5.0 Changes

Limited Actions and Limited Free Actions Some actions are more restricted. A character may only perform one limited action on their turn. For example, a giant octopus can attack with all its tentacles as a limited action, but it can’t use Sweep as well. A character may also perform one limited free action per turn. For example, if an item allows a character to teleport as a limited free action, he may not perform another limited free action, but may still use a limited action.

Frenzy is a limited action. Improved Frenzy adds 1 more dice. 

P44 SWEEP [5.0]: Sweep is now a limited action. The –2 penalty only applies to fighters not using a two-handed weapon.

P44 IMPROVED SWEEP [5.0]: Replace the existing text with: As above but the whirlwind of death is able to avoid allies when using Sweep.

Entangled is Vulnerable now, not Distracted (Making it a bit easier to escape). Break free is automatic hit (so no raises then?). If entangled by a device, you only get 1 roll (OK, makes sense for manacles. Make s a Net pretty powerful.) 

Boost/Lower Trait more expensive?

Benny Reset

Rather than resetting at the start of a session, bennies reset after 8 hours of in-game resting. [I just dislike the idea of "end of a session, I'm out of bennies and in trouble" but then the next session stats and suddenly I have bennies and everything is fine. Also dislike "almost the end of the session, let's spend these bennies on frivolous things".] Drawback: For a long dungeon, you might go multiple sessions without a benny reset. See next section to get more bennies in play. 

Hopefully this makes bennies have an "in game" reason than being purely meta-gaming without 

Gaining Bennies

The GM is bad at remembering to hand out bennies, so let's hardwire it:

• Joker's Wild: When a player gets a joker, everyone gets a benny. 

• Consolation Benny: If you get a 2 card in initiative, you get a Consolation Benny. If you've got a feat that lets you improve your initiative card, it's up to you if want to keep the 2 and get the benny or pass on the benny and get the new card instead.

• Critical Fail: You get a benny per RAW

• GM Benny: If the GM spends a benny against you (soaking, re-rolling an attack, etc.) you get that benny. 

• Hindrance Benny: If you play-up a hindrance to make your character do something sub-optimal, you get a benny. Simply playing a hindrance when no consequences involved doesn't earn the benny - the hindrance should make you do something dangerous/stupid/harmful/interesting. Frequently, the GM misses when this happens. Feel free to suggest you should get a benny. 

Skills

I find Notice a bit too-encompassing. It never made sense to me that the Ranger living alone in the wilderness (high Notice) is good at knowing when someone is lying to them. Changes to balance that out and to add some flavor.

Notice: Is for searching out hidden things or to spot something hiding from you. It no longer finds clues (that's the new Investigate) or let's you know when someone is lying (that's the new Social). 

Academics (Smarts) is rebranded as Investigate (Smarts). This handles doing research in recorded information, but also finding and recognizing important clues at a crime scene as well as all thing Sherlock Holmes deduction-wise. 

Science (Smarts) is rebranded as Knowledge (Smarts). This is basic how knowledgable you are in general and gives you some specific topics as well. 

Expertise: For every die level you have in Knowledge, you get one topic of Expertise (so d4=1, d6=2, etc.). If you pick a wide topic of Expertise (Biology), then you know a little bit about a lot in that topic. If you pick a narrow topic (Snakes of the Marsh Fens swamp), then you know everything there is to know about that topic. The GM might tweak rolls based on your expertise. 

Example 1: A common healing potion might be identified with a Common Knowledge roll. A PC with Expertise in Alchemy is going to immediately recognize it without a roll. 

Example 2: A vial of rare Black Adder poison cannot be identified by the average person. Someone with Expertise in Biology might get a roll to identify it as poison. Someone with Expertise in Alchemy might get a roll to identify the type of poison. Someone with Expertise in Poison might know what it is without a roll. 

Ideas for Expertise: Alchemy, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, History, Music, Astronomy, Magic Items, Royalty, Demons, Undead. Or anything else you come up with. 

Occult (Smarts) is eliminated and rolled into the Knowledge skill. Take Expertise in the subjects of your interest. Suggestions: Magic Items, Demons, Witchcraft. 

Persuasion (Spirit) is rebranded as Social. It covers all things social interaction with other people: Persuading, deceiving, knowing when someone is lying to you, recognizing that someone likes/dislikes you and why, empathy, reading a person to figure out their hopes/dreams/desires/fears, recognizing that someone is acting strangely (charmed), acting appropriately in special circumstances (court, flattering a dragon). 

(Seems like Intimidate could be rolled into this, but someone good at Intimidate is probably bad at all that other stuff. Hmmm.)

Survival (Smarts) gains 1 Expertise per die level like Knowledge but with Terrain types (Forest, Plains, City, Underground, Artic, Swamp, etc.). 

Regaining Power Points

You can only spend a benny to regain 5 power points when you rest for an hour. You can spend as many bennies as you like during that hour to regain as many as you want, in  addition to the 5 you automatically get.  [I just dislike the "middle of combat, I need some power points, boom! I have some now]. 

or, maybe you just need to meditate for 5 minutes to spend the power point. Removes the "middle of combat" problem without changing things too much. 

Gangup

The gangup rule is confusing and doesn't work with flanking as most people think  of it. So simplify and fix flanking:

When you are attacking a target, you get a Gangup Bonus for every ally that is also threatening that same target. You lose a Gangup Bonus for every ally of the target that is threatening you. 

Miscellaneous

Bleeding Out: Rather than making the Vigor roll on your next turn, you make it at the bottom of the NEXT round so players have a chance to get to you. 

