Introduction

Design and Progress Notes

This game is still a work in progress. Most of it is completely playable, but you may notice a few things here and there that seem to be missing, or issues with game balance. I still make somewhat frequent updates (as of early 2020) and alterations to the game, but usually nothing too major. The game is in a state ready for early playtesting, but if you decide to play, here are a few things to be aware of:

• The magic systems are likely to undergo relatively major revisions, and the spell selection is currently extremely limited.
• The equipment list is incomplete, aside from weapons and armor. Items still need descriptions, magic items will be added, and some prices and weights will be adjusted.
• There is no bestiary, and very little reference for how to handle NPCs and enemies.
• I may on occasion make a major change to an established system.

If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. If you'd like to contribute something, like new spells, monsters, or abilities, let me know.

Gameplay

A session of Heroes of Destiny consists of one player, the Game Master (GM), presenting a series of situations to the other players, who make choices on how their Player Characters (PCs) act. These choices then influence the state of the game world and the GM describes the results, often with the aid of dice to determine the success or failure of characters' actions. The game works best with one GM and between three and five other players each controlling a single PC.

Materials

Heroes of Destiny requires a large number of six-sided dice (at least 5 per player is recommended), which are read in a special way and may be specially marked to make reading them easier. Ideally, the dice will be marked with -- on one side, - on one side, + on one side, and ++ on another side, with the remaining two sides blank. You can modify Fudge or Fate dice, or read a standard d6 such that 1 is --, 2 is -, 3 and 4 are blank, 5 is +, and 6 is ++. These dice are called Wild dice. Other checks require standard Fudge dice, written as dF, which have an equal number of +, -, and blank sides. Rather than having an extra set of dice, you can simply use the Wild dice for this, reading -- as - and ++ as +.

Each player should also have a partial set of standard polyhedral dice (4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-sided, but no 20-sided). These dice may or may not all be used, depending on your character's abilities and equipment, and having multiples of certain dice can be helpful in some cases. The system also uses a d3 occasionally, which can be simulated using a d6 and dividing the result in half (rounding up). In addition to dice, each player will need some paper to track their information on (known as a character sheet). While not strictly required, you may want miniatures or other small objects to represent characters on a map or grid in order to handle movement and positioning in combat.

Core Mechanics

Dice are used to determine the outcome of any significant action with a chance of failure. There are multiple rolling methods and check types discussed below. Your attributes and skills influence the outcome of the rolls and together help to determine your character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

Many actions do not require rolling at all. If the risks are low and the odds of failure are small enough, you can generally assume your character succeeds without having to roll. For example, in most cases you don't need to roll to climb a ladder or jump a 3-foot gap.

Specific Overrides General

Many rules in the game apply to most, but not all situations. Others apply to only those who have specific abilities, who are a certain race, or in other special circumstances. Many specific rules contradict the more general ones. In all cases where there is a conflict, use the most specific rule applicable to the situation.

Determining Success

Whenever you attempt an action with a chance of failure, you make one of the checks defined below to determine if you succeed. Once you have a check result, add any relevant modifiers and compare that number to a target number (TN). If the total equals or exceeds the TN, your action has succeeded. Rules that call for a check will indicate what attribute and skill apply. If only one of the two is given, then the other counts as 0. If you have a relevant specialization in a skill, you may apply it to your result, even if it is not specified. Other numerical modifiers may also apply at the GM's discretion.

Passive Check: Add your attribute + your skill. This is most common for checks made on an ongoing basis, such as most of those using Perception, or as a defense in response to a special attack.

Standard Check: Begin with your passive check total, then roll 5dF, and add the result to the total, with each + adding 1 and each - subtracting 1. If you have a specialization in a relevant skill, you roll an additional 1dF per level of the specialization and choose the best 5 dice from the resulting set, ignoring the rest. Unless otherwise specified, if a rule asks for a check, make a standard check.

Wild Check: This is exactly like a standard check, except you substitute all Fudge dice with Wild dice, with each ++ adding 2 and each -- subtracting 2. This method has a wider range of possible values and a greater deviation from the average. It is used primarily in combat as an attack roll. If you succeed on the check and at least 3 dice show ++, it is a critical success, while if you fail and at least 3 dice show --, it is a critical failure. Critical successes and failures may have added consequences determined by the action being attempted and at the GM's discretion.

Opposed Checks

Occasionally, two characters will take actions directly opposing one another. When this happens, the GM chooses one side to make either a standard or wild check, while the other side uses their passive check. Whoever has the higher total wins. In the case of a tie involving an attack or defense roll, the attacker wins. Otherwise, a tie indicates there is no change in the current situation. For example, if one side is trying to open a closed door and the other is holding it closed, then a tie means the door remains closed. If it were open initially, a tie would mean the door stays open.

