So here it is, my RPG project

Situational Complications
Characters will face many different situations and complications throughout their adventures. Whether ambushed by bandits or lying in wait for a scouting party, facing off against multiple opponents, fighting on horseback, laying siege to a castle, no two scenarios will play out the same. Below are a wide variety of additional rules for various methods of combat to implement as the situation calls for them.

General Complications
Ambush: Characters are able to lie in ambush, rolling Wisdom + Stealth at a difficulty set between 3 and 8 by the Storyteller based on how much time they spent preparing and how well hidden they are. Camouflage can replace Stealth, which makes it easier to hide in less time than when using Stealth. The number of successes earned on the roll is the number of successes characters being ambushed must beat on a Reflexes + Alertness, Awareness or Intuition (Difficulty 7) in order to spot the ambush in time to react.

If an ambushed character does not roll more successes than those who set up the ambush, they cannot react in time to act or defend in the first round of combat. If the character rolls 1 – 4 more successes than the ambush roll, the character can defend, but not attack. If 5 or more successes are rolled, the character can act normally.

Blindness: If a character does not possess Blind Sight, fighting blind is at a +5 Difficulty, though each level of Blind Fighting reduces this penalty by 1. However, it should be remembered that Blind Sight and Blind Fighting only have a range of 5m per the character’s Perception, beyond which the benefits do not extend and ranged attacks beyond this range cannot conceivably be made without magical aid, an incredible stroke of luck, or divine intervention. Blind characters may attempt to block or dodge ranged attacks made from outside of this range, but are at +2 Difficulty with Blind Sight, +3 with Blind Fighting and +4 without either.

Dazed: Should a character take more levels of any kind of damage in a single turn than her Stamina, the character becomes dazed and loses her next action. Should she become dazed and reach a -5 Die Penalty in the same turn, she must succeed on a Temporary Willpower Roll at Difficulty 7 or blackout for 1 hour if dazing damage or 1 day if lethal or aggravated damage.

Flank and Rear Attacks: If a character attacks an opponent from the side, the difficulty of the attack is at -1, attacks from behind are at -2. If the opponent is unable to turn to meet the attack, he cannot defend himself and any shield bonus is ignored; this also applies for rear attacks from range, but there is no difficulty modifier to the attack.

Height Advantage: Characters who have superior positioning in an uphill battle, whether on an actual hill, stairs or castle wall, are both harder to attack and to defend against. When fighting a character higher up on a gentle slope or short, wide steps, opponents are at -1 die to their attack and defense rolls. On steep slopes or steps, it is a -2 die penalty. And when attempting to scale a vertical wall or cliff to get to the character or when climbing a ladder, opponents are at -3 dice to attack or defend against the character with Height Advantage.

Immobilization: Characters attacking an immobilized or fallen target are at -2 Difficulty for close combat or -1 from range if target is still struggling while no roll is required for close combat and -3 Difficulty from range if target is completely immobile.

Multiple Actions: A character under an effect of a spell or enchantment to grant him extra actions in a single round can treat each extra action as if it’s the only action they are taking in that round with the exception that Initiation is not rolled for each action, but instead, the character’s Base Initiation Score is given a cumulative +5 bonus for each action the character has left when the action is taken. This means that if a character is granted 3 extra actions in a turn, he has a total of 4 actions in a single round of combat. If he has an Agility of 3 and Reflexes of 4 and rolls a 5 for Initiation, he has a Base Initiation Score of 12. His first action is at +15 Initiation, +5 x3 actions left, for a total Base Initiation Score of 27. His second action is at +10 for a total of 22. His third action is at +5 for a total of 17, and his fourth and final action is taken at a Base Initiation Score of 12.

If a character wants to take more actions than what is granted by spells or enchantments, or wants to take multiple actions despite not having any magic to grant him extra actions, he must instead split his die pool. When a character splits his die pool, he can only take 1 action per 5 Base Initiation, meaning a character must have a Base Initiation Score of at least 10 to take 2 actions, 15 to take 3, etc. by splitting his die pool. He then splits his Base Initiation Score between each action he intends to take to determine the order in which those actions are declared.

Once all of his actions are declared, he takes his Agility + Reflexes (but not Instincts) + the lowest Ability of the maneuvers he declared for the total number of dice he can divide between each of his declared actions. Specialties are then applied to each individual action, meaning if a Specialty can be applied to each declared action, they each can get either a +1 die or a -1 Difficulty to the roll. Each action is then rolled at a cumulative +1 Difficulty after the first action (the second action is at +1 Difficulty, the third at +2, the fourth at +3, the fifth at +4).

Off Hand: If a character attempts to use a weapon or other relevant actions (such as Precision Rolls, but not Brawl or unarmed Martial Arts) with his off hand, it is at +2 Difficulty unless the character has the Merit Ambidextrous.

Two Weapons: Characters using two weapons at the same time suffer a +1 difficulty to all attacks using those weapons, this includes using a weapon and a shield, and is in addition to the +2 difficulty for using a weapon with a character’s off hand. The Shield Technique removes both Difficulty Modifiers for Two Weapons and Off Hand when wielding a weapon and a shield at the same time, while the Dual Weapons Technique removes just the +1 difficulty to both weapons but not the +2 difficulty for Off Hand.

It also requires splitting the die pool to attack with both weapons in a turn; however, before splitting your die pool, you may count the lowest Trait involved twice (Agility, Reflexes, or the lowest applicable Ability) so long as the attacks alternate which weapon/hand is used. It also grants a +5 Initiation bonus when figuring how many times the pool can be split, but when splitting actions, the Base Initiation Score of the first action cannot be higher than the score before the +5 bonus. This also applies if a character intends to use Brawl attacks, using different arms, or an arm and a leg, or an armed and unarmed attack, or an armed or unarmed attack and block, but the Off Hand and Two Weapons modifiers do not apply if a weapon is not held in each hand, and using different legs does not count. If holding two melee weapons, opponents are at a +1 Accuracy Modifier for all close combat attacks against the character, and the character can Parry at -1 Difficulty if done as a full pool action using both weapons.

Visibility: Visibility can either be clear, nighttime or obscured. Clear visibility means the character can see clearly with no penalty. Nighttime vision imposes a +1 Accuracy Modifier on all sight-based rolls to identify or target other characters and objects within the obstructed vision range, such as Perception, Alertness, and combat rolls while characters attempting Stealth Rolls at night are at -1 Difficulty. Obstructed vision means there’s smoke, fog, or other conditions that make a character’s vision hazy or very poor (characters with the Flaw Poor Eye Sight are considered to have obstructed vision when it is otherwise clear, and blindness when normally obstructed). This imposes a +2 Accuracy Modifier on all sight-based rolls and -2 Difficulty to Stealth Rolls. Remember that Blind Sight negates these rules and Blind Fighting reduces penalties for combat rolls by 1 per level if in range of effectiveness, which is 5m per level of Perception for both.

Ranged Combat Complications
Aiming: A character may spend turns aiming any firearm or archery weapon, adding a die to the attack pool per turn spent up to a maximum of the character's Perception. The character cannot move during this time, nor can the target be moving any faster than walking speed. If a scope is used, the character gets an additional +3 bonus for the first turn spent aiming.

Called Shots: Though rules for calling certain hit locations are explained above, sometimes a character will only want to graze a target, or aim for an inanimate object instead. If trying to graze a target, the character must first choose the hit location he wants to graze, then adds an additional +1 to the Accuracy Modifier. If the character rolls enough successes to hit even after applying the Accuracy Modifier and subtracting the opponent’s defense roll, he hits, but only rolls 1 die for damage. If the character doesn’t roll enough successes, the attack misses. If the character instead aims for an inanimate object, the Storyteller should assign an Accuracy Modifier of 0 – 5 to the roll depending on the size of the target.

Long Distance: Characters trying to hit opponents more than 25m away are at a +1 Accuracy Modifier to hit, at over 50m, it is +2 Difficulty, at over 100m, +3. This can be negated by spending an equal number of turns aiming, however, they do not get the added dice that aiming normally gives unless spending extra turns beyond this. With a scope, a single turn of aiming makes up for any range and gives a +1 die bonus, plus an additional bonus per turn spent up to the character’s Perception Rating. Characters being targeted by an opponent over 25m away needs 1 less success on a Dodge roll to successfully Dodge, 2 less successes if being targeted by 50m away, and 3 less successes if from over 100m, however, they must first know they are being shot at, otherwise, they won’t know to dodge.

Movement: Shooting at a moving target, or shooting while moving raises the difficulty +1 at walking speed, +2 if at a jog, and +3 at sprinting speed and an additional +1 beyond this for each extra full pool action a target has in the turn (+4 if the target can act twice in a turn without splitting his die pool, +5 if the target can act 3 times, etc). If both the character and his target are in motion, the modifier is applied twice per speed each character is moving.

Multiple Shots (Rate): Archery Weapons can a number of times in a turn as a character can manage per the Reloading Rule. Firearms can be fired a number of times in one turn equal to the weapon's Rate in a single turn regardless of how many actions a character has. Each shot fired after the first receives a cumulative +1 Difficulty, and each target aimed at (whether on a person’s body or two or more opponents) per turn requires one to split their pool or a second action; however, each extra shot fired at the same target uses the same pool as the shot before it (if you try to hit a guy in each shoulder, or tried to shoot two people in the same turn, you’d have to split your die pool, but if you aimed your gun and squeezed off three rounds without re-aiming, you’d roll 3 times at a full pool, the 2nd shot at +1 and 3rd shot at +2 Difficulties). A number of Thrown Weapons can be thrown in a turn equal to the character’s Agility regardless of how many actions a character has.

Point Blank: Ranged weapon attacks against opponents within 2m of the character are done at -3 Difficulty.

Range: The listed range of a firearm or archery weapon is considered the maximum distance in meters it may be fired at normal difficulty. Once it exceeds the Range, to up to 1.5x the Range, it is at +1 Difficulty, from beyond 1.5x the Range to 2x the Range, it is at +2 Difficulty. Beyond this, it can no longer be fired accurately, and will likely fall short of the target even if it could. If target is within 1 yard, it is considered point blank range, giving a -3 difficulty, but it can be dodged as if a close combat attack, and if the target beats the character’s Initiation, can disrupt the attack to prevent him from shooting.

Reloading: Reloading a weapon requires one turn per Reload Rating. A Willpower point may be spent to reload two weapons at the same time or cut the reloading time in half.

Mounts
Mounts can either be sentient or non-sentient, as well as small, medium, or large. Small mounts are the most common mounts, such as horses, pegasi, unicorns, and great hogs, and have 12 Overall Health Levels. Medium mounts include gryphons and elephants, and have 15 Overall Health Levels. Large mounts are mainly the various dragons of the world, both wild and sentient, and have 20 Overall Health Levels.

Sentient Mounts: Unicorns, Gryphons, Wyverns, and Amphiptere have been known to ally with those of the mortal races, mainly members of the priesthood, for various reason and to allow them to ride upon their backs so long as the mortal shows the proper respect. No sentient being would call a stranger its master, nor allow one to ride upon its back without good reason. They have their own stats, their own will, and their own motivations, just like any other character within the game, and should be respected and treated like a close friend, lest the character wishes to quickly find himself without a willing mount.

Non-Sentient Mounts: The most common types of mounts are those without sentient souls and have the usual Physical and Instinctive Mental Attributes as well as the Personality Attributes: Temperament, Nerves, and Familiarity. All mounts have the same cap for Mental Attributes at 5, but for Physical and Personality Attributes, small mounts are capped at 6, medium at 10 and large at 15.

Personality Attributes determine how easy mounts are to tame and control. Temperament is a measure of the mount’s aggressiveness and disposition. A high Temperament is indicative of a willful mount that’s hard to control, but is more likely to get angry and violent when spooked or threatened, while those with lower ratings are more docile, but more likely to flee and therefore less suitable for combat. Nerves are a measure of how high strung and easily spooked a mount is. High Nerves mean a mount is slow to trust, jittery and easily set off, making it both hard to control and not very good for combat situations. Familiarity is not so much an Attribute, as a measure of how familiar the mount is with the rider, raised through time spent with the mount of the level of care provided by the rider.

The Difficulty of riding and commanding a non-sentient mount is its Temperament + Nerves – Familiarity + the Character’s Animal Ken + Animal Taming, with a minimum Difficulty of 5 for small mounts, 6 for medium mounts, and 7 for large mounts. In combat and other dangerous situations, a player must roll the mount’s Temperament at a Difficulty of its Nerves, if this roll does not succeed, the mount will flee the battle or otherwise avoid the danger and not obey the character’s commands.