Following Rolls are Support: If someone rolls something, fails, and then someone else jumps in to also roll it - that second roll will be considered a support to the first roll, not a new attempt. [I dislike the whole, "rogue failed the perception check looking for traps so the wizard will give it a try"]

Shorting a Spell: You can spend a benny to re-roll a normal failure. It's only if the final result is a failure do we treat it as a critical failure. 

Success with Consequence: In certain situations, you cam choose to have a failed skill check succeed, but at a cost of some sort. Trying to Theivery your way past a lock but fail? You can choose to succeed instead with a consequence: maybe you've tripped an alarm / attracted some guards / left evidence behind / costs a benny / or some other consequence. It's a negotiation with the GM to determine if it makes sense and what the consequence is.  

Wound Cap: Max damage you can take is 4 wounds from any one attack. 

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Rule thoughts in progress, Ignore everything below 

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Skills

Deception: A quick lie or bluff is a Persuasion check. If it gets more involved (playing a role, disguises, long discussion), it instead becomes Performance.   

Haggling: A Persuasion roll gets you a 10% better deal, 20% on a raise. Failure makes it 10% worse, crit fail is 20% worse or GM choice. 

Other Stuff

Bleeding Out: Rather than making the Vigor roll on your next turn, you make it at the bottom of the NEXT round so players have a chance to get to you. 

Support: In certain situations, Support can last until used rather than expiring on your next action. Example: You plan to Intimidate the mayor, you can roll a Research now as Support for that Intimidate later. 

Mook Cap: Mooks, in the end, never create more than 1 wound on a hero from 1 attack. A hero has to soak all the wounds a mook potentially creates, but in the end the hero can only take 1 wound from a mook regardless of the damage roll and soaking. If you're a dick ("the mook can only do 1 wound so I'll take the shotgun blast to the face!"), the GM can suspend this rule. 

Benny Reset

Rather than bennies resetting at the start of the session, they reset at the first break in the session. If you were out of bennies and in the middle of a fight when the last session ended, that's where you start the new session!

Benny Awards

Since the GM can't remember to hand out bennies. Here's some hard & fast rules for getting bennies:

Joker's Wild: When a player gets a joker, everyone gets a benny. 

Consolation Benny: If you get a 2 card in initiative, you get a consolation benny. If you've got a feat that lets you improve your initiative card, it's up to you if want to keep the 2 and get the benny or pass on the benny and get the new card instead.

Critical Fail: You get a benny per RAW

GM Benny: If the GM spends a benny against you (soaking, re-rolling an attack, etc.) you get that benny. 

Hindrance Benny: If you play-up a hindrance to make your character do something sub-optimal, you get a benny. Simply playing a hindrance when no consequences involved doesn't earn the benny - the hindrance should make you do something dangerous/stupid/harmful.

Benny Narration

Roleplaying can get caught up in lots of dice rolling and losing track of the story. Anytime you're going to play a benny, you're encouraged to stop and do a bit of narration of what is happening before that new roll. You have artistic license to describe things as you like. 

Tests

Rather than a test creating a static Distracted/Vulnerable, they instead create a dynamic result we call an Aspect (nod to FATE). An Aspect can be used for a +2 when doing something to the Target or it can be used as a -2 when the target does something (it's both a Distracted and Vulnerable). A successful test gets you 1 uses of that Aspect with each raise giving another 1. eg: You do a Test to throw sand in the ogre's eyes. You succeed on the test with a raise. The ogre now has an "Aspect" called "Sand in My Eyes!". 

After a dice roll, you can decide if you want to use the Aspect or not. eg: After the rogue blinds our ogre, the fighter attacks. If the fighter comes up 1 or 2 short on a  hit, he can use the Aspect for +2 to get a hit. If a +2 wouldn't matter, the fighter does not have to use the Aspect and it remains for someone else to use. After the fighter, it's the ogre's turn. If the ogre barely hits, the fighter can decide if he wants to use the Aspect to give the ogre attack roll a -2. Maybe the squishy wizard is there, so the fighter takes the hit so that the wizard can use the Aspect.

Aspects go away in one of three ways (1) It just makes sense in the story for it to be over with, (2) All of the uses have been used, (3) The target of the Aspect can make a skill roll to get rid of the Aspect. (the ogre could make a Vigor roll to clear his eyes). 

Reasons for the change:

(1) It comes with story. Story is good. 

(2) Multiple Aspects can be put on one target rather than just 1 distracted/vulnerable

(3) It doesn't automatically go away on the target's turn, so it's a valuable action at the end of the round. 

(4) If not used, it can last beyond the target's turn

Aspects

An Aspect (borrowing from Fate) is simply a short description - "Sand in my Eyes", "Leaky Steam Pipes", "King Hates Elves". Aspects are REAL and they last as long as it would make sense. 

Creating Aspects: Aspects can be created in a number of ways:

• • The GM might create aspects for a scene to describe the area you are in ("Vine Choked Forest" or "Slippery Rocks")

  • A critical failure or a "success with consequence" might create aspects

  • Players can create aspects if it makes sense to the scene. The GM or players don't need to list all of these in advance, but you can assume they are there. If you're walking down a modern day city street, then you can create "Corner Mailbox" for free. If fighting in a kitchen, you can assume there is a "Boiling Pot of Soup" aspect.

  • When you successfully perform a Test, you get to create an aspect to reflect what you did. If you successfully throw sand in someone's eyes, you create "Sand in the Eyes". If you enrage someone with a taunt, they get "Enraged". These aspects get 2 free uses when created or 4 free uses with a raise. This replaces the Vulnerable/Distