• Introduction
• What is Gaming? and Preparations
• Character Creation
  • Suggested Skills List
  • Suggested Powers System
  • GAME Character Sheet
• Finishing Touches
• Gaming and Dicing
  • Combat Options
  • Ideas for GAME Mechanics
  • GAME: Live Action Role-Playing
    
• After the Session
• About this Game

  ---

  (c) 2006 Jacques Treatment Labs

Introduction

GAME came about because my friends and I liked role-playing games, but not everyone was able to make every session each week. We ended up having several different games running simultaneously, and each time we started a new one, the entire first session would end up being devoted to character creation. In addition, if a new player wanted to join, he or she wound up sitting out for a couple of hours for the exact same reason. This would have to stop. In addition, most of the systems we used had something in them that didn't work. Some had mechanics that were statistically 'broken,' making an extremely competent character more likely to botch a die roll than a complete idiot. Some had complicated combat systems. Some were simply so contorted that while the game itself was simple, looking up a particular roll took half an hour. This would have to stop.

From this overall frustration, GAME was born. I'd always wanted to write my own role-playing system, and having been involved with them for fourteen years, I knew I was ready. Bringing in inspirations from Steve Jackson's GURPS, White Wolf's World of Darkness series, Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu and a few other ideas from the gaming sessions themselves, I was ready to start.

I designed this system with three main things in mind: speed, flexibility, and overall ease. It had to be straightforward and fast to create a character and play the game, which meant being organized and keeping the mechanics simple. It had to suit any character, from the prehistoric to the futuristic, without any changes. It also had to be so easy to play that you could skim the rules in five minutes and join a game already in progress. This is what I have done.

• GAME was created with speed in mind. If you can add, subract or multiply by two, that's about all you really need. There are few tables, fewer modifiers, and almost no reasons to look anything up once your game starts. This game is meant to be played, not pored over.
• GAME is adaptable to any world in any novel or from any other game. Its structure is modular and flexible. Do you like another game's magic system? Bring it in! Does your idea require additional statistics? Tack them on! This system is bare-bones enough to be your jumping-off point to whatever adventure excites you.
• GAME is just plain easy. It was designed so that you and your friends could say, "Let's GAME!" and start in a matter of minutes. There are no special rules. Let's get to it, shall we?

What is Roleplaying?

Said at its simplest, it's what actors do, only everyone gets to make up his or her own character and decide what it does. One player, called the game master, or GM, narrates the story and helps determine whether or not your character succeeds or fails. The game system itself provides the rules everyone uses to keep the plot moving.

Role-Playing Games (RPGs for short) can be short, one session stories, or can expand into long-lasting series of stories (sometimes called "campaigns" or "chronicles" in other game systems). Since the GM determines the nature of the story, it's possible to play a game set in high fantasy or in history, or in a realistic modern-day environment. As such, they can be used for fun, or as a tool to teach the players about history, science, religion or any number of topics.

Preparation

You need some six-sided dice (if each player brings three, that will be enough), pencils and paper. If you want to get fancy, can also use other things, like maps, miniature figures, and photocopied or printed character sheets from this book.

Character Creation

Okay, so you and your friends have decided to play a game, decided on what type of adventure it's going to be, whether it's fantasy or science fiction or horror or whatever. You are going to need to make up a character to play. Think about what sort of person you would like to portray. Is he a thief? A soldier? A detective? A priest? This is where you make those choices.

Your game master will tell you how many character points you get to create your idea. Fifty (50) points is enough to make a reasonably exciting person, one hundred (100) points is enough to create someone truly outstanding, and five hundred (500) points would make someone superhuman!

Once you have an idea of what you want to make, it's time to write the character up in game terms. At this point, you may with to print out a GAME Character Sheet. There are five categories of traits he or she can have: attributes, powers, skills, abilities, and disabilities. While I wrote this, I used a handy index card to develop a sample character for you. Let's call him Kard.

Attributes

There are nine attributes in this game:

ST (Strength)	WI (Willpower)	CH (Charisma)
AG(Agility)	IN (Intelligence)	EX (Expression)
HE (Health)	PE (Perception)	AP (Appearance)

Each of the attributes governs a general facet of how your character does on a day-to-day basis:

STrength represents how much brute force a character can apply at any given time. A low-Strength character would be unable to lift much, while a high-Strength character could perform great feats of lifting and throwing.

AGility describes how flexible, graceful, and coordinated a character is. A low-Agility character would be clumsy, while a high-Agility character could move with great speed and skill.

HEalth determines how hard it is for a character to get hurt. A low-Health character would get sick easily, while a high-Health character would be incredibly fit.

WIllpower represents how well a character can keep his or her resolve. Low-Will characters are easily distracted or tempted, while High-will characters can keep their mental focus.

