Playing the Game
Time
A turn takes ten minutes. A combat round takes 1 minute.
Saving Throws
A saving throw or save, is an attempt to resist a threat. It is not rolled by choice, but called by the GM. Roll a d20 equal or over to succeed.
Monster Saving Throws: The value of a monster’s saving throw is calculated by subtracting the monster’s number of HD from 19.
Encountering Monsters
Roll the table below when first encountering monsters and modify the roll with the leading characters CHA modifier.
| 2d6+CHA | Result |
|---|---|
| 0-2 | hostile |
| 3-5 | unfriendly |
| 6-8 | neutral |
| 9-11 | indifferent |
| 12+ | friendly |
Combat
When the adventurers encounters hostile enemies, the action is structured in the following manner:
- Roll Initiative
- Party that won the roll acts first (moving, casting spells, attacking, etc.). Results take effect.
- Party that lost the roll acts. Results take effect.
- The round is completed. Start over from step two if combat has not been resolved.
Rolling Initiative
Each side rolls a d6 for Initiative, highest roll wins. If one side surprise the other, they roll with advantage. The winning side acts first (moving, attacking, and spell casting). The losing side follows after. If the initiative roll is tied both sides are acting simultaneously.
Types of Attacks
A melee attack is an attack made at close quarters (near). Ranged attacks are attacks with ranged weapons such as a bow or sling. When firing ranged attacks into melee, randomly determine if friend or foe is attacked.
The Attack Roll
To make an attack roll, rolls a d20 and adds any bonuses (HB if available, STR for melee attacks, DEX for ranged attacks, magic weapon boni if applicable) to the result. The attack roll hits if it is equal to or higher than the AC. Monster attacks add +1 to their attack roll for each HD they have. Roll damage according to the weapon’s damage die (add STR bonus for fighter).
Movement
Distances are close, near and far. A character can take one action and move near, or skip his action and move far. If a character’s inventory is full their movement speed is drastically reduced.
For long distance travel, characters can hike up to 12 miles in a day. They can hike 18 if travelling on roads and only 6 if travelling in rough terrain or under adverse conditions. All movement is reduced to a quarter of these values if their inventory is full.
Damage and Death
When a character is hit, the amount of damage is subtracted from their hit points. When these reach zero, the character is unconscious. They die at negative hit points equal to their level. Monsters die at 0 hit points.
Healing
Characters recover 1 hit point per day if they eat a meal and have a night of uninterrupted rest.
Treasure
Create a treasure hoard as you see fit. It is advisable to give out magic weapons and armor sparingly. Refer to the free Swords & Wizardry Core book or the Basic Fantasy SRD online for a list of magic items.
Advantage/Disadvantage
The GM might grant advantage or disadvantage for a roll. For advantage roll two of the relevant dice instead of one and choose the higher result, for disadvantage do the same but choose the lower result.
Ability Checks
Roll d20 over or equal a difficulty class of 12 for a regular check. 15 for hard, 9 for easy. Checks should only be rolled when the consequences are meaningful. Default to narrating player actions.
Encumberance
Each character has 10 or their STR value gear slots. Items smaller than an apple do not take up a gear slot. Coins and gems stack up to 100 in one slot. Other similar items stack up to a reasonable quantity (usually 10). Items that require two hands to hold require two gear slots.
The Usage Die
Items that are only available in limited quantities such as arrows, torches or rations utilize a Usage die (ud) to represent their depletion. When a resource is used, roll the associated usage die. On a 1 or 2 you move down to the next smallest die for the next roll. If you roll a 1 or 2 on the smallest die (d4) the resource is depleted.
For reference, the average number of uses per Ud is as follows:
ud20: 30 - ud12: 20 - ud10: 14 - ud8: 9 ud6: 5 - ud4: 2.