, compared to 50% for a riding saddle. Saddle, Pack: A pack saddle holds gear and supplies, but not a rider. It holds as much gear as the mount can carry. Saddle, Riding: The standard riding saddle supports a rider.

116

transport

Chariots: These two-wheeled vehicle can transport two to four people in an open cab. In general, two horses (or other beasts of burden) draw it. A chariot comes with the harness needed to pull it (see the Combat chapter for more details on chariots). Cart: A single horse or other beast of burden can draw this two-wheeled vehicle. It comes with a harness. Galley: This three-masted ship has seventy oars on either side and requires a total crew of 200. A galley is 130 feet long and 20 feet wide and it can carry 150 tons of cargo or 250 soldiers. For an additional 32,000 sd, it can be fitted with a ram and firing platforms fore, aft and amidships. Such modifications make the galley much heavier and therefore unsuitable for sea voyages, thus forcing them to stick close to the coastline. It moves about four miles per hour when being rowed or under sail. Rowboat: This eight to 12 foot long boat holds two or three Medium passengers. It moves about one and a half miles per hour. Sled: This is a wagon on runners for moving through snow and over ice. In general, two horses (or other beasts of burden) draw it.

Combat

how combat works

Combat is cyclical; everybody acts in turn in a regular cycle of rounds. Combat follows this sequence:

 

  



Automatic Misses and Hits: A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on an attack roll is always a miss. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit. A natural 20 is also a threat—a possible critical hit.

How to Calculate an Attack Check Your attack bonus with a melee weapon is equal to your base attack bonus + Strength modifier. With a ranged weapon, your attack bonus is equal to your base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier - range penalty.

Each combatant starts out flat-footed. Once a combatant acts, he or she is no longer flat-footed. Determine which characters are aware of their opponents at the start of the battle. If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds of combat begin. The combatants who are aware of the opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take one action (either a standard action or a move action) during the surprise round. Combatants who were unaware do not get to act in the surprise round. If no one or everyone starts the battle aware, there is no surprise round. Combatants who have not yet rolled initiative do so. All combatants are now ready to begin their first regular round of combat.

Damage When your attack succeeds, you deal damage. The type of weapon used determines the amount of damage you deal. Effects that modify weapon damage also apply to unarmed strikes and the natural physical attack forms of creatures. Damage is applied in ‘wounds’ of varying degrees of severity. See the section on Wounds below. These reduce a target’s current hit points; when he reaches zero hit points, he begins to suffer damage to his Constitution as well.

 

Combatants act in initiative order (highest to lowest).

Minimum Damage: If penalties reduce the damage result to less than 1, a hit still deals 1 point of damage. This may, however, be blocked by armour. Strength Bonus: When you hit with a melee or thrown weapon, including a sling, add your Strength modifier to the damage result. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies on attacks made with a bow that is not a composite bow.



When everyone has had a turn, the combatant with the highest initiative acts again and steps 4 and 5 repeat until combat ends.



Combat Statistics

This section summarizes the rules and attributes that determine success in combat, then details how to use them in sequential order to resolve any combat situation.

Attack Roll An attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent on your turn in a round. When you make an attack roll, you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. (Other modifiers may also apply to this roll.) Your opponent responds with an Active Defence or a Shield Defence check, if he can. If your result

combat

Next to the Gods, combat is the single most important aspect of life in the ancient world. Life is nasty, brutish and short. There is not enough land, nor food, nor glory to go around. In order to keep what you have and get your hands on more, you must fight. Wise voices can sometimes be heard urging restraint and discussion as a way to reach peace but those who know that the only way to move forward is to cut a swath through your enemies and vastly outnumber them. Life in the ancient world is simple. Gods and country stand above all else. Death to those who would defile them!

equals or beats the target’s Passive Defence, you hit him, unless his Active Defence or Shield Defence beat your result, in which case he evaded or blocked your blow. If you hit your opponent, you deal damage. If he is wearing armour, he is allowed to make a Coverage check to see if you struck him in an armoured or an unarmoured spot.



Off-Hand Weapon: When you deal damage with a weapon in your off hand, you add only 1/2 your Strength bonus. Wielding a Weapon Two-Handed: When you deal damage with a weapon that you are wielding two-handed, you add 1-1/2 times your Strength bonus. However, you do not get this higher Strength bonus when using a light weapon with two hands.

Multiplying Damage: Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. Roll the damage (with all modifiers) multiple times and total the results. Note: When you multiply damage more than once, each multiplier works off the original, unmultiplied damage.



Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage are never multiplied.

117



Size Modifiers to Passive Defence Attacker’s Size Colossal

Gargantuan

Huge

Large

Medium

Small

Tiny

Diminutive

Fine

Ability Damage: Certain creatures and magical effects can cause temporary ability damage (a reduction to an ability score).

Colossal

+0

-4

-6

-7

-8

-9

-10

-12

-16

Gargantuan

+4

+0

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

-8

-12

Huge

+6

+2

+0

-1

-2

-3

-4

-6

-10

Large

+7

+3

+1

+0

-1

-2

-3

-5

-9

Medium

+8

+4

+2

+1

+0

-1

-2

-4

-8

Small

+9

+5

+3

+2

+1

+0

-1

-3

-7

Tiny

+10

+6

+4

+3

+2

+1

+0

-2

-6

Diminutive

+12

+8

+6

+5

+4

+3

+2

+0

-4

Fine

+16

+12

+10

+9

+8

+7

+6

+4

+0

combat

Passive Defence A character’s Passive Defence represents how hard it would be to hit him if he acted normally without taking measures to defend himself. For example, if you were waiting in a tree to ambush a rich Egyptian merchant who was strolling blithely down a road with no idea that you were waiting for him, he would have only his Passive Defence – the intrinsic difficulty of hitting him – to protect him. Your Passive Defence for any given attack is equal to 10 plus your Relative Size modifier for that attack plus any circumstantial modifiers.

Defender’s Size

The vast majority of characters have a Passive Defence of 10 against most attacks, which is the standard. In terms of size and shape, one human being is about as easy to hit as another. The most common modifier to Passive Defence for creatures other than human beings and for objects is difference in size. Large creatures and objects have a lower Passive Defence when attacked by human-sized creatures, while small creatures have high Passive Defence when attacked by human-sized creatures. The table below gives the modifier to the defender’s Passive Defence when attacked by a creature of a given size. It applies for that attack only. Most of the time, characters will be attacking other characters, so size will not come into it. As is apparent from the table above, larger creatures have more trouble hitting medium-sized things than smaller creatures do. To a huge Cyclops, swinging his club about, the men beneath are quick little things that it is difficult to hit. A Stymphalian Bird, which is smaller than human-size, sees its human prey as large, slow creatures, easy to tear at with its brass beak and claws. There are some other factors that can affect your Passive Defence. Certain spells can alter your Passive Defence rating. Moving targets have a bonus to Passive Defence, as described below in Combat Modifiers. As a rule, anything that makes a target harder to hit but is not done as a response to a specific attack affects Passive Defence. Cover, such as standing behind a wall, affects your Passive Defence, because it reduces your effective size as a target.

118

Passive Defence assumes that a creature is moving about and taking ordinary actions. If a creature is standing completely still or is incapable of movement, it suffers a –2 penalty to its Passive Defence. Objects, such as a straw archery target, are thus easier to hit than creatures.

Any attack roll made against you that scores lower than your Passive Defence has missed you outright. No matter how clumsy you are, if an arrow is fired five feet over your head, you are not at risk of stumbling into its path. Characters without the Combat Sense feat (see Chapter 5, Feats) cannot judge whether or not an incoming attack is likely to hit them and must decide whether or not to defend themselves. Characters with Combat Sense can tell what the result of an opponent’s attack roll is and can take appropriate action. They do not risk using up important Shield Defence checks against attacks that would not have scored a hit anyway. If you have Combat Sense, you can tell whether an attack aimed at another person adjacent to you will hit them or not and can choose to defend them if you are competent to do so; see the Defending Another section below.

Active Defence A character’s Active Defence is given as a modifier, which is added to a d20 roll to make an Active Defence check. You make such a check to get out of the way of an attack aimed at you. If your Active Defence check scores higher than your opponent’s attack roll, you have dodged the attack, even if he scored higher than your Passive Defence. If your opponent scores higher than your Passive Defence and your Active Defence, he has hit you. Making an Active Defence check is always a free action. A character’s Active Defence modifier is equal to his Dexterity modifier, plus any bonuses for experience level, class features, feats or magic. Note that armour limits the maximum Dexterity bonus to Active Defence that may be applied. The more encased in armour you are, the more likely it is that you will survive a hit, but the more likely it is that a hit will land in the first place. By contrast, the less armour you wear, the

less vulnerable you are, but the easier it will be for you to get out of the way. You may not add your Dexterity bonus (if you have one) to Active Defence checks made while flat-footed. If you are completely helpless, such as when asleep, you cannot make Active Defence checks at all. You are also unable to make Active Defence checks if you are unaware of your attacker.

Shield Defence Warriors and similar martially inclined characters have a Shield Defence bonus. A character’s Shield Defence is much like his melee attack bonus, in that it increases from level to level and eventually progresses into multiple iterations, such as +6/+1. You may make a Shield Defence check to attempt to block an incoming attack with your shield. You do this instead of making the usual Active Defence check. You may make a Shield Defence check reactively (other than on your turn) but you are limited to the number of Shield Defence checks indicated by your Shield Defence bonus. If your opponent rolls higher than your Passive Defence with his attack roll but lower than your Shield Defence check, then your shield takes the blow. You never have to make a Shield Defence check; they are always voluntary. The Combat Sense feat is extremely useful when using Shield Defence, as you can save your Shield Defence checks to use against those attacks that you know will hit you unless you block them. Shield Defence checks are far more efficient at protecting you from damage than Active Defence checks, as the shield’s Coverage bonus greatly increases the chance that the attack will not get through. Your Shield Defence bonus is that given for your character class and experience level, plus your Wisdom modifier, plus the Coverage bonus of the shield you are using, along with any other modifiers for class features, feats, magic and so on. Shield Defence checks are always made as free actions if you are proficient with shields, but you can only make as many Shield Defence checks per round as your bonus allows. If your level of experience allows you to have multiple Shield Defence checks, then the first one in the round is made at the listed bonus and the second one at the second listed bonus. Similar actions to those available for boosting Active Defence can be taken to boost your Shield Defence. You can take a standard action to fight defensively with your shield, reducing

You may make Shield Defence checks while flat-footed, but you cannot apply your Wisdom bonus (if you have one) to the check, as you have not yet gathered your wits to defend yourself properly. You cannot make Shield Defence checks if you do not have a ready shield or if you are unaware of the attack. Even though you can only use a shield to defend yourself a limited number of times in a round, it still provides a degree of protection against any attack that hits you and which you have not tried to block, as it covers part of your body. See the section on Coverage below.

combat

There are set ways in which any character can boost his Active Defence. You can choose to fight defensively, which reduces your attack rolls by –4 in exchange for a +2 dodge bonus to your Active Defence. You can take a standard action to go on Full Defence, which adds +4 to your Active Defence checks for the remainder of the round but prevents you from attacking at all. You have to wait for your turn to come round to declare this. See Actions in Combat below.

your attack rolls by –4 in exchange for a +2 cover bonus to your Shield Defence checks for the remainder of that round. You can also go on full shield defence, an action equivalent to hiding behind your shield; this adds a +4 cover bonus to your Shield Defence checks for the remainder of the round but prevents you from making any attacks at all.

A character who is not proficient in the use of a shield but who has picked one up and is attempting to defend himself with it may make one Shield Defence check per round (at the cost of a move action when his turn comes around) at a –4 penalty, but may not do so if he has moved more than five feet already in the round. Defending Others: At any time when you would be granted your Wisdom bonus to Shield Defence (whether you have one or not), you may defend an adjacent character or even an object with your shield, warding off an attack directed against them. You must be aware of the attack to do this, though they do not have to be. The character you defend must be directly adjacent to you and no more than one size category larger than you are. This takes up one of your Shield Defence uses for the round. You make a Shield Defence check to defend another at a –2 penalty, as it is harder to defend others than to defend yourself.

Armour Armour in OGL Ancients does not make you harder to hit. It only comes into play once you have been hit. It is treated as a second skin that absorbs damage before it reaches you, assuming the attack strikes the armour rather than your flesh. The kind of damage you suffer is reduced by varying amounts according to the type of armour you are wearing. Whenever an attack scores a hit, your armour may come in between you and the weapon. The more of your body the armour covers, the more likely it is that the blow will strike an armoured part. Make a Coverage check (d20 plus the armour’s Coverage rating) against the appropriate DC for the type of attack. If you fail this check, you take full damage from the blow and your armour does not intervene at all. If you succeed, the blow has struck your armour. Coverage checks made by armour against bludgeoning attacks are made against a DC of 15, as a blunt impact is spread

119

combat

across the armoured surface and is consequently less likely to penetrate a vulnerable area. The DC against slashing attacks and piercing attacks is 20. When making a Coverage check, a natural roll of 1(before modifiers) is always a failure. This is sometimes called the ‘Achilles’ Heel’ rule. No matter how much of your body is armoured, there is always the chance that an attack will find its way in through a chink in the armour. Daggers can slip between armour plates, arrows can pierce between the joints of harnesses and spears can be driven into the gap under the arm. Helmets: Helmets are an armoured covering for the head, usually made from leather or metal. They provide a small measure of additional protection but interfere with your hearing and vision slightly. They function in the same way as armour does, though they do not have degrees of condition, only a total number of hit points. All helmets allow you to add an additional +1 Coverage bonus to your Coverage checks to see if your armour has protected you when you are hit. If this bonus means that you reach the DC for the check exactly, then the helmet takes the damage rather than your armour. Damage that gets through your helmet to your body is not increased in any way, nor does it count as a critical hit. For example, Amenet is wearing an Egyptian leather helmet and a set of Egyptian leather armour when an arrow hits him. He must therefore make a Coverage check against a DC of 20, as arrows inflict piercing damage; he has coverage of +3 for his leather armour and +1 for his helmet, for a total Coverage bonus of +4. He rolls a 16, which is exactly enough to make the Coverage check. The arrow therefore hits his helmet instead of his leather armour. The arrow inflicts 6 points of damage. The leather helmet ignores 2 and absorbs 2, so Amenet suffers a 2-point wound and his helmet suffers 2 points of damage. Automatic Shield Coverage Against Ranged Attacks: If your character is carrying a shield, whether it is readied or not, then there is a chance for any ranged attack to strike the shield purely by happenstance, irrespective of how well you might actively wield it. A large piece of strong material covering part of your body is going to offer a degree of protection, whether you are moving it to block blows or not.

120

Unless you have already made a Shield Defence check to block the ranged attack and failed, whenever an attack hits you, you may make a Coverage check using the shield’s Coverage bonus alone to see whether the incoming ranged attack hits your shield, before you then go on to make a Coverage check for your armour. If the Coverage check for your shield is successful, then apply the damage to the shield as if you had blocked the attack deliberately (see below). If the Coverage check for your shield fails, then move on to your armour’s Coverage check. You do not add the shield’s Coverage check to that of your armour! The checks are resolved sequentially. For example, the Egyptian warrior Petiese is walking down a dusty track on a hot day with his shield slung. He does not notice the Assyrian hiding in the long grass nearby. The Assyrian fires an arrow at Petiese and easily beats his Passive Defence. Petiese is not wielding his shield, so he is not allowed a Shield Defence check; as he was unaware of the attack, he would not have been entitled to one even if he was aware of it. However, even a slung shield has a chance to block a ranged attack. Petiese is carrying a standard Egyptian shield, which has a Coverage bonus of +4. An arrow deals piercing damage, so Petiese needs to roll over 20 on his shield’s Coverage check to block the arrow. He rolls a 17; the Assyrian arrow embeds itself in his shield. Passive Shield Coverage only applies to ranged attacks, never to melee attacks. Armour Layers: Under certain, very rare circumstances, a character can have multiple layers of armour. For example, the use of Medea’s Ointment confers an armouring effect to the naked skin, with its own coverage rating and Damage Reduction; a hero could wear armour on top of this, making for two distinct layers. If an attack hits a character who has multiple layers of armour, make a Coverage check for each layer in turn. Apply any damage that gets through the first layer to the second. For example, the hero Axamendes is wearing bronze armour over an Athena’s blessing spell. A spear strikes him for 12 points of damage. The first Coverage check (for the bronze armour) succeeds, so the armour ignores 6 points of damage and absorbs one, leaving five points of damage still to be accounted

kind of condition a suit of armour is in by using an Appraise check to assess its quality.

When a blow strikes armour, a certain amount of the damage is ignored (the armour’s Damage Reduction), the armour suffers some (the armour’s Damage Absorption) and the rest is applied to you. The amount of damage that is ignored depends on the type of weapon and the type of armour. For example, padded armour is good for reducing bludgeoning damage but not very useful against piercing damage, while armour made from metal plates is effective against slashing and piercing damage but not so good against bludgeoning. If arrows were flying at a character, he would prefer to wear metal armour, but if he were falling from a height, padded armour would be more useful. Heavier armour also encumbers you.

The more dilapidated a suit of armour is, the less effective it is at protecting the wearer. On a dilapidated suit of armour, plates hang loose, missing pieces let arrows through and tears leave vulnerable areas exposed. This is expressed as a penalty to the armour’s Coverage checks. Damaged armour has a –1 penalty to Coverage checks; Battered armour has a –2 penalty and Ruined armour has a –3 penalty. You can still make Coverage checks with armour that has an effective Coverage bonus of zero, as there is always the chance (even if it is only a slim one) that the armour will protect you. If Ruined armour is reduced to zero hit points, it simply falls to pieces and is no longer any good for anything.

Consult the armour’s entry in the Equipment chapter to find the amount of damage that each kind of armour ignores and absorbs. Armour’s protection is always listed as DR/DA or Damage Reduction followed by Damage Absorption. The first figure is the amount of damage of each type ignored by the armour, the second the amount absorbed by it.

Armour that has become dilapidated can be repaired with a Craft (armour) skill check or other appropriate Craft skill, at the same DC needed to craft the armour in the first place but without any materials cost. It may not, however, be repaired to anything better than the next highest condition bracket. For instance, a Battered suit of leather armour can be repaired so that it becomes a Damaged suit of leather armour with full hit points but it could never be made Mint again.

Once damage reduction has been applied, damage absorption occurs, in which damage is applied to the armour. The damage that the armour suffers does not disappear. Armour does not stay in the same condition indefinitely; sooner or later, it develops dents, tears and buckles. Like objects, all suits of armour have hit points. Unlike objects, the armour is not destroyed outright when its hit points are reduced to zero. Metal armour never suffers damage from blunt wooden weapons. If a blunt wooden weapon (such as a stick) strikes armour, treat the armour’s damage absorption as if it were damage reduction. The same rule applies to anything softer than wood that should happen to strike the armour. Armour Conditions: Armour has four conditions: mint, damaged, battered and ruined. Once a suit of armour has had its hit points reduced to zero, it drops to the next most dilapidated condition and starts again at full hit points. For example, a Mint suit of leather armour that suffers a total of 21 hit points of damage is now Damaged. You can find out what

combat

for. The Coverage check for the Athena’s blessing spell fails, so Axamendes suffers five points of damage.

Quick And Easy Armour: If keeping track of the armour’s condition is likely to slow down your game, then you can simply add the Damage Reduction and the Damage Absorption figures together and treat them as an overall Damage Reduction figure. This means that armour never becomes ablated, but it does make combat move slightly more quickly. The quick and easy rules are recommended for play in the mythic era more than the historical game, as the atmosphere of a historical campaign depends on such (relatively) realistic details as the state of a character’s armour and shield. This quick method is recommended for normal play when characters are fighting Non-Player Characters who are wearing armour, as the Games Master does not usually need to keep track of how battered the armour of an incidental character is.

A Greek phalanx awaits its fate

121

Shields

combat

Shields are a vital component of warfare in the Ancient world. They do not just sit passively on your arm, waiting to absorb damage. To use a shield properly is to actively seek to place it in between yourself and an incoming blow. The Shield Defence rating shows how competent a character is at defending himself (or others) with a shield.



If you are able to react to an attack and you would not be denied your Dexterity modifier to Active Defence (whether or not you actually have one), you may oppose an enemy’s attack roll with a Shield Defence roll. You do not make a Coverage check with a shield. Instead, you add the shield’s Coverage rating directly on to your own Shield Defence roll. If your Shield Defence roll is greater than your opponent’s attack roll, then you have successfully blocked the attack with your shield, unless your opponent rolled less than your Passive Defence on his attack roll after modifiers were applied, in which case his attack missed you completely and your shield suffers no damage. An attack blocked with a shield still does damage but all the damage is applied to the shield and none of it reaches the wielder. If his attack roll beats your Shield Defence roll, then unless he rolled a total of less than your Passive Defence, the attack hits and you suffer damage from it. Armour can still absorb some or all of this damage; see above. Shields suffer damage much like armour does, having hit points that are steadily reduced. Like armour, shields ignore a certain amount of each kind of damage. They absorb some of the rest. Slashing and piercing damage that exceeds the shield’s Damage Absorption is applied to the wielder (who may make a Coverage check for his armour if he is wearing any) and the shield is destroyed; a breached shield is a ruined shield. So long as the shield only suffers damage that is within its Damage Absorption limit, it suffers hit point damage and remains intact. If a damaged shield suffers damage in excess of its remaining hit points, then all the excess damage is applied to the wielder of the shield. The blow simply punches right through, destroying the shield in the process. If the shield user is wearing armour, he is allowed to make a Coverage check to see if the armour takes any of the excess damage. Metal shields completely ignore damage from blunt wooden weapons, such as staves.

Speed

Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do something, such as attack. Your speed depends mostly on what armour you are wearing. If you use two move actions in a round (sometimes called a ‘double move’ action), you can move up to double your speed. If you spend the entire round to run all out, you can move up to quadruple your speed or triple your speed if you are in heavy armour. Humans have a base speed of 30 feet (6 squares) or 20 feet (4 squares) in medium or heavy armour. Non-human creatures such as animals and monsters have their speed listed in their creature descriptions.

Saving Throws

Generally, when you are subject to an unusual or magical attack, you get a saving throw to avoid or reduce the effect. Like an attack roll, a saving throw is a d20 roll plus a bonus based on your class, level and an ability score. Your saving throw modifier is: Base save bonus + ability modifier. Saving Throw Types The three different kinds of saving throws are Fortitude, Reflex and Will: 

Other Defensive Factors Some other factors come into play when a character is defending himself against an attack. 

122

Natural Armour: Natural armour is like having armoured skin, providing a layer of armour beneath any other that you wear. It covers you all but perfectly. Natural armour only ever ignores damage; it does not absorb any, as it is part of you. Ordinary

mortals can only acquire natural armour as a result of magic, whereas certain animals and monsters have natural armour as a feature. Scales and leathery skin are both examples of natural armour. Dodge Bonuses: Some bonuses to your Active Defence represent superior avoidance of blows. These bonuses are called dodge bonuses. Any situation that denies you your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence also denies you dodge bonuses. (Wearing armour, however, does not limit these bonuses the way it limits a Dexterity bonus to Active Defence.) Unlike most sorts of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack with each other. Many characters and some monsters have an Evasiveness rating, which is an additional dodge bonus to Active Defence that is given because the character or monster is experienced at getting out of the way of harm.





Fortitude: These saving throws measure your ability to stand up to physical punishment or attacks against your vitality and health. Apply your Constitution modifier to your Fortitude saving throws. For example, you make a Fortitude saving throw to avoid suffering the effects of poison. Reflex: These saves test your ability to dodge area attacks. Apply your Dexterity modifier to your Reflex saving throws. For example, you would make a Reflex saving throw to dodge a patch of quicksand that magically appeared under your feet. Will: These saves reflect your resistance to mental influence as well as many magical effects. Apply your Wisdom modifier to your Will saving throws. For

example, you would make a Will saving throw to resist becoming charmed by a nymph.

Saving Throw Difficulty Class

Automatic Failures and Successes A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on a saving throw is always a failure and may cause damage to exposed items; see Items Surviving after a Saving Throw. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a success. This is a notable exception to the basic rule that natural rolls of 1 and 20 on a d20 do not automatically indicate failure or success respectively.

Initiative Initiative is a measurement of how quickly a character gathers his wits in a combat situation. Those who are quick to react to a fight breaking out can act first, while those whose reactions are more sluggish do not get a chance to act until others have taken a turn. Initiative Checks At the start of a battle, each combatant makes an initiative check. An initiative check is a simple Dexterity ability score check. Each character rolls a d20 and applies his Dexterity modifier to the roll. Characters act in order, counting down from highest result to lowest. In every round that follows, the characters act in the same order unless a character takes an action that results in his initiative changing, for which see Special Initiative Actions. If two or more combatants have the same initiative check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of their total modifier to initiative (their Dexterity modifier plus any additional modifiers, such as that derived from the Improved Initiative feat) with the highest going first. If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll again to determine which one of them goes before the other. Flat-Footed At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act - specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order - you are flat-footed. This term simply means that you are not yet fully alert and able to defend yourself. To be flatfooted is to be caught in that instant of time between an event happening and your becoming able to react to it purposefully. You still have automatic reflexes (and can thus make Reflex saving throws) but you easily cannot take deliberate defensive action. While you are flat-footed, you cannot add your Dexterity modifier to your Active Defence checks or your Wisdom modifier to your Shield Defence checks. Making a Shield Defence or Active Defence check does not count as ‘acting’ for

A flat-footed character cannot make attacks of opportunity. Inaction Even if you cannot take actions, you retain your initiative score for the duration of the encounter. This may be necessary to determine when an effect occurs on your character in a given round or when you may overcome some adverse condition.

Surprise

When a combat starts, if you are not aware of your opponents and they are aware of you, you are surprised. Careful tactics or blind luck can provide the opportunity for characters to achieve surprise on unprepared or unsuspecting opponents. Generally, surprise does not occur often, as most people are wary and alert at all times when combat could be a possibility. When it does occur, it is usually as the result of a deliberate ambush attempt. The Games Master is the final authority on when surprise occurs for any given encounter, if at all.

combat

The DC for a saving throw is determined by the attack or effect itself. Various effects, such as feats, ability scores in the case of special abilities with Difficulty Classes calculated on a creature by creature basis and other enhancements can influence DCs dramatically.

the purpose of determining whether a character is flat-footed or not.

Determining Awareness Sometimes all the combatants on a side are aware of their opponents, sometimes none are and sometimes only some of them are. Sometimes a few combatants on each side are aware and the other combatants on each side are unaware. To determine awareness, the Games Master should consider which senses would give away the presence of one group of people to the other group. Thus, determining awareness may call for Listen checks, Spot checks or other checks. If the checks in question are successful, then those characters are aware of their opponents. For example, Acrius the warrior is exploring a labyrinth underneath an ancient temple. At the heart of the labyrinth, close at hand, a minotaur is lurking, waiting for its latest victim. Neither is aware of the other’s presence. If the minotaur hears Acrius approaching (a Listen check) or sees him moving in the passageways (a Spot check) then the minotaur is aware of Acrius. If Acrius notices the minotaur, which will be a more difficult Spot check as the minotaur is partially concealed by shadows, then he becomes aware of it. The Surprise Round If some, but not all, of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. Any combatants aware of the opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard action during the surprise round. (Remember that you can take a move action as a substitute for a standard action, if you want to close with your enemy; see Actions In Combat below.) You can also take free actions during the surprise round. If no one or everyone is surprised, no surprise round occurs.

123

combat

For example, the minotaur makes its Spot check, sees Acrius enter its chamber and is now aware of him but Acrius fails his Spot check and does not see the minotaur. The minotaur may now start a surprise round, in which it can take a standard action and Acrius can do nothing. Once the surprise round is over, regular rounds begin. If Acrius had noticed the minotaur, then both characters would be aware of each other and there would have been no surprise round. Stealth and Surprise: All creatures are considered to become aware of their opponents once combat breaks out. Most of the time, this is a straightforward matter. Sometimes, however, one side or the other will want to use stealth tactics. If, for whatever reason, all the creatures on one side are still unaware of the other side at the end of a surprise round, then a second surprise round starts. You switch to regular combat rounds as soon as the standard action or move action taken in a surprise round makes the unaware side aware. For example, if you are watching from a concealed position while other characters are moving past you, so that you are aware of them but they are not aware of you, you can take one standard action or one move action; if they notice, they become aware and regular combat rounds start. If they do not notice, you move to a second surprise round. Under these circumstances, you could drink a potion, a standard action that makes no noise and attracts no attention, without moving to regular combat. If you fired an arrow at one of them, it missed and he and his friends completely failed to notice, this would not start regular combat. You may take advantage of this to sneak up on an unaware enemy, by taking repeated move actions to approach him and then a standard action to attack. Naturally, this requires repeated Move Silently skill checks on your part. If you completed a move action in a surprise round and your enemy failed to beat your Move Silently skill check result with his Listen skill check result, you could move on to a second surprise round. Unaware Combatants Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle do not get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are not able to defend themselves with Active Defence or Shield Defence checks.

Attacks of Opportunity

Sometimes, a combatant in a melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defence to attack her for free. These free attacks are called attacks of opportunity. The idea behind attacks or opportunity is fairly straightforward but including them as a combat complication is not. As such, a Games Master can choose to treat attacks of opportunity (also called AoOs) as an optional rule. If this is done, the

124

operation of several feats, namely ones like Mobility and Combat Reflexes, may need to be changed to give them new abilities or removed completely from the campaign, as they will no longer apply. Threatened squares You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space, including diagonally. An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you are unarmed, you do not normally threaten any squares and thus cannot make attacks of opportunity.



Reach Weapons: Most creatures of Medium or smaller size have a reach of only 5 feet. This means that they can make melee attacks only against creatures up to five feet (1 square) away. However, Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons threaten more squares than a typical creature. In addition, most creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 10 feet or more.

Provoking an Attack of Opportunity Two kinds of actions can provoke attacks of opportunity: moving out of a threatened square and performing an action within a threatened square.





Moving: Moving out of a threatened square usually provokes an attack of opportunity from the threatening opponent. There are two common methods of avoiding such an attack—the five footstep and the withdraw action, for which see below. Performing a Distracting Act: Some actions, when performed in a threatened square, provoke attacks of opportunity as you divert your attention from the battle. The table entitled Actions in Combat notes many of the actions that provoke attacks of opportunity.

Remember that even actions that normally provoke attacks of opportunity may have exceptions to this rule. Making an Attack of Opportunity An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack. You can only make one per round. You do not have to make an attack of opportunity if you do not want to. You make your attack of opportunity at your normal attack bonus, even if you have already attacked in the round. When an attack of opportunity is made against you, you can use Active Defence to avoid the blow as usual. If you have any Shield Defence uses left for the round, you may defend with a shield instead. As ever, this takes up one of your Shield Defence uses.

An attack of opportunity ‘interrupts’ the normal flow of actions in the round. If an attack of opportunity is provoked, immediately resolve the attack of opportunity, then continue with the next character’s turn or complete the current turn, if the attack of opportunity was provoked in the midst of a character’s turn. Combat Reflexes and Additional Attacks of Opportunity: If you have the Combat Reflexes feat, you can add your Dexterity modifier to the number of attacks of opportunity you can make in a round. This feat does not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity but if the same opponent provokes two attacks of opportunity from you, you could make two separate attacks of opportunity, since each one represents a different opportunity. Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round does not count as more than one opportunity for that opponent. All these attacks are at your full normal attack bonus.

Actions in Combat

The Anatomy of a Combat Round Each round represents 6 seconds in the game world. A round presents an opportunity for each character involved in a combat situation to take an action. Each round’s activity begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then proceeds, in order, from there. Each round of a combat uses the same initiative order. When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions. For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. A round can be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round to the same initiative count in the next round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on. Action Types An action’s type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform (within the framework of the 6-second combat round) and how movement is treated. There are four types of actions: standard actions, move actions, full-round actions and free actions. In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a move action or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in place of a standard action. In some situations, such as in a surprise round, you may be limited to taking only a single move action or standard action.

 



Standard Action: A standard action allows you to do something, most commonly make an attack or cast a spell. See Table: Actions in Combat for other standard actions. Move Action: A move action allows you to move your speed or perform an action that takes a similar amount of time. See Table: Actions in Combat. You can take a move action in place of a standard action. If you move no actual distance in a round (commonly because you have swapped your move for one or more equivalent actions), you can take one five foot step before, during or after the action. Full-Round Action: A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a five foot step before, during or after the action. You can also perform free actions; see below.

combat





Some full-round actions do not allow you to take a five foot step. Some full-round actions can be taken as standard actions, but only in situations when you are limited to performing only a standard action during your round. The descriptions of specific actions, below, detail which actions allow this option.



 

Free Action: Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free. Some free actions can only be performed a limited number of times per round, such as making a Shield Defence check to ward off a blow. Not an Action: Some activities are so minor that they are not even considered free actions. They literally do not take any time at all to do and are considered an inherent part of doing something else. Restricted Activity: In some situations, you may be unable to take a full round’s worth of actions. In such cases, you are restricted to taking only a single standard action or a single move action, plus free actions as normal. You cannot take a full-round action (though you can start or complete a full-round action by using a standard action; see below).

actions in combat Standard Actions

These are the basic things characters and creatures can do during a combat round. Basic attacks are covered under this type of action, as are the activation of normal items, devices and magical treasures. Most actions taken by combatants are standard actions, though timing or outside influences might change this status.

125

Actions in Combat

combat

Standard Action

Attack of Opportunity1

Full-Round Action Full attack

No No

Attack (melee)

No

Charge5

Attack (ranged)

Yes

Deliver coup de grace

Yes

Attack (unarmed)

Yes

Escape from a net

Yes

Aid another

Maybe

Extinguish flames

No

Bind a friend’s wounds or your own (see Heal skill)

Yes

Light a torch

Yes

Prepare to throw splash weapon

Yes

Bull rush

No

Run

Yes

Cast a spell with Witchcraft or Hekau (1 standard action casting time)

Yes

Use skill that takes 1 round

Usually

Concentrate to maintain an active spell/ miracle

No

Use a ‘touch’ spell on up to six friends

Yes

Withdraw

No

Dismiss a spell/miracle

No

Draw a hidden weapon (see Sleight of Hand skill)

No

Drink a potion or apply an ointment

2

5

Free Action Cease concentration on a spell

No

Drop an item

No

Yes

Drop to the floor

No

Escape a grapple

No

No

Feint

No

Prepare components to cast a Witchcraft or Hekau spell6

Overrun

No

Speak

No

Pray for a miracle (1 standard action praying time)

Yes

Read a scroll

No Action Active Defence check to dodge a blow

No

Yes

Delay

No

Ready (triggers a standard action)

No

Shield Defence check to ward off a blow

No

Revive an unconscious character

Yes

Five foot step

No

Action Type Varies

Sunder a weapon (attack)

Yes

Sunder an object (attack)

Maybe3

Disarm7

Yes

Total defence

No

Grapple7

Yes

Use extraordinary ability

No

Trip an opponent7

No

Use skill that takes 1 action

Usually

Use feat

Varies

Use spell-like ability

Yes

1

Use supernatural ability

No

Move Action

8

Regardless of the action, if you move out of a threatened square, you usually provoke an attack of opportunity. This column indicates whether the action itself, not moving, provokes an attack of opportunity. If you aid someone performing an action that would normally provoke an attack of opportunity, then the act of aiding another provokes an attack of opportunity as well. 2

Move

Yes

Control a frightened mount

Yes

Direct or redirect an active spell/miracle

No

Draw a weapon4

No

Open or close a door

No

Mount a horse or dismount

No

Move a heavy object

Yes

May be taken as a standard action if you are limited to taking only a single action in a round.

Pick up an item

Yes

6

Sheathe a weapon

Yes

Stand up from prone

Yes

Ready or loose a shield4

No

Retrieve a stored item

Yes

If the object is being held, carried or worn by a creature, yes. If not, no. 3

If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can combine one of these actions with a regular move. 4

5

Unless the component is an extremely large or awkward item. These attack forms substitute for a melee attack, not an action. As melee attacks, they can be used once in an attack or charge action, one or more times in a full attack action or even as an attack of opportunity. 7

8

126

Attack of Opportunity1

The description of a feat defines its effect.

Attack Making an attack is a standard action. There are three kinds of basic attack, namely melee, unarmed and ranged. Melee covers the use of close-combat weapons. Unarmed attacks are any offensive use of natural parts of a creature’s body; this covers everything from a labourer’s fists to a lion’s claws. Ranged attacks run the gamut from ray-type spells to more conventional weapons such as bows and slings.

Unarmed Attacks Striking for damage with punches, kicks and head butts is much like attacking with a melee weapon, except for the following complications:









Attacks of Opportunity: Attacking unarmed provokes an attack of opportunity from the character you attack, provided she is armed. The attack of opportunity comes before your attack. An unarmed attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity from other foes, nor does it provoke an attack of opportunity from an unarmed foe. An unarmed character cannot take attacks of opportunity (but see ‘Armed’ Unarmed Attacks, below). ‘Armed’ Unarmed Attacks: Sometimes a character’s or creature’s unarmed attack counts as an armed attack. A character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, a spellcaster delivering a touch attack spell and a creature with natural physical weapons all count as being armed. Note that being armed counts for both offence and defence; the character can make attacks of opportunity if another person attacks them when unarmed. Unarmed Strike Damage: An unarmed strike from a Medium character deals 1d3 points of damage plus your Strength modifier, as normal. A Small character’s unarmed strike deals 1d2 points of damage, while a Large character’s unarmed strike deals 1d4 points of damage. All damage from unarmed strikes is non-lethal damage. Unarmed strikes count as light weapons. Dealing Lethal Damage: You can specify that your unarmed strike will deal lethal damage before you make your attack roll but you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll. If you have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, you can deal lethal damage with an unarmed strike without taking a penalty on the attack roll.

Attack Rolls An attack roll represents your attempts to strike your opponent. Your attack roll is 1d20 + your attack bonus with the weapon you are using. If the result is at least as high as the target’s Passive Defence, you have hit them unless they then roll higher than your result with their Active Defence or Shield Defence check. An attack that hits deals damage, some or all of which may be blocked by armour.

combat

Melee Attacks With a normal melee weapon, you can strike any opponent within 5 feet. (Opponents within five feet are considered adjacent to you.) Some melee weapons have reach, as indicated in their descriptions. With a typical reach weapon, you can strike opponents 10 feet away, but you cannot strike adjacent foes, i.e. those within 5 feet.

Ranged Attacks With a ranged weapon, you can shoot or throw at any target that is within the weapon’s maximum range and in line of sight. The maximum range for a thrown weapon is five range increments. For projectile weapons, it is ten range increments. Some ranged weapons have shorter maximum ranges, as specified in their descriptions.

Automatic Misses and Hits A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on the attack roll is always a miss. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit, in that it automatically beats any Active Defence check or Shield Defence check. A natural 20 is also a threat—a possible critical hit. This is another notable exception to the natural 1 and 20 rules. Damage Rolls If the attack roll result equals or exceeds the target’s Passive Defence and is not itself exceeded by the target’s Active Defence check or Shield Defence check, the attack hits and you deal damage. (Note that when the attack roll equals the Active Defence or Shield Defence check, the attacker wins.) Roll the appropriate damage for your weapon. That amount of damage is deducted from the target’s current hit points and marked on his character sheet as a wound of that many points. If the target is wearing armour, he is allowed to make a Coverage check to see if his armour intercepts any of the damage. Multiple Attacks A character that can make more than one attack per round must use the full attack action (see Full-Round Actions, below) in order to get more than one attack. Shooting or Throwing into a Melee If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll. Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other. An unconscious or otherwise immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he is actually being attacked. If your target (or the part of your target you are aiming at, if it is a big target) is at least 10 feet away from the nearest friendly character, you can avoid the –4 penalty, even if the creature you are aiming at is engaged in melee with a friendly character.

127



Precise Shot: If you have the Precise Shot feat you do not take this penalty.

combat

Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action: You can choose to fight defensively when attacking. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to Active Defence checks for the same round. If you have a shield, you may choose to fight defensively with it. You take a –4 penalty on all attacks in the round to gain a +2 coverage bonus to all Shield Defence checks made in the same round. Essentially, you hide more of your body behind your shield, which makes it harder for you to hit opponents but harder for opponents to hit you. This coverage bonus also applies to passive shield coverage that round, for which see above under Shields. Critical Hits: When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Passive Defence, Active Defence or Shield Defence and you have scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or ‘crit’). To find out if it is a critical hit, you immediately make a critical roll—another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the attack roll you just made. If the critical roll exceeds the result your opponent rolled for Active Defence or Shield Defence, your original hit is a critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a critical hit. It does not need to come up 20 again.) If the critical roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit. A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses and add the rolls together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on an attack roll is 20 and the multiplier is x2.

 

 

Exception: Extra damage over and above a weapon’s normal damage is not multiplied when you score a critical hit. This includes additional dice from magical effects or class features such as Sneak Attack. Increased Threat Range: Sometimes your threat range is greater than 20. That is, you can score a threat on a lower number. In such cases, a roll of lower than 20 is not an automatic hit. Any attack roll that does not result in a hit is not a threat. Increased Critical Multiplier: Some weapons deal better than double damage on a critical hit. Spells and Critical Hits: A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit.

Shield Criticals: If you rolled a natural 20 but your critical roll was exceeded by your opponent’s Shield Defence check, you may choose to apply a Shield Critical Hit instead of an ordinary hit to your opponent’s body. This is your (the attacker’s) choice to make. No additional attack roll or critical roll is needed. Roll your damage as a critical hit and apply all of it to your opponent’s shield. This may result in the shield being pierced or destroyed.

128

For example, Menelaus, armed with a javelin, has scored a critical threat against Paris, who is wearing a bronze corselet and carrying a shield. Menelaus must now see whether the critical threat is a critical hit or not. He makes an attack roll and scores 19. Paris, who has the Combat Sense feat, knows that he must now beat a 19 with either Active Defence or Shield Defence. He opts for Shield Defence, as it gives the better chance of winning. Paris rolls a 22 and thus beats Menelaus’ attack roll. Menelaus can now decide whether to inflict a normal hit on Paris’s body or a critical hit on his shield. He chooses the latter course and rolls a total of 27 points of damage, spearing right through Paris’ shield (which ignores 10 points of piercing damage and absorbs 3) and continuing on to his body. Unfortunately for Paris, his armour fails its Coverage check and he suffers a 14-point wound. This incident, along with the remainder of the story, is told in Homer’s Iliad.

Cast a Spell Most spells require 1 standard action to cast. You can cast such a spell either before or after you take a move action.



Note: You may make Active Defence checks while casting Witchcraft or Hekau spells or praying for miracles. You cannot make Shield Defence checks while casting Witchcraft or Hekau spells, though you can make Shield Defence checks while praying for miracles.

Spell Components Characters using the Witchcraft and Hekau skills, as well as characters using the Prayer skill in conjunction with the Work Miracle class feature, can all work magical effects. When produced by Witchcraft or Hekau, these are called spells; when delivered as an answer to prayer, these are called miracles. Miracles are a form of magic that is delivered directly from the deity in response to prayer and require no components, though ritual preparations can improve the chances of the prayer being answered. See the section on Ritual Preparations in the Magic chapter for further details. To pray for a miracle, you do not need to speak aloud, though it is more efficient. As with the usual modifiers that apply to a Prayer skill check (see the Ancient Skills chapter for more details), a silent prayer gives a –2 penalty to the Prayer check, as the Gods are less likely to hear you. Miracles are prayed for as a standard action, though you can make ritual preparations that take longer than the prayer itself. To cast a spell with Witchcraft or Hekau, you need to be able to move your hands in arcane gestures and speak in a firm voice. If your hands are bound or your mouth gagged, you cannot cast spells with Witchcraft or Hekau, with the exception of the evil eye spell. Witchcraft spells can be fuelled with herbs. If the caster of a witchcraft spell wishes to use herbs, she must have them to

hand. Occasionally, spells will have large, bulky components, such as a ritual mask.



Concentrating to Maintain a Spell Some spells require continued concentration to keep them going. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can keep you from concentrating to maintain a spell. If your concentration breaks, the spell ends.



Casting Time Most spells have a casting time of 1 standard action. A spell cast in this manner immediately takes effect if the check is successful. Attacks of Opportunity Generally, if you cast a spell or pray for a miracle, you provoke attacks of opportunity from threatening enemies. The sustained concentration necessary draws your attention away from the battlefield, which allows nearby opponents a chance to take a swing at you. If you take damage from an attack of opportunity, you must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + points of damage taken + effect save modifier) or lose the spell. Casting and Praying on the Defensive Casting a spell or praying for a miracle while on the defensive does not provoke an attack of opportunity. It does, however, require a Concentration check (DC 15 +effect save modifier) to pull off. Failure means that you automatically fail the Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer skill check. Touch Spells in Combat Many spells have a range of ‘touch’. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject, either in the same round or any time later. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) the target. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.

combat

Concentration You must concentrate to cast a spell or pray for a miracle. If you cannot concentrate you cannot cast a spell or pray for miracles. If you start casting a spell or praying for a miracle but something interferes with your concentration, you must make a Concentration check or lose the spell or miracle. The check’s DC depends on what is threatening your concentration; see the Concentration skill. If you fail, the spell does not take effect or the prayer is disrupted and the miracle does not occur. A failed spell has a variable cost; see the Magic chapter for more details. A failed prayer for a miracle, as with all such attempts, has no hit point cost but does increase the DC of the next attempt.

Touch Attacks: Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack and therefore does not provoke attacks of opportunity. However, the act of casting a spell does provoke an attack of opportunity. Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack. Your opponent may not defend against a touch attack usefully with Shield Defence; a touch attack that is intercepted with a shield actually counts as a hit. He may only evade the attack with Active Defence. As always, if you fail to beat his Passive Defence with a touch attack, you miss. Your opponent does not make a Coverage check for his armour or passive shield use, as armour and shields are ineffective against touch attacks. He may, however, make a Coverage check if he is partly protected by a deflection effect or physical cover, such as a wall. Holding the Charge: If you do not discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the discharge of the spell (hold the charge) indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates. Alternatively, you may make a normal unarmed attack (or an attack with a natural weapon) while holding a charge. In this case, you are not considered armed and you provoke attacks of opportunity as normal for the attack. (If your unarmed attack or natural weapon attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity, neither does this attack.) If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge.

Dismiss a Spell Dismissing an active spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Use Special Ability Using a special ability is usually a standard action, but whether it is a standard action, a full-round action or not an action at all is defined by the ability.



Spell-Like Abilities: Using a spell-like ability works like casting a spell in that it requires concentration and provokes attacks of opportunity. Spell-like abilities can be disrupted. If your concentration is broken, the attempt to use the ability fails, but the attempt counts as if you had used the ability. The casting time of a spell-like ability is 1 standard action, unless the ability description notes otherwise.

129



combat





Using a Spell-Like Ability on the Defensive: You may attempt to use a spell-like ability on the defensive, just as with casting a spell. If the Concentration check (DC 15 + spell save modifier) fails, you cannot use the ability, but the attempt counts as if you had used the ability. Supernatural Abilities: Using a supernatural ability is usually a standard action (unless defined otherwise by the ability’s description). Its use cannot be disrupted, does not require concentration and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Extraordinary Abilities: Using an extraordinary ability is usually not an action because most extraordinary abilities automatically happen in a reactive fashion. Those extraordinary abilities that are actions are usually standard actions that cannot be disrupted, do not require concentration and do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Total Defence You can defend yourself as a standard action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your Active Defence checks for 1 round. Your Active Defence improves at the start of this action. You cannot combine total defence with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat (since both of those require you to declare an attack or full attack). You cannot make attacks of opportunity while using total defence.

Start/Complete Full-Round Action The ‘start full-round action’ standard action lets you start undertaking a full-round action, which you can complete in the following round by using another standard action. You cannot use this action to start or complete a full attack, charge, run or withdraw.

Move Actions

With the exception of specific movement-related skills, most move actions do not require a check. As the title of this type of action suggests, all move actions centre around locomotion or body movements, though not all of them involve a character physically moving from its current location.

130

Move The simplest move action is moving your speed. If you take this kind of move action during your turn, you cannot also take a five foot step. Many non-standard modes of movement are covered under this category, including climbing up to one-quarter of your speed and swimming up to one-quarter of your speed.

 

Accelerated Climbing: You can climb one-half your speed as a move action by accepting a –5 penalty on your Climb check. Crawling: You can crawl five feet as a move action. Crawling incurs attacks of opportunity from any attackers who threaten you at any point of your crawl.

Draw or Sheathe a Weapon Drawing a weapon so that you can use it in combat or putting it away so that you have a free hand, requires a move action. This action also applies to weapon-like objects carried in easy reach, such as wands. If your weapon or weapon-like object is stored in a pack or otherwise out of easy reach, treat this action as retrieving a stored item. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you may draw a weapon as a free action combined with a regular move. Drawing ammunition for use with a ranged weapon (such as arrows or sling bullets) is a free action.

Ready or Loose a Shield Strapping a shield to your arm so that you can make Shield Defence checks or unstrapping and dropping a shield so you can use your shield hand for another purpose, requires a move action. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can ready or loose a shield as a free action combined with a regular move. Dropping a carried (but not worn) shield is a free action.

Manipulate an Item In most cases, moving or manipulating an item is a move action. This includes retrieving or putting away a stored item, picking up an item, moving a heavy object and opening a door. Examples of this kind of action, along with whether they incur an attack of opportunity, are given in the Actions in Combat table above.

Stand Up Standing up from a prone position requires a move action and provokes attacks of opportunity.

Mount/Dismount a Steed Mounting or dismounting from a steed requires a move action.



Fast Mount or Dismount: You can mount or dismount as a free action with a DC 20 Ride check. Your armour check penalty, if any, applies to this check. If you fail the check, mounting or dismounting is a move action instead. You cannot attempt a fast mount or fast dismount unless you can perform the mount or dismount as a move action in the current round.

Full-Round Actions

A full-round action requires an entire round to complete. Thus, it cannot be coupled with a standard or a move action, though if it does not involve moving any distance, you can take a five foot step.

Full Attack If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough, you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks. You do not need to specify the targets of your attacks ahead of time. You can see how the earlier attacks turn out before assigning the later ones. You must, however, make the attacks in order, from the highest bonus to the lowest. The only movement you can take during a full attack is a five foot step. You may take the step before, after or between your attacks. Deciding between an Attack or a Full Attack: After your first attack, you can decide to take a move action instead of making your remaining attacks, depending on how the first attack turns out. If you have already taken a five foot step, you cannot use your move action to move any distance, but you could still use a different kind of move action. Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action: You can choose to fight defensively when taking a full attack action.

Cleave: The extra attack granted by the Cleave feat or Great Cleave feat can be taken whenever they apply. This is an exception to the normal limit to the number of attacks you can take when not using a full attack action.

Cast a Spell

combat

Direct or Redirect a Spell Some spells allow you to redirect the effect to new targets or areas after you cast the spell. Redirecting a spell requires a move action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity or require concentration.

If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to all Active Defence checks for the same round. You can opt to fight defensively with a shield, taking a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 cover bonus to all Shield Defence checks for the same round. You may not switch between these two modes of defensive fighting in the same round, though you may change tactics from round to round.

A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed. A spell that takes 1 minute to cast comes into effect just before your turn 1 minute later (and for each of those 10 rounds, you are casting a spell as a full-round action). These actions must be consecutive and uninterrupted or the spell automatically fails. When you begin a spell that takes 1 round or longer to cast, you must continue the invocations, gestures and concentration from one round to just before your turn in the next round (at least). If you lose concentration after starting the spell and before it is complete, you lose the spell. You only provoke attacks of opportunity when you begin casting a spell, even though you might continue casting for at least one full round. While casting a spell, you do not threaten any squares around you. This action is otherwise identical to the cast a spell action described under Standard Actions.

Use Special Ability Using a special ability is usually a standard action, but some may be full-round actions, as defined by the ability.

Withdraw Withdrawing from melee combat is a full-round action. When you withdraw, you can move up to double your speed. The square you start out in is not considered threatened by any opponent you can see and therefore visible enemies do not get attacks of opportunity against you when you move from that square. (Invisible enemies still get attacks of opportunity against you and you cannot withdraw from combat if you are blinded.) You cannot take a five foot step during the same round in which you withdraw. If, during the process of withdrawing, you move out of a threatened square (other than the one you started in), enemies get attacks of opportunity as normal. You may not withdraw using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed. Note that despite the name of this action, you do not actually have to leave combat entirely.

131



Restricted Withdraw: If you are limited to taking only a standard action each round you can withdraw as a standard action. In this case, you may only move up to your speed rather than up to double your speed.

combat

Run You can run as a full-round action. (If you do, you do not also get a five foot step.) When you run, you can move up to four times your speed in a straight line (or three times your speed if you are in heavy armour). You lose any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence unless you have the Run feat. A run represents a speed of about 12 miles per hour for an unencumbered human. You can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but after that you must make a DC 10 Constitution check to continue running. You must check again each round in which you continue to run and the DC of this check increases by 1 for each check you have made. When you fail this check, you must stop running. A character that has run to his limit must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, a character can move no faster than a normal move action. You cannot run across difficult terrain or if you cannot see where you are going.

Move Five Feet through Difficult Terrain

Cease Concentration on Spell You can stop concentrating on an active spell as a free action.

Miscellaneous Actions Drop to the Floor

You may drop to the floor as a free action; this makes it harder for a ranged attack to hit you, though you cannot easily fight while prone. If you are attacked at a point in the combat when you are allowed your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence, you may drop to the floor in response to an attack, even if it is not your turn. This action grants you a +4 dodge bonus to your Active Defence against that one attack alone. Lying prone increases your Passive Defence against most ranged attacks (see Combat Modifiers below) but you do not adjust your Passive Defence until the attack is resolved.

Take Five Foot Step You can move five feet in any round when you do not perform any other kind of movement. Taking this five foot step never provokes an attack of opportunity. You cannot take more than one five foot step in a round and you cannot take a five foot step in the same round when you move any distance.

In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you do not have sufficient speed even to move five feet (a single square). In such a case, you may spend a full-round action to move five feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally. Even though this looks like a five foot step, it is not and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally.

You can take a five foot step before, during or after your other actions in the round. You can only take a five foot-step if difficult terrain or darkness does not hamper your movement. Any creature with a speed of five feet or less cannot take a five foot step, since moving even five feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.

Free Actions

You may not take a five foot step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed.

Drop an Item

Certain feats let you take special actions in combat. Other feats do not require actions themselves, but they give you a bonus when attempting something you can already do. Some feats are not meant to be used within the framework of combat. The individual feat descriptions tell you what you need to know about them.

Free actions do not take any time at all, though there may be limits to the number of free actions you can perform in a turn. Free actions rarely incur attacks of opportunity. Some common free actions are described below.

Dropping an item in your space or into an adjacent square is a free action.

Drop Prone Dropping to a prone position in your space is a free action.

Speak In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it is not your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.

132

Roughly speaking, if a phrase takes longer than 6 seconds to say, it requires a standard action to complete, but this is a matter for a Games Master’s discretion.

Use Feat

Use Skill Most skill uses are standard actions, but some might be move actions, full-round actions, free actions or something else entirely. The individual skill descriptions tell you what sorts of actions are required to perform skills.

injury and death

This section covers the effects of physical trauma on a character, such as damage sustained in combat.

Hit Points

Hit points are an abstract concept and do not always reflect the true physical condition of a creature. Instead, a being’s hit point total is a sum measurement of health, fatigue and combat awareness. When a character’s hit point total reaches 0, he or she is disabled. Further damage is deducted both from a character’s hit points and from the character’s Constitution ability score. When a character reaches zero Constitution, he or she dies.

Wounds

When characters suffer damage and lose hit points, this is recorded as a series of ‘wounds’, not just as a steady reduction of the hit point total. Every time damage is dealt, a wound of that point size is recorded on the character sheet in the Wounds box. Wounds are a way of keeping track of what has happened to the character. Characters are not simply homogenous masses of hit points and all damage is not alike. A single sword slash that inflicts 10 points of damage is much more serious than ten thrown rocks that each inflict one point of damage. Although the net loss to hit points is the same, the former could plague you for days and kill you if it became infected, while the effects of the latter would probably wear off overnight. Ten little cuts heal much more quickly than one big cut. The amount of damage you take (after reductions for armour, if applicable) results in a wound of that size. For example, if a character took eight points of damage from a spear thrust, that character would record an eight-point wound as well as reducing his total hit points by eight. Most of the time, wounds do not slow a character down. As he progresses, he suffers numerous small bumps, scrapes and cuts that wear away his hit points but do not in themselves spell any particular trouble. Grievous wounds, by contrast, spell serious danger to the character.

Ordinary Wounds Wounds heal up over time. Unless a wound is grievous (see below) you may reduce it by a point in size after a full night’s rest, restoring that amount of hit points to your character’s total. This applies to all of your ordinary wounds, irrespective of how many wounds you have. All of them heal at the same rate. A wound that has healed completely is still visible; it

For example, if a character has two four-point wounds and one six-point wound, after a full night’s rest he would have two three-point wounds and one five-point wound, recovering three hit points on his total. This assumes that you are able to rest for at least eight hours in relative comfort. If something happens to disturb your night’s rest, you do not benefit from natural healing. A day spent resting, during which you take no stressful activity, allows you to recover an additional number of points from your wounds equal to your level of experience, above and beyond the ordinary deduction of a single point, though you may heal no more than one extra point from each wound. For instance, if a fifth-level noble warrior had three eight-point wounds, a night of rest would enable him to reduce each of them to seven-point wounds (for normal healing) and a subsequent day of rest would then reduce them to six-point wounds, with the two additional points of healing going to waste.

combat

All characters and objects have a certain number of hit points, determined by Hit Dice, character levels or construction. These represent inherent resistance to injury and, in the case of living beings, the ability to avoid critical damage through exertion and skill.

does not disappear from your body altogether, it simply ceases to cause you any pain and trouble. The scabs, bruises and other legacies of wounds can linger for weeks before finally disappearing.

Some effects cause characters to lose hit points without suffering wounds, such as blood loss, spell casting or falling from a height. If a character has no remaining wounds but is still below his maximum hit point total, he may continue to recover hit points at the rate of one per day of normal activity. Resting for eight hours allows him to recover a number of hit points equal to his level of experience plus one. A Heal check can reduce the size of a normal wound by one point if it is administered within one hour of the wound being suffered, including healing a one-point wound altogether. The DC of such a check is 10 plus the wound’s size. If the check is successful by more than 10 points, then the wound is healed by two points instead of one. See the Ancient Skills chapter, for more information on the use of the Heal skill. This represents the use of bandages, salves and similar treatments to clean the wound, bind it and help it to heal naturally. As detailed in the Craft skill description, a character may use the Craft (herbalism) skill to prepare a poultice, a one-shot parcel of healing herbs that adds a +2 circumstance bonus to any Heal skill check to reduce the size of a wound. Any single wound may only be bound once with the Heal skill, whether the check is successful or not.

Grievous Wounds When a character suffers large amounts of damage at once, he may have taken a grievous wound. Grievous wounds are traumas such as deep slashes, broken ribs, punctured organs, extensive third degree burns and the like. They are a stage beyond the cuts, scratches and bruises represented by ordinary wounds.

133

combat

Any wound that exceeds the character’s Grievous Wound Threshold counts as grievous. Your Grievous Wound Threshold is the average of your Strength and Constitution ability scores, rounded down. For example, if you had a Strength ability score of 11 and a Constitution ability score of 10, then your Grievous Wound Threshold would be 10 and a 12-point wound would be a grievous wound for you. If you receive a grievous wound, tick the ‘Grievously Wounded’ box on the character sheet. The Heal skill cannot help with grievous wounds, as they are too severe; Heal only covers the application of what we would call ‘first aid’ in the modern era. You can use the Heal skill to reduce a grievous wound by a point, but it is still considered grievous. Only the Medicine skill can assist with grievous wounds. Note that your base Constitution and Strength ability scores are used to determine your Grievous Wound Threshold, not your current Constitution and Strength ability scores. For example, even if you have taken sufficient damage to lower your Constitution, a wound must still exceed your Grievous Wound Threshold to be considered grievous. Effects Of Grievous Wounds: The moment a grievous wound is received from a bludgeoning source, the character who has suffered it must make a Fortitude saving throw against a DC of 10 or be knocked unconscious. (See ‘unconsciousness’ in the section below for how you recover from unconsciousness.) Grievous wounds from slashing or piercing sources do not have this effect. Grievous wounds weaken characters physically. Every grievous wound a character sustains inflicts a point of temporary Strength damage that cannot be recovered by resting until the A proud warrior wound is no longer grievous. displays his scars If a grievous wound is twice as large as your Grievous Wound Threshold when inflicted or deteriorates so that it reaches that size, you suffer an additional point of Strength damage; a wound three times as large inflicts a further point and so on. Recovering From Grievous Wounds: When a character is grievously wounded, the wound does not heal over time like ordinary wounds. Instead, the character’s condition is liable to worsen. Wounds severe enough to be counted as grievous

134

begin to fester, widen and mortify if they are not properly treated. Characters are exposed to infection and other secondary damage. In the ancient world, you can die from your wounds days after you actually receive them. This is one reason why journeying far from civilisation is so dangerous. At dawn every day, a grievously wounded character must make a Fortitude saving throw against a DC equal to the grievous wound’s size. This must be done once for each grievous wound, if he has more than one. Success means that the character’s condition gets no worse, but he does not improve either. If the saving throw fails, the wound increases by one point, causing the character’s hit points to be reduced by the same amount. If the saving throw fails by more than 10 points, the wound worsens by 1d4 points instead of only one. Grievous wounds never heal without medical attention except in the case of a miraculous recovery, for which see below. As ever, if the character’s hit points are reduced below zero, he begins to lose points of Constitution every time he loses hit points; if he reaches zero Constitution, he dies. If the character rolls a natural 20 when making his Fortitude saving throw to avoid his wounds worsening, he may have made a miraculous recovery. He must immediately make a Constitution ability score check with a DC equal to the size of the grievous wound. If the check is successful, the wound is no longer considered grievous. You cannot spend Divine Points to turn the Fortitude saving throw into a natural 20, as it must be an unmodified score of 20, though you may spend Divine Points to increase your Constitution ability score check. A character that receives medical attention from a barber-surgeon or similar expert has a chance to recover from grievous wounds. A Medicine check can turn a grievous wound into a normal one. The DC of this check is the size of the wound. If the Medicine check fails by more than 10 points, the wound increases in size by one point. For a Medicine check to be attempted, the patient must have remained in bed for a whole day and engaged in no stressful activity. A character may attempt a Medicine check more than once on the same wound, but no single wound may receive more than one treatment attempt in any one day.