INtelligence describes how quickly and how well a character thinks and learns. Low-Intelligence characters are unable to figure out puzzles, while high-Intelligence characters can manage even the most difficult problem-solving tasks.

PErception determines how much a character will notice what's going on. Low-Perception characters are oblivious to their surroundings, while high-Perception characters are alert and aware.

CHarisma represents how well a character can hold people's attentions. Low-Charisma characters have trouble commanding attention, while high-Charisma characters can easily lead a social group.

EXpression describes how well a character persuades or informs others. Low-Expression characters have trouble getting their ideas across, while high-Expression characters can persuade others easily.

APpearance determines how attractive a character is. Low-Appearance characters have a harder time making a good first impression, while high-Appearance characters get much better reactions from strangers.

A person of average ability in a given attribute has a score of ten (10). If you want to give your character a higher value in a given attribute, you would spend points--and if you wanted to make a character who is below average in that ability, you would get points back. Each attribute costs the same amount and is rated on similar guidelines:

If you need to have a higher value than that, think of it this way: if you want an attribute level n points higher than ten, it costs n^2 points. [Example: A score of thirty (30) is twenty (20) points higher than ten, so it would cost 20^2 = 20 x 20 = 400 points!] If you want to buy something you can't afford, you can lower another score for more points. Your Game Master may set arbitrary upper and lower limits on attribute levels.

I decided Kard would be a wanderer, the sort of guy who took whatever job was handy, be it as a soldier of fortune, a thief, a sailor, or anything else that might come to mind. I figured he would have to be reasonably agile to be a mercenary, and have an excellent mind for learning a whole host of skills. I finally chose to give Kard the following statistics:

 

ST 10 (0 points)	WI 10 (0 points)	CH 10 (0 points)
AG 12 (4 points)	IN 13 (9 points)	EX 10 (0 points)
HE 10 (0 points)	PE 11 (1 point)	AP 10 (0 points)

Total Attribute Cost: 14 points

Skills

Quite simply, skills are things your character has learned: climbing, running, math, swordsmanship, story-telling... Your skill level adds directly to one of your attributes (which one depends on the situation) when you need to see if you succeed. To buy n skill levels, it costs n^2 points.

... and so on.

Optionally, at for every four levels of skill that your character takes, your GM may allow you to take a specialty in a related sub-skill--for example, a character with four levels of Physics might specialize in Nuclear Physics or Astrophysics, or a character with four levels of Dancing might specialize in Belly-dancing or Disco.

You can buy anything as a skill, from swordsmanship to physics to dancing, provided your character has reason to know it. Your GM may rule that in order to take one skill, you have to take another one first. For example, it's almost impossible to learn physics without having at least a basic knowledge of math. That's up to your GM, though.Click here for an abridged list of skills and thumbnail descriptions; many more are possible.

Kard would have to have a wide variety of skills to simulate all the things he has done--he'd need to be able to use a sword like a warrior and a bow like a hunter, be reasonably stealthy and know his way around the entire duchy. I'd decided he'd also been a sailor for a while, and was as comfortable in the rigging as doing the actual navigation. He'd have to know his way around the lands from the harder times in his life, and to have a knowledge of quite a few legends, in addition to two foreign languages, Kartok and Vaskil. I eventually purchased the following skills:

Skill Name	Rank	Point Cost	Skill Name	Rank	Point Cost
Sword	2	4	Area Knowledge--Duchy	2	4
Bow	2	4	Legends	2	4
Stealth	2	4	Heraldry	2	4
Sailor	1	1	Navigation--Sea	1	1
Climbing	1	1	Navigation--Land	1	1
First Aid	1	1	Survival--Forest	1	1
Merchant	1	1	Survival--Grassland	1	1
Kartok	1	1	Survival--Swant	1	1
Vaskil	1	1	Survival--Mountain	1	1

Total Cost for Skills: 36 points

In fantasy, horror, or superhero games, it is possible for players to have "magic" or other special powers at the GM's option. GAME has a suggested system for handling character creating and game play for these powers. Click here to read this suggested system.

Some Skills and Descriptions

Accounting:                       The ability to track cash flow.
Acrobatics:                       Jumping, tumbling, and forming human pyramids
Acting:                           The ability to be someone you're not.
Administration:                   Paperwork, management, and corporate-type stuff
Animal Handling:                  Dog-training, lion-taming, and other ways play with critters 
Anthropology:                     The study of your native species
Archeology:                       Old buildings, artifacts, and ancient cultures
Area Knowledge(specify):          Knowing your way around your city, state, or galaxy
Arithmetic:                       How to add, subtract, multiply, and divide--NOT Mathematics, below
Armory:                           Making arms, armor, and other implements of war
Artist:                           The way you paint the world
Astrology:                        Knowing what planets and constellations are supposed to mean
Astronomy:                        Knowing what stars and planets really are.
Biochemistry:                     Knowing why the hemlock you drank will kill you
Blowpipe:                         Acupuncture from quite a long way away
Body Art:                         Tattoos, piercings and other ways to adorn your flesh
Botany:                           The study of plants
Bow:                              The art of impaling people with arrows from a distance
Caber Tossing:                    Throwing trees for accuracy (too weird NOT to include in this book!)
Camouflage:                       How not to be seen
Carousing:                        How to be the life of the party and live to talk about it
Carpentry:                        Building things from wood and nails
Cartography:                      Mapmaking
Chain Weapons:                    How to hurt someone (else) with weapons like flails and nunchaku
Chemistry:                        Knowing how chemicals react to each other
Climbing:                         You shouldn't even have to ask
Clothier:                         How to fashion clothes
Computer Operation:               Knowing how to work with computers
Computer Programming:             Knowing how to write programs for computers
Concealment:                      How to hide things on your body
Cooking:                          How to make food tasty and edible and not kill people
Criminology:                      The study of how crimes are committed
Crossbow:                         Using this particularly advanced impaling device
Dancing:                          How to dance without accidentally injuring people
Darts:                            Accurately sticking darts into things and people
Demolition:                       Destroying big structures efficiently
Diagnosis:                        Figuring out why your patient is dying
Diplomacy:                        How not to start a fight with your neighbors
Disguise:                         How to look like someone else
Ecology:                          Knowing how all nature works together
Economics:                        Knowing how money moves in a given society
Electronic Equipment:             Knowing how to use an electronic device
Electronic Engineering:           Knowing how to make an electronic device
Electronic Lockpicking:           Knowing how to open electronic locks
Escapology:                       How to get out of handcuffs, ropes, and deathtraps
Farming:                          Cows, crops, and cultivation
Fast-Talk:                        The art of the quick bluff
Fishing:                          How to feed yourself for a lifetime
Forensics:                        The ability to find out information from evidence
Forgery:                          How to fake official documents and counterfeit money
Gambling:                         Knowing the rules and the risks of games of chance
Gesture:                          The informal cousin to Sign Language, below
Guns (specify type):              Knowing how to use a particular class of gun
Heraldry:                         Knowing a person by his/her registered symbols
History (specify):                Knowing about a given culture's past
Hypnotism:                        How to induce a suggestive trance in a subject
Instrument (specify):             How to play a given musical instument
Intimidation:                     How to make people do what you want out of fear
Juggling:                         The art of keeping many objects moving at once
Knife:                            How to defend yourself with cutlery
Knife, thrown:                    How to defend yourself with flying cutlery
Language (specify):               Knowing how to speak a given language
Leadership:                       How to get people to do what you tell them
Lip-Reading:                      How to tell what other people are saying without hearing them
Literature:                       Knowing about the books in your culture
Lockpicking:                      How to open mechanical locks
Manners (specify):                How to behave properly among a given group of people
Mathematics:                      The science of understanding how numbers interact
Medic:                            The ability to help a sick or hurt person heal
Mechanic (specify):               How to work on certain devices with moving parts
Meditation:                       Doing your OM-work
Memorization:                     Knowing how to commit something to memory
Merchant:                         Knowing how to buy and sell things effectively
Military Intelligence:            How to find strategic information about the enemy
Musical Composition:              How to put together musical notes effectively
Navigation:                       Knowing how to get there from here
Occultism:                        Knowing myths, legends, and superstition
Performance:                      Knowing how not to make a fool of yourself on-stage
Pharmacy:                         Better living through chemistry
Philosophy (specify):             Knowing a given belief system
Physics:                          Knowing how things work on their most basic level
Pickpocket:                       Fishing for wallets and other types of intimate thievery
Poetry:                           Putting words in specific artistic styles
Poisons:                          Stopping living through chemistry
Pole-Arms:                        Long sticks with weapons on the end
Politics:                         How to say the right things to influence people
Prestidigitation:                 Stage magic
Psychology (specify):             Understanding the way a given race thinks
Puzzlecraft:                      Knowing how to make and solve puzzles
Quarterstaff:                     Hitting people with big sticks
Research:                         How to find out things you don't know
Riding (specify):                 Staying on the back of a given animal for transport
Scrounging:                       How to find things you don't have
Sculpture:                        How to carve things to look like other things
Sex Appeal:                       How to lead somone on, sexually
Shadowing:                        How to follow people who don't want to be followed
Sign Language:                    Communicating with a language of non-vocal signals
Shield:                           The art of cowering behind flat objects
Singing:                          How to follow a melody without hurting ears
Sling:                            How to knock out big giants with small stones
Spear:                            The ability to use a pointed stick
Spear, thrown:                    As Spear, above, but from a distance
Spear, two-handed:                As Spear, above, but longer
Sport (specify):                  How to play a particular physical game
Stealth:                          How not to be heard
Stick:                            Hurting people with sticks and other short staves
Stomach:                          How to eat the barely edible
Story-telling:                    Once upon a time...
Strategy:                         How to outguess your opponent
Streetwise:                       How to find things of an extralegal nature
Surgery:                          How to cure people by cutting them open and ripping things out
Survival (specify):               How to survive in a given type of wilderness
Swimming:                         The best way not to drown
Swordsmanship:                    Using sharpened, balanced blades to hurt people.
Swordsmanship, two-hand:          As above, but longer weapons
Teaching:                         How to show people how to do things
Theology (specify):               The rules of a belief system involving a given deity
Thrown Weapon (specify):          How to hurt people by throwing a type of weapon
Tracking:                         Knowing which way someone went without asking George
Traps:                            How to build, remove or avoid set traps
Trivia:                           Knowing all sorts of unrelated little facts
Unarmed Combat:                   Martial arts, boxing, or other such bodily pain
Unbalanced weapons:               Axes, maces, and things that go thud
Unbalanced weapons, two-handed:   As above, for larger weapons.
Vehicle (specify):                How to use a given vehicle
Ventriloquism:                    Throwing your voice
Veterinarian:                     Knowing how to heal animals that are hurt or sick
Whip:                             Using a whip--the all-purpose weapon
Writing:                          How to communicate in a written language
Xenology:                         The study of extraterrestrial species
Yodelling:                        Long-distance vocal signallying--yelling with style
Zoology:                          The study of animals

Powers: An Introduction

The system described here covers the use of magic, psionics, or any other "supernatural powers" in GAME--with minimal alteration, it can accommodate just about any style of magic use or other special powers you need. For the sake of easy discussion, GAME will refer to the powers as "magic" and the character wielding this power as a "mage."

The Path To Power

Three main factors govern a mage's ability:

1. How much raw power he can muster,
2. What types of power he can use,
3. How much control he has over that power.

Under this system, a mage buys levels of Power with character points and then buys a Control Skill--use of magic is governed by skill rolls, and the level of effect is governed by Power. Power is purchased by category:

• All: The mage can use this category of power to do anything that any available power can do.
• Major: This represents a broad and frequently useful type of power (fire, stone, healing, the sphere of a given Olympian-style deity)
• Flexible: This represents a type of power that is either flexible or frequently useful, but not both (plant growth, beast speech, stunning)
• Specific: This represents a type of power that is neither flexible nor extremely useful. Such a power typically relates to a specific mundane skill, like jumping, cooking, or smithing.

The table below describes the point cost for a given power at a given level. Each subsequent level costs twice as much, as shown in this table:

Level	Specific	Flexible	Major	All
1	2	4	8	16
2	4	8	16	32
3	8	16	32	64
4	16	32	64	128
5	32	64	128	256

General categories can be bought over and above any 'all magic' purchased at normal cost. Example: P'byc wants to be a fire mage, but he also wants to be able to do a little bit of everything else. He spends 16 for 'all magic,' and then another 8 points for fire magic. When working with most magic, P'byc will be operating with Power 1, but when doing fire magic, he will have Power 2 at his disposal.

Power and Magic

At the first level of power, the mage can make minor effects--ignite a candle, make a person's hand spasm, or inflict a point of damage to a single enemy. Each level doubles the amount of effect capable to a single target (or provides the same amount of effect for twice as many targets).

Level	Damage	Example of non-damaging effects
1	1 point	Detect if a person is an enemy
2	2 points	Detect emotions, read surface thoughts
3	1 die	Read deeper thoughts and memories, implant emotions
4	2 dice	Establish telepathic communication, change memories, keep a single person charmed and loyal by concentration
5	4 dice	Complete and total mind control of a single person, keep two people charmed and loyal by concentration

and so on...

Skill and Magic

Any use of magic involves a roll of Will + Control skill (purchased at the usual cost for any other skill) on a number of dice related to the difficulty of what is being attempted. As an example, in this case with fire magic:

Task	Number of Dice
Lighting a candle...	3 dice
...in another room	4 dice
...beyond your sight	5 dice
...in a strong wind	6 dice

... and so on.

If a spell needs to be targetted, the GM will probably require another roll, on Agility + Control for a close-combat situation or Perception + Control for a ranged attack.

Okay, you've got a character, and so do most of your friends... except one, the Game Master. It's his turn to tell everyone what's going on. Things have to start somewhere---perhaps everyone's part of an assembled crew of a starliner, or members of the same bicycle club, or (all too commonly) people who meet up in a bar, just in time for a fight to start. This is where your GM narrates the setting. Then you get to decide how to react. Here is an example:

GM:   Okay, Kard, you've been travelling this forest path for a few days now,
        and you're tired...  but carrying on the wind, you hear the sound of
        some sort of commotion.  You can't quite see anything from here
        because of the trees.
Kard: All right.  I'll climb one of the taller trees to see if I can see
        anything beyond the canopy.
GM:   Sounds reasonable.  Roll on Agility + Climbing on three dice.

Essentially, what the Game Master does is determine what attribute and what skill would determine success for our hero or heroes in this situation. Climbing these trees is an exercise in general dexterity, which is covered by the Agility score. plus whatever learned talent Kard would have in Climbing (the act itself). How many dice need to be rolled is determined by the overall difficulty of the task. A typical skill roll (like this one) is done on three dice; more difficult tasks require more dice to be rolled, and less difficult tasks require less dice. For example, if a character has no skill in a given task, that will automatically add a penalty of at least one more die, or if a character has a specialty at the task, that will subtract at least one die from the roll.

In this case, Kard must roll three dice against his Agility plus his Climbing skill, which would be 12 + 1 = 13. Kard needs to roll a 13 or less to climb the tree. If the tree were taller, or the branches were more brittle, the GM would require him to roll on four or more. This sort of thing is the GM's call. If Kard were to fail this roll, the amount by which he missed the target number determines how badly he failed, possibly getting hurt in the process. In this case, let's say Kard rolled a 12.

Kard: I rolled a twelve!
GM:   Great!  You can see what's going on down below from here, but it's a bit
      hard to tell exactly what's happening.  You do see at least one flag from
      here....  Roll Perception + Heraldry on three dice.  Let's see if you can
      recognize it.
Kard: (rolling)  Wow!  I needed a 13 and I rolled a 6!
GM:   Great!  You see that the flag of House Danur is at the top, and you think
      you can make out some of devices on the shields defending, but that's much
      more difficult--add two more dice to your current roll.

Sometimes, there's more information to be found in a situation than can be noticed at first glance. This is one of those. Instead of making Kard roll all five dice over, he's giving the player the chance to roll additional dice atop the ones already rolled.

Kard: (rolling)  Seven more!  Just made it exactly!
GM:   Okay...  You notice that one of the shields bears the device of Sir
        Arflynn the Drake.
Kard: How much do I know about him?
GM:   Hm.  That would be Intelligence plus Area Knowledge for the Duchy...  Hm,
      he's not that well-known, but you know the name.  Four dice.
Kard: (rolls) Made it exactly.
GM:   You think you remember something about him saving the Duke's life...
Kard: Great!  I'll try to help!   How far are the attackers?  Are they within
      range of my longbow?
GM:   From here?  Not a chance.
Kard: Okay... maybe I can distract them or something.  I know!  I have a hunting
      horn in my backpack.  If I blow it, I can distract the enemy--maybe
      they'll even think more folks are coming!
GM:   Um, do you have any Musical Instrument skill for a horn?
Kard: Well, no, not specifically...  but I am a Jack of All Trades!
GM:   Okay...  Tell you what--Normally, this would be Health plus Horn, since
      you'd need a good set of lungs to blow that loudly and it's a pretty
      difficult action, from this distance.  Five dice.
Kard: Seventeen!  Rats!
GM:   You blow with all your might into the horn, producing a long, sonorous
      blast...  but it must have been lost in the sounds of the battle below.
      On the bright side, it looks like Sir Arflynn and his allies are doing
      well enough on their own.  You notice some of the attackers breaking
      away from the skirmish, into the forest.
Kard: Okay, I'll make my way carefully to the ground and draw my bow, in case
        any of them come my way.  Meanwhile, I'll make all haste to join the
        battle, in case it's still going on and I can be of some help.
GM:   You arrive as the battle is ending--Arflynn and his men are making quick
      work of any bandits who remain...  Make a Perception roll.  Three dice.
Kard: (rolling)  10!  Made it!
GM:   From the cover of trees, you see a bandit aming an arrow at Arflynn's
        back!
Kard: I scream, "Sir Arflynn!  Duck!"  And I fire an arrow at the bandit!
GM:   (rolls for Arflynn)  As you shout and let fly with your arrow, Sir Arflynn
      looks at you.  "That's Drake," and the arrow goes whizzing toward him...
      it's a snap-shot, so roll Perception plus Bow on five dice;  if you miss,
      you hit Sir Arflynn (unless he dodges, of course).

