ACTERS, SKILLS AND:tFOLEGRAFT CHARACTERS, SKILLS AND COMBATTHE. GANE, parse] a Jett Organization of ‘the Syston, 4:2: This Book, 123: Things You 42 Things to Know. CHARACTER CREATION. «- sess 2.1 The Character Concept. 2121 Primary Characteristics. 213: Secondary Characteristics. SKELLS & TRAINING. vee ‘Selt Native & Learned Skdiis:..1.:8 3.28 The Learning Process. 6 3.3: Sill Levels, Siar Skil] Benefits, 3:52 Skill Contribution. Skill Distribution. Using Skills.«. 17 218 ADVANCEMENT. + Set Adventure & Experianc 5221 Experience Ranke. DEEDS & MORALITY. see Living Expenses... Equipment & Costs. YSGARTH SKILL SENEFITS., EQUIPMENT LISTS: 7 SANPLE CHARACTER, BLANK CHARACTER SHEET. INDEX & TERNS. 00s COMBAT EXAMPLES: SYSTEM DESIGN David Nalle GRAPHICS & LAYOUT David Nalle BRAINSTORNERS ‘ah aghays Low Sryaon,_ Rick Busker» Janes Coppeshal, David Feastery CLIFT HELL, fon Honsey Mark KiLtough, ric’ Olson PLAYTESTERS Howard Alt, Michael Baenen, John Bashay, Robert Bellinger, Teddy Bellinger, John Boyer, John Broun, Brandon Siylouski, Brett Brylauski, Leu Bryson, aii) Budding, Rick Busker, Mary Kay Carter, Tom Cheney, ages Conpeshal, Davi Conroy, Ton Curtin, Honey Dovey Stuard Ounnan, David Farnell, Oavid Feaster, Steve Finkel, Shaun Flaherty, John Gardner, Ton Gregory, Gob Gryce, CLiFF Hall, Tan Hense, Seatt Hernan, Dan Holgreitie, Nick Hopiins, Doug Jansen, Mark Killough, Nick Kniseley, Robert 'Layrence, Phil Malin, Ken Mckinney, Karen McTigue, Greg McRae, Wayne Mitten, Eric Olson, Audi Peal, Angel Posey, Lae’ Anne Poynter,’ Pan Priest, Linda’Range, Dan Raspler, Rick Shay, Sam Shirley, Charles Speeole, Kevin Sullivan, Alan’ Sutter, Herald fanreuther, Sven thesen, Janes ilalshaar, David luillis, Jeff” Young eOTCATION Jn designing this syten ue ove a debt of gratitude to all the great gane designs unich’ have “god sefors ape to ali the designers. and ganenasters who have given SS neu perspectives and inopisation This book is dedicated to the inhabitants of the yorlds of Yegerth, Uttgert and Hypesboriey, especially to all uasriors of great ranoun’"or at’ leest great spirits Puyll the One Eyed, Gilsod the ‘Fractured ‘Losd gf Uttgert, Aloy, Shargsltn the. Cightning Handoes Centurl Kas, Tottenjager the Undyings “K'iwainosh, Teplotius, “the incomprehensible, Anar’Len, “Artront Shigure, 'L' Gragonsiayer, fethylia, Thane Osnsony “Oss Theneson, Ollazren the Storyteller, Thenin, Duma, Lir af the Thousand ata aap Greideul, skaluth Kingsiayery So Nordik, Rakentine, Skodelus and the hundreds of others uho have taken up’ etme, gainct the “unknown, saking’ s0. many adventures’ moncrabios Never have sch heights or “depths ef edventure’ ‘best quelled. ‘This is the first of three books hich form the complete Ysqasth systen. “Tt will open your door to the aechanies, the nystery and the world chich are Yaserthe le play in the "realms ‘of imaginations, o0° lt’ your Greens be your guides ALL Contents Copyright. 1865 David Pe Nalle ‘RAGNAROK ENTERPRISES 1402 21st ST. Nu Washington, 0¢"20036 send SASE for a free catalog of other Ysqerth products GG]4: THE GAME Ysgarth is a ane of the inagination, Tt allous you to create a fully developed character uho lives in another world, a world of fantasy and adventure. Gane nechanics provide a franguork far the world and your actions in ity so that your character can interact, believably with his envitonment. hen played at its best Ysgarth should “provide tools for” play without hindering your imaginative vision af the world and characters. A rule systen should not be static or Festrictive, and is made Yor, ‘you to adapt to "your reads. Ysgarth is an integrated systen which provides Guiding “systere “ror "social structure, chasactsr Psychology, background, religion, moral” philosophy, religion, education and’econonics.” All of ‘these can ‘mean much more than the mechanics’ for conbaty skills ‘and magic, uhich are also provided. It is up to you to take this’ framework and make it Live so that you can be more than a player or gamonaster, creating an ‘experience uhere you will be able to ‘become part of, another world. 