Compound Checks

For particularly long or complicated tasks, the GM may call for a series of checks rather than a single check. Completing the task could require a certain number of successes over any number of checks if there is no penalty for failure, a certain number of successes before a certain number of failures, or successes in several different types of checks. At the GM's option, the number of successes compared with the number of failures or how long it takes to accumulate enough successes may indicate the level of success or failure of a compound check.

Attributes

Your attributes have a major effect on nearly all aspects of a character and are the primary determinant of a character's general skills and abilities. Attributes represent mostly intrinsic elements of a character and thus rarely if ever change. Concerted effort over long periods can improve an attribute slightly, or they can naturally change slowly over a lifetime.

A score of 0 is equal to an average human's ability. A score of 5 is the peak of human achievement, while a -5 is the lowest score possible while still having a playable character. Certain creatures can have scores in the -10 to 10 range, but no player character can ever have a score higher than 5 or lower than -5 except temporarily through the use of magic.

Strength (Str)

A measure of how strong you are. Higher Strength allows you to carry more equipment and use heavier weapons, helps with many physical activities such as climbing and swimming, slightly increases your movement speed, and increases your damage with all weapons except for mechanical ones, such as crossbows.

Dexterity (Dex)

A measurement of your manual dexterity, finesse, and accuracy. Higher Dexterity primarily affects your ability to maneuver in dangerous situations and your accuracy with weapons.

Vitality (Vit)

Vitality represents your overall health, fitness, and endurance. Greater Vitality increases your stamina, improves your healing rate, and allows you to more easily withstand heavier blows in combat as well as certain debilitating physical effects, such as poisons.

Speed (Spd)

A measurement of your general movement speed and reaction time. Higher Speed increases your defense and allows you to move faster and take more actions in combat.

Lore (Lor)

Your general knowledge, education, and experience. A greater Lore score contributes to your knowledge of magic, culture, nature, and monsters, helps you more easily improve your skills, and allows you to get more use out of your magical equipment and spells.

Reason (Rsn)

An overall measurement of your magical prowess, intuition, common sense, and capacity for learning. A higher Reason score improves your defense and means your spells are more effective and you are better able to understand the workings of machinery, society, and nature.

Perception (Prc)

Perception represents how observant you are of people and things around you. A higher Perception score helps you to act earlier in combat, react more easily to your opponents' actions, and notice things others might miss.

Persona (Prs)

Persona measures your overall charisma, force of will, and determination. Greater Persona improves your communication skills and resistance to mental effects, and allows you to shrug off minor injuries more easily.

Creating A Character

There are several steps to creating a character, outlined below. It helps to have a clear concept for your character before you begin. Think of motivations, passions, fears, and other traits that will help to bring the character to life in play, as well as what sorts of skills and talents you envision your character having.

In a standard campaign, characters begin with 50 Experience Points (XP) and 105 (or 6d6 × 5) electrum pieces (ep). Characters introduced in the middle of a campaign should have total XP, money, and equipment comparable to the rest of the party. The GM may decide to start the campaign with a different amount of XP or money.

Step 1: Attribute Generation

The first step in creating your character is generating his or her attribute scores. Your GM will select one method of generating the numbers and one method of assigning them to attributes. Several choices are detailed below, but your GM may also have a custom method.

Generating the Numbers

Random but fair. Begin with eight scores at -3. Roll 24d8. Each time you roll a 1, increase the first score by 1 point. If you roll a 2, increase the second score by 1 point, and so on. If a roll would bring a score higher than 3, reroll that die. The resulting scores will be randomized, but add up to 0, guaranteeing all characters are on an even footing.

Random. Roll 3d3-6 eight times. These scores are likely to be centered around 0 with a modest spread. Having even one score of 3 or -3 will be fairly rare. Different characters will most likely not have the same total point value, but are unlikely to be more than a few points apart.

Random opposed. Roll 3d3-6 four times. Record the results and their inverses. These scores will have a modest spread and directly opposed strengths and weaknesses.

Highly random opposed. Roll 1d4-1 four times. Record the results and their inverses. High and low scores are much more likely with this method. Characters will have very obvious strengths and weaknesses.

Custom opposed. Create an array of four numbers from 3 to 0. Record their inverses. You can customize your scores, but each strength will have a directly opposing weakness.

Custom. Create an array of eight numbers from 3 to -3 with a total value of 0. You can customize your scores however you see fit, creating exactly the character you envision.

Standard array. Use the following array: 2, 1, 1, 0, 0, -1, -1, -2. This is equivalent to the average scores generated when rolling 3d3-6.

GM array. The GM determines an attribute score array and all players use the same array. This can be determined however the GM decides, either with set values or by another random generation method.

Assignment Methods

There are three ways to assign the numbers you have. Some generation methods are better suited to certain assignment methods than others.

Arrange as desired. Assign your scores to each attribute as you choose. This is best for people who know exactly what sort of character they want to play or who enjoy customization. These characters will usually be more powerful than those where scores are randomized, simply because players will be able to create characters whose strengths complement each other as well as working better with the rest of the party.

Random assignment. Assign your scores randomly among the attributes. If you already generated numbers in a random order, just assign them to the attributes in that order. This is best for experienced groups who don't mind having sub-optimal characters and for those who have no particular character in mind. It is highly likely that a resulting character will be unsuited to a specific desired role, so this method shouldn't be used when players are particular about their play styles.

Top three. Choose your top three attributes and assign the best scores to those in descending order. Assign the rest randomly. This is a compromise between fully random and fully customizable, generally allowing players to have the necessary strengths to play their desired character while making it likely they will have to deal with unexpected weaknesses as well.

Customize

After all scores have been generated and assigned, you may choose two attributes to increase by 1 point each. Your choice of race may modify attributes further.

Step 2: Select Starting Skills

Your skills determine how good you are at various common tasks, and one skill or another is applied to nearly all die rolls. You will be able to increase these as you gain Experience Points, but to begin with, assign the following bonuses and penalties to skills as you see fit. One skill begins at +3, two at +2, three at +1, four at 0, three at -1, two at -2, and one at -3.

Step 3: Select a Race and Size

There are several races to choose from, and your GM may add more or remove some from the list for your game. Beginning players and groups may wish to restrict their selections to the simpler races. Amyu, alidran, and niera can lead to especially complex characters. Once you have decided on a race, add any racial modifiers to your attributes and skills and record your initial stamina, mana, and any other racial features. Racial skill modifiers should be noted separately from your base skill level. Racial modifiers are added to rolls, but do not count as an actual level in the skill.

Each race lists a size or size range indicating how relatively small or large you are in comparison to others. If a range is given, select what size you wish your character to be or determine it randomly. Size affects many checks almost as an attribute does, and has additional effects. Unlike standard attributes, however, increased size comes with both advantages and disadvantages. Larger characters move slightly more quickly, can more easily wield heavier weapons with improved reach and damage, and are more resistant to damage and to certain effects such as forced movement. Smaller characters are harder to hit in combat, can jump slightly farther, and take less damage from falls.

Size is a general indication of your build and includes both height and weight as a factor. Typical heights and weights are shown in the table to the right, but these are not definite limits. If you are especially short for your size, you might choose to instead be on the heavier side, or you could be tall but thin, in order to keep a rough balance and stay in line with the guidelines. If there is a question, your height is generally more important than weight for determining your size.

You should also choose your initial languages at this point. You begin knowing two languages. In most cases, these will be the common tongue of the campaign region and another racial or local language.

Step 4: Spend Experience Points

Each character begins with 50 Experience Points (XP). These points can be spent to gain various special abilities, improve skills, learn spells, or increase your stamina or mana. Many abilities have prerequisites that must be met before you can learn them. These may include certain minimum attributes or skills, or other already-learned abilities.

Step 5: Purchase Equipment

Each character begins with 105 (or 6d6 × 5) electrum pieces to spend on equipment. This can be used to purchase armor, weapons, rations, clothing, and other adventuring gear. If you don't want to take the time to look through the full equipment lists or are unsure what to buy, you can instead select some starting equipment packages from the list below. Each package includes multiple pieces of equipment with the prices and weights added together for simplicity. If your Size is not 0 and the package includes armor, adjust the total cost and weight using the armor table in the Equipment section.

Clothing

• Cold weather: Boots, soft; Cloak, cloth; Coat, wool; Mittens. 8 ep. 9.00 lbs.
• Commoner (female): Cap or hat; Cloak, cloth; Gown, common; Shoes; Tunic. 8 ep, 3 sp. 8.25 lbs.
• Commoner (male): Belt; Boots, soft; Breeches; Cap or hat; Cloak, cloth; Tunic. 7 ep, 2 sp. 7.95 lbs.
• Scholar: Belt; Cloak, cloth; Gloves; Hose; Robe; Shoes. 10 ep. 8.80 lbs.