Here's how combat works, in a nutshell:

Your attack is based on a your skill and the most applicable attribute; for example, Sword + Agility to attack with a sword, or Perception + Bow to aim and accurately fire a bow. The GM will assess a number of dice to roll against that total, three dice for a shot of average difficulty, with penalty dice added as appropriate. If you manage to hit, the GM assigns a difficulty to your opponent's defense, and if that roll succeeds, the attack does no damage (an arrow misses or bounces off armor, sword blows land on shields or are parried... and so forth). Otherwise, you do damage, based on you your Strength plus your Skill (modified by any bonuses related to the weapon you're using or by the severity of the blow, if your GM wants to use any Combat Options). A character who takes more damage points than he or she has Health is unconscious; taking more than twice Health in damage results in death. Here's the basic damage chart:

Strength + Skill        Damage
5 or less               1 point of damage--you always do at least one point
6-7                     roll one die, subtract four points
8-9                     roll one die, subtract three
10-11                   roll one die, subtract two
12-13                   roll one die, subtract one.
14-15                   roll one die
16-17                   roll one die, add a point
18-19                   roll one die, add two
20-21                   roll one die, add three
22-23                   roll two dice

... and so on, adding a point of damage for every extra two points of (Strength plus Skill). For every four additional points of damage above two dice, you may instead substitute another die. For example, if you somehow had enough strength and skill to earn two dice, plus four points of damage, you could instead roll three dice. If your target is wearing some sort of armor or other protection, the GM will reduce the total amount of damage done appropriately.

Kard: (closing his eyes and rolling)  Did I hit?
GM:   (looking down at the dice--Kard's player rolled five ones!)  Yes.  The
        arrow whizzes past Sir Arflynn's ear and impales the bandit through
        the eye and into the brain.
Kard: I smile at Sir Arflynn.  "I meant, as in, 'Lower your head,' sir."
GM:   He looks at you, completely startled, then looks behind him at his
        would-be assassin.  He takes a deep breath and regains his
        composure, bowing.  "I would know the name of the man who saved my
        life.  I am indebted to you, sir."

Whenever a character succeeds at a task by rolling all ones, something incredible happens, like the amazing shot above. Similarly, when a character misses a roll by five or more, something really bad happens. In this case, Kard might have instead shot Sir Arflynn and as a result, been mistaken for being one of the bandits. Let's skip ahead a little in this story...

GM:   You join up with Sir Arflynn and his company for the rest of their
        mission, to return the ruby called The Dragon's Egg to a holy
        shrine in the Savage Mountains.  At the campsite tonight, though,
        there is some wagering going on--looks like someone brought a
        backgammon board along.
Kard: I'll join in, I guess.  Being a Jack of All Trades, I'm a pretty fast
        learner, and I'll pick up the game by watching and asking questions.
        I'll bet ten silver when it's my go.
GM:   Okay, someone explains the rules to you, and eventually it's your turn to
        play against Romem, Since you don't have either Strategy or Games skill,
        it will be a straight Intelligence roll for you.  Romem has the
        advantage (his Intelligence + Strategy is 14), so you roll a die.
Kard: (rolls)  2.
GM:   (rolls a 5)  You seem to have a good lead in the beginning...  (Romem is 9
      under his total so far, but Kard is 11 under.  Kard now has the advantage,
      so Romem rolls first this time.  He rolls a 1.)  Roll.
Kard: (rolls)  4.
GM:   (Romem is now 8 under his total, and Kard is 7 under.  Romem has a slight
      advantage.)  Romem rolls well, and quickly catches up to you.  Roll.
Kard: (rolls)  1.
GM:   (rolls a 2 for Romem.  Now both of them are 6 under their respective
        totals, but Romem had the advantage last time.)  You are about even
        through the game, playing piece for piece.  Roll.
Kard: (rolls) 3.
GM:   (rolls a 2.  Kard is 3 under his score, but Romem is 4 under.  Romem has
        the advantage.)  It's getting near the end of the game, and Romem is
        slightly ahead of you.  Roll another die, this round should decide it.
Kard: (rolls) 1!
GM:   (rolls a 5!  Kard is still under his score, but Romem has missed his by
        one!)  With a lucky set of rolls on your turn, you barely beat Romem.
        You double your bet of ten silver!

To summarize how a contest works, each character takes turns, rolling one die at a time and totalling them. To determine which character rolls first in a given round, the GM determines who is at a greater advantage (or, in case of a tie, who was at the greater advantage in the previous round). The last character to remain under his or her total Attribute + Skill wins the contest.

Since there are all manner of story-telling styles, it is necessary for a Game Master to tailor a system to his or her needs. Are characters supposed to be incredibly resilient, or are they going to be more like average men and women? Should kung fu masters have a special advantage? Should combat be handled more realistically, or is speed more of a factor? These options will help a GM make combat scenes fit the type of story being told.