Mounted Combat: Characters attacking while mounted use the lower of their attack’s Ability or their Ride Ability, are at +1 Difficulty unless they possess the Mounted Combat Technique and cannot use unarmed attacks and weapons with a reach of less than 1/2m on a small mount, 2m on a medium mount, and can only use ranged weapons on a large mount unless first using the maneuver Low Ride. However, they are at +1 Damage on a mount at a canter, +2 Damage at a gallop, and +3 Damage on a mount in flight.

Characters attacking a mounted character are at +1 Accuracy for a small mount and need a weapon with a reach of at least 1/2m , +2 against a character on a medium mount and need a weapon of at least 2m, and +3 Accuracy against a character on a large mount, needing a ranged weapon. If the mounted character is using the maneuver Low Ride, or if attacking the mount instead of the rider, there is no Accuracy Modifier.

Aerial Battles
Seraphim, dragons, gryphons and other beings capable of flying have a large advantage over those unable to do the same, being able to stay out of range of those unable to fly until they choose to move in for an attack. Grounded characters trying to attack flying opponents with close range weapons can only do so if the opponent moves in for an attack on the character or another character that is on the ground, and cannot have an Initiation score of more than 5 less than the flying character. For example, if the flying character’s Initiation is 16, a character with an Initiation of 10 or less cannot attack him before he makes his attack and moves out of range again. Attacks against characters in flight are at +1 Difficulty, even if the attacking character is in flight as well. For ranged attacks, a weapon’s range is reduced to 2/3rds when attacking into the air and flying characters are at -2 Difficulty to dodge Thrown attacks and -1 Difficulty to dodge Archery attacks, while attacking from the air to the ground with ranged weapons doubles the weapon’s range.

Air Ships:

Naval Battles
Merfolk, Sea Serpents, Hydra, Naiads, and other denizens or the water are unrivaled in the murky depths. No amount of magic or gnomish engineering could hope to match the speed and maneuverability of the sentient races born to swim, and any offensive or defensive action taken by a land-dweller against any creature who lives underwater while in water as well is at +2 Difficulty, while attacking one of the sentient water-born races even from land while they are in water is also at +2 Difficulty, but defensive actions are at normal difficulty.

Boats:

Siege Weapons
Siege weapons such as catapults and trebuchet are hard to aim and generally ill-suited as usable weapons, mainly used to assault fortified walls and as an initial assault on massed armies. As a rule, siege weapons should be given a total of 10 dice, rolled at a difficulty of 7 against fortified walls, while against soldiers, a varying difficulty depending on how tight of a formation being fired into, from 5 for a heavily concentrated group of soldiers, to 10 (8 with at least 3 successes needed) for a wide spread formation, each success causing 1 damage against the walls, or causing 1 death to the group of soldiers. The number of successes may be multiplied by the number of siege weapons fired to simplify things, trebuchets able to be fired once every 3 rounds, and catapults once every 6.

Above all, it should be noted that siege weapons are used to slow a charging army or batter down the walls of a fortress, and cannot obliterate a standing army, nor be used to take out major characters of the story, be they main antagonists or player characters, as it is quite an anti-climatic way to die, though storytellers may kill of major supporting NPC’s if it suits their story.

War Scenes
Whether defending against an invasion by the orcish hoard or rival kingdom, or leading an assault against them, characters may often find themselves involved in large-scale battles. Storytellers may often wish to predetermine the results of such battles, or decide the outcome based on the actions and tactics taken by the characters, while others may want to leave it to fate. In this case, depending on the size of armies involved, the Storyteller should assign a die per 10, 100, or even 1000 soldiers in an army (rounding up), and roll them at a difficulty depending on the strategy being used, from 6 to 10, each success determining how many soldiers of the opposing side are killed during that round, and each side getting one roll per round.

Once again, player characters and main antagonists should not be among the casualties of such wars, as they deserve far more dramatic ends than being one of countless deaths in such a massive battle.

Environmental Complications
Whether difficult terrain on the ground, or adverse weather from the skies, the environment characters find themselves in plays a major part in their combat strategy, and any Storyteller should ask himself how the environment affects what the character does. What obstructions to a character’s view and aim are present? How easy is it for characters or their adversaries to hide? What difficulties to their movement does it present? Does their position give them an advantage over or disadvantage to their opponent? Below are a few different types of terrain and weather conditions and suggested rules to apply when facing such conditions. Multiple terrain and weather complications may apply at the same time depending on the specific environment.

Lighting Complications
Daylight (Cloudy): Daylight obscured by light clouds tends to provide the best visibility, giving clear visibility of 500m, with obscured vision going out to 1.5km, or until a building, forest, hill, or other obstruction blocks the view.

Daylight (Sunny): Daylight visibility when the sun is beaming down is the same as above with the exception of looking towards the sun, the glare of which may raise sight-based Perception Difficulties by +1 to +3 if looking into the glare. It can also be reflected directly into someone’s eyes to temporarily blind them. Blindness caused by bright light negates any bonuses from Blind Sight or Blind Fighting as it is caused by an overload of light, not a lack of it.

Night (Moonlit): Nights lit by the moons gives nighttime visibility of 2m per Perception Rating and obscured vision of 5m per Perception Rating on nights the moons are particularly dim, and nighttime vision of up to 5m and obscured vision of up to 15m per Perception Rating on nights they are particularly bright.

Night (Moonless): Nights when the moons are concealed by clouds or otherwise not visible in the sky have a nighttime visibility of 1/2m per Perception Rating and obscured visibility is at 2m per Perception Rating.

Campfire: Campfire light has a clear visibility range of 5m from the center of the fire in all directions with obscured vision ending at 10m from the center of the fire. However, the light also allows characters within the clear visibility range of the campfire to be targeted by ranged weapons at any range with only a +1 Accuracy Modifier for poor lighting on top of any normal Long Distance modifiers that may apply.

Lanterns: A more focused light source, a lantern provides clear visibility of 10m in the direction it is pointed with obscured vision ending at 15m. Characters in obscured vision range of a lantern are at -2 to Stealth Difficulties, while the areas the lantern is not pointed in fall under normal night visibility rules, and characters holding a lantern or within the lantern’s clear visibility range are able to be targeted outside of the range of vision at a +3 Accuracy Modifier by those who can see the light.

Torchlight: Relatively easy to make on the fly, but an inefficient light source, torches provide a clear visibility of 3m from the torch with obscured visibility ending at 5m from the torch. Characters targeting people within clear visibility range of the torch are at a +2 Accuracy Modifier.

Candlelight: Candlelight provides a clear visibility of only 1m with obscured visibility ending at 3m. Characters targeting someone holding a candle or in the clear visibility range of it are at a +2 Accuracy modifier to do so.

Weather Complications
Extreme Cold: In freezing conditions, characters must struggle to stay warm and active or succumb to hypothermia and frostbite. Thicker clothing can help keep characters warm, but the colder it becomes, the more necessary warm shelter. Each day spent traversing frozen, bitterly cold wilderness, characters must roll Intelligence (or Instincts) + Survival, Difficulty 7 or higher depending on the harshness of the conditions, the thickness of the clothing worn, and the availability of materials for building a fire and shelter. All characters traveling together each roll and all of their successes are added together then divided by the number of people in the group to determine the average success rating, which is always rounded down. The success rating must be at least 1 in order for the group to have stayed warm enough to survive the day while each additional success allows the characters to move 2km that day. If the average is bellow 1, the characters are unable to successfully stay warm and those who failed the roll succumb to hypothermia.

Once a character succumbs to hypothermia, he is at -3 dice to all rolls. The group must immediately stop and build a good shelter, requiring a new Intelligence (Instincts) + Survival roll (-3 for the characters suffering hypothermia), this time needing an average success rating of 2. The character(s) suffering hypothermia must then rest while staying dry and warm in order to recover by rolling Stamina + Endurance at the standard Survival Difficulty for the conditions once per day, however, for each average success rating over 2 on the Survival Roll to set up shelter, this Difficulty is at -1, while an average success rating of the Survival Roll of only 1 results in a +2 Difficulty to the roll. The die penalty is reduced by each success gained on the Endurance Roll, needing 3 successes in all to fully recover. If the Endurance Roll is botched, the characters suffering hypothermia are at -5 dice to all pools and if they fail or botch another Endurance Roll before fully recovered, they will die. If the average success rating of the Survival Roll to build shelter for those suffering hypothermia is less than 1, they also drop to -5 dice to all pools, and must roll again to build shelter, needing a success rating of at least 2 in order to give those suffering hypothermia enough warmth to attempt an Endurance Roll to recover, the characters will freeze to death if this is not accomplished, or if they fail or botch the Endurance Roll even if suitable shelter is built.

If a character botches a Survival Roll while traveling, but the group as a whole still has an average success rating of over 1, he succumbs to frostbite, losing a number of dice to all rolls equal to how badly he botched while using the effected limb until he can recover per rules described above. If more than one character botches a Survival Roll the same day, or if a character traveling alone rolls more than a single botch, the group or character encounters any number of dire mishaps along the way, such as falling into icy water, losing stocks of wood for fire, or other circumstances the Storyteller can devise to greatly impede travel and/or the character’s ability to survive the trek.

Fighting in extreme cold conditions don’t tend to do much immediately, though afterwards, the sweat worked up from the exertion may raise the Difficulty of the Survival Roll for the day the longer the character goes without stopping to change into dryer clothing and requiring an extra success on the roll.

Extreme Heat: Heat between 26 and 32 degrees Centigrade (80-90 degrees Fahrenheit), characters are at a +1 Fatigue Rating even if they are not wearing armor, between 32 and 38 C (90-100 F) it is at +2, 38 – 43 C (100 – 110 F) is at +3, 43 – 49 C (110 – 120 F) is at +4, and 49 – 54 C (120 – 130 F) is at +5. Beyond this, characters would be hard pressed to survive long without succumbing to heat stroke or other heat related demises.

Characters fighting in extreme heat are at -1 die to all pools for every 2 turns spent fighting in 49 – 54 C, for every 3 turns in 43 – 49 C, 4 turns in 38 – 43 C, 5 turns in 32 – 38 C, and 6 turns in 26 – 32 C. Once this penalty equals the character’s Stamina Rating, he must roll Stamina + Endurance – the die penalty, Difficulty 7, to keep fighting for a number of turns equal to the amount of successes. If this roll fails, or once the extra amount of turns are up (the die penalty continuing to increase as they do so), the character must spend a number of turns equal to the current die penalty to reduce the penalty by 1. If the Endurance Roll fails, the character is dazed for a number of turns equal to the die penalty. If it is botched, the character passes out from heat exhaustion.

Fog: Fog reduces visibility. For thin daylight fog, it reduces clear visibility to 15m and obscured visibility to 50m, denser fog can reduce it to 5m clear and 20m obscured. At night, nighttime vision is non-existent and obscured vision is reduced to 1m per Perception. Even with a light source, the farthest range is clear vision of 1m per Perception to the limit of the light source’s clear vision range, with obscured vision ending at a maximum of 7m or the range of the light source as the light reflects off of the fog.

Rain: Rain of more than a light sprinkle tends to cut normal visibility in half or more depending on how hard it is falling, it can also dampen clothes, causing a -1 Movement Penalty and cause untreated armor to warp or rust, potentially increasing its Movement Penalty and lowering it’s Armor Rating. Particularly heavy downpours or extended periods of rain can also cause flash flooding, the rules of which are covered below.

Snow: While light snowfall does little to visibility, heavier snowfall can reduce visibility just the same as fog, however, at night, the reflective white surface of ground covered in snow can actually increase visibility by x3 the range under normal conditions and turn nighttime vision into clear vision. Moving through snow will also decrease Movement by -1 in ankle-deep snow, -2 at mid-calf, -3 at the knee, -4 at mid-thigh, and -5 while waist deep in snow. During heavy snowfall, movement is decreased by a further -1.

Strong Winds: Particularly strong winds can impede movement as well as increase Difficulty and decrease Range for ranged attacks if going against the wind or if the wind is swirling, it can also increase sight-based Perception Difficulties while looking into the wind as the gusts sting the eyes. The exact modifiers should be determined b the Storyteller based on how hard the wind is blowing. Usually, 20 – 30kmph would provide minimal penalties, with larger penalties for every 10kmph above this.