1-12 ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM The Tule mechanics are divided into a nonber of sections, mostly contained in this and the next book. For practical purposes ue have done our best to divorce Pure mechanics from the background structure of the world of Ysgarth itself, though the integrated ‘nature of the system means that examples fron Ysgarth will be used for the social and situational elements uhich provide sone of the most important guidelines. The First book contains all of the hard rules for character creation, conbat and skill usa. The second book goes into detail on magic and teligion with ‘spells, pouers and mechanical systems. The third book goes into detail on background design and applications of the rules in the society of the world “of Yegarth From unich the gane takes its name. You" may find yourself referred from one book to another from tine to Eine If sone elenent of society or culture might influence the mechanics, One other aspect of the systen to keop in mind is that in many cases rules may be soneuhat variable. In such cases ue vill provide 3 standard rule which we have found most practical, but vue may also offer ‘alternate’ versions of the sane rule hich may be simpler or more complex, and perhaps better suited to your style of play. Yegarth mechanics, are not meant to be rigid, and depending on your interests one way of running’a particular rule may work better than another, and all styles of play are equally valid if you enjoy then, Standard” and” Alternate Versions of rules will be ‘kept conpatible with the general rule syste so that they can be used with equal effectivengss. This means that there ate no’ rules uuhich are "right", so don't necessarily ‘play by. the book, play by what feels best for you. 1424 THIS. 800K This book contains most of the necessary rules of Yeqarth, with the exception of “rules “governing” tho Specifics of magic and religion, with ests: ‘boc can create characters, carry out conbat and use skills: Tt should be noted that” sone aspects of magic, and religion are covered. here, mainly” those “iovelving Skilfs""ond' characteristics. “They’ may seen “bie aystifying, but there is no feed to” worty “sbout® then and they Bécore Clear when applied in book tos Also note. that there ares fair. ‘ninber of abbreviations in this books They should be kept, track of carefully, and are fully explained the’ first. Cine that they afe useds 1.38 THINGS YOU NEED alge fron the rules, the gain thing you, need to play Ysgarth is 2 healthy imagination, Paper’ and berets ull? heip dn recording eniagse, Bice might alse be helpful. 10 sided dice are essential, and other varieties night also be helpful in sone casess All of the math involved in creating a character is sinple, but a calculator could speed things up a bit. Keep” in mind that almost all the math you need to’ do takes place uhen a character is created, and after that point things becone much sinpler. 1.4 THINGS TO KNOW ‘There are several constant practices which should bbe pointed out before you start. On all charts, tables and formulae, if you have a fraction or ate between tuo unerical steps you should always roundup. If 3 Sermile gives a nunber and a characteristio(for exarple 2cHA), that means the characteristic should be multiplied by that number, -'D' is used as a standard abbreviation for ‘die. o if you see the term 1010 it means 1°10 sided dies2:CHARACTER CREATION ‘The character is the heart of role-playing. He is a person uno exists in the gape world, as real there as You are in this world. For play,te be fulfilling, = Maracter ‘should have depth of mind and enotion, with a Strong, distinctive personality. A good player can becone his character, seeing and feeling what the Character sees and feels and guiding the character's actions as if he were an actual living person. How you Greate your character and how you develop hin’ in play fan determine uhether or not you enjoy playing Yegarth. 2s14 THE CHARACTER CONCEPT ‘Various attributes are used to represent the concrete abilities uhich accompany the personality \iilch (the player, creates for |e character., | These Characteristics are mere nunbers to represent the inage af the character, the player creates in his sind. | They should not dictate the character's personality or be ‘Alloved to restrict imagination. They are intended as practical data used to determine the results of Character actions. At the sane time, the numbers should fit the image which the player has of his character. To this endy ¥: is set-up to allow you to fit the numbers to the character which you have already created in your mind. ‘then you start out to create 2 character, the first step is to get a poverful image of who he is. Think of him as a teal person before anything is set "on paper. Think ebout background, personality, where he cones From, uhat he has done, what he "has. suffered and enjoyed, Catalog his’ likes, dislikes, quirks, ‘obsessions, fears and beliefs. You should think about his childhood, his relationships, religion and his Place in the world and society. You should also think Of uhat he looks like, how he walks, talks and acts, uen hoy others react’ to Nine, Th any of this is cult, ask your ster for background, {ogee of examples. fry to make your cherecter a unique individual ho can be a working part of the world he inhabits, If necessary, you should urite all of this out for’ your oun reference, with a history or Gescription, but it is most, important. to get a mental Image to guide you through the mechanics of jcter creation. This system is ‘to let you create the character you want, so you vill be able to fit the hard nunbers to the image you have formed. 