• Tougher Characters: Instead of using Health alone to determine a character's current state, sum Strength, Agility, and Health for a total number of "Hit Points." Damage is subtracted from these points, and should the character reach zero, he or she rolls against Health on three dice to avoid unconsciousness at the end of each turn. For each five points below zero, add another die of difficulty. If at any point, the player rolls at least three sixes, the character is dying and must receive medical attention within the next five minutes.

• Martial Arts Mayhem: Add the skill of the martial artist in with the basic damage. For EXTREME mayhem, use the skill of the martial artist as a multiplier to the basic damage. Combined with "Awesome Strikes," below, and you've got something truly deadly.

• Damage to Objects: Assign an Armor value and a Hit Point value to every object, including weapons and shields--this will vary with the game-world, as qualities of metals, woods, and other materials will likely differ. Any time a weapon hits a shield or other item, the target takes damage as would a character, subtracting any armor value from the object's Hit Points. Any object that loses its last Hit Point breaks. Any time a weapon parries another weapon, each takes half the damage rolled. Since damage will be rolled on each and every attack, and since characters and GM will have to take notes on how much damage is being taken by each object, this will slow combat down greatly.

• Combined Attack and Defense: Attacker rolls appropriate (Statistic + skill) on 2 dice, plus one die for each level of skill being used in defense (shield or weapon or brawling, not their sum). With one die roll instead of two, combat should proceed more quickly.

• Awesome Strikes: Add a point of damage by each point for which the attacker succeeded with the attack roll. This will make combat quicker and deadlier.

Every GAME-world is different--some are games of magic and fantasy, some are high-tech campaigns, some have a horror setting, some are set in a modern-day world... some combine all of these elements. The nicest thing about GAME as a system is its flexibility; by changing a few elements, it becomes possible to create a new, completely unique environment which uses the exact same rules for the players. GMs with favorite settings or other systems' gaming supplements will be able to mix and match elements with relatively few problems. Listed below are some common and useful "tweaks" for adding variety to a role-playing setting.

• Nonhuman Characters: Elves, aliens, vampires, androids... they all have their place somewhere. There are three major situations that can arise:

  • Everyone's the same type of nonhuman (elves, fae, vampires, or whatever. If this is the case, statistics can be used as-is. A rating of "10" would simply mean "average for _______" (insert name of race here). Add magic or power system, garnish to taste.

  • The nonhumans are "flavor" characters--not meant to be played, but meant to be seen in the background, fought as major enemies, or provide other types of challenges for the players. The GM can be as arbitrary as necessary in the name of the story.

  • The players can choose a mixture of human and nonhuman characters. In this case, "10" will represent "average" for the dominant race. Each race will effectively have a "point cost" representing its deviations from the norm. For example, the Blarghs might be stronger and quicker than humans (+2 ST, +1 AG), but perhaps a little bit dimmer (-1 IN). It would thus cost four points to play a Blargh (four for the extra Strength, one for the extra Agility, but subtracting one for the lowered Intelligence). It is advisable to keep a balance of special abilities and disabilities for the sake of game balance.

• Omission: This is a very special type of tweak that serves as the inspiration for game-worlds and story ideas. Suppose, for example, a world had very little in terms of available metal, to the point where people never developed forging technology. Wood, bone, and leather would provide the major sources for arms and armor. A surprising amount of technology would still be possible... just very different. Warfare would change, as would currency... In short, by taking away one common element, an entirely different flavor of world, a different texture develops.

• Addition: The opposite of omission, it tends to be a bit more difficult to do in a balanced manner. Magical powers tend to be one of those additions, and without proper checks and balances, certain of these abilities could make one character far more powerful than the others. This is why GAME suggests a number of possible limitations for powers.

• Cross-genre roleplay: Some of the best (and worst) stories come from mixing elements from different genre--space-empires modelled after Imperial Rome, horror stories set in fantasy worlds, the rediscovery of magic in the modern (or a future) age. Perhaps someone will come up with a Stone-Age Superhero campaign! "Thog fly! Thog throw spear FAR! Lift bear! Kill bear! Tribe worship Thog! Give Thog pretty green rock. Ooh. Thog not feel so good."

• GM Boon: Sometimes, a player will contribute something to the game that doesn't really qualify for additional experience for the character but nonetheless provides something additional to the game. This player would then receive a GM Boon. The player can use this Boon to reduce the difficulty of a roll by one die, at which point, the Boon is gone. The GM, of course, may limit how these Boons are used, and how long they may be saved--a GM might not let a player save up ten Boons over the course of a campaign and then spend them all on one ridiculous, nigh-impossible task. Good karma can only take a person so far.