Profession

• Soldier: Arming sword; Dagger; Light crossbow; Small shield; Spear; Gambeson; Backpack; Bedroll; Lantern; Mess kit; Oil, lamp (8 oz); Waterskin (1/2 gal). 87 ep, 4 sp. 34.50 lbs.
• Thief: Buckler; Dagger; Short sword; Leather coat; Backpack; Crowbar; Grappling hook; Mirror, steel; Pouch; Rope, hemp (50 ft); Thieves' tools. 76 ep, 8 sp. 34.00 lbs.
• Tome Wizard: Dagger; Quarterstaff; Chalk, stick; Ink, black (1 oz bottle); Lamp; Oil, lamp (8 oz); Paper; Pouch; Scroll tube; Tome, spell; Vial, glass (2 oz); Wax, sealing. 61 ep, 9 sp. 10.45 lbs.

Tools

• Camping: Bedroll; Blanket; Flint and steel; Mess kit; Tent, small. 13 ep, 3 sp. 25.05 lbs.

Step 6: Calculate Derived Statistics

There are many commonly-used values that are based on others. These should be calculated in advance and noted on your character sheet for easy reference as needed. Use the following formulas to calculate these statistics. If you have any special abilities that modify the base values, include those modifications as well.

• Melee Defense: Speed + Reason - Size + all weapon block bonuses. If Speed + Reason is less than -5, use -5 instead.
• Ranged Defense: Speed + Reason - Size + defensive weapon block bonuses. If Speed + Reason is less than -5, use -5 instead.
• Immobile Defense: -5 - Size.
• Melee Weapon Attack Modifier: Dexterity + Melee + weapon group specialization + weapon's accuracy.
• Ranged Weapon Attack Modifier: Dexterity + Aim + weapon group specialization + weapon's accuracy.
• Spell Attack Modifier: Reason + Arcana + spell school specialization.
• Power: Strength + Size + Athletics + Power specialization.
• Agility: Dexterity - Size + Reflex + Agility specialization.
• Fortitude: Vitality + Resistance + Fortitude specialization.
• Willpower: Persona + Resistance + Willpower specialization.
• Base Initiative: 15 + Perception + Reflex + Initiative specialization.
• Surprised Initiative Penalty: 5 - Perception.
• Movement Rate: See the table in the Combat chapter.
• Overland Movement Rate: (10 + Size + Athletics + worse of Speed and Vitality) divided by 3 in miles per hour. This rate times 8 is your speed in miles per day.
• Light Wound Slots: 5 + Persona.
• Other Wound Slots: See the table in the Combat chapter.
• Base Toughness: Vitality + Size.
• Armored Toughness: Base toughness + armor's toughness modifier.
• Weight Allowance: See the table in the Equipment chapter.
• Maximum Weapon Heft: See the table in the Equipment chapter.
• Fall Height: 5 - half your Size.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

All characters should have a personality, physical description, goals, and general outlook on life. Look at your character's attributes and abilities and see what that says about him or her as a person. Are they strong but clumsy, smart but uneducated, or skilled and overconfident? Come up with some interesting mannerisms and personality traits that will be easy to bring to life during the game through roleplaying. Be sure to also include some of the more mundane statistics like height, weight, sex, and general appearance. Finally, if you haven't already, come up with a name that meshes well with your GM's setting and the rest of the party's characters.

Character Advancement

Characters are able to advance in skill and power by acquiring and spending Experience Points (XP). Depending on your group's style of play, XP can be gained in several ways. The most common way to gain XP is by accomplishing some defined goal, whether chosen by the players or by the GM. The more challenging or important the goal, the more XP is awarded. Use the table to the right as a rough guideline of how much XP to award for each goal. Some groups prefer faster or slower advancement than the default, so feel free to adjust the numbers to match your preferences.

Minor goals include things like finding a hidden treasure cache, overcoming or bypassing a small group of enemies, learning a piece of relevant information, and so on. Moderate goals might include exploring and clearing a dangerous area, discovering a major clue leading to the capture or confrontation of a villain, or overcoming a strong threat through skill and planning. Major goals are those that advance the story of the campaign in some large way, such as driving away a whole tribe of orcs threatening a town, uncovering a massive treasure horde guarded by traps and monsters, confronting a prominent villain and disrupting his plans, or gaining the favor of the king and convincing him to mobilize his armies. The actual goals will depend on your group and exactly what situations you find yourselves in.

Most XP should be awarded to the entire party in order to keep the characters at roughly equal power levels. GMs may choose to give additional XP awards to individual characters based on good ideas, roleplaying, or similar activities that increase enjoyment for everyone at the table. Suggested awards are listed in the table.

Spending Experience Points

Experience points you earn must be spent in order to give you any benefit. You can spend them on new abilities, ability upgrades, or spells, or to increase skills, specializations, or your maximum stamina or mana. The table below shows the costs for each of these options.