Scars

Scars in the ancient world have two roles. Each scar has a story attached to it, which can give you credibility when dealing with warriors and similar fighting men. For every scar that you can show, you receive a +1 circumstance bonus to any Charisma-based skill check when interacting with people whose main concern is with fighting, to a maximum bonus of +5. Scars prove that you have been in fierce battles and come away alive and that gains you respect, whether the people you are talking to like you personally or not. The other role of a scar is as a means of identification. If a select few people know that you have a scar in the shape of a lightning stroke down the back of your left calf, then it prevents anyone from being able to impersonate you to these people. Creating a real scar for disguise purposes is possible, but painful!

Cautery

The treatment of grievous wounds with fire is common practice in the ancient world; we retain the medical term ‘cauterise’ from the old term ‘cautery’, the art of healing by fire. Cautery is a swift, drastic, risky method of turning a grievous wound into a normal one. It can only be applied to wounds that were received with slashing or piercing damage. Hot metal is applied to the wound in order to seal it. This is agonising for the recipient but may mean the difference between life and death. As a substitute for hot metal, molten pitch is sometimes used. If there is no fire source to hand, then cautery cannot be applied. A flaming torch or burning oil is not sufficient, as intense heat must be applied to a specific area to achieve cautery. Cautery has to be applied within an hour of the grievous wound occurring. A successful Heal or Medicine check is needed against a DC of 20, irrespective of the size of the wound; the recipient of the cautery must make a Will saving throw against a DC of 15 or fall unconscious because of the pain, if he was not already unconscious. Administering cautery is a full-round action that requires concentration.

When a grievous wound is cauterised, it is worsened by 1d6 points of damage but if the Heal or Medicine check is successful, the wound is no longer grievous. If the check fails, the wound is both worsened and remains grievous. In either case, the additional damage dealt is removed from the patient’s hit points (or Constitution, if he is already below zero hit points), which may kill him even if the check was successful. If the check fails by more than 10 points, the temporary Strength damage caused by the grievous wound becomes permanent, the wound remains grievous and the fire damage is still suffered. Such a serious failure is a disaster for any character, as a large grievous wound can make multiple points of temporary Strength damage permanent. Additional points of temporary Strength damage resulting from the wound’s worsening do not automatically become permanent, even if they were caused by the cautery itself.

combat

Grievous wounds that have healed often leave scars behind. When a grievous wound that was received from any damage source other than bludgeoning is turned into a normal wound by the use of the Medicine skill or by a miraculous recovery, roll 1d6. On a roll of 1 to 3, the wound has left a scar. (Exception: grievous wounds caused by fire always leave a scar.) It is up to the player to record where on his body the scar is; refer back to the circumstances in which the wound was received. For example, an arrow wound might leave a round scar on the character’s shoulder, while a wound received from a labrys could leave a scar shaped like a broad streak across an arm or leg.

For example, the hero Temocles has been gored badly by a wild bull, suffering a 14-point wound from the bull’s horns, which do piercing damage. This is higher than Temocles’ Grievous Wound Threshold of 12, so the wound is grievous. The artificer Xemothrax, who is working in his forge, offers to use a hot poker to seal the wounds and prevent Temocles from dying an unpleasant, lingering death. Xemothrax has no ranks in either Heal or Medicine, but Heal can be used untrained, so he has a chance of success. The hot poker is applied to the wound and Xemothrax rolls for additional damage; five points are applied to the wound, turning it into a 19 point wound. He then makes his untrained Heal check against a DC of 20 and to his great relief, he succeeds. The point of temporary Strength damage will be restored as soon as Temocles has had a chance to rest and he will now recover at the usual rate of one hit point removed from his wound per day. Cautery can be attempted more than once on the same wound, inflicting fresh damage with each attempt. However, each repeated attempt is made against a DC of +2, as it becomes steadily more difficult to do any good. Botched cautery can turn a grievous wound into a horrible mess that it is next to impossible to treat. A wound that has been unsuccessfully A patient is prepared for cautery

135

treated with cautery can still be treated with the Medicine skill.

combat

The great advantage of cautery as a method of dealing with grievous wounds is that it is quick. Medicine checks to treat grievous wounds take a whole day and do not allow the character to do anything other than rest. Cautery requires only a swift application of hot iron. For this reason, it is used on battlefields. Wounds that have been cauterised always leave scars, as fire damage is added to the damage that caused the wound already. Cautery On An Unwilling Patient: For cautery to be applied at all, the recipient must be stationary. He can either be holding still because he is willing, because he is unconscious or because his comrades are holding him in place. Characters are not always willing to be cauterised, as the treatment has a chance of making them worse rather than better. A patient who is being held still but is fighting against this, such as a patient who is being pinned in a grapple or is tied to a bench, is considered to be struggling. Administering cautery on a struggling patient applies a –2 penalty to the Heal or Medicine check. Contracting Fever From Wounds In any other place than a clean, sheltered location (such as a temple, home of good quality or military hospital tent) a grievously wounded character is considered to be exposed to disease because of his wounds and must make a Fortitude saving throw each morning against a DC of 10 to avoid catching fever. (See the Diseases section in the Adventuring chapter.) In areas where pestilence is common, such as swamps and filthy city districts, the DC of the saving throw is increased by +4.

Damage Not Recorded As Wounds

Certain kinds of damage are removed directly from a character’s hit point total, instead of being marked as wounds. Non-lethal damage never creates a wound. The following sources of lethal damage always reduce hit points without creating a wound: damage from falling, heat and cold damage from exposure to the elements, damage from inhalation, damage from gas effects, damage inflicted by an unarmed attack, blast damage, damage from cave-ins and avalanches, crushing damage and drowning damage. As a rule of thumb, assume that any damage that would be spread evenly across the body or that represents general debilitation does not create a wound. Damage caused by magic, such as the evil eye, does not cause wounds unless specifically stated in the spell description.

136

Hit points lost because of working Witchcraft or Hekau spells are not wounds. They represent the loss of energy and physical exhaustion that results from working magic.

Wounds and Non-Player Characters It is not generally necessary to record individual wounds for Non-Player Characters unless they have a major part in the campaign. For instance, if the players mount a raid on an enemy position and rain arrows down upon their warriors, the Games Master can simply mark off damage against hit points instead of recording wounds. However, a sage who accompanies the group on their journeys and who takes a thrown javelin in the chest should certainly have this recorded as a wound, as his survival or demise is important to the game. Monsters that present significant threat should have their wounds recorded. Managing to inflict a grievous wound on a monster can turn the tide of battle. Multiple ordinary wounds can wear a monster down but will not dissuade it from attacking, but a single grievous wound will make it stop and think. Wounds have an effect on morale (see below) and many creatures will try to escape when they suffer grievous wounds, so that they can hide in their lairs and attempt to recover.

Loss of Hit Points The most common way that your character gets hurt is to take lethal damage and lose hit points.

What Hit Points Represent Hit points mean two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one.

Massive Damage If you ever sustain a single attack that deals 50 points of damage or more and it does not kill you outright, you must make a DC 15 Fortitude save. If this saving throw fails, you immediately die regardless of your current hit points. If you take 50 points of damage or more from multiple attacks, no one of which dealt 50 or more points of damage itself, the massive damage rule does not apply. Undead and constructs of any kind are immune to massive damage death.

Disabled (0 Hit Points or fewer but 3 or more Constitution) When your current hit points drop to 0 or fewer, you are disabled. Any hit point damage you sustain after this point is both deducted from your hit points and your Constitution ability score. You must make a Fortitude saving throw at DC 15 every time you sustain such damage; failure means that you fall unconscious. You must also make this saving throw if damage takes your hit point total from a positive to a negative figure. For example, if you had three hit points left and you suffered six points of damage, you would be on –3 hit points, would take three points of Constitution ability damage and would need to make a saving throw to avoid falling unconscious.

While you are disabled, you can only take a single move or standard action each turn but not both, nor can you take fullround actions. You can take move actions without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other strenuous action) you take 1 hit point of damage and thus one point of Constitution ability damage after completing the act and must make the usual Fortitude saving throw or pass out.

Unconsciousness If you sustain hit point damage from an attack or effect (including spellcasting) and are left with less than zero hit points, you must make a Fortitude saving throw against a DC of 15 in order to remain conscious. (Damage from worsening wounds does not force this check.) An unconscious character may make a Fortitude saving throw every hour against a DC of 15 to recover consciousness, so long as he is not dying. You can help an unconscious character wake up as a standard action, but only if he has more than one hit point. Slaps, shaking, cold water to the face and similar attempts to revive an unconscious character allow him to attempt an additional Fortitude saving throw. This may be done once per round.

Dying (1 to 2 Constitution) When hit point loss has reduced your character’s current Constitution to 1 or 2, he’s dying. A dying character immediately falls unconscious (no saving throw allowed) and can take no actions. A dying character loses 1 hit point and thus one point of Constitution every three rounds. This continues until the character dies or becomes stable (see below).

Dead (0 Constitution or Lower) When your character’s current Constitution ability score drops to 0 or lower or if he takes massive damage (see above) and fails the requisite Fortitude saving throw, he’s dead. A character can also die from taking ability damage (such as from poison or disease) or suffering an ability drain that reduces his Constitution to 0.

Stable Characters and Recovery On the third turn after a character with fewer than zero hit points is reduced to 1 or 2 points of Constitution and on every third turn thereafter, roll d% to see whether the dying character becomes stable. He has a 10% chance of becoming stable. If he does not, he loses 1 hit point and thus 1 point of Constitution. A character that is unconscious or dying cannot delay his death by using any special action that changes the initiative count on which his action occurs.

Stabilising Characters With Healing: You can keep a dying character from losing any more hit points and points of Constitution and make him stable with a DC 15 Heal check. If any sort of herbal or magical healing cures the dying character of even 1 point of damage, such as by binding a wound, he stops losing hit points and points of Constitution and becomes stable. Note that ordinary healing can only restore lost hit points; it cannot restore lost points of Constitution. A healing effect that raises the dying character’s hit points to 0 exactly makes him disabled and allows him to make a saving throw to regain consciousness; see Unconsciousness above. Healing that raises his hit points to 1 or more also allows him to make a saving throw to regain consciousness; in addition, it makes him functional again and not disabled when he wakes up, though as ever it does not restore any lost Constitution.

combat

You can also become disabled when recovering from dying. In this case, it is a step toward recovery and you can have fewer than 0 hit points (see Stable Characters and Recovery, below).

If the character’s Constitution ability score drops to 0 or lower, he is immediately dead.

A stable character who has been tended by a healer or who has been magically healed eventually regains consciousness. He does not suffer hit point loss for failing his hourly saving throw to regain consciousness while he is being tended by a healer, though any grievous wounds he has still stand a chance of worsening every day. If the character has no one to tend him, however, his life is still in danger and he may yet succumb to his injuries and slip away.

Recovering without Help A dying character left alone without medical aid almost always dies. He has a small chance, however, of recovering on his own. A character who becomes stable on his own (by making the 10% roll while dying) and who has no one to tend to him still suffers gradual damage to his hit points and his Constitution, albeit at a slower rate. He may make a Fortitude saving throw each hour at DC 15 to become conscious; failure to make this saving throw results in one hit point of damage and one point of Constitution ability score damage. If he becomes conscious, he does not lose any more hit points or points of Constitution, except from grievous wounds becoming worse. If the character has grievous wounds, he must also make the usual daily checks to see if these worsen. These can push his Constitution back below 3, in which case he falls unconscious (if he was not already) and is dying again.

Healing

After taking damage, you can recover hit points through natural healing or through magical healing. In any case, you cannot regain hit points past your full normal hit point total.

Natural Healing With a full night’s rest (8 hours of sleep or more), each of your normal wounds heals by one hit point, both reducing their size and restoring that amount to your total. Any significant

137

combat

interruption during your rest prevents you from healing that night. If you undergo complete bed rest for an entire day following a night’s rest, you may reduce your wounds (and thus increase your hit point total) by additional number of hit points equal to your experience level, though you may not reduce the size of any one wound by more than one point with this extra healing.

Magical Healing Various abilities and spells, as well as ointments and herbal concoctions, can restore hit points. These usually work instantly and cannot be further improved by rest conditions or the use of the Heal skill.

Healing Limits You can never recover more hit points than you lost. Magical healing will not raise your current hit points higher than your full normal hit point total.

Healing Ability Damage Ability damage is temporary, just as hit point damage is. Ability damage returns at the rate of 1 point per night of rest (8 hours) for each affected ability score. Complete bed rest restores 2 points per day (24 hours) for each affected ability score. Certain spells and magical preparations can heal ability damage but no magical or mundane effect does so unless it specifically states that it affects ability damage.

Non - lethal Damage

Non-lethal damage inconveniences a character but does not hurt her seriously. It represents fatigue, stunning, concussion and similar punishments.

Dealing Non - lethal Damage Certain attacks deal non-lethal damage. Other effects, such as heat or being exhausted, also deal non-lethal damage. When you take non-lethal damage, keep a running total of how much you have accumulated. Do not deduct the nonlethal damage number from your current hit points and do not record non-lethal damage as a wound. It is not ‘real’ damage. Instead, when your non-lethal damage equals your current hit points, you are staggered and when it exceeds your current hit points, you fall unconscious. It does not matter whether the non-lethal damage equals or exceeds your current hit points because the non-lethal damage has gone up or because your current hit points have gone down.

 

138

Non-lethal Damage with a Weapon that Deals Lethal Damage: You can use a melee weapon that deals lethal damage to deal non-lethal damage instead, but you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll. Lethal Damage with a Weapon that Deals Non-lethal Damage: You can use a weapon that deals non-lethal damage, including an unarmed strike, to deal lethal damage instead, but you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll.

Staggered and Unconscious When your non-lethal damage equals your current hit points, you are staggered. You can only take a standard action or a move action in each round. You cease being staggered when your current hit points once again exceed your non-lethal damage. When your non-lethal damage exceeds your current hit points, you fall unconscious. While unconscious, you are helpless.

Knocking A Character Out It is possible to knock a character unconscious with non-lethal damage. A character who suffers non-lethal damage from a single attack or effect in excess of his base Constitution ability score must make a Fortitude saving throw against a DC of 15 or fall unconscious. He is allowed a Fortitude saving throw every hour at DC 15 to recover consciousness as usual and other characters may attempt to revive him.

Healing Non - lethal Damage You heal non-lethal damage at the rate of 1 hit point per hour per character level. When a spell, a miracle or a magical power cures hit point damage, it also removes an equal amount of non-lethal damage.

movement, position and distance

Miniatures are on the 30mm scale—a miniature figure of a six foot tall human is approximately 30mm tall. A square on the battle grid is 1 inch across, representing a five foot-by-five foot area. While actual miniatures may not be exactly this scale, as long as the measurement of a tactical map are attributed five foot sections and are easily determined as such, the movement rules below can be easily implemented.

How Far Can A Character Move?

A character’s speed is determined by his background and his armour (see the Tactical Speed table). A character’s speed while unarmoured is equal to its listed base land speed. Encumbrance A character encumbered by carrying a large amount of gear, treasure or fallen comrades may move slower than normal. Hampered Movement Difficult terrain, obstacles or poor visibility can hamper movement. Certain magical effects, movement rates and class features can modify or bypass these hindrances. Movement in Combat Generally, you can move your speed in a round and still do something (take a move action and a standard action). If you do nothing but move (that is, if you use both of your actions in a round to move your speed), you can move double your speed.

Ending Your Movement You cannot end your movement in the same square as another creature unless it is helpless.

Bonuses to Speed A Spartan or barbarian character has a +10 foot bonus to his speed, unless he is wearing heavy armour. In addition, some magical effects and divine items can affect a character’s speed. Always apply any modifiers to a character’s speed before adjusting the character’s speed based on armour or encumbrance and remember that multiple bonuses of the same type to a character’s speed do not stack, in keeping with the rules governing stacked bonuses and like types.

Overrun During your movement, or as part of a charge, you can attempt to move through a square occupied by an opponent.

Tactical Speed Background

No Armour or Light Armour

Medium or Heavy Armour

Spartans and barbarians

40-ft.(8 squares)

20-ft.(4 squares)

All other backgrounds

30-ft.(6 squares)

20-ft.(4 squares)

Measuring Distance on a Tactical Grid Diagonals

When measuring distance, the first diagonal counts as 1 square, the second counts as 2 squares, the third counts as 1, the fourth as 2 and so on. You cannot move diagonally past a corner (even by taking a five foot step). You can move diagonally past a creature, even an opponent. You can also move diagonally past other impassable obstacles, such as pits, assuming there is a route by which you can do so.

Closest Creature When it is important to determine the closest square or creature to a location, if two squares or creatures are equally close, randomly determine which one counts as closest by rolling a die.

Moving through a Square

Friendly Occupation You can move through a square occupied by a friendly character, unless you are charging. When you move through a square occupied by a friendly character, that character does not provide you with cover. Opponent’s Occupation You cannot move through a square occupied by an opponent, unless the opponent is helpless. You can move through a square occupied by a helpless opponent without penalty. Some creatures, particularly very large ones, may present an obstacle even when helpless. In such cases, each square you move through counts as 2 squares.

Tumbling A trained character can attempt to tumble through a square occupied by an opponent; see the Tumble skill. Failure typically ends a character’s movement and opens it up to an attack of opportunity. Very Small Creature A Fine, Diminutive or Tiny creature can move into or through an occupied square. The creature provokes attacks of opportunity when doing so.

combat

If you spend the entire round running, you can move quadruple your speed. If you do something that requires a full round, you can only take a five foot step.

Square Occupied by Creature Three Sizes Larger or Smaller Any creature can move through a square occupied by a creature three size categories larger than it is. A big creature can move through a square occupied by a creature three size categories smaller than it is. Designated Exceptions Some creatures break the above rules. A creature that completely fills the squares it occupies cannot be moved past, even with the Tumble skill or similar special abilities.

Terrain and Obstacles Difficult Terrain

Difficult terrain hampers movement. Each square of difficult terrain counts as 2 squares of movement. (Each diagonal move into a difficult terrain square counts as 3 squares.) You cannot run or charge across difficult terrain. If you occupy squares with different kinds of terrain, you can move only as fast as the most difficult terrain you occupy will allow. Flying and spiritual creatures are not hampered by difficult terrain.

Forests Of Spears Part of the effectiveness of the phalanx as a battle formation is that although the long spear is a reach weapon and cannot attack adjacent targets, the sheer number of spears sticking out in front of a phalanx means that an opponent cannot easily approach without being skewered. There is simply no room to manoeuvre between the protruding spears. A square that is filled with spears in front of a phalanx counts as an obstacle, for which see below. If a creature is in a square threatened by a reach weapon and moves towards the wielder, then he still provokes an attack of opportunity for moving out of the threatened square. In this way, an opponent can be held at bay by a reach weapon. In a phalanx, where multiple reach weapons threaten the same

139

squares, a creature attempting to move towards the Hoplites provokes multiple attacks of opportunity. This is one reason why the phalanx is such a devastating formation to use. A character may attempt to Tumble through a forest of spears and avoid attacks of opportunity.

combat

Obstacles Like difficult terrain, obstacles can hamper movement. If an obstacle hampers movement but does not completely block it, each obstructed square or obstacle between squares counts as 2 squares of movement. You must pay this cost to cross the barrier, in addition to the cost to move into the square on the other side. If you do not have sufficient movement to cross the barrier and move into the square on the other side, you cannot cross the barrier. Some obstacles may also require a skill check to cross. On the other hand, some obstacles block movement entirely. A character cannot move through a blocking obstacle. Flying and spiritual creatures can avoid most obstacles

Squeezing In some cases, you may have to squeeze into, or through, an area that is not as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through, or into, a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into, or through, a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares and while squeezed in a narrow space you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Active Defence; you may not make Shield Defence checks. When a Large creature (which normally takes up four squares) squeezes into a space that’s one square wide, the creature’s miniature figure occupies two squares, centred on the line between the two squares. For a bigger creature, centre the creature likewise in the area it squeezes into. A creature can squeeze past an opponent while moving but it cannot end its movement in an occupied square. To squeeze through, or into, a space less than half your space’s width, you must use the Escape Artist skill. You cannot attack while using Escape Artist to squeeze through, or into, a narrow space, you take a –4 penalty to Active Defence and you lose any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence. You may not make Shield Defence checks at all.

Special Movement Rules

These rules cover special movement situations.

Accidentally Ending Movement in an Illegal Space

140

Sometimes a character ends its movement while moving through a space where it is not allowed to stop. When that happens, put your miniature in the last legal position you occupied or the closest legal position, if there’s a legal position that’s closer.

Double Movement Cost When your movement is hampered in some way, your movement usually costs double. For example, each square of movement through difficult terrain counts as 2 squares and each diagonal move through such terrain counts as 3 squares (just as two diagonal moves normally do). If movement cost is doubled twice, then each square counts as 4 squares (or as 6 squares if moving diagonally). If movement cost is doubled three times, then each square counts as 8 squares (12 if diagonal) and so on. This is an exception to the general rule that two doublings are equivalent to a tripling.

Minimum Movement Despite penalties to movement, you can take a full-round action to move five feet (one square) in any direction, even diagonally. This rule does not allow you to move through impassable terrain or to move when all movement is prohibited. Such movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal, since despite the distance travelled, this move is not technically a five foot step. Note also that this special kind of movement does not apply to characters that are held immobile by a magical effect or otherwise completely unable to move due to some outside force.

Big and Little Creatures in Combat

Creatures smaller than Small or larger than Medium have special rules relating to position.

Tiny, Diminutive and Fine Creatures Very small creatures take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one such creature can fit into a single square. A Tiny creature typically occupies a space only twoand-a-half feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Twenty-five Diminutive creatures or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square. Creatures that take up less than 1 square of space typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they cannot reach into adjacent squares. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. You can attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such creatures normally. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. You can move past them without provoking attacks of opportunity. They also cannot flank an enemy.

Large, Huge, Gargantuan and Colossal Creatures Very large creatures take up more than 1 square. Creatures that take up more than 1 square typically have a natural reach of 10 feet or more, meaning that they can reach targets even if they are not in adjacent squares. Unlike when someone uses a reach weapon, a creature with a greater than normal natural reach (more than 5 feet) still threatens squares adjacent to it. A creature with greater than normal natural reach usually gets an

Creature Size and Scale

Prone Characters: A prone character has +4 to his Passive Defence against ranged attacks coming at him horizontally, as he is lying flat and presents less of a target. However, against ranged attacks from above or against melee attacks, he has –4 to his Passive Defence. Note that this does not affect a character while he drops to the ground reactively, as an evasive move. It only applies once a character has become prone.

Space1

Natural Reach1

Fine

1/2-ft.

0-ft.

Diminutive

1-ft.

0-ft.

Tiny

2-1/2-ft.

0-ft.

Small

5-ft.

5-ft.

Medium

5--ft.

5-ft.

Large (tall)

10-ft.

10-ft.

Large (long)

10-ft.

5-ft.

Attacker is . . .

Melee

Ranged

Huge (tall)

15-ft.

15-ft.

Dazzled

–1

–1

Huge (long)

15-ft.

10-ft.

Entangled

–2

–21

Gargantuan (tall)

20-ft.

20-ft.

Flanking defender

+2

—

Gargantuan (long)

20-ft.

15-ft.

Invisible

+2

+22

Colossal (tall)

30-ft.

30-ft.

On higher ground

+1

+0

Colossal (long)

30-ft.

20-ft.

Prone

–4

—3

Shaken or frightened

–2

–2

Squeezing through a space

–4

–4

These values are typical for creatures of the indicated size. Some exceptions exist. 1

attack of opportunity against you if you approach it, because you must enter and move within the range of its reach before you can attack it. (This attack of opportunity is not provoked if you take a five foot step.) Large or larger creatures using reach weapons can strike up to double their natural reach but cannot strike at their natural reach or less.

combat modifiers

Basic combat has been covered by the rules above, but there are numerous instances and conditions that can complicate a battle. Tactically minded players can use these to their advantage, while encountered enemies with the skills or abilities to do so may impose them against their foes. In any case, these factors can combine to make nearly impossible battles merely difficult and make an indefacicable enemy vulnerable to a strategically planned assault. The generals of the ancient world did not crush their enemies by overwhelming force alone, but by clever tactical use of their resources. In an OGL Ancients game, you will often find yourself facing stronger and better armoured opponents than yourself or monstrous creatures from the myths with scales of iron and a gaze that can turn men to stone. Tactics are the key to victory. The hero who is clever enough to use a burnished shield as a mirror is more likely to survive than the one who relies on force of arms.

Presenting a Smaller Target You can change your Passive Defence against certain forms of attack by presenting a smaller target, such as by dropping to the ground. This, however, only works against attacks coming from a given direction.

Attack Roll Modifiers

1

2

combat

Creature Size

An entangled character also takes a –4 penalty to Dexterity, which may affect his attack roll. 1

The defender loses any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence. This bonus does not apply if the target is blinded. 2

Ranged weapons cannot be used while the attacker is prone. 3

Modifiers to Active Defence Defender is . . .

Melee

Ranged

Blinded

–2

–21

Concealed or invisible

1

See Concealment

Cowering

–21

–21

Entangled

+02

+02

Flat-footed (such as surprised, balancing, climbing)

+01

+01

Grappling (but attacker is not)

+01

+01, 3

Helpless (such as paralysed, sleeping or bound)

Passive Defence Only

Pinned

–44

+04

Squeezing through a space

–4

–4

Stunned

–2

–21

1

1

The defender loses any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence.

2

An entangled character takes a –4 penalty to Dexterity.

Roll randomly to see which grappling combatant you strike. That defender loses any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence. 3

The character has an effective Dexterity of 0, for a –5 penalty to Active Defence. Characters with the sneak attack class feature may use it against helpless or pinned defenders. 4

141

Cover

combat

When a character is behind cover, he presents a smaller target, which equates to a bonus to his Passive Defence. Cover provides a +4 bonus to Passive Defence against ranged attacks and melee attacks. To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover. When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from your square to the target’s square goes through a wall (including a low wall). When making a melee attack against a target that is not adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks. Low Obstacles and Cover A low obstacle (such as a wall no higher than half your height) provides cover, but only to creatures within 30 feet (6 squares) of it. The attacker can ignore the cover if he is closer to the obstacle than his target. Cover and Attacks of Opportunity You cannot execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with cover relative to you. Cover and Hide Checks You can use cover to make a Hide check. Without cover, you usually need concealment (see below) to make a Hide check. Soft Cover Creatures, even your enemies, can provide you with cover against melee and ranged attacks. However, such soft cover provides no bonus on Reflex saves, nor does soft cover allow you to make a Hide check. A creature that is acting as cover, whether it means to or not, allows a +4 bonus to your Passive Defence. The Games Master may allow a greater bonus if the covering creature is larger than the creature covered or if it is purposefully trying to provide cover. Attacking a creature that has cover from another creature gives an attacker a chance of hitting the covering creature instead. If an attack roll scores higher than the covered creature’s Passive Defence without the cover bonus but less than that amount after the bonus, the attack has struck the creature providing the cover. For this reason, it is highly dangerous to attack an opponent who is standing behind one of your friends. For example, Phegeus throws his spear at Diomedes, who is standing in his chariot behind his charioteer. The charioteer provides soft cover, so Diomedes’ Passive Defence is modified from 10 to 14. Phegeus rolls a 13 with his attack roll. This is higher than Diomedes’ Passive Defence but less than his Passive Defence after the cover bonus, so the unfortunate charioteer is the one hit by the spear.

142

Big Creatures and Cover Any creature with a space larger than five feet (1 square) determines cover against melee attacks slightly differently than smaller creatures do. Such a creature can choose any square that it occupies to determine if an opponent has cover against its melee attacks. Similarly, when making a melee attack against such a creature, you can pick any of the squares it occupies to determine if it has cover against you. Total Cover If you do not have line of effect to your target he is considered to have total cover from you. You cannot make an attack against a target that has total cover. Varying Degrees of Cover: In some cases, cover may provide a greater bonus to Passive Defence and Reflex saving throws. In such situations the normal cover bonuses to Passive Defence and Reflex saving throws can be doubled to +8 and +4, respectively. A creature with this improved cover who makes a successful Reflex save takes no damage, while a failed saved allows them to take only half damage from the effect. Furthermore, improved cover provides a +10 bonus on Hide checks.

Flanking When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by a character or creature friendly to you on the opponent’s opposite border or opposite corner. When in doubt about whether two friendly characters flank an opponent in the middle, trace an imaginary line between the two friendly characters’ centres. If the line passes through opposite borders of the opponent’s space (including corners of those borders), then the opponent is flanked.

To determine whether your target has concealment from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that provides concealment, the target has concealment. When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has concealment if his space is entirely within an effect that grants concealment. When making a melee attack against a target that is not adjacent to you, use the rules for determining concealment from ranged attacks. In addition, some magical effects provide concealment against all attacks, regardless of whether any intervening concealment exists. Concealment Miss Chance Concealment gives the subject of a successful attack a 20% chance that the attacker missed because of the concealment. If the attacker scores higher than the defender’s Passive Defence, the defender must make a miss chance percentile roll to see if the attack missed completely. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack. Concealment and Hide Checks You can use concealment to make a Hide check. Without concealment, you usually need cover to make a Hide check. Total Concealment If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight, he is considered to have total concealment from you. You cannot attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies. A successful attack into a square occupied by an enemy with total concealment has a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss chance for an opponent with concealment. You cannot execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know which square or squares the opponent occupies. Ignoring Concealment Concealment is not always effective. Although invisibility provides total concealment, sighted opponents may still make Spot checks to notice the location of an invisible character. An invisible character gains a +20 bonus on Hide checks if moving or a +40 bonus on Hide checks when not moving; even though opponents cannot see you, they might be able to figure out where you are from other visual clues. Varying Degrees of Concealment Certain situations may provide more or less than typical concealment and modify the miss chance accordingly.



Exception: If a flanker takes up more than 1 square, it gets the flanking bonus if any square it occupies counts for flanking. Only a creature or character that threatens the defender can help an attacker get a flanking bonus. Creatures with a reach of 0 feet cannot flank an opponent.

combat

Concealment Concealment makes a target harder to hit by obscuring him partially or completely, such as with darkness or smoke. Concealment does not affect your Passive Defence, as it is not a matter of how small or fast-moving a target you present but more a matter of an observer being unable to tell exactly where you are at a given moment.

Helpless Defenders A helpless opponent is someone who is bound, sleeping, paralysed, unconscious or otherwise at your mercy. Regular Attack A helpless character cannot make Active Defence or Shield Defence checks at all and must rely on Passive Defence and any armour he is wearing to protect him. Bear in mind that most helpless characters are also prone, so they are harder to hit with ranged attacks. It is very rare for a helpless character to be standing upright; paralysis is one of the effects that can cause this, as is being tied to a vertical post or tree, such as for an execution by bow and arrow. Usually, a character becomes prone immediately after becoming helpless. Unconscious characters drop to the floor automatically and sleeping characters are assumed to be on a horizontal surface. A helpless defender is treated as if he was disallowed his Dexterity bonus to Active Defence for the purpose of sneak attacks and suchlike effects, although he cannot actually use Active Defence. Blind As a full-round action, you can use a melee weapon or a burning item (such as a hot poker) to blind a helpless opponent. You automatically hit and deal normal damage. A Coverage check may be made if the opponent is wearing armour on his head but the check is at a –10 penalty. If any damage at all gets through, the resulting wound is considered grievous even if it is smaller than the character’s Constitution ability score and the character is blinded. Each use of this attack blinds the character in one eye, so it must be repeated twice to blind the character completely. These grievous wounds may only be healed with Medicine skill checks and never with cautery. In a historical campaign, characters never recover from blindness, even when the grievous wounds that caused it have healed. In a mythic campaign, sight can be restored with magic (such as a miracle) but not until the grievous wounds that caused it have healed completely, not just been turned into normal wounds.

143

combat

Coup de Grace As a full-round action, you can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless opponent. You can also use a bow, provided you are adjacent to the target. You automatically hit and score a critical hit; your opponent may still make a Coverage check for his armour if he is wearing any, but this is made at a –10 penalty. If the defender survives the damage, he must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die. (If no damage at all gets through armour, then this check does not need to be made.) Characters who can make sneak attacks also get their extra sneak attack damage against a helpless opponent when delivering a coup de grace. Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening opponents. You cannot deliver a coup de grace against a creature that is immune to critical hits. You can deliver a coup de grace against a creature with total concealment, but doing this requires two consecutive full-round actions; one to ‘find’ the creature once you have determined what square it is in and one to deliver the coup de grace.

Aid Another In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you are in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against a Passive Defence of 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to Active Defence against that opponent’s next attack (your choice), so long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend and similar bonuses stack. You can also use this standard action to help a friend in other ways, such as when he is affected by a spell or to assist another character’s skill check.

Bull Rush You can make a bull rush as a standard action (an attack) or as part of a charge (see Charge, below). When you make a bull rush, you attempt to push an opponent straight back instead of damaging him. You can only bull rush an opponent who is one size category larger than you, the same size or smaller. Initiating a Bull Rush First, you move into the defender’s space. Doing this provokes an attack of opportunity from each opponent that threatens you, including the defender. (If you have the Improved Bull Rush feat, you do not provoke an attack of opportunity from the defender.) Any attack of opportunity made by anyone other than the defender against you during a bull rush has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting the defender instead and any attack of opportunity by anyone other than you against the defender likewise has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting you. When someone makes an attack of opportunity, make

144

Special Attacks Special Attack

Brief Description

Aid Another

Grant an ally a +2 bonus on attacks or Active Defence

Bull Rush

Push an opponent back five feet or more

Charge

Move up to twice your speed and attack with +2 bonus

Decapitate

Attempt to sever an opponent’s head with one blow

Disarm

Knock a weapon from your opponent’s hands

Feint

Negate your opponent’s Dex bonus to Active Defence

Grapple

Wrestle with an opponent

Hamstring

Attempt to sever an opponent’s tendons and reduce his Speed

Overrun

Plough past or over an opponent as you move

Shield Bash

Strike an opponent with your shield

Throw splash weapon

Throw container of dangerous liquid at target

Trip

Trip an opponent

the attack roll and then roll to see whether the attack went astray. Second, you and the defender make opposed Strength checks. You each add a +4 bonus for each size category you are larger than Medium or a –4 penalty for each size category you are smaller than Medium. You get a +2 bonus if you are charging. The defender gets a +4 bonus if he has more than two legs or is otherwise exceptionally stable. Bull Rush Results If you beat the defender’s Strength check result, you push him back 5 feet. If you wish to move with the defender, you can push him back an additional five feet for each 5 points by which your check result is greater than the defender’s check result. You cannot, however, exceed your normal movement limit. (Note: The defender provokes attacks of opportunity if he is moved. So do you, if you move with him. The two of you do not provoke attacks of opportunity from each other, however.) If you fail to beat the defender’s Strength check result, you move five feet straight back to where you were before you moved into his space. If that space is occupied, you fall prone in that space.

Charge Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action. However, it carries tight restrictions on how you can move.

combat

Movement During a Charge You must move before your attack, not after. You must move at least 10 feet (2 squares) and may move up to double your speed directly toward the designated opponent. You must have a clear path toward the opponent and nothing can hinder your movement (such as difficult terrain or obstacles). Here’s what it means to have a clear path. First, you must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent. (If this space is occupied or otherwise blocked, you cannot charge.) Second, if any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement, slows movement or contains a creature (even an ally), you cannot charge. Helpless creatures do not stop a charge. If you do not have line of sight to the opponent at the start of your turn, you cannot charge that opponent. You cannot take a five foot step in the same round as a A warrior loses his head in battle. Ouch! charge. If you are able to take only a standard action or a move action on your turn, you can still charge, of the blow puts you off guard. You make one (and only one) but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of attack against your opponent, which is made at a –4 penalty. up to double your speed). You cannot use this option unless Your opponent may attempt to evade the blow with Active you are restricted to taking only a standard action or move Defence or Shield Defence if possible and armour may soak action on your turn. some of the damage. If you deal your opponent a grievous wound, you have severed his head and he dies immediately. A Attacking on a Charge decapitate attempt cannot be combined with a coup de grace. After moving, you may make a single melee attack. You get a +2 bonus on the attack roll and take a –2 penalty to your Creatures that are not vulnerable to critical hits cannot be Active Defence until the start of your next turn. You may decapitated. not make Shield Defence checks at all until the start of your next turn. Even if you have extra attacks, such as from having Exception: Characters with the Improved Decapitate feat a high enough base attack bonus, you only get to make one do not provoke an attack of opportunity when making a attack during a charge. decapitation attempt, though they still incur the penalty to Active Defence and Shield Defence. A charging character gets a +2 bonus on the Strength check made to bull rush or overrun an opponent; see Bull Rush, Disarm above and Overrun, below. As a melee attack, you may attempt to disarm your opponent. If you do so with a weapon, you knock the opponent’s weapon Spears and Charge Attacks out of his hands and to the ground. If you make the disarm A spear deals double damage if employed by a mounted attempt while unarmed, you end up with the weapon in your character in a charge. Certain feats, such as Spirited Charge, hand. can affect this damage multiple even more. Weapons Readied against a Charge Spears, tridents and certain other piercing weapons deal double damage when readied (set) and used against a charging character.

Decapitate If you are wielding a weapon that inflicts slashing damage (such as a labrys or a sword) and is not a light weapon, you may attempt to decapitate an opponent as a full-round action. A decapitation attempt provokes an attack of opportunity and gives you a –4 penalty to your Active Defence and Shield Defence checks for the remainder of the round, as the swing

If you are attempting to disarm a melee weapon, follow the steps outlined here. If the item you are attempting to disarm is not a melee weapon, the defender may still oppose you with an attack roll, but takes a penalty and cannot attempt to disarm you in return if your attempt fails.



Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target you are trying to disarm. (If you have the Improved Disarm feat, you do not incur an attack of opportunity for making a disarm attempt.) If the defender’s attack of opportunity deals any damage, your disarm attempt fails.

145

combat





Step 2: Opposed Rolls. You and the defender make opposed attack rolls with your respective weapons. A person wielding a weapon with two hands gets a +4 bonus on this roll and the wielder of a light weapon takes a –4 penalty. (An unarmed strike is considered a light weapon, so you always take a penalty when trying to disarm an opponent by using an unarmed strike.) If the combatants are of different sizes, the larger combatant gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category. If the targeted item is not a melee weapon, the defender takes a –4 penalty on the roll. Step Three: Consequences. If you beat the defender, the defender is disarmed. If you attempted the disarm action unarmed, you now have the weapon. If you were armed, the defender’s weapon is on the ground in the defender’s square. If you fail on the disarm attempt, the defender may immediately react and attempt to disarm you with the same sort of opposed melee attack roll. His attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity from you. If he fails his disarm attempt, you do not subsequently get a free disarm attempt against him.

Disarm and Grabbing Weapons You can use a disarm action to snatch an item worn by the target. If you want to have the item in your hand, the disarm must be made as an unarmed attack. If the item is poorly secured or otherwise easy to snatch or cut away the attacker gets a +4 bonus. Unlike on a normal disarm attempt, failing the attempt does not allow the defender to attempt to disarm you. This otherwise functions identically to a disarm attempt, as noted above. You cannot snatch an item that is well secured unless you have pinned the wearer (see Grapple). Even then, the defender gains a +4 bonus on his roll to resist the attempt.

Grapple All forms of offensive holding, including the ancient art of wrestling, are considered actions of the grapple type. These actions can bind up a dangerous opponent or subdue someone when normal combat methods are ineffective. Grapple Checks Repeatedly in a grapple, you need to make opposed grapple checks against an opponent. A grapple check is similar to a melee attack roll. Your attack bonus on a grapple check is: Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier Special Size Modifier: The special size modifier for a grapple check is as follows: Colossal +16, Gargantuan +12, Huge +8, Large +4, Medium +0, Small –4, Tiny –8, Diminutive –12, Fine –16. Add this modifier to your Grapple checks. Starting a Grapple To start a grapple, you need to grab and hold your target. Starting a grapple requires a successful melee attack roll, not a grapple check. If you get multiple attacks, you can attempt to start a grapple multiple times, at successively lower base attack bonuses.



 

Feint Feinting is a standard action. To feint, make a Bluff check opposed by a Sense Motive check by your target. The target may add his base attack bonus to this Sense Motive check. If your Bluff check result exceeds your target’s Sense Motive check result, the next melee attack you make against the target does not allow him to use his Dexterity bonus to Active Defence, if any. This attack must be made on or before your next turn. When feinting in this way against a non-humanoid you take a –4 penalty. Against a creature of animal Intelligence (1 or 2), you take a –8 penalty. Against a non-intelligent creature, it is impossible. Feinting in combat does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Feinting as a Move Action With the Improved Feint feat, you can attempt a feint as a move action instead of as a standard action.

146

 

Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target you are trying to grapple. If the attack of opportunity deals damage, the grapple attempt fails. (Certain monsters do not provoke attacks of opportunity when they attempt to grapple, nor do characters with the Improved Grapple feat.) If the attack of opportunity misses or fails to deal damage, proceed to Step 2. Step 2: Grab. You make a melee touch attack to grab the target. If you fail to hit the target, the grapple attempt fails. If you succeed, proceed to Step 3. Step 3: Hold. Make an opposed grapple check as a free action. If you succeed, you and your target are now grappling and you deal damage to the target as if with an unarmed strike. If you lose, you fail to start the grapple. You automatically lose an attempt to hold if the target is two or more size categories larger than you are. In case of a tie, the combatant with the higher grapple check modifier wins. If this is a tie, roll again to break the tie. Step 4: Maintain Grapple. To maintain the grapple for later rounds, you must move into the target’s space. (This movement is free and does not count as part of your movement in the round.) Moving, as normal, provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening opponents, but not from your target. If you cannot move into your target’s space, you cannot maintain the grapple and must immediately let go of the target. To grapple again, you must begin at Step 1.

Grappling Consequences While you are grappling, your ability to attack others and defend yourself is limited. You are using most of your concentration and every available limb to try and impede your opponent’s movements, making it very difficult to spare any attention or effort against any other foe.

deal lethal damage, you take a –4 penalty on your grapple check.

 

No Dexterity Bonus You lose your Dexterity bonus to Active Defence against opponents you are not grappling. You can still use it against opponents you are grappling. No Movement You cannot move normally while grappling. You may, however, make an opposed grapple check (see the rules for doing so below) to move while grappling. If You Are Grappling When you are grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), you can perform any of the following actions. Some of these actions take the place of an attack, rather than being a standard action or a move action. If your base attack bonus allows you multiple attacks, you can attempt one of these actions in place of each of your attacks, but at successively lower base attack bonuses.

  





Activate a Magic Item: You can activate a magic item that you are holding or wearing. You do not need to make a grapple check to activate the item. Attack Your Opponent: You can make an attack with an unarmed strike, natural weapon or light weapon against another character you are grappling. You take a –4 penalty on such attacks. Pray For A Miracle: You can attempt to pray for a miracle while grappling or even while pinned (see below), provided the praying time is no more than 1 standard action. You must make a Concentration check (DC 20 + magical effect save modifier) or lose the prayer. You do not have to make a successful grapple check to pray for a miracle. Cast An Eye Spell: The only spell you can cast while grappling is one of the variants on the evil eye, as it requires no hand gestures or material ingredients. You must still make a successful Concentration check (DC 20 + magical effect save modifier) or lose the spell. Damage Your Opponent: While grappling, you can deal damage to your opponent equivalent to an unarmed strike. Make an opposed grapple check in place of an attack. If you win, you deal non-lethal damage as normal for your unarmed strike (1d3 points for Medium attackers or 1d2 points for Small attackers, plus Strength modifiers). If you want to









Escape from Grapple: You can escape a grapple by winning an opposed grapple check in place of making an attack. You can make an Escape Artist check in place of your grapple check if you so desire, but this requires a standard action. If more than one opponent is grappling you, your grapple check result has to beat all their individual check results to escape. (Opponents do not have to try to hold you if they do not want to.) If you escape, you finish the action by moving into any space adjacent to your opponent(s).

combat

No Threatened squares You do not threaten any squares while grappling.

Draw a Light Weapon: You can draw a light weapon as a move action with a successful grapple check.

Move: You can move half your speed (bringing all others engaged in the grapple with you) by winning an opposed grapple check. This requires a standard action and you must beat all the other individual check results to move the grapple. Note: You get a +4 bonus on your grapple check to move a pinned opponent, but only if no one else is involved in the grapple. Pin Your Opponent: You can hold your opponent immobile for 1 round by winning an opposed grapple check, made in place of an attack. Once you have an opponent pinned, you have a few options available to you (see below). Break Another’s Pin: If you are grappling an opponent who has another character pinned, you can make an opposed grapple check in place of an attack. If you win, you break the hold that the opponent has over the other character. The character is still grappling, but is no longer pinned. Use Opponent’s Weapon: If your opponent is holding a light weapon, you can use it to attack him. Make an opposed grapple check (in place of an attack). If you win, make an attack roll with the weapon with a –4 penalty (doing this does not require another action). You do not gain possession of the weapon by performing this action.

If You Are Pinning an Opponent You can attempt to damage your opponent with an opposed grapple check, you can attempt to use your opponent’s weapon against him or you can attempt to move the grapple (all described above). At your option, you can prevent a pinned opponent from speaking. You can use a disarm action to remove or grab away a well secured object worn by a pinned opponent, but he gets a +4 bonus on his roll to resist your attempt (see Disarm). You may voluntarily release a pinned character as a free action; if you do so, you are no longer considered to be grappling that character (and vice versa).

147

combat

You cannot draw or use a weapon (against the pinned character or any other character), escape another’s grapple, pin another character or break another’s pin while you are pinning an opponent. If You Are Pinned by an Opponent When an opponent has pinned you, you are held immobile (but not helpless) for 1 round. While you are pinned, you take a –4 penalty to your Active Defence checks against opponents other than the one pinning you. At your opponent’s option, you may also be unable to speak. On your turn, you can try to escape the pin by making an opposed grapple check in place of an attack. You can make an Escape Artist check in place of your grapple check if you want, but this requires a standard action. If you win, you escape the pin, but you are still grappling. Joining a Grapple If your target is already grappling someone else, you can use an attack to start a grapple, as above, except that the target does not get an attack of opportunity against you and your grab automatically succeeds. You still have to make a successful opposed grapple check to become part of the grapple. If there are multiple opponents involved in the grapple, you pick one to make the opposed grapple check against. Multiple Grapplers Several combatants can be in a single grapple. Up to four combatants can grapple a single opponent in a given round. Creatures that are one or more size categories smaller than you count for half, creatures that are one size category larger than you count double and creatures two or more size categories larger count quadruple. When you are grappling with multiple opponents, you choose one opponent to make an opposed check against. The exception is an attempt to escape from the grapple; to successfully escape, your grapple check must beat the check results of each opponent.

Hamstring If you are wielding a weapon that inflicts slashing damage, you may attempt to slash an opponent’s muscles behind the knee as a full-round action. A hamstring attempt provokes an attack of opportunity. You make one (and only one) attack against your opponent, which is made at a –4 penalty. Your opponent may attempt to evade the blow with Active Defence or ward it off with Shield Defence if possible. (If he is wearing armour, this has a chance to intercept the blow as usual.) If you then deal your opponent a grievous wound, you have hamstrung him in one leg. His speed is halved and he can no longer run or charge. A character with both legs hamstrung cannot stand upright and falls prone. He can move no more than a five foot step each round and must take a move action to do so. Creatures with more than two legs, such as horses, can be hamstrung, which is in fact much easier than killing them. This unpleasant practice is, unfortunately, historically authentic and was used as a means of preventing captives from escaping. It was also employed in myth as a means

148

of bringing down huge, unarmoured monsters such as giants. Even Zeus himself was once hamstrung and his immortal sinews stolen and hidden away. Hamstrung characters do not ordinarily recover. In a historical campaign, they never regain their full speed, even if the grievous wound is healed. In a mythic campaign, once the grievous wound is completely healed (not just turned into a normal wound) the character’s speed returns to normal. Any creature that is not vulnerable to critical hits cannot be hamstrung. Exception: Characters with the Improved Hamstring feat do not provoke an attack of opportunity when making a hamstring attempt.

Mounted Combat Horses in Combat Warhorses and warponies can serve readily as combat steeds. Light horses, ponies and heavy horses, however, are frightened by combat. If you do not dismount, you must make a DC 20 Ride check each round as a move action to control such a horse. If you succeed, you can perform a standard action after the move action. If you fail, the move action becomes a full round action and you cannot do anything else until your next turn. Your mount acts on your initiative count as you direct it. A Trojan is Hamstrung

You move at its speed, but the mount uses its action to move. A horse (not a pony) is a Large creature and thus takes up a space 10 feet (2 squares) across. For simplicity, assume that you share your mount’s space during combat.

 

If your mount charges, you also take the penalty to Active Defence and Shield Defence that is associated with a charge. If you make an attack at the end of the charge, you receive the bonus gained from the charge. When charging on horseback, you deal double damage with a lance (see Charge). You can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move, but at a –4 penalty on the attack roll. You can use ranged weapons while your mount is running (quadruple speed), at a –8 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. You can make a full attack with a ranged weapon while your mount is moving. Likewise, you can take move actions normally. Casting Spells while Mounted You can cast a spell normally if your mount moves up to a normal move (its speed) either before or after you cast. If you have your mount move both before and after you cast a spell, then you are casting the spell while the mount is moving and you have to make a Concentration check due to the vigorous motion (DC 10 + magical effect save modifier) or lose the spell. If the mount is running (quadruple speed), you can cast a spell when your mount has moved up to twice its speed, but your Concentration check is more difficult due to the violent motion (DC 15 + magical effect save modifier). If Your Mount Falls in Battle If your mount falls, you have to succeed on a DC 15 Ride check to make a soft fall and take no damage. If the check fails, you take 1d6 points of damage. If You Are Dropped If you are knocked unconscious, you have a 50% chance to stay in the saddle, otherwise you fall and take 1d6 points of damage. Without you to guide it, your mount avoids combat unless it is of greater than animal intelligence. In that case, your mount acts like a creature of its abilities and intellect and is generally controlled by the Games Master.





Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. Since you begin the overrun by moving into the defender’s space, you provoke an attack of opportunity from the defender.

combat

Combat while Mounted With a DC 5 Ride check, you can guide your mount with your knees so as to use both hands to attack or defend yourself. This is a free action. When you attack a creature smaller than your mount that is on foot, you get the +1 bonus on melee attacks for being on higher ground. If your mount moves more than 5 feet, you can only make a single melee attack. Essentially, you have to wait until the mount gets to your enemy before attacking, so you cannot make a full attack. Even at your mount’s full speed, you do not take any penalty on melee attacks while mounted.

Overrun You can attempt an overrun as a standard action taken during your move or as part of a charge. (In general, you cannot take a standard action during a move; this is an exception.) With an overrun, you attempt to plough past or over your opponent (and move through his square) as you move. You can only overrun an opponent who is one size category larger than you, the same size or smaller. You can make only one overrun attempt per round. If you are attempting to overrun an opponent, follow these steps.

Step 2: Opponent Avoids? The defender has the option to simply avoid you. If he avoids you, he does not suffer any ill effect. If you were attempting the overrun as part of a charge, you may keep moving. (You can always move through a square occupied by someone who lets you by.) In either case, the overrun attempt does not count against your actions this round (except for any movement required to enter the opponent’s square). If your opponent does not avoid you, move to Step 3. Step 3: Opponent Blocks? If your opponent blocks you, make a Strength check opposed by the defender’s Dexterity or Strength check (whichever ability score has the higher modifier). A combatant gets a +4 bonus on the check for every size category he is larger than Medium or a –4 penalty for every size category he is smaller than Medium. You gain a +2 bonus on your Strength check if you made the overrun as part of a charge. The defender gets a +4 bonus on his check if he has more than two legs or is otherwise more stable than a normal humanoid. If you win, you knock the defender prone. If you lose, the defender may immediately react and make a Strength check opposed by your Dexterity or Strength check (including the size modifiers noted above, but no other modifiers) to try to knock you prone. Step 4: Consequences. If you succeed in knocking your opponent prone, you can continue your movement as normal. If you fail and are knocked prone in turn, you have to move five feet back the way you came and fall prone, ending your movement there. If you fail but are not knocked prone, you have to move five feet back the way you came, ending your movement there. If that square is occupied, you fall prone in that square.

Improved Overrun If you have the Improved Overrun feat, your target may not choose to avoid you.

149

combat

Mounted Overrun (Trample) If you attempt an overrun while mounted, your mount makes the Strength check to determine the success or failure of the overrun attack (and applies its size modifier, rather than yours). If you have the Trample feat and attempt an overrun while mounted, your target may not choose to avoid you and if you knock your opponent prone with the overrun, your mount may make one hoof attack against your opponent.

Shield Bash Though shields are designed to provide defence against blows, you can also use them offensively, slamming them into opponents to cause additional damage. You can make a shield bash attack as an attack action or as a free action immediately following a melee attack. To make a shield bash attack, you proceed as if you were making an ordinary melee attack but use your Shield Defence bonus instead of your base attack bonus; the roll is thus 1d20 plus your Shield Defence bonus plus your Strength modifier. (You do not add the shield’s Coverage bonus to the attack roll.) If your character has no shield defence bonus, then you simply roll 1d20 plus your Strength modifier. If you make a shield bash attack, you use up one of your Shield Defence uses for the round. If you have already used up your Shield Defence checks, such as by deflecting a blow reactively before your turn, then you cannot make a shield bash. Exception: Characters with the Improved Shield Bash feat may still make their normal number of Shield Defence checks after they have made a shield bash attack, albeit at a –4 penalty to the Shield Defence roll.

Throw Splash Weapon A splash weapon is a ranged weapon that breaks on impact, splashing or scattering its contents over its target and nearby creatures or objects. To attack with a splash weapon, make a ranged touch attack against the target. Thrown weapons require no weapon proficiency, so you do not take the –4 penalty. A hit deals direct hit damage to the target and splash damage to all creatures within five feet of the target.

150

you determine where the weapon landed, it deals splash damage to all creatures in adjacent squares.

Trip You can try to trip an opponent as an unarmed melee attack. You can only trip an opponent who is one size category larger than you, the same size or smaller. Making a Trip Attack Make an unarmed melee attack against your target. This provokes an attack of opportunity from your target as normal for unarmed attacks. If your attack succeeds, make a Strength check opposed by the defender’s Dexterity or Strength check (whichever ability score has the higher modifier). A combatant gets a +4 bonus for every size category he is larger than Medium or a –4 penalty for every size category he is smaller than Medium. The defender also gets a +4 bonus on his check if he has more than two legs or is otherwise more stable than a normal humanoid. If you win, you trip the defender. If you lose, the defender may immediately react and make a Strength check opposed by your Dexterity or Strength check to try to trip you.



Avoiding Attacks of Opportunity: If you have the Improved Trip feat or if you are tripping with a weapon (see below), you do not provoke an attack of opportunity for making a trip attack.

Being Tripped (Prone) A tripped character is prone. Standing up is a move action. Tripping a Mounted Opponent You may make a trip attack against a mounted opponent. The defender may make a Ride check in place of his Dexterity or Strength check. If you succeed, you pull the rider from his mount. Tripping with a Weapon Some weapons can be used to make trip attacks. In this case, you make a melee touch attack with the weapon instead of an unarmed melee touch attack and you do not provoke an attack of opportunity. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the weapon to avoid being tripped.

You can instead target a specific grid intersection. Treat this as a ranged attack against a Passive Defence of 5. However, if you target a grid intersection, creatures in all adjacent squares are dealt the splash damage and the direct hit damage is not dealt to any creature. (You cannot target a grid intersection occupied by a creature, such as a Large or larger creature; in this case, you are aiming at the creature.)

These are ways to change when you act during combat by altering your place in the initiative order.

If you miss the target (whether aiming at a creature or a grid intersection), roll 1d8. This determines the misdirection of the throw, with 1 being straight back at you and 2 through 8 counting clockwise around the grid intersection or target creature. Then, count a number of squares in the indicated direction equal to the range increment of the throw. After

By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act. When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can act normally. You can specify

special initiative actions Delay

this new initiative result or just wait until some time later in the round and act then, thus fixing your new initiative count at that point. You do not get back the time you spend waiting to see what is going to happen, nor can you interrupt anyone else’s action as you can with a readied action.

Initiative Consequences of Delaying

Ready

The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun. Readying is a standard action. It does not provoke an attack of opportunity, though the action that you ready might do so.

Readying an Action You can ready a standard action, a move action or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes as noted below. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action. You can take a five foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you do not otherwise move any distance during the round.

Initiative Consequences of Readying Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the readied action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed your readied action, you do not get to take the readied action, though you can ready the same action again. If you take your readied action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle and you do not get your regular action that round.

Distracting Spellcasters

Readying a Weapon against a Charge You can ready certain piercing weapons, such as spears, setting them to receive charges. A readied weapon of this type deals double damage if you score a hit with it against a charging character.

chariots

Chariots are an important part of battle in the ancient world. They are particularly crucial to the Egyptian method of waging war. An Egyptian chariot was usually a mobile missile platform, carrying an archer and a shield bearer to defend him; these made great swooping attacks that allowed the chariots to come within range of the enemy, slow down to increase accuracy, shower them with missiles and then depart before any counter-attack was possible, repeating this move again and again and thus whittling down the enemy’s ranks. The Assyrians seem to have used a very similar approach.

combat

Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the delayed action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed an action, you do not get to take a delayed action, though you can delay again. If you take a delayed action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle and you do not get your regular action that round.

may lose the spell she was trying to cast, as determined by her Concentration check result.

Only the Greeks have no clear tradition of chariot combat, as the mountainous territory and uneven lands of Hellas were far less suited to it than the flat sandy plains of Egypt. Thus, in Greece the phalanx held sway as the decisive method of combat, with its wall-like structure taking advantage of the limited fighting space to corner, separate and destroy enemy forces. The Greek chariot is seen more as a method of transport than as a war vehicle. Depictions from Ancient Greece show chariots taking generals to the field, but do not depict anyone fighting from them. There are three basic designs of chariot in OGL Ancients, namely the light chariot, the heavy chariot and the Assyrian war chariot. A light chariot is a quicker, less robust model that can achieve higher speeds. An Assyrian war chariot is more heavily built and incorporates a more sturdy barrier that provides cover to the lower parts of the occupants’ bodies. This is especially necessary if one of the occupants is an archer and cannot defend himself with a shield. An Assyrian war chariot is built with large wheels (with eight rather than six spokes) and has enough room for a driver, an archer and two shield-bearers.

Horses This is how many horses are required to pull the chariot. No other creatures may be used in their place.

Passengers Chariots are basically simple three-sided carts with space for two or more passengers. This lists how many people may ride in a chariot.

You can ready an attack against a spellcaster with the trigger ‘if she starts casting a spell’. If you damage the spellcaster, she

151

Speed

through the bodies of warriors to either side, causing terrible carnage. Fitting these to the side of a chariot cost 600 sd.

This is the base speed of the chariot when pulled by the maximum number of horses. As horses are lost through combat or other means, the chariot’s base speed moves to the next number on this line, thus gradually slowing down.

Chariot Movement

Chariots move in initiative order in the same way as any mounted combatant. There are however some important differences. A chariot may turn once at any point in its move, up to the amount listed as its turn rate. Any chariot may make this turn while making a normal or double move but none can normally turn while running.

combat

DR This is how much damage the chariot ignores if it should be attacked. An attack must be made directly at the chariot in order to damage it. Attacks aimed at the chariot’s occupants that strike the chariot’s covering wall are not counted.

In addition, chariots may ‘drift’ up to ten feet left or right for every full thirty feet they move forwards. This is performed as a free action and in no way impedes any other movement the chariot may perform.

Hit Points Every chariot has a number of hit points. When these are reduced to 0, the chariot is destroyed.

A chariot driver may choose to whip his horses harder as a full round action. If he succeeds at a Handle Animal check at DC 10, he may increase his base speed by ten feet for that round only.

Turn Rate The lighter a chariot is, the faster its driver can get it to turn at speed. The first number here is the turn a chariot can make, in degrees, when moving at normal speed. The second number lists how much it can turn when making a double move. No chariot can turn at running speed.

Tight Turns The driver may also attempt to get his chariot to make a much tighter turn than is entirely safe. A driver may choose to make two turns in a round instead of just one, though these must be made at the beginning and end of the move – they may not be made halfway through as a normal turn may. This is a full round action and requires the driver to make a Handle Animal check at DC 12 if he is moving at base speed and DC 15 at double speed. A single turn may be made at running speed, again with a successful Handle Animal check, this time at DC 25.

Cargo All chariots may carry cargo instead of or in addition to any passengers. This amount is listed in this section. However, a chariot will always require a driver to control its movement.

If these checks are failed, the chariot will automatically overturn at the start of the next turn, as covered below in Collisions and Overturning.

Overrun This is the base damage caused by the chariot when performing an overrun attack.

Chariot Combat

Base costs and weights of chariots are provided in the Equipment chapter.

All passengers on board a chariot may make their normal attacks as if they were mounted. (The Mounted Combat feat does not help here but the Chariot Combat feat does.) The chariot driver, however, must always dedicate at least one hand to controlling the horses and so may only fully utilise single-

Persian Scythed Chariots During the reign of Cyrus the Great, iron scythe blades were fitted to the wheels of the Persian chariots. These sliced

152

Type

Horses

Passengers

Speed

Hardness

Hit Points

Turn Rate

Cargo

Overrun

Light Chariot

2

2

6-ft./50-ft.

5

8

90 /45

150 lb.

2d6

Heavy Chariot

2

3

50-ft./40-ft.

5

15

45o/-

250 lb.

3d6

Assyrian War Chariot

2

4

50-ft./40-ft.

5

20

30 /-

300 lb.

4d6

o

o

o

handed weaponry. Any passenger may make an attack at any point in their move; such is the speed of the chariot. This in no way affects the number of actions they may perform each round.

A shield bearer may ride in a war chariot and make Shield Defence checks to protect other passengers. This was standard practice in the ancient world. See the section on Shields above. If any horse is slain whilst pulling a chariot, it must be cut free within one round, as described under Collisions and Overturning or the chariot will automatically overturn.

Sideswipes Any chariot driving moving his vehicle alongside another chariot may choose to sideswipe it as a full round action. The drivers of both chariots must make an opposing Handle Animal check. The winner will cause damage upon the loser’s chariot, as listed below: Damage

Critical

Type

Chariot with scythes Sideswipe

2d8

19-20/x2

Slashing

Chariot without scythes Sideswipe

2d4

20/x2

Bludgeoning

Against Warriors on Foot The passengers of a chariot may attack any warrior on foot as if they were mounted. Those on foot may fight back as if the warriors on the chariot were mounted. However, the driver of a chariot may either overrun his enemies or make scythe attacks against them if the chariot is fitted with blades.

The charioteer must make Handle Animal checks to control his chariot whenever he attempts an extreme action or when a collision looms up ahead. The DCs of such checks are listed below; There is a +5 bonus to this check if the chariot is moving at

Hazards Action

DC

Cutting free a dead horse before chariot overturns

10

Swapping drivers whilst chariot is in motion

10

Hitting medium-sized creature or object

15

Hitting large sized creature or object

20

Hitting an immovable object such as a stone building

30

combat

All chariots, no matter what their size, are assumed to take up a space five feet wide and ten feet long, with the horses directly ahead. Passengers, horses or the chariot itself may be targeted by an attack if within reach or range, though passengers will receive the benefit of cover (+4 to Passive Defence; see the Cover section above) for attacks to the front or sides of their chariot. This is from a low wood-and-leather barrier running round the sides and front of the chariot. Passengers receive no benefit for attacks originating from the rear of their chariot.

Collisions and Overturning

One of the most impressive sights on the battlefield is that of a chariot moving at full speed then, for whatever reason, overturning. Wood, warriors and horses all tumble and break apart as the entire mess is veiled by a cloud of dust and blood. Few ever survive such accidents and it is often only the skill of the charioteer that can avoid such tragedy.

base speed or slower and a –5 penalty if it is moving at running speed. If the Handle Animal check is successful, the chariot neatly avoids the obstacle or swerves at the last moment. In the case of avoiding the arena wall, the chariot is placed alongside the wall, its driver having brought his horses up short at the last possible moment. Games Masters are encouraged to use the above examples as a base should their players ever attempt an action not listed here. If the driver passes his check, he succeeds in the action he was attempting or manages to avoid tragedy, as appropriate. If he fails the check by 5 points or less, the chariot must move in a completely straight line for the next round. No turns or drifts may be attempted. If the chariot cannot move straight ahead for whatever reason (an immovable object being directly in front of it for example), then the chariot will automatically overturn. If he fails by more than 5 points, the chariot will overturn.

Overturning

Overrun attacks are detailed above. If successful, such an attack will cause an additional amount of damage to the target equal to the Overrun score of the chariot, as covered above.

If a chariot overturns, the chariot itself, along with all passengers and horses, take an amount of damage equal to the Overrun score of the chariot. Passengers may make a Reflex saving throw at DC 20 to halve this damage.

Scythe attacks are made as a chariot moves adjacent to any suitable target and count as a melee attack action. The driver must make a Handle Animal check opposed by the target’s Reflex saving throw. If the target succeeds, he manages to dodge the attack. If the chariot driver wins, the scythes cut through the target, with devastating results. Use the scythe damage listed above, doubling the damage if the chariot is making a double move or faster.

An overturned chariot, if it survives intact, takes 1d6 minutes to put right and re-hitch any living horses. As battles frequently last several hours, with brief rests between engagements, this is quite commonly done on the battlefield. The combined Strength required is equal to the original hit points of the chariot.

153

Adventuring

adventuring

This chapter deals with the basics of moving around in the ancient world.

carrying capacity

Encumbrance rules are based largely on a character’s Strength score and determine how much a character’s armour and equipment slow him down. Encumbrance comes in two parts: encumbrance by armour and encumbrance by total weight. The former is not truly affected by Strength as it deals largely with the limits of mobility imposed by the armour itself. The latter is entirely based on Strength, as the stronger a character is, the greater the load he she can handle without succumbing to the slowing effects of heavy and unwieldy burdens.

Encumbrance by Armour

A character’s body armour defines his maximum Dexterity bonus to Active Defence, armour check penalty, speed and running speed. Unless your character is weak or carrying a lot of gear, this is all you need to know. The extra gear your character carries will not slow him down any more than the armour already does. If your character is weak or carrying a lot of gear, however, then you will need to calculate encumbrance by weight. Doing so is most important when your character is trying to carry some heavy object.

Weight

If you want to determine whether your character’s gear is heavy enough to slow him down more than the armour already does, total the weight of all the character’s items, including armour, weapons and gear. Compare this total to the character’s Carrying Capacity as determined by Strength; see the table below. Depending on how the weight compares to the character’s carrying capacity, he may be carrying a light, medium or heavy load. Like armour, a character’s load affects his maximum Dexterity bonus to Active Defence, carries a check penalty (which works like an armour check penalty), reduces the character’s speed and affects how fast the character can run, as shown on the table entitled Carrying Loads. A medium or heavy load counts as medium or heavy armour for the purpose of abilities or skills that are restricted by armour. Carrying a light load does not encumber a character. If a character is wearing armour, use the worse figure (from armour or from load) for each category. Do not stack the penalties, as a character can only suffer from one set of encumbrance penalties at a given time.

Lifting and Dragging

A character can lift as much as his maximum load over his head. A character can lift as much as double his maximum load off the ground, but he can only stagger around with it. While overloaded in this way, the character loses any Dexterity bonus to Active Defence and can move only five feet per

154

Carrying Capacity Strength Score

Light Load

Medium Load

Heavy Load

1

3 lb. or less

4–6 lb.

7–10 lb.

2

6 lb. or less

7–13 lb.

14–20 lb.

3

10 lb. or less

11–20 lb.

21–30 lb.

4

13 lb. or less

14–26 lb.

27–40 lb.

5

16 lb. or less

17–33 lb.

34–50 lb.

6

20 lb. or less

21–40 lb.

41–60 lb.

7

23 lb. or less

24–46 lb.

47–70 lb.

8

26 lb. or less

27–53 lb.

54–80 lb.

9

30 lb. or less

31–60 lb.

61–90 lb.

10

33 lb. or less

34–66 lb.

67–100 lb.

11

38 lb. or less

39–76 lb.

77–115 lb.

12

43 lb. or less

44–86 lb.

87–130 lb.

13

50 lb. or less

51–100 lb.

101–150 lb.

14

58 lb. or less

59–116 lb.

117–175 lb.

15

66 lb. or less

67–133 lb.

134–200 lb.

16

76 lb. or less

77–153 lb.

154–230 lb.

17

86 lb. or less

87–173 lb.

174–260 lb.

18

100 lb. or less

101–200 lb.

201–300 lb.

19

116 lb. or less

117–233 lb.

234–350 lb.

20

133 lb. or less

134–266 lb.

267–400 lb.

21

153 lb. or less

154–306 lb.

307–460 lb.

22

173 lb. or less

174–346 lb.

347–520 lb.

23

200 lb. or less

201–400 lb.

401–600 lb.

24

233 lb. or less

234–466 lb.

467–700 lb.

25

266 lb. or less

267–533 lb.

534–800 lb.

26

306 lb. or less

307–613 lb.

614–920 lb.

27

346 lb. or less

347–693 lb.

694–1,040 lb.

28

400 lb. or less

401–800 lb.

801–1,200 lb.

29

466 lb. or less

467–933 lb.

934–1,400 lb.

+10

x4

x4

x4

round (as a full-round action). A character can generally push or drag along the ground as much as five times his maximum load. Favourable conditions can double these numbers and bad circumstances can reduce them to one-half or less.

Bigger and Smaller Creatures

The figures on the Carrying Capacity table are for Medium bipedal creatures. A larger bipedal creature can carry more weight depending on its size category, as follows: Large x2, Huge x4, Gargantuan x8, Colossal x16. A smaller creature can carry less weight depending on its size category, as follows: Small x3/4, Tiny x1/2, Diminutive x1/4, Fine x1/8.

Tremendous Strength

Some mythical monsters and heroes have Strength scores beyond even that tabulated here. For Strength scores not shown on the Carrying Capacity table, find the Strength score between 20 and 29 that has the same number in the ‘ones’ digit as the creature’s Strength score does and multiply the numbers in that for by 4 for every ten points the creature’s strength is above the score for that row.

Armour and Encumbrance for Other Base Speeds

The table below provides reduced speed figures for all base speeds from 20 feet to 100 feet (in 10 foot increments).

movement

There are three movement scales, as follows.



Tactical, for combat, measured in feet (or squares) per round.



Local, for exploring an area, measured in feet per minute.



Overland, for getting from place to place, measured in miles per hour or miles per day.

Modes of Movement: While moving at the different movement scales, creatures generally walk, hustle or run. Each type of movement affects the speed of the character and the types of action that can be performed at the same time. The Combat chapter will explain simultaneous actions in greater detail. Walk: A walk represents unhurried but purposeful movement at 3 miles per hour for an unencumbered person. Hustle: A hustle is a jog at about 6 miles per hour for an unencumbered human. A character moving his speed twice in a single round or moving that speed in the same round that he performs a standard action or another move action is hustling when he moves. Run (x3): Moving three times speed is a running pace for a character in heavy armour. It represents about 9 miles per

Tactical Movement

Use tactical movement for combat. Characters generally do not walk during combat—they hustle or run. A character who moves his speed and takes some action is hustling for about half the round and doing something else the other half. Hampered Movement: Difficult terrain, obstacles or poor visibility can hamper movement. When movement is hampered, each square moved into usually counts as two squares, effectively reducing the distance that a character can cover in a move. If more than one condition applies, multiply together all additional costs that apply. (This is a specific exception to the normal rule for doubling.) In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you do not have sufficient speed even to move five feet (1 square). In such a case, you may use a full-round action to move five feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally. Even though this looks like a five foot step, it is not and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally. (You cannot take advantage of this rule to move through impassable terrain or to move when all movement is prohibited to you.) You cannot run or charge through any square that would hamper your movement.

Local Movement

40-ft.

Characters exploring an area use local movement, measured in feet per minute. Walk: A character can walk without a problem on the local scale. Hustle: A character can hustle without a problem on the local scale. See Overland Movement, below, for movement measured in miles per hour. Reduced Speed Run: A character with a Constitution score of 9 or higher can run for a minute without 15-ft. a problem. Generally, a character can run 20-ft. for a minute or two before having to rest 30-ft. for a minute

50-ft.

35-ft.

60-ft.

40-ft.

70-ft.

50-ft.

80-ft.

55-ft.

90-ft.

60-ft.

100-ft.

70-ft.

Base Speed 20-ft. 30-ft.

adventuring

Quadrupeds can carry hour for a human in a Carrying Loads heavier loads than bronze cuirass or other –—— Speed —–— characters can. Instead heavy combat armour. of the multipliers given Run (x4): Moving four Load Max Dex Check Penalty (30-ft.) (20-ft.) Run above, multiply the times speed is a running Medium +3 –3 20-ft. 15-ft. x4 value corresponding to pace for a character in Heavy +1 –6 20-ft. 15-ft. x3 the creature’s Strength light, medium or no score from the Carrying armour. It represents Capacity table by the appropriate modifier, as follows: Fine about 12 miles per hour for an unencumbered human or x1/4, Diminutive x1/2, Tiny x3/4, Small x1, Medium x1-1/2, 8 miles per hour for a human in scale armour or a leather Large x3, Huge x6, Gargantuan x12, Colossal x24. harness.

Overland Movement

Characters covering long distances crosscountry use overland movement. Overland movement is measured in miles per hour

155

Movement and Distance

Hampered Movement

——————— Speed ——–———— 15-ft.

20-ft.

30-ft.

40-ft.

adventuring

One Round (Tactical)*

Additional Movement Cost

Difficult terrain

x2

Walk

15-ft.

20-ft.

30-ft.

40-ft.

Obstacle*

x2

Hustle

30-ft.

40-ft.

60-ft.

80-ft.

Poor visibility

x2

Run (x3)

45-ft.

60-ft.

90-ft.

120-ft.

Impassable

—

Run (x4)

60-ft.

80-ft.

120-ft.

160-ft.

* May require a skill check

One Minute (Local) Walk

150-ft.

200-ft.

300-ft.

400-ft.

Hustle

300-ft.

400-ft.

600-ft.

800-ft.

Run (x3)

450-ft.

600-ft.

900-ft.

1,200-ft.

Run (x4)

600-ft.

800-ft.

1,200-ft.

1,600-ft.

One Hour (Overland) Walk

1-1/2 miles

2 miles

3 miles

4 miles

Hustle

3 miles

4 miles

6 miles

8 miles

Run

—

—

—

—

One Day (Overland) Walk

12 miles

16 miles

24 miles

32 miles

Hustle

—

—

—

—

Run

—

—

—

—

* Tactical movement is often measured in squares on the battle grid (1 square = 5-ft.) rather than feet.

or miles per day. A day represents 8 hours of actual travel time. For rowed watercraft, a day represents 10 hours of rowing. For a sailing ship, it represents 24 hours.

Walk A character can walk 8 hours in a day of travel without a problem. Walking for longer than that can wear him out (see Forced March, below).

Hustle A character can hustle for 1 hour without a problem. Hustling for a second hour in between sleep cycles deals 1 point of nonlethal damage and each additional hour deals twice the damage taken during the previous hour of hustling. A character who takes any non-lethal damage from hustling becomes fatigued. A fatigued character cannot run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength and Dexterity. Eliminating the non-lethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

Run A character cannot run for an extended period of time. Attempting to run and rest in cycles, which is the preferred method for long distance overland travel when time is not an important factor or in short supply, effectively works out to a hustle.

156

Condition

Terrain The terrain through which a character travels affects how much distance he can cover in an hour or a day (see Terrain and Overland Movement). A highway is a straight, major, paved road. A road is typically a dirt track. A trail is like a road, except that it allows only single-file travel and does not benefit a party travelling with vehicles. Trackless terrain is a wild area with no paths.

Forced March In a day of normal walking, a character walks for 8 hours. The rest of the daylight time is spent making and breaking camp, resting and eating. A character can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, a Constitution check (DC 10, +2 per extra hour) is required. If the check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of non-lethal damage. A character who takes any non-lethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the non-lethal damage also eliminates the fatigue. It is very possible for a character to march into unconsciousness by pushing himself too hard on a forced march.

Mounted Movement A mount bearing a rider can move at a hustle. The damage it takes when doing so, however, is lethal damage, not non-lethal damage. The creature can also be ridden in a forced march, but its Constitution checks automatically fail and, again, the damage it takes is lethal damage. Mounts also become fatigued when they take any damage from hustling or forced marches.

Terrain and Overland Movement Terrain

Highway

Road or Trail

Trackless

Desert, sandy

x1

x1/2

x1/2

Forest

x1

x1

x1/2

Hills

x1

x3/4

x1/2

Jungle

x1

x3/4

x1/4

Moor

x1

x1

x3/4

Mountains

x3/4

x3/4

x1/2

Plains

x1

x1

x3/4

Swamp

x1

x3/4

x1/2

Tundra, frozen

x1

x3/4

x3/4

Three Dimensional Movement

Evasion and Pursuit In round-by-round movement, simply counting off squares, it is impossible for a slow character to get away from a determined fast character without mitigating circumstances. Likewise, it is no problem for a fast character to get away from a slower one. When the speeds of the two concerned characters are equal, there is a simple way to resolve a chase: If one creature is pursuing another, both are moving at the same speed and the chase continues for at least a few rounds, have them make

Mount/Vehicle

Per Hour

Per Day

Light horse or light warhorse

6 miles

48 miles

Light horse (151–450 lb.)

4 miles

32 miles

Light warhorse (231–690 lb.)1

4 miles

32 miles

Heavy horse or heavy warhorse

5 miles

40 miles

Heavy horse (201–600 lb.)

3-1/2 miles

28 miles

Heavy warhorse (301–900 lb.)1

3-1/2 miles

28 miles

Pony or warpony

4 miles

32 miles

Pony (76–225 lb.)1

3 miles

24 miles

Warpony (101–300 lb.)

3 miles

24 miles

Donkey or mule

3 miles

24 miles

Donkey (51–150 lb.)1

2 miles

16 miles

Mule (231–690 lb.)

2 miles

16 miles

Dog, riding

4 miles

32 miles

Dog, riding (101–300 lb.)1

3 miles

24 miles

Cart or wagon

2 miles

16 miles

Raft or barge (poled or towed)2

1/2 mile

5 miles

Keelboat (rowed)

1 mile

10 miles

Rowboat (rowed)

1-1/2 miles

15 miles

Sailing ship (sailed)

2 miles

48 miles

Warship (sailed and rowed)

2-1/2 miles

60 miles

Longship (sailed and rowed)

3 miles

72 miles

Galley (rowed and sailed)

4 miles

96 miles

Mount (carrying load) 1

1

1

1

adventuring

Once movement becomes three-dimensional and involves turning in midair and maintaining a minimum velocity to stay aloft, it gets more complicated. Most flying creatures have to slow down at least a little to make a turn and many are limited to fairly wide turns and must maintain a minimum forward speed. Each flying creature has a manoeuvrability, as shown on Table: Manoeuvrability. The entries on the table are defined below.  Minimum Forward Speed: If a flying creature fails to maintain its minimum forward speed, it must land at the end of its movement. If it is too high above the ground to land, it falls straight down, descending 150 feet in the first round of falling. If this distance brings it to the ground, it takes falling damage. If the fall doesn’t bring the creature to the ground, it must spend its next turn recovering from the stall. It must succeed on a DC 20 Reflex save to recover. Otherwise it falls another 300 feet. If it hits the ground, it takes falling damage. Otherwise, it has another chance to recover on its next turn.  Hover: The ability to stay in one place while airborne.  Move Backward: The ability to move backward without turning around.  Reverse: A creature with good manoeuvrability uses up five feet of its speed to start flying backward.  Turn: How much the creature can turn after covering the stated distance.  Turn in Place: A creature with good or average manoeuvrability can use some of its speed to turn in place.  Maximum Turn: How much the creature can turn in any one space.  Up Angle: The angle at which the creature can climb.  Up Speed: How fast the creature can climb.  Down Angle: The angle at which the creature can descend.  Down Speed: A flying creature can fly down at twice its normal flying speed.  Between Down and Up: An average, poor or clumsy flier must fly level for a minimum distance after descending and before climbing. Any flier can begin descending after a climb without an intervening distance of level flight.

Mounts and Vehicles

Ship 2 2

Quadrupeds, such as horses, can carry heavier loads than characters can. See Carrying Capacity, above, for more information. 1

Rafts, barges, keelboats and rowboats are used on lakes and rivers. If going downstream, add the speed of the current (typically 3 miles per hour) to the speed of the vehicle. In addition to 10 hours of being rowed, the vehicle can also float an additional 14 hours, if someone can guide it, so add an additional 42 miles to the daily distance travelled. These vehicles cannot be rowed against any significant current, but they can be pulled upstream by draft animals on the shores. 2

opposed Dexterity checks to see who is the faster over those rounds. If the creature being chased wins, it escapes. If the pursuer wins, it catches the fleeing creature. Sometimes a chase occurs overland and could last all day, with the two sides only occasionally getting glimpses of each other at a distance. In the case of a long chase, an opposed Constitution check made by all parties determines which can keep pace the longest. If the creature being chased rolls the highest, it gets away. If not, the chaser runs down its prey, outlasting it with stamina.

157

character. A creature in an area of shadowy Manoeuvrability illumination can make a Hide check to Perfect Good Average Poor Clumsy conceal itself. In areas Minimum forward speed None None Half Half Half of darkness, creatures Hover Yes Yes No No No are effectively Move backward Yes Yes No No No blinded. In addition to the obvious effects, Reverse Free –5-ft. No No No a blinded creature Turn Any 90º/5-ft. 45º/5-ft. 45º/5-ft. 45º/10-ft. has a 50% miss Turn in place Any +90º/–5-ft. +45º/–5-ft. No No chance in combat (all Maximum turn Any Any 90º 45º 45º opponents have total concealment), loses Up angle Any Any 60º 45º 45º any Dexterity bonus Up speed Full Half Half Half Half to Active Defence Down angle Any Any Any 45º 45º and any bonus to Sheild Defence, takes Down speed Double Double Double Double Double a –2 penalty to Active Between down and up 0 0 5-ft. 10-ft. 20-ft. Defence, moves at half speed and takes a Moving Within a Single Square –4 penalty on Search checks and most Strength and DexterityIn general, when the characters are not engaged in round-bybased skill checks. round combat, they should be able to move anywhere and in any manner that you can imagine real people could. A five Breaking Objects foot square, for instance, can hold several characters; they just When attempting to break an object, you have two choices: cannot all fight effectively in that small space. The rules for smash it with a weapon or break it with sheer strength. movement are important for combat, but outside combat they Breaking objects can also be accomplished through the can impose unnecessary hindrances on character activities. application of energy other than kinetic, but the basic rules for doing so are largely unchanged. Exceptions to this principle Vision and Lighting are noted below when appropriate.

adventuring

Manoeuvrability

Conditions

Some monstrous entities, such as gorgons, can see in the dark, but ordinary humans need light to see by. See the table below for the radius that a light source illuminates and how long it lasts. In an area of bright light, all characters can see clearly. A creature cannot hide in an area of bright light unless it is invisible or has cover. In an area of shadowy illumination, a character can see dimly. Creatures within this area have concealment relative to that

Light Sources and Illumination Object

Bright

Shadowy

Duration

Candle

n/a

5-ft.

1 hr.

Lamp, common

15-ft.

30-ft.

6 hr./pint

Lantern, hooded

30-ft.

60-ft.

6 hr./pint

Torch

20-ft.

40-ft.

1 hr.

Spell

Bright

Shadowy

Duration

Witchglow

20-ft.

40-ft.

One night

Create Light

20-ft.

40-ft.

10 min.

1

A candle does not provide bright illumination, only shadowy illumination. 1

158

Smashing an Object To smash an object, make an attack roll against the object’s Passive Defence. Generally, you can smash an object only with a bludgeoning or slashing weapon. Defence For Objects Objects are easier to hit than creatures because they usually do not move. An object cannot make Active Defence or Shield Defence checks; it also has an additional –2 penalty to its Passive Defence if it is completely immobile. Furthermore, if you take a full-round action to line up a shot, you get an automatic hit with a melee weapon and a +5 bonus on attack rolls with a ranged weapon. Damage Reduction Each object has damage reduction, a number that represents how well it resists damage. Whenever an object takes damage, subtract its damage reduction rating from the damage. Only damage in excess of the damage reduction rating is deducted from the object’s hit points. Hit Points An object’s hit point total depends on what it is made of and how big it is. When an object’s hit points reach 0, it is ruined. Very large objects, such as wagons or ships, may have separate hit point totals for different sections or locations.

Substance Damage Reduction and Hit Points

Object Damage Reduction and Hit Points

DR

Hit Points

Papyrus or cloth

0

2/inch of thickness

Object

DR

Hit Points

Break DC

Rope

0

2/inch of thickness

Hempen Rope (1 inch diam.)

0

2

23

Pottery

1

1/inch of thickness

Simple wooden door

5

10

13

5

1

17

Ice

0

3/inch of thickness

Small chest

Leather or hide

2

5/inch of thickness

Good wooden door

5

15

18

Wood

5

10/inch of thickness

Treasure chest

5

15

23

5

20

23

Stone

8

15/inch of thickness

Strong wooden door

Bronze

9

25/inch of thickness

Masonry wall (1-ft. thick)

8

90

35

Iron or steel

10

30/inch of thickness

Hewn stone (3-ft. thick)

8

540

50

Chain

10

5

26

Manacles

10

10

26

Masterwork manacles

10

10

28

Iron door (2 in. thick)

10

60

28



   



Energy Attacks: Acid attacks deal damage to most objects just as they do to creatures; roll damage and apply it normally after a successful hit. Fire attacks deal half damage to most objects; divide the damage dealt by 2 before applying the damage reduction. Cold attacks deal one-quarter damage to most objects; divide the damage dealt by 4 before applying the damage reduction. Ranged Weapon Damage: Objects take half damage from ranged weapons. Divide the damage dealt by 2 before applying the object’s damage reduction. Ineffective Weapons: Certain weapons just cannot effectively deal damage to certain objects. Immunities: Objects are immune to non-lethal damage and to critical hits. Vulnerability to Certain Attacks: Certain attacks are especially successful against some objects. In such cases, attacks deal double their normal damage and may ignore the object’s hardness. Damaged Objects: A damaged object, other than armour and shields, remains fully functional until the item’s hit points are reduced to 0, at which point it is

adventuring

Substance

destroyed. Damaged (but not destroyed) objects can be repaired with the Craft skill. Saving Throws Unattended items never make saving throws. They are considered to have failed their saving throws, so they always are affected by spells. An item attended by a character (being grasped, touched or worn) makes saving throws as the character, that is, using the character’s saving throw bonus. Breaking Items When a character tries to break something with sudden force rather than by dealing damage, use a Strength check (rather than an attack roll and damage roll) to see whether he succeeds. The DC depends more on the construction of the item than on the material. If an item has lost half or more of its hit points, the DC to break it drops by 2. Larger and smaller creatures get size bonuses and size penalties on Strength checks to break open doors as follows: Fine –16, Diminutive –12, Tiny –8, Small –4, Large +4, Huge +8, Gargantuan +12, Colossal +16.

DCs to Break or Burst Items Strength Check to:

DC

Break down simple door

13

Break down good door

18

Break down strong door

23

Burst rope bonds

23

Bend iron bars

24

Break down barred door

25

Burst chain bonds

26

Break down iron door

28

159

magic and miracles

Magic and Miracles

This section deals with the use of magical skills to achieve spectacular ends. The working of magic is exclusive to mythic styles of campaign, as it involves wonders that are the stuff of legend, such as staves turning to serpents or men being transformed into pigs. There are three skills associated with working magic. These are Witchcraft, the province of Greek women and occasionally men; Prayer, common to priests of all kinds; and Hekau, the ancient Egyptian practice of shaping the astral currents. Witchcraft specialises in changing things (such as the perceptions or the forms of other people), invoking spirits and making magical unguents and potions. Prayer specialises in blessings, invoking the wrath or benison of a given deity and fortifying allies. Hekau specialises in making magical objects, in altering the state of material things and in creating undead creatures. Characters using the Witchcraft and Hekau skills, as well as characters using the Prayer skill in conjunction with the Work Miracle class feature, can all work magical effects. When produced by Witchcraft or Hekau, these are called spells; when delivered as an answer to prayer, these are called miracles. The magical skills are used to achieve effects, such as induce fear or create matter. Each effect has a DC, which your skill check must equal or exceed in order for the effect to happen. Various influences can alter the DC, such as expanding the effect of the spell to include more than one creature.

praying and casting

Praying for a miracle and casting a spell are really very much alike, in terms of what the petitioner or caster actually does. The person producing the magical effect takes a standard action to speak words and sometimes to make gestures, after which the effect either does or does not happen, depending on the result of the skill check. Ordinarily, the Prayer, Witchcraft or Hekau skill check is the only check that needs to be made. The target of the spell may make a saving throw if the spell allows for it. Some effects, however, do not automatically reach their targets. They need to be combined with a successful attack in order to affect the target. There are three kinds of magical effect that require an attack in order to be delivered to the target, namely touch effects, ray effects and gaze effects. Touch Effects: A spell or miracle that is delivered by touch, such as hand of pestilence, needs the caster to make a successful

160

melee attack with an open hand against the target. (Casters count as armed when trying to deliver a touch effect, so they do not provoke attacks of opportunity.) Armour and shields have no power to block such spells, so the only way to oppose the melee attack is with Active Defence. If the melee attack is unsuccessful, the spell is lost. Ray Effects: These effects, such as spitting cobra, produce a ray that must hit the target in order for the magic to affect him. Once the spell is cast or the miracle granted, the caster must make a ranged attack roll to strike the target with the ray. As with touch effects, armour and shields do not protect a target from a spell. If the ray misses, then the spell is lost. Gaze Effects: These effects, which include such well-known effects as the evil eye, are delivered with eye contact. A gaze attack always succeeds if the target is within range, has his eyes open and can see the caster. A person who expects that he will become the target of a gaze attack can take precautions to avoid it. He may avert his eyes when interacting with or fighting the caster. This allows any gaze attack directed at him a 50% chance of missing, thus wasting the spell. However, if you avert your gaze from an opponent, they benefit from concealment against your attacks, giving all of your attacks a 50% miss chance; see the Combat chapter.

Sustaining And Extending Spells

Some miracles and spells have a set duration. They last for a set amount of time, after which they expire and the effect ceases. Other spells can be sustained, meaning that you continue to expend energy in order to keep the spell’s effect running or extended, meaning that you invest more energy in the spell when it is cast so that it will last for a longer time. Spells that can be extended cannot be sustained and vice versa. You decide to sustain a spell with each successive round and may choose not to, thus ending the spell; you decide to extend a spell in the moment of casting, not afterwards and may not recoup hit points invested in the casting. Sustaining Spells: Some spells (but not miracles) can be sustained past the first round of effect. By investing further hit points in the spell, you can continue to benefit from its effects. For example, you can cast a silvertongue spell in secret (spending two hit points), sustain it for long enough to talk your way into a city by spending one point per minute, then allow the spell to expire. You can only sustain a total number of spells at once equal to your experience level divided by 3, rounded down. Extending Spells: Some spells (but not miracles) can be cast so as to have a longer lasting effect than usual. For example, the cloud mind spell costs 2 hit points to cast normally and lasts for 3 rounds. It has a ‘cost to extend’ of one hit point per round, so you can cast a cloud mind spell powered with 5 hit points that would last for three additional rounds.

First-Time Casting

There are no set limits as to which spells can be cast or which miracles prayed for by a given character. You do not gain new spells as you advance in level. The DC of some of the most powerful spells places them out of the feasible reach of a beginning character but there is no reason why they should not attempt them if they had managed to garner enough bonuses to their check. Witches in particular can achieve far more in a group of three than they can on their own, attempting spells that would be out of the reach of the individual members acting alone. So long as you have the necessary skill to produce a given magical effect, then you can attempt to produce that effect. However, you do not necessarily know from experience how to go about it, so the first couple of times you attempt to produce the effect are harder than those attempts you make once you are familiar with the process. All freshly created characters begin without having cast any spells or prayed for any miracles before in their lives, except for any that they mark down as ‘known’ according to the rules of character creation. Their knowledge of such things is entirely technical and not yet practical. Although they know in their minds that they could probably produce a given effect, they are not fully confident until they have actually done so. Once they are used to casting a given spell or praying for a given miracle, they find it much easier. Accordingly, the DC of each magical effect is raised by +4 on the first time a given character ever attempts to produce it. If he fails, the +4 increase is still in effect the next time he tries

it. If he succeeds, the DC is only raised by +2 on the second occasion on which he attempts to produce the effect. Again, a failed check does not lower the DC. If you manage to cast the spell successfully a second time, then no further DC modifiers of this kind apply in future. To keep track of this, mark off each effect that you successfully produce once with a single stroke and then make that into an X on the second successful casting. As you extend your reach further and attempt more and more challenging effects, they will become easier. A successfully cast spell is a successfully cast spell irrespective of how much help you may have had. It does not matter if you had other people assisting you or had to spend hours on ritual preparations. So long as you were the caster and you cast successfully, your familiarity with the spell increases. Those who assisted you do not gain any additional familiarity; however, they are not themselves subject to any DC increase while aiding you. For example, if a novice witch is attempting to cast silver tongue for the first time ever, the DC of 10 is increased to 14. If another witch assists her, her aid another use of the Witchcraft skill is made at the usual DC of 10. However, she would gain no familiarity with silver tongue even if the first witch cast the spell successfully. Witches sometimes practice spells together, taking it in turns to be the chief caster, with the others helping. In this way, they can increase their repertoire of known spells.

magic and miracles

Some spells can be extended in space, rather than time, with the expenditure of more hit points. For example, the change substance spell alters one cubic foot of material, changing it into material of a different kind. By expending additional hit points, you can influence more material.

Divine Points: Divine points can only be used on tasks that are familiar to you. You may not use divine points to increase the Prayer, Hekau or Witchcraft skill check made to cast a spell or produce a miracle for the first or second time. Once you have succeeded twice and the spell or miracle is ‘known’, then you may increase the relevant skill check with Divine Points. Intuitive Grasp: Characters with the Intuitive Grasp feat do not suffer from these DC modifiers. They cast spells or pray for miracles at the normal DC, whether or not they have ever done so before. Their ingenuity allows them to compensate for their lack of experience. All spells and miracles count as ‘known’ to them. They may also spend Divine Points on spellcasting or praying for miracles whether or not the character has ever produced the magical effect before.

The Cost of Magic

Spells and miracles cannot be thrown about willy-nilly. The ability to work magic does not mean that you have an

161

magic and miracles

inexhaustible supply of it. Even the most accomplished witches and magicians are limited to what they can achieve; even the priests most beloved of their deities are not supplied with miracles whenever they want them. Miracles: Miracles are worked at no personal cost to the caster, but are harder to achieve the more of them you ask for in a day; the DC of the Prayer check increases based on how many miracles you have already been granted or have asked for but have not received. Gods are not inclined to answer repeated requests from their mortal petitioners. Your first miracle of the day is always free. Every request for a miracle after the first increases the DC of the Prayer check necessary to achieve it by +2. So, your first prayer for a miracle is made at no penalty, your second is made at +2 DC, your third is made at a +4 DC and so on. The DC reverts back to normal with the dawning of the sun, so a ‘day’ is defined as the period from one day’s dawn to the next. The exception is for those who worship Hecate, Set or Apophis; their days are defined as the dusk of one day to the dusk of the next. For this reason, the priests and priestesses of these deities are at their strongest just as the hours of night begin. As priests and priestesses advance in level, they are allowed an increased number of ‘free’ miracles per day before the DC of the Prayer check starts to increase. This represents their deity’s increasing regard for them and willingness to intercede in the mortal realms on their behalf. Witchcraft and Hekau: Witchcraft and Hekau spells draw energy directly from the body of the caster and cost you a certain amount of hit points to cast. This loss of hit points does not inflict wounds upon the caster but instead draws vitality from them, leaving them physically weaker than before. Both these skills have a method whereby you can lessen the hit point cost for particular kinds of effect; see Chapter 5, Feats, for details. Witches and Egyptian priests also become able to ignore a portion of the hit point cost for spells as they advance in level, so that they become able to cast certain simple spells at will. A witch (and only a witch) can use witches’ herbs to fuel her spells instead of drawing from her own body. Even if another character has skill ranks in Witchcraft, they do not have access to this class feature and must draw upon their own hit points for casting purposes. Details of how many hit points’ worth of energy can be drawn from a single dose of herbs of each kind may be found in the section on Herbs in the Equipment chapter. If herbs are used in a casting and the skill check fails, the herbs are still used up, as they are scattered and destroyed in the course of the casting. An Egyptian priest (and only an Egyptian priest) can use energy stored in power amulets to fuel his spells instead of drawing from his own body. Preparation of a power amulet

162

is a consecration magical effect that is available to Hekau wielders only. See the list of magical effects below for details. Variable Cost: Some magical effects produced by Witchcraft or Hekau allow the caster to invest a variable number of hit points beyond a set minimum. This increased investment amplifies the power or the scope of the spell. For example, eye of smiting allows the caster to inflict 1d4 points of damage per hit point invested in the spell with a minimum of 1, so if you invested 10 of your own hit points, you would cause 10d4 points of damage with a successful gaze attack. If the skill check to cast the spell fails, then the cost of the spell is deemed to be that which the caster set. So, if you did invest 10 hit points in an eye of smiting spell and your check failed, the cost of the spell would still be 10 hit points, not 1. Failing Your Skill Check: Failing the necessary skill check to achieve the effect does not apply the full consequence of the effect, only half of it. If you were praying for a miracle and your Prayer check failed, then you only apply a +1 increase to the DC of the next miracle you pray for that day, instead of a +2 increase. Your deity is still mindful of the bother you have caused him, even if it was not as severe as the bother that would have resulted from granting you the miracle. If you fail the skill check to produce a Witchcraft or Hekau effect by less than 10, you incur a loss of half the cost of the spell in hit points, rounded down, to a minimum of one. Failed magic is still draining, though not as much so as if you had channelled your own energy into the spell effect. If you were using herbs or a power amulet to cast with, then the loss is drawn from that source as far as is possible. For example, if a failed check cost you seven hit points and you were using witches’ herbs to help fuel the spell, the herbs would account for five of those points and the remaining two would come from you. If you fail a Witchcraft or Hekau spell by 10 or more, then you pay the full cost of the spell in hit points. This is what dissuades younger, less experienced casters from attempting the more spectacular magical effects. If you lose a spell because you are distracted and fail your Concentration check, then you proceed as if you had failed the skill check. Failing the Concentration check by less than 10 causes a loss of half the spell’s cost, while failure by more than 10 causes you to lose the full amount.

The Moon

The progress of the moon has a pronounced effect on the effectiveness of the Witchcraft skill. Different types of magical effect are easier to produce during certain stages of the moon and harder to produce during others. For this reason, witches congregate at those times of the moon when the currents are in their favour, scheduling their workings to coincide with the most beneficial lunar phase.

Dark Moon: The time of the moon’s darkness is when the most baneful powers of the witch come to the fore. (Some would, of course, argue that a witch has nothing but baneful powers but the witches shall have to have the final word on that here.) The malefic lunar currents lend themselves to works of damnation and death. Witches attempting curses and blastings during this phase of the moon do so with a +2 circumstance bonus to their check, while attempts to work bewitchments or seemings are made at a –2 penalty. Waxing Moon: The time of the moon’s growth is the time to work magics of increase and construction; as the symbol of Hecate’s might grows in the night sky, so too do the magical efforts of her witch followers grow and prosper. Consecration and making effects are best attempted during the time of the waxing moon, as they benefit from a +2 circumstance bonus to the Witchcraft skill check, while exorcism and unmaking effects suffer a –2 penalty in this time of increase. Waning Moon: Even as the light of the moon diminishes, the witches draw upon her radiance to work effects that have to do with diminution and decay. In witchcraft, nothing is useless and everything has its place. The currents of slow reduction given off by the moon in her waning phase can be conducted and channelled by the witch, fuelling appropriate effects and making it easier to achieve them. Exorcism and unmaking effects are made at a +2 circumstance bonus to the Witchcraft skill check, while consecration and making effects are made at a –2 penalty.

Other Mitigating Factors

The following section details other influences on the production of magical effects. Temples and Images: It is easier to open a channel to the Gods when you are already in their symbolic presence. Both temples and images of the deities, once ritually consecrated, contain their sacred essence and, as such, can be used to make a Prayer check less challenging. In fact, the main purpose behind consecrating a permanent temple is to enable easier access to the deity for the purpose of granting miracles. If a Prayer check is made to petition a deity to grant a given miracle while the petitioner is in the presence of a consecrated image of the deity, the check is made at a +1 circumstance bonus. If the image of the deity is in a consecrated temple, the check is made at a +2 circumstance bonus.

A player may take small, consecrated images of his deity with him, so that he can pray to them when he needs to. For this to be acceptable to the deity, he must set the image up on an altar of some sort, even if it is an impromptu one. What he cannot do is to hold the image in his hand or carry it in a pouch while praying to it. Impressive Prayer: This rule is optional but enhances roleplaying a great deal. A player may, if desired, improvise the actual prayer that his character uses to petition the deity for the miracle in question. If the Games Master rules that the prayer was exceptionally well phrased, passionately performed or convincing, an additional circumstance bonus of +1 to +3 may be granted. If the prayer was substandard in any way, such as being marred by hesitation, repetition or deviation (or even by such a mundane matter as sneezing halfway through it) then a penalty should be applied, from –1 to –3 depending on the extent of the gaffe. This rule applies only to players, never to Non-Player Characters. For the purposes of assessing a prayer, the player should be allowed up to 30 seconds to make his petition. Players who wish to use this rule may not consult texts, use memorised material or otherwise improve their performance with anything other than simple improvisation.

magic and miracles

Full Moon: The brilliance of the full moon is the witches’ ‘high tide’. The full moon is the time when the rational mind is submerged and lunatics and beasts alike howl to the skies, a time when madness reigns and clarity of thought is confused. At this stage, the witch finds it easiest to impose her will on others, changing the workings of their minds and deceiving their senses. Witchcraft skill checks to work bewitchment or seeming effects at the full of the moon are made at a +2 circumstance bonus, while curses and blastings are made at a –2 penalty.

For example, Ra-Heteru, the priest of Ra, finds himself surrounded by angry barbarians who are about to tear his golden ritual jewellery from him and do unspeakable things with his defiled body. He concludes that a miracle would be extremely useful at this point and decides to petition Ra to grant him a miracle of blasting, specifically a solar flare effect. The player playing Ra-Heteru, immersing himself in the part, lifts up his voice and cries ‘O radiant solar disk! Golden falcon of the heavens, who prevaileth daily over the forces of darkness and is not devoured! Light of the Pharaohs and protector of the royal line! Let not thy servant fall into perdition; let not mine eyes be blinded to Thy glory! Smite the heathen with thy fire, that they may know Thee!’ The Games Master winces slightly at this wordy outburst, notes that it is more grovelling than specifics (Ra being a God who numbers pride among his virtues, grovelling appeals are not particularly welcomed by him) but observes that it is very much in character and has a good Egyptian feel to it. Ra-Heteru is awarded a +1 circumstance bonus to his Prayer check because his player’s actual prayer was notably good, though it contained some elements that are technically incompatible with Ra. Sacred Herbs: Some herbs can give bonuses to skill checks made to produce magical effects. For example, visionary herbs assist auguries when burned. For details, see the Herbs section in the Equipment chapter. Ritual Preparations: Most Prayer checks are made in the moment, as a standard action. They do not require any special preparations; the deity either accedes to the request or does not. Lengthy rituals observed before praying for a miracle have a greater chance of attracting the deity’s attention.

163

magic and miracles

To benefit from ritual preparations, the person making the prayer must spend at least one hour in preliminary meditation, bathing, burning holy herbs (for which see the Equipment chapter) and making sacrifices. A +1 circumstance bonus is granted to the Prayer skill check for every hit die possessed by a sacrificed creature, to a maximum bonus of +5 from sacrificial sources. For ritual preparations to be effective, an altar must be erected and a five foot square space before or around it kept clear of all people other than those who are participating in the prayer for the duration of the preparation. If anyone else enters the area before the Prayer check is made, the ritual preparations are not efficacious.

Creating Magical Items

Witchcraft and Hekau can be used to create items, such as potions or protective seals. Such items are produced as ‘magical effects’, albeit with a higher casting time than normal and have their own effect listings, such as Medea’s ointment. Some such items require special ingredients, without which the spell cannot be cast. When a caster prepares such an item, he invests personal energy in it in the form of hit points, as if he were casting a spell as normal. Hit points invested in one-shot items, such as potions, recover at the normal rate, although the item itself has a limited shelf life and must be used within a certain time after of preparation. See the individual effect description for details. It is usually possible to invest additional hit points in the item at the time of casting to make it remain potent for a longer period. When a permanent item such as a power amulet is made, fewer hit points need to be invested in it but these hit points may not be recovered until the item is destroyed. If you create a magical talisman and then lose it, you cannot regain the hit points invested unless it is discovered and broken. The talisman remains potent for whoever wears it. Prayer cannot be used to create magical items. There is, however, a magical effect that may only be obtained by prayer, namely the request of one of a deity’s items. These are always far more potent than anything a mortal could create.

164

It is permissible for a character to petition his deity to lend them a given divine item for a short time; for example, if you were a worshipper of Ares, you could ask for the loan of his spear. This effect may be found in the listing of magical effects under the title of request item. Only the Greek deities have a history of lending their equipment to mortals. If the Egyptian deities ever did something similar, then the legends do not record it. Divine items are much more powerful than those unguents and talismans that are created by Hekau and Witchcraft but they never remain in the mortal realms for long. The deities always retrieve them once they have served their purpose. If the item is treated in a disrespectful or inappropriate manner, such as using the Aegis of Zeus to eat your dinner off, it will return of its own accord whether you have finished with it or not.

magical effects

Magic is not a straightforward business whereby you can simply say the words, make the gestures and have the effect happen automatically. Witchcraft requires focussed will and imaginative power, Hekau has demanding syllables to recall and gestures to make and you need to be very careful how you ask a deity for a miracle with Prayer, as an offhand or clumsy request will be ignored. To take account of this, each magical effect has a DC; representing the number your skill check must equal or exceed in order to produce the effect successfully. Some effects are easier to achieve with one type of magic than another, meaning that the effect has a different DC depending on which skill you use. For example, transforming men into pigs is much easier with the Witchcraft skill than with the Prayer skill, while crafting a magic charm amulet is much easier with the Hekau skill than with Witchcraft. Some effects may only be achieved by one or two of the skills. Magical effects also have a hit point cost, representing the number of hit points the caster uses up to produce the effect if he is using Witchcraft or Hekau. Effects produced with Prayer never use the hit point cost. Magical effects are divided into the following categories: bewitchments, transformations, manifestations, invocations, curses, exorcisms, healings, blastings, makings, unmakings, consecrations, seemings and manipulations. They are explained in the section below. There is one effect that does not fit into any category, namely the loose the ka / project the spirit effect. This is the incantation that allows a spellcaster to liberate his spirit and send it forth to observe others, speak to the Gods or even to work magic from the world beyond. Bewitchments: These effects involve overpowering the will of another and influencing their actions. Low DC bewitchments include making suggestions seem more plausible, making someone forget something that has happened to them or clouding a person’s mind so that they are oblivious to what is happening to them. Some effects can cause animals to act in ways contrary to their nature, such as making a mount refuse to move or calming a savage dog. Blastings: These effects cause immediate harm to the target. Magical energies disrupt the target’s body, causing him to suffer a crippling effect of varying severity. Low DC blastings stun the target by overcoming his nervous system. Medium DC blastings disrupt the target’s body in more catastrophic ways, such as by striking a person dumb. High DC blastings can destroy a person completely, such as by scalding them with magical burns all over their body or striking them dead on the spot. Consecrations: These effects imbue an inanimate, prepared object with magical energy. Consecrations are used to invest an area or a thing with magical power, turning the area into a magical zone or the thing into a magical item.

Seemings: Seemings create illusions, making things seem other than they are. Seemings can veil the true nature of a person, creature or thing, making them one of the more feared kinds of magical effect in the ancient world; if a person can take on your semblance, then they can induce your friends to betray your secrets or gull them into exposing themselves to danger.

Exorcisms: Exorcism effects dispel and break the spells of other casters. They are also used to drive away such spirits or spirit-driven creatures as are not wanted in an area. Anyone can make a Prayer check to ward off or even attempt to dispel a single undead creature, but an exorcism effect can banish multiple creatures at once, cutting the ties that allow them to return to the material world.

Transformations: These effects, very hard for any but the witches to work, change the very nature of things. Instead of being mere seeming, they transmute one thing into another.

Healings: Healings use the power of magic or the Gods to heal the bodies of the afflicted. Healing magic is extremely difficult to use on wounds and very rarely results in a complete cure. Low DC healing effects can soothe ordinary wounds and help them to heal more quickly. Medium DC effects can assist recovery from disease or make the blind see again. High DC effects can even close grievous wounds. Invocations: Invocation calls a spiritual force into the caster’s presence. It is the type of effect used to call down the blessing of a deity upon a character, to call upon a deity’s wrath to smite an enemy or to conjure the spirits to visible appearance, including the spirits of the dead. Those who use dark magics can invoke evil spirits; those who are especially competent with them can invoke an evil spirit into a prepared vessel, such as a composite mummy, thus creating an undead monster. Invoking a spirit does not necessarily give the caster any degree of control! Makings: These effects call structured items into being from raw elements. They do not supply the materials, but instead arrange the materials to hand into a fashioned form, as if by the hand of an invisible craftsman. Making effects can do almost anything that a Craft skill can do, as if invisible demons were carrying out the work. Manifestations: A manifestation is the calling forth of a material (in the broadest sense) thing or creature from thin air. Manifestation effects are used to produce food and water, conjure fire into existence or even produce gold. Manifestations can also produce directed energy, such as a shaft of light or a flying javelin. Manipulations: These effects rearrange matter and energy within the world. Manipulations move things around, causing them to act in ways that they otherwise would not. Simple manipulations can work such feats as opening and closing doors without touching them, while more potent manipulations can move mounds of earth from place to place.

Unmakings: Unmakings unravel the bonds that hold material things together. The magic of unmaking undoes the craft that was put into manufactured things, transforming them back into their simple component parts. Unmaking magic can be used to counter making effects or manifestation effects, as it finds the magical structure that keeps the spell running and dismantles it.

magic and miracles

Curses: These effects are similar to blastings but exert their effects over time, rather than instantaneously. A blasting happens in the moment and has no further effect (though the results of the damage may create lasting results) while a curse lingers upon the target until the conditions of its removal are fulfilled, the original caster may lift the or another caster may break it.

Saving Throws Against Magical Effects

Characters who are targeted by magic or who are in the area of effect are often entitled to a saving throw to avoid or diminish the effect. The saving throw DC is equal to 10 plus the effect’s save modifier plus the appropriate ability score modifier of the caster. Hekau effects use the caster’s Intelligence ability score modifier, Prayer effects use his Wisdom ability score modifier and Witchcraft effects use the caster’s Charisma ability score modifier. An exceptionally good skill check result can make it harder to resist the effects of a spell. For every five whole points by which the skill check result exceeds the DC, the saving throw modifier of the spell is increased by +1. This means that experienced casters can produce simple magical effects with more power than less experienced casters can. For example, the famous witch Medea is casting induce fear upon the warrior Timocles. Medea has 20 ranks in Witchcraft and a Charisma ability score modifier of +4. Induce fear is a DC 15 magical effect when cast with Witchcraft. Medea rolls a 14, for a total Witchcraft skill check result of 38. Ordinarily, the Will saving throw DC for Timocles would be 16, calculated as 10 plus the spell’s save modifier of +2 plus Medea’s Charisma ability score modifier of +4. However, because the skill check result was 23 points in excess of the spell’s DC, the spell’s save modifier is increased by +4, so the saving throw DC is 20.

Breaking Witchcraft Spells It is a curious feature of Witchcraft spells that a person who is the victim of one can break the effect by shedding the blood of the witch with an iron weapon. Even an iron nail is enough. This is often difficult in practice, as you do not necessarily know who the witch who has affected you is. This method even works if the witch has not affected you directly but

165

magic and miracles

through a potion. For example, someone who had drunk a love potion could break the effect by scratching the witch who brewed it with an iron blade.

group casting

Multiple spellcasters or miracle workers may work together to produce a single powerful effect. Each type of group casting varies in efficiency depending on the skill in use. The rule governing all cases is that no amount of assistance can increase the main caster’s effective skill ranks beyond double their current skill level. For example, even if two other witches assist a first-level witch with 3 skill ranks in Witchcraft, she cannot increase the bonus derived from assistance to more than +3, as she has only 3 ranks in the skill. For this reason, witches defer to the most experienced member of the group to lead the rite. Witchcraft: Witches like to work in groups of three. A single person within 10 feet of a caster may use the Aid Another application of the Witchcraft skill to add a +2 circumstance bonus to any one Witchcraft skill check made by the caster; if a second person does the same, she provides a +4 circumstance bonus, much more than is usually granted for the Aid Another use of a skill. As with the general rule, the total bonus granted cannot exceed the caster’s skill ranks. (Further assistants provide no additional bonus.) This is difficult to achieve in combat, as the aiding skill checks must occur in the same round and come before the main Witchcraft check in sequence. The additional casters may also contribute their hit points towards the amount required to work the effect. Prayer: Prayer can include thousands, as when a high priest directs huge crowds of the faithful to petition a deity to grant their request. Vast crowds do not necessarily improve the chance of a Prayer check to succeed when petitioning for a miracle. Deities are so inclined that they may favour the prayer of a single child over that of a temple crowded to capacity with frantic devotees. For this reason, large numbers of worshippers do not affect the chance of a Prayer check to succeed at all; the petitioner makes the check without any additional modifiers. If the check does succeed, the effective caster level of the spell is increased by 1 for every 500 additional worshippers praying for the same result, to a maximum effective level increase of 10. If you make a Prayer check as a group effort, you may not have made any other prayers for a miracle that day, nor may you make any further Prayer checks to be granted miracles for the remainder of the day. Any given temple may only host one collective Prayer effort per week. Collective Prayer checks made to a deity while in that deity’s temple are made at a +2 circumstance bonus, as usual, since the deities are more inclined to answer those who petition them within their holy house. A collective Prayer check (but not one made by a single petitioner) that is made on a deity’s festival day while in the course of that deity’s festival is made at a further +2 circumstance bonus.

166

Hekau: The group rites of Hekau require specific numbers and demanding ritual preparations. Each person engaged in a Hekau rite, to a maximum of 10, adds a +1 circumstance bonus to the caster’s skill check. However, each additional person also adds 30 minutes to the casting time of the spell. During all of that time, the casters must be engaged in intense concentration. If anything happens to distract even one of the casters and he fails his Concentration skill check (see Chapter 4, Skills) then the whole Hekau spell is wasted and must be begun again.

The Book of the Dead

This is a manuscript written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, containing various practical secrets of Hekau magic. The title is somewhat misleading, as the book is not in fact about the dead, nor is it a grimoire of necromancy as it is sometimes believed to be. The book deals with the means whereby the various different souls of a person may be freed from the body and allowed to travel on other realms, including returning to the material plane in insubstantial form. It is essentially a combination of the rituals and incantations necessary to travel out of the body in the first place and an atlas of the realms that the discarnate traveller is likely to encounter. Living magicians use it all the time, as a large part of the advanced techniques of Hekau involves separating the souls from the still living body and travelling forth. (This is known as ‘Coming Forth By Day’ in the Egyptian phraseology.) The Book of the Dead is placed in tombs, not because it is solely for the use of the dead, but so that the dead person may make use of it to travel out of his mummified corpse and find his way around in the afterlife. A caster who does not have access to a copy of the Book of the Dead is at a serious disadvantage when casting the loose the ka spell, as he does not have the necessary (and complicated) ritual incantations to hand and must rely on memory. His Hekau skill check is made at a –4 penalty under these conditions.

The Book of Thoth

This is a legendary text whose authorship is credited to the Egyptian God of magic himself, said to contain the most potent secrets of the way of Hekau. Thoth of course has the original Book, which counts as a divine item (see the section on Divine Items later in this chapter) but those to whom the book has been lent have been allowed to make copies of some of the pages. No two manifest copies of the Book are alike, leading to speculation that the original Book is metamorphic, too richly magical to be bound up in one single form. A copy of the Book of Thoth in material form allows a Hekau caster to produce one type of effect at a +4 circumstance bonus to his Hekau skill check. One copy of the Book contains blasting magic, another invocation magic and so on. However, casting from the Book takes longer than ordinary casting, as one has to refer to the text instead of uttering invocations from memory. Any spell cast from the Book is

magical effects list Bewitchments Bewitch Animal

DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 25, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 4 Cost To Sustain: 4/hour Base Duration: 1 hour Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One animal Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +4 You can bewitch an animal and direct it with simple commands such as ‘Attack’, ‘Run’ and ‘Fetch’. Suicidal or selfdestructive commands (including an order to attack a creature two or more size categories larger than the bewitched animal) are simply ignored. Bewitch animal establishes a mental link between you and the subject creature. The animal can be directed by silent mental command as long as it remains in range. You need not see the creature to control it. You do not receive direct sensory input from the creature, but you know what it is experiencing. Because you are directing the animal with your own intelligence, it may be able to undertake actions normally beyond its own comprehension. You need not concentrate exclusively on controlling the creature unless you are trying to direct it to do something it normally couldn’t do. Changing your instructions or giving a bewitched creature a new command is the equivalent of redirecting a spell, so it is a move action. A witch (and only a witch) can cast a version of this spell that causes an animal to refuse (or simply cease) to perform one of its elementary useful functions while otherwise acting normally. This version of the spell costs 8 hit points to cast and its effects are permanent. For example, the witch can cause a horse to refuse to gallop or jump, a dog to refuse to bark, a cow to cease giving milk or a chicken to cease laying eggs.

Cloud Mind DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 2 Cost To Extend: 1/round Base Duration: 3 rounds Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels)

Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +2 This spell makes the target’s thoughts foggy and his senses confused, as if he was drunk. The target of a cloud mind spell suffers a –4 penalty to all Spot and Listen checks and a –2 penalty to all attack rolls, Active Defence checks and Shield Defence checks.

Dominate Will DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 30, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 8 Cost To Sustain: 3/day Base Duration: 1 day Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +7 You can control the actions of any human through a telepathic link that you establish with the subject’s mind.

magic and miracles

cast as a full-round action instead of a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity as usual. If the caster cannot see the Book to read from it, he cannot cast from it. As explained in the Divine Items section, the original Book of Thoth contains all the various magical effects, a true boon for any Hekau caster fortunate enough to have been gifted with it by the Ibis-Headed One.

If you and the subject have a common language, you can generally force the subject to perform as you desire, within the limits of its abilities. If no common language exists, you can communicate only basic commands, such as ‘Come here’, ‘Go there’, ‘Fight’ and ‘Stand still’. You know what the subject is experiencing, but you do not receive direct sensory input from it, nor can it communicate with you telepathically. Once you have given a dominated creature a command, it continues to attempt to carry out that command to the exclusion of all other activities except those necessary for day-to-day survival such as sleeping, eating and so forth. This limited range of activity attracts suspicion, so a Sense Motive check against DC 15 (rather than DC 25) can determine that the subject’s behaviour is being influenced by a bewitchment effect. See the Sense Motive skill description for this. Changing your instructions or giving a dominated creature a new command is the equivalent of redirecting a spell, so it is a move action. By concentrating fully on the spell (a standard action), you can receive full sensory input as interpreted by the mind of the subject, though it still cannot communicate with you. You cannot actually see through the subject’s eyes, so it is not as good as being there yourself, but you still get a good idea of what is going on. Subjects resist this control and any subject forced to take actions against its nature receives a new saving throw with a +2 bonus. Obviously self-destructive orders are not carried out. Once control is established, the range at which it can be exercised is unlimited. If you do not spend at least 1 round concentrating on the spell each day, the subject receives a new saving throw to throw off the domination. Failure to invest the required hit points in sustaining the spell breaks the control.

167

magic and miracles

Enchant DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 3 Cost To Sustain: 3/hour Base Duration: 1 hour Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +2 This charm makes a person regard you as his trusted friend and ally; treat the target’s attitude as friendly. If the person is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, he receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw. The spell does not enable you to control the enchanted person as if he were an automaton, but it perceives your words and actions in the most favourable way. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince him to do anything he would not ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An affected person never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but he might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing. Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the enchanted person breaks the spell. You must speak the person’s language to communicate your commands or else be good at pantomiming.

Enslave DC: Witchcraft 35, Hekau 40 Cost To Cast: 25 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 full-round action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +8 This spell shatters the will of the target, making him into your slave. He no longer has any desire other than to obey your commands. If you order him to kill his friends, he will attempt to do so. If you instruct him to leap from a high tower, he will do that, too. You do not need to expend hit points to sustain the effect; once it is successfully cast and the target fails his saving throw, then it is permanent. Only an exorcise person effect or the death of the caster can lift the enslave effect. The condition of an enslaved person is obvious. His glassy-eyed stare and drooping jaw clearly reveal that he is under the domination of another. You have to give an enslaved person verbal commands. They are not directed telepathically, unlike a dominate will spell. You can, of course, cast dominate will upon an enslaved person if you wish to control him like a puppet. If this is done, then the person will carry out self-destructive commands.

168

Subtle Enslavement: You may attempt a subtler breaking of the target’s will. This version of the spell is made at +5 DC and may only be attempted with Witchcraft. A target under

subtle enslavement does not have the obvious signs of thralldom that the victim of ordinary enslavement does. A Sense Motive skill check at a DC of 25 is necessary to discern any signs of bewitchment.

Eye of Alluring (Eye Spell) DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 20, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 3 Base Duration: 1 hour Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Eye contact Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +3 This spell allows you to induce desire in another. They feel a powerful attraction towards you and strongly wish to consummate it. If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw. If the spell is used to influence a creature that would not ordinarily find you desirable (such as a person of conventional tastes being influenced by a person of the same gender) then it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw. Although this spell induces desire in another, it does not make the other well intentioned towards you at all. A person who already had violent thoughts towards you has their magically induced desire for you added to their current mood; the desire does not replace the violence. You cannot control another’s actions with this spell, though you can act in such a way as to direct them, based on your knowledge of their desire. For example, you can suggest that they follow you down a dark street, lure them away from their companions or (if they are not violent) promise to grant them their wish so long as they open the door and let you in.

Eye Of Terror (Eye Spell) DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 3 Base Duration: 1 minute Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Eye contact Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +5 This spell strikes terror into the victim. The caster delivers the spell as a gaze attack. If the target fails his saving throw, he is panicked. A panicked creature drops whatever it is holding and flees as fast as it can go away from the source of the fear, avoiding obstacles in the way. It can take no other actions and suffers a –2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks and ability score checks. If a panicked creature is cornered, it cowers and will use the total defence option if forced to fight. If the victim successfully makes his saving throw, he suffers no ill effects.

Silver Tongue DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 2 Cost To Sustain: 1/minute Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: You Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This spell lends honey to your words and eloquence to your phrases. You become persuasive, articulate and convincing. The lies you tell become magically plausible.

Extended Forgetfulness: This version of the spell is made at a +5 DC, costs six hit points to cast and is only available to those casting with Witchcraft. You may erase the memory of an hour of the target’s life that took place longer ago. As with the regular version of the spell, you can extend the effect to cover more than one hour at a cost of six hit points per additional hour erased. You must know that an event happened in order to erase it; you cannot erase events that you do not know the target lived through.

Induce Fear DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 3 Base Duration: 1d6 rounds Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One or more persons Saving Throw: Will partial Save DC Modifier: +3 This spell strikes panic into the hearts of one or more creatures. By using the spell as described above you may target a single creature. The caster may broaden the spell’s effect to include other creatures but these must be within close range (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) of the initial target. Each additional creature included adds +2 to the DC of the spell and 3 to the casting cost. If the target fails his saving throw, he is panicked. A panicked creature drops whatever it is holding and flees as fast as it can go away from the source of the fear, avoiding obstacles in the way. It can take no other actions and suffers a –2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks and ability score checks. If a panicked creature is cornered, it cowers and will use the total defence option if forced to fight. If the victim successfully makes his saving throw, he is shaken for one round. A shaken character suffers a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability score checks.

The spell lends a +5 enhancement bonus to all Bluff checks you make while the spell is sustained. The target may oppose your Bluff checks with Sense Motive checks as usual. If their check beats yours by more than 5, they detect the magic you are using as well as the lie.

Slumber

magic and miracles

Forgetfulness DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 20, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 4 per hour forgotten Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +3 By means of this spell, you may erase the memory of the last hour from the target’s mind. Try as they might, they cannot remember what happened. By spending more hit points (if you are a Witchcraft or Hekau user) you can extend the spell’s effect further back, at the cost of four hit points per hour obliterated.

DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 10, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 2 Cost To Extend: 1/round Base Duration: 3 rounds Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: 2d4 Hit Dice of creatures Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +1 A slumber spell causes a magical sleep to fall upon 2d4 Hit Dice or levels of creatures. Creatures with the fewest HD are affected first. Among creatures with equal HD, those who are closest to the spell’s point of origin are affected first. Hit Dice that are not sufficient to affect a creature are wasted. Sleeping creatures are helpless. Slapping or wounding awakens an affected creature, but normal noise does not. Awakening a creature is a standard action, an application of the aid another action. Slumber does not target unconscious creatures, spiritual creatures or undead creatures.