By opening up GAME to live-action role-playing (LARP, for short), it becomes possible to play just about any genre as one might a typical LARP, where people dress up as their characters and become them for the session. Given that LARPs generally happen at public venues where dice might prove difficult to use (or at least keep track of), the following mechanism can effectively replace any roll:

The player adds the appropriate statistic and skill for the task he or she is attempting (Perception + Detective, for example, to notice a clue). The player then "bids" a number of points, zero through five and plays "Rock, Paper, Scissors" or some variant with the Game Master. On a win, the points bid add to the stat+skill, on a loss, the points subtract from the total, and on a tie, the bid doesn't add or subtract. The GM then compares the total against an appropriate target number of his or her choosing. If the total is greater than or equal to the target, the attempt succeeds. If the total is less than the target, the attempt fails. Should the success or failure be by ten or more points, it is treated as a critical success or failure and treated appropriately. For example, Kard is trying to find food in the forest. He has one point of Forest Survival Skill and a Perception of 11, giving him a total of 12. Kard's player does not know how hard the GM will make the situation, so he bids three points. If he beats the GM at "Rock Paper Scissors," this would give him a total of 15 points. If he loses, his total would be 9 points.

The GM can easily determine the difficulty of a test:

• Something just about anyone can do, all the time, doesn't usually require a test.

• Something of average difficulty should have a target of around 12.

• For each level of difficulty or ease, add or subtract four, respectively. An easy task would thus be a target of 8, while difficult tasks wold be 16 or more.

• As always, attempting a task without any appropriate skills will add a level of difficulty.

In the case of a contested skill, one where two characters are facing off, each character bids, and final totals are compared Those without the appropriate skill are penalized four points. Highest total wins. Example: two characters, Joe and Steve, are engaged in a Caber Tossing contest. Joe has a Strength of 14 and no skill; Steve has a strength of 12 and one point of skill. Joe will be bidding from a total of 10, and Steve will be bidding from a total of 13. Joe bids 3, Steve bids 1, and Joe wins the "Rock Paper Scissors." Joe has a final total of 13 (10 + 3), while Steve has a total of 12 (13 - 1). Joe, despite the odds, wins!

Combat tests are the same as contested skills, above. The GM running the LARP will have his or her own idea of how dangerous combat should be. Here are some examples of how to adjust combat deadliness:

1. Winning a combat test may inflict a fixed number of points of damage, set by the GM.

2. Winning a combat test may inflict the difference between the totals in a combat test. If one player totals at 15 and the other at 10, five points of damage would be done.

3. The GM can combine (1) and (2), above.

4. The GM might also incorporate concepts from other systems regarding damage, et cetera. For example, a person aiming a blow might take a penalty to total in return for some special sort of damage (a knockout blow, for example) or require a certain difference in total for an action to succeed (after all, it's harder to rip an arm off a victim than it is just to throw a punch.).

Naturally, given the nature of any particular game, the Game Master will probably have special rules that apply, whether it's because of futuristic weaponry with special effects, bizarre powers that players or creatures might have, or other elements of the setting. It is up to the Game Master to let players know those rule elements that they need to know. Of course, the more complex the GM makes things, the more confusing, complicated, and even contradictory the rules set can become (which can encourage players to become "rules lawyers"). While other companies might make their livings off of exactly that, your average GAME LARP instead leaves any "specialness" where it belongs, in the hands of the GM.

At the end of each session, the GM awards points to each player, representing experiences that the character had during the session. Typical point awards include:

• 1 point for good roleplaying

• 1 point for good problem-solving

• 1 point for situations where a character did or learned something that advanced the plot

• 2 points for resolving a plot (defeating the main enemy, saving the world, and so on...)

These points can be saved up and "spent" to increase a character's statistics or skills, as follows:

• Cost to buy a new skill = 2 points.

• Cost to increase a skill = the difference in cost between current level and new level. For example, increasing a skill to level 2 from level 1 is 4 - 1 = 3 points.

• Cost to increase an attribute one point = twice the starting cost of the new attribute, For example, increassing an attribute from 12 to 13 costs 2 x 9 = 18 points.

• At GM's option, a disability may be "bought off" for a suitable number of points.

• Also at the GM's option, an ability may be purchased for a suitable number of points.

The end of a session is also a good time for the players and GM to discuss things they liked, didn't like, or could be improved in future gaming sessions.

I design games because I enjoy doing it, and I like doing things that help other people have fun. I would like to be able to make a living this way, but the only way I can afford to do it is as ShareWare. You may print out and reproduce copies of this game as long as you do not modify the content This way, there are no production costs, no costs in shipping, and the big benefit to you is that you get to PLAY with it first and decide how much it's worth to you. Truth be told, I've spent HUNDREDS on games and game systems that never got used. In that respect, it's nice to be able to put out a game that you can play before you pay.

Even still, though, I do have to ask that you drop by my site and put some money into the Tip Jar so that I can stay afloat and create more games and game supplements. While you're there, if you have any ideas to pass along, please, send me e-mail. I'd love to hear from you.