2.28 PRINARY CHARACTERISTICS ‘These twelve characteristics define the basic natural ability a character is born with, For normal. Characters they are ona scale fron 1 to 24 points. Most characters will average around 11. | They are divided into three groupings of four characteristics each. These are the Social, Mental and Physical groups. Tt is not necessary for a character to have ‘high scores in all areas and a variety of values keeps a character interesting and vell-rounded. fs described below, some characteristics are particularly useful for certain functions, but all have their value and none should be discounted. ‘The player determines the values of _ these characteristics by allocating points. Each player gets @ fund of points to spend as he chooses within certain Linitations. “This fund is equal to 120s3010.. The player must spend at least 36 points in ‘each of the Entree groups and no ore than 72 points in any single group of Four characteristics, No characteristic may be less than 1 or nore than 24, but beyond that there ate no restrictions on the distribution of points. Social Characteristics SOc ESTES S ToosEly formed group, representing how the character is perceived by and interacts with his society. Sone of the characteristics are subject to Change’ and adjustment, with tine and character actions. (APB): How the character Looks, including both physical attractiveness and such elenents as dress ‘grooms Character (neation. 4 Charisna(CHA): The force of a personality and ability to influence others, Bhaegs petfonal magnetsm and Tea character's ‘nclusi jtentiel as, leader. ZEA): The intenaity of a character's beliefs, his Geuotion to his god or noral. principles. Social Status(S0¢): The standing of a character in is “SSeletye nation ‘and. cultural group, including Bspects of educational opportunity and other advantages of breeding ical Characteristics can do and endure. They Anportant for conbat and survival under physical duress. They shou the limits, durability, speed and power of f the body. Gonstitution(G0w): Health and endurance, a key factor ppmining resistence to danage, fatigue and ‘Strength(STR): Physical strength, ability to lift, cart; bond; push and exert manual force, The amount & character can lift without strain is STR" Ibs. Dexterity(DEX)+ Manual manipulative ability, covering all areas of fine hand movement. Agility(AGI): Speed and gross body movement in ing, Teaping and dodging. Mental Characteristics ‘mental ability and intellectual power, sneayding faelilty for magis and aks Hotel igence(fvi)s Gesic intellect natured nontat sotto rt ee facility of reaction to situations and the oe gas (U0): Rational and decision making fing the ideas of wisdom, prudence and PeretT ipoone( WIL): Obst of x(WEL)s Oostinacy, strength of _ will, resistors any geselutensss, 3 weil as” resistence tO Change and stability of chatecters flent(TAL)s Peychic. and magical ebility strength ineloding fuck and potential to” man ERS"chutfonnent wlth the power" of the mind. 2.3: SECONDARY CHARACTERISTICS ‘These values are determined fron the prinary characteristics and used in various specialized They are explained here with lee hich are needed to find their fate Size Class(SC) S represents the gross physical size of the character. Hunan average is 12. Formlae for non hunan racas can be found in book’ three. For fenale characters SC should be reduced by 1. For normal hunan tnales SC is (7O+STR+CON+S0C+2020)/10. Height (HET) iis is determined fron SC. Average _hunan_ ales are about 67in. Females average about Ouin. HEI is in Inches. HEL 15 ((Sx3)+25+106in. Weight (ET) is 13 also found fron SC. ‘about 135lbs, ayerage females Ibs. Weight 15 Sc*-S0iobs. Average human males will wei will weigh about 11 (AGE) ‘The player should have the option to choose his age, but there are advantages and disadvantages to any ‘age. Generally characters should start at no younger than 15 and no older than 45, except in special cases uaith GM approval. Age increases ‘sone characteristics while decreasing others. All Physical Characteristics and APP decrease by 1 point per 10 years of ‘over 78(i.e. at 25, 35, 45, etc). S0C, WIL and JUO increase By,1 patnt atthe’ sand rate, Othir benefits are “noted