Terrain Complications
Cliffs, Walls & Ledges: Scaling a sheer cliff or wall requires both climbing tools or a ladder and a Strength + Climb roll, Difficulty 3 for a ladder, or higher depending on the quality and usefulness of the tools, requiring 1 success per meter climbed, plus an additional 3 successes once reaching the top to pull himself onto ledge unless the ladder is high enough to have over half his body above the ledge once he reaches it. If a character is climbing with another character hanging onto him, the Difficulty is increased by the Strength of the character being carried. Wearing Armor also increases the Difficulty by the Strength Requirement of the Armor, while heavy gear increases the Difficulty by +1 to +3 depending on the weight of the gear. When scaling a ledge guarded by an opponent above, the character must split actions between climbing and defending or attacking the opponent, at the +3 Accuracy to the attack or defense rolls due to Height Advantage.

When traversing a narrow ledge, a character must make an Agility + Athletics roll, Difficulty 5 if walking across a ledge 1m wide that can only be fallen off of on one side, the Difficulty raises to 6 if running, and 7 if fighting on the ledge, requiring the character to split actions between balancing and attacking or defending. A ledge between 1m and 1/2m raises the Difficulty by +1, while a ledge narrower than 1/2m raises it by +2. If the ledge the character is traversing is exposed on both sides, the character must score at least 3 successes on the roll to maintain balance. Therefore, fighting on a ledge of less than 1/2m with the character able to fall off of either side, such as while on a tightrope, requires an Agility + Athletics roll at a Difficulty of 9, needing at least 3 successes to maintain balance. Acrobatics lowers this Difficulty by -1 while the Perfect Balance Merit lowers this by -3. These rules can apply to a rope bridge with guardrails for balance, but only 2 successes are needed, and the Difficulty is lowered by -2.

If a character botches a roll, he automatically falls, but with a failure, he may make Reflective Save Roll by rolling Reflexes + Athletics at the same Difficulty to grab onto the ledge, needing the amount of successes the roll failed by to maintain a grip, a failure or botch both resulting in him falling. He then must make a Strength + Climb roll on his next turn, again at the same Difficulty, needing 3 successes to climb back onto the ledge, failing this roll means he is unable to do so and must roll Strength + Athletics, Difficulty 5 to maintain his grip and try again next turn, again needing 3 successes to climb up.

Another character may also attempt to grab a falling character, requiring a Strength + Reflexes roll, at a Base Difficulty of the roll the falling character makes, however, if the falling character’s Strength is greater than the grabbing character, the Difficulty is increased by the difference, while if the falling character’s Strength is less than the grabbing character, it is decreased by the difference. The grabbing character must score at least the number of successes needed on the roll to maintain his own balance (1 on a single-sided ledge, 2 on a rope bridge, 3 on a double-sided ledge), as well as an additional success to catch the falling character. A failure or botch, however, is liable to put the grabbing character in the same situation as the one falling.

To simply help a character climb up the ledge, the assisting character may make a Strength + Athletics roll, Difficulty 7 to add to the successes of the other character, a failure simply not being of any help to the character attempting to climb, while a botch causing the assisting character to fall over the edge.

Characters attempting to climb onto a ledge while fighting an opponent may instead attempt to pull the opponent off of the ledge if he wins Initiative, requiring a contested Strength + Athletics roll, Difficulty 7 for both. If the opponent wins, the attempt fails, but if the character fails to roll any successes or botches, he loses his on the ledge and falls. If the character wins, the opponent is pulled off, but if the opponent rolled at least 1 success on the contested roll, he may make a Reflective Save Roll to grab onto the character who pulled him off, needing the amount of successes he was beaten by. If this roll is successful, the character who pulled him off must make a Strength + Athletics roll at a Difficulty of 5 + the opponent’s Strength + his Armor’s Strength Requirement to maintain his grip, and must continue making this roll each turn until he makes his opponent lose his grip or is able to climb onto the ledge per rules above but with an increased Difficulty equal to the opponent’s Strength and his Armor’s Strength Requirement.

Both characters must then split their die pools between maintaining their grip with a Strength + Athletics roll, the character holding the cliff’s edge at the Difficulty determined above, while the opponent at a Difficulty of 6, and any other actions they take, including trying to climb back up at a Difficulty determined above, the opponent at a +2 Difficulty to the rules above when attempting to climb up the other character, normal punch and kick maneuvers, or making an Agility + Athletics roll, Difficulty 7 to either loosen something the opponent is holding onto causing it, along with the opponent, to fall from the character, or to pull the character’s hand off of the cliff, making both characters fall.

If the character on the cliff or ledge wins Initiative, he may conversely attempt to kick, stomp or otherwise loose the dangling character’s grasp, rolling Strength + Brawl vs. the opponent’s Strength + Stamina, Difficulty 7 for both, the opponent falling if the character can win this roll and deal at least 1 Damage. Even with armor, the damage roll cannot totally be negated and at least 1 die is rolled to see if Damage is dealt.

Fields: Walking across a field of grass going up to a character’s mid-calf is rather simple and straightforward, though running through an unfamiliar field requires an Agility + Athletics check, Difficulty determined by how uneven the ground is, how many rocks and holes are about to trip on and how high the grass, Storytellers may make it an extended roll to get to the other end, or a single roll. A failure means the character stumbles and falls from a misstep, a botch, and the fall injures the character, often with a sprained ankle. Grass up to a character’s knee to waist reduces movement by 1 Agility, grass higher than the waist by 2, it also provides convenient places to hide, lowering the difficulty of Stealth rolls by -1 to -3 depending on the height of the grass.

Forests: Many forests will be filled with underbrush unless treading a path through it, while some will have relatively flat, easily passable ground beneath the trees, but the trees themselves post a maze of obstacles, greatly limiting the Range of ranged attacks as projectiles can only go so far before striking a tree and give an additional +2 Accuracy Modifier to hit running characters. They also provide plenty of cover for characters to dodge behind as well as raising Perception Difficulties by +1 and lowering Stealth Difficulties by -2. Characters who have climbed the trees onto stout branches above also gain the Height Advantage. Nighttime in forests count as if the characters are in a fog unless in winter where the treetops are bare of leaves.