Blastings

Concussion DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: Varies Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Area of Effect: Region 10-ft. across plus 5-ft./level Saving Throw: Fortitude half Save DC Modifier: +3 This effect produces a rippling blast of force that stuns living targets in an area. For every two hit points that the caster invests, the spell inflicts 1d6 points of non-lethal damage. It has no effect upon structures, nor does it effect spiritual or

169

magic and miracles

undead creatures. Affected creatures in the region may make a Fortitude saving throw to suffer half damage.

Drain Life DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: 4, only used if spell or touch attack fails Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +4 The caster must successfully hit the target with a touch attack. Only Active Defence can be used to ward this off, not Shield Defence. If the attack is successful, the victim must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 caster’s level + caster’s spellcasting ability score modifier). If the saving throw fails, the caster inflicts 2d6 points of damage on the target (which is not recorded as a wound) transferring the same number of hit points to himself. A successful saving throw draws no hit points from the target and instead draws 4 hit points from the caster. This spell may be used while a character is venturing out of his body. In such cases, he must be manifest first.

Eye of Smiting (Eye spell) DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: 1 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One creature Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +5 Eye of smiting inflicts magical damage on a single target with a gaze attack. For every hit point invested, the target suffers 1d4 damage, which is not recorded as wounds. You may only invest as many total hit points in the spell as you have levels of experience.

Flay DC: Witchcraft 35, Hekau 30 Cost To Cast: Varies Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Target: One creature Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +6 This spell flays the skin from the target’s flesh in an agonising process. Every hit point invested by the caster inflicts one hit point upon the victim, to a maximum number of hit points equal to the caster’s level of experience. Unlike the usual effects of magic, this damage is recorded as a wound and if the damage exceeds the target’s grievous wound threshold, the wound is grievous. For every three points of damage suffered, the victim also suffers one point of Charisma ability score damage.

170

Smite DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 5 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Area of Effect: Region 10-ft. across plus 5-ft./level Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +3 This spell smites opponents in an area with magical damage. The base damage of the spell is 3d4 points, plus 1d4 per 2 additional hit points invested in the spell. This damage is not recorded as wounds.

Solar Flare DC: Hekau 30, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: You Area of Effect: Region 30-ft. across plus 5-ft./level, centred on caster Saving Throw: Reflex half Save DC Modifier: +6 This effect produces a scorching blast of light and heat that inflicts 4d8 points of fire damage, recorded as wounds, on all creatures, save the caster, within the area of effect. A Reflex saving throw is allowed for half damage. Those who fail their saving throws are also blinded for 1d6 rounds.

Spitting Cobra DC: Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: 7 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Effect: Poison stream (ray) Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +5 This spell produces a stream of venom from the caster’s mouth, which he directs as a ray attack. If the ray attack strikes the target, they suffer 1d4 acid damage immediately. They must also make a Fortitude saving throw or suffer the effect of a virulent contact poison. The initial damage is 1d6 Dexterity and Constitution, the secondary damage 2d6 Dexterity and Constitution.

Strike Blind/Mute/Deaf DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 5 Cost To Extend: 3 hit points/day (20 permanent) Base Duration: One day Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +4

magic and miracles

This effect renders a target blind, mute or deaf. Blind targets fight opponents as if they had total concealment. Mute targets cannot cast Hekau spells or speak, nor can they pray aloud. Deaf targets automatically fail all Listen checks. The effect can be extended by one day for every 3 additional hit points invested at casting and made permanent with an additional investment of 20 hit points. The caster can remove these effects at will.

Consecrations Consecrate Area

DC: Prayer 20 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: Eight hours Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One building or region 60 feet in diameter Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +5 This effect consecrates a region or a building to the worship of a given deity, so that it then counts as that deity’s sacred ground. For a priest to produce this effect it must be the one and only miracle granted to him that day. He cannot produce it if he has already petitioned for miracles, nor may he receive any further miracles that day after the consecration has taken place. Consecrating an area requires the presence of a consecrated image of the deity. If the image is removed, the area is no longer consecrated, though replacing the image reactivates the consecration. Area consecrations require the consumption of sacred oils, incenses and libations worth 400 silver drachmas.

Consecrate Image/Symbol DC: Prayer 15 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: Three hours plus three hours per size category of image above medium Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One image Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +3 This effect consecrates an image or symbol of the deity, so that it can be prayed to. Consecrated symbols may also be used in attempts to dispel spiritual or undead creatures. The image or symbol must be three-dimensional (not just a drawing) and produced with an appropriate Craft skill check. Consecrating an image or a symbol requires sacred anointing oil worth 50 silver drachmas.

Create Greater Power Amulet (Item Creation) DC: Hekau 30 Cost To Cast: 10 permanent Potency: See below Effect Duration: One day/level Preparation Time: Three hours Effect: One amulet that stores 20 hit points of casting power Effect Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +9 This allows the caster to produce a more powerful version of the basic amulet, storing 20 points of casting energy instead of 10. The advantage of this is that more can be drawn from a single amulet, thus fuelling more potent spells.

171

magic and miracles

In order to create a greater power amulet, the caster must possess a material basis for it. This must be made from precious metals and worth at least 500 silver drachmas.

Create Greek Fire (Item Creation) DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: 6 Potency: One week Effect Duration: Instantaneous Preparation Time: Three hours Effect: One flask of Greek Fire Effect Saving Throw: See below Save DC Modifier: +3 Greek fire is a viscous, sticky fluid that burns on exposure to air, used in sieges. You can throw a flask of Greek fire as a splash weapon. Treat this attack as a ranged attack with a range increment of 10 feet. A direct hit deals 1d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of fire damage from the splash. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. Extinguishing the flames requires a DC 15 Reflex save. Rolling on the ground provides the target a +2 bonus on the save. Leaping into a lake or magically extinguishing the flames, such as with a water jet from a missile spell, automatically smothers the fire.

Create Impotence Knot (Item Creation) DC: Witchcraft 20 Cost To Cast: 10 Potency: One day/level Effect Duration: Permanent unless removed Preparation Time: One hour Effect: One impotence knot Effect Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +8 This spell creates a knotted cord that must be hidden in the intended victim’s house or in his clothing. The witch herself does not have to do this. As soon as the intended victim comes within 5 feet of it, he must make a Will saving throw as if he were saving against a spell cast by the witch who made the cord, using the above save DC modifier. Failure causes him to be stricken with impotence. This effect can be removed with a remove curse magical effect or by finding and destroying the knotted cord.

Create Love Potion (Item Creation) DC: Witchcraft 20 Cost To Cast: 10 Potency: One day/level Effect Duration: Permanent unless removed Preparation Time: One hour

172

Effect: One dose of love potion Effect Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +5 This spell creates a single dose of love potion. When drunk, the victim must make a Will saving throw as if he were saving against a spell cast by the witch who made the potion, using the above save DC modifier. Failure causes him to fall in love with the first creature he sees, irrespective of whether this is a human, animal or even a mythical beast. This effect can be removed with a remove curse magical effect.

Create Power Amulet (Item Creation) DC: Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: 5 permanent Potency: See below Effect Duration: One day/level Preparation Time: Three hours Effect: One amulet that stores 10 hit points of casting power Effect Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +3 Power amulets are the means whereby Hekau casters amplify their magical strength and become able to produce the most devastating effects without draining themselves. A single power amulet costs the caster 5 permanent hit points to create. This hit points cannot be recovered unless the amulet is destroyed. Even then, they recover at the normal rate rather than returning all at once. A Hekau caster may use the energy in his amulets to fuel his spellcasting. Only one amulet may be drawn from in the casting of any one spell. Power amulets naturally recover their energy at the rate of one hit point per hour. You can draw upon amulets that you have prepared yourself without difficulty. It is possible to draw upon the energy in an amulet that another person has prepared but you must succeed at a DC 30 Hekau skill check, made as a free action, to do this. In order to create a power amulet, the caster must possess a material basis for it. This must be made from precious metals and worth at least 30 silver drachmas.

Magic Charm (Item Creation) DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 15 Cost To Cast: 4 permanent Potency: See below Effect Duration: One hour/day Preparation Time: Three hours Effect: Magical Amulet Effect Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +3 This spell allows the caster to create a lucky talisman, amulet, totem or charm that the recipient can then carry on their person in order to benefit from the effect. Some of these charms are listed below; the Games Master is free to create others along the same lines. A given charm must be made from worked stone or metal and be worn or carried on the body.

Medea’s Ointment (Item Creation) DC: Witchcraft 35 Cost To Cast: 20 Potency: One day Effect Duration: One hour Preparation Time: Six hours Effect: Enough ointment for one person Effect Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +9 This was the spell used by the sorceress Medea to confer limited invulnerability upon the hero Jason. When applied, it confers invulnerability upon the recipient. Every three additional hit points invested by the creator make the ointment potent for an additional day. If the wearer of the ointment should be immersed in water, the ointment is washed off and the protection is lost. If the wearer is struck by a jet of fluid or a full pail of water (or similar), the DR of the magical natural armour drops by 2d6 points.

Ritual Of Coming Forth By Night (Special) This is an exceptionally dark ritual available only to Hekau casters. Uniquely among spells, it can only be cast by a person who has died and been mummified. The DC to cast the spell is 30 and the cost is 25 hit points. It takes eight hours to perform. If you have not been mummified competently enough to give your ka at least 25 hit points, then you cannot cast this ritual. If you are successful, you force your ka back into your mummified corpse and arise as a defiled one. You can never loose your spirit from your body again, but you will also live forever in your mummified shell unless the hand of another destroys you. See the Bestiary chapter for details on the defiled ones.

Curses

Any curse effect except for the evil eye can have a condition of expiry set on it by the caster. This allows the victim of the curse to remove it themselves by carrying out an action. For example, you could curse a person to suffer from midden stench until they had given away all their money to those less fortunate than themselves. For this application to work, you must tell the victim what the fulfilment conditions are as you

are casting the spell. A curse with a condition upon it can still be removed by means of the remove curse effect.

Blood Malady DC: Witchcraft 30, Hekau 35, Prayer 35 Cost To Cast: 20 Base Duration: Permanent until removed Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +8 This curse causes the victim’s blood to turn thin and to flow from wounds more readily. It does not clot properly, making slashing and piercing wounds much more dangerous. The victim’s grievous wound threshold is halved when suffering piercing or slashing damage.

Brittle Bones DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 30, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 15 Base Duration: Permanent until removed Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +7 The recipient of this curse has his bones turn chalky and brittle. It becomes much easier to hurt him seriously by doing bludgeoning damage to his body. The victim’s grievous wound threshold is halved when suffering bludgeoning damage.

magic and miracles

CHARM OF EVASIVENESS: +1 insight bonus to Active Defence checks. CHARM OF PROTECTION: Natural armour with Coverage of +10 and DR of 2. EYE OF HORUS (HEKAU ONLY): +2 divine bonus to all saving throws against curses and all eye spells. SUN DISC: +1 divine bonus to saving throws against attacks from spiritual or undead creatures. CHARM OF LOQUACITY: +1 insight bonus to Bluff, Debate and Rhetoric skill checks. CHARM OF SERPENTS: +1 resistance bonus to saving throws against poison. CADUCEUS CHARM: +1 resistance bonus to saving throws against contracting disease.

Evil Eye (Eye spell) DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: 8 Base Duration: Permanent until removed Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Eye contact Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +4 This is one of the best-known curses of all. The caster glares balefully at the intended victim, who is entitled to a saving throw to resist the effect. A failed saving throw leaves the victim suffering from a –2 penalty to all his saving throws and skill checks. This spell is more commonly used as an aid to intimidation than as a weapon. The threat of the evil eye is used to win respect for the caster.

Festering DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 30, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 15 Base Duration: Permanent until removed Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +6

173

magic and miracles

This severe curse prevents the victim from healing properly. He does not benefit from the natural healing rate that other characters enjoy. No matter how much rest he takes, his wounds will not heal naturally. They may worsen but they will not get any better. This spell does not affect his ability to recover from disease.

Hand of Pestilence DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 25, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 8 Base Duration: Until victim recovers Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +4 The subject contracts a disease selected from the table below, which strikes immediately (no incubation period). The DC noted is for the subsequent saving throws; use this effect’s normal saving throw DC for the initial saving throw. Disease

DC

Damage

Polio

16

1d4 Str

Leprosy

12

1d3 Cha and 1d3 Con

Cholera

15

1d6 Str

Palsy

13

1d8 Dex

Tuberculosis

14

1d4 Con

Midden Stench DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 30, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent until removed Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +6 The target of this spell is wreathed in a terrible stink, as if he had been bathing in sewage. His effective Charisma is reduced by –8 when attempting to use Charisma-based skills on people within 15 feet. Any creature with the Scent ability that attempts to follow his trail has a +4 circumstance bonus to their Survival skill check to do so, as the pungent odour is easy to follow.

Slow Withering DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 25, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent until removed Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One person Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +6

174

The effect of this curse is to cause the victim’s muscles to waste away. He suffers one point of Strength ability damage per day until his Strength ability score is half what it originally was. If the curse is removed, he regains his Strength at the usual rate for healing ability score damage.

Exorcisms

Command Spirit DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 8 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +4 This effect allows the caster to dominate a manifest spiritual creature and give it a single instruction, which the spirit then fulfils as best it is able. The Hit Dice and Charisma ability score modifier of the spirit are added to the DC of the effect. Some typical instructions are: Avaunt: The spirit leaves the place and does not return willingly. If it is bound to the place, it returns in 24 hours. Only an exorcise spirit effect can prevent a spirit bound to a place from returning. Observe and report: The spirit goes to spy upon a target for ten minutes, returning to tell the caster what it has seen. Divulge information: The spirit is compelled to answer a question. This is a common application of this effect, as spirits know a great deal. If it attempts to lie, the caster may (as usual) make a Sense Motive check to detect this. Enter prepared corpse: The spirit is forced into a prepared corpse, thus creating an undead creature. See the Death and Beyond chapter and the Bestiary for more information on creating undead. Bind to object/area: The spirit is no longer free-roaming and is bound to an object or an area. If it is wicked, it will plague any visitors. This command is commonly used to defend a region by making it haunted.

Exorcise Spirit DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One building or region 60 feet in diameter, one person or one object Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +5 There are three different means of applying this effect. It can be applied to an area, a person or an object. Area Exorcism: This effect allows the caster to attempt to remove all recurrent manifestations of spirits or ghosts from a building or a region. Spirits that were tied to the area, such as the bind effect of a command spirit spell, are allowed to go free.

Exorcise Person: This application of the effect is used to drive out a wicked spirit or other spiritual creature that is inhabiting a person. The Hit Dice plus the Charisma modifier of the spirit in possession of the character is added to the DC of the effect. If the occupying spirit is successfully driven out, it is unable to take possession of its former host again for 24 hours. The spirit manifests as it leaves its host, rendering it susceptible to repulsion and disruption attempts. Exorcise Object: This application of the effect works as area exorcism but is applied to a single object into which one or more spirits have been bound. Performing an exorcism is easier to achieve if you use stinking herbs, for which see the Equipment chapter.

Remove Curse DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: One full round Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +4 This effect removes all curses from the target. The experience level of the person who placed the curse plus their spellcasting ability score modifier (Charisma for witches, Intelligence for Hekau casters and Wisdom for those using Prayer) is added to the DC of the effect. If this effect is performed with Prayer, the target cannot be disfavoured or despised by the caster’s deity. They are also expected to offer a propitiatory sacrifice worth at least 30 silver drachmas to the temple of the deity. If this is not done, the DC of the effect is raised by +4.

Ward Area DC: Variable, see below Cost To Cast: 6 Base Duration: Permanent until broken Casting Time: 1minute Range: Touch Effect: One protective inscription Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +5 A literate character may use the Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer skill to write a protective inscription, which then serves to repel spiritual creatures and undead creatures. This use of the skill takes one minute; the character must have the means whereby to leave a lasting mark, such as paints, inks or a chisel. The person making the warding symbol makes a Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer check once the symbol is completed and the result is recorded. Any undead or spiritual creature

approaching within 30 feet of the warding must make a special penetration check (1d20 plus the Hit Dice of the creature plus its Charisma modifier) against a DC of the initial check result. Success means the warding is broken. Failure means that the creature cannot approach any further. Each attempt that a spiritual or undead creature makes to break the warding costs it three hit points, whether it is successful or not. Once a single creature has penetrated the warding, the warding is destroyed. Erasing the warding destroys it. A character producing this effect with Prayer must expend one divine point every time a warding symbol is created. Creating a warding symbol counts as a granted miracle for the purpose of determining the DC of future petitions that day.

Ward Person DC: Variable, see below Cost To Cast: 6 Base Duration: 8 hours Casting Time: 1minute Range: Touch Effect: One protective amulet or mark Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +5 A character may use the Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer skills to create a protective amulet or phylactery, designed to keep a character safe from wicked spirits who might take possession of him. The character making the check must be literate and have some means of creating an inscription that the receiving character can then carry or wear. The inscription may be painted directly on to the receiving character’s skin but if it should wash off, the protection is lost. The protection takes one minute to apply. The character creating the protection makes a Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer skill check and the result is recorded. If the character receiving the protection is the subject of a possession attempt from a spiritual creature, he may use the check result in place of his own Will saving throw.

magic and miracles

The Hit Dice of any spiritual creature that is bound to the area is added to the DC of the effect. If more than one spirit is bound to the area, then only the highest Hit Dice rating is used. For example, if a formidable wicked spirit and a deathlantern were bound to the area, then the DC would be 32.

A character producing this effect with Prayer must expend one divine point every time a warding amulet or mark is created. Creating a warding amulet or mark counts as a granted miracle for the purpose of determining the DC of future petitions that day.

Healings

Close Grievous Wound DC: Hekau 30, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: Varies Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +7 This potent healing spell causes even a grievous wound to close and heal. Witchcraft and Hekau casters must invest

175

magic and miracles

five hit points per point of wound size. Those who use Prayer have the DC of their Prayer check raised by 1 per point of the wound’s size. Again, there are no half measures. The wound either heals completely or it does not. You cannot close a wound partially by investing less than the necessary amount.

Close Wound DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 20, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: Varies Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +5 This spell causes a single ordinary wound (not a grievous wound) to close altogether and heal without a trace. Witchcraft and Hekau casters must invest two hit points per point of wound size. Those who use Prayer have the DC of their Prayer check raised by 1 per point of the wound’s size. There are no half measures. The wound either heals completely or it does not. You cannot close a wound partially by investing less than the necessary amount.

Eye of Healing DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 4 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Line of sight Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +2 This effect allows the caster to stimulate healing in the recipient. Any fresh wounds that the target has received are treated as if they had been bound with a successful Heal check. This method of healing is quicker and more reliable than binding wounds manually but is costly for the caster and uses up important miracles for the day. As with the ordinary wound binding application of the Heal skill, this effect must be used no later than one hour after the wound has been received in order to have any impact.

Purge Disease DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 6 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +3 This effect purges a disease from a sufferer. The DC of the saving throw to recover from the disease is added to the DC of the spell.

176

Restore Sight/Speech/Hearing DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +4 This effect restores sight to the blind, speech to the mute and hearing to the deaf. It can only do one of these at a time. If the sufferer is afflicted by more than one of these conditions, separate effects must be used to restore each faculty. If the condition was produced by magic, such as a strike blind spell or the dazzle ability of a nymph, the DC of the effect is increased by the level or Hit Dice of the original caster plus the modifier for the related ability score for the skill (Witchcraft, Hekau or Prayer) they used to produce the effect.

Invocations

Deity’s Blessing DC: Prayer 10 Base Duration: 1 minute/level Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One or more people Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +1 This spell calls down the blessing of a specific deity upon a recipient. No person may carry the blessing of more than one deity at a time, nor may the blessing of a given deity be conferred more than once per day. If you have the favour of the deity or are beloved by him, then you benefit from the listed bonus +1. If you are disfavoured or despised by the deity, then the blessing does not work on you at all. Each additional person that you (the caster) seek to include in the blessing increases the DC by +2, whether or not the blessing works on them. For convenience, each of the possible effects is referred to as if it were a separate effect, so for example a blessing effect produced by a priest of Athena would be called Athena’s blessing. The effect of the blessing depends upon the deity invoked. APHRODITE: +1 divine bonus to all Charisma ability score checks and related skill checks. APOLLO: +1 divine bonus to Will and Reflex saving throws. ARES: +1 divine bonus to all weapon damage rolls. ARTEMIS: +1 divine bonus to Survival skill checks and Active Defence checks made in the wilderness. ATHENA: Natural armour with a Coverage bonus of +10 and a DR of 3. ASCLEPIUS: +1 divine bonus to all Fortitude saving throws. DEMETER: +1 divine bonus to all Fortitude saving throws. HECATE: +2 divine bonus to all Prayer checks to repel or disrupt undead. HEPHAESTUS: +1 divine bonus to all Shield Defence checks.

magic and miracles

HERA: +1 divine bonus to all Active Defence checks. HERMES: +1 divine bonus to all Reflex saving throws. POSEIDON: +1 divine bonus to all Strength ability score checks and related skill checks. ZEUS: +1 divine bonus to all Will saving throws. ANHUR: +1 divine bonus to all attack rolls. ANUBIS: +1 divine bonus to all saving throws made during the night hours. APOPHIS: +1 to all attack rolls and Active Defence checks made during the hours of darkness. BASTET: +1 divine bonus to Will and Reflex saving throws. HATHOR: +1 divine bonus to all Fortitude and Reflex saving throws. HORUS: +1 divine bonus to all weapon damage rolls. ISIS: +1 divine bonus to all saving throws. PTAH: +1 divine bonus to Will and Fortitude saving throws. RA: +1 to all attack rolls and Active Defence checks made during the hours of daylight. SET: +2 divine bonus to weapon damage rolls. THOTH: +2 divine bonus to all saving throws against magical effects. WEPWAWET: +2 divine bonus to all Shield Defence checks.

Eye of Benediction (Eye Spell) DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 10, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 2 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +3 This spell confers a mild blessing on the target. It is delivered with a gaze and is intended to assist the target to recover from a debilitating condition such as fear or nausea. The recipient of an eye of benediction effect may make a fresh saving throw against any fear or sickness effect from which he is suffering (such as that produced by an eye of terror), with a +2 divine

bonus to the roll. Success at this check means that the target reacts as if he had made the original saving throw.

Invulnerability DC: Witchcraft 35, Hekau 35, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 20 Base Duration: 2d4 rounds Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One or more people Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +8 This spell makes the recipient virtually impervious to harm. He gains natural armour with a Coverage bonus of +14 and a DR of 30. Extending the effect to cover more than one person raises the DC of the spell by +2 for each additional recipient.

Summon Minor Spirit DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 5 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Effect: One minor wicked spirit or similar (see below) Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +3 This effect calls forth a spirit from the unseen realms and forces it to manifest for one round. This manifestation costs the spirit no energy, as the power to manifest it comes from the summoning. The caster always has the chance to attempt a command spirit effect before the manifestation ceases, though he may of course be interrupted in this. It is up to the spirit whether or not it wishes to stay manifest after the first round. To do so costs it one hit point per round as usual. The summoning confers no control over the spirit or protection from it. For controlling and protection effects, see the Exorcisms section. The caster may choose whether

177

magic and miracles

to summon a generic minor wicked spirit, the ghost or ka of a dead person of up to 4 levels of experience or Hit Dice or a specific minor wicked spirit whose name is known and who has been summoned before.

Summon Formidable Spirit DC: Hekau 30, Prayer 40 Cost To Cast: 20 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 full round Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Effect: One formidable wicked spirit or similar (see below) Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +9 This effect calls forth a formidable spirit; see summon minor spirit for details. The caster may choose whether to summon a generic formidable wicked spirit, the ghost or ka of a dead person of up to 12 levels of experience or Hit Dice, a specific formidable wicked spirit whose name is known and who has been summoned before or a single lustful one.

Summon Potent Spirit DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 20, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 full round Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Effect: One potent wicked spirit or similar (see below) Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +6 This effect calls forth a stronger spirit to visible appearance; see summon minor spirit for details. The caster may choose whether to summon a generic potent wicked spirit, the ghost or ka of a dead person of up to 8 levels of experience or Hit Dice, a specific potent wicked spirit whose name is known and who has been summoned before or a single death-lantern.

Request Item DC: Prayer 25 Base Duration: Varies, see below; no more than one week Casting Time: 1 standard action Target: You Effect: One divine item Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +5 This allows the petitioner to ask his deity for one of the most daring favours of all, the loan of one of the deity’s items. These items are listed later in the section. You could, for example, petition Hermes to lend you the Cap of Invisibility or the Winged Sandals, request that Zeus allow you to wield one of his Thunderbolts or ask Hecate to let you use her Torch or Cauldron. Some items are more difficult to get than others, as the deities are not fond of allowing mortals to use them. To reflect this, every item has a DC modifier, which is added to the Prayer DC for this effect. For example, gaining the Winged Sandals has an overall DC of 27, while gaining the Cap of Invisibility has an overall DC of 29.

178

You can only ask a deity for an item in order to perform one definite task. This task must be in the deity’s interest. If you do not define the task, then you automatically fail. You might, for example, ask Athena to lend you her sword and shield so that you can slay a monster that is preying on Athenian citizens. You could not ask her for these items to wage war against an enemy, because that task has no definite ending. If the deity (as determined by the Games Master) believes that you are not pursuing the task, then it will retrieve the item. Items are not loaned for more than one week in any case, so you must complete your task or fail in the attempt in that time. If your request is successful, the item appears in your hand or at your feet. You may request an item for another person’s use (there is no point in petitioning for an item that you are not qualified to wield!) but that person must either follow the same deity as you or be favoured or beloved by the deity.

Wrath of the Gods DC: Prayer 40 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Line of sight Effect: Varies Saving Throw: Varies Save DC Modifier: +9 This is the most potent effect that a priest can call upon. It petitions the priest’s deity to send down his wrath to punish a target. If the petition is successful, then the deity makes his wrath felt. The exact effects of this vary, depending on whether the deity’s wrath is called down upon a single person, a group of people or a settlement. A deity’s wrath cannot be called down upon the same person, people or place twice in one year, nor can one priest call down the deity’s wrath more than twice in one month. Even the Gods have their limits. The target must be held in disfavour or despised by the deity in order for this effect to work. A deity will not wrathfully smite any person who they hold in their favour or who is beloved by them, even if the rest of the group is targeted, nor will they smite any people who venerate them within a settlement that is visited by their wrath. Gods sometimes produce this effect spontaneously, without being asked to by a priest. They will usually only do this if a person goes out of their way to challenge or offend them, as in the case of Sisyphus who defied Zeus and was struck by a thunderbolt or if a group or a settlement grievously sins against them. Single Person: The victim of this spell is either struck by a thunderbolt (as the item) that automatically hits or is the recipient of a permanent change person effect that transforms him into a beast of an appropriate kind. A saving throw is still allowed in each case.

Settlement: The settlement is struck by an earthquake, by a tidal wave or by plague. If an earthquake occurs, an intense but highly localized tremor rips the ground. The shock knocks creatures down, collapses structures, opens cracks in the ground and more. The effect lasts for 1 round, during which time creatures on the ground can’t move or attack. A spellcaster on the ground must make a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell save modifier) or lose any spell he or she tries to cast. The earthquake affects all terrain, vegetation, structures and creatures in the area. Each creature standing in the area must make a DC 15 Reflex saving throw or fall down. Fissures open in the earth and every creature on the ground has a 25% chance to fall into one, with a Reflex saving throw at DC 20 allowed to avoid a fissure. At the end of the spell, all fissures grind shut, killing any creatures still trapped within. Any structure standing on open ground takes 100 points of damage, enough to collapse a typical wooden or masonry building, but not a structure built of stone or reinforced masonry. Hardness does not reduce this damage, nor is it halved as damage dealt to objects normally is. Any creature caught inside a collapsing structure takes 8d6 points of bludgeoning damage, with a Reflex saving throw at DC 15 allowed for half damage and is pinned beneath the rubble. Any creature pinned beneath rubble takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage per minute while pinned. If a pinned character falls unconscious, he or she must make a DC 15 Constitution check or take 1d6 points of lethal damage each minute thereafter until freed or dead. Rivers, lakes and marshes are affected as follows. Fissures open underneath the water, draining away the water from that area and forming muddy ground. Soggy marsh or swampland becomes quicksand for the duration of the spell, sucking down creatures and structures. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Reflex save or sink down in the mud and quicksand. At the end of the spell, the rest of the body of water rushes in to replace the drained water, possibly drowning those caught in the mud.

A settlement can only be struck by a tidal wave if it is next to the sea. The wave swamps the settlement, inflicting 200 points of damage upon all structures. Any creature caught inside a collapsed structure is treated as above, with the added hazard that a pinned character is underwater and may drown. The entire settlement is flooded with water for five minutes. During this time, all creatures within the settlement must make Swim checks at DC 20 every round (as the waters are turbulent) or sink beneath the surface

and begin to drown when they can no longer hold their breath. When a settlement is struck by plague, all of the occupants contract a non-contagious wasting disease with a Save DC of 25 and ability damage of 1d4 Constitution.

Makings

Great Mending DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 15 Cost To Cast: 1 point per 10 cubic-ft. of object size Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Target: One object Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +3 This spell functions like mending, except that great mending completely repairs an object made of any substance, even one with multiple breaks, to be as strong as new. The spell does not repair items that have been warped, burned, disintegrated, ground to powder, melted or vaporized, nor does it affect creatures, including constructs.

magic and miracles

Group Of People: The group of people targeted by this effect are all subject to a permanent change person effect that transforms them into beasts of an appropriate kind. A saving throw is still allowed in each case. A larger group of people may be subject to an earthquake effect, for which see below.

Major Creation DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 20 Cost To Cast: Varies, see below Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Target: One object of up to 1 lb. Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This spell functions like minor creation, except that you can also create an object of mineral nature: stone, crystal, metal or the like. The volume of the item created cannot exceed 1 cubic foot per two points invested. The duration of the created item varies with its relative hardness and rarity, as indicated on the following table.

Hardness and Rarity Examples

Duration

Vegetable matter

2 hr./level

Stone, crystal, base metals

1 hr./level

Precious metals

20 min./level

Gems

10 min./level

Mending DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 10 Cost To Cast: 1 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Target: One object of up to 1 lb.

179

magic and miracles

Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 Mending repairs small breaks or tears in objects but not warps, such as might be found in wood. It will weld broken metallic objects such as a ring, a chain link, a medallion or a slender dagger, providing but one break exists. Ceramic or wooden objects with multiple breaks can be invisibly rejoined to be as strong as new. A hole in a leather sack or a wineskin is completely healed over by mending. The spell does not affect creatures, including constructs.

Minor Creation DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 10 Cost To Cast: Varies, see below Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Target: One object of up to 1 lb. Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 You create a nonmagical, unattended object of nonliving, vegetable matter. The volume of the item created cannot exceed 1 cubic foot per two points invested. You must succeed on an appropriate skill check to make a complex item. Attempting to use any created object (such as created witches’ herbs) as a material component causes the spell to fail.

Manifestations

Create Base Matter DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: Varies, see below Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: One cubic foot of material Extended Effect: One cubic foot of material per additional 2 DC and additional HP Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +4 The caster producing this effect may create a quantity of base, nonliving materials in an inert state. He may not create precious materials such as gold or gems or energised materials such as lava or steam. He may however create wood, clay, stone, sand or coal for 2 hit points per cubic foot and bronze, copper, iron or tin for 4 hit points per cubic foot. The caster must create the material in a rough, amorphous mass. If it is to be turned into anything else, then a Craft skill check must be made as usual.

Create Energised Matter DC: Hekau 30, Prayer 40 Cost To Cast: 15 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels).

180

Base Effect: Stream of molten rock or metal Extended Effect: Increased damage Saving Throw: Reflex half Save DC Modifier: +9 This spell calls shaped, heated matter into being and hurls it in a given direction. The result is a jet of molten iron, molten bronze, molten lead or lava. This is thrown as a ray attack by the caster. The jet deals 5d6 fire damage on impact and 3d4 fire damage on each following round, for three rounds, as the molten matter clings to the target. Immersion in water (or similar effect) prevents the subsequent fire damage. For every 5 additional hit points that the caster invests in the spell, the initial damage of the lava is increased by 1d6 and the damage on the following round by 1d4.

Create Fire DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 10, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 2 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Base Effect: One flame the size of a torch Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +2 This effect causes a flame to spring into being where the caster touches. If he touches flammable material, then the material catches fire immediately unless it is damp. If he uses this effect as an attack, then the flame deals 1d4 fire damage to the target. The caster must deliver the spell as a touch attack. Witchcraft and Hekau casters can invest additional hit points to create a more intense flame. For every 3 additional hit points invested, an extra d4 of fire damage is added to the effect.

Create Food DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 15, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 3 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Base Effect: Enough food for one person Extended Effect: Food for one more person per additional 2 DC Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This magical effect brings simple, nutritious food into being; the default result is bread and fish. One casting of the magical effect produces enough food to sustain one person for one day. By increasing the DC by 2 and the casting cost by 1, you can create enough food for one additional person. If this spell is cast with Prayer in a given country at a time of drought or famine for that country, the DC of the spell is increased by +10, as the Gods have already decided that the people shall go hungry and are not about to change their minds now. Egyptian priests usually fall back upon their Hekau skill in times of want and cast this spell with Hekau to make sure that they, at least, do not starve.

Create Light

Create Missile DC: Hekau 10, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 2 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Varies: see below Base Effect: One or more missiles Extended Effect: Varies: see below Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +4 This spell calls shaped matter into being and projects it along a given course. The result is one or more missiles, which are flung from the caster’s hand and towards a target. The caster must succeed with a ray attack in order to strike the target with the missile. By investing more hit points and raising the DC, you may either embellish the effect of a single missile or create multiple missiles. A separate attack roll is required for each missile. The caster may choose the kind of missile that is created with each casting, though all missiles must be the same type for any one production of this effect. Dart: The missile created is metallic and pointed. It deals 1d6 piercing damage. For a single dart, each additional +2 hit points invested increase the damage by +1; the DC is not affected. Multiple darts cost +2 hit points and +2 DC to produce. The dart may be used within Medium range (100ft. + 10-ft./level) Water Stream: The missile is a stream of water that can knock a target off his feet. The stream has an effective Strength of 16 and you may make a ranged trip attack with it. Every additional +2 hit points and +2 DC you invest raises the stream’s effective Strength by +1. The stream may also be used for such mundane applications as putting out fires. The stream may be used within Close range (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels). Additional streams cost +2 hit points and +3 DC. Flame Jet: The missile is a jet of flame, dealing 1d4 fire damage upon the target. For a single jet, each additional +2 hit points invested and +2 DC increase the damage by +1d4. Multiple jets cost +2 hit points and +2 DC to produce. The jet may be used within Close range (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels).

Rock: The missile is a simple rock, dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage. For a single rock, each additional +2 hit points invested increase the damage by +1; the DC is not affected. Multiple rocks cost +2 hit points and +2 DC to produce. The rock may be used within Medium range (100-ft. + 10ft./level). Sharp Disc: The missile is a sharp, spinning metal disc, dealing 1d6 slashing damage. For a single disc, each additional +2 hit points invested increase the damage by +1; the DC is not affected. Multiple discs cost +2 hit points and +2 DC to produce. The disc may be used within Medium range (100-ft. + 10-ft./level). Those who use this spell sometimes call these discs ‘chakrams’.

Create Water DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 10, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 3 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Base Effect: One gallon of water Extended Effect: One additional gallon of water per 2 DC and 2 HP Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This magical effect creates pure water. If cast with Prayer when within a country that is suffering from drought, the DC to cast is +10, as the Gods are not inclined to provide water within a land that they have already decreed shall be dry.

magic and miracles

DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 5, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 2 Base Duration: 1d8 hours Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: One object Saving Throw: Will Negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +1 This spell causes a single object to glow as brightly as a torch, shedding bright light in a 20 foot radius (and dim light for an additional 20 feet) from the point you touch. The effect is immobile, but it can be cast on a movable object.

Quicksand DC: Hekau 20, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: Patch of solid ground 10-ft. square turned to quicksand Extended Effect: An additional 10-ft. square section per +2 DC and +5 HP Saving Throw: Reflex avoids Save DC Modifier: +6 This spell turns solid ground into quicksand. A creature standing in the region when it is transformed must make a Reflex saving throw to jump away to safety, if there is a safe spot within 5 feet. Creatures caught in the quicksand are at risk from drowning. A character in quicksand must make a DC 10 Swim check every round to tread water and stay in place without sinking or a DC 15 Swim check to move 5 feet in any direction. If a character in quicksand fails his check by 5 or more, he sinks under the surface and begins to drown once he runs out of breath. See Drowning in the Adventuring chapter.

181

Manipulations

magic and miracles

Shower DC: Hekau 25, Prayer 35 Cost To Cast: 10 Cost To Extend: 5/round Base Duration: One round Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels). Area of Effect: Region 60-ft. across Saving Throw: Reflex half Save DC Modifier: +9 This magical effect, which may only be cast outside, pelts a region with small rocks that fall from the sky. Every exposed creature in the region suffers 5d4 points of bludgeoning damage per round. A creature may make a Reflex saving throw for half damage. Instead of a Reflex saving throw, a character may make a Shield Defence check. If he is successful, his shield takes the damage instead of him.

Wall DC: Hekau 20, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: Wall, one foot thick, ten feet high and ten feet across Extended Effect: An additional section to the same dimensions per +2 DC and +5 HP Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +6 This spell creates a wall of worked stone blocks. The caster can shape this wall as it is created, curving it around as he wishes. The wall must be created at floor level and cannot be called into being in the air.

Witchglow DC: Witchcraft 5 Cost To Cast: 1 Base Duration: One night Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: One selected point on the ground Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This is the spell that witches use to light their meetings. It can only be cast in a place that is open to the sky. When witchglow is cast, a shaft of faint light is projected down from the sky to the chosen spot. Only those who have one or more ranks in the Witchcraft skill or whose chosen deity is Hecate can see this shaft of radiance. The chosen spot is surrounded by bright light to a radius of 20 feet and shadowy light for another 20 feet beyond. Unlike the shaft, the radiance on the ground can be seen by anyone.

182

Alter Weather

DC: Witchcraft 30, Hekau 40, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 15 Base Duration: 4d12 hours; see text Casting Time: 10 minutes; see text Range: 2 miles Area: 2-mile-radius circle, centred on you; see text Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +7 You change the weather in the local area. It takes 10 minutes to cast the spell and an additional 10 minutes for the effects to manifest. You can call forth weather appropriate to the climate and season of the area you are in. Season

Possible Weather

Spring

Tornado, thunderstorm, sleet storm or hot weather

Summer

Torrential rain, heat wave or hailstorm

Autumn

Hot or cold weather, fog or sleet

Winter

Frigid cold, blizzard or thaw

Late Winter

Hurricane-force winds or early spring (coastal area)

You control the general tendencies of the weather, such as the direction and intensity of the wind. You cannot control specific applications of the weather—where lightning strikes, for example or the exact path of a tornado. When you select a certain weather condition to occur, the weather assumes that condition 10 minutes later (changing gradually, not abruptly). The weather continues as you left it for the duration or until you use a standard action to designate a new kind of weather (which fully manifests itself 10 minutes later). Contradictory conditions are not possible simultaneously. Alter weather can do away with atmospheric phenomena (naturally occurring or otherwise) as well as create them.

Control Winds DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 30, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 10 Cost To Sustain: 5 hp/10 minutes Base Duration: 10 minutes Casting Time: One full-round action Range: 40-ft./level Area: 40-ft./level radius cylinder 40-ft. high Saving Throw: Fortitude negates You alter wind force in the area surrounding you. You can make the wind blow in a certain direction or manner, increase its strength or decrease its strength. The new wind direction and strength persist until the spell ends or until you choose to alter your handiwork, which requires concentration. You may create an ‘eye’ of calm air up to 80 feet in diameter at the centre of the area if you so desire and you may choose to limit the area to any cylindrical area less than your full limit.

Wind Direction: You may choose one of four basic wind patterns to function over the spell’s area. A downdraught blows from the centre outward in equal strength in all directions.



An updraught blows from the outer edges in toward the centre in equal strength from all directions, veering upward before impinging on the eye in the centre.



A rotation causes the winds to circle the centre in clockwise or counter clockwise fashion.



A blast simply causes the winds to blow in one direction across the entire area from one side to the other.

Wind Strength: For every three additional DC to cast the spell, you can increase or decrease wind strength by one level. Each round on your turn, a creature in the wind must make a Fortitude saving throw or suffer the effect of being in the windy area. Base DC: Strong winds (21+ mph) make sailing difficult. +3 DC: A severe wind (31+ mph) causes minor ship and building damage. +6 DC: A windstorm (51+ mph) drives most flying creatures from the skies, uproots small trees, knocks down light wooden structures, tears off roofs and endangers ships. +9 DC: Hurricane force winds (75+ mph) destroy wooden buildings, sometimes uproot even large trees and cause most ships to founder. +12 DC: A tornado (175+ mph) destroys all unfortified buildings and often uproots large trees.

Hold Door DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 10, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 1 Base Duration: One minute Cost To Extend: 1 hp/minute Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One portal, up to 20 sq.-ft./level Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This spell magically holds shut a door, gate, window or shutter of wood, metal or stone. The magic affects the portal just as if it were securely closed and normally locked. For a portal affected by this spell, add 5 to the normal DC for forcing open the portal.

Open/Close DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 10, Prayer 10 Cost To Cast: 1 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: Object weighing up to 30 lb. or portal that can be opened or closed Saving Throw: Will negates (object) Save DC Modifier: +1

Move Earth DC: Hekau 35, Prayer 35 Cost To Cast: 20 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: See text Range: Long (400-ft. + 40-ft./level) Area: Dirt in an area up to 750-ft. square and up to 10-ft. deep Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Move earth moves dirt (clay, loam, sand), possibly collapsing embankments, moving hillocks, shifting dunes and so forth. However, in no event can rock formations be collapsed or moved.

magic and miracles



You can open or close (your choice) a door, chest, box, shutter, bag, pouch, jar, barrel or other container. If anything resists this activity (such as a bar on a door) the spell fails. In addition, the spell can only open and close things weighing 30 pounds or less. Thus, doors, chests and similar objects sized for enormous creatures may be beyond this spell’s ability to affect.

The area to be affected determines the casting time. For every 150 foot square (up to 10 feet deep), casting takes 10 minutes. The maximum area, 750 feet by 750 feet, takes 4 hours and 10 minutes to move. This spell does not violently break the surface of the ground. Instead, it creates wavelike crests and troughs, with the earth reacting with glacier-like fluidity until the desired result is achieved. Trees, structures, rock formations and such are mostly unaffected except for changes in elevation and relative topography. The spell cannot be used for tunnelling and is generally too slow to trap or bury creatures. Its primary use is for digging or filling moats or for adjusting terrain contours before a battle. It is also used to bury buildings in sand, protecting them from discovery.

Seemings

Create Illusion DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 20, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 4 Cost To Sustain: 1/ 10 minutes Base Duration: 10 minutes, requires concentration Casting Time: One standard action Range: Long (400-ft. + 40-ft./level) Effect: Figment that cannot extend beyond four 10-ft. cubes + 10-ft. cube/additional 3 HP Saving Throw: Will negates (interaction required) Save DC Modifier: +4 This spell creates an illusory creature, object or force. You may increase the illusion’s size by investing additional hit points in it at the point of casting, if you are a Witchcraft or Hekau caster. By default, the illusion is silent and has no textural or thermal components. With an increase of +2 to the DC, you can give your illusion sound. With a further increase of +4 to the DC, you can give your illusion textural or thermal elements.

183

magic and miracles

If a creature strikes your illusion, it disappears unless you cause it to react appropriately. If a creature interacts with your illusion, they are allowed a Will saving throw to recognise that it is not real.

Disguise Self DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 25, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 1 Cost To Sustain: 1/ 10 minutes Base Duration: 10 minute Casting Time: One standard action Range: You Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 You make yourself—including clothing, armour, weapons and equipment—look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat or in between. You cannot change your body type. Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person. The spell does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check. This bonus stacks with that provided by mimic voice. A creature that interacts with your illusory features gets a Will saving to recognize them as an illusion. You may make your effect more convincing by investing additional hit points in the casting. For every two additional hit points you invest, the saving throw DC is increased by 1.

Mimic Voice DC: Witchcraft 10, Hekau 15, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 1 Cost To Sustain: 1/10 minutes Base Duration: 10 minutes Casting Time: One standard action Range: You Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +1 This effect allows you to mimic the voice of another person perfectly. In order to use this spell, you must have heard the intended subject speaking clearly for at least five minutes. Although you imitate the other’s voice faultlessly, it is still possible for another person to become suspicious if you use the wrong mannerisms, mode of speech or terms of reference. If a person can only hear your voice, he must make a Sense Motive skill check at DC 25 on first speaking to you to notice that all is not quite right and is entitled to a further check every hour thereafter if you continue talking or resume conversation. This spell allows a +4 circumstance modifier to any Disguise check made to pass yourself off as someone else. This bonus stacks with that provided by disguise self.

184

One Thousand Voices DC: Witchcraft 30, Hekau 35 Cost To Cast: 8 Cost To Sustain: 3/10 minutes Base Duration: 10 minutes Casting Time: One standard action Range: You Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +8 This spell allows you to mimic the voice of any person perfectly. You may change your voice at will, so that you can seem to be two or more different people having a conversation with each other. While this effect is running, you can use another application of it. You can speak to a given target and take on the voice of the person they love the most, without necessarily knowing anything about them. You instinctively know who this person is (mother, wife and so on) so you can act in character. A person who fails their saving throw against this application of the effect is captivated. A captivated victim walks toward the source of the voice, taking the most direct route available. If the path leads into a dangerous area (through flame, off a cliff or the like), that creature gets a second saving throw. Captivated creatures can take no actions other than to defend themselves. The effect is broken as soon as the creature can see that the voice is not coming from the person they think you to be. This effect is said to have been used by Helen of Troy to lure the Greeks out of the wooden horse, to no avail; one warrior succumbed and tried to leave the horse but was choked to death by the others to prevent the whole plan from falling apart.

Transformations Animal Feature

DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 25, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 3 Base Duration: 1 minute Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One person Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +4 This spell changes a single feature of the target person to that of an animal. For example, it can be used to give the target the ears of an ass, the eyes of a cat or the horns of a stag. It is most commonly used as a joke or a mild curse. A person with an obvious animal feature loses any Reputation bonus and suffers a –4 penalty to Charisma while the feature lasts. The effect can be made permanent with a +20 increase to the casting DC. This was the fate that befell King Minos, according to legend. It can be removed with a remove curse magical effect. If the animal feature comes from an animal that has especially acute senses or could act as a natural weapon, then it can be useful to cast upon oneself or upon a willing recipient. The

Games Master has the final say on what a given animal feature conveys, but the following are given as examples:

Change Person

When the spell’s duration ends, the matter turns back into its original state, with any rearrangement still in place. For example, you could transform a stone door to wood and smash through it; when the door turned back into stone, it would still be smashed.

DC: Witchcraft 30, Hekau 40, Prayer 40 Cost To Cast: 15 Cost To Sustain: 2/day Base Duration: 1 day Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One or more people Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +8 The most feared of all transformation effects, this turns a person into an animal. The caster may choose what the animal is. The caster decides whether the victim retains any memory of his previous life or not. The effect lasts for as long as the caster chooses to sustain the effect. Sustaining this effect requires only one minute of concentration per day. The effect may be extended to target more than one person, all of whom must be within Close range (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) of the original target. Each additional victim adds +2 to the DC of the spell and +5 to the casting cost and must be transformed to the same animal as the first. When produced with Prayer, the effects of this spell are permanent and may not be removed unless the target finds some means of repenting and petitioning a deity for assistance.

DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 25, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 5 Base Duration: 1d6 minutes Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Effect: One animal Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +8 This spell changes a quantity of lifeless matter into an animal of approximately the same mass. The most well known application of this spell is that whereby a staff is changed into a serpent. The spell can only produce animals, not mythical beasts or people. The DC of this spell is raised by 2 for every hit die of the animal to be created. So, creating a wolf from clay with witchcraft would require a DC 19 spell. You must have sufficient quantity of material to make the animal from. You cannot make elephants from pebbles. If the material is already shaped like the animal, such as a statue of a wolf made from stone, and then the DC of the check is reduced by –4. At the expiry of the spell or the death of the animal, the animal reverts back into the original material.

This spell is a favourite of such witches as Circe, who called upon Hecate’s aid in the myths to turn all of Odysseus’ men into swine. The priests of Zeus also use it to turn the enemies of that God into wolves, as a fitting punishment.

Animals created by this spell are automatically obedient to the caster. A Handle Animal skill check may need to be made to induce the animal to do a given thing. See the Handle Animal skill description in the Skills chapter.

Create Animal

Change Substance

Enlarge Animal

DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 4 Base Duration: 1 minute Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: One cubic foot of material Extended Effect: One cubic foot of material per three hit points expended Saving Throw: None Save DC Modifier: +4 This spell transforms one kind of non-living matter into another. The caster must retain the state of the matter, turning one solid into another solid, one liquid into another liquid and a gas into a gas. Energy, such as fire, cannot be transformed

DC: Witchcraft 20, Hekau 30, Prayer 30 Cost To Cast: 8 Base Duration: 1 minute Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Base Effect: One animal Extended Effect: One additional animal per three hit points expended Saving Throw: Will Negates Save DC Modifier: +6 One or more animals grow to twice their normal size and eight times their normal weight. This alteration changes each animal’s size category to the next largest, grants it a +8 size bonus to Strength and a +4 size bonus to Constitution

magic and miracles

Bat’s ears: +2 racial bonus to all Listen checks. Cat eyes: Low-light vision. Dog’s nose: +2 racial bonus to all Search checks and temporary use of the Tracking feat. Goat horns: Natural weapons dealing 1d4 piercing damage. Lion claws: +2 racial bonus to all Climb checks; natural weapons dealing 1d6 slashing damage. Serpent fangs: Natural weapons dealing 1d3 damage plus poison identical to that of a medium-sized viper.

with this spell. For example, you could change wood to clay, water to blood or air to smoke but you could not change rock into air, nor may you change the level of heat in the material, such as by changing water into boiling oil. Living creatures may not be affected by this spell. Their possessions may be affected by it but are entitled to a saving throw as usual. Note that changing leather armour into bronze does not result in the creation of useful bronze armour.

185

magic and miracles

(and thus an extra 2 hit points per HD) and imposes a –2 size penalty to Dexterity. The size change also affects the animal’s base damage. The animal’s space and reach change as appropriate to the new size, but its speed does not change. The spell also grants each subject magical armour with coverage +15 and DR of 4, and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws. If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the creature attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it— the spell cannot be used to crush a creature by increasing its size. All equipment worn or carried by an animal is similarly enlarged by the spell, though this change has no effect on the magical properties of any such equipment. Any enlarged item that leaves the enlarged creature’s possession instantly returns to its normal size. The spell gives no means of command or influence over the enlarged animals.

Unmakings

Corrode Metal DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 20 Cost To Cast: 4 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Touch Target: One object Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +7 Any iron or iron alloy item you touch becomes instantaneously rusted, pitted and worthless, effectively destroyed. If the item is so large that it cannot fit within a 3 foot radius, then a 3 foot-radius volume of the metal is rusted and destroyed. You may employ corrode metal in combat with a successful melee touch attack. Corrode metal used in this way instantaneously causes the condition of the armour worn by the target to drop to the next level of repair through corrosion. Weapons in use by an opponent targeted by the spell are more difficult to grasp. You must succeed on a melee touch attack against the weapon. A metal weapon that is hit is destroyed. Note: Striking at an opponent’s weapon provokes an attack of opportunity. Also, you must touch the weapon and not the other way around.

Disintegrate Matter

186

DC: Witchcraft 40, Hekau 35 Cost To Cast: 40 Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Effect: Ray Saving Throw: Fortitude partial Save DC Modifier: +8

A thin beam of violet radiance springs from your finger. You must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit. Any creature struck by the ray takes 14d6 points of damage, recorded as wounds, plus 1d6 for every additional 3 hit points invested in the spell. Any creature reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by this spell is entirely disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. A disintegrated creature’s equipment is unaffected. When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as one 10 foot cube of nonliving matter. Thus, the spell disintegrates only part of any very large object or structure targeted. Manifest spiritual creatures struck by the ray are instantly dispelled if they fail their saving throws. . A creature or object that makes a successful Fortitude save is partially affected, taking only 5d6 points of damage. If this damage reduces the creature or object to 0 or fewer hit points, it is entirely disintegrated. Only the first creature or object struck can be affected; that is, the ray affects only one target per casting.

Dispel Manifestation DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 15, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 10 Base Duration: Permanent Casting Time: One full round Range: Touch Area Of Effect: One person Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Save DC Modifier: +4 This effect undoes the work of Manifestation and Making effects, such as major creation. It causes any solid item produced by such an effect to vanish before its duration expires. Dispel manifestation is also effective on Permanent effects. The experience level of the person who created the item plus their spellcasting ability score modifier (Charisma for witches, Intelligence for Hekau casters and Wisdom for those using Prayer) is added to the DC of the effect.

Shatter Object DC: Witchcraft 25, Hekau 15, Prayer 25 Cost To Cast: 4 per 10 lb. of target object weight Base Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: One standard action Range: Close (25-ft. + 5-ft./2 levels) Target: One object Saving Throw: Will negates Save DC Modifier: +4 This spell targets a single, solid object of any material. Armour does not count as a single solid object but a shield does. The object is shattered into pieces.

Weaken Matter DC: Witchcraft 15, Hekau 10, Prayer 15 Cost To Cast: 4 Base Duration: 1minute Casting Time: One standard action

Loose the Ka / Project the Spirit

This is a special magical effect available only to Witchcraft and Hekau casters. It takes an hour to prepare, after which you may stay out of your body for as long as you like, though you risk starving to death if you do not return to your body and eat. The DC of the check is 20 with a one hit point cost if the check is failed. When you project your spirit, you must transfer a number of hit points into your spirit form (or ka if you are an Egyptian), which are deducted from your current hit points. These are not recorded as wounds; they are a draining of vital energy, as if you had cast a spell with them. You must invest at least one hit point in your spirit form and must leave at least one hit point behind in your physical body. Put simply, you choose how many of your hit points you want to take with you on your sojourn in the spirit realm. While you are out of the body, these spiritual hit points can be used for important activities such as becoming manifest, casting spells and taking possession of others. They are also your only way to endure attacks from other spiritual creatures. While out of the body, you cannot use herbs or power amulets to fuel your spells. You may however bring with you the spiritual equivalent of any ordinary items that have been dedicated for use in the spirit world by use of the Hekau skill. You can choose how many hit points you bring with you each time you leave your body; you can choose a different sum on every occasion but once you are out of the body, you cannot then increase or decrease that figure. It is up to you to strike a balance between strengthening your spiritual body and leaving your physical body with enough vitality to see you through if you should have any trouble. Remember that as a spiritual creature, you can be dispelled just like any wicked spirit or undead monster, reducing your spirit body’s hit points to zero and catapulting you back into your physical body. If you have left that physical body with only a handful of hit points, then you will be in a very sorry state indeed. If you use up hit points while travelling out of your body (such as by becoming manifest or casting spells) or lose them (such as from combat with spiritual creatures) then you cannot draw more from your physical body, nor can you draw any from power amulets or herbs. You can only raise the hit points of your spirit body by casting drain life on a living creature

that has a body and even then you can only raise them to a maximum of the number that you first took with you. On returning to the body, you transfer all the hit points from your spiritual body back into your physical body, to the limit of that body’s maximum hit points. You cannot heal wounds by this method. If your physical body is killed while you are journeying out of it, you remain a spiritual creature. You no longer have any way to restore the hit points of your spiritual body, unless you are lucky enough to be properly mummified; see the Death and Beyond chapter for details. While you are out of your body, your body is not ‘resting’ and does not benefit from any natural healing. Furthermore, it begins to suffer if you are away from it for more than 24 hours. Every day that you are away from your body inflicts 1 point of Constitution damage upon it. Nothing can be done to prevent this damage. It will not begin to recover itself until your spirit is back in your body. It is possible that your wandering spirit could be bound into an item by some angry rival, which would cause your body to lie in a cataleptic trance until you wasted away.

magic and miracles

Range: Medium (100-ft. + 10-ft./level) Target: One object Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Save DC Modifier: +1 This effect reduces the strength of matter. When cast upon a nonliving object, it reduces the hardness (or DR) of that object by 1, making it easier to break. The spell may be cast upon armour or shields, in which case it lowers their DR. Attended objects (such as worn armour) use their bearer’s saving throw to resist the spell.

divine items

These are the items wielded by the Gods themselves, occasionally lent to deserving followers. The request item magical effect above is the standard means of petitioning a deity to lend you one of his items. All divine items are indestructible and automatically succeed at any saving throw they are required to make. They are immune to magic, though they do not confer this immunity upon the wearer. A deity can always call one of his items back, irrespective of where it is or who has it. If one divine object is employed against another, the defender always wins the contest. For example, if the Spear of Ares were smote against the Shield of Athena, the shield would suffer no damage, despite the sword’s ability to destroy shields with a single blow. If anyone other than the person who first requested the item or one worthy to bear it (see the effect description) ever picks the item up, moves it about or even touches it, two things may happen. The deity may call the item back if it seems that it is about to be used for a purpose of which the deity would not approve. This ends the request item effect. Alternatively, the person handling the item may be dealt a blast of godly ire that deals 3d6 fire damage to them (recorded as wounds, with no saving throw) and continues to do so for every round that they still hold the item. Aphrodite’s Necklace This stunning jewel is a single ruby in the shape of a star, from which drops of blood constantly fall and fade away. The wearer may use the one thousand voices magical effect at will, up to three times a day. The necklace also confers a +5

187

magic and miracles

enhancement bonus to the wearer’s Charisma ability score. DC adjustment +8. Apollo’s Arrows These arrows burn with the fire of the sun. They have a +3 enhancement bonus to the attack and damage roll and deal an additional 2d6 fire damage when they strike a target. This damage is doubled against undead creatures. DC adjustment +5. Apollo’s Lyre The lyre of the God of music is U-shaped in the classic Greek style, resonant with harmonies too perfect for any but the Gods. It adds a +5 competence bonus to any Perform check that the wielder makes with it. DC adjustment +8. Ares’ Spear This spear has a +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. It can also be thrown to any distance, irrespective of the Strength of the wielder, with a range increment of 100 feet. If you can see a target, you can attempt to hit it. The spear returns to the wielder’s hand on the round after it is thrown, whether it hit the target or not. DC adjustment +10. Ares’ Armour The armour of the God of War is a set of shaped bronze plate that automatically fits the wearer. It has infinite damage resistance. Any attack that is blocked by the armour is completely absorbed, passing on no damage to the wearer. DC adjustment +10. Artemis’ Arrows The arrows of the Goddess Artemis gleam with a silvery light and strike with deadly accuracy. Each one has a +5 bonus to attack and damage rolls. In addition, the arrows seem to know where to strike on the target’s body. Coverage checks from armour of any kind are made at a –5 penalty to the roll. When this item is given to a petitioner, 3d4 arrows are provided. DC adjustment +3. Artemis’ Hunting Horn This is a small, pale horn fitted with cold silver. When the wielder blows it and indicates a target, all attacks against that target (from whatever source) are made at a +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls until dawn the next day. The horn may only be blown once in any 24-hour period. DC adjustment +2.

188

Asclepius’ Staff The simple oaken staff of the God of healing draws its curative power from him. When touched to a wound, whether grievous or ordinary, it heals it immediately without any scarring. A touch of the staff will also restore blindness, hearing or loss of speech, purge any poison or cure any disease. The staff may be used to deliver 10 touches only before Asclepius recalls it. DC adjustment +10. Athena’s Helm This is a Corinthian style helmet that confers powers of clearheadedness and resolve upon the wearer. While the helm is worn, the wearer is immune to all fear effects. No penalty applies to Spot or Listen checks. DC adjustment +2. Athena’s Shield This is an indestructible hoplon with an additional +1 enhancement bonus to its Coverage rating. Unlike ordinary shields, you may use the Shield of Athena to make Shield Defence checks against magical rays. DC adjustment +2. Athena’s Sword This sword, called ‘Harpe’, seems to be made of iron as bright as silver and excels at severing heads. It was the sword given to Perseus, with which he severed the hissing head of Medusa. Harpe is a kopis (Greek sabre) with a +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. Harpe benefits from an additional +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls when made in the course of a decapitate attempt. DC adjustment +5. Demeter’s Horn This is a cornucopia or horn of plenty, a twisted horn from which fruits, grain and good food continually fall. The horn provides an unending supply of food, enough to feed up to five hundred people per day. All creatures that feed from the horn benefit from double their usual healing rate. DC adjustment +4. Dionysus’ Chalice This is a beautiful golden wine cup, carved with scenes of frolicking fauns and nymphs and bedecked with grapes and vines. It is always brimful of wine and can never be emptied. The presence of Dionyus’ Chalice can cause a whole army to become intoxicated in the course of a single night, as each warrior drinks his fill and passes the cup around. DC adjustment +1. Dionysus’ Thyrsus This is a ceremonial spear rather like a rod with a pinecone on the end. As a standard action, the wielder can designate one target per round to be wreathed by vines and held immobile.

Hecate’s Cauldron The steaming cauldron of Hecate is the nexus of all witchcraft. A witch who has Hecate as her deity may draw casting power from it just by standing within 10 feet of it. She can draw up to 20 points of casting power from it per round, to fuel her spells. DC adjustment +10. Hecate’s Torch This flaming torch burns with an uncanny blue light. No spiritual or undead creatures may approach the wielder closer than 30 feet unless the wielder grants them express permission to do so. Those who are within the torch’s radiance are immune to life drain effects and cannot be possessed by spiritual creatures, though possessions currently ongoing are not ended thereby. DC adjustment +4. Hera’s Crown The crown of mighty Hera places the wielder into a state of divine sanctuary. While he or she wears it, he is immortal. The wielder is immune to any effect that would lower or drain hit points or cause any other kind of physical harm, including petrification. (No immunity is however conferred to mindinfluencing effects.) This protection comes at a price. The wearer may not cause physical harm to another while they wear the crown, neither by weapons nor by magic. This includes non-lethal damage and sleep effects. If they cause even so much as a single point of damage to another being, Hera will retrieve the crown. Players who try to cheat will find that the Goddess is watching them and will not be fooled by any attempt to bend the definition of ‘harm’. DC adjustment +6.

Craft skill checks. When struck against a nonliving substance, it can (if the wielder chooses) shatter up to 10 cubic feet of material per blow. DC adjustment +5. Poseidon’s Trident This barnacle-crusted, seaweed-draped object seems almost too old and corroded to be useful, as if it had lain for years at the bottom of the sea. In reality, it is much more potent. In addition to having a +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls, it allows the bearer to summon a terrible seabeast or ketos (see the Bestiary) who obeys the wielder as best it is able. The ketos will fight and endanger itself if necessary. It will remain on the surface for no more than 20 rounds before returning to the deep. The wielder cannot summon it again for 24 hours. If the ketos is killed, Poseidon will retrieve the trident, unhappy that one of his creatures has been slain while under your command. DC adjustment +9. Zeus’ Thunderbolt Thunderbolts ready to be thrown resemble jagged iron lightning bolts, in the typical ‘zap’ shape. They can be hurled at any target that the wielder can see. The wielder makes a ranged attack to hit, with no range increment. A successful strike inflicts 20d6 points of lightning damage, not recorded as wounds. This consumes the thunderbolt. When this item is granted, Zeus gives the petitioner 2d4 thunderbolts to throw. DC adjustment +8.

magic and miracles

The creature can break free and move half its normal speed by using a full-round action to make a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check. A creature that succeeds on a Reflex save (DC 25) is not entangled. DC adjustment +6.

Hermes’ Winged Sandals These are ordinary sandals from which tiny white wings grow at the ankle. The wearer can use them to fly at a speed of 100 feet with Good manoeuvrability. Despite their divine origin they are vulnerable to water, which makes the wings soggy and less useful. If the bearer is soaked, his flying speed drops to 50 feet. DC adjustment +2. Hermes’ Cap Of Invisibility The wearer of this cap becomes invisible for as long as he wears it. Invisible characters benefit from total concealment if they should be attacked. They gain a +2 bonus to the attack roll when attacking those who cannot see them. The character’s gear and weapons also become invisible but anything he drops or puts down becomes visible. DC adjustment +4. Hephaestus’ Hammer This gold-fitted hammer can be used in combat and has a +4 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. It also guides the hand of the craftsman, giving a +4 competence bonus to all

189

Timeline of the Ancient World

timeline

The following section gives an indication of what the various different civilisations of the ancient world were doing at any given time. As is readily apparent, each civilisation had its time of triumph, some reaching more than one peak of achievement.

190

2000 – 1200 BC Date

Egyptians

Greeks

Hittites

2000

Middle Kingdom. Peak of Egyptian civilisation.

–

Hittites arrive in Asia Minor.

1900

–

Knossos built in Minoan Crete.

–

1650

Hyskos invasions. The Hyskos, a Caananite people, use the chariot, which the Egyptians have not met before.

Trade between Minoan Crete & Egypt.

–

1600

–

Peak of Minoan civilization. Trading domination.

–

1500

–

Minoan palaces destroyed, possibly by volcanic activity. Some claim that this is a source of the Atlantis myth. Knossos rebuilt.

–

1590

–

–

Sacking of Babylon. Hittites use iron weapons to achieve military domination.

1570

Egyptians learn use of chariots. Hyskos driven from Egypt and pursued into Canaan. New Kingdom begins.

–

–

1550

Egyptians form allegiance with the powerful and unconquered Mitanni, who they call the Naharin. Egypt now has holdings in much of Palestine and Syria.

Peak of Mycenaean civilisation in mainland Greece.

Egypt initially allied with Hittites and assists them in their assault on Aleppo. Later Egyptian alliance with the Mitanni proves disastrous for Hittites. Their civilisation loses much ground and declines severely.

1469

The Battle of Megiddo. Egypt punishes the rebellious chief of Kadesh and those kings who he gathered under his banner.

–

–

1400

–

Mycenaean civilisation established throughout Greece. Knossos destroyed and not rebuilt this time, ending the Minoan civilization.

–

1379

Pharaoh Akhenaten institutes the worship of the Sun Disk (Aten) above all other Gods.

–

–

1368

Egypt is unable to prevent the Mitanni from losing lands to the Hittites and collapsing in civil war. The Assyrians, former subjects of the Mitanni, become an independent power.

–

Suppuiluliumas, king of the Hittites, pulls his nation back from obscurity, first fortifying the capital city of Hattusas, then mounting attacks on the Mitanni. The Mitanni are crushed, the Syrians become allies and Hittite rule extends as far south as Damascus. Peak of Hittite civilization.

1368-1200 BC Egyptians

Assyrians

Hittites

1368

Egypt is unable to prevent the Mitanni from losing lands to the Hittites and collapsing in civil war. The Assyrians, former subjects of the Mitanni, become an independent power.

The Assyrians form an alliance with the Mitanni, who have given up on Egyptian support. The two powers turn on the Hittites, their common enemy.

Suppuiluliumas, king of the Hittites, pulls his nation back from obscurity, first fortifying the capital city of Hattusas, then mounting attacks on the Mitanni. The Mitanni are crushed, the Syrians become allies and Hittite rule extends as far south as Damascus. Peak of Hittite civilization.

1327

Death of Tutankhamun. In an attempt to improve relations with the Hittites, his widow attempts to marry a Hittite prince, who is assassinated before the wedding can take place.

–

Peace overtures from the Egyptians cut short by assassination.

1307

–

Massive expansion of Assyrian territory under King Tiglath-Pileser.

–

1275

Egypt attempts to take Syria, leading to the battle of Kadesh. Egyptians under Rameses II clash with Hittites on the plains of Syria. The battle ends in a draw. Relations with Hittites improve steadily from this point onward.

–

Battle of Kadesh (see Egyptians)

1200

Alliance with Hittites in the face of Assyrian aggression.

–

Alliance with Egypt in the face of a common Assyrian enemy. Fading of Hittite power. Many other civilisations use iron weapons.

timeline

Date

1200-722 BC Date

Egyptians

Greeks

Assyrians

Phoenicians

1200

Alliance with the Hittites. Repeated invasion by the Sea Peoples, which include warriors of Mycenaean Greece, beat down Egyptian strength. Hebrew slaves leave Egypt.

Raids against Egypt. Siege of Troy. Barbarian invasions of Greece. Centres of population destroyed. Mycenaean civilisation fragments.

–

–

1000

Decline of Egyptian power. From this point onward, Egypt is repeatedly invaded, fought over and subjugated in the name of one conqueror or another.

–

Conquest of Syria and Babylon, shortly followed by loss of same.

Byblos, Tyre and Sidon have golden age. Phoenicians masters of trade.

900

–

–

Incursions from horse-riding Aryans prompt Assyrians to develop cavalry.

Carthage founded.

800

–

Beginnings of Hellene civilisation. Separate, fortified city-states emerge, forming the polis system that will last for centuries.

Fresh assaults against Syrian and Jewish kingdoms.

Trading colonies established

776

–

First Olympic Games.

–

–

729

–

–

Babylon seized.

–

722

–

Sparta now boasts the most capable warriors of any city-state in Greece, owing to its tough code of living and mandatory military training.

Obliteration of Israel. Deportation of the ten tribes. Peak of Assyrian civilisation.

–

191

timeline

715-700 BC Date

Egyptians

Greeks

Assyrians

Medes

715

–

Around this time, Greeks capture and settle territory in Asia Minor, forming the region known as Lydia.

–

Daiukku, first recorded king of the Medes, unites dozens of tribal chiefs to fight against the Assyrians.

700

Nile Delta annexed by invading Assyrians.

Homer produces the Odyssey and the Iliad. The Hoplite becomes the standard unit of defence for the polis or city-state, meaning that those who can afford the armour and weapons can become important and influential citizens.

Egypt invaded. The Assyrian Empire is now established as far as northern Egypt in the west and the Persian Gulf in the East.

–

653-612 BC Date

Assyrians

Medes

653

Unsuccessful Mede attack on Nineveh.

Medes rally around Khshathrita, the son of Daikukku. While King Sennacherib of Assyria is off fighting, the Medes mount an attack on the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, in concert with their Cimmerian allies and their Persian vassals. The attack fails.

652

–

The Scythians take advantage of the Medes’ recent military disasters and invade.

631

The prophet Nahum foresees the fall of Nineveh and the destruction of the Assyrian Empire.

Cyraxes, the new King of the Medes, slaughters the Scythian chieftains as they lie drunk after a banquet. Free from Scythian domination, the Medes begin to regain power.

625

Revolt in Babylon. Assyrian power begins to crumble.

–

615

–

Medes capture the Assyrian cities of Arrapkha and Ashur. Nineveh is surrounded.

612

Nineveh falls, assaulted by the Medes, who are assisted by the Babylonians. Assyrian empire collapses and their territory is divided up between the Medes and Babylonians.

Medes capture Nineveh, with Babylonian assistance.

550 – 525 BC

192

Date

Greeks

Persians

550

King Croesus comes to power in Lydia, in Asia Minor. Croesus is a satrap under overall Persian command, allowed to remain in power so long as deference is made to the Persian empire.

Cyrus the Elder, originally a vassal king under the rule of the Medes, consolidates his power, takes over the empire of the Medes and combines the forces of the Medes and Persians. He begins to take new territory, expanding the Persian empire.

546

The Lydian empire has grown immensely rich and powerful. Croesus makes alliances with the Egyptians, the Babylonians and most importantly the Spartans, who wished to defend Greek interests in Lydia. Although the Persians are expanding relentlessly, King Croesus refuses to bow to Persian authority any longer. Taking advice from the Oracle at Delphi, he is told that a great nation will be destroyed if he goes to war. Thinking this means the destruction of the Persians, Croesus invades Persian territory, only to be roundly defeated and cause the destruction of his own great nation.

Persians conquer Lydia (see Greeks). Cyrus uses local disaffection to his advantage in Babylon. With the help of the Babylonian general Gobryas, Cyrus takes the city of Uruk.

539-525 BC Egyptians

Persians

539

–

With the help of Gobyras, Cyrus conquers Babylon itself and assumes the kingship. Gobyras is installed as the local satrap in the new province of Babirush. Cyrus allows the Jewish people to return to their homeland, taking with them the ritual items stolen from their temple by the Babylonians. The Jews call him the Anointed of God.

538

–

Cyrus places his two sons in positions of command. Cambyses rules over Babylon, while Bardiya rules over the provinces to the east.

529

–

Cyrus expands his nation east to the edge of India. A tremendous clash between the army of Cyrus and that of Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae ends in the destruction of most of the Persian army. Cyrus himself is killed.

525

Invasion of Egypt. Greek mercenaries help with the defence, but to no avail. The Persians take Egypt.

Cambyses has his brother Bardiya assassinated. Left with overall control of the Persian Empire, he chooses to invade Egypt. A general who defected from the Greek army is able to get Cambyses the logistic help he needs to cross the desert and reach Egypt. This help comes from Bedouin people. In the resulting battle, Greek mercenaries fight on both the Persian and Egyptian sides. The Egyptians are defeated and retreat to Memphis.

522

–

A man claiming to be Bardiya, the assassinated brother of Cambyses, arises back in Persia and attempts to take over the kingship. Cambyses heads back home but dies on the journey. The prince and governor Darius, who distinguished himself in the war against Egypt, took the initiative and killed the false Bardiya within two months. The insurrections and revolts took another two years to suppress fully.

519

–

Darius crosses the Caspian Sea and invades the Scythian territories.

timeline

Date

Cambyses’ forces successfully invade Memphis and Egypt falls to the Persians. Cambyses then tries to use Egypt as a staging platform to mount an assault on Carthage, but his Phoenician allies naturally refuse to fight against their own city.

499-350 BC Date

Greeks

Persians

499

Aristagoras, a tyrant governing one of the cities of Lydia who was placed into power by the Persians, rebels against them. He travels to the Greek mainland for support in his stand against Persia. Initially he approaches the Spartans, hoping that they will lend him military strength, but they are not interested.

–

498

Aristagoras approaches the Athenians. They agree to provide him with twenty ships. The resulting expedition conquers and burns Sardis, the capital of Lydia; all other Greek cities in the region join the revolt against Persia. Rather than carry on the military effort, the Athenians go home.

Rebellion in Lydia, aided by Athens.

495

Persian response to the Greek revolt brings the rebellious cities back under control. Those cities that had previously been allowed autonomy are now governed by Persia.

Control restored in Lydia. Persians furious with Athenians for assisting in the revolt. They are assisted and advised by Hippias, a former ruler of Athens, now deposed.

492

War is initiated between Athens and Persia.

First Persian expeditionary force heads to Greece but is lost when the ships are wrecked in a storm.

490

Darius of Persia sends envoys to the various Greek mainland cities. These envoys make the traditional demand of ‘the earth and water of submission’ from the Greeks. The Spartans respond by throwing the envoys down a well, where there is plenty of earth and water.

Persia mounts a second expedition against Athens. They are defeated at Marathon. Although the Athenians see this as a triumph, to the Persians it is little more than an annoyance; such is the size of their empire. They do not retaliate immediately.

A Persian expeditionary force heads to Greece, landing at the bay of Marathon, some five miles from Athens. The Athenians benefit from the advice of Mitilades, a former soldier in the Persian army who knows the Persians’ tactics. The Athenians find the entire Plataian army has arrived to help them, a deed of bravery that they never forget. The Spartans do not arrive until the battle is over. Darius the Great is defeated at the battle of Marathon. The Athenians see this as their hour of greatest glory.

193

timeline

486-481 BC Date

Egyptians

Greeks

Persians

486

Darius’ campaign against the Greeks needs funding, which is taken straight out of Egyptian money. Incensed at the heavy taxes imposed upon them, the Egyptians revolt against their Persian occupiers.

–

–

485

Xerxes puts down the Egyptian revolt with force. In the years to come, the Egyptians are severely oppressed.

While most Athenians celebrate and congratulate themselves following their victory against the Persians, the politician Themistocles warns that the Persians will be back. He convinces the Athenians to sink the profits from a newly discovered silver mine into a mighty ship building effort.

Following the death of Darius, King Xerxes comes to power. He still takes no action against Athens. He concentrates on stabilising Egypt.

482

–

–

There is a revolt in Babylon and the Persian satrap is killed. Xerxes puts a stop to the revolt with his usual decisive force, tearing down the fortifications of Babylon, destroying the temples and even going so far as to melt down the huge gold statue of Marduk the Lawgiver. The name ‘Babylonian’ is banned and the people are called Chaldeans from this point onwards.

481

–

The Athenian fleet that Themistocles urged them to build now numbers two hundred ships.

Xerxes finally decides to punish the Athenians properly this time. He gathers a force of 150,000 men and 600 ships, intending to conquer not only Athens but all of Greece. Phoenician and Egyptian ships contribute to the Persian navy.

480-479 BC Date

Greeks and Persians

480 (early)

Xerxes of Persia gathers his vast armada of ships laden with warriors at the Hellespont, the long and narrow sea that separates Asia Minor from Europe. The majority of Greeks abandon all hope of prevailing against Xerxes and are not willing to fight. Of the hundred city-states in Greece, only 31 are willing to make a stand against the Persians. Sparta, Corinth and Athens are in charge of the Greek side, called the ‘Greek League’. Sparta, with its military prowess, is placed in charge of all land and sea operations. The Persian army consists of warriors from 46 different nations and includes an elite force of the so-called ‘ten thousand immortals’. These were the cream of the Persian and Medean soldiery and were given the privilege of bringing along their servants and concubines on the campaign. A group of three Greek spies is caught and allowed to return to Greece and make their report, just so that the Greeks will understand what they are up against. Themistocles of Athens understands that the Persians are completely dependent upon their fleet for continued supplies and communications and reasons that the destruction of the Persian ships is the only thing that will give the Greeks a chance. He keeps the Athenian ships safely at harbour, while storms in the Agaean wreck several of Xerxes’ ships.

194

480 (mid)

The Persian invaders encounter unexpected resistance at the Thermopylae pass, when they meet a defending Spartan force that absolutely refuses to give up. A force of 5,000 Greeks, spearheaded by only 300 Spartans, commanded by King Leonidas inflicts a huge number of casualties on the Persian army, the Spartans fighting, literally, to the last man. The event is commemorated in later years; a stone tablet is erected that simply reads ‘Tell them in Sparta that we obeyed our orders’. After passing through Thermopylae, the Persian army takes the Greek city of Thebes, whose occupants (in stark contrast to the Spartans) surrender without a fight. The Persians go on to sack Athens, burning the Acropolis, but the Athenians have already retreated to the city of Salamis on an island west of Athens.

Xerxes then returns to the city of Sardis, leaving the general Mardonius in charge of the army. 479

On the orders of Xerxes, Mardonius of Persia spends the winter in Greece with his army. However, on attempting to resume the Persian campaign of conquest in warmer months, he encounters the largest Greek army yet assembled, at Plataea. It turns out that both the Greeks and the Persians have been given prophecies that victory will be theirs, so long as they remain on the defensive. Mardonius scorns this and attacks instead. The Greeks, who would probably not have fought (and might well have dissolved their coalition) had the Persians not made the first move, are forced to fight.

timeline

At the Battle of Salamis, the Greek navy meets the Persian. The Greeks use their boats as fighting platforms, attacking the Persian ships in hand-to-hand combat; this tactic has not been used before and it is devastatingly effective. The Persians lose 200 ships, the Greeks only 40. Xerxes has the Phoenician ship captains executed, which results in both the Phoenicians and the Egyptians heading back home.

The Greek army, led by the Spartan King Pausanias, is victorious and Mardonius is killed. The Persians withdraw their forces.

478 – 413 BC Date

Greeks (Athenians and Spartans)

478

In the aftermath of the Persian Wars, the Greek city-states look for leadership. Although Sparta has done most to secure victory on land, the Greeks look to Athens and her powerful navy to take overall command. The Greek cities in Asia Minor are especially nervous, as they are right on Persia’s doorstep and fear retribution. The land-locked military of Sparta cannot help them, but the mobile Athenian fleet can. Following a summit meeting on the island of Delos, Athens and other Greek city-states form the Delian League, held fast by the threat of a possible return by the Persians. This alarms the Spartans, who see Athens becoming much too powerful. Xerxes of Persia tries to win the Greeks around with bribery and diplomacy instead of military force.

477

The Delian League makes repeated attacks upon Persian holdings, liberating the Greek cities in Asia Minor that had previously been under Persian rule. In 476, the League attacks Thrace, reducing the Persian presence in Europe to the single city of Doriscus. Cities that the League liberates are required to join the League, sometimes against their will; the League demands that cities join or be destroyed. A decisive victory against Persia finally comes in 467 BC. Shortly after, in 465 BC, the Persian leader Xerxes is assassinated, succeeded by his son Ataxerxes. The more powerful the Delian League becomes, the more power Athens gains as leader of the League. As the League demands tax payments from member cities in order to maintain the fleet, Athens becomes immensely wealthy. Eventually, a small island city called Thrasos decides that it has had enough of the League and rebels. The rebellion is swiftly crushed but the example has been set.

461

Pericles takes control in Athens. Immediate alliances made with other Greek city-states make the Spartans very wary, especially the Athenian alliance with the Megarans, who just happen to be directly in between Sparta and Athens, thus forming a convenient buffer state and preventing Sparta from reaching Athens in the event of conflict. The Spartans decide that enough is enough and declare war against Athens. This is known as the First Peloponessian War.

460

Athens is still pursuing its campaign against Persia as well as the war with the Spartans. Inaros of Egypt expels the Persian tax collectors and asks for help from Athens against the Persians. The Egyptian satrap is killed and most of Memphis is taken. Athens makes a disastrous attack against Persian-occupied Egypt, resulting in the decimation of the fleet. This blow to Athenian power inspires several members of the Delian League to revolution. Shaken by their defeat in Egypt and the shrinking of the League, the Athenians call a truce with Sparta.

449

Athens makes peace with the Persians. Persia recognises the autonomy of the free Greek cities in Asia, while Athens agrees not to try to liberate any more, so long as the Persians do not exact too much tribute. The Athenians also agree not to support any more Egyptian revolts.

195

445

Several important city-states revolt from the Delian League, including Megarea, the tactically vital buffer state between Athens and Sparta. This leaves Athens exposed to direct Spartan attack. In a bid to avert all-out war, Pericles of Athens makes a thirty-year peace treaty with the Spartans. This results in a mutually satisfactory situation. The mainland citystates are independent of Athens, while Sparta recognises the extensive Athenian Empire as legitimate.

timeline

With Sparta placated for the moment, Athens turns its eye to Persia once again. They begin moves against the Persian empire by accepting a large present of gold and grain from Psamtik, a rebel against Persian rule in Libya. Athens establishes tribute districts in regions close to Persian control.

441-413 BC Date

Athenians, Spartans and Persians

441

In a tit-for-tat conflict, the peace treaty between Athens and Persia is broken. Persia takes the island of Miletus, while Athens captures Samos after Phonecian ships fail to put up a defence.

433

Persia sends the fabulously beautiful courtesan Thargelia and her retinue to Athens, in order to extract information from lustful Athenian statesmen. This is an excellent example of the role of the courtesan in ancient politics.

431

The power of Athens, which continues to receive taxes from all members of the Delian League, has grown even further. Unwilling to let this happen, Sparta breaks the thirty-year peace treaty and the Peloponessian War between Athens and Sparta is declared. Sparta immediately burns Athenian crops, hoping to starve the Athenians into submission.

424

Artaxerxes of Persia and his queen die on the same day. Xerxes II succeeds to the throne, but is assassinated after only a month and a half. His assassin, Secydianus, is another son of Ataxerxes, fathered on a Babylonian concubine. Yet another son of Ataxerxes, fathered on a different Babylonian concubine, soon deposes Secydianus; this new ruler calls himself Darius II and immediately reinstates the peace treaty with Athens that was broken in 441.

421

After ten years of fruitless conflict and heavy losses on both sides, the war between Athens and Sparta is called off and a new fifty-year peace treaty agreed. Nicias, the Athenian politcian and military commander, engineers this.

415

Alicibades, a rival of Nicias in the Athenian Democratic Assembly, persuades Athens to go to war once again. This is a display of the power of the Rhetoric skill to change the minds of a multitude. Alicibades argues that the Athenians should attack some Greek city-states on the island of Sicily and forcibly incorporate them into the Athenian Empire. The Athenians agree.

413

The Athenian attack on Sicily is an unmitigated disaster. The army is defeated and the a large part of the fleet destroyed. Athens is thus left virtually without any kind of military strength but most importantly without a strong navy.

414-350 BC Date

Greeks

Persians

413

With Athens severely weakened after the disastrous attempt to invade Sicily, Sparta seizes the opportunity to attack once again. This time, they have the Persians on their side, following yet more Athenian meddling in Persian affairs (see Persians).

The satrap of Sardis rebels against Persian authority, is compelled to surrender and subsequently executed. Darius II finds that his own son has rebelled against him, with help from the Athenians. This moves him to ally with the Spartans against Athens. A treaty between Persia and Sparta is signed. Persians join the Spartans in attacking the Athenians, thus taking a measure of revenge for the defeats inflicted upon them in earlier years.

196

411

The Spartan politicians find fault with a second Persian treaty. It requires them to recognise land that had once belonged to an ancestor of Darius II as belonging to the Persians. The Spartans refuse to accept this and the Persian general Tissaphernes, who has been brokering the treaties between Sparta and Persia, storms out of the assembly in a fury.

The Medes and the Egyptians both try to revolt. A eunuch in the court of Darius II tries to set himself up as King but is unsuccessful.

409

Athens mounts an invasion of Asia and burns the stores of grain in Lydia.

Cyrus, a 16 year old son of the Persian queen, is appointed commander of the Persian forces in Asia Minor. He finally begins to pay the Spartans the funding for ships that Persia promised in an earlier treaty. Before he does this, he keeps the Spartan general Callicratidas waiting for two days, while he goes on a drinking binge. This does not endear Cyrus to the Spartans.

405

All the remaining ships of the Athenian navy are destroyed in a surprise attack.

404-403 BC Egyptians

Greeks

Persians

404

Egyptians revolt, regaining their independence.

With financial help from Persia, the Spartans are able to win the battle of Aegospotami, which cuts off the Athenian supply of grain.

Darius II dies. Artaxerxes II succeeds to the Persian throne. His brother Cyrus is caught planning to assassinate him and take the throne for himself. His mother’s influence saves him from execution; Cyrus is very much her favourite.

Facing inevitable defeat and starvation, the Athenians surrender to the Spartans. The Spartans destroy the walls of Athens and install their own government, which they call the Thirty Tyrants. Athens is barred from ever having a navy again. This surrender marks the end of the Classical period of Greek history. 403

–

Spartans assist Cyrus in attempting to claim the throne of Persia.

With help from the Spartans, Cyrus makes a bid for power against his brother Artaxerxes II. In the ensuing battle, Cyrus is killed. The Greeks escape.

timeline

Date

395-378 BC Date 395

Greeks Yet another war between the Greek city-states begins, the Corinthian War, in which Athens, Corinth and Argos stand against Sparta. Athens refortifies the city and rebuilds its navy. The Corinthian War ends, with a peace treaty arranged by the Persian ruler. Sparta is placed in overall control of Greece. Athens forms the Second Athenian Confederation, composed of city-states in the Agaean Sea, in order to keep the Spartans from gaining territory there.

387 378

371 BC Date

Greeks

Persians

371

The Spartan King, Agesilaus, captures Thebes without provocation, then turns toward Athens. The Athenians ally with the Thebans. The Spartans are defeated at the battle of Leuctra, breaking up the Spartan hegemony. The Second Athenian Confederation also begins to collapse, as the reason for its existence (the Spartan threat) is gone and nobody in the Confederation wants to pay tribute money to Athens for protection that is not needed.

The Persian satrap Pharnabarzus assembles a vast invasion force, including 12,000 Greek mercenaries, to invade Egypt and bring it under Persian rule again.

The Thebans are now in overall charge and the so-called Theban Hegemony begins. The political map of Greece is redrawn, giving Sparta far less territory and (in a radical move) setting free their Helot slaves and allowing them an independent state of their own.

The army fails to take Memphis and has to retreat back into Asia as the waters of the flooding Nile beat them back.

362-343 BC Date 362

Egypt King Djedhor of Egypt takes advantage of Persian satrap revolts in Syria to invade Palestine and Phoenecia, with aid from both Spartan and Athenian factions. Unrest at home forces Djedhor to abandon his plans of conquest and return home.

Greeks Theban control provokes dissatisfaction and the Thebans are defeated, though their influence remains. Athenian power persists through the Second Athenian Confederation.

Persians –

197

timeline

361 to 355

On his way back to Egypt, Djedhor is captured by a Persian prince, Ochus. Following negotiations, Djedhor agrees to act as a vassal king for Persia but he dies. His nephew Nekht-harhebi rules in Egypt.

349

–

343 to 337

Egypt finally falls to Persian reinvasion. Nekht-har-hebi retreats to Ethiopia, where he continues to claim he is ruler of Egypt.

359 BC: Philip is crowned King in Macedonia, a kingdom in Northern Greece that will prove significant in coming years. His first act is to pacify the tribes to the north; his second is to capture gold and silver mines and prepare for a major campaign of conquest.

Artaxerxes II dies of grief, following the death of several members of his family in intrigues. The prince Ochus renames himself Artaxerxes III and sets about killing off any members of his family who oppose him.

355 BC: Athens finally abandons the Second Athenian Confederation, leaving Greece once more as a group of independent citystates without allegiances with one another. Philip of Macedonia begins his invasion of Artaxerxes III spends a year in an Greece. unsusccessful attempt to retake Egypt. Abortive Assyrian attempt to re-establish an independent state is crushed by the Persians. Ten thousand Greek mercenaries help Persia Artaxerxes III, having destroyed Sidon on to recapture Egypt. his way, reduced Egypt by bloody conquest before centralising and strengthening the Persian Empire. One of his ministers, finally poisoned the king and placed Artaxerxes’ son, Arses, on the throne in 338. He in turn was later deposed in 336 in favour of Darius III.

338 – 323 BC Date 338

337 336 334

333

331

330

327 323

198

Greeks Philip of Macedonia conquers Athens and its allies, in a battle in which his son Alexander leads a crucial cavalry charge. With this decisive victory, he now controls most of the city-states of mainland Greece, with the exception of Sparta. He creates the Federal League of Corinth, which is essentially a combination of sundry city-states into a Greek kingdom with Philip at its head. Philip announces that Greece will invade Persia and take revenge for the wars. On the brink of Philip’s invasion of Persia, he is assassinated. His son Alexander immediately steps into his place. With no funding, no ships and relatively few troops, Alexander sets out to conquer Persia. His strategy is to strike at easy targets first to garner supplies, then cut off the possibility of naval reinforcements by taking the port cities, finally moving inland to the enemy strongholds. Alexander’s willingness to lead from the front, throwing himself into the fray alongside his men, earns him the respect of his troops. He quickly overruns Asia Minor. With the coastal cities safely taken, Alexander moves on into Syria. At the city of Issus, he encounters the Persian army under the command of Darius himself. In the ensuing battle, another spectacular cavalry charge from Alexander sunders the enemy ranks. The Persians retreat eastwards into Mesopotamia, leaving Alexander to continue south without opposition. He conquers cities as he goes, with Jerusalem welcoming him as a liberator. The coastal Phoenician city of Tyre falls to him, causing consternation in Persia, as it is their main sea port and vital for their naval operations. Alexander conquers Egypt with little resistance. The native Egyptians hail his coming, crown him king and proclaim him the son of Ra, as they used to do with their own Pharaohs. Darius of Persia recognises that Alexander is not going to be stopped and decides to cut his losses before the situation becomes unmanageable. He sends an offer to Alexander, proposing that Alexander should be given all Persian territory west of the Euphrates river, while Persia keeps the northern territory. In return, Alexander is to cease all hostilities. Alexander does not agree to this. He crosses the Euphrates and heads right into the heart of Mesopotamia. Darius and his army make a stand at Nineveh, the old Assyrian capital. Despite having the advantage of numbers, the Persians are scattered. Darius flees with them. Alexander enters the city of Babylon and claims the treasury, which is filled with the wealth garnered from decades of tribute. The Persian nobles decide that Darius is no longer fit to lead them. Darius’ brother Bessus kills Darius and leaves his body where Alexander can discover it, in the hope that this will placate Alexander. It does not; Alexander presses on, catches Bessus and the other Persian nobles and slaughters all of them. This marks the demise of the Persian empire. Alexander simply keeps on going, pushing eastward through Scythia and on to India and Pakistan. However, his army becomes weary and he is forced to return to Babylon. Alexander, now an incarnate God in his own eyes, dies of a fever following one of his characteristic bouts of drinking. There is some speculation that he was poisoned with hellebore as part of a conspiracy. With the death of Alexander, the time period covered by OGL Ancients comes to a close.

Religions and Philosophies

Characters in the world of OGL Ancients derive the greater part of their moral codes from their religion. There are very few people who do not participate in the religion of their civilization. Greek and Egyptian religion is pantheistic, meaning that there are multiple Gods and Goddesses. In addition to paying respects to the main deities of the pantheon, every character has a patron deity who determines that character’s idea of right and wrong. Your patron deity also watches over you, takes an interest in your welfare and may even answer your prayers, so long as you have faithfully kept to that deity’s code. If you offend, the deity will expect you to make formal atonement. There are no absolutes of good and evil, nor of law and chaos, in the system; there is no ‘alignment’. What is right and proper for one deity may be abhorrent to another. Athena despises lies, whereas Hermes admires them if they are done well, being something of a silver-tongued entity himself. Hera prizes fidelity, whereas Zeus himself often fails to practice it and is given a celestial browbeating when he is found out. Although the pantheons are all, so to speak, on the same side, clashes of interest between their followers are inevitable; even the Gods themselves have their disputes. The myths often tell of times when Zeus and Hera were at odds, setting all Olympus in an uproar. Nonetheless, any Greek character is expected to honour all the principal Olympian deities and any Egyptian character is expected to honour Ra and the other deities of that pantheon. In terms of personal conduct, this equates to the character being generally law-abiding and honourable. Some characters may wish to worship deities that are not part of the main pantheon or who would be considered ‘evil’ by normal standards. This is appropriate and allowed. Such deities as Set, Apophis, Typhon and Eris are all antisocial and their followers suffer no penalty for acts that most other deities would consider abhorrent.

If you are playing OGL Ancients in the historical setting as opposed to the mythical, you can proceed as if the Gods were not real. You do not apply divine favour or disfavour, though the role of the Gods as determinants of a character’s moral conduct still remains. Whether the Gods were real or not, people still believed in them and judged their actions by their standards. A character who goes against the code of action laid down for him by the faith to which they subscribe should suffer a penalty to experience points for that session. A 10% penalty is appropriate.

religion

Playing a character is not a simple matter of doing anything you feel like. What your character is like on the inside is up to you; you can play a virtuous warrior or a greedy, corrupt priest if you choose. There is, however, a limit on what your character may do with impunity. Characters are bound by codes of behaviour and transgression from this can land them in serious trouble. So long as you stay on your deity’s good side, you will receive blessings and prosperity; transgress the deity’s strict code and you can expect trouble. The image of a lightning bolt striking a wrongdoer comes from Zeus, the ruler of the Greek Gods and his habit of blasting those whose sins were especially horrendous.

religion in a historical game

changing your deity

You can change your deity if you choose. Embracing a new religion is sometimes appropriate for a character. A noblewoman driven from her home and living in the wilderness might turn from the worship of Hera to that of Artemis or Hecate; a thief who gained military rank could reject Hermes in favour of Ares. However, the Gods do not look favourably upon those who have fickle faith. You automatically gain the disfavour of the deity you used to worship. If you were already in disfavour or you were beloved, then you automatically become hated. The Gods are proud and do not forgive the mortals who reject their love.

codes of the deities

This section explains the codes by which a follower of a given deity is expected to live. Rather than give a full and detailed account of the religions, each deity has three keywords, indicating the concepts that the followers revere. From these, any player will be able to work out his character’s attitude in a given situation. There follows a summary of the particular moral stance taken by the deity’s followers, concluding with a description of Virtues and Sins, indicating which actions are praised by the deity and which are punished. The Games Master taking the part of a God, can refer to this to find out when a character’s actions should incur the favour or disfavour of a deity. Virtues: The section describing Virtues is given primarily as a role-playing aid, so that players know what their characters’ values are likely to be. When a character commits a virtuous act as defined by his deity, there is not necessarily any reward for it; it is, after all, what is expected of him. To get a reward of any kind from the deity, you must perform dedicated acts (see below) and not just virtuous ones. However, when a character goes out of his way to do a virtuous thing at risk to himself, he should receive a single Divine Point (up to his maximum) in recognition of this.

199

religion

For example, a worshipper of Ares who stands his ground against three opponents so that his comrades can escape is clearly being courageous at great personal risk, so he should receive a Divine Point. By contrast, a worshipper of Hera who gives a handful of copper coins to beggars when she has a purse full of gold is being generous at no personal risk, so she should not receive anything. Sins: Sins are another matter. A character that commits a sin (by the standards of his deity) risks earning his deity’s disfavour. If the character’s deity is omniscient, he has no chance to avoid this. Most of the Gods are, however, not omniscient and do not always notice when sins are committed. Whenever any character acts contrary to his deity’s code and commits a sin, the Games Master secretly rolls 1d20 plus the character’s experience level. If the result is 10 or greater, the deity notices the sin as it is committed; the character gains the disfavour of his deity and may not spend Divine Points until the sin is atoned for (see Atonement). If the result is 20 or greater, the deity is angered by the sin; the character gains the deity’s disfavour and loses one base Divine Point. If he is of 10th level or higher, he is also punished with the deity’s wrath. (See the Magic chapter.) Otherwise, the sin passes unnoticed and the character is none the worse for it. Deities in the ancient world have lives of their own, resulting in mortals on earth sometimes being able to get away with crimes that would otherwise be punished. The self-evident failure of the Gods to avenge every infraction is explained by this habit of theirs. It is quite possible that Dionysus, for example, is so busy chasing a nymph in an Arcadian grove that he simply fails to notice the angry mortal cursing all the Gods because his house has burned down unexpectedly. The more renown a character has, the more likely it is that the Gods will watch and take note of his conduct, which is why it is harder for a high-level character to misbehave with impunity than a low-level one. A king or hero is thus more likely to be punished for his sins than a mere peasant, because kings and heroes are supposed to be examples for others. Nonetheless, even heroes sometimes commit sins and get away with it. The eyes and ears of the Gods are sharp indeed, but they do not notice every single thing that happens upon Earth. Only the omniscient Gods, such as Zeus or Ptah, notice and punish every sin. Remember that while the deity’s code is only binding upon those who follow the deity, followers of the deity will want to put their standards into practice whenever they can. For example, followers of Ares despise all cowardice, not just that which arises amongst their own numbers. In the ancient world, there is none of the tolerance between religions that we find today. The supporters of a deity are as fervent as the supporters of a modern sports team. If it were not for the Olympian deities being on the same side, so to speak (the same goes for the Egyptian pantheon) then there would

200

doubtless be endless feuds between the cults of the different deities, as each struggles to put its own ideology into practice at the expense of the others. Each entry gives a list of the kind of people who is most likely to take the deity as a personal patron. This list is not at all exclusive; you do not have to be on it in order to worship the deity. Artemis, for example, is worshipped by tens of thousands of ordinary working people, simply because she is the most prominent deity in their area. Her worship is not restricted to hunters or dedicated virgins; they are just more likely to take her as their Goddess in preference to others. Common Factors: Every one of the twelve Olympian deities considers breach of a solemn oath to be a sin, so this is not detailed in their description. Of them all, only Hermes is likely to be at all flexible, helping his followers to twist the meaning of their words so that they can truthfully claim not to have broken the letter of an oath, even if they have clearly broken it in spirit.

the greek pantheon

This section is not exhaustive. Only the major Olympian deities are described, along with Hecate, as these are the likeliest to be worshipped by the players. There are many additional deities but these are not significant enough to have a cult of their own, though they may be propitiated where appropriate.

Aphrodite

The followers of the Goddess of beauty and love are usually women, though her cult does attract those men whose interests and behaviour involve charm, seduction and glamour. Those who work in the vice business at whatever level or who manufacture or sell such items as scented oil, perfumes, cosmetics, hairpieces or jewellery (all vast industries in the ancient world) are likely to revere Aphrodite. Keywords: The keywords of Aphrodite’s devotees are glamour, desire and beauty. Cult: Whether or not a worshipper of Aphrodite is female, they tend to have a classically female attitude to battle and violence; they prefer to avoid it altogether. Aphrodite’s cultists use charm, persuasion, seduction and glamorous wiles to make their conquests. They do not like to fight openly and rely on others to provide them with protection. The temples of Aphrodite range from celebrations of beauty to little better than bawdy houses. Sacred prostitution is one of Aphrodite’s interests. As the Goddess of love, members of what is called the oldest profession, who depend on attraction and inflamed desire in order to make a living, most especially worship her. There is no shame attached to being a temple prostitute in the ancient world; it is seen as a means of serving

Virtues: Health, persistence, grace, self-esteem, courtesy, winning, honesty, showing respect to those worthy of it.

Virtues: Courtesy, cleanliness, shrewdness, honouring beauty, protecting beautiful things from destruction, kindness to animals (not including due sacrifice, of course), achievement of power.

Sins: Allowing the body to become contaminated, cheating, telling lies, letting another cheat you and get away with it, letting offences go unpunished, tolerating insults made against you or against Apollo, being ruled by your passions.

Sins: Cruelty, violence (except in self-defence, the defence of others or taking revenge), negligence of religious duty, failure to bathe, defilement of beautiful things, bullying those weaker than yourself.

Disfavour: Active Defence or Shield Defence checks to dodge or ward off arrows.

Disfavour: Checks to oppose Charisma-based skill checks made by women. Dedicated Acts: Acts of seduction, creation of beautiful objects, winning contests of beauty, acquisition of precious jewels and ornaments (for oneself or for the temple of Aphrodite), glorification of the cult of Aphrodite with paintings (or statuary or similar objects) that you make yourself Favoured Checks: Disguise skill checks, Bluff skill checks, Gather Information skill checks, Presence skill checks, Charisma checks to change another’s attitude, other people’s Will saving throws (negative). The followers of Aphrodite may call upon the Goddess to sap the willpower of another person, as she has the ability to break the wills of others; she is the only one of the twelve Olympians to have a negative favoured check.

Apollo

Golden Apollo is the deity of choice for musicians, philosophers and athletes. Those who seek perfection of mind and body alike revere him. He is not an easy deity to follow, as he insists upon high standards from his devotees; neglecting your physical health or mental rigour will earn you his contempt. As he sets such emphasis upon excellence and winning, he is often the God of those who engage in competitions, such as sports and contests. Poets look to him for inspiration, as he is the God whose companions are the creative Muses. As the God of marine voyages and navigation, he receives honour from sailors and merchants.

Dedicated Acts: Winning contests, feats of athletics, feats of marksmanship, impressing audiences with a performance, avenging insults at great risk to yourself.

religion

the Goddess and expressing her indiscriminate love for all creation.

Favoured Checks: Ranged attack rolls when using a bow, Grapple attack rolls and checks, Concentration skill checks, Perform skill checks when using a musical instrument, Fortitude saving throws made to avoid fatigue when running for a long time, Climb skill checks.

Asclepius

The God of healing is only worshipped by those who are themselves healers. Others pay tribute to him and offer grateful sacrifice once they have been restored to health, but they do not venerate him on a permanent basis. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Asclepius are healing, medicine and fire. Cult: The cult of Asclepius is unusual in that it is both a religion and a system of therapeutics. Those who follow the God have an obligation to provide healing to those who ask for it, though it is a grave dishonour for those who have been made well to fail to give a donation. A sacrifice is essential if there is to be any healing at all. There is always a sacred fountain at a sanctuary of Asclepius, into which the patient is expected to throw gold once he has made a full recovery. The secrets of physical healing are handed down from father to son at the sanctuaries of Asclepius (only very late in the classical era did the sanctuaries allow outsiders to learn the medical arts); these sanctuaries are also sanatoriums in which the sick are nursed back to health.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Apollo are discipline, excellence, manhood and harmony.

Virtues: Giving healing to those who need it, generosity, brevity in speech, compassion, expanding knowledge.

Cult: The followers of Apollo are as proud and haughty as their deity. They tolerate no insult to him or to them. He is very much a man’s God and in many respects, the bodybuilders of the modern-day world resemble the cult of Apollo in the ancient time. To follow Apollo is to accept the burden of being as perfect as you possibly can in all respects. Those of more earthly or relaxed faiths often see this path as arrogant and domineering. The cults of Dionysus and Hermes in particular are likely to smirk at those who revere Apollo and try to emulate his physical perfection.

Sins: Harming a serpent (the sacred beast of Asclepius), killing or causing a wound except in self-defence, ending the life of an innocent, using medical training for personal profit. Disfavour: Fortitude saving throws to avoid the effects of disease. Dedicated Acts: Saving multiple lives (such as in the event of a plague outbreak), curing important or noble persons, bringing

201

a person back to full health from the point of death, restoring health to multiple warriors wounded on the battlefield. Favoured Checks: Heal, Medicine, Rhetoric, Solve Conundrum skill checks and Fortitude saving throws.

religion

Ares

More than half of all warriors in the Ancient Greek world worship Ares, the youthful God of war. He receives honour from many men who are not warriors, being very much a man’s deity. Women avoid his cult as a rule, as it takes a proprietorial attitude towards women. Those few who do join it are accepted as ‘honorary men’ and have to behave in just as austere and aggressive a fashion. Those warriors who do not worship Ares often follow Athene, Apollo, Artemis or Zeus instead.

Dedicated Acts: Besting a single powerful opponent in combat, destroying a set number of foes (such as swearing to take ten enemy chariots), capturing an enemy position, capturing a city, avenging a fallen friend, taking prizes for your home nation, acts of conquest generally. Favoured Checks: Melee or ranged attack rolls with any weapon except a bow, Active Defence checks, Presence skill checks, Fortitude saving throws.

Artemis

The most dedicated worshippers of Artemis are hunters, farmers, dwellers in the wilderness, consecrated temple maidens and female warriors.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Ares are strength, dominance and combat.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Artemis are wilderness, hunting and purity.

Cult: Nobody enters the cult of Ares without knowing how to fight. Physical fitness, aggression and competence with weapons are valued above all else. Ares has a bad reputation among the Olympian Gods for being quarrelsome and truculent, and this reputation passes to his followers. They are not the most powerful of the cults, as that honour belongs incontestably to Zeus, but they are one of the most feared. They take what they want and have no compunctions about pushing others around. If it were not for the priesthoods of the other Olympian deities keeping the cult of Ares in check, it would probably exceed its bounds and grow to dominate the others.

Cult: Artemis is worshipped as a Goddess of the moon, the twin to her solar brother Apollo. She is propitiated with the first fruits of the harvest and her blessing asked on the occasion of marriage. Her following is a wild one, more rural than civic and the places sacred to her are uncultivated wildernesses and forests – ideal places for hunting, in short. Those who revere Artemis worship her in forlorn and savage locales. She is renowned for her dark, vindictive nature; the least negligence in offering her the due tribute is liable to be punished severely.

This troublesome cult does have a strong positive side. As Ares is the God of War, his followers make the best fighters and at times of war, they come to the fore. They see war between nations as an opportunity to gain the favour of their grim God, who respects few dedicated acts other than those that take place on the battlefield. Ares cultists are jealous for glory in war, competing with each other to claim prizes and slaughter foes. The battlefields of the ancient world ring with the roars of Ares cultists dedicating enemy after enemy to their God, striking down one after another as the red rage howls in their veins and they feel the presence of Ares within them urging them on. It is standard practice for an Ares cultist engaged in mass combat to use up his Divine Points hacking his foes to pieces, then go after a major target (such as an enemy champion) as a dedicated act. Virtues: Heroism, courage, obeying orders faithfully even if it leads to your death, taking pleasure in the good things of life, respect for the strength of others, taking what you want, refusal to tolerate insult. Sins: Cowardice, attacking an unarmed opponent, dereliction of duty, talking too much, evasiveness, showing weakness, compromise.

202

Disfavour: Will saving throws to avoid fear effects.

Virtues: Chastity, continence, fidelity, sobriety, finishing what you start, respect for the wilderness. Artemis abhors the intemperate, sensual behaviour of many men. To follow her is to renounce the soft pleasures of luxury, drink and womanising in favour of the hard, punishing joy of a hunt in harsh territory. Sins: Excessive indulgence, debauchery, disrespect to the cult of Artemis, spying on unclothed women or nymphs, abandoning an enterprise part-way through, sentimentality. Disfavour: Active Defence or Shield Defence checks to defend oneself against arrows; Survival checks when in the wilderness within Ancient Greece. Dedicated Acts: Hunting and slaying prey of impressive character (such as a semi-divine boar), feats of archery or athletics, tracking and killing a human foe, slaying those who commit atrocities against chaste women. Favoured Checks: Ranged attack rolls when using a bow, Concentration, Handle Animal, Hide, Move Silently, Survival, Spot skill checks.

Athena

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Athena are wisdom, protection and craft. Cult: The followers of Athena believe in putting the gifts of the Goddess into practice and being useful in society. Athena is the patroness of the various crafts (especially those to do with pottery and weaving) and is believed to have taught mankind many useful arts of civilisation, so her followers resolve to use these for the greater good of all. Athena’s devotees pride themselves on being hard-working, practical, skilled and dependable. The influence of the cult and of the Goddess permeate the bedrock of ancient Greek society, keeping the working classes proud of their contribution to the general welfare and ensuring that standards of manufacture are kept good and high. Virtues: Caution, economy, listening to advice, taking responsibility, defending those who need you, giving advice when applicable, seeking for wisdom, respecting teachers and education, hard work, persistence, self-control. Sins: Frivolity, attacking an unarmed opponent, giving in to passions, laziness, waste, needless destruction, undermining law and order. Disfavour: Active Defence or Shield Defence checks against javelin attacks. Dedicated Acts: Making crafted items destined for the temple of Athene, defending a key position during a battle, undertaking to defend weaker persons than yourself when on a journey, destroying monsters, averting conflict with wise counsel. Favoured Checks: Melee or ranged attack rolls when using a javelin, Shield Defence checks, Craft skill checks (when working with materials other than metal), Debate skill checks, Sense Motive skill checks, Will saving throws, Wisdom ability score checks, Search skill checks.

Demeter

Demeter, the original earth mother Goddess and queen of the corn, has her greatest following among farmers, mothers and dwellers in the country. She is more likely to be worshipped by the poor than the rich. She represents the cultivated soil, rather than the primordial raw earth.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Demeter are earth, fertility, motherhood and mystery. Cult: Demeter is set over those who practice husbandry and whose lives depend on the fertility of the earth. As she also governs the earth underfoot in its role as the gateway between the world of men and the underworld, she is also the Goddess associated with the afterlife and the mysteries of initiation. Hades her brother may govern the underworld, but mortals, who look instead to Demeter for their death rites, do not worship him. Virtues: Generosity, industry, productivity, freeing captives, producing children, caring for the needy in the area. Followers of Demeter are expected to nurture those around them just as the earth herself nurtures those who dwell upon it.

religion

The followers of wise Athena are rulers, counsellors, warriors (and those who command them) and those who work for a living, including the majority of working women. She is an extremely popular deity with many positive attributes, so she attracts followers from all the different strata of society. She is most revered by those who have something major to defend, such as those in positions of great civic responsibility, householders, parents and advisors.

Sins: Demeter abhors defilement of the earth (such as the destruction of fertile land), wasting resources, separating children from their parents, refusing food to the needy, cruel treatment of women or children and wanton destruction. Disfavour: Survival skill checks when in pastoral regions. Dedicated Acts: Capturing or clearing farmland; freeing the enslaved; undergoing torment or trial and emerging triumphant; defending the cultivated earth. Favoured Checks: Handle Animal skill checks, Disguise skill checks, Fortitude saving throws, Knowledge (nature) skill checks, Survival skill checks, Ride skill checks, Search skill checks.

Dionysus

The followers of the God of wine and revelling come from rural areas and from the parts of cities where regular celebration is a part of life. He enjoys the worship of those who refuse to take life too seriously and who chafe at the idea of being limited by too many laws. Dionysus stands for the unpredictable, erratic, wild side of life; his followers are not likely to be overly fond of discipline or structure. Keywords: The keywords of the Dionysus cult are renewal, wine and celebration. Cult: Dionysus is celebrated all across Ancient Greece, most enthusiastically in rural villages where his festivals represent the most typical image of classical paganism. The women who follow him are called Maenads, a troupe of wild devotees who wear ragged clothing and tear living creatures apart with their bare hands. Dionysus is held in high esteem by the semihuman creatures of the forest, such as satyrs and centaurs. The philosophy of a Dionysus follower is to remember that life is eternally beginning and ending, that everything eternally devours everything else and that only in the rapture of strong drink and orgiastic excess do we perceive the world as it truly

203

religion

is; a festival of savage delight. Dionysus’ followers are very rarely afraid of anything. Like the God himself, they are hard to kill and pride themselves on their ability to come through trials still smiling. Dionysus is often taken to be the diametric opposite and the complement of Apollo. While Apollo is orderly, harmonious, precise and controlled, Dionysus is unrestrained, wild, savage and drunken. Followers of Dionysus hate bonds and fetters of any kind and do not submit to them without violent resistance, seeking to break them or escape them at the earliest opportunity. Virtues: Excess (especially sexual), endurance, faith, humour, over-indulgence, liberating the bound. Dionysus and his cult represent dangerous departures from the usual Greek ideals of civilised conduct, but inasmuch as he is an Olympian and an immortal subject to the rule of Zeus, he is tolerated. Sins: Humourlessness, pomposity, excessive sternness, disrespect for nature, harming a satyr, centaur or nymph except in self-defence, disrupting another’s celebrations, betraying secrets. Disfavour: Active Defence or Shield Defence checks against attacks from drunken opponents.

The cultists of Hecate look after each other in everyday life. Irrespective of the social class of the devotee, she (or he) will be protected if there is any difficulty. Even slaves who have pledged themselves to the cult have found themselves freed from brutal masters after one undeserved beating too many. This covert punishment of crimes is frowned upon by the likes of the Zeus and Apollo cults, who prefer due procedure and formal trial to the cloak-and-dagger business so beloved of Hecate’s own but even they understand that the dark sisters are best left to their work. Virtues: Endurance, ruthlessness, secrecy, cleverness, adroit manipulation of others, respect for the dead, payment of what is due, self-sufficiency. Sins: Betrayal, carelessness, sentimentality, falling under the influence of a male.

Dedicated Acts: Massive celebrations, deeds of reckless bravado, destruction of tyrants (defined as those who impose unjust and evil rule) on any scale.

Disfavour: All Active Defence checks, Shield Defence checks and saving throws made while the character is in moonlight. This stacks with the penalty to saving throws against spells cast by Hecate’s followers that is incurred if the Goddess should come to despise the character.

Favoured Checks: Fortitude saving throws, Will saving throws against fear effects, Perform skill checks, Escape Artist skill checks, Presence skill checks.

Dedicated Acts: Sacrifice of opponents of the Hecate cult, consignment of treasures to the earth in tribute, acts of vengeance, acquisition of personal power.

Hecate

Favoured Checks: Witchcraft skill checks, Hide skill checks, Move Silently skill checks, Presence skill checks, other people’s Coverage checks (negative).

Owing to her character, the triple-faced Goddess has no public following; her worshippers adore her in secret. Instead of having images in temples, she has statues erected at the junction of roads. She is the characteristic Goddess of witches and those who are sympathetic to them. Other than the witch-cults, she has few dedicated worshippers, though very few citizens will fail to propitiate her image. She is a Goddess who is more feared than cherished. As she is both a lunar Goddess and an underworld divinity, her worshippers adore her beneath the full moon and in secret chambers and caves under the earth. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Hecate are darkness, underground and witchery. Cult: Hecate’s followers have their place in society, though they are feared and mistrusted. The cult of Hecate is dedicated primarily to the defence of female interests, the punishment of the guilty and the redressing of wrongs against the cult members themselves. As she is an underworld deity, the cult

204

is a secret one, not because it would be persecuted or banned if it were uncovered but more for the sake of privacy and the treatment of secrets per se as sacred things. Darkness, shunned and lonely places, the tombs of the dead and desolate heaths are all places that Hecate adores and it is for this reason that her devotees meet there.

Hephaestus

The astoundingly skilled craftsman of Olympus is, unsurprisingly, the God of those who create wonderful things on Earth. Artificers and those who practice a craft to earn their living often revere him as their patron deity. Blacksmiths especially honour him, as he himself is a metalworker. He governs not only the manual skill needed to fashion intricate and beautiful pieces, but the technical genius needed to make mechanisms work. He is the patron of artists and artificers alike. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Hephaestus are skill, patience and craft. Cult: Those who follow the lame craftsman are no strangers to the pleasures of life. Like their God, they enjoy sensual things; they labour hard and work well so that they may earn

riches and recognition, which will in turn allow them to reap the rewards of life. Though they appreciate beauty, they are unlikely to be fooled by it. They have a habit of questioning those things that seem too good to be true. As Hephaestus himself is a deformed God and yet still the most skilled creator of beautiful items under the heavens, they know not to judge by appearances.

Virtues: Dedication, ingenuity, persistence, endurance, hedonism, service, capitulation to due authority, perfectionism. Sins: Cutting corners when producing work, impetuousness, cheating in a transaction, allowing another to dominate you without taking revenge on them. Disfavour: Coverage checks made to see whether metal armour has taken a blow or not. Dedicated Acts: Crafting jewellery, crafting masterwork items (which may not then be sold, but only given away), inventing new mechanical devices, creating marvellous objects or constructs (with the Artifice ability) of Large size or larger, such as a wooden horse. Favoured Checks: Appraise skill checks, Forgery skill checks, Craft skill checks (when working with metals), Solve Conundrum skill checks, Sense Motive skill checks, melee attack rolls when using a bludgeoning weapon.

Hera

Noblewomen and wives mostly worship Hera, the Queen of the Olympian Gods. She is emblematic of stability and loyalty, as typified by a well-run home, so her followers also come from those walks of life that value dependability and finding things where you left them, such as shopkeepers and traders. Women who practice a trade for a living (as opposed to housewives) are more likely to revere Athene than Hera. Hera is second only to Zeus in the Olympian hierarchy and is a deity of significant power, so kings and rulers honour her alongside her husband. She is able to grant terrestrial might to those she deems worthy. When the three Olympian Goddesses Hera, Athene and Aphrodite offered the mortal called Paris different gifts, Hera tempted him with the promise of power, kingship and conquest. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Hera are compassion, rulership and order.

Hera’s devotees should be merciful rather than vengeful, giving the accused the benefit of the doubt; however, where an offence has been committed against women or children or against a family, they are expected to be utterly vicious and without remorse in avenging it.

religion

The cult of Hephaestus strongly preaches resignation to the will of Zeus. Hephaestus’ followers try to stay out of conflicts when they possibly can and act as go-betweens if any of the temples should fall out with one another. Hephaestus has acted as a mediator between Zeus and rebellious Gods before and his cultists try to emulate this example.

Cult: Those who honour the Queen of the Gods place the welfare of women and children first, though they also insist on respect for the authority of men. Hera’s values are those of the ‘good wife and mother’ familiar from pre-feminist history. Encouragement of marital fidelity is important, as is obedience to parents and maintenance of domestic order. Hera does not like to see wanton destruction or waste, so her followers are more apt to find a peaceful solution to differences when they can. They follow the (allegedly) typically female path of negotiation rather than confrontation. Where Zeus blasts with thunderbolts, Hera uses soothing words and a comforting hand.

Disloyal husbands especially infuriate Hera. She herself has to tolerate her immortal husband’s frequent philandering with mortal women, nymphs, other goddesses and other female beings, which is often the cause of lasting resentment and celestial strife. Hera often hates the children born of Zeus’ liaisons for no better reason than that they are a reminder of his infidelity. Virtues: Mercy, loyalty, respect for mothers, generosity. Hera keeps a careful eye on those who are entrusted with power or born to it and punishes those that use their authority cruelly or intemperately. Sins: Infidelity, cruelty, causing unnecessary hurt, comparing your beauty to Hera’s. Disfavour: Bluff and Sense Motive checks when made against a woman. Dedicated Acts: Capturing great prizes in warfare, such as cities; defending women from home; punishing the unfaithful; destroying disruptions to the social order, such as monsters or notorious criminals. Favoured Checks: Rhetoric skill checks, Knowledge skill checks, Sense Motive skill checks, Heal skill checks.

Hermes

The silvery God of travel and eloquence is the special patron of messengers, as he himself is the messenger of almighty Zeus. In the ancient realm, travel is usually undertaken for the purpose of trading and rarely for any other reason, so Hermes, as the God of travellers, also becomes the God of traders and thus of the clever language used by a trader to persuade a buyer to make a purchase or a seller to lower his price. Those who depend on fast talking and loquacity for their livelihood, such as debaters, thieves and marketplace hagglers, are likely to

205

choose Hermes for their God, while those who prize the more lofty arts of rhetoric will probably choose Apollo.

religion

Keywords: The keywords of Hermes and his following are words, travel and swiftness. Cult: Those who follow Hermes are trustworthy, so long as one stays on their good side; ultimately, they will act in their own best interest. The best example of a Hermes follower is a well-established merchant. He does not necessarily want to cheat you or to sell you shoddy goods, but he does want to get what he can out of you and will happily use carefully chosen words to persuade you to part with your money. If you offend him or insult him, he will take his revenge on you in subtle ways rather than through direct confrontation. Followers of Hermes like to think of themselves as craftier, more cunning, than others. It is a point of pride with them to think a situation through rather than charging into it headlong. They like to come up with ingenious solutions to problems. They will occasionally steal, though they will use all the trickery and eloquence they can in order to throw off suspicion. Their mercurial wit makes them fond of jokes and pranks, which they will happily play on those less intelligent than themselves. Gambling is also under the auspices of Hermes, so those who play games of chance will often invoke his favour for luck. A group of people likely to pay respects to Hermes is that composed of those who heal for a living, though they are more likely to take Asclepius as their patron deity. The winged staff of Hermes is still used to this day to signify medicine and the healing arts. Doctors, like messengers, travel from place to place and rely on recorded remedies in order to do their important work. Virtues: Ingenuity, making a profit, getting away with it, succeeding through the use of wit rather than force, exploiting the stupid, completing journeys once begun, keeping to the letter (if not the spirit) of a solemn oath. Sins: Laziness, gullibility, stupidity, wasting one’s own gifts, wasting gifts given by others, outright treachery, betrayal of an ally.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Poseidon are increase, dominion and water. Cult: Poseidon’s followers embody endurance, persistence and weathering the storms of life. They are rarely drawn into petty conflicts with followers of other Gods and take a ‘strong older brother’ stance. It is unusual for them to care about issues that they deem beneath them; if they concern themselves with conflicts upon earth at all, it is always because they stand to gain by it somehow. They are forever consolidating the gains they have already won and seeking more. They progress not by outright assault (simply conquering without argument or explanation) but by making a claim to a region and hotly debating it with the current owners, finally ending by taking it by force if necessary. To a devotee of Poseidon, your strength and your holdings are everything. They are steady expansionists, never satisfied with what they have and always seeking to enlarge their borders. They see themselves as the strongest rivals to the dominion of Zeus and though they accept his authority at the moment, this has not always been the case. Virtues: Endurance, righteous anger, strength, persistence, parsimony, hoarding, increasing your holdings. Sins: Waste, theft, attacking an unarmed opponent, squandering wealth, defiling waters (such as by poisoning them), giving in too easily, allowing another to take your goods, humility, lack of ambition. Disfavour: Swim skill checks.

Disfavour: Survival skill checks made when on a journey.

Dedicated Acts: Capturing and taming wild beasts (especially horses), swimming long distances, capturing territory, raiding by sea, gaining material assets such as property and great riches, enduring the elements.

Dedicated Acts: Theft of significant items, gambles for huge stakes, undertaking long journeys, winning contests of speed, entering well-defended areas.

Favoured Checks: Ride skill checks, Use Rope skill checks, Swim skill checks, Fortitude saving throws, melee or ranged attack rolls when using a trident or net.

Favoured Checks: Appraise skill checks, Bluff skill checks, Active Defence checks, Disguise skill checks, Heal skill checks, Reflex saving throws, Sleight of Hand skill checks, Tumble skill checks.

206

Poseidon

The following of the God of the seas and rivers is made up of those who live on coastal towns or beside any body of water, merchants, sailors, farmers (who depend on the life-giving waters for the fertility of the soil) and some warriors. He is a God of acquisition, as the sea is forever trying to take possession of the land, so his followers are also those who seek great gain and personal power.

Zeus

Followers of Zeus come from all walks of life in Greek culture, as he is the ruler of all the Olympian Gods. Zeus is especially favoured as a deity by rulers and commanders. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Zeus are authority, justice and vengeance.