Fragile Terrain: Whether walking on thin ice, flimsy rooftops, or other surfaces that are easily breakable, the Difficulty to walk without breaking through is a Base Difficulty of 3 to 6 (determined by thickness of the surface, the thicker the surface, the lower the Difficulty) + the character’s Strength. Walking across the surface requires only a single success, 2 successes if running, 3 successes if jumping onto the surface, and 4 if falling. Whether the character fails or botches the result is the same, they fall through the surface. Characters may attempt to break the surface intentionally in front of or behind them to either cut off an opponent, or to make him fall through. This requires a Strength + Agility roll, Difficulty of 5 to 8, the thicker the surface, the more difficult, requiring at least 2 successes to prevent the surface under the character from breaking as well. If only 1 success is rolled, the character can try to jump to safety under the rules above, a failure and the attempt doesn’t work, while a botch causes the character to fall through. If the character is attempting to break the surface underneath an opponent, additional successes may be required depending on how far away the opponent is from the character, the more successes, the larger the hole that is made, and the more difficult it is to jump to the other side.

Hills: Going up hill decreases Movement by -1 or -2, while going down increases it by +1 or +2 depending on the steepness of the slope, it also provides a Height Advantage to those fighting downhill. Effective Range for characters using ranged attacks up hill is reduced by 2/3rds while Range is doubled when using them down hill; however, Firearms ignore this and maintain the same range in either case.

Ice: Any action taken on ice requires at least 2 successes are rolled to avoid slipping if both feet remain on the ground for the action, 3 successes if one foot leaves the ground, and 4 if the action involves jumping. If the roll is 1 or 2 successes short, the character slips, but a Reflexive Athletics roll can be made the same Difficulty of the feat performed to avoid falling, needing to make up the remaining successes necessary to succeed on the original roll. If the roll is short by 3 or more successes, the character automatically falls. Fragile Terrain rules may also apply if ice is not particularly thick and not covering a solid surface below, such characters walking on a frozen lake. Characters suffering a Push Off must also roll to maintain footing, needing 3 successes to do so.

Mountains: A combination of both steep hills and ledges, following the rules for one or the other at points, mountains also tend to be much taller and more difficult to climb than either, requiring the Climbing Ability to scale the upper reaches rolled at a Difficulty depending on the roughness of the slope and equipment used to aid the climber, as well as being potentially deadly to all but seraphim and clerics, wizards, sorcerers or mages to climb to the summit of for exceptionally high mountains due to a lack of oxygen no matter how experienced a climber attempts to reach the top. Characters not of the seraphim race who go past this kill zone without magical means of replenishing their oxygen supply lose one health level per number of hours equal to half their Stamina until they go back below the kill zone.

Moving Terrain: Whether small boats, rafts or logs flowing downstream, a speeding carriage, or any other swiftly moving surface a character may find himself on, he will also find it very difficult to keep his footing while taking other actions. A character must make an Agility + Athletics check each turn to keep from falling off the moving surface at the end of each turn, difficulty of 4 if taking no action, 5 if acting but keeping his feet ground or simply walks around, 6 if the character runs or takes an action in motion, 7 if the character attempts a kick maneuver, and 8 if the character jumps. To take an action other than balancing, the character must split his die pool between actions.

Mud (Slick): Slick mud acts like ice, though provides slightly better traction, needing 1 success less to maintain footing. Therefore, only 1 successes is needed to avoid slipping of both feet remain on the ground when acting, 2 successes if one foot leaves the ground or the character suffers a Push Off, and 3 if jumping. Again, if the roll is 1 or 2 successes short, the character can avoid falling by rolling Reflexes + Athletics at the same difficulty of the action, while failing a jumping roll causes the character to fall.

Mud (Sticky): Wading through sticky mud up to one’s ankles impedes Movement by -1, up to mid calf Movement is at -2 and any other action is at -1 die, to the knee, it is -3 Movement and -2 dice to all other actions, mid-thigh is -4 Movement and -3 dice to all other actions, being waist deep in mud or higher and the character cannot traverse it without becoming stuck, suffering -5 dice to all actions while stuck.

Quicksand: Nasty stuff to fall into, characters finding themselves within quicksand will sink in a number of turns equal to their Agility + Discipline, each action they try to take will reduce this by one. They can try to get themselves using Reflexes + Athletics, Difficulty of 9 if nothing is available to grab onto, needing 3 successes to escape + 1 additional success per turn spent in the quicksand. If there is a strong branch or something else to help the character pull himself out with, the difficulty is reduced to 7, while another character not in the quicksand helping to pull the character out can also roll Strength + Athletics, difficulty 5 + the immersed character’s Strength. A botch on either character’s part pulls the assisting character into the quicksand as well and undoes the already immersed character’s successes.

Sand: Moving through sand comes at a -1 Movement Penalty, but while moving uphill through sand increases it to a -2 or -3 Movement Penalty depending on the steepness.

Scree: Loose gravel that covers a sloping surface, scree adds an additional +1 Difficulty to Height Advantage, as well as the same to Climbing Difficulties when attempting to scale mountains. Failures and botches will also tend to send characters sliding down the slope as the gravel gives way beneath their feet.

Underbrush: Gnarled interlocking of thick weeds and bushes, underbrush is extremely difficult to move through, even with a machete or other sharpened object to swathe a path through it, underbrush impedes movement by -2, without aid to cut a path, movement is reduced by -5. If movement is reduced to 0, a character may move through it at a rate of 1m per turn, taking an additional turn to move 1m the further below 0 movement is reduced by. Meaning, if a character’s Agility is 3 and has no means of cutting a path through the underbrush, Movement is reduced to -2, taking 3 turns to move 1 meter through it.

Unstable Terrain: Surfaces that are normally still, but liable to move when disturbed, such as crates floating in still water, require characters landing on such surfaces to make a Reflexes + Athletics roll, Difficulty 8 to avoid falling as the surface moves under the impact of their landing. Each action taken on such surfaces where both feet remain on the surface requires the same roll at a Difficulty of 6 to stay standing, while kick maneuvers and other actions where one foot leaves the surface, the Difficulty is 7. Like with Moving Terrain, the roll for the action taken must be split to leave dice to make the balancing roll with.