As Zeus is called the Thunderer and has a strong connection to weather, the winds and clouds are considered to be omens of his will. All uses of the Interpret Divine Will feat made by followers of Zeus during windy or stormy conditions are made at a +2 circumstance bonus. Virtues: Obedience to due authority, acceptance of fate, reverence to the Gods, firm rulership, fathering children, avenging wrongs. Zeus is biased in favour of men and is more likely to give his blessing to a good father with a firm hand than to a wise mother. Sins: Self-aggrandizement, rebelliousness, contempt of the Gods. Zeus especially hates hubris, which is the sin of pride. He approves of prosperity, but likes mortals to remember their place. The moment a mortal thinks that he has become so powerful or wealthy that he can safely ignore the Gods, Zeus is liable to cast him down. Disfavour: Saving throws to avoid damage from environmental hazards, such as falling rocks, heat or cold. Dedicated Acts: Conversion of unbelievers to the faith; destroying enemies of the Gods, such as the Giants; punishment of the rebellious; acts of vengeance. Favoured Checks: Ranged attack rolls with thrown weapons, Presence skill checks, Sense Motive skill checks, Strength ability score checks, Knowledge skill checks, Will saving throws.

the egyptian pantheon

As with the Greek, only the key deities are given here. We have attempted to err on the side of playability rather than historical accuracy, so the theologically educated player will doubtless notice the radical simplification of the actual faiths of ancient time. Deities belonging to different regional groupings or even different epochs have been placed together for ease of reference. As in the Greek system, deities had favoured cities,

in which they would have a multitude of followers honouring them as the patron of the metropolis. All Egyptian deities see the use of Hekau to create undead creatures as a sin, with the exception of Set and Apophis. Reverence for the dead is paramount in Ancient Egypt and the use of part of the dead person’s body or one of his souls to create an undead creature is the worst of imaginable horrors.

Anhur

The God known as the ‘Good Warrior’ is worshipped almost as much as Horus among the ranks of the military. Scouts and charioteers who work in a civil capacity instead of a military one also favour him. As he is a God whose blessing is invoked against noxious animals (which he hunts), he is also popular among those who dwell in less civilised regions and are subject to attacks from wild beasts.

religion

Cult: Devotees of the All-Father respect law and order and those who embody it. They must give due honour to monarchs, emperors, princes, potentates and other members of the governing elite. They are obliged to defend the practice of religion in general, at least where it pertains to the Greek pantheon. As Zeus is the king of the Gods, so is his cult the head of all cults; his worshippers are thus bound to protect the temples of other allied deities. No follower of Zeus may refuse to aid a sincere priest or priestess of another of the Olympian Gods or turn a blind eye to blasphemy against any one of them. Injustice is abhorrent to followers of Zeus. They are expected to be firm and fair, erring on the side of severity rather than mercy. Zeus is more likely to punish disobedience than to reward obedience and his followers take after him.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Anhur are swiftness, hunting and attack. Cult: Anhur’s cult is devoted to combat as a sacred rite. Its devotees all fight, whether they have received formal training as warriors or not. At the central celebrations, ritual cudgel fights between the priests and the faithful are arranged to honour the God. It is entirely common for many of the worshippers and the clergy alike to end up bludgeoned into unconsciousness by the time the rite is over. Endurance is seen as more important than the retention of one’s teeth. At times of war, the most honoured members of the cult of Anhur are usually the ones called upon to lead the chariot assaults. Anhur’s faithful are especially proud of their powers of endurance. They are not afraid to be wounded while fighting and see their scars as something to celebrate. A wound taken when honouring Anhur by fighting to your utmost is proof of your dedication to him. Followers of Anhur are honourbound to scorn medical treatment for anything other than a large wound and even then will make a fuss, not wishing to seem weak. (Those who bind the wounds of Anhur devotees have often found it more sensible to wait until the patient falls unconscious and then treat him.) Cult members often escort important nobles from place to place, as Anhur is a charioteer God and takes responsibility for protecting those who make long journeys over land. Virtues: Bravery, persistence, optimism, taking charge of a situation, defending those weaker than yourself. Sins: Entering into combat with one who is without merit, cowardice, fleeing the field, showing fear, receiving healing for wounds smaller than 5 points. Disfavour: Ride skill checks when in combat. Dedicated Acts: Fighting multiple enemies until you drop (victory also counts as success here), defending an important

207

person who is travelling, destroying a wild beast that is threatening villagers or travellers, insisting on cautery for grievous wounds instead of medicine. Favoured Checks: Ranged attack rolls, Ride and Survival skill checks, Fortitude saving throws.

religion

Anubis

The jackal-headed God has his following among those who care for the dead, those who travel long distances and those who scout in the deserts. He is a deity of finding paths in the dark, so those who make their living by nocturnal activities (such as city guards) will often take Anubis as their patron. He is pre-eminently the God of embalmers, a centrally important profession in Ancient Egypt and the protector of tombs. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Anubis are embalming, guidance and finding, Cult: The members of the cult of Anubis have a special function to fulfil in the ancient world. They are the defenders of the dead, making sure that tombs remain sealed, treasures are not plundered and that the mummies of those who have gone before remain undisturbed, so that their spirits can continue to revisit the earth. This special responsibility of the Anubis cult includes preventing blasphemies against the dead, such as the creation of animated composites (see the Bestiary chapter), the use of parts of dead people for casting maledictions with Hekau rituals and such defilements. They also take the role of destroyers of the undead, as these represent souls in torment who need to be shown the way to the world after life. Anubis is the ‘opener of the ways’ who guides the soul on to its proper destiny and, as such, he is also the deity who assists lost souls to move on from the world in which they are trapped. Anubis cultists are honour-bound to care for any dead body they encounter, ensuring that the dead person is tended for in the proper way according to his rank and station, with all appropriate rites. They are the funeral directors par excellence of Ancient Egypt. As such, they also take note of the circumstances of death and any suspicious or unlawful conditions that may be of note. The information assembled by the Anubis cult concerning the cause of death often helps the cultists of Horus and Osiris to track down and root out the activities of Set or Apophis cultists. Virtues: Tenacity, alertness, helpfulness, protection of the dead, comforting the grieving, defence of the dead and their resting places, destroying undead, assisting the lost or helpless. Sins: Defiling the dead, speaking ill of the dead, theft, abuse of authority, using Hekau to create undead, failing to provide assistance to those in need.

208

Disfavour: Active Defence checks against attacks from undead creatures. Dedicated Acts: Creating mummies of important people, building tombs, cleansing tombs that have been defiled, conducting important funerary rituals, destroying powerful undead, freeing tormented souls. Favoured Checks: Prayer checks to loose the trapped souls of the undead, Profession (embalmer), Search, Spot, Survival skill checks to track a creature.

Apophis

The serpent, Apophis, being more of a demon than a deity, receives worship in secret from those who seek to benefit from his gifts. Like Set, he is a power of darkness and is opposed to the Gods of the Egyptian pantheon. Apophis draws his following from those who work stealthily under cover of darkness; he is the patron of poisoners and assassins. The followers of Apophis are few and deadly, unlike the cult of Set, which depends on numbers. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Apophis are stealth, venom and treachery. Cult: Apophis has no formal cult as such. Individuals take him as a patron deity but he is not worshipped in groups, nor does he have images erected to his honour. Apophis only appears in friezes that show the journey of Ra across the sky. Every day, Ra faces and overcomes Apophis. It is during the night hours that Apophis may exert his power; he has no powers during daylight. As a result of this, no follower of Apophis may spend divine points from that source during daylight hours. At night, however, each divine point spent on a favoured check grants a +3 bonus, instead of +2. What with Apophis being the sworn enemy of Ra, any devotee of Apophis is not only an enemy of Ra but by extension, an enemy of Pharaoh too and thus all of Egypt. If the followers of Set are like wild beasts, spreading destruction by brute strength and devouring fire, the followers of Apophis are venomous serpents, making quick precise strikes in vulnerable areas. Virtues: Ruthlessness, cunning, deception, careful planning, patience, avenging insults. Sins: Sluggishness, compassion, sentimentality, excessive honesty, carelessness, recklessness. Disfavour: Fortitude saving throws to resist the effects of poison from snakebite. Dedicated Acts: Assassination of key figures, causing death and making it look like an accident, cultivating a sacred serpent, causing a set number of deaths between dusk and dawn.

Favoured Checks: Melee attacks with piercing weapons, Active Defence checks, Bluff, Hide, Move Silently, Rhetoric, Sleight of Hand skill checks, other people’s Fortitude saving throws (negative).

Bastet

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Bastet are grace, pleasure and harmony. Cult: Those who follow Bast resent being drawn into other people’s conflicts. They are welcoming of others when those others are respectful and willing to participate in those activities that make life pleasurable, such as socialising and partying, but when others try to involve them in fighting, they take severe umbrage. The best way to understand the attitude of a follower of Bast is to think of them as catlike in their philosophy. They are independent, proud of their appearance, fond of frivolity and luxury and dismissive of anything that they are not interested in. Socially, the Bastet cult is devoted to promoting pleasure and goodwill. They stage elaborate performances in which music and dance go on for days at an end, during which time the cultists and anyone else who wants to participate enjoy themselves to the full; this free entertainment is one reason why the cult enjoys such popularity. Her devotees, both the male and the female alike, value sensuality and hedonism as good for the individual, for society as a whole and for the Goddess. The philosophy is that Bastet rejoices to see her followers enjoy themselves, so to please oneself is to please her. The Bastet cult could justifiably be compared to a ‘hippy’ ethos of the ancient world, inasmuch as peace and love are the rule. There is also a certain pride and aloofness about the Bastet followers, who scorn that which is base, ugly or disharmonious. Bastet is said to protect mortals against poison and disease (see Favoured Checks below) and to offer protection against wicked spirits, for which see the Bestiary. Virtues: Affability, tolerance, luxury, independence, selfindulgence, beauty, persuasiveness, skill, poise. Sins: Ungraciousness, boorishness, spoiling the spirit of a celebration, making a fool of oneself in public, dependence on others, failure to take care of one’s appearance on an important occasion, harming a cat.

Dedicated Acts: Celebrations, performances, feasts, long journeys, acts of cunning and grace, feats of exceptional dexterity. Favoured Checks: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Heal checks to treat poison or disease, Move Silently, Perform, Prayer checks to ward off or dispel wicked spirits, Presence, Rhetoric, Tumble skill checks.

Hathor

The followers of Hathor are mostly women, as the Goddess specially favours them and acts as their protectress. She is a Goddess of joy and love, the Egyptian version of Aphrodite and as such is venerated by those who seek domestic contentment and pleasure in life.

religion

The cat-headed Goddess Bastet (or Pasht, from whence we may get the word ‘puss’) is often confused with Sekhmet, though they are not at all alike. Bast is a benevolent and gentle deity who is more concerned with rejoicing and celebration than with war. Her followers come from all walks of life, especially from the middle and lower classes who welcome a religion that is so concerned with festivity, elegance, pleasure and drunkenness.

Disfavour: Active Defence or Shield Defence checks to defend yourself against attacks from feline creatures.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Hathor are nurturing, beauty and love. Cult: Hathor’s cultists take the role of nurturers in society. They are at the opposite end of the spectrum to those who worship the aspect of Hathor called Sekhmet. Where the lioness-headed Goddess is enraged and bloodthirsty, Hathor’s followers are entirely giving and generous, attempting to give charity, food and healing to those who need it most. They have a particular mission to look after the needs of women, caring for widows and for those who have been abandoned or treated cruelly. Temples of Hathor are especially welcoming to children, who are looked after by the priestesses of the cult. Hathor’s symbol is the mirror, which has to do with her role as the Goddess of beauty and beautification. Some of her most select priests and priestesses take the role of sacred courtesans, manifesting the great mercy and love of the Goddess in the most direct and physical manner possible. Virtues: Generosity, mercy, charity, love, tolerance, compassion, indulgence, intoxication. Sins: Harming a woman or a child, destroying a loving relationship, marring beauty, refusing help to those in need, cruelty. Disfavour: Presence skill checks made to impress women; Bluff checks when lying to a woman. Dedicated Acts: Giving love to the loveless, protecting the vulnerable, seducing a person of high rank, hosting a major celebration, giving legendary performances. Favoured Checks: Bluff, Perform, Presence checks when used to seduce, Rhetoric, Hekau skills checks when used to cast bewitchment effects.

209

Horus

Horus ‘the Avenger’ is the primary war God of Ancient Egypt and as such is worshipped by warriors of all ranks. He is also the God of those who wage spiritual and magical war against the forces of supernatural darkness.

religion

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Horus are combat, light and vengeance. Cult: The main role of the cult of Horus is to assist that of Osiris; it stands in relation to the Osiris cult in the role of a son to his father. Horus cultists defend the sacred shrines of Egypt, with special emphasis paid to the defence of the Osiris shrines in remembrance of Horus’ deeds of vengeance following the murder of his father. It is also the special responsibility of the followers of Horus to seek out and annihilate the cult of Set wherever it springs up, root out his minions and destroy them and defend others against its machinations. Set himself is acknowledged as a God, but his worship is not permitted in regions where Osiris is the chief deity. Horus cultists are battle-ready at all times, waiting only for the signal to don their armour and take up their spears. They form the majority of the foot troops of Ancient Egypt, as the devotees of Anhur are mostly charioteers. Many of those Egyptian noble warriors who attack from horseback are members of the cult of ‘Horus the lancer’, a specific subset of the Horus religion, hearkening back to the story that Horus preferred the horse over other animals because it would allow him to catch Set if he tried to flee. Pharaoh has a special relationship with the Horus cult, in that every Pharaoh claims to be an earthly avatar or incarnation of Horus as well as the son of Ra. Only those Pharaohs who reject traditional worship, such as Ankhenaten, make different claims. Virtues: Pursuing enemies, swiftness, taking revenge, using few words, attacking those who seek to overthrow you, destroying enemies utterly, making quick decisions, honouring parents. Sins: Excessive mercy, prevarication, tolerating weakness in oneself or others, failing to finish a half-beaten foe, cowardice, accepting defeat too easily, dishonouring parents. Disfavour: Active Defence and Shield Defence checks against spear attacks. Dedicated Acts: Besting a single powerful opponent in combat, claiming a precious set of armour or a weapon for the Horus cult, destroying a set number of foes in battle (such as swearing to take ten enemy chariots), capturing an enemy position, capturing a city, acts of vengeance, taking prizes for Egypt, acts of conquest generally Favoured Checks: Melee attacks, Active Defence checks, Heal checks to treat poison, Presence, Ride skill checks.

210

Isis

The wife of Osiris is, as is the usual rule with such arrangements, worshipped more by women than by any other social group. As the Goddess who taught mankind the healing arts, she receives the adoration of female healers and male doctors alike. She is also one of the most potent magicians among the Gods, second only to Thoth; she stole, by her cunning, the secret name of Ra and, as such, has far more magical power than she would ordinarily have been granted. Spellcasters, thus, take her as a deity. As the mistress of cities and patroness of builders, she also receives the worship of those who raise structures. Finally, as ‘the star of the sea’ and the guardian of those who sail upon the oceans, she is the patron deity of travellers. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Isis are protection, nurturing and civilisation. Cult: The fellowship of Isis is as abundant in the land of Egypt as the worship of her husband Osiris. She is an extremely popular Goddess, owing to her protective and generous nature and her worship grows throughout the period of Egypt’s prominence, absorbing that of other Goddesses. Like the Greek Demeter, who she resembles in many ways, she has her own mystery cult and rituals are celebrated in her honour in Spring and Autumn. The cult of Isis is dedicated to the preservation of Egypt and the provision of its citizens. It is the Isis worshippers who make sure that the sick in the citizenry are tended to, the hungry are fed and the children are properly educated. Their role is to be active in society rather than simply to administer religious rites. They, thus, arrange for the collection and distribution of alms. Virtues: Generosity, helpfulness, defending those who need protection, administering to the sick, tending to the needy, looking after children irrespective of whose they are, preventing conflicts where possible, sacrifice, honouring one’s spouse, maintaining domestic order. Sins: Harming a child, allowing harm to come to a child through inaction, polluting wells or other public facilities, needless destruction of property, disrupting a marriage. Disfavour: Spot and Listen skill checks to notice a hidden enemy who is about to ambush you. Dedicated Acts: Protection of others at great personal risk, founding a settlement, saving the life of an important person who is in great danger, irrigating land, bringing supplies a great distance to the needy, acts of fertility in action such as giving birth to a child. Favoured Checks: Active Defence checks, Shield Defence checks, Heal, Hekau (except for the scribing of glyphs or scrolls or the casting of maledictions), Hide, Medicine, Presence skill checks.

Osiris

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Osiris are death, afterlife and fertility. Cult: The cult of Osiris is embraced by all Egyptians to some extent, as it assures them a place in a happy afterworld presided over by a benevolent ruler. It is most strongly established in Abydos, where the mortal remains of the God are said to be buried. The rituals of Osiris celebrate his death and resurrection and the various stages in the seasonal cycle. They are the template for all ‘dying and risen God’ faiths that follow afterward. The cult of Osiris is pacifistic. Osiris himself was said to have conquered only through gentleness, the singing of songs and the playing of musical instruments. Those who are especially devoted to Osiris are thus unlikely to become warriors; these will more commonly follow Horus, his warrior son, the solar deity, Ra, or the charioteer, Anhur. The cult of Osiris strives to be as benevolent as its deity, preferring peaceful subjugation to violent conquest and diplomacy over strife. One of his titles, Onnophris, means ‘the good one’. The division between the ways of Osiris and the ways of Set (his brother) is significant here; Set stands for all of the aggression, violence and brutishness that Osiris transcends. In simple terms, Osiris is goodly and lawful, while Set is evil and chaotic. Both are, however, understood as necessary to the whole system. Virtues: Gentleness, moderation, seeking a diplomatic solution to differences, giving due care and treatment to the dead, increasing civilisation, assisting inferiors to rise, educating others, averting violence. Sins: Causing needless harm, neglecting the dead, moving boundary stones, defiling the temple of another faith (except those specifically antagonistic to the cult of Osiris, such as those of Apophis or Set), disrupting a household or business without good cause, abuse of authority. Defiling a tomb is utterly abhorrent for a follower of Osiris and always results in his anger (and the exercise of his wrath on the evildoer) if it is noticed. Disfavour: All saving throws made when within 30 feet of a dead body. This stacks with the additional penalty to saving throws against spells cast by followers of Osiris that is incurred if the God should come to despise you.

Dedicated Acts: Peaceful acquisition of new subjects or lands for Egypt, acts of fertility in practice (such as sowing a crop or fathering a child), protection of the dead, bringing law to the lawless, mummifying an important person. Favoured Checks: Active Defence, Debate, Heal, Knowledge (nature), Perform (any), Rhetoric, Survival.

Ptah

As Ptah is the great Architect and Master Craftsman of the Gods, those who live by a craft and by building structures revere him. Artificers in the Egyptian system give reverence to Ptah, who is said to have brought the whole universe into being. The Greeks identified him with Hephaestus, who he greatly resembles, even to the degree of being dwarfish and physically ugly in some representations.

religion

The green God of death and resurrection receives worship from all Egyptians, as he is the ruler of the world beyond death. Egyptian culture is very much involved with death and the preparations to be taken for it. Those involved in dealing directly with the dead, such as embalmers and the architects of tombs, have a special reverence for Osiris. As the God who is believed to have taught Egyptians the art of civilisation, including the manufacture of tools, the baking of bread and the brewing of beer, he is also the patron deity of those who work a craft.

Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Ptah are artifice, building and craft. Cult: The members of the cult of Ptah are also the master builders of Egypt. Their religious organisation is even said by some to be the origin of the Masonic Order of the present day. They are called upon both to design and to assist in the consecration of any major building, whether for civic or religious use. The high priest of Ptah, based in Memphis, is always an artificer of high level and directs the stonemasons personally during the building of important structures. The followers of Ptah learn secrets of construction and mathematics that enable them to dominate the construction industry. Without their help and participation, the marvels of architecture that characterise ancient Egypt can never be built. Fortunately for the other cults, they are always willing to give assistance and see it as a sacred calling to do so. Ptah is one of the oldest of the Gods and is seen by some to be the ultimate father of the whole pantheon, the original being who created all. As such, he has a grandfatherly view of the other deities, which is passed on to his devotees. Virtues: Ingenuity, dedication, service, invention, craft, ambition, secretiveness. Sins: Laziness, carelessness, causing damage to a sacred item or structure, allowing construction secrets to be discovered, using substandard materials, failing to destroy a flawed item or construction. Disfavour: All skill checks when made inside any worked stone building larger than a house. Dedicated Checks: Crafting precious armour, crafting masterwork items (which may not then be sold, but only given away), creating marvellous items in service to a noble house or to the military, creating designs for temples and other marvellous structures (with the Artifice ability) of Large size or larger.

211

Favoured Checks: Appraise, Forgery, Craft, Solve Conundrum, Sense Motive skill checks.

religion

Ra

The splendid God of the dawning sun has worshippers throughout the land of Egypt, with rulers and nobles forming the most likely adherents of his cult. He is seen as the ultimate creator of the world; in his form as Ra-Harakte, in which he has a falcon’s head, he is the patron deity of Egypt itself. From the time of the Old Kingdom, he has been the God who the Pharaohs especially revere, considering themselves ‘sons of Ra’. (It is said that the conception of a Pharaoh marks the occasion of a visit by Ra to Earth.) Noble warriors may not make this claim but they nonetheless revere the God along with Pharaoh. Ra is second only to Osiris in importance. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Ra are majesty, glory and rulership. Cult: The strongest cult of Ra is in the city of Heliopolis, also called the City of the Sun. Those who follow Ra are dedicated to the destruction of the foes of Egypt and the minions of Apep, the snake-demon. Ra’s devotees oppose Apep in the same manner that the devotees of Osiris oppose Set and his minions. Priests of Ra enjoy special favour because of their proximity to Pharaoh. Socially, the cult is set above all others, with only the cult of Osiris enjoying superior status. Ra’s cult is that of the prosperous day and the glorious sun, while the cult of Osiris has to do with the fertility of the Nile and the fate of the individual after death. To the ancient Egyptian mind, the state of the souls after death is of more importance than even the world itself. The cult of Ra makes it its special concern to see to the provision of prayers, miracles and Hekau effects for those who are in positions of special power or authority. They are, as it were, the priests to the elite in society. The common people are still allowed to worship Ra but they do not benefit from the privileged attention that the high-ranking citizens do. Virtues: Beauty, pride, strength, humour, sensuality, magnanimity. Sins: Procrastination, failure to take decisive action, showing pity (as opposed to compassion), cowardice. Disfavour: attack rolls made at dawn and during the hour afterwards. Dedicated Acts: Glorification of Egypt through military acts, capture of slaves, destruction of enemy temples, expansion of territory, leading others to a victory, destruction of important servants of Apep. Favoured Checks: Melee attacks with kopesh, Hekau skill checks when casting eye spells, Presence skill checks, Rhetoric skill checks, Will saving throws. A noble warrior or aristocrat

212

who is also a follower of Ra may treat his Coverage check for armour (and only armour, not for any other protection) to ward off a blow as a favoured check for his deity, as Ra protects those of noble blood who fight in his name.

Sekhmet

The lioness-headed Goddess is in fact an aspect of Hathor (see the description above) but is worshipped as if she were a separate deity. As the patroness of terrible slaughter and battle rage, she is the special deity of those who fight in hand-tohand combat, with the blood splashing their faces and arms. Although there are no trained female warriors as such, she is worshipped by those women who are prepared to fight in defence of their homes and families. A woman of any social class who worships Sekhmet is likely to fight with the fury of that Goddess if those that she is protecting are threatened. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Sekhmet are blood, slaughter and protection. Cult: Sekhmet’s cultists are part of the overall cult of Hathor, who favour the lioness-headed aspect with its connotations of war and rage over the cow-headed deity who is more concerned with beauty, harmony and celebration. They act as temple guards, keeping the sanctuaries safe and make sure that the violent, wrathful aspect of Hathor is never forgotten nor treated lightly. It is their job to propitiate Sekhmet with the blood of sacrifices, such as that of captured enemies. In temperament, the followers of Sekhmet tend to be quick to anger. When pleased, they are extremely affable and fond of sensual behaviour but when angered, they are very hard to placate and often leave a trail of destruction behind them before they calm down, not discerning between friends and foes in their wanton raging. They are very leonine in their ways, vicious when provoked but languid and approachable when content. It is customary for a Sekhmet devotee to drink part of the blood of a fallen enemy, in honour of the Goddess, who once drank a lake of beer in the belief that it was the blood of men. As Sekhmet is one of the deities who inflict torments on the damned in the Egyptian afterlife, representing the devouring fire of the Sun and the agonizing flames of the Egyptian hell, her followers are expected to show no mercy in inflicting pain upon those who deserve it. Those who fall afoul of Sekhmet’s cult are lucky if they die quickly, as the cult is extraordinarily inventive when it comes to causing drawn-out agony without the blessing of death. It is another feline trait of the cult that they will play with their prey before the final kill. The cultists of Sekhmet also have a faction attached who specialise in the curing of fractures. They are thus much in demand from the allied cult of Anhur, whose devotees are forever breaking bones as a result of their fervent fighting and equally violent worship.

Virtues: Tenacity, rage, passion, extremity in fulfilment of desire (nothing in moderation), loyalty to friends, defence of those who depend on you. Sins: Meekness, timidity, moderation, humility, leaving an insult unavenged, showing mercy to those who have shed the blood of a loved one.

Dedicated Acts: Causing enormous fires, shedding the blood of numerous enemies (the bloodshed is important, so bludgeoning will not do), hunting down, killing and drinking the blood of a potent adversary, killing an armed enemy with unarmed combat alone, tormenting an enemy for a long time before killing him. Favoured Checks: Melee attacks with piercing or slashing weapons, Heal, Medicine checks when treating grievous wounds incurred by bludgeoning damage, Presence, Survival skill checks to track a creature.

Set

The ass-headed God Set draws his worshippers from the dissatisfied, the ambitious, the antisocial, the perverse and the corrupt. Those who chafe under the rule of others or who seek personal power and are not inclined to care who gets hurt as they rise to it, will find Set’s cult welcoming to them. Set is the archetypal dark deity that will ultimately form the basis for the concept of Satan or Shaitan, the opponent. Bear this in mind when choosing him as a God. Set promises great things to those who would follow him and rewards them with his power, but leads their hearts into rebellion against the just Gods and involves them in his plans to subvert the dominion of Osiris. Although there is a form of Set who is benign, this game is only concerned with the Set who represented destruction and bestial instincts to the Ancient Egyptians. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Set are destruction, darkness and corruption. Cult: The cult of Set is entirely covert. As the murderer of Osiris and the closest thing in the ancient world to a deity of out-and-out evil, Set is the subject of hatred, fear and derision from those who revere other Gods. Set’s cultists serve their master by undermining the work that the other Gods do, spreading chaos and suspicion wherever they can. It is the ultimate ambition of Set to destroy the worship of Osiris in Egypt, cast down the Egyptian civilisation and allow anarchy, vermin and the dry desert winds to claim the ruins. As Set is a God of wild beasts as well as a God of destruction, he is opposed to any law making. Set’s cultists are not only worshippers but also members of what amounts to a secret army. This underground

Historically minded Games Masters should note that this description of the Set cult is entirely conjectural, based upon the attributes of Set and the traditions of speculative fiction set in the ancient period. It is far from certain that there ever was a cult of Set in the period during which he was cast as the murderer of Osiris; the theory is that he was an old tribal deity of the upper kingdom who was cast down by worshippers of Horus the Elder and turned into a devil figure in the usual manner. If you wish to have a more historically authentic but less dramatic campaign, then the cult of Set can be deemed to be a mere superstition with no real substance to it.

religion

Disfavour: Active Defence and Shield Defence checks made when defending yourself against the attacks of a woman.

organisation (sometimes literally underground, as they meet in old tombs and ruins) gives healing to operatives who are wounded in their activities, provides assistance to its members to assist them to climb to power and punishes betrayal of its secrets with a cruel and inventive death. It is essentially a primitive conspiracy as well as a mystery cult. The followers of Horus are dedicated to uncovering it and thwarting its evil plans. Unfortunately for them, the promise of power offered by Set is a temptation for a great many and the cult is quite capable of swelling its ranks again once defeated.

In history, the worship of Set was indeed controversial. Under the rule of the Hyskos, who identified Set with their own warrior God Sutekh, he was popular and had a dedicated temple in Avaris; Rameses II, whose father was called Seti, ‘the Setian’, went on to call himself ‘Beloved of Set’. This was deeply unpopular with the Osiris cultists, who were furious that a cult should have been devoted to the murderer of ‘The Good One’. Seti decided to have the image of Set effaced from the walls of his tomb and changed his title from ‘the Setian’ to ‘the Osirian’. Towards the middle of the tenth century BC, statues of Set were smashed and even his name had to be erased if anyone wrote it down. He was finally driven from the pantheon and turned into a God of the unclean, which is the role he retains in OGL Ancients. Virtues: Uncleanness, perversion, breaking the laws laid down by others, using brute strength, making others afraid of you, cheating, lying, increasing your own power at all costs, seducing others, corrupting the innocent. Sins: Sentimentality, compassion, leaving witnesses alive, placing another above yourself, betraying the secrets of the cult, settling for less than your due, failing Set himself. Disfavour: Fortitude saving throws to avoid or resist disease. Dedicated Acts: Undermining a well-established household, destroying major images of the other Gods, causing outbreak of disease, massacre, bringing the proud and mighty down. Favoured Checks: Melee attack rolls, Bluff, Hekau skill checks when casting maledictions, Will, Fortitude and Reflex saving throws.

213

religion

Thoth

The ibis-headed God is the patron of all scribes and those who work with symbols. He is the Egyptian equivalent of Hermes, the God set over communication and thought. Thoth is also the master of magic, teaching the arts of Hekau to the Egyptian priesthood. All Egyptian priests are competent with Hekau, as it is a class skill of theirs and many of the deities have Hekau as a favoured skill for one or another purpose but the followers of Thoth are one of the only two faiths to have Hekau checks (for all purposes, including the scribing of scrolls, except bewitchment) as a favoured check of their deity. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Thoth are learning, writing and magic. Cult: Devotees of Thoth are usually ascetic people, shunning fleshly indulgence in order to better cultivate their mental powers. They enjoy conversation, debate and speculation on arcane matters. They can be trusted to record conversations or dictated letters or count up how many coins there are in the treasury, with meticulous accuracy. The Thoth cult is never ambitious and always seeks to make itself useful to those in authority. It disdains physical violence, looking to those it serves to protect it. As it is the ‘truth of voice’ of Thoth that lends force to his magical incantations, the followers of Thoth are similarly concerned with truth. As speakers of magical incantations, they are careful not to defile their mouths with lies, while as keepers of records and makers of holy hieroglyphs they may not knowingly record an untruth. The followers of Thoth have some of the best available favoured checks for a noncombatant character but the restrictions upon them are very severe. Thoth is the God of medicine in the Egyptian system as well as the God of writing and magic. As such, his priests are the keepers of the scrolls on which the remedies for diseases and the proper treatments for wounds are written. Medicine goes hand in hand with the recording arts, as it is essentially the science of recording which cures have been known to work on what kind of symptoms. Virtues: Temperance, study, intelligence, inquiry, hard work, honesty, tact. Sins: Over-indulgence, violence, giving in to anger, acting stupidly, forgetting important information, allowing records in your care to be damaged or destroyed, telling outright lies. Disfavour: Search skill checks to find secret or deliberately hidden items. Dedicated Acts: Coming up with cunning plans, solving complicated problems, healing those of especial value to Egypt, defeating a formidable opponent in a debate, speaking the truth although you know it will mean great personal risk.

214

Favoured Checks: Heal skill checks, Medicine skill checks, Solve Conundrum skill checks, Knowledge skill checks, Intelligence ability score checks, Hekau skill checks except for bewitchment effects.

Wepwawet

The wolf-headed one draws most of his worshippers from those soldiers of Egypt who fight with shields, as his shield is an important feature of his iconography. He is essentially a primitive warrior God, dating from the time before Osiris came to prominence. He is still revered in some of the outlying fringes of the Egyptian kingdom. Keywords: The keywords of the cult of Wepwawet are discipline, conflict and intimidation. Cult: Wepwawet’s cult is a small one, made up of soldiers who keep to old faiths. They favour an old-fashioned tribal attitude to warfare, in which the object is to annihilate the opposition and claim their women and property. The wolf ’s head borne by their God is indicative of the savage, primordial actions of his cultists in battle. Though he resembles Anubis and is often mistaken for him, he is a different God; Wepwawet and Anubis often fight side by side under the overall command of Osiris. Soldiers who follow Wepwawet see themselves as part of an ‘old faith’, a rugged, savage creed that only the toughest warriors adhere to. Although they use shields, their fighting is unsophisticated and brutal. In private, they consider the Osiris cult to be too peaceful for their tastes. Politics is to them just so much chatter and doubletalk; they do not hold with the practice of peaceful resolution of differences, seeing a trial of strength as the only way to see who ought to come out on top. Although the two cults do not always enjoy good relations, the followers of Wepwawet have great comradeship with and respect for the followers of Sekhmet, who are just as enthusiastic fighters as they are. Virtues: Aggression, deference to those who command you, appetite, rage, taking what you need, brevity in speech, decisive action. Sins: Talking too much, showing weakness, compromise, backing down without a fight, letting yourself be tricked, giving away your weapons. Disfavour: Active Defence and Shield Defence checks to defend yourself against attacks from canine creatures. Dedicated Acts: Conquest, great feasting, plundering enemy settlements, hunting dangerous animals, defeating enemies in single combat. Favoured Checks: Shield Defence checks, Melee attack rolls, Fortitude saving throws, Will saving throws.

divine points

The heroes in ancient myth are always calling upon their patron Gods and Goddesses to aid them, which they do in manifold ways. The battlefields of old rang with cries of ‘Horus, lord of Light, guide my spear!’ or ‘Vengeance in the name of Artemis!’ If the legends are to be believed, the Gods often answered those who called upon them. The Divine Points of a character represent the constant background presence of a deity who is willing to assist a devotee. By using Divine Points, you can perform incredible deeds, strike down powerful adversaries and make seemingly miraculous escapes. There are two ratings for Divine Points, being base and temporary. A character’s base Divine Points are equal to his level of experience. Other actions during the campaign can increase or decrease your base or temporary Divine Points. For example, if you gain the favour of your deity, your base Divine Points increase by 2 for as long as the favour lasts.

  





The following rules cover the use of Divine Points.

  

 

You may never have more temporary Divine Points than your base total. Special Divine Points do not however count towards your total, as they represent a favour granted by a different deity than the one you worship. Your temporary Divine Points are equal to your base Divine Points at the beginning of each adventure. You may spend temporary Divine Points to increase the result of any d20 die roll made by yourself on a one for one basis or to reduce the result of another person’s d20 die roll on the same basis. The only kind of d20 roll you cannot use Divine Points to influence is a skill check to cast a spell for the first or second time in your life; see the Magic chapter. Divine Points cannot be used to raise a roll made by anyone other than yourself. Reducing another person’s roll requires an opposed Prayer check between yourself and the target. Only one expenditure of Divine Points may affect a single person for a given action; a group of people may not stand around someone and pile Divine Points on to him to make him fail a saving throw catastrophically badly.



You may not spend Divine Points to reduce another person’s use of Divine Points. For example, if you were a follower of Aphrodite, you could not reduce another’s Will saving throw result if he had already spent Divine Points to increase it. Spending Divine Points is a free action. If you ever change your deity, you lose all your Divine Points (except special Divine Points) and must start again. Whether you are reducing the results of another person’s die roll or increasing your own, you must expend the points directly before the die roll is made. Divine Points cannot ordinarily be used to reduce a roll that has already been made. Only those who have the Divine Connection or Divine Smite feats (see Chapter 5, Feats) are able to adjust die rolls after they have been made.

religion

A key part of the mythic style of campaign is the interaction of the Gods with mortals. The flavour of the game demands a constant awareness of what the Gods have in mind. The conflicts of mortals in a mythic campaign almost always originate in some clash of interest in the celestial realms. The Gods of the ancient world do not sit behind clouds while human beings wonder whether they exist or not; they come down to earth and get their hands dirty, siring children, visiting mortals in disguise and involving themselves directly in battles.



You can only reduce another person’s d20 die roll if your character (rather than the player) is directly aware of the action as it is unfolding. If the Pharaoh is attempting to shake off the effects of poison in the chamber next to you, you cannot spend Divine Points to reduce his saving throw unless you are aware of the situation. You do not have to see the events unfold in order to spend Divine Points. As a rule of thumb, assume that any event concerning which the character could mutter a prayer to their deity can be influenced by Divine Points. You may only spend Divine Points once in any one round. You may not, for example, spend Divine Points to turn an ordinary attack roll into a critical threat (see the Combat chapter) and then spend more Divine Points to increase the critical threat check in order to be assured of a critical hit. Similarly, you may not spend Divine Points to increase both your Witchcraft skill check and reduce the Will saving throw of your target. You may not spend Divine Points at all if the deity in question holds you in disfavour. You must make things right between yourself and your God before you once again become able to call on their assistance. You may not even know that your deity holds you in disfavour until you attempt to spend Divine Points and find that nothing happens. As Divine Points are an essential part of the game, a good tactic to use when overcoming an enemy is to make trouble between him and his God, so that the enemy falls into disfavour and is no longer able to call upon divine aid. The myths recount instances of unintentional blasphemy that crafty heroes have tricked adversaries into performing.

For example, the witch Chloe has only one chance to slay the corrupt King of Crete before the guards seize her; uttering a fervent prayer to Hecate, she spends all of her current Divine Points (of which she has seven) to add a +7 bonus to her attack roll, hoping that she will score a critical hit with her dagger. Alternatively, if the King had been teetering on the edge of a precipice, Chloe could have spent her Divine Points to reduce his Balance check result by

215

religion

–7, if she had succeeded in the opposed Prayer check. The religious character classes, such as Priest and Witch, have Prayer as a class skill and thus are much better at forcing their deities’ wills upon other people. Your temporary Divine Points are much more likely to go down than to go up, as you call on your deity’s help at various stages during the course of the adventure. If you end an adventure with unspent Divine Points left over from the start, then you have not faced enough of a challenge! Players can attempt to increase their temporary Divine Point total by performing dedicated acts, for which see below. Increasing your base Divine Point total is extremely difficult and can only be achieved in one of three ways; by advancing an experience level, by building temples or huge statues to the deity or by performing a heroic quest in the deity’s name. There is one final rule covering all use of Divine Points. You must never spend Divine Points to carry out an action of which your deity would disapprove. The attempt to do so gains you the disfavour of that deity automatically. For example, if you were a devotee of Set and were fighting for your life against a fellow devotee of that grim and terrible God, you could invest Divine Points to increase your attack roll, as Set approves of survival of the strongest. However, if you were both followers of Aphrodite, to do so would be a blasphemy. This rule applies even if you did not know that what you were trying to do was offensive to your God. To the Immortals, ignorance is never an excuse. This is hardly fair by contemporary human standards; but then, they are the Gods! Favoured Checks: Each deity has certain specific activities that they are particularly well able to assist with. For example, the priestesses of Isis are also healers, bestowing the mercy of that Goddess on those who suffer. Isis is especially ready to help those who call on Her name when administering the healing arts. These realms of patronage are referred to as favoured checks for the deity. When you spend Divine Points to influence a die roll for a check that is listed among the favoured checks for your deity, you gain a +2 bonus per point instead of the usual +1. For example, a follower of Isis who spent three temporary Divine Points to heal the son of Pharaoh of a wasting disease would receive a +6 bonus to her Heal check, instead of a +3 bonus, as Heal checks are favoured checks for Her priesthood.

216

Negative Favoured Checks: Some deities, usually the darker ones, have negative favoured checks. This means that you receive no additional value when expending divine points to influence your own check positively, but you do receive a twofor-one bonus when influencing another’s check negatively. For example, followers of Apophis the Serpent have Fortitude saving throws as a negative favoured check. This means that a cultist of Apophis could expend two Divine Points to reduce another person’s Fortitude saving throw by –4, assuming he succeeded on the requisite opposed Prayer check. The sacred snakes in the temples of Apophis are venomous enough, but with the priests able to reduce the ability of their victims to resist the venom, they become truly terrible.

Divine Points and Rolls of Natural 20: If you spend sufficient Divine Points to gain a +20 bonus on a given die roll, you may instead proceed as if you had rolled a natural 20. This may mean that you score a critical hit. In this case, the Divine Points you spent to gain your natural 20 do not give you any bonus on your critical check roll to see whether you scored a critical hit or a normal hit. For example, at a critical point during the siege of Troy, Menelaus and Paris are fighting with spears and shields. Menelaus has 10 Divine Points remaining and, like many kings, is a devotee of Zeus. He hurls his javelin at Paris, uttering a swift prayer as he does so. Zeus has ‘melee attacks with thrown weapons’ as a favoured check; Menelaus chooses to spend all 10 of his Divine Points, for an effective +20 bonus to his attack roll. Instead of rolling, he takes a natural 20 as his result, for a critical threat. This is, at the very least, an automatic hit, but it remains to be seen whether it is a critical hit or not. Menelaus now makes a regular attack roll, which Paris may choose to oppose with Active Defence or Shield Defence (see the Critical Hits section in the Combat chapter, for more details). Special Divine Points: Only your deity may increase your base or temporary Divine Point pool. Other deities may approve of your actions and even grant you their favour or their love, but they cannot do more than grant you additional Divine Points. These are kept count of separately. Additional Divine Points may only be used to increase your own die rolls, not to reduce those of other people. They are like a small favour from the deity to yourself. You may not use Divine Points from more than one deity at the same time. If you ever earn the disfavour of the deity (or worse) then the additional divine points are lost. For example, the hero Tychus rescues the priestess Eleni from the clutches of a barbarian chieftain who had been planning to ravish her. As Eleni is a priestess of Artemis, this would have destroyed her ability to function as such, as Artemis only allows virgins into her priesthood. A grateful Artemis awards Tychus a blessing of five additional Divine Points. Tychus may expend these as he chooses and they do not return once spent; however, if he attempted to ravish Eleni himself, this would incur the disfavour of Artemis and the points would be lost. Total Divine Points Spent: Keep a record of the number of Divine Points your character spends. Those who spend large amounts over the course of their lives attract the attention of their deity, as they are clearly especially dedicated followers. It is impossible to spend a large number of Divine Points without constantly replenishing your Divine Point pool, so there is no other way to do this than to perform repeated, successful dedicated acts. The table below shows the rewards that a character gains from spending large numbers of Divine Points over time.

Dedicating Acts

You will not gain any especial favour from your deity just by keeping within the limits of the deity’s code and avoiding committing sins. Anyone can do that. Obedience to the code is the minimum required from any devotee, not the ideal. In order to attract the deity’s attention and increase your Divine Points significantly, temporary or permanent, you must deliberately perform suitable acts in the deity’s name.

A dedicated act always involves some element of gamble. It is as if you called your deity to watch what you were about to do, so that the deity can take pride in your performance. It is also necessary that other people should see your dedicated deeds, because in showing your own devotion, you are promoting your deity in front of those who believe in other Gods. There is always the possibility that you will fail. The dedicated act has to be a gamble or a challenge in order for the deity to appreciate it. If there is no risk, then the act cannot be a dedicated one. The Gods do not respect those who make inadequate gestures of devotion. If you were a follower of Hecate and dedicated the death of a field mouse to Her, she would spit upon your offering and probably transform you into a replacement field mouse to boot. The death of a wild bull, on the other hand, would be an acceptable tribute, especially if you had to fight it yourself. The more trouble your dedicated act causes for you, the more the deity is likely to appreciate it. For this reason, characters do not go around dedicating every foe they face or every task they undertake to their deities. Ordinary deeds do not give any especial glory to a deity. Gods like to look upon their followers doing great things in their name. Characters may seek out suitable acts that they can dedicate; this is in fact one of the reasons why characters go on quests and look for dangerous opponents on the battlefield. Increasing your base or current Divine Points is always a good idea. The dedicated act must of course be one which the God applauds. You can dedicate a drinking binge of legendary proportions to Dionysus and earn his praise, but you would be ill advised to dedicate such a binge to Apollo. Suitable acts that you may dedicate are given above in the description of the codes of the deity.

It is an old saying that the Gods love those most who ask their help the least. To gain temporary or permanent Divine Points from an act, you must perform it yourself, without help from anyone else, mortal or immortal. You are allowed to use Divine Points to fulfil a dedicated act but if you do this, you can gain no benefit from performing the act. Using Divine Points is better than failing outright and is usually done when a character realises that he is having more trouble than he expected.

religion

This takes a little explaining, as it is not a concept that a modern audience is likely to be familiar with. A dedicated act is one that is performed to give honour to a God. You must dedicate the act before you begin it; the idea is that your success in performing the act well and spectacularly is a testament to your faith in your deity. For example, a follower of Horus might dedicate the death of a foe to his deity; a follower of Ptah could dedicate the building of a magnificent palace; a follower of Dionysus could dedicate a three-day revel; a follower of Apollo could dedicate a difficult bowshot.

To make a dedicated act, a character simply announces aloud in the presence of at least one witness what they intend to do and the name of the deity in which he does it. This is a free action. You must define the act in such a way that failure is a possibility. It is perfectly legitimate to scream ‘Your life for Hecate!’ just before you swing a blow at a foe, as you may miss. Dedicating the slaughter of a helpless creature (where the possibility of your failing to kill it is remote or nonexistent) counts as sacrifice rather than dedicated action and has its own section below.

Once you have dedicated an act, you must fulfil it to the letter. Although there is no time limit on completing dedicated acts, you may only have one dedicated act before you at once and you may not begin a new dedicated act until you have either completed the current one or admitted failure. If you fail in your dedicated action, the consequences are grim; see below. You are not deemed to have failed until it would be impossible for you to perform the act. For example, if during an archery contest you dedicated the precise striking of a target to Apollo and you missed, you would have failed. The task was limited to that arrow and that target. However, if you dedicated a foe’s life to Ares but were struck unconscious during the battle, you would not have failed until the foe was dead by some cause other than your own hand. You could seek him out, demand a fight and satisfy Ares by finishing the task. Remember that the act must be one of which the deity would approve; in the above example, you could not fulfil the task unless the opponent agreed to fight you, because striking down an unarmed opponent is a sin in the eyes of Ares! You may, at any time, deem yourself to have failed in carrying out a dedicated act and accept the consequences. The moral here is to choose your dedicated acts carefully and not swear to achieve anything that is beyond your abilities. For example, Memetek, the priestess of Set, declares to her assembled acolytes that ‘I shall destroy the image of Osiris that now stands in his temple in Heliopolis, in the name of Set, the Burnt One!’ The acolytes cheer and in the world beyond, Set observes with interest, as his devotee sets out to strike a blow in his name. While the acolytes might help to storm the temple, the destruction of the image is Memetek’s sole responsibility. Typical Dedicated Acts: The most common dedicated acts in ordinary life (that is, when not on an adventure) are creative works. It is common for craftsmen to dedicate a given labour to a deity or for poets to dedicate epics to the honour

217

religion

of their Gods. Other dedicated acts include destroying an important enemy of your deity or of your country. The Reward For Dedicated Acts: Completion of a dedicated act should gain the character 1d6 temporary Divine Points, up to a maximum of his base Divine Points. Completion of a dedicated act in which the character faced repeated risks to his life should gain him 2d6 Divine Points. A dedicated act that takes several linked adventures to complete should increase the character’s base Divine Points by one or two. These rewards are quite separate from any experience points that the character might gain from carrying out his heroic deeds. Experience reflects what the character has personally learned from his encounters, while Divine Points are a measure of how pleased the character’s deity is with him. It is possible to complete a quest set for you by your deity without gaining any Divine Points at all, if you offend or displease your deity or do not complete the quest in the right way. For example, the quest of Heracles to defeat the Lernean Hydra was deemed to be null and void because he had the help of a henchman (who sealed the severed stumps of the Hydra’s heads with a blazing torch) and did not overcome the monster alone. Making An Item As A Dedicated Act: All deities will accept the manufacture of items that glorify them as dedicated acts, though some deities (such as Athena) are fonder of this than others. It may seem at first glance that there is no risk involved, but making an item is a risky business when done in honour of a deity, as failure by more than 5 ruins the piece and counts as failure. If you have invested in costly materials, such as marble or gold, then ruining these adds a financial loss to your dishonour in the deity’s eyes, so to say that this course of action is not a risky one is untrue. An item made as a dedicated act to a deity is subject to several conditions. Only certain types of item are acceptable. You cannot present a wooden spoon to Osiris and except to be taken seriously, however well crafted it is. Items made as dedicated acts must either be ornamental, intended for ritual use or arms and armour. For example, you could not create a commonplace item such as a lamp as a dedicated act, as it is an ordinary household object; however, if it was destined to hang in the deity’s sanctuary and was suitably ornamented, you could create a lamp for ritual use as a dedicated act. If at any time you destroy all or part of the raw materials, you have failed in your task; the item is flawed and may not be worked on again. The item, once made, may not be sold. It must be presented to the temple of the appropriate deity or given in trust to a priest of the deity. To sell an item that you have made as a dedicated act gains you the deity’s disfavour immediately, as it is a wanton blasphemy. Finally, an item made for this purpose must be of exceptional quality. Whether it is useful or ornamental, the item must be made as a masterwork item.

218

Some ‘items’ are so large that they are not made, but built; edifices like temples or enormous statues of the Gods come into this category. To build such things is the ultimate aim of the true devotee. Obviously, the character cannot build whole temples on his own. To count as the ‘builder’ of a temple or similar huge edifice, the character must give precise instructions for its construction and make all the necessary payments himself. Raising temples to the Gods is the standard way for an exceptionally powerful character such as a Pharaoh or a King to gain renown in the eyes of his people and his celestial patrons. If a temple should ever be sacked, the character loses the same number of permanent Divine Points as he gained for building it. A temple or huge statue counts as ‘finished’ when the first sacrifice is made within it to consecrate it for use. Not until then does any adjustment to Divine Points occur. The following table gives typical rewards for making an item. Failure To Perform A Dedicated Act: If you dedicate an act to your deity and then fail to perform it, you lose 1d6 temporary Divine Points. If the failure results in damage to the deity’s cult, image or good standing (such as a public insult to the deity going unavenged or a temple being sacked and burned) then you lose 1 base Divine Point and gain the deity’s disfavour. Group Dedicated Acts: A group of people who follow the same deity can jointly pledge themselves to accomplish a task in the deity’s name. Deities approve of individual acts of heroism more than any other but they will sometimes reward groups who dedicate acts to them. No deity will ever award more than three temporary Divine Points to anyone for taking part in a group effort. A single misdeed on the part of any participant in the dedicated act is enough to sabotage the whole operation and the deity will not reward anyone even if the act succeeds; the whole group is penalised for the failings of just one person. If you and others are going to undertake a dedicated act as a group, you need to be very sure that the other members are wholly trustworthy. Dedicated Acts In A Game: Dedicated actions are very useful to the players, as they allow the characters to regain divine points. They are also useful to the Games Master, as they provide immediate character motivation and encourage characters to commence subplots of their own. Players are always on the lookout for more Divine Points and if they have a good grasp of what their deity is like, they will be ready to seize opportunities to please them with dedicated actions. It does not take long to get the knack of this and it lends flavour to a gaming session as well as boosting the characters’ abilities. Players tend to choose their own challenges and to make situations dramatic and heroic whenever possible. For example, if a group of heroes has come to a raging river and need to get across in order to reach the village where they will spend the night, there is little honour in turning back and

Divine Points For Making Items As Dedicated Acts Divine Point Reward

Item made from clay, cloth or wood, such as a lamp, pot, carving or hanging

1

Item of Large size or larger made from clay, cloth or wood

1d3

Item of Fine or Tiny size made from precious materials (gold, silver, jewels)

1d6

Item of Small size made from precious materials

2d4

Item of Medium size made from precious materials

2d6

Image of the deity (Small sized, such as a portable icon)

1d2

Statue of the deity (Medium sized, such as a standard temple image)

1d6

Statue of the deity (Large sized, such as would be found in a major temple)

2d4

Statue of the deity (Huge sized, such as the image of Amun cut into a cliff side)

Base divine points increased by +4

Temple built (ordinary size)

Base divine points increased by +2

Especially grand temple built

Base divine points increased by +6

Colossal temple built

Base divine points increased by +10

returning the way they came, even though this is the safest option. A warrior might strip off his armour and declare ‘By Apollo, I shall swim this flood!’ and dive in, knowing that such a daring feat of athletics would be bound to impress his God. A different character could declare ‘With Thoth as my witness, I shall contrive for us a way across’, and proceed to solve the problem with ingenuity instead of physical prowess.

Philosophies

If you are playing a Greek character in a Historical style campaign, you may choose a philosophy instead of a religion. A character does not have to have a philosophy, though many citizens of the time did. Your philosophy reflects your character’s attitude to the world, moral conduct and general personality type and has an effect upon some die rolls. You may choose from the Epicurean, Stoic or Sceptic philosophies. Epicurean: The character believes that whatever other uncertainties there may be in the world, pleasure is at least accessible and reliable. Whatever else one might doubt, physical satisfaction is at least theoretically possible, so it is justifiable to pursue it. The sensible course for a person living in the world is therefore to make the most of the opportunities for pleasure that it affords, while remaining socially responsible. Epicureans believe in living for the moment, appreciating the delights of the world and not taking life too seriously, since after all, there is no way of escaping death. Life consists in a variety of experiences, each one of which ought to be savoured and appreciated in its own right. Other philosophies condemn Epicureanism because it is seen as shallow and self-indulgent and at worst is simply a rationalization and justification of simple hedonism. It does not encourage the pursuit of virtue or the advancement of the individual, so it is not seen as a ‘serious’ philosophy. Epicureans receive a +1 inherent bonus to all Charisma-based skills and checks, because of their understanding of desire, attraction and what is pleasing to people.

religion

Item Made

Stoic: The stoics believe that life is painful and that the moral course of action is to endure that without complaint. Since life is a series of hard knocks, one should steel oneself against them and not whine or complain, as that would be degrading. They deliberately cultivate their own ability to endure punishment, giving themselves voluntary wounds purely to demonstrate their powers of endurance and show contempt for what would be unbearable for others. Stoics despise those who complain about their circumstances. A true stoic welcomes adversity, because it gives him a chance to show how inured to it he is. Many warriors are stoics, as the resilient, uncomplaining attitude to life’s woes is particularly compatible with the lot of a soldier, who is expected to endure harsh weather and harsher wounds in the course of fulfilling his duty. Other philosophies condemn the Stoics because of their inability to acknowledge the pleasant side of life and their apparent masochistic tendencies. They are viewed as grim, humourless people, lacking in warmth and blind to the joys that they could be feeling. Stoics receive a +1 inherent bonus to Will and Fortitude saving throws, as their powers of self-discipline are highly cultivated and they do not surrender control of their minds or bodies readily. Sceptic: Sceptics believe in doubting everything as the most sensible way to view the world. They accept nothing unless it can be empirically tested. (While this was not initially a popular philosophy, it eventually grew to be the foundation of the scientific approach.) Sceptics are prepared to accept the possible existence of such artefacts of classical civilisation as Gods and monsters, but will not act as if such things were true without some form of independent validation. It is not difficult to play a sceptic character. They are forever questioning, picking holes in people’s assumptions and finding alternative explanations for phenomena. Other philosophies condemn sceptics because they are disrespectful of tradition and because they propose a universe without moral absolutes; if nothing can be assumed to be true, then

219

there is no a priori reason to believe in the essential goodness of man or in any underlying order to the cosmos.

religion

Sceptics receive a +2 inherent bonus to Sense Motive, Search and Spot checks, as their questioning minds are sharp enough to cut through the deceptions of others, including challenging what they think their senses are telling them.

Divine Favour and Disfavour

As well as the ongoing goodwill indicated by a character’s divine points, there are more general categories of favour and disfavour. There is a difference between the reward of divine points and the reward of favour. To a deity, you are a servant. If you serve well, you will be well paid; this is what divine points represent. However, serving well does not mean that the deity necessarily likes you. The deities of the ancient world are extremely human-like in their emotions and attitudes. If a deity decides that they like you personally, then this is what is meant by favour. The Games Master decides when a character becomes favoured or beloved by a deity. Favour and love are not something that any character has when they start the game, unless they have a mythic background. As a general guideline, if the character exposes himself to serious risk numerous times in the interests of the deity or the deity’s followers or carries out a quest on behalf of the same, divine favour is a likely result.

Favoured Status If your acts especially please your deity or even a deity who is not your patron, you may become favoured by him. For example, a ruler who was consistently just, wise and fair might well become favoured by Athena, even if his patron deity was Zeus. If a deity has favoured you, it means the deity has taken an interest in you, likes your approach to life and considers you to be an ally. Being favoured by a deity has distinct advantages. You benefit more from the blessings of the deity than others do (see Chapter 9, Magic) and you can call upon the deity’s help. Specifically, you may petition the deity for a miracle once per day with a Prayer check, as if you were a priest. If you are a priest, then you gain an additional free miracle per day.

Beloved Status There is a second stage beyond being favoured. Some rare individuals are beloved of a given deity. This privilege is reserved for those who have completed major quests in a deity’s name or for those who are the children of the deity in question.

220

Being beloved by a deity is much like being favoured, with the additional benefit that the deity will bestow its gift upon you for limited periods without question. In brief, you may make a request item attempt once per week without needing to make a check. For example, if you were beloved of

Artemis, you could borrow her bow or crown once a week. This must always be for a purpose of which the deity would approve. Even if you are beloved of a deity, you cannot borrow a divine item for a trivial or foolish purpose.

Disfavoured Status To earn the disfavour of your own deity, all you have to do is commit sins until the deity notices. To earn the disfavour of a different deity, you must do something that actively offends against that deity’s cult within the world. Striking a woman does not earn you the disfavour of Hera automatically, but striking a priestess of Hera almost certainly does. You could therefore earn a deity’s disfavour by insulting or damaging the deity’s image, attacking a member of the deity’s priesthood, insulting the deity in speech and so forth. It is a matter of record that the easiest way to earn the disfavour of a Greek deity is to boast that you are better at something than they are. Claiming to be better than a God would surely seem like the most stupid of boasts to make, but this did not stop Arachne from boasting that she was a better spinner than Athena (earning her wrath and resulting in her transformation into a spider, from whence we get the term arachnid) or Agamemnon from boasting that he was a better shot than Artemis, which caused that Goddess to demand the sacrifice of his daughter in atonement. These examples should help the Games Master reckon up the degree of offence that the Greek deities take from mortal boasts. Killing a follower of a deity does not gain you the deity’s disfavour unless the person you killed was favoured (or worse, beloved) of the deity. So, if you killed an ordinary worshipper of Apophis, the serpent God would take no notice but if you killed a worshipper who Apophis favoured, you would risk his disfavour. One other way to earn a deity’s disfavour is to fail to propitiate the deity when you should; see below under Sacrifice, Propitiation and Atonement. No matter which deity you follow, there are always times when you should pay another deity their due. Earning Disfavour: When a character takes any action that could conceivably earn the deity’s disfavour, then the Games Master rolls d20 in secret and adds the character’s level of experience. (If the character is already disfavoured, a +5 modifier is added to this check.) If the result is 10 or greater, the deity notices the affront; the character gains the disfavour of the deity if he did not already have it. If the result is 20 or greater, he becomes despised and at the Games Master’s discretion may suffer the wrath of the deity as well. If the affront involved killing a person who was beloved of the deity or desecrating a temple of the deity, then the character becomes despised immediately. When a given deity disfavours you, phenomena and creatures in that deity’s sphere of influence become more damaging to you than they otherwise would. For example, if you had

The most striking examples of divine disfavour on a large scale are those when a deity holds the whole world in disfavour, as when Zeus chose to flood the world and drown everyone (leaving only Deucalion and Pyrrha to escape) or when Demeter refused to renew the earth, plunging the world into eternal winter.

religion

Despised Status Those who perform deeds that repeatedly offend a deity or that grossly violate a deity’s code (such as desecrating of the deity’s temple or slaughtering a person who the deity loves) may find themselves despised by that deity. Being despised gains you the penalties of being disfavoured. In addition, priestly miracles or Witchcraft or Hekau spells of a harmful or destructive kind cast by followers of the deity have a more harmful effect upon such characters and their saving throws to avoid the effects are penalised by -2. For example, the Pharaoh is the son of Ra; as such, he is hated by Apophis and suffers a –2 penalty to saving throws against spells and miracles thrown at him by the priests and priestesses of Apophis.

Unknown Status

offended Poseidon, then the raging seas would seem more eager to drown you than usual when you fell into them. In game terms, this translates to a –2 penalty against certain attacks and effects that are under the dominion of that deity. The ‘disfavour’ entry in the description of the deity’s religion above gives the check or saving throw to which the penalty is applied in each case. If you are careful, then you can avoid the circumstances in which the deity’s disfavour would apply to you. For example, those who earn the disfavour of Ra suffer a penalty to all attack rolls during the hour of dawn, which is the time of Ra’s strength. If you know this, then you can avoid fighting during the dawn hour. Note that this is just what happens when an individual earns the disfavour of a deity. It is possible for deities to hold entire cities in disfavour. If this happens, then the Games Master should apply a suitable collective misfortune. For example, a city that had insulted Bastet could have all its cats leave overnight, resulting in a plague of rats that devoured the grain stores.

Players may sometimes be uncertain as to whether a given act has angered their deity or not. The Games Master is the judge of this and also decides whether a given deity extends their favour or love to a given character. The Games Master has the final say on these matters. As a player, you do not necessarily know how your deity feels about you. The first you know of your deity’s anger over something that you have done may be a run of apparent bad luck or an unpleasant omen. For example, if you failed to pay tribute to Bastet and then suffered a mauling at the hands of a mountain lion, you might conclude that Bastet had disfavoured you. Then again, it might just be coincidence. The people of the ancient world were prone to see omens of divine disfavour in everything that happened to them. A character with the Interpret Divine Will feat can attempt to discover the attitude of a given God to a given character; see the Feats chapter for details. Once you have discovered your standing with the deity, you can take appropriate action, such as offering up a propitiatory sacrifice to regain the deity’s favour or repairing the wrong you have done.

221

religion

sacrifice, propitiation and atonement

blessing you, so when the harvest is brought in, you must offer a selection of the best of your crops to Demeter in sacrifice. Similarly, if you have been out hunting and have brought back a good bounty of game, then the best of it should be offered to Artemis in thanks for the day you have had. An Egyptian commander who achieves a marvellous victory in the field would offer the best of the defeated people’s livestock and treasure in sacrifice to Ra. For the purposes of game play, it does not matter whether or not the deity actually did anything to improve the outcome. It is simply assumed that a good result must have been down to the deity’s goodwill, just as it was in the ancient world.

Sacrifice

If you follow a deity from a given pantheon, then you propitiate the appropriate deity from that pantheon. For example, if you are a follower of Horus, then you would propitiate Bastet if you were to get married, rather than propitiating Hera. Those who follow foreign Gods are not always expected to propitiate the native Gods, though some hard-line thinkers have insisted that they should. It is sometimes a bone of contention in an army when a foreign mercenary refuses to participate in a sacrifice to the God that most of the soldiers follow.

This section deals with the business of giving the Gods their due. In the ancient world, sacrifices are made to the Gods all the time. This can be as a show of devotion, as a means to placate the deity before venturing into the deity’s realm or taking an action over which the deity has influence or to compensate for some misdeed committed against the deity in the past.

Sacrifices are not so much a daily occurrence as an hourly occurrence in the ancient world. It is understood by all cultures that sacrifice is the currency of the spirit. To give thanks to a deity or make a gift to a spiritual being, you give something away that you would otherwise have kept and enjoyed yourself. Anything material can be offered up in sacrifice if you own it. The one condition is that what you sacrifice is either placed directly into the presence of an image of the God or rendered irretrievable by the act of sacrificing it. You can never make a sacrifice in such a way as to get the object back again afterwards. For example, you can slay an animal, throw a golden statue or suit of armour into the sea, burn an offering of grain, pour wine over the ground and so forth.

Propitiation

Propitiation is the practice of making a gift to a deity in order to show respect, so that the deity does not become offended and place you in its disfavour. There are two types of propitiation, namely cautionary and thankful. Cautionary propitiation is when you make an offering to a deity before you start your activity. You do this when you are undertaking an activity that brings you into the deity’s sphere of influence or relies upon an assumption of the deity’s goodwill. A good analogy here is the toll. Before venturing on to a bridge, you have to pay a toll to the bridge-keeper. This is usually only a token amount but it makes all the difference. Similarly, if you are a Greek ship commander, then before venturing on to the seas you take care to make a propitiatory sacrifice to Poseidon; the seas are his and it is only right to acknowledge this. To fail to do so would be to risk the wrath of the sea god, which no sailor wants to do. Thankful propitiation is when you have already succeeded at an activity and you offer the deity a sacrifice of some of the profit from that activity, in order to thank the deity for their blessing. The assumption is that without the deity’s goodwill you would not have done so well as you did, so you must offer thanks or appear ungrateful. The best example here is the harvest. If you are a Greek farmer and your crops are especially abundant, it is clearly because Demeter herself is

222

The table below shows which deities are to be propitiated under which circumstances. The proper sacrifice is given alongside each one. If a character makes the proper sacrifice under the proper circumstances, then the deity is satisfied and takes no action. If the sacrifice is substandard or nonexistent, the deity may notice and become offended. Festivals: As well as receiving propitiation from individuals at suitable times, each deity has one or more festival days on which they receive a great abundance of thankful sacrifices. This is to cover all manner of miscellaneous occasions on which the deity’s goodwill was important. Deities that do not often receive sacrifice on a day-to-day basis are remembered and thanked on their festival days, so that they do not become offended. The festivals are really little more than a system of insurance, whereby the civilisation ensures that the deity is honoured at least once a year, even if they are not honoured on all the occasions on which they technically should have been. If you are a follower of a deity, then you are expected to make a sacrifice on that deity’s festival day. If you do not do so, then you risk disfavour, just as if you had missed any other necessary sacrifice. Cult Services: You must also propitiate a deity whenever the deity’s cult provides you with a useful service. Followers of the deity are not paid any personal fee for the services they undertake in the name of the deity but they do insist that the deity is thanked with a sacrifice. For example, those who receive healing at the hands of the priesthood of Asclepius are expected to propitiate him with an offering of gold or silver, thrown into the sacred fountain. Those who receive the advice of the Pythoness, the priestess of Apollo who officiates at the oracle at Delphi, are expected to sacrifice a large animal as an offering.

This rule holds even if you do not personally follow a deity from the pantheon to which the cult’s deity belongs. If another people’s Gods are good enough to help you when you are in need, runs the argument, then they are good enough for you to thank with a propitiatory sacrifice.

The priests of the deity then accept your sacrifice and offer it to the deity for you while you watch. If they think the sacrifice is too small or has something wrong with it, they will refuse it then and there, rather than insult the deity with it. Animals that are killed in sacrifice to a deity are either burned on the spot or left at the altar until the end of the day, after which the priests eat them. This is one of the benefits of being a priest. It is also the reason why priests so often seem to be well fed. Out in the countryside away from the cities, you can make sacrifice at roadside shrines. These are erected for the express purpose of allowing travellers to sacrifice to their Gods. The cult of Hermes leaves simple images of him by the roadside

Propitiation

It is not quite so easy to sacrifice to a deity when there is no temple or image. Animals can always be killed following a prayer that dedicates them to the deity but goods (such as treasure) are slightly more complicated. In the absence of a shrine or altar, it is not easy to tell the difference between goods that have been left in tribute to a deity and goods that have simply been abandoned or stashed, which could easily be stolen. The usual solution is to place the goods in a location where they cannot be retrieved, such as throwing them into the sea, into a lake or into a swamp.

religion

How To Sacrifice: The easiest way to sacrifice is to take your offering directly to the temple of the deity you wish to propitiate. If you have no suitable offering, then if you are in a civilised region, you can always buy one. (It is better to sacrifice an animal you have bought for coin than to offer coin to the deity, if only because coins usually have images of other deities on them!) Almost all major temples have market stalls outside selling chickens, pigeons, doves and other fowl, solely for the purpose of sacrifice.

(little more than a column with the God’s head on the top) so that travellers can leave their offerings there. The followers of Hecate leave statues of that redoubtable Goddess at places where the roads cross, so that tribute can be made. Anyone passing by will understand that the offerings are there for the deity and are not to be stolen without consequence.

A character may make sacrifice on his own behalf alone or on behalf of all those who are undertaking the activity for which propitiation is required. For example, a lone traveller may make sacrifice to Hermes on his own account, while a ship captain can make sacrifice to Poseidon on behalf of his whole crew. To find out whether or not a deity notices a skimped or substandard sacrifice, proceed as follows. Whenever any character makes inadequate sacrifice, the Games Master secretly rolls 1d20 plus the character’s experience level. If the result is 10 or greater, the deity notices the affront as it is committed; the character and anyone on whose behalf he is making sacrifice (or should have made sacrifice, if he neglected to) all gain the disfavour of the deity.

Event

Greek Deity

Egyptian Deity

Battle (major)

Ares

Horus

Building (large project)

Zeus

Ptah

Childbirth

Hecate

Hathor

Coronation

Zeus

Ra

Courtship

Aphrodite

Hathor

Funeral

Hecate

Osiris

Games

Apollo

Horus

Government, opening of

Athene

Thoth

Hunt

Artemis

Anhur or Wepwawet

Illness, recovery from

Asclepius

Isis

Journey (Land)

Hermes

Wepwawet

Journey (Sea)

Poseidon

Hathor

Journey (Wilderness)

Artemis

Wepwawet

Marriage

Hera

Isis and Bastet

Passing crossroads

Hecate

-

Revel

Dionysus

Bastet or Hathor

Sowing or reaping crops

Demeter

Osiris

Trial (major)

Athene

Osiris and Thoth

Victory

Zeus

Horus or Sekhmet

War, declaration of

Zeus

Ra

In the case of a travelling company, any person who has made a private sacrifice on his own account may resolve this separately. So, if a sailor on a ship noticed that his captain had failed to sacrifice to Poseidon before setting off and chose to make a sacrifice of his own, he would not be treated as part of the group who had been neglectful. If you are in a country where the Gods are not your Gods and there are no temples or shrines for you to make sacrifice at, then the deity is less likely to notice if you skimp. Gods pay most attention to those places where they are worshipped. The check to see if the deity notices negligence is made with a target DC of 20 rather than the usual 10. The Economy Of Sacrifice: What a deity expects from you in sacrifice is directly proportional to your own status in the world. Those who are poor, insignificant and humble are not expected to sacrifice prize bulls to their Gods, while those who are famous in the world of men and have prosperous estates

223

cannot get away with offering a straggly chicken and half a pint of vinegary wine. When you are propitiating a deity, the appropriate sacrifice is calculated as follows:

religion

Blood Sacrifice: A creature (or number of creatures) with as many Hit Dice as you have levels of experience. Goods Sacrifice: An object or objects with a value of 1 drachma per level of experience you have. If you have any Reputation bonus from having excessive wealth, then the Gods deem you to be prosperous enough to afford more. The usual tribute is multiplied by the Reputation bonus. So, if you were required to make a sacrifice of goods and you were of 5th level with a Reputation bonus of +3, you would need to offer an item worth 5x3 silver drachmas; 15 silver drachmas in total. A living sacrifice would have to have a total of 15 Hit Dice. Usually, a living sacrifice is by far the more economical option. You may only sacrifice something that is yours. You must have earned the money to buy it, claimed it as a prize, been awarded it for service or otherwise gained it through your own efforts. The Gods will not accept a sacrifice that someone else has given to you as a present or that someone else retrieved for you. If they tolerated this behaviour, then your sacrifice would not represent any effort on your part. Those who have rich friends cannot count on them to spare them a bull or two when they need to make a sacrifice. The Gods can see right through such attempts at deception. Blood Sacrifice: The acceptable creatures for blood sacrifice are animals, such as livestock. Unusual creatures such as monsters and the undead are not acceptable sacrifices, though semi-divine animals are. Human sacrifices are not acceptable to the vast majority of deities under ordinary circumstances. The only deities that will accept human sacrifice are Demeter, Hecate, Ra, Horus, Sekhmet, Set and Apophis. (Sekhmet in particular may be thanked after a battle by the sacrifice of captive warriors.) Any deity may however demand human sacrifice as a form of atonement; see below.

224

Stealing Offerings: Stealing an offering that was left for a deity is not only a crime by the laws of the civilisation, it is a direct insult to that deity. Unfortunately, it happens rather a lot. Hungry people are frequently tempted to steal the bodies of sacrificed animals or help themselves to a coin or two from the offering dish at the foot of a statue. Stealing from a deity is likely to provoke that deity’s disfavour. See the section entitled ‘Earning Disfavour’ above.

Atonement

Atonement is the offering of sacrifices in order to make amends to a deity for offence you have caused to him.

The Gods are liable to demand extremely severe sacrifices, including the death of a member of your own family; there are accounts of these in the myths, such as the sacrifice of Iphigenia by her father Agamemnon before the Trojan War. Fortunately, in such severe cases, the Gods also have a tendency to intervene at the last moment, snatching the human victim away and sending an animal instead, who is then an acceptable sacrifice. In the case of Iphigenia, the Goddess Artemis spirited her away from the altar and set a white stag in her place. To find a suitable sacrifice of atonement, Games Master may roll on the table below or select a sacrifice as appropriate. The check to make is d20 plus the character’s level of experience. The higher a character’s experience level, the more of an example they are for those around him, so the more important it is that correct action should be followed. If the deity despises you, then add +10 to the roll. As will be apparent, some deities require deeds of atonement rather than sacrifices. The famous twelve labours of Heracles were in fact carried out as deeds of atonement, as this was what the Gods wished of him, relaying the message through the Oracle at Delphi, the most famous of seers. Five/Ten Times Ordinary Sacrifice: The deity only demands the usual kind of sacrifice but to a greater order of magnitude. This is the most fortunate result you can have. All that you need to do is to gather the necessary resources.

Sacrifices Of Atonement Level Check

Required Sacrifice

1-4

Five times ordinary sacrifice

5-10

Ten times ordinary sacrifice

10-14

Named creature or item (rare)

14-19

Named creature or item (unique)

20-25

Most prized creature or item

25-30

Most prized human being

30-35

Permanent self-mutilation

35+

No atonement is possible or ever will be

Named Creature or Item (Unique): The deity demands the sacrifice of a specific creature or item. This can only be fetched with a quest of some kind. Suitable examples are: the daughter of the King of Sparta, the winged horse Pegasus, the heart of the Lernean Hydra, the crown of the Pharaoh or the flagship of the Athenian fleet. Most of the time, the item will have to be claimed forcibly before you can make a sacrifice of it.

religion

It is much easier to avoid disfavour in the first place by acting correctly than to undo disfavour once it has happened to you. To persuade a deity to remove their disfavour from you, you must make the sacrifice that the deity requires, however terrible it may seem to you. If the sacrifice is duly made, then the disfavour is removed. Nothing else will do. To find out what sacrifice must be made to remove the disfavour, a priest or seer must employ the Interpret Divine Will feat.

Named Creature or Item (Rare): The deity demands a particular creature or item that is very difficult to find but of which more than one example exists or could exist. The Games Master must determine what this should be. Suitable examples are: a completely white bull, an image of the deity crafted from fine gold, a jewelled ring from the finger of an Egyptian noble, the robe of a wholly honest man or a sword that has slain a hundred men.

Most Prized Creature Or Item: The character making atonement must sacrifice the creature or item that he values above all others in his possession. The Games Master must decide whether or not the character is being sincere. A character might have to sacrifice his favourite hunting dog, his best or most expensive weapon, his prized golden armour or even his house. Human beings are not included in this evaluation. ‘Creature’ here only means an animal, not a person. Most Prized Human Being: The character must sacrifice the human being he most loves to the deity. Again, the Games Master must adjudicate as to how serious the player is. As the human being in question must be ‘owned’ by the character, fellow party members cannot be included unless they are family members. The character usually has to sacrifice a parent, child or spouse. As noted above, deities are wont to intervene in such cases if they can see that the atoning character is sincere and that he clearly intends to carry the sacrifice out. Intervention consists of spiriting the human victim away and leaving an animal in their place. The story of Abraham and Isaac, though not from the Greek or Egyptian culture, is exactly the kind of process at work here. Permanent Self-Mutilation: The character must sacrifice part of his own body. What part this is will depend on what his offence against the deity was and must be determined by the Games Master. If he killed a person who the deity loved, he might be required to cut off the hand that dealt the fatal blow. A character that deeply insulted a deity might have to offer his tongue. It would be entirely appropriate for a character that ravished a temple priestess to sever and burn the bodily organ with which he carried out this crime. No Atonement Possible: The deity will never forgive the character for what they have done. It is pointless to offer any further atonement.

225

death and beyond

Death And Beyond

This chapter tackles the important issue of death in an OGL Ancients game. All characters aspire to die well, in accordance with the precepts of their religion or philosophy. Some make their entire lives a preparation for death; the pyramids we associate with Egypt are, let us not forget, titanic graves.

what happens after death

What happens to a character after he dies depends on the Gods he revered during life. The Greek and Egyptian cultures have very different views on the fate of the dead person’s soul.

Egyptian A character who followed one of the Egyptian pantheon finds himself in the Hall of Ma’at or Truth, when he dies. The God Anubis weighs the character’s heart against a feather in a pair of scales, thus finding out whether the character was a good or bad person in life by Ancient Egyptian standards. If the character had the disfavour of his deity or was a follower of Set or Apophis, then he is judged an evil person; his heart is torn out and eaten and he is dispatched to the Egyptian equivalent of Hell, from whence his spirit may not return unless called up by potent magic. (This makes him into a ‘wicked spirit’, for which see the Bestiary.) A good person is allowed to pass on. A character who passes the judgement stage becomes a spirit, bound to a body that no longer has any hit points. Technically, the one of his seven souls known as the ka or ‘double’ is what is here meant by ‘spirit’; we do not wish the players of this game to have to undertake a course in Ancient Egyptian theology before they can play it! Before the body is mummified, the ka begins with zero hit points, making it technically ‘dispelled’, for which see Spiritual Creatures below. Although the character’s ka, even while in a dispelled state of zero hit points, can observe what happens on the material realm within five feet of its body, it cannot move about, absorb offerings, manifest or do anything else that involves interacting with the world unless the body is properly mummified and the ka made active. This must be carried out within three days of death or the condition of the body deteriorates to such as stage that mummification is not possible.

226

If the body is competently mummified with all the proper rites, which requires a full day of work and a Craft (embalmer) skill check at DC 10, then the spirit of the character gains enough integrity to interact with the material world once again. He becomes an active spiritual creature with one hit point. The ka of a dead person cannot travel more than ten miles from the person’s mummified remains. It can, however, enter the Tuat and attempt to speak directly with the Gods. As an active ka, the character can now interact with the world once again, visiting friends and conversing with them, but only so long as someone provides him with offerings, so that he can increase his hit points to more than one and thus manifest himself. In Ancient Egyptian tradition, it was the family of a deceased person who made offerings. This was a very serious responsibility. To fail to do so was to betray your ancestors, who were counting on you to make their afterlife a bearable one. The spirit of a mummified character has a maximum number of hit points equal to the result of the Craft (embalmer) skill check that was made to mummify him. The better carried out the embalming was, the more power the ka of the character can retain. If the mummy itself is ever smashed, broken up or otherwise destroyed, then the ka can no longer gain hit points from offerings. This is one reason why tomb robbing is seen as such a hateful crime in Ancient Egypt. Characters who become kas may no longer accumulate or spend divine points. They now interact directly with the Gods. Although a ka may converse with the Gods, it is forbidden to speak of what it learns to those who are still alive in the world. Any who seek to know the will of the Gods must do so through the usual channels, namely the use of the Prophecy skill or the use of Prayer to produce divination effects. Any character that is duly mummified and interred in a tomb may draw upon a reservoir of hit points, just as if he were drawing upon a power amulet. He cannot use these to raise his hit points higher than the maximum, though he may take a standard action at any time to transfer hit points from the reservoir to himself. The amount available depends on the size of the tomb; see the table below. A tomb reservoir recovers hit points at the rate of five points per day, irrespective of size, so long as the tomb remains sealed. Multiple characters that are interred in the same tomb can all draw upon the hit point reserve, so long as the tomb is dedicated to them. Even if you somehow arrange for your mummified body to be buried in a pyramid that is not yours by right, you can no more draw upon the stored hit points than you can consume an offering left for another. Anubis is not fooled by such mortal schemes.

Hit Points Available to a Ka by Tomb Size Hit Points

Burial in sand without tomb

0

Medium (small stone grave)

5

Large (standing tomb, engraved hollow in hill)

10

Huge (noble tomb chamber)

20

Gargantuan (small pyramid)

50

Colossal (pyramid of Gizeh)

500

Once a tomb is sealed, it is supposed to remain so. If a tomb is ever opened, whatever the ostensible reason for doing so might be, then it no longer functions as a reservoir of energy. This, as will be apparent, is yet another reason why tombrobbers were seen as the absolute scum of the earth.

Greek When a Greek character dies, the God Hermes appears to them and conducts their spirit to the underworld, leaving them on the banks of the Styx. If the character has the fare to pay the ferryman (two silver oboli or an offering to the same value, which must be buried or burned with the character) he is ferried over the river Styx by Charon and passes to the underworld, where it lingers among other spirits in a more or less neutral state of being. If he cannot pay his fare yet, he must remain as a restless shade bound to the earth; see below. It is common practice to place two silver coins on a dead character’s eyes, so that the ferryman will be assured of his price. Those characters that died with the disfavour of their deity are placed into torment appropriate to their deeds. For the majority of souls, there is neither pain nor any pleasure in the underworld, just a dim grey eternity of waiting. Characters have the option to drink from the river of Lethe if they so choose; this obliterates all memories they had of a life before their underworld existence, which makes the experience more bearable, since as far as they are now concerned, they never knew any different. If they retain their memories, then they have to endure the knowledge that the life they lived before will never again be theirs. Heroic characters enjoy a different fate when they die. Upon death, a heroic character is allowed to make a hero level check, reckoned as d20 plus his level, with a DC of 25. If he makes his check, he is reckoned worthy to sit alongside the Gods and to spend eternity in the blessed Elysian Fields. An ascended hero becomes a minor deity of sorts. Characters in future games may take him as a deity and he may become the focus of a cult. Ordinary dead Greek characters do not have the option to revisit the world like Egyptian ones do. This is down to cultural difference and the Egyptian fascination with

The Greeks also have one possibility open to them that the Egyptians do not, which is that of retrieval and resumption into the world of the living. If a dead character’s shade is ever physically taken from the underworld back to the world above, the character is alive once again. The moment the light of the sun touches them, they automatically become solid, fleshly and real, as if they had never died. The Gods are profoundly opposed to this and have only ever sanctioned such action once, when the bard Orpheus went to plead for the release of his dead bride Euridyce. Orpheus succeeded because of the sweetness of his music and the unbearable sadness of his song; players might succeed through other means.

death and beyond

Tomb Size

death and the survival of the spirit. This is not to say that a dead Greek character who did not make the heroic grade is excluded from ever taking part in the game again. Other characters can speak to the shades of dead ones. By descending into the underworld, a character’s former team mates can visit the shade and ask him questions. This is not the straightforward journey that it appears, as descent into the underworld is fraught with danger; though it is easy enough to get in, getting out again is next to impossible.

Though the underworld is ruled over by Hades and Persephone, who refuse to allow any of the shades of the dead to leave except under very special conditions, the Goddess Hecate has control over temporary leave of absence for dead souls. By her authority, a shade can be allowed to visit the upper world for a short time, so that others can speak to it and learn things from it. This is the origin of the story that witches can go to a crossroads (sacred to Hecate) or to a pagan burial site and call up the shade of a dead person, who may then be spoken with. This ability is covered in the Invocation magical effects section.

Offerings to Spirits or The Dead It is an accepted fact of life in the ancient world that spirits can absorb sustenance from offerings. People eat food and grow strong because of it; it follows that spirits can eat food, too. Cultures in the real world to this day believe in making offerings for the dead. Incense is seen as a specially good offering to make, because the smoke that it makes is insubstantial and vaporous, like the spirits themselves are; since it is closer to their natures, it can fortify and sustain them better than food alone. As an ancient saying has it, ‘may the dead rise and smell the incense!’ In accordance with the strange laws that govern such things, an offering made to a named spiritual creature can only be accepted by that creature and not by any other. If you make an offering of incense to your uncle Ankh-af-nakhonsu, then the ka of Ta-nech his wife cannot accept it, however much she might wish to. You may therefore make offerings to the named dead in the assurance

227

death and beyond

that they will receive them. The Egyptians explained this by attributing to the God Anubis the responsibility of making sure that offerings dedicated to a person actually reached them, so we here assume that by the grace of Anubis, all offerings do indeed reach the person that they are intended for. Hecate, as the Queen of the Dead in the Greek system, fulfils a similar role. In the Greek system, you may also make offerings to spirits. The Greeks prefer to make animal sacrifices rather than offering food or incense. Greek witches working with the darker side of magic often use blood sacrifice as a means of rewarding a wicked spirit that has done as it was supposed to, as the vitality of the blood is absorbed by the spirit and increases its hit points. The usual deal struck is that the spirit goes and observes some event invisibly, an action that costs it no hit points, then returns and reports what it has seen to the witch, who rewards it with a sacrifice for its trouble. The spirit thus gains energy and the witch gains information. No spirit can absorb energy from food or incense unless it has been specifically dedicated as an offering. Spirits cannot, for example, hover over banquets and gorge themselves on energy, though they can linger at a banquet and sadly observe the people feasting on food they cannot themselves eat. (This is where we get the phrase ‘ghosts at the feast’.) If you choose, you may leave offerings for ‘the dead’ or ‘the spirits’ without specifying whom they are for. Such offerings can be absorbed by any spiritual creature that happens to be nearby, except of course the ka or spirit of a living person. It is considered good manners to do this in places that you believe may be haunted, as the bodiless spirits appreciate those who think of them, while they are inclined to act maliciously towards those who neglect them. Both the Greek and the Egyptian cultures have feast days on which it is customary to make offerings to the dead; the Egyptians are so concerned with death and the afterlife that making offerings is a daily concern of theirs.

Projecting the Spirit / Loosing the Ka Even though you can send your ka or spirit out of your body while you are still alive if you are an accomplished user of Hekau or Witchcraft (see the Magical Effects section) you cannot consume offerings or incense. Your source of vitality is the living physical body that you have left behind. You may however attempt to perform a drain life magical effect on another creature if you have the ability to do so. As with all spellcasting, you must

228

Hit Points Gained from Ritual Offerings Offering

Benefit

Plate of simple food

1d6 hit points

Libation of wine

1d6 hit points

Expensive feast

2d6 hit points

Burning one unit of incense

2d6 hit points

Spilled blood of a sacrificed creature

50% of creature’s hit points

be manifest in order to do this. Any hit points garnered are gained by your spiritual body, not your physical body. Once you return to your body, your hit points as a spiritual creature are (as it were) poured back in to your hit points as a physical creature, up to your maximum possible hit points. You cannot heal wounds by this method, so you may only regain hit points up to your maximum minus any wounds

Spiritual Objects If those who buried you were considerate enough to provide you with material objects for your use, then you have such objects in the spirit world. Such objects cannot be ordinary examples of their kind; for example, you cannot simply entomb an ordinary chariot alongside a friend and expect him to have it in the afterlife. Preparing an object that will have a spiritual correlate for a dead person’s use requires a Hekau skill check at a DC of 15; the object itself must be made to at least ordinary standards by a suitable Craft check. It is permissible to include symbolic objects; if the Hekau check is effective, these will still become real objects in the spirit world. For example, if you entombed a gilded spear made entirely from wood with a friend, then his spirit form would have an ordinary metal-tipped spear, not a wooden one. The art of entombing objects alongside people so that their spirits can make use of them is entirely Egyptian and has no parallel in Greek practice, hence the use of the Hekau skill to prepare such objects. Part of the point of the Hekau check is to dedicate the objects for your exclusive use. No other spirit can use an item that has been dedicated to you. If the physical object should ever be removed from your presence (moved more than 20 feet away from your mummified form) or altered in any way, you can no longer use it. Since a dedicated item must be within 20 feet of the mummified person in order to be useful, important Egyptian tombs tend to be absolutely packed with objects that the person might need in the afterlife, from chariots to spears to hunting dogs. These objects are only useful in the spirit world; if you should manifest, you can have them with you but as you cannot attack physically, they are no especial use to you. In the spirit world, they are very useful indeed, as they count as spiritual equipment. You can create a spiritual item as a magical item but it will only function as such in the spirit world. A wooden spear consecrated as a spiritual object with a +2 enhancement bonus is nothing but a wooden spear in the mortal world, although it functions as a +2 spear in the spirit world. A character in the spirit world that has no equipment is as helpless as a character in the real world in a similar state. Robbing from the tomb of a dead person is not only desecration but also burglary to the mind of an Ancient Egyptian. The objects are still in use and if you steal Besna-maut’s silver cosmetics box from her tomb to sell to a

foreigner, she is going to have no kohl for her eyes when she dines with the Gods.

spiritual creatures

Spiritual or discarnate creatures are those who have no bodies. This includes such spectral forms as the shades of the dead, wicked spirits, demons and malefic ghosts, the souls of witches who have left their bodies and gone wandering or the kas of Egyptian priests who hover above enemy positions to spy upon them. Spiritual creatures cannot be attacked by ordinary physical means, as they are intangible and a weapon would pass right through them. They may however be warded off or even banished by prayer. Spiritual creatures have two modes; dispelled and active. A dispelled spiritual creature is invisible, incapable of action and to all intents and purposes, not there. Spiritual creatures are dispelled when they have zero hit points. After 24 hours, the spiritual creature gathers its essence back together and becomes active again, with one hit point. It cannot increase its hit points any further than this without drawing upon some outside source of strength. Dispelled spiritual creatures that are free-roaming reappear in their own preferred realm once they have become active again; dispelled spiritual creatures that are bound to the world reappear in the spot to which they are bound.

death and beyond

you have. In brief, draining other people while out of your body is a very efficient way to recover hit points lost from spellcasting but no good for healing yourself of physical wounds. Draining another person is not an acceptable act by the standards of many of the deities. Apophis and Set favour it, while Hecate allows it if the victim is deserving.

Spiritual creatures are real and solid to one another. Two spiritual creatures may even fight. If they do so, then all damage is removed directly from their hit points rather than being suffered as wounds. If a spiritual creature is reduced to zero hit points by another spiritual creature, it is dispelled. The following additional rules apply to all spiritual creatures.



A spiritual creature never suffers damage as wounds, though it may lose hit points. As with any other creature that does not suffer damage as wounds, a spiritual creature is not vulnerable to sneak attacks.



All spiritual creatures can fly at a speed of 50 feet per round with perfect manoeuvrability.



Spiritual creatures are either bound to the world or free roaming. The projected spirit of a spellcaster is bound to the world, as he still has a body. A ghost that haunts a given area is bound to the world, as it must remain there. A demonic spirit that was summoned from the netherworld is free roaming, is not bound to the world and does not automatically return to the same spot in 24 hours if dispelled.



The default state of all active spiritual creatures is invisible and intangible. They may pass through walls, floors and even people. Any character within

229

death and beyond

30 feet of a spiritual creature may make a Wisdom check at a DC of 10 to ‘feel a presence’.



Spiritual creatures must manifest themselves in order to interact with the real world in any way. Manifestation makes the creature visible, as a transparent, ghostly figure. While the creature is manifest, it loses one hit point per round. The only interaction with the real world that does not require manifestation on the spiritual creature’s part is the absorption of ritual offerings. Manifestation is a free action. A spiritual creature can cease manifestation as a free action, though it may not do so on the same round on which it has manifested.



A manifest spiritual creature that is reduced to zero hit points, and thus dispelled, is forced to cease manifestation. Those that are bound to the world may not manifest again until they have regained strength by absorbing offerings or otherwise gaining power. Those that are free roaming are returned to their own realm.



Any character may attempt a Prayer check to keep a spiritual creature at bay. (Characters with ranks in Hekau may use this skill instead.) This does not dispel the spiritual creature; it merely wards it off. A spiritual creature kept at bay cannot approach within closer than 5 feet of the character keeping it at bay and will not willingly do so. The Prayer check to keep a spiritual creature at bay is made against a DC of 10 plus the spiritual creature’s Hit Dice (or character level) plus its Charisma ability score modifier plus any resistance modifiers to such attempts that it may have. Once a Prayer check to keep a creature at bay has been made successfully, it need not be made again for 24 hours. A failed Prayer check to keep a creature at bay cannot be attempted again for 24 hours.



230

Any character may attempt a Prayer check to disrupt a spiritual creature. (Characters with ranks in Hekau may use this skill instead.) To do this, the character must successfully touch the manifest spiritual creature (or the body of the creature that it is occupying) with a symbol of his deity or with an open hand. This requires a successful melee attack. You can make such an attack even though the manifest creature is insubstantial. (If you are using a symbol, you may throw it, thus making a ranged attack instead.) The Prayer check is then made as a free action. The Prayer check to disrupt a spiritual creature is made against a DC of 15 plus the spiritual creature’s Hit Dice (or character level) plus its Charisma ability score modifier plus any resistance modifiers to such attempts that it may have. A disrupted spiritual creature is instantly reduced to zero hit points.



Any manifest spiritual creature may attempt to possess a living creature and control its actions. To do this, it must move into the target’s space. The target can resist the attack with a successful Will save (DC 15 + the spiritual creature’s Charisma modifier). A creature that successfully saves is immune to that same spiritual creature’s possession attempts for 24 hours and the spiritual creature cannot enter the target’s space. If the save fails, the spiritual creature vanishes into the target’s body. While the spiritual creature is in possession of the victim, it uses its own Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma ability scores, skills and feats and uses the Strength, Constitution and Dexterity ability scores of the host. As possession counts as a form of manifestation, the creature must still expend one hit point per round to sustain control of the host creature’s actions. Spiritual creatures that are possessing living creatures may be kept at bay as above but are not forced out of the creature they are occupying; the host creature is itself kept at bay. You may make a Prayer check to disrupt a spiritual creature while it possesses another person. If you are successful, the spiritual creature is reduced to zero hit points but is rendered dormant (see below) instead of being dispelled.



A spiritual creature that has successfully possessed a character may voluntarily allow him to regain control of his actions without ending the possession. A spiritual creature in this state is referred to as ‘dormant’. A dormant spiritual creature regains one hit point per hour; drawn from the living energy of the person it is possessing. The host does not lose these hit points, as they are taken from nutrients that his system has not used. The possessing creature is in this respect a parasite, like a ghostly tapeworm.



In cases of possession, if the host creature is killed, the spiritual creature is instantly dispelled. This also applies to undead in all cases except that of the death-lantern.



A spiritual creature may cast Hekau or Witchcraft spells if it has the ability but must manifest in order to do so. It may not cast spells against any creature who is keeping it at bay or who it has made a failed attempt to possess within the last 24 hours. A spiritual creature in possession of another creature may cast spells but draws the energy to do so from its own hit points, not those of the possessed creature.



A free-roaming spiritual creature that is bound into a prepared material body (such as a composite mummy) becomes an undead creature (see below) and is no longer counted as a spiritual creature.

undead creatures

Undead creatures may be kept at bay, just like spiritual creatures. They can also be disrupted, though if this happens, their body crumbles to pieces. An undead creature that is smashed to bits or otherwise destroyed with physical damage is simply destroyed; the animating spirit most commonly returns to its own realm, its job done. Most undead creatures are the result of corrupt magicians using Hekau spells to summon wicked spirits, commanding them to obey and then binding them into the body of a dead creature. Such undead as composite mummies, bowel-eaters and skeletal gnawers are artificial undead. When a wicked spirit takes possession of a dead body, it no longer has to expend hit points to remain manifest, unlike possession of a living creature. This is because the dead body offers no resistance to the spirit’s presence, whereas a living creature’s own inherent spirit is always fighting to regain control.

It was conceived that the Ka could leave the human body during sleep or while the subject lay in a trance. It then wandered forth and visited people and places and its experience survived in memory. Dreams were accounted for in this way as actual happenings. When a man dreamt of a deceased friend, he believed that his Ka had met with the Ka of the dead, held converse with it and engaged in the performance of some Other-World duty. Sometimes the wandering Ka could be observed at a distance from where the sleeper reposed. It had all the appearance of the individual, because it was attired in the ‘doubles’ of his clothing and might carry the ‘double’ of his staff. Ghosts, therefore, included ‘the spirits of the living’, which were not recognized to be spirits until they vanished mysteriously. They might also be simply heard and not seen.

The visits of wholly discarnate spirits can also create undead creatures if the victim is killed. For example, a character that is drained by the nocturnal visits of a lustful one arises as an undead monster in much the same way as the victim of a thirsty one. The victims of lustful ones become stalking shades.

death and beyond

An undead creature is the result of a spiritual creature entering and animating a body made from one or more corpses. (Some spiritual creatures may enter and animate a dead body that has not been specially prepared.) The spiritual creature possesses the artificial body made from dead matter just as it would possess a living person. The great advantage of this is that it can then move around in the physical realm, move objects and attack with weapons. Once a spiritual creature has been bound into an undead body, it cannot then leave of its own accord.

creatures, as in the case of the ‘thirsty ones’. When a thirsty one feeds on a character and kills him as a result, a form of contagious magic sometimes affects the dead body so that the living spirit of the character is trapped within the corpse, unable to move on to the afterlife. This results in a new thirsty one. The magic that keeps the body animated overrides the better nature of the spirit, meaning that only a vestige of the character’s original personality remains. The only way to liberate the spirit of a character who has become undead is to destroy his tainted body.

Magicians who know the proper Hekau rites for self-animation, a form of truly twisted sorcery, can avoid the judgement of Anubis by binding their own ka back into their body at the moment of death, thus reanimating their own dead corpse. Such walking horrors come to resemble the ‘animated mummy’ of horror films, swathed in bandages and reliant on preservative fluids to keep their bodies from falling to bits. They dread having their bodies destroyed, as their liberated spirit would then have to face judgement and undoubtedly be consigned to damnation, their hearts ripped out and devoured by Anubis. A magician who uses Hekau to force his spirit back into his dead body is called a ‘defiled one’.

– Egyptian Myth and Legend, by Donald MacKenzie Some undead creatures arise spontaneously. The spiritual Undead Qualities: Undead creature known as a death-lantern creatures are immune to mind(see the Bestiary) can take possession affecting magic and critical hits. They do not suffer of any dead body, so long as it has not been given funerary grievous wounds, nor do they have a Constitution rites (see Consecration effects) and animate it. Such a score. When they are reduced to zero hit points, they creature is called a prowling corpse and is detailed in the are destroyed. Some undead, such as defiled ones and Bestiary. Unlike other undead creatures, a death-lantern thirsty ones can be decapitated. If it becomes necessary to may abandon a corpse that it has entered. Destroying the calculate an undead creature’s grievous wound threshold, corpse does not dispel the death-lantern. assume that it is identical to the creature’s Strength ability score. Undead do not have divine points. Creatures that consist of a spirit animating a dead body can sometimes create others like themselves by slaying living

231

artifice

Artifice

Artificers have talents of invention and creation that are far beyond even the best of ordinary craftsmen. They can produce finely wrought items whose cunning design improves on even masterwork quality weapons and armour and can create mechanical wonders that the population will marvel at for generations to come. Artificers do not use magic; their skill is entirely based on mechanical lore and native genius.

Masterwork And Marvellous Items

Artificers can produce masterworks in four different ways: with the normal method available to any other craftsman; from scratch, with their own personally developed techniques; from an existing item or by making an existing masterwork into a marvellous item. Original Masterworks: To create a masterwork from scratch, the artificer can roll his Craft check as normal, multiplying his check result by the item’s DC for a single week of work, adding the numbers together until they reach the item’s market price in coin. If he draws upon his creative ingenuity, he can attempt to reduce the time and the money required. The process is very simple: he can raise the DC for his Craft check by +2 for every 10 silver drachmas he subtracts from the masterwork component’s price. Thus, an artificer can make a masterwork weapon component (100d, DC 20) as normal or he could opt to raise the DC to 26, and it would cost him 70d. Masterworking an Item: Normally, when an item comes out of a craftsman’s workshop, there is nothing else that can be done to it; it is complete and finished. Artificers, who are always pondering how an item’s function could be improved, know how to add a masterwork component to items that are already built. The artificer can add +5 to the item’s original construction DC and add a masterwork component worth 200 silver drachmas; it takes more work to add masterwork quality to an item that is already completed. He can use the techniques described above to reduce the master component’s price by increasing its DC. Failing a check by 5 or more ruins half the masterwork materials, but leaves the original item intact. Superior Masterworks: The final and most revered tool in the artificer’s collection is the ability to create marvellous items from items that are already masterworks themselves. The artificer adds a second masterwork component layer on top of the original item while he makes additional adjustments to it to better accommodate the extra work. This second component is worth double the amount of the original (200 silver drachmas for weapons and 100 silver drachmas for armour and other items) and it has a DC of 25 to construct. As with all masterworks, the artificer can reduce the masterwork component’s cost by increasing the DC. A marvellous item provides a further +1 bonus to a normal masterwork. Failing a check by 5 or more ruins half the masterwork materials, and there is a flat 50% chance that it will also ruin the original item.

232

Mechanical Wonders

A technological wonder is handled in a way similar to how creatures are described in the Bestiary chapter with some additions and alterations to the required fields. The construction process fills out these qualities while determining their cost and difficulty to make. Name: This is the name of the mechanical wonder, which should always incorporate the name of the artificer who made it or the name of the person for whom it was made. Mechanical wonders always have titles such as ‘The Fountain Of Xiomedes’ or ‘The Astounding Chess Player Of King Hazmath’. Type and Size: All technological wonders are constructs by definition. These rules present a number of subtypes that further define the technological wonder: static structure, vehicle, animated object, portable equipment, personal weapon and siege weapon, described later. The machine’s size depends a lot on the creator’s wishes as much as it depends on its function. A vehicle must be able to carry one or more people, while a personal weapon cannot exceed the intended user’s size. As the artificer designs his machine, he finds what the base size is for a machine with the functions he wishes and increases or decreases it with additional qualities. Structure Dice: Machines do not have hit points like ordinary creatures, nor do they have grievous wound thresholds but they have structure points. One structure point is equal to ten hit points. Hardness: All objects, including machines, have a hardness rating. Whenever an object takes hit point damage, subtract its hardness from the damage. Only damage in excess of its hardness is deducted from the object’s hit points. Do not subtract the hardness from damage dealt by weapons and attacks able to deal structure damage, such as other machines, since such attacks are meant to affect objects directly. Manoeuvrability: If the object can move or be moved, such as a vehicle or an animated object, it has a manoeuvrability mode and score. The manoeuvrability mode is the same as that described for flying creatures in the Adventuring chapter (clumsy, poor, average, good and perfect) and defines how well the machine moves. For movement modes other than flying, simply replace ‘fly’ with ‘walk’, ‘burrow’ or ‘swim’. For maritime vessels, ‘walk’ applies to their movement on the water’s surface, since ‘swim’ is meant for creatures and machines that can dive underwater. The manoeuvrability score is the machine equivalent to Initiative, determined by an artificially implanted Dexterity score, its subtype and any installed special qualities. Speed: How fast a mobile machine advances in the different movement modes. This entry also specifies if the machine is able to take the ‘run’ action or not. Turn Rate: Also for mobile machines, this specifies how much distance the machine covers before making a 45º turn. It supersedes the distance given by the manoeuvrability mode.

Attacks: This entry lists all the attacks and attack bonuses of a machine’s weaponry. Only if the machine is able to move by itself does it roll on its own; otherwise, the number is an accuracy bonus granted to a wielder’s, operator’s or crew’s attack roll. Attacks listed here are from ‘normal’ weaponry or siege weaponry; attacks that stem from emulating a feat or ability go into the ‘special qualities’ field.

  

Special Qualities: Any effect that emulates feats or special abilities is listed here. Such abilities are very costly to emulate through machinery and some may not be possible at all at the Games Master’s discretion. The limit of what may be achieved will depend on the kind of campaign being run. A mythic campaign should set the limit fairly low; this is a genre in which flying mechanical horses pulled chariots, after all. Historical campaigns should have the limit set very high.



Saves: Objects do not have any inherent saving throw. If unattended, they fail automatically. If a bonus is present here, it means that the machine is built in such a way as to give its wielder, operator or crew a bonus to their own save to protect their machine from harm.



Abilities, Skills and Feats: Machines do not have any inherent ability scores, skill ranks nor feats, but the creator may emulate them through installing a function. The cost of doing this is expressed in Construction Points.



Crew: The minimum number of operators a machine requires to perform its functions. Passengers: The number of creatures a mechanical wonder may accommodate in addition to the crew. Cost: The final cost in silver drachmas that the creator, sponsor or crew must spend to make the wonder. All costs may be split in any proportion amongst all the craftsmen that collaborate in making the technological wonder.

Construction Points (CP)

The system to build mechanical wonders has a basic building block: Construction Points, referred to as CP from now on. Every material, feature and deficiency carries a cost measured in points. As the player or Games Master make their choices on size, materials and abilities, they add the points assigned to each, or subtract points by intentionally introducing deficiencies. The final CP amount is then used to calculate all costs, as well as playing a part in the research and construction process.



Form and Function: Decide what the object is meant to do and what is its general shape. This step defines the wonder’s subtype and provides the blueprint for emulating abilities, skills, feats and other effects. Framework: What the object is made of. This step determines the wonder’s size, its hardness and a base difficulty for the Craft checks required to make its frame. Machine Components: The base technology of the wonder. Different levels of sophistication affect the wonder’s size, power and operation requirements. Power Sources and Conduits: Not being magical, machines do not run by themselves. A power source gives the necessary energy for the technological wonder to work and the conduits transmit that energy to the corresponding components. Extra Parts: The creator of a technological wonder can find that he ran out of space, or that he needs more power than was originally foreseen. In this phase he makes all the necessary adjustments: from adding extra space for wood-burning engines to installing a more compact mainspring to power the clockworks. Additional Features: Unsatisfied inventors can add additional features to their machine before it is finally ready. These features are exclusive to technological wonders and do not depend on emulating skills or feats. The Craft: Finally, add all of the wonder’s qualities together to determine the final costs as well as the DC for the different Craft checks that are required to make it, as well as how long it will take to build.

artifice

Damage: Any weapon in a machine’s arsenal has its damage listed here. Some attacks may deal structure damage, in which case this is expressed as two damage types separated by a slash, the first to indicate hit point damage against creatures and the second for structure damage against objects.

Construction Checklist

Making a mechanical wonder is no easy task and these rules are a simplification of the process at best.

what is it? what does it do?

These are the questions an artificer must answer before sketching the first draft of his blueprints. The main drive when an artificer creates a mechanical device is need; either his own need or that of his patron. In response to the needs of the people, the artificers solved many mechanical problems in long-ago eras, creating devices that purified water or made it easy to move huge blocks of stone. Do not worry if an artificer’s invention should logically have meant that humans developed certain technologies sooner than they did; artificers are always coming up with devices that should not see the light of day until many years have passed but owing to the inability of ordinary craftsmen to use an artificer’s plans, these devices are always going to be very limited in their production, usually being one-offs at best.

Construction Target (CT)

The easiest way to code the range of possible machines into relatively simple rules is the Construction Target, a number that sums up what the technological wonder is and what

233

artifice

it does. To calculate the Construction Target, simply add the numbers in the following tables for all the criteria that the wonder meets. The structural Construction Target adds the machine’s subtype as well as its abilities and installed feats and represents the machine’s size and materials. The performance Construction Target is the result of any skill ranks or special abilities being applied to the machine and reflects its components, power sources and conduits. Each Construction Target represents the minimum amount of Construction Points that a creator must spend for the machine to work. If the object’s CP cost is less than the Construction Target, the wonder simply will not work. Extra parts comprise the basic hardware, rods, beams, cogs and pistons necessary to complete the job and can reasonably be used to top up Construction Points in order to meet Construction Targets, or are components that grant additional, unforeseen or unusual characteristics to the machine.

Form: Machine Subtype

As mentioned before, all technological wonders are considered constructs but they have several subtypes that further define them: Construction Target Type Structural

Performance

Form

SD

Craft DC

Construction Targets

Static Structure

d12

+0

15

Vehicle

d10

+1

10

Animated Object

d12

+2

5

Portable Equipment

d8

+0

2

Personal Weapon

d8

+1

1

benefit of magic to provide propulsion. However, they are more manoeuvrable than vehicles, since they are not designed to carry others though provision for such has been known and can be added as an improvisation or as a special feature.

Vehicles Vehicle Size

Manoeuvrability

Speed

Turn Rate

Tiny (it happens)

Perfect (+2)

15-ft.

0-ft.

Small

Good (+1)

20-ft.

5-ft.

Medium

Average (+0)

30-ft.

10-ft.

Corresponding Elements

Large

Average (-1)

30-ft.

20-ft.

Characteristic

Huge

Poor (-2)

40-ft.

30-ft.

Machine Subtype, Abilities, Feats.

Framework: Size and Shape, Materials; Extra Parts

Gargantuan

Clumsy (-4)

40-ft.

60-ft.

Colossal

Clumsy (-6)

30-ft.

120-ft.

Skills, Special Abilities

Machine Components, Power Sources and Conduits, Extra Parts

Static Structure: These machines are not moved, resting in place for a reason. Such wonders range from mechanical statues that open and close palace doors to improved mills that grind corn in a fraction of the time. Structures have a +2 hardness in addition to their material’s base and have a d12 Structure Dice. Structures do not move and therefore have no manoeuvrability, speed or turn rate. If a structure is to have mobility, it must be added as a special quality. Vehicle: Vehicles are made to move others. Vehicles have a base manoeuvrability, speed and turn rates depending on their size. The creator can modify these values by installing additional features.

234

What Is It?

Animated Object: Creating an automaton is the dream of many an artificer. He who can make a machine in imitation of nature has proven himself to be in possession of talents that the Gods would envy. These complicated mechanisms are very hard to manufacture, especially when they are given humanoid form; mechanical people do not balance as well as organic ones and do not have enough space inside them for more than the most fine arrays of cogs, gears and chains. Objects animated by machinery require either very complicated or very large limbs and mechanisms in order to move, as they lack the

Portable Equipment: Characters can theoretically carry these items. Portable equipment does not move by itself, though the feature may be added.

Animated Objects Object Size

Manoeuvrability

Speed

Turn Rate

Diminutive

Perfect (-1)

10-ft.

0-ft.

Tiny

Perfect (+2)

15-ft.

0-ft.

Small

Good (+1)

20-ft.

0-ft.

Medium

Average (+0)

30-ft.

0-ft

Large

Average (-1)

30-ft.

0-ft.

Huge

Poor (-2)

20-ft.

10-ft.

Gargantuan

Clumsy (-4)

20-ft.

20-ft.

Colossal

Clumsy (-6)

15-ft.

30-ft.

Personal Weapon: Artificers occasionally build contraptions that are intended for use as weapons. Most warriors and noble warriors are very suspicious of such things, preferring the reliability of a proven sword or bow to some bizarre product of an artificer’s brain. Using mechanical equipment to fight with is seen as dishonourable by many combatants; if one wants the best in equipment, one should appeal to the Gods to lend their heavenly weapons and items, not resort to human ingenuity. A warrior or noble warrior who uses a mechanical personal

weapon built by an artificer (as opposed to a masterwork or marvellous weapon) may not use his Reputation bonus while he carries the weapon, nor for 1d3 months afterwards.

Movement and Propulsion

A technological wonder may only have one base method of travel, though more can be added separately. To add surface movement, simply +1CP to the cost of the base movement. Any other kind of movement must be added as an extra function. The different movement methods have the manoeuvrability, speed and turn rate defined in their corresponding table and can be achieved by emulating the following skills, feats and special abilities:

Movement

Requires

Burrow

222 construction points.

Fly under own speed (e.g. wings)

86 construction points.

Lift off from ground only (e.g. balloon)

10 construction points. Device can only raise or lower itself and requires sails or some similar means of propulsion to move in a constant direction.

Underwater

Emulate Swim skill. The creator should install a method to allow breathing and visibility.

Rough or steep terrain

Emulate Climb skill.

Vertical surfaces

10 construction points.

Function

The easiest way to define what a mechanical wonder does with hard rules is to have it emulate certain character-specific qualities, such as ability scores, skills and feats. If a player comes up with an effect not covered by any of the existing options for the aforementioned qualities, the Games Master should assign it a Construction Point value using the body of these rules as a guideline. Write the Construction Target for each function in its own row before adding it all up and, in the Craft step, dedicate a number of Construction Points to pay for effects that would emulate that quality and achieve the function, thus assigning a ‘machine part’ for it.

Function

Construction Target

Reproduce an ability (physical)

2 (per point)

Reproduce an ability (mental)

3 (per point)

Reproduce a skill (Str and Dex)

1 (per 5 ranks)

Reproduce a skill (Int and Wis)

2 (per 5 ranks)

Skill has a user focus

+1

Reproduce a general feat

2

Abilities: It is not common to grant machines an ability score, although it may come in handy if it is meant to have multiple purposes or have many skills based on that ability. Physical abilities are easier to install, since they have a real and measurable effect. A strong machine is capable of exerting force on its surroundings like lifting and carrying weight or attacking, while a dextrous one either moves fast or can manipulate other objects. As a construct, a technological wonder cannot have a Constitution score.

artifice

Vehicles and animated objects are designed to move and travel. At the planning stage, the creator must decide what method of movement the machine will use. Surface movement through easy terrain and water can be achieved without cost by adding wheels, legs or by declaring the machine a sailing or oared ship. If the machine is required to have some form of special movement, it must be added as a function, either emulating a skill or requiring a special cost in CP.

What Does It Do?

Mental scores are trickier to justify and should definitely remain within the realm of a mythic campaign. Artificers who create intelligent machines are coming dangerously close to claiming the Gods’ own prerogative. Nonetheless, machines that emulate intelligence do exist in the myths and in more contemporary retellings thereof, so they may be built. An intelligent machine is capable of remembering and processing great amounts of information while a wise one may have acute sensory features. No machine has a personality and therefore no Charisma rating. The Construction Target lists the cost for a single point in a score; above a certain threshold, the points are more expensive. Multiply the Construction Target listed for reproducing an ability by the corresponding factor in the next table to determine the final Construction Target for each ability score. For example, an ability score of 13 would cost you 13 points, while an ability score of 16 would cost you 18 points: 14 points to raise the score to 14, and then 4 points to raise the score by a further two and reach the target of 16. Feats: The true genius of artifice lies in this stage, the application of additional features to an object by granting it skills and feats as if it were a character. The skills and feats do not work exactly as they would for characters, but they certainly make the object behave strangely.

  

General feats are installed normally. Special feats cannot be installed, as they depend on a character’s special abilities and cannot be reproduced by a machine. Combat feats like Weapon Focus and Cleave can usually only be installed on personal weapons. There are exceptions, such as a vehicle having Spirited Charge. The listed Construction Target is for feats with no prerequisites. Add the Construction Target as many times as there are prerequisites.

235

artifice

High Ability Costs Score

Construction Target multiplier

1-14

x1

15-16

x2

17-18

x3

19-20

x4

21-22

x5

23-24

x6

25+

Add 1 to the multiplier for every 2 points

Skills: An artificer can build a mechanical marvel so that it uses a skill itself, such as a chariot that has the skill of moving silently, or so that it allows another person to use the skill, such as a pair of boots that enable the wearer to move silently. Physical skills are easier to install than mental skills and, if the machine does have a score in the skill’s key ability, the ability modifier applies. Determine if the skill will be used by the machine (object focus) or by an operator (user focus) and, while using that function, use the appropriate ability score, either the one for the machine or the one for the operator. Mechanical marvels can never be built with Hekau, Prayer or Witchcraft skills included, neither to use these skills themselves nor to confer a bonus upon another character’s use thereof. Installing skills follows a similar process to installing an ability score; the Construction Target in the table lists the cost per rank for skills with an object focus. Even if a machine cannot have a Charisma score, it can have Charisma-based skills installed. The guidelines below explain what the construction can do with skill ranks. Balance (Dex): Items with an object focus enhancement may remain steady by themselves, which is useful for vehicles moving over uneven surfaces. If a moving vehicle succeeds in a Balance check (DC 15, or Games Master’s discretion), it remains stable enough so that ranged attacks fired from it suffer no penalties and spellcasters do not need to roll a Concentration check to cast. Climb (Str): Items that can climb by themselves (other than vehicles) cannot carry other characters while climbing; that is the function of a user focus skill enhancement, to grant a bonus to a character’s own Climb check. Concentration (Con): Any item that aids in Concentration checks (with a user focus) most forcibly cover the user’s head somehow. It imposes a penalty to Listen and Spot checks equal to the bonus it grants to Concentration and a -1 dodge penalty to Active Defence. Craft (Int): Items that complement a Craft are even better than masterwork tools. Artificers will frequently build their own mechanical lathes, drills and saws so that they can build even bigger and better marvels. Like the skill itself, an item made to complement a specific Craft is useless for another, although the Games Master may give a reduced bonus for closely related crafts.

236

Disguise (Cha): An item with Disguise ranks is more than meets the eye. It can disguise itself as another item of the same size, and the craftsman chooses the seeming at the moment of creating the enhancement. The disguise form does not work as if it was a normal object of that kind; it just hides the true nature of the original. The object rolls its Disguise check at the moment of ‘transmogrification’ and casual observers must beat the result with a Spot check to realise that it is an object in disguise. Escape Artist (Dex): The only special provision for such an item is that it must be close to the source of entrapment, such as a suit of armour that features retractable blades in the bracers to cut ropes. The method of escape must be determined at creation and it may not apply for all situations that call for an Escape Artist check. Handle Animal (Cha): An item intended to handle animals is built for a particular species, suffering a -2 penalty when dealing with similar creatures, -4 when applied to wildly different creatures and -6 for members of another creature type. Heal (Wis) and Medicine (Int): Healing devices are frightening. Even if such an item has beneficial effects, the mere thought of having it touching parts of one’s body grants its user a +2 morale bonus to Intimidate checks. Hide (Dex): Like the Disguise skill, items equipped with a Hide enhancement are quite unusual, able to camouflage themselves and/or their owner, depending on their focus. While the ability is working, the object cannot move or be moved without ruining the hide attempt. Jump (Str): Jumping items are not restricted by their height for maximum jumping distance. Items that complement a character’s Jump checks add 1 foot to his height for purposes of determining maximum jumping distance. Listen (Wis): A character must be actively using the item in conjunction with Listen checks in order to work; it does not activate automatically and the character may very well be surprised by silent enemies. Move Silently (Dex): Taking the form of padding, carefully wrought suspension springs or extra grease on the connections between plates, this enhancement is always active. A vehicle with this enhancement or a character benefiting from it loses five feet of its speed. Perform (Cha): Items enhanced with Perform ranks resemble musical instruments. Presence (Cha): An item is either built to incorporate the intimidating or the seductive use of this skill, never both. Intimidating items look frightful and ominous and are often covered in spikes and demonic heads. Mechanical devices can never help a person make a seduction attempt with Presence, though mechanical courtesans can have Presence skill ranks whereby they can make their own seduction attempts.

Stranger things have been known! One legend even tells of a mechanical courtesan who was given to a king as a gift and who then proved to be the perfect assassin, killing him with one stroke and incapable of betraying her builder.

the strain of pulling a character and keeping him afloat, it has a 5% chance of seizing up altogether and ceasing to function for every two Swim checks it complements. Tumble (Dex): Whether their Tumble ranks are focused on the object or its user, the Tumble check only allows the character or item to move up to 20 feet while tumbling and cannot prevent damage from falling. Use Rope (Dex): Objects cannot make special knots by themselves and are not particularly useful for tying creatures, suffering a -2 on their checks. When used as tools to complement a character’s Use Rope checks, they work normally, but they can only make one kind of special knot, defined at the time of construction.

Ride (Dex): Riding aids tend to spook a mount, inflicting a morale penalty on the rider’s Handle Animal checks equal to the bonus it gives to Ride checks. Mounts with 6 or higher Intelligence do not scare so easily but take offence at having such an item used on them.

framework

Now that the basic form and function of the wonder are set, it is time to get down to details. From now on, all the costs are expressed in Construction Points that resolve into the machine’s real price and are used to meet the Construction Targets for the overall plan and for individual features.

Search (Wis): When making an item that helps in Search checks, the craftsman must specify what the item is good at searching for. For example, you could have an item that uses a careful balance of internal salts to look for water deposits, or a tracking lens that helped find small dropped objects.

Shape and Size

Sense Motive (Wis): In order to work properly, an item with Sense Motive ranks must be no further than one inch per skill rank from the subject of the check.

Depending on the machine’s form, it has a pre-established shape that a creator may alter at will. The basic shape does not influence the final cost of the machine. The table below lists the number of space units a machine of a given subtype and size has available for distributing among its three dimensions: width, length and height. Each dimension must have at least one unit assigned to it. For static structures and vehicles, each unit represents a span of five feet for all size categories. For animated objects, the same value (1 unit = 5 ft. span) holds true for machines of Medium-size or larger, but for Small and smaller machines, each unit equals six inches (1/2 foot). For personal weapons and portable equipment, one unit equals a span of six inches. No machine may be more than twice as

Sleight of Hand (Dex): Items that enhance the user’s Sleight of Hand checks, such as extensible graspers, must be quick, precise and sturdy. Ranks for this skill cost double to install in an item. Solve Conundrum (Int): Mechanical devices with this skill as an object focus can only tackle extremely logical, mathematical conundrums, such as solving a labyrinth or calculating the shortest distance between two points. Devices that aid the user to solve conundrums resemble abacuses for calculating with or helmets covered in metal struts, designed Frame’s Space Units to put pressure on key areas of the thinker’s head according to the principles Size CP SD of phrenology. Spot (Wis): Spotting items work like Listen items; they must be activated and in use in order to work Swim (Str): Boats with Swim ranks are independently powered and can move by themselves at 10 feet per round. A swimming device that aids the operator is not very resilient; due to

artifice

Profession (Wis): Items that complement a Profession are even better than masterwork tools. Like the skill itself, an item made to complement a specific profession is useless for another, although the Games Master may give a reduced bonus for closely related professions. Depending on the Profession, they can have a complexity of 1 though 3, defined by the Games Master.

Machine Subtype Static Structure

Vehicle

Animated Object

Personal Weapon

Portable Equipment

(1) Fine

3

1

3

3

3

3

3

(2) Diminutive

5

1

4

3

4

4

3

(3) Tiny

9

1

8

4

8

8

3

(4) Small

18

2

16

8

16

16

4

(5) Medium

36

4

32

16

3

32

8

(6) Large

72

6

64

32

4

64

16

(7) Huge

144

8

128

64

8

128

32

(8) Gargantuan

288

10

256

128

16

256

64

(9) Colossal

576

12+

512

256

32

512

128

* For Static Structures and Vehicles, 1 unit = 5 feet ** For Animated Objects, 1 unit = 6 inches (Fine to Small); 1 unit = 5-ft. (Medium-size and larger) *** For Personal Weapons and Portable Equipment, 1 unit = 6 inches

237

artifice

high as its width. The dimensions Material obtained are an approximation; they define a box inside which a Material machine should fit to qualify for that size category. For example, a Wood Large animated object has four space Wood & Leather units to distribute; assigning one Stoneworks to width, one to length and two to Bronze height results in a machine that can fit a space of five feet by five feet, Iron with a maximum height of ten feet. The number of units also measures the machine’s capacity to support machine components for its special abilities, as described in its own section. Personal weapons and portable equipment handle size differently. Their size category means the size of a creature able to wield the weapon in one hand. A Medium-size weapon is not the same absolute size as a Medium-size creature, but such a creature may hold it in one hand without penalty. Size defines how many Structure Dice a machine rolls to determine its structure points and how many Construction Points it costs in order to meet the structural Construction Target requirement. The number between parentheses is the size category’s numerical value; use it when a rule calls for a number to add, subtract or multiply by the size category. Reducing space units also reduces the item’s cost. Subtract 1 CP from the machine’s total cost for every 2 units deducted from the total. You cannot take so many units that the machine drops one size category.

Materials

An important decision to make when planning a mechanical wonder is what it is going to be made off. Matters of cost and weight are cons to be considered, but balanced by the pros of resistance and efficiency. Cheap materials make for relatively inexpensive and easy construction, but they break down easily and need a lot of maintenance to keep running. More durable materials can take quite a beating and are very reliable but they are ultimately expensive. This material makes up the majority of the machine’s body, which means that it can have parts made of other materials that do not count towards the final cost. The material defines the machine’s hardness and the Difficulty Class for the appropriate Craft checks to make and repair. Materials do not have a CP cost, but instead they multiply the cost of the base shape and size. Cheap materials may not fulfil the machine’s structural Construction Target, which means that the deficit must be met with assorted parts. To calculate the machine’s final weight, square the number of space units it has and multiply it by the material’s listed weight modifier.

238

Wood and Leather: Carpentry is one of the easiest of the construction methods. Wood is pliable, abundant and easy to shape and replace in the likely case that it

CP Multiplier

Craft DC (make)

Craft DC (repair)

Weight Modifier

Hardness

x1

10

10

x 5 lb.

5

x2

12

10

x 8 lb.

6

x3

15

12

x 10 lb.

8

x4

15

12

x 16 lb.

10

x5

18

16

x 14 lb.

12

breaks under the strain of the machine’s workings. Wooden cogs and gears pulled by ropes that twist through pulleys and levers make up the inner workings of a wooden machine. When wooden and leather components are used in equal measure, such as for moving parts, the machine gains an extra measure of flexibility that keeps it from snapping its pieces apart. Stoneworks: Machines made out of stone are almost always structures. Dams, speaking statues of the Gods, chambers that amplify echoes, or secret passages that can be found but not opened without a key are just a few of the wonders that artificers can make with stone. Sometimes it is hard to tell when a stone structure is actually a technological wonder. Bronze: The middle point between endurance and cost, bronze is the most practical metal alloy, resistant but not as costly as iron. A machine with bronze workings can have parts made of other metals or even other materials, but they just serve as support and ornamentation to the main bronze body. Iron: As it has a higher melting point, iron is harder to process and shape than bronze but is much more resilient and sturdy.

machine components

The first of a technological wonder’s elements whose cost in Construction Points is used to meet the performance Construction Target, the machine component is the way an artificer applies his craftsmanship to make the abilities in his machine work. A judicious application of each kind of technology can power almost any kind of ability, if coupled with the right power source. A mechanical wonder can benefit from one or more applications of a technology type, but each entails its own Craft check. Simple technologies can be completed easily, but it takes much more effort to have them work as intended, while complex and sophisticated components are harder to make, but get the job done more efficiently by comparison. Take the Construction Target for each skill, ability or feat that the machine can perform and select one or more technology types that will make it work. Spend the amount of Construction Points that will match each Construction Target and make a note on the Craft DC of each component for each skill, ability or feat.

Capacity

Every mechanical wonder has a limited capacity as to how much machinery it can fit without needing further attachments and expansions to accommodate extra mechanisms. A machine’s size and subtype define its capacity, equalling the number of units a machine of that subtype has for that size, as defined in the framework phase of building a technological wonder.

A character may add any combination of components as long as the Construction Points add up to a special ability’s Construction Target and they do not exceed the capacity. Note that the power source needed to activate each component also takes space so a few units should be left open for them.

Minute Crafts

The table considers the capacity for machines where a unit equals a span of five feet. For small machines where a unit equals a span of six inches, the artificer must make a conscious effort to miniaturise the components he is working with. The machine’s capacity works as normal but the craftsman suffers a -6 penalty to the Craft checks to assemble the components, representing the enormous care and difficulty of working with smaller machinery. The difficulty involved means that mechanical marvels tend to be built to a large scale; it is very much a genre of towering wooden horses and earth-shaking clockwork giants. Only the very best of artificers can create devices so elaborate that they fit into a small space.

Technology Types

There are three main types of technology an artificer can use to make his mechanical wonder operate. Each type contains

Operating the machinery requires a capable engineer, pilot, helmsman or member of any profession who would know how to work it. To activate each ability, regardless of its duration, an operator makes a Craft or Profession check with a DC set by the technology type, or a Wisdom or Intelligence check (whichever is higher) if the operator does not possess any relevant skill. The machinery for each of the device’s abilities requires one crewman for every space unit that the components occupy. This operating procedure is independent of the operation of the power source, which needs its own crew. Mechanical marvels are always labour-intensive.

artifice

Technology types take space and the simpler it is, the more space it demands in order to reproduce a skill or ability. The table lists how many Construction Points can fit in a single unit. For example, an artificer is building a Large vehicle (32 units); if he were to use only simple machinery (2 Construction Points per unit), he can fit 64 Construction Points-worth of components in order to meet the machine’s performance Construction Target. If he were to use sophisticated machinery (10 points per unit), he would be able to fit 320 Construction Points-worth of components. If the Construction Points needed to meet the Construction Target exceed the machine’s capacity, the artificer must fit it with additional parts, which makes the machine more than a bit ungainly; see the section on extra parts.

a wide variety of components that would be nightmarish to include individually in a rules system, so they are simply grouped together in the technology type. Each type has related crafts used in its construction. An artificer must have at least 5 ranks in any of the corresponding Craft skills in order to build a mechanism of that type. Also, each technology type requires a specific drive system, converter or conduit that will power the technological wonder’s functions.

Simple Machines: Components that operate through mechanical force and can be made by the simplest of crafts. The wedge, screws, pulleys, levers, inclined plane, and wheels and axles are examples of simple machinery, such as artificers have been using for centuries. Complex Machines: These are either a clever combination of simple machines or operate under more advanced mechanical principles. Cogs and gears are an example of complex machinery, as are pistons, coiled springs, conveyor belts, latches and diaphragms. On the higher scale of advancement, steamworks, waterworks and clockworks are the pinnacle of complex machinery research. Sophisticated Machines: These are the contraptions that require the application of technical secrets now lost to humanity, whereby the angles of mirrors, the vibrations of crystals and the hum of tuning forks were said to work amazing transformations upon matter. This was not magic but a form of ancient science no less incredible. An artificer must use his Craft (blacksmithing) skill to make sophisticated machines but for the purpose of these skill checks, his Craft (blacksmithing) skill can be no higher than his Knowledge (mysteries) skill ranks. Even if an artificer has 16 ranks in Craft (blacksmithing), if he has a Knowledge (mysteries) skill ranking of 4, then that is his effective Craft (blacksmithing) skill for the purpose of building a sophisticated machine.

Machine Component Technology

Corresponding Crafts

Craft DC

Operation DC

Construction Points per space unit

Simple Machines

Blacksmithing, carpentry, leatherworking, pottery, sculpture, shipmaking, stonemasonry.

12

10

2

Complex Machines

Blacksmithing, wheelwright.

14

12

6

Sophisticated Machines

Special: see above.

18

14

10

239

artifice

power sources and conduits

A technological wonder does not operate by itself; it needs fuel in the absence of magic to power its abilities. Artificers have developed several power sources that move different types of technology and call them ‘engines’, whether that power source is a wood-fired boiler or a great clockwork motor wound up by a key. As each of the technological wonder’s abilities has its own Construction Target and, therefore, their own components, they also have their own power sources. The engines take up space in the machine’s capacity as much as the components do. Some sources are more suited to certain types of technology, while others need some sort of converter to translate the energy they give off into the one the components need, thus increasing the space they require. A power source does not cost additional Construction Points, since the price is already included in the machine components it powers, but it has an effective CP cost for purposes of calculating its space. A power source’s effective Construction Points are one-fifth of the ability’s total CP cost and, depending on the technology it is powering and its own nature, takes up a number of space units indicated in the table. For example, an ability powered by ten Construction Points-worth of simple machinery (that take five space units) would have a power source with an effective CP cost of two. A mechanical power source for such an ability would take one space unit since, according to the table, a mechanical power source can fit two Construction Points per space unit when powering simple machinery. To make a power source, use the Craft skill for the technology type it is feeding. The Difficulty Class for making the power source is equal to the base technology type’s plus a modifier for the kind of power source. For example, an elemental power source feeding complex machinery has a DC 17 (14 for complex machinery +3 for elemental power source). A power source for miniaturised components is also miniaturised, suffering a -6 penalty on the Craft check. The DC to repair the power source is the same as that to create it. Most sources require a crew to activate or keep under operation. Doing so requires a skill check appropriate for the source’s nature and must be defined by the creator at the time of construction. Most of them will require a Profession skill such as engineer, siege engineer or even teamster, but it may require other skills, such as like Handle Animal for a device that is powered by a pony walking round a turnstile.

Power Source Types

Given the diversity of power methods that artificers can devise, the following are just guidelines for possible kinds of power sources and their operation. Players and Games Masters are advised to be both flexible and creative, coming up with details as needed or simply leaving the operation to narrative details. Mechanical Power: Creates energy by movement actively created by something or someone called an ‘operator’. Mechanical power sources range from oaring to manualoperation cranks, springs and even the simple act of pushing, such as on pedals and pulling, such as on ropes or chains. In order to work, the machine needs constant operation of its power source and a crew of operators to do so. As a rule of thumb, one operator can work a mechanical power source for every two effective Construction Points of its ‘cost’. Operating a mechanical power source requires a skill or ability check with a DC 10. Natural Power: Uses the power of natural elements in order to create energy instead of manual operation, but uses almost all the same parts as mechanical power sources. Sails and fans like those on a windmill can harness the power of wind; the power of water is converted to motion by waterwheels in static machines and so on. If the Games Master allows the technology, magnetic charges from lodestones (fallen to earth as meteorites and very rare) can be used to rotate a magnetised wheel. A single operator can work a natural power source for every three effective Construction Points of its ‘cost’. Operating a natural power source requires a skill or ability check with a DC 12. Elemental Power: An improvement over natural power, elemental power sources apply a transforming process to an inert element in order to create energy. Steamworks are the best example of this for the application of heat to water; the ancient Greeks knew full well that engines could be driven by steam. The Games Master may also wish to allow esoteric power systems, such as alchemical capsules, dissolved in water, to provide energy or a system based around an ‘Atlantean’ crystal technology. The remains of urns said to be ancient pottery batteries have been retrieved from the ocean bed, so even an electric battery is not out of the question. A single operator can work an elemental power source for every two effective Construction Points of its ‘cost’. Operating an elemental power source requires a skill or ability check with a DC 14. Elemental power needs fuel, for which see below.

Power Sources

240

Power Source

Craft DC

Operation DC

Capacity by Technology Type (Construction Points per space unit) Simple

Complex

Sophisticated

Mechanical

+1

10

4

3

2

Natural

+2

12

2

4

3

Elemental

+3

14

2

2

4

Centralising The Engine

Fuel

Elemental power sources require fuel to generate energy. Fuel is measured in charges, with each charge providing enough power for a single activation for instantaneous effects and a ten-minute duration for more sustained effects. At the creation of the engine, roll 2d4; the resultant number is the amount of raw materials in pounds needed to provide a single fuel charge and it does not change until the next repair check, when modifications to the engine may change its output. The creator determines the fuel when he creates the engine, which can be from such a logical source as coal or wood, or may be more exotic, such as pure gold or concentrated alcohol.

extra parts

Not all of the wonders that the artificers build are graceful, elegant finished products. Some of them, at least in their early stages of design, were wobbling top-heavy devices that seemed to have been built on excessively. When the mechanisms fall short of their intended function or are found to be too large to be incorporated into the original design, extra parts come to the rescue. Taking the form of attachments and extensions, these extra parts are attached to the main body of the mechanism to provide those extra few inches of containment space or keep one important moving part from repeatedly whacking into another. In terms of description, players and Games Masters can and should go wild; the extra parts serve no additional function nor add benefits or restrictions to the machine, so they can be

anything from structural reinforcement to amazingly sturdy decoration. Extra parts are provided to serve two purposes in the creation of a mechanical wonder: Meeting the Construction Target: When the machine’s Construction Points for the chosen frame do not complete the form and function’s Construction Target, the artificer may add reinforcements, counterweights and other parts to complete the frame’s Construction Points. Extending the Frame’s Capacity: When an artificer has spent too long locked away in his workshop, he will often include special functions that a machine’s original design was not prepared to support, adding extra parts like platforms, rigging, beams and other protrusions that extend a frame’s capacity. Extra parts for this function do affect the machine. Add the number of Construction Points by which the extra parts exceed the capacity of the machine’s final cost; divide this excess by the technology’s Construction Points-per-space unit as listed in the corresponding tables and add those size units to the machine’s frame. If the expanded spaces now take the frame to the next size category, it acquires all the characteristics of its new size. A -1 size penalty is applied to all operation and activation checks, as well as the rolls for all special abilities such as attack rolls, saving throws and the like. The machine was not meant to be this size and its performance suffers as a result.

artifice

If a technological wonder has more abilities than one, it needs multiple power sources to feed each mechanism, but instead of making several engines for each mechanism, an artificer can instead make a single power source for all the wonder’s functions. To do this, add all the Construction Points of all the functions the machine possesses and divide by five to obtain the engine’s effective CP cost. Select the nature of the engine (mechanical, natural or elemental) and use the highest DC from the machine’s components, adding the power source’s DC modifier to calculate the final DC for the Craft check to construct the engine. As for space, use the lowest number from the Power Source Size table from the technology types present and reduce it by one. This last number is the Construction Points per space unit that the engine takes up. For example, a self-propelled war-chariot with an automated fire hurler works off a single steam-powered engine (elemental power source) to move the wagon’s wheels (simple mechanism) and the fire hurler (sophisticated mechanism), which have a combined CP cost of 24, giving the engine an effective CP cost of four. The Craft (blacksmithing) check to make the engine has a DC of 21 (DC 18 for a sophisticated mechanism, +3 for an elemental power source) and occupies one CP per space unit (elemental engines take 2 Construction Points per unit, minus 1), thus requiring that the machine have four units available for the engine.

additional features

After calculating all the costs, the creator may still not be satisfied with the fruits of his labours and may wish to install additional features. The following features affect the way that machines operate but do not require their own components or power source, so they do not affect a machine’s size. Their cost in Construction Points is added in the Extra Parts phase. The Craft skill required to make such additions is the same as the one used to build the frame, with the same DC. Agility: The base movement characteristics provided for vehicles and animated objects may not suit the creator’s tastes. Through this feature the machine’s speed, manoeuvrability or turn rate may be improved. For each instance of this feature that the artificer installs, the machine’s speed increases by ten feet, its manoeuvrability is now one category higher with a +1 modifier or its turn rate decreases by ten feet. Only one of the characteristics can be enhanced at a time, but this feature may be added up to three times to each characteristic. Cost: 2 CP. Appendage: An appendage is fitted at the end of an arm and gives the mechanical wonder the ability to grab things. Whether hand, tentacle, clamp or pincer, the machine can use it to take things without needing a crew to secure it to the arm, or can change weapons of its size without having them mounted. An appendage needs the Extremity (arm) feature before it is installed. Cost: 1 CP x half the size value.

241

artifice

Automated: The machine components or the power sources are built in such a way that they require fewer crewmembers than normal. Reduce the number of operators required by one for every CP spent on this feature, to a minimum of one operator (someone must pull the lever). The number of operators for a power source can be reduced to zero if the machine has a piloting cockpit or a control bridge. Cost: varies. Control Bridge: Like a piloting cockpit, a control bridge concentrates the activation and operation of all the machine’s functions in the same space, in this case a room to contain the machine’s controllers and operators. One console sits a single operator and controls one of the machine’s functions. Only machines whose space units equal five foot spans can have a control bridge. Unlike other features except the piloting cockpit, a control bridge occupies space, requiring a base three space units, plus an additional space unit per console. This measure assumes that the crewmen are Small or Medium-size creatures. Double the space units required for a bridge designed for Large creatures and triple it for Huge crew members. This space can be added with extra parts. Cost: 2 CP per console. Extremity: The machine has either an arm or a leg. An arm grants the technological wonder a reach as if it was a creature of the same size category (determine if it is long or tall); this arm may be used for manipulation (such as a mechanical cargo arm) or for attack if it has a weapon mounted. A leg grants the machine some measure of walking mobility with the same movement characteristics as a vehicle of its same size; note that a machine with only one leg needs to have at least five ranks installed in the Balance skill. Adding this feature more than once either adds another extremity (each arm needs an operator, all legs can work under the same operator) or doubles the length of an installed extremity (double the reach for arms, add ten feet to the machine’s speed for legs). Cost: 1 CP x size value. Improved Handling: Some artificers remember that they will not be the only ones to operate a machine and take pains to ensure that it will be usable by others. This feature is applied to a single function, which now grants a +2 bonus to any skill check or other roll used to activate it. The feature’s bonus applies to attack rolls if installed on a personal weapon, or to a mounted weapon that is not a technological wonder itself, but is mounted on one. Cost: 3 Construction Points. Mobility: Only vehicles and animated objects are designed to move, but other kinds of technological wonders can have their own propulsion methods. This feature grants the machine the movement characteristics of an animated object of its size if the machine is a personal weapon or portable equipment, and the characteristics of a vehicle if the machine is a structure. Like vehicles and animated objects, the creator must choose the form of movement and implement it by adding functions as normal. This feature only offers the possibility of movement, not the exact method. Cost: 2 CP.

242

Piloting Cockpit: The machine has a chamber just the size of an intended pilot. The pilot, who must have ranks in a specific Profession (pilot wonder) skill, can activate all the functions and power sources of the technological wonder from levers, buttons and panels within arm’s reach. Only machines whose space units equal five foot spans can have a cockpit. Unlike other features except the control bridge, a piloting cockpit occupies space, requiring three space units to fit Small and Medium-size pilots, four for Large pilots and eight for Huge pilots. This space can be added with extra parts. Cost: 3 CP. Single Switch: The machine components that make an ability work and their power source are linked. A single crewman can activate both at once, using the highest DC to activate. This feature only applies to a single ability; to install a single switch to the rest of the abilities, add it to each separately. If a machine has a single power source for all of its abilities, the machine components cannot have the single switch installed, as the power source definitely needs its own crew. Cost: 1 CP.

the craft

Now the real fun begins: actually building the machine. The crafting of the machine occurs in three steps:

  

Build the frame. Add the machine components and power sources. Add extra parts and additional features.

If the creator is working alone, he proceeds in order but if there is a team involved, they can perform steps two and three at the same time. What happens in each step is that the player tallies the Construction Points of the creation at that stage. If all went well, the

CP amount equals the Construction Target, but sometimes it goes over.

Deficiencies

If a Craft checks fails, no progress is made for that week of work. If any of the checks fail by 5 or more, half the raw materials are ruined and must be paid for again. If any of the checks fail by 10 or more, or in the case of a natural 1, not only are half the materials ruined, the craftsmen also introduced a deficiency in the construction. During any activation, or once per hour of constant activation, there is a 5% chance that the machine will malfunction. A malfunctioning mechanical wonder seizes up completely; a suitable Craft check must be made to repair it, for which see below. Loss of raw materials due to a failed check only affects the step in which the failure occurred. Failing to build the machine’s frame does not affect the materials for the mechanical components. Also, loss of material and malfunction chances that occur during the second step of construction only affect the ability that the failed components are meant to support. Failure while adding extra parts only entails loss of material and cannot introduce or increase malfunction chances.

operation

Operating the mechanical wonder is a matter of skill checks. The skills that work best for machinery are the Craft skills used to make the different components. Ad hoc Profession skills may be created to cover the operation of different abilities, such as Profession (pilot wonder), although others may apply if the item resembles more mundane equipment; such as a sailor being able to work the riggings of a flying ship. Most DCs in a machine’s operation appear in the component and power source tables, but the Games Master can determine that using a machine requires an overall skill check, or the machine can have the Automated feature that allow it to be activated by use. Movement: The operation of a moving machine depends on its method of movement. Vehicles need a pilot or helmsman to move and this special operator makes skill checks as if he were operating a normal, similar movement. Maritime vehicles and ships that fly by the power of the wind would need the Profession (sailor) skill, while an animal-drawn vehicle would need the Handle Animal skill. The Profession (pilot wonder) skill is a catchall skill, usually only gained by artificers and the children of artificers, that allows characters to control the movement of any mobile technological wonder. Routine movement should not need skill checks except during the first

Attack: Combat requires that the machine has weapons or attack modes. Large machines have a crew operating each weapon and it is that crew that makes their skill check as if it was an attack roll. Profession (engineer, siege engineer) is ideal for this task, but a Games Master may allow the existence of Profession (gunner). A weapon gives a bonus to attack to its crew if it has the Improved Handling feature or the emulated Weapon Focus feat. A weapon can only attack once per turn, which is why multiple weapon mountings are valuable in a war machine.

artifice

Each CP is worth 500 silver drachmas, so multiply the final CP cost by that amount to obtain the technological wonder’s final market price. After this, all normal rules for making items with the Craft skill apply. The market price multiplied by ten becomes the target value that all accumulated Craft checks must reach to consider the machine completed, with one check per week of work and with the cost of raw materials being one-third of the final market price.

round that it moves. In combat situations, the pilot should roll a check for each round of movement, with failure meaning that the machine does not move as intended; roll 1d8 to determine the actual direction that the machine moves. One represents forward and going clockwise (two is forward and right, three is right, etc.) if the result is the desired direction, the machine does not move, but can still perform other actions.

Abilities and Functions: Machines have special attacks or abilities if they have them installed as emulated feats. Using them requires that a crew activate their mechanism along with their power source as described under machine components and power sources. Reloading time should be 1d4 rounds, but the Games Master can increase this or set the number.

repairs and maintenance

Proud inventors almost always have a team of craftsmen to provide regular or emergency maintenance for their creations, sometimes even as part of the regular crew. Living beings heal damage naturally, but machines need to be repaired. Only an artificer can safely direct repairs on a mechanical wonder. If a craftsman without the Artifice special ability attempts to do so, his Craft skill checks are made at a –4 insight penalty. A repair check is a Craft check of the same kind and with the Difficulty Class given for the material used to build the technological wonder’s frame, modified by the amount of damage it has suffered. The Craft check represents one week of work in which the craftsmen spend one-tenth of the machine’s final market price in replacement parts and materials. Subtract the check’s DC from the final roll result and multiply by two. This is the amount of structure points that the construct recovers in that week. Machines reduced to zero structure points are destroyed and useless except for scrap material.

Repair Modifiers Damage Condition

DC modifier

1 hit point remaining

+6

25% of total hit points remaining

+4

50% of total hit points remaining

+2

75% of total hit points remaining

+1

243

Bestiary

bestiary

This section covers some of the monsters of the ancient world. Monsters in OGL Ancients are very rare and will not be encountered in most game sessions. Unless otherwise detailed, each of these monsters is solitary. Monsters are not necessarily good or evil, with the exception of wicked spirits who are always utterly malicious and intend nothing but harm to humanity. Monsters have deities just as ordinary people do. If you worship the same deity that a monster does, the monster may be less inclined to do you ill. Of course, this consideration is not necessarily extended to anyone who is accompanying you.

Statistics Block

This portion of a monster description contains basic game information on the creature.

Name This is the name by which the creature is generally known. The descriptive text may provide other names. Size and Type This line describes the creature’s size. A relative size modifier affects the creature’s Passive Defence and attack bonus; see the Combat chapter. A creature’s size also determines how far it can reach to make a melee attack and how much space it occupies in a fight (see Space/Reach, below). The size and type line continues with the creature’s type. Type determines how magic affects a creature. Type determines certain features, such as Hit Die size, base attack bonus, base saving throw bonuses and skill points. Hit Dice This line gives the creature’s number and type of Hit Dice and lists any bonus hit points. A parenthetical note gives the average hit points for a creature of the indicated number of Hit Dice. A creature’s Hit Dice total is also treated as its level for determining how spells affect the creature, its rate of natural healing and its maximum ranks in a skill. Initiative This line gives the creature’s modifier on initiative checks. Speed This line gives the creature’s tactical speed on land, the amount of distance it can cover in one move action. If the creature wears armour that reduces its speed, the creature’s base land speed follows. If the creature has other modes of movement, these are given after (or in place of ) the land speed. Unless noted otherwise, modes of movement are natural (not magical).

244

Active Defence The Active Defence line gives the creature’s Active Defence bonus for normal combat and includes a parenthetical

mention of the modifiers contributing to it, most usually Dexterity and inherent evasiveness. Active Defence/DR This describes any natural armour that the creature has. If it wears the same kind of armour that player characters do, the type of armour is given here. BAB/Grapple The number here is the creature’s base attack and grapple bonuses before any modifiers are applied, and the creature’s grapple check modifier. Attack This line shows the single attack the creature makes with an attack action. In most cases, this is also the attack the creature uses when making an attack of opportunity as well. The attack line provides the weapon used (natural or manufactured), attack bonus and form of attack (melee or ranged). The attack bonus given includes modifications for Strength (for melee attacks) or Dexterity (for ranged attacks). A creature with the Weapon Finesse feat can use its Dexterity modifier on melee attacks. If the creature uses natural attacks, the natural weapon given here is the creature’s primary natural weapon. If the creature has several different weapons at its disposal, the alternatives are shown, with each different attack separated by the word ‘or’. A creature can use one of its secondary natural weapons when making an attack action, but if it does it takes an attack penalty, as noted in the Full Attack section below. The damage that each attack deals is noted parenthetically. Damage from an attack is always at least 1 point, even if a subtraction from a die roll reduces the result to 0 or lower. Full Attack This line shows all the physical attacks the creature makes when it uses a full-round action to make a full attack. It gives the number of attacks along with the weapon, attack bonus and form of attack (melee or ranged). The first entry is for the creature’s primary weapon, with an attack bonus including modifications for size and Strength (for melee attacks) or Dexterity (for ranged attacks). A creature with the Weapon Finesse feat can use its Dexterity modifier on melee attacks. The remaining weapons are secondary and attacks with them are made with a –5 penalty to the attack roll, no matter how many there are. Creatures with the Multiattack feat take only a –2 penalty on secondary attacks. The damage that each attack deals is noted parenthetically. Damage from an attack is always at least 1 point, even if a subtraction from a die roll reduces the result to 0 or lower. A creature’s primary attack damage includes its full Strength modifier (1-1/2 times its Strength bonus if the attack is with the creature’s sole natural weapon) and is given first. Secondary attacks add only 1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus and are given second in the parentheses. If any attacks also have some special effect other than damage, that information is given here. Unless noted otherwise, creatures using natural weapons deal double damage on critical hits.

Manufactured Weapons: Creatures that use swords, bows, spears and the like follow the same rules as characters do. The bonus for attacks with two-handed weapons is 1-1/2 times the creature’s Strength modifier (if it is a bonus) and is given first.

Special Attacks and Special Qualities Many creatures have unusual abilities. A monster entry breaks these abilities into special attacks and special qualities. The latter category includes defences, vulnerabilities and other special abilities that are not modes of attack. Additional information (when needed) is provided in the creature’s descriptive text. When a special ability allows a saving throw, the kind of save and the save DC is noted in the descriptive text. Most saving throws against special abilities have DCs calculated as follows: 10 + 1/2 the attacker’s racial Hit Dice + the relevant ability modifier. The save DC is given in the creature’s description along with the ability on which the DC is based. Saves This line gives the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex and Will save modifiers. Abilities This line lists the creature’s ability scores, in the customary order: Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. Strength: Quadrupeds can carry heavier loads than bipeds can. Any creature with four or more motive limbs can carry a load as a quadruped, even if it does not necessarily use all the limbs at once. Non-abilities: Some creatures lack certain ability scores. These creatures do not have an ability score of 0—they lack the ability altogether. The modifier for a non-ability is +0.

Skills This line gives the creature’s skills, along with each skill’s modifier including adjustments for ability scores, armour check penalties and any bonuses from feats or racial traits. All listed skills are class skills. A creature’s type and Intelligence score determine the number of skill points it has. The Skills section of the creature’s description recaps racial bonuses and other adjustments to skill modifiers for the sake of clarity; these bonuses should not be added to the listed skill modifiers. An asterisk (*) beside the relevant score and in the Skills section of the descriptive text indicates a conditional adjustment, one

Natural Tendencies: Some creatures simply are not made for certain types of physical activity. If it seems clear that a particular creature simply is not made for a particular physical activity, that creature takes a –8 penalty on skill checks that defy its natural tendencies. In extreme circumstances the creature fails the check automatically. Feats The line gives the creature’s feats. A monster gains feats just as a character does. Deity This shows the deity that the creature worships, if any. Any monster that has a deity also has a number of divine points equal to its base Hit Dice, which it may use just as a character could. Monsters of animal intelligence never have deities.

bestiary

Space/Reach This line describes how much space the creature takes up on the battle grid and thereby needs to fight effectively, as well as how close it has to be to threaten an opponent. The number before the slash is the creature’s space or how many feet one side of the creature occupies. The number after the slash is the creature’s natural reach. If the creature has exceptional reach due to a weapon, tentacle or the like, the extended reach and its source are noted in parentheses at the end of the line.

that applies only in certain situations.

Challenge Rating This shows the average level of a party of adventurers for which one creature would make an encounter of moderate difficulty. Gorgon Medium Mythical Beast Hit Dice: 12d8+6 (33 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: 30-ft. (6 squares), fly 60-ft. (poor) Active Defence: +2 (+2 Dex) Active Defence/DR: +18/10 BAB/Grapple: +12/+22 Attack: Bite +22 melee (1d6+10) or snakes +22 melee (1d4 plus poison) Full Attack: Bite +22 melee (1d6+10) or snakes +17 melee (1d4 plus poison) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Poison, petrifying gaze Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, immortal (except Medusa), fast healing 1 Saves: Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +9 Abilities: Str 30, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 15 (22 Medusa) Skills: Listen +9, Presence +12 (+16 Medusa), Move Silently +10, Spot, +9, Survival +11 Grievous Wounds: 22 Feats: Rugged, Combat Sense, Improved Initiative, Dodge, Track Deity: Hecate Challenge Rating: 12 The Gorgons are three sisters, each one of which is a ghastly monster. They are covered in scales the colour of gold, as strong as iron. Their hair is a mass of hissing snakes and great wings sprout from the back of each. The faces of two of the sisters are grotesque, with huge tusks protruding from their mouths. These are called Stheno and Euryale.

245

bestiary

The third of the sisters, Medusa, resembles a beautiful human woman, apart from her hair of snakes. The sisters always live together. There are several mountain caves in Greece where they are said to dwell.

Graeae, Gorgon and Hound of Hecate

Gorgon Blood: If a Gorgon ever suffers a grievous wound, a quantity of blood or ichor splashes the ground. This has powerful magical properties. Gorgon blood either causes the growth of 2d6 extra potent witches’ herbs, acts as a restorative powerful enough to cure all of a person’s wounds (grievous or otherwise) in one round or causes a Pegasus to be born fully-grown from the spot. Immortality: Stheno and Euryale are immortal, with ichor in their veins instead of blood. They are immune to decapitation attacks, critical hits and petrifaction effects. Even if they are reduced to below 0 Constitution, they do not die. They fall senseless and recover as soon as their wounds close. Medusa can be killed if she is reduced to below 0 Constitution or if she is decapitated. Even then, her slayer still has the other two Gorgons to contend with. In the myths, Medusa was slain by the hero Perseus, who escaped with the help of the winged sandals of Hermes. The Games Master may of course rule that the accounts of her demise were exaggerated. Fast Healing: Gorgons recover from wounds quickly. All wounds, even grievous ones, heal at the rate of one hit point per round. This applies to all three of the Gorgons. Petrifying Aspect: Contrary to popular belief, it is not the Gorgon’s gaze but their appearance that turns the victim to stone. Anyone who can see a Gorgon’s face is instantly turned to stone, unless they make a successful saving throw. The Gorgon’s face has this effect even if the Gorgon is asleep or has her eyes shut. The only way to avoid it is to look at the Gorgon indirectly, such as in a reflective surface. This effect has a range of 60 feet. A Will saving throw at DC 22 negates this effect. The saving throw must be made on any round on which the character can see the Gorgon. The save DC is Charisma-based. In Medusa’s case, this ability remains even if her head is severed. If the head is removed and used as a weapon for any end of which the Gods do not approve, the Gods may intervene personally and take the head up to Olympus with them. A character may attempt to fight without looking into the Gorgon’s face; this is handled as if the character were attempting to avoid a gaze attack, for which see the Magic chapter.

246

Poison: Injury, Fortitude DC 14, initial damage 1d6 Str, secondary damage 2d6 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based. Graeae Sisters of the Gorgons, the Graeae or Grey Sisters are three immortal hags who have legendary powers of prophecy. Each one is a 20th level seer in her own right. They have a peculiar disability, in that they are all blind and toothless. They have one eye (that is a wet, living human eye in all respects) that they pass between them, popping it into an eye socket as required and one tooth that can be set into a jaw in a similar fashion. The Graeae are renowned for their knowledge of secrets. They often hold the key to an otherwise invincible creature’s vulnerability. If they are shown respect, they may give their aid to a hero, though they are notoriously uncooperative. They are fiercely defensive of their sole eye and tooth and will not take kindly to attempts to remove them. Hound of Hecate Medium Mythical Beast Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22 hp) Initiative: +1 Speed: 40-ft. (8 squares) Active Defence: +5 (+1 Dex, +4 evasive) BAB/Grapple: +4/+5 Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d8+1) Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d8+1) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Howl Special Qualities: Darkvision 60-ft., scent Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +4 Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 6 Skills: Hide +13, Jump +12, Listen +7, Move Silently +13, Spot +7, Survival +7* Grievous Wounds: 13 Feats: Concerted Assault, Run, Track Deity: Hecate Challenge Rating: 3 The Hounds of Hecate are sleek, dark, wolf-like dogs that are sent up from the underworld to assist witches or hunt down and devour those who oppose the witch-goddess. They are always encountered in groups of three or more. Packs of more than twenty have been reported. Howl: A hound can emit a blood-chilling howl as a standard action. All living creatures within a 30 foot area must succeed

on a Will saving throw (DC 15) or become panicked for 2d4 rounds. A creature that successfully saves against the howl cannot be affected by the same hound’s howling for 24 hours. Skills: Hounds of Hecate have a +5 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. *They also receive a +8 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent, due to their keen sense of smell.

Minotaur, Werewolf

Minotaurs have the bodies of burly humans and Nymph and the heads of bulls. They are always male. The original minotaur was based on the island of Crete and lived at the centre of a labyrinth designed by the artificer Daedalus in service to King Minos. It was said to be the child of Queen Pasiphae and a sacred bull. Although only one such creature is mentioned in the myths, it is reasonable to assume that such a horror reproduced itself. As Poseidon sent the bull that fathered the first minotaur from the sea, the minotaurs follow him. A minotaur stands more than 7 feet tall and weighs about 700 pounds. Powerful Charge: A minotaur typically begins a battle by charging at an opponent, lowering its head to bring its mighty horns into play. In addition to the normal benefits and hazards of a charge, this allows the beast to make a single gore attack with a +9 attack bonus that deals 4d6+6 points of damage. Natural Cunning: Although minotaurs are not especially intelligent, they possess innate

Nymph Medium Fey Hit Dice: 6d6+6 (27 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 30-ft. (6 squares), swim 20-ft. Active Defence: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Dodge) Active Defence/DR: Total/10 BAB/Grapple: +3/+3 Attack: Dagger +6 melee (1d4/19–20) Full Attack: Dagger +6 melee (1d4/19–20) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Blinding beauty, stunning glance Special Qualities: Low-light vision, unearthly grace, wild empathy Saves: Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +12 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 19 Skills: Escape Artist +12, Handle Animal +13, Heal +12, Hide +12, Listen +12, Medicine +13, Move Silently +12, Rhetoric +6, Ride +5, Sense Motive +12, Spot +12, Swim +8, Use Rope +3 (+5 with bindings) Feats: Combat Casting, Dodge, Weapon Finesse Deity: Poseidon Challenge Rating: 6

bestiary

Minotaur Large Mythical Beast Hit Dice: 6d8+12 (39 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 30-ft. (6 squares) Active Defence: +0 Active Defence/DR BAB/Grapple: +6/+14 Attack: Labrys +9 melee (3d6+6/x3) or gore +9 melee (1d8+6) Full Attack: Labrys +9/+4 melee (3d6+6/x3) and gore +4 melee (1d8+2) Space/Reach: 10-ft./10-ft. Special Attacks: Powerful charge 4d6+6 Special Qualities: Darkvision 60-ft., natural cunning, scent Saves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +5 Abilities: Str 19, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 8 Skills: Listen +7, Presence +2, Search +2, Spot +7 Feats: Great Fortitude, Power Attack, Track Deity: Poseidon Challenge Rating: 4

cunning and logical ability. This prevents them from ever becoming lost and enables them to track enemies. Further, they are never caught flat-footed. Skills: Minotaurs have a +4 racial bonus on Search, Spot and Listen checks.

A nymph is about the height and weight of a girl of fourteen. Nymphs are native to Greece and are inhabitants of the streams, rivers and lakes. Mortals have sometimes been known to marry them. Paris, the shepherd responsible for stealing Helen of Sparta and causing the Trojan War, was initially wed to the nymph Oeone. Blinding Beauty: This ability affects all humanoids within 30 feet of a nymph. Those who look directly at a nymph must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or be blinded permanently as though by the blindness spell. A nymph can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. The save DC is Charisma-based. Stunning Glance: As a standard action, a wrathful nymph can stun a creature within 30 feet with a look. The target creature must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based. Unearthly Grace: A nymph adds her Charisma modifier as a bonus on all her saving throws and as a dodge

247

bestiary

248

bonus to her Active Defence. The statistics block already reflects these bonuses. Wild Empathy: A nymph can make a Charisma ability score check to change the attitude of a wild animal or mythical beast as if she were using the Rhetoric skill. She has a +6 racial bonus on any Charisma-based check when dealing with wild animals. Skills: A nymph has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. She can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. She can use the run action while swimming, provided she swims in a straight line.

In Egypt, the situation is altogether different. The Egyptian werewolf is noble and defensive of humanity, blessed by the Gods (who themselves display animal traits) rather than cursed by them. In Mythic Era Egypt, a famous clan of werewolves called the Children of Wepwawet existed, fighting alongside their human kinsmen against the minions of Set. They believe that Wepwawet himself is literally the father of their line, in the same way that Ra is the father of the Pharaoh. Another line, the Anubi or children of Anubis, are were-jackals, using the same statistics as above.

Werewolf In Greece, the condition of lycanthropy is always inflicted as a curse. The most famous of all is King Licao of Arcadia, who killed his own son and tried to serve the flesh up to Zeus when the God was disguised as a human. Licao was turned into a werewolf for his horrible deed and is said to have fathered a line of similar creatures. Greek werewolves are completely rapacious, hungry and savage. At the Games Master’s discretion, a character following the Greek Gods who eats human flesh may be transformed into a werewolf as divine punishment.

In wolf form, a werewolf can trip just as a normal wolf does. A werewolf in hybrid form usually dispenses with weapon attacks, though it can wield a weapon and use its bite as a secondary natural attack.

Werewolves in humanoid form have no distinguishing traits.

Alternate Form: A werewolf can assume a bipedal hybrid form, with humanoid body and wolf head or the form of a wolf. Trip: A werewolf in animal form that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent (+2 check modifier) as a free

Werewolf, Human Form

Werewolf, Wolf Form

Werewolf, Hybrid Form

Medium Humanoid (Human, Shapechanger)

Medium Humanoid (Human, Shapechanger)

Medium Humanoid (Human, Shapechanger)

Hit Dice:

1d8+1 plus 2d8+6 (20 hp)

1d8+1 plus 2d8+6 (20 hp)

1d8+1 plus 2d8+6 (20 hp)

Initiative:

+4

+6

+6

Speed:

30-ft. (6 squares)

50-ft. (10 squares)

30-ft. (6 squares)

Active Defence:

+0

+2 (+2 Dex)

+2 (+2 Dex)

Shield Defence:

+1

-

+1

Active Defence/ DR:

Any light or medium

-

Any light or medium

BAB/Grapple:

+2/+3

+2/+4

+2/+4

Attack:

By weapon

Bite +5 melee (1d6+3)

Claw +4 melee (1d4+2)

Full Attack:

By weapon

Bite +5 melee (1d6+3)

2 claws +4 melee (1d4+2) and bite +0 melee (1d6+1)

Space/Reach:

5-ft./5-ft.

5-ft./5-ft.

5-ft./5-ft.

Special Attacks:

—

Trip

-

Special Qualities:

Alternate form, wolf empathy, lowlight vision, scent

Alternate form, wolf empathy, low-light vision, scent

Alternate form, wolf empathy, low-light vision, scent

Saves:

Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +2

Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +2

Fort +6 Ref +5, Will +2

Abilities:

Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8

Str 15, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8

Str 15, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8

Skills:

Handle Animal +1, Hide +1, Listen +1, Move Silently +2, Spot +1, Survival +2

Handle Animal +1, Hide +6, Listen +1, Move Silently +6, Spot +1, Survival +2*

Handle Animal +1, Hide +6, Listen +1, Move Silently +6, Spot +1, Survival +2*

Feats:

Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Stealthy, Track, Weapon Focus (bite)

(same as human form)

(same as human form)

Deity:

Hecate

Hecate

Hecate

Ketos (sea monster) Gargantuan Mythical Beast Hit Dice: 16d10+112 (200 hp) Initiative: –2 Speed: 20-ft. (4 squares), swim 40-ft. Ketos, Triton and Siren Active Defence: -2 (-2 Dex) Active Defence/DR: +5/10 BAB/Grapple: +16/+40 Attack: Bite +25 melee (2d8+18) Full Attack: Bite +25 melee (2d8+18) Space/Reach: 20-ft./15ft. Special Attacks: Improved grab, swallow whole Saves: Fort +17, Ref +8, Will +4 Abilities: Str 35, Dex 6, Con 25, Int 1, Wis 8, Cha 8 Skills: Listen +18, Swim +20 Grievous Wounds: 30 Feats: Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Decapitate, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite) Challenge Rating: 12 The ketos is an immense, serpentine creature with a body like that of a fish or eel and a head shaped somewhat like a dog’s. Poseidon and other Gods send ketoi to destroy coastal cities, accept sacrifices and wreck ships. The most famous of all the ketoi was the one that came to devour Andromeda, only to be slain by Perseus. In some legends, Perseus slays the monster with his sword, while in others he shows the ketos the head of Medusa and turns it into stone. Improved Grab: To use this ability, a ketos worm must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can attempt to swallow the foe the following round. Swallow Whole: A ketos can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of a smaller size than itself by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 2d8+18 points of crushing damage plus 8 points of acid damage per

round from the creature’s gizzard. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the gizzard. (Blows aimed at the gizzard automatically hit; it has natural armour with a DR of 3.) Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. A Gargantuan beast’s interior can hold 2 Large, 8 Medium, 32 Small, 128 Tiny or 512 Diminutive or smaller opponents. Skills: A ketos has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. Siren Medium Mythical Beast Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: 20-ft. (4 squares), fly 80-ft. (average) Active Defence: +2 (+2 Dex) BAB/Grapple: +1/+1 Attack: Dagger +1 melee (1d4/19–20) Full Attack: Dagger +1 melee (1d4/19–20) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Captivating Song Saves: Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +3 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 17 Skills: Spot +1 Grievous Wounds: 10 Feats: Improved Disarm Deity: Poseidon Challenge Rating: 1

bestiary

action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the werewolf. Wolf Empathy: A werewolf can communicate with wolves and receives a +4 racial bonus on Charisma-based checks when dealing with wolves and dire wolves. Skills: *A werewolf in hybrid or wolf form gains a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

Sirens look like tall, beautiful Greek women. They stand on the rocks wearing translucent gowns and sing to passing ships, calling them to a promised paradise, then watching the ships wreck themselves and sink. If a sailor ever made it to their shores without drowning, they would stab him to death. Nobody knows why they do this; the most likely explanation is that a deity cursed them. Captivating Song: The only real weapon that the siren has is its song. When a siren sings, all creatures (other than sirens) within a 300 foot area must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or become captivated. This is a mind-affecting charm effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same siren’s song for 24 hours. The save DC is Charismabased.

249

bestiary

A captivated victim walks toward the siren, taking the most direct route available. If the path leads into a dangerous area (through flame, off a cliff or the like), that creature gets a second saving throw. Captivated creatures can take no actions other than to defend themselves. (Thus, a warrior cannot run away or attack but takes no defensive penalties.) A victim within 5 feet of the siren stands there and offers no resistance to the monster’s attacks. The effect continues for as long as the siren sings and for 1 round thereafter. If a bard is playing music within 30 feet of the captivated creature, this allows him to attempt a new Will save.

dwellings, old ruins, desecrated tombs and lonely hilltops. They have a plethora of names: the Sumerians called them utuk xul, the Greeks larvae.

Skills: Sirens have a +4 racial bonus on Bluff and Listen checks.

Wicked spirits abide by the usual rules regarding spiritual creatures; see Death and Beyond. Their appearance when manifest or when viewed on their own plane is usually transparent, vaguely humanoid and pale, with empty eye sockets and long talons. The abilities of a given wicked spirit depend on the subtype. Those listed below are ‘generic’ spirits of evil, of the kind that are most commonly called up by casters.

Triton Medium Mythical Beast Hit Dice: 3d8+3 (16 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 5-ft. (1 square), swim 40-ft. Active Defence: +0 Active Defence/DR: +5/5 BAB/Grapple: +3/+4 Attack: Trident +4 melee (1d8+1) Full Attack: Trident +4 melee (1d8+1) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Qualities: Darkvision 60-ft. Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +4 Abilities: Str 12, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 11 Skills: Craft (any one) +7, Debate +2, Hide +6, Listen +7, Move Silently +6, Ride +6, Search +7, Sense Motive +7, Spot +7, Survival +7 (+9 following tracks), Swim +9 Grievous Wounds: 12 Feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack Deity: Poseidon Challenge Rating: 2 Tritons are the children of the God of the same name. As worshippers of Poseidon, they are friendly toward those who honour him and offer their protection to those ships whose crews have made generous sacrifice. A triton has silvery skin that fades into silver-blue scales on the lower half of its body. A triton’s hair is deep blue or blue-green. A triton is about the same size and weight as a human. Skills: A triton has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. Wicked Spirit Wicked spirits are bodiless entities (spiritual creatures) that have evil intentions towards humanity. They may be the ghosts of especially unpleasant people, some form of demon or even a part of the natural order that is just fond of bloodshed and destruction. Wicked spirits traditionally haunt the kinds of places that people fear, such as dark forests, abandoned

250

Hekau spellcasters and witches call up wicked spirits for various reasons. The most common one is to ask a service of the spirit, most commonly a question. Wicked spirits are knowledgeable on various matters and often have access to information that the spellcaster does not. A Hekau spellcaster may also call up spirits in order to bind them into prepared corpses and make an undead creature.

Attack: This is the wicked spirit’s mode of attack against creatures on its own plane. Even when manifest, it cannot attack physical creatures or objects. Drain Life: Wicked spirits can drain the vitality from living people. The spirit must be manifest in order to do this. The spirit must successfully hit the target with a touch attack. Only Active Defence can be used to ward this off, not Shield Defence. If the attack is successful, the victim must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 spirit’s HD + spirit’s Charisma modifier). If the saving throw fails, the spirit inflicts 2d6 points of damage on the target (which is not recorded as a wound) transferring the same number of hit points to the spirit. A successful saving throw draws no hit points from the target and inflicts 1d4 points of damage on the spirit. A wicked spirit can only attempt this attack once against any given target in any 24-hour period. If a wicked spirit has taken possession of a living victim, then it may make a drain life attempt without making an attack roll, as it is already inside the victim’s body. However, most spirits will not do this, as they are instantly dispelled (reduced to 0 hit points) if their host dies. Wicked Spirit Powers: Every wicked spirit has one of the powers listed below. It cannot use these powers against a person who is holding it at bay. It must be manifest first to use any of them. Corrupting Gaze: When manifest, the wicked spirit can blast living beings with a glance, at a range of up to 30 feet. Creatures that meet the wicked spirit’s gaze must succeed Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 spirit’s HD + spirit’s Charisma modifier) or take 2d10 points of damage and 1d4 points of Charisma damage. The spirit must expend 5 hit points and take a standard action to do this.

Medium Spiritual Creature Potent Wicked Spirit

Formidable Wicked Spirit

Hit Dice:

4d12 (12 hp)

8d12 (48 hp)

12d12 (72 hp)

Initiative:

+0

+0

+0

Speed:

Fly 50-ft. (10 squares)(perfect)

Fly 50-ft. (10 squares)(perfect)

Fly 50-ft. (10 squares)(perfect)

Active Defence:

+0

+0

+0

Base Attack:

+2/+2

+4/+4

+6/+6

Attack:

Claw +2 melee (1d4)

Claw +2 melee (1d4)

Claw +2 melee (1d4+1)

Full Attack:

2 claws +2 melee (1d4)

2 claws +2 melee (1d4)

2 claws +3 melee (1d4+1)

Space/Reach:

5-ft./5-ft.

5-ft./5-ft.

5-ft./5-ft.

Special Attacks:

Possession, drain life

Possession, drain life

Possession, drain life

Special Qualities:

Spiritual

Spiritual

Spiritual

Saves:

Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +5

Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +9

Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +11

Abilities:

Str 10, Dex 10, Con -, Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 14

Str 10, Dex 10, Con -, Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 15

Str 10, Dex 10, Con -, Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 16

Skills:

Bluff +11, Knowledge (any three) +10, Move Silently +17, Spot +8, Presence +11

Bluff +15, Knowledge (any three) +14, Move Silently +21, Spot +12, Presence +15

Bluff +20, Knowledge (any three) +18, Move Silently +25, Spot +16, Presence +20

Feats:

Persuasive

Persuasive, Iron Will, Improved Initiative

Persuasive, Iron Will, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (claw)

Challenge Rating:

2

4

6

Frightful Moan: The wicked spirit can emit a frightful moan as a standard action. All living creatures within a 30 foot area must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 spirit’s HD + spirit’s Charisma modifier) or become panicked for 2d4 rounds. A creature that successfully saves against the moan cannot be affected by the same wicked spirit’s moan for 24 hours. It costs the spirit 5 hit points to do this and it must take a standard action to do so. Dreadful Form: Any living creature within 60 feet that views the wicked spirit must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 spirit’s HD + spirit’s Charisma modifier) or immediately take 1d4 points of Strength damage, 1d4 points of Dexterity damage and 1d4 points of Constitution damage. A creature that successfully saves against this effect cannot be affected by the same wicked spirit’s horrific appearance for 24 hours. Skills: All wicked spirits receive a +10 racial bonus to all Move Silently skill checks. Death-lantern Small Spiritual Creature Hit Dice: 8d12+3 (51 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: Fly 50-ft. (10 squares)(perfect) Active Defence: +4 (+4 Dex) BAB/Grapple: +4/+0 Attack: Slam +5 melee (1d3 fire) Full Attack: 2 slams +4 melee (1d3 fire) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Drain life, possess dead Special Qualities: Spiritual

bestiary

Minor Wicked Spirit

Saves: Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +6 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 18, Con -, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 12 Skills: Hide +14, Spot +5, Listen +6 Feats: Dodge, Toughness Challenge Rating: 5 This form of spiritual creature resembles a cold, hovering blue flame when manifest. It can understand speech but cannot respond unless it has taken a body for itself. Unlike other spiritual creatures, death-lanterns do not have the ability to possess living creatures. They are said to haunt plague pits, scenes of massacre and similar sites of mass death without proper burial. Death-lanterns are said by some to be emanations from the flaming torch of Hecate, the great Queen of the Dead. Drain Life: Death-lanterns can drain the vitality from living people. They must be manifest in order to do this. The death-lantern must successfully hit the target with a touch attack. Only Active Defence can be used to ward this off, not Shield Defence. If the attack is successful, the victim must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 death-lantern’s HD + death-lantern’s Charisma modifier). If the saving throw fails, the death-lantern inflicts 1d4 points of damage on the target (which is not recorded as a wound) transferring the same number of hit points to the spirit. A successful saving throw draws no hit points from the target and inflicts 1 point of damage on the spirit. A wicked spirit can only attempt this attack once against any given target in any 24-hour period. Possess Dead: A death-lantern can move into a dead body, animate it and then abandon it, if it chooses, for a more

251

bestiary

intact vessel. (While the death-lantern is merged with the cadaver, the resultant undead is known as a prowling corpse, for which see below.) This takes a standard action and does not require a check. A death-lantern may not occupy a body that has been given funerary rites of the deceased’s religion, nor may it occupy a body that has been dismembered, burned or reduced to a skeleton. If the dead vessel is destroyed, the death-lantern is not automatically dispelled. Death-lanterns occasionally ally themselves with Hekau workers who worship Set or Apophis or with witches working with Hecate in her darkest aspect; these will make sure that there is a plentiful supply of freshly slain victims for the death-lantern to use. A single death-lantern can occupy one dead shell after another and can only be stopped by being disrupted or having no available vessel nearby. Prowling Corpse Medium undead Hit Dice: 4d12 (24 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 20-ft. (4 squares) Active Defence: -1 (-1 Dex) BAB/Grapple: +2/+2 Attack: Slam +2 melee (1d3 plus Strength drain) or by single weapon Full Attack: 2 slams +2 melee (1d3 plus Strength drain) or single weapon Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Strength drain Special Qualities: Undead Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +5 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 18, Con -, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 12 Skills: Hide +9, Spot +5, Listen +6 Feats: Dodge Challenge Rating: 3 These creatures result when a death-lantern takes possession of a dead body. The only sign that the jerkily animated body is being controlled by anything sentient is the blue light that shines from its empty eyes, the light of the death-lantern. Strength Drain: While they are in their original form, deathlanterns can drain life like wicked spirits do but once they have occupied a dead body and become a prowling corpse, they may drain the very strength from their victims. As this is a much more efficient way to feed, they prefer this. If a prowling corpse’s slam attack succeeds in doing damage to the target (i.e. is not soaked by a shield or by armour) then the target suffers 1d4+1 points of temporary Strength damage as well as hit point damage. The death-lantern (not

252

the prowling corpse) gains 2 hit points for each point of Strength drained, up to its maximum allowable. Thirsty One (Akhkaru) These are the vampires of the ancient world, written of in Sumerian texts as the Akhkaru and feared since the first structures were built in ancient Mesopotamia. The thirsty ones are always created from human beings who have been fed upon to the brink of death by other thirsty ones. Rather than being a set monster, they use the statistics of the original human being, with modifications and additional abilities. When a human being becomes a thirsty one, his Creature type changes to Undead. If he served any deity other than Hecate, Apophis or Set, the deity abandons him. He is no longer subject to grievous wounds, hamstringing or critical hits, though he can still be decapitated. To do so is in fact one of the only reliable methods of slaying a thirsty one. Active Defence: The base creature’s Active Defence is increased by +2 due to evasion, as thirsty ones are very quick. Natural Armour: The thirsty one gains natural armour from its supernaturally toughened skin. This has a Coverage bonus of +16 and a Damage Resistance of 10. Divine weapons ignore this natural Death Lantern, armour completely. Prowling Corpse and Defiled Drain Blood: Thirsty ones can drink the One blood from a living creature’s veins by making a successful Grapple check. If the foe is pinned, the thirsty one drains 1d4 points of Constitution each round the pin is maintained. Each such attack gives the thirsty one 5 temporary hit points. Domination: A thirsty one may use the dominate will magical effect at will, without having to make a skill check to cast it, as if it were a 12th level caster. It must still expend the necessary hit points to produce the effect. Using this ability requires a standard action. Reproduce: If a thirsty one chooses, it can cause a victim of its blood draining to rise as a new thirsty one. This does not happen automatically. The victim rises 1d3 days after death. If the body is decapitated or burned, it does not rise. Magical Effects: Thirsty ones may still cast spells with Witchcraft or Hekau if they have the ability. If their Gods have abandoned them, they may no longer pray for miracles if they had the ability before.

Abilities: The thirsty one’s ability scores are modified as follows: Strength +6, Dexterity +4, Intelligence +2, Wisdom +2, Charisma +4. He no longer has a Constitution ability score. Resistance To Repulsion/Disruption: A thirsty one receives a +4 resistance bonus to all attempts to repel or disrupt it with Prayer or Hekau.

Lustful ones, the lilit of Sumerian legend, are discarnate spirits who visit men in their sleep and bestow voluptuous dreams upon them. Delightful though these dreams are, they drain the life force of the victim until he eventually withers and dies. The lustful ones resemble longhaired women, whose feet (usually concealed beneath long gowns) are like the claws of birds. Strength Drain: The lustful one may only use this ability against a sleeping or unconscious male target and must manifest in order to do so. The lustful one must enter the target’s space and take a full-round action to attempt a strength drain. The target makes a Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 spirit’s HD + lustful one’s Charisma modifier). If he fails, he has intensely pleasurable dreams but is drained of 1d4 points of Strength and 2d6 hit points, which are not recorded as wounds. The drained hit points are transferred to the lustful one, up to her maximum. On waking, the victim is fatigued and cannot recover from this fatigue other than by resting for eight hours without interruption; a further visit from a lustful one certainly counts as interruption. A fatigued character cannot run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength, Dexterity and Shield Defence. Defiled One Defiled ones are humans who have undergone the ritual of coming forth by night and forced their ka back into their mummified bodies, animating them and continuing to live as undead creatures. The template below is applied to any person who has undergone this ritual successfully or had it applied to them.

bestiary

Lustful One (Lilit) Medium Spiritual Creature Hit Dice: 12d12 (72 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: Fly 50-ft. (10 squares)(perfect) Active Defence: +0 BAB/Grapple: +6/+6 Attack: Claw +7 melee (1d4) Full Attack: 2 claws +7 melee (1d4) Space/Reach: 5-ft./5-ft. Special Attacks: Possession, strength drain Special Qualities: Spiritual, resistant Saves: Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +11 Abilities: Str 10, Dex 10, Con -, Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 16 Skills: Bluff +20, Knowledge (any three) +18, Move Silently +25, Spot +16, Presence +20 Feats: Persuasive, Iron Will, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (claw) Challenge Rating: 6

Size and Type: The person’s creature type changes to undead. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves or skill points. Size is unchanged. Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12s. Natural Armour: A defiled one has natural armour with total coverage and a DR of 15. Attack: A defiled one has a touch attack that it can use once per round. If the base creature can use weapons, the defiled one retains this ability. A defiled one fighting without weapons uses either its touch attack or its primary natural weapon, if it has any. A defiled one armed with a weapon uses its touch or a weapon, as it desires. Full Attack: A defiled one fighting without weapons uses either its touch attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a touch as a natural secondary attack, provided it has a way to make that attack either a free hand or a natural weapon that it can use as a secondary attack. Damage: A defiled one without natural weapons has a touch attack that uses malignant spiritual energy to deal 1d8+5 points of damage to living creatures; a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 defiled one’s HD + defiled one’s Cha modifier) halves the damage. A defiled one with natural weapons can use its touch attack or its natural weaponry, as it prefers. If it chooses the latter, it deals 1d8+5 points of extra damage on one natural weapon attack. Special Attacks: A defiled one retains all the base creature’s special attacks and gains those described below. Save DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 defiled one’s HD + defiled one’s Cha modifier unless otherwise noted. Fear Aura: Defiled ones are shrouded in a dreadful aura of death and evil. Creatures of less than 5 HD in a 60 foot radius that look at the defiled one must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by an eye of terror magical effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same defiled one’s aura for 24 hours. Paralysing Touch: Any living creature a defiled one hits with its touch attack must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw or be permanently paralysed. A remove curse magical effect is all that can remove this paralysis. Anyone paralysed by a defiled one seems dead, though a DC 20 Spot check or a DC 15 Heal check reveals that the victim is still alive. Spells: A defiled one can cast any Witchcraft or Hekau spells it could cast while alive, though it can no longer pray for miracles. Special Qualities: A defiled one retains all the base creature’s special qualities and gains those described below. Resistance To Repulsion/Disruption: A thirsty one receives a +4 resistance bonus to all attempts to repel or disrupt it with Prayer or Hekau. Immunities: Defiled ones have immunity to cold, lightning, transformation and mind affecting attacks. Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2. Being undead, a defiled one has no Constitution score. Skills: Defiled ones have a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive and Spot checks. Otherwise, its skills are the same as those of the base creature.

253

Ability Modifier

Temp. Score

Temp. Modifier

Base Save

Total

STR

FORT

Strength

CON

DEX

REF

Dexterity

DEX

CON

WILL

Constitution

WIS

WIS Wisdom

CHA Charisma Misc.

INITIATIVE

=

MELEE

=

Attack Bonus

+

=

Attack Bonus

+

Total Attack Bonus Damage Critical

Weapon

Armour Type

Misc.

+

+

Range

+

Type

+

Size

+

+

+

Hardness Notes

+

+

Range

+

Type

+

+

+

+

+

Hardness Notes

Size

SHIELD DEFENCE

Dexterity Misc. Misc. Total Modifier Modifier Modifier

=

Hit Dice

GREVIOUS WOUND

ACTIVE DEFENCE Total when Flat-Footed

Subdual

Base Dexterity Size Misc. Misc. Misc. Misc. Misc. Temp. Attack Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier

Total

RANGED

Temp.

Strength Size Misc. Misc. Misc. Misc. Misc. Temp. Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier

Total Attack Bonus Damage Critical

Weapon

Maximum

+ Base Attack

Total

Current

WOUNDS

Misc.

Modifier Modifier

Total

254

Ability Magic Misc. Temp. Modifier Modifier Modifier Modifier

INT Intelligence

HIT POINTS

ogl ancients

Ability Score

+ DR/DA Slashing

Total

Base Wisdom Coverage Misc. Misc. Misc. Modifier Modifier Bonus Modifier Modifier Modifier

+ DR/DA Slashing

+

+ DR/DA Bludgeoning

+ Armour Armour Max Dex. Coverage Penalty Bonus

FEATS

FEATS

EQUIPMENT EQUIPMENT

ogl ancients

PLAYER: PLAYER: CHARACTER: CHARACTER: LEVEL: CLASS: LEVEL: CLASS: HOMELAND: HOMELAND: REGION: REGION: GENDER: GENDER: AGE: HAIR: AGE: HAIR: EYES: HANDED: EYES: HANDED: HEIGHT: WEIGHT: HEIGHT: WEIGHT:

DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION

CROSS KEY ABILITY CLASS

SKILL NAME Appraise ✓

CLASS ABILITY DESCRIPTION

CLASS ABILITY DESCRIPTION

Balance ✓ ★

DEX

Bluff ✓

CHA

Climb ✓ ★

STR

Concentration ✓

CON

Craft (

)✓

INT

Craft (

)✓

INT

Craft (

)✓

INT

Disguise ✓

CHA

Escape Artist ✓ ★

DEX

Forgery ✓

INT

Gather Information ✓

CHA

Handle Animal

CHA

Heal ✓

WIS

Hekau

INT

Hide ✓ ★

DEX STR

Knowledge (

)

INT

Knowledge (

)

INT

Knowledge (

)

INT

Knowledge (

)

INT

Knowledge (

)

REGIONAL ABILITIES

INT WIS

Medicine

INT

Move Silently ✓ ★

DEX

Perform ✓

CHA

Prayer ✓

WIS

Presence ✓

CHA

Profession (

REGIONAL ABILITIES

INT

Debate ✓

Listen ✓

LANGUAGES

MISC.

INT

Jump ✓ ★

LANGUAGES

MODIFIERS TOTAL ABILITY RANKS

)

WIS

Ride ✓

DEX

Rhetoric ✓

CHA

Search ✓

INT

Sense Motive ✓

WIS

Sleight of Hand ★

DEX

Solve Conundrum ✓

INT

Speak Language

None

Spot ✓

WIS

Survival ✓

WIS

Swim ✓ ★ ★

STR

Tumble ★

DEX

Use Rope ✓

DEX

Witchcraft

CHA

✓ These Skills may be used with 0 ranks. ★ Armour check penalties apply to these skills. ★★ Double the normal armour check penalties apply to these skills.

TOTAL SKILL POINTS

MAX. SKILL RANKS

MAX. X-CLASS SKILL RANKS

(Level + 3)

((Level + 3)÷2)

255

ogl license

256

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (‘Wizards’). All Rights Reserved. 1. Definitions: (a)’Contributors’ means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)’Derivative Material’ means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) ‘Distribute’ means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)’Open Game Content’ means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) ‘Product Identity’ means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) ‘Trademark’ means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) ‘Use’, ‘Used’ or ‘Using’ means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) ‘You’ or ‘Your’ means the licensee in terms of this agreement. 2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License. 3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License. 4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content. 5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content,

You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License. 6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute. 7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity. 8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content. 9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorised version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License. 10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute. 11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so. 12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected. 13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License. 14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. 15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker. OGL Ancients is Copyright 2004, Mongoose Publishing Limited.