Water: A little easier to move through than sticky mud, water gives a -1 Movement Penalty when wading through water up to mid-calf, -2 Movement and -1 die to other actions up to the knee, -3 Movement and -2 die up to mid-thigh, and –4 Movement and –3 die for all other actions at waist level. Higher than this, characters should follow the rules for swimming. If the water is moving, characters must also make an Agility + Athletics check to keep their feet as they move, difficulty 4 if wading a slow moving stream or shallow part of a river, 5 for a slow moving river up to the knees, 6 for a slow moving up to mid-thigh or quick moving one up to the knees, 7 for a slow moving river up to the waist or quick moving one up to mid-thigh, and 8 if a flash flood suddenly turns dry ground into a fast moving stream.

Maneuvers & Techniques
During character creation, players will decide the Abilities their characters know. Certain abilities allow characters to learn Combat Maneuvers and Techniques based upon those abilities. The ST will review this list and determine whether or not your character has been trained in them based on fighting style and experience. A Maneuver chart will be provided to choose from. You do not have to learn Maneuvers marked as Basic, as all characters, even those without any fighting Abilities whatsoever start with these automatically and they do not count against how many Maneuvers you can begin with based on your fighting Abilities. New Maneuvers can then be learned either individually with experience points, or by raising the relevant Ability.

Characters learning new Maneuvers can do so directly or indirectly as long as they meet the prerequisite. Directly means the character is formally taught the Maneuver by another character. If the character has taken the Patron Privilege in the regard of someone who is training him to fight, he can roll Wisdom + Patron per rules of the Privilege, or if the character teaching the Maneuver has the Instruction Ability, he can roll Wisdom + Instruction, difficulty 7, each success lowers the XP cost by 1 to a minimum of 1. Indirectly means the character watched the Maneuver being performed during combat and later attempts to duplicate it. This can only be done if the character meets the prerequisite and requires the character to practice the Maneuver at a +2 difficulty. Ten successes must be scored on an extended roll, one roll per day of practice, before the Maneuver is learned and XP can then be spent to learn it. A failure negates any successes gained so far, while a botch means the character cannot duplicate it and must wait until he watches the Maneuver performed again. Techniques can only be learned directly, otherwise, you may believe you have taught yourself how to properly utilize a certain type of weapon, but remain at a disadvantage to those who have had formal training in its use.

Maneuver Modifiers
Difficulty: The Difficulty at which a maneuver is rolled. Weapon Maneuvers will have a Difficulty Modifier instead of a Difficulty that modifies the Difficulty of the weapon they are using.

Initiation Modifier: Modifies the character’s Base Initiation Score, the result of which determines the order in which characters act in the next stage. Any character trying to use a Defensive Maneuver must match or exceed the Modified Initiation Score of his attacker or he cannot react quickly enough to defend himself.

Damage Modifier: The amount of extra dice the maneuver adds to the Damage Pool.

Movement Modifier: Some maneuvers allow a character to move more or less than the normal distance allowed in a turn while still being able to take an action. If a maneuver has a higher Movement Modifier than a character’s Agility, use his Agility as the Movement Modifier instead.

Special Effects: Special rules of maneuvers that can provide certain advantages or disadvantages to the character, such as a Dodging Maneuver’s Strength and Weakness or an Aerial or Crouching Maneuver, a maneuver that causes a Push Off or Knockdown, or a Reactive Maneuver.

Accuracy Modifier: A type of Special Effect causing certain maneuvers or situations to make it easier or more difficult to hit a character. Though in all situations, it takes at least 1 success to hit a character, a positive Accuracy Modifier adds to the number of successes needed on the roll per rules of an Extended Roll, but instead of getting extra rolls to get the number of successes needed, the roll fails if enough aren’t rolled. For Defensive Maneuvers, the Accuracy Modifier is the number of extra successes needed on the roll above the Attack Roll to succeed. In this case, subtract the Accuracy Modifier from the amount of successes rolled on the Defense Roll to determine if it was successful, or how much damage is added to the attacker’s Damage Pool. A negative Accuracy Modifier is applied only to Called Shots, and makes it easier to hit a desired location. A negative Accuracy Modifier cannot lower the amount of successes needed on a roll below 1.

Maneuver Points
When designing your own maneuvers, you get 1 Maneuver Point per Ability Level required to learn it for Athletics, Brawl and Weapons Maneuvers, while Acrobatics, Fencing and Martial Arts get 2 additional Maneuver Points to start with (3 points for Martial Arts 1, 4 for Martial Arts 2, etc). 1 Maneuver Point can “buy” -1 Difficulty, +1 Damage or +2 Initiation or Movement Modifiers. Conversely, a +1 Difficulty, -1 Damage or -2 Initiation or Movement Modifier can be placed on a Maneuver for 1 Maneuver Point to spend elsewhere. Difficulty can only be raised or lowered by 2. Damage can only be lowered by 2, but can be raised up to 5. Initiation can be lowered by 4, but can be raised as high as desired. Movement goes from -1 to -2 to 1 to 0 when lowering, 1 meaning a character can only move up to 2m when using the maneuver, and 0 meaning the character can move 1m at most, and when raising goes from +1 to +2 to +3 to +Agility (Agl), and even with +2 or +3, the maximum a character’s Agility can be raised by is the character’s Agility (Agility + Agility). The Storyteller determines the cost of Special Effects. Some suggested effects and their costs are listed under Maneuver Complications. The greater the advantage or disadvantage the more Maneuver Points the effect is worth. All maneuvers listed below follow these rules, so look to them as examples when designing your own.

Maneuver Complications
Aerial Maneuvers: Aerial Maneuvers are performed in the air and cannot hit Crouching characters or characters naturally low to the ground (such as Gnomes) unless specified by the Maneuver or opponent is large enough (such as Garou). Costs 1 Maneuver Point.

Block (Parry) Maneuvers: Maneuvers intending to deflect an attack, Block or Parry Maneuvers do not do damage, but get 4 extra Maneuver points when designing your own (+2 Initiation or Move, -1 Difficulty, or 1 Special Maneuver per point), as well as +2 Initiation to the next action taken if the block was successful and the next action is an attack against the opponent that was blocked. Unless otherwise noted, Block Maneuvers cannot defend against Grab or Throw Maneuvers. Block Maneuvers do not cost any Maneuver Points.

Crouching Maneuvers: These Maneuvers are performed low to the ground and cannot hit Aerial characters. Many Kick Maneuvers and some other Maneuvers can hit crouching characters, simply by declaring the Maneuver is directed closer to the ground. Costs 1 Maneuver Point.

Counter Maneuvers: Maneuvers that both defend and attack with the same roll. For a counter to successfully work, the character must roll more successes than his opponent, the successes left over is what is counted towards damage. Counter Maneuvers must be declared after an attack is declared on the character and the opponent cannot declare a Reactive Maneuver in response to one. These Maneuvers cost as 3 Maneuver Points. Ranged attacks cannot be countered unless Thrown Blades, and only with a maneuver designed to counter only Thrown Blades and costs 4 Maneuver Points.

Dodge Maneuvers: Maneuvers that intend to avoid an attack, they do not do damage, but get 4 extra Maneuver Points when designing your own (+2 Initiation or Move, -1 Difficulty, or 1 Special Maneuver per point), and can have Strengths, giving a -1 Difficulty to the Dodge Roll against those kinds of attacks, and Weaknesses, giving a +1 Difficulty to the Dodge Roll, which cost/give 1 Maneuver point per 2 kinds of attacks. Otherwise, Dodge Maneuvers do not cost any Maneuver Points.

Evasive (Evade) Maneuvers: Dodge Maneuvers that can be used to avoid multiple attacks with the same roll. If a character declares an Evasive Maneuver, he rolls it before any attack that was declared against him. The number of successes rolled is the number of successes any attacker must beat in order to hit him until the round is over, the character takes another action, or someone beats his successes. Evasive Maneuvers only give 1 Maneuver Point for not doing damage instead of 4 like other Defensive Maneuvers.

Knockdown: Knocks opponent to the ground, causing the character to become immobilized until spending a full pool action to get back to her feet as well as suffering a -2 Initiation to the action after. Knockdown cost 2 Maneuver Points when designing your own unless it only causes a Knockdown in certain instances, or causes the character to suffer a Knockdown as well, in which case, it costs 1.

Multiple-Hit Maneuvers: If more than one damage test is listed for a Maneuver, the character only has to make one attack roll and the resulting damage pool is rolled for each hit. This kind of Special Maneuver costs 3 Maneuver Points when designing your own for 2 damage rolls, and for each additional damage roll, it’s another 1 Maneuver Point.

Push Off: Forces opponent backwards up to 1/2 a meter per Strength rating, which may prevent opponent from performing her intended action if she does not have sufficient movement left to move back into attack range and giving the character a -1 difficulty to dodge or block the attack if she does. Costs 1 Maneuver Point.

Reactive Maneuvers: Maneuvers that can replace a character’s declared action in order to respond to an attack against the character by an opponent with a higher Initiation without needing to spend a Willpower Point. The character’s new Initiation Score after applying the modifier of the Reactive Maneuver must be higher than or equal to the opponent’s Initiation Score or it cannot be used. Costs 1 Maneuver Point.

Stun Damage: Maneuvers that cause Stun Damage as opposed to Lethal Damage. This costs 1 Maneuver Point and causes the Damage Modifier to be treated the same way as the Initiation or Movement Modifier, at 2 Damage per 1 Maneuver Point when designing your own.

Sustained Hold: A character in a sustained hold is immobilized, unable to perform any action but attempting to escape unless otherwise noted. To escape, the character must win a contested Strength + Brawl roll, Difficulty 7 (or Martial Arts, Difficulty 6) against the opponent, a tie going to the victim unless otherwise noted. If he has an action left for the round, he can roll Strength + Brawl as the action in order to avoid being caught in the hold all together. Sustained Holds last until the victim breaks free, the attacker voluntarily drops it, or a third person dazes, knocks out, or kills the holder. The character executing a Sustained Hold is likewise unable to perform any other action in order to sustain the hold unless otherwise noted. Sustained Holds that do not do damage cost 1 Maneuver Point while ones that also cause damage cost 3 for +0 Damage, which is counted towards Overall Health unless targeted, and damage can be rolled for each turn the attacker can successfully sustain the hold if he doesn’t take another action. Victims of a standing Sustained Hold (Grapple, Arm Lock, Tarn Hug, Chock Hold, Fighting Hold and Silencer) also count as cover for the character against Ranged Attacks in regard to the Accuracy Modifier but not the Dodge Difficulty. If the victim has 1 less Strength than the attacker, the attacker is at -1 Movement, with an additional -1 for each level of Strength higher the victim has compared to the attacker (-2 if equal Strength, -3 if victim’s Strength is 1 higher than attacker’s, etc). Unless otherwise noted, Block Maneuvers cannot defend against Sustained Holds.

Targeted Maneuvers: Some maneuvers target a specific hit location, not needing the extra successes to hit that location, but the maneuver must have a Difficulty of at least +1 and costs a number of Maneuver Points equal to the Accuracy Modifier of the targeted location on the appropriate Close Range Hit Chart when designing your own.

Throw Maneuvers: Throw maneuvers are ones that throw an opponent in a certain direction for a number of meters equal to the number of successes on the attack roll and cause a Knockdown at the cost of only 1 Maneuver Point when designing your own as the Tumble Maneuver can be rolled after damage is rolled on a Throw to potentially reduce all damage done. However, if an opponent is thrown into an object, extra damage dice may be given by the Storyteller based on how hard the object is, and how many meters the character was thrown compared to how close the object was. For example, if a character rolls 4 successes, his opponent is thrown 4 meters, and if a sturdy wooden crate or another character is 2 meters away, the opponent is thrown into the crate or person for 1 extra damage per 2 meters left (rounding down) once hitting the object. If the character had rolled 5 or 6 successes, 2 extra damage would be given. If it was a rock or other very hard object, 1 extra damage could be given per meter left. If an opponent is thrown into another character, the other character suffers the extra damage as well and must make a Reflexes roll, difficulty 5 + amount of base damage to avoid being knocked down. Hitting something while thrown prevents Tumble from being used. For each extra meter per success a Throw Maneuver does, it costs 2 Maneuver Points, and for another 2 Maneuver Points, half the damage of a Throw Maneuver cannot be negated by Tumble. For 1 Maneuver Point, a Throw, when used while the opponent is in a Sustained Hold, can have +6 to the Initiation of the maneuver when used normally. Unless otherwise noted, Block Maneuvers cannot defend against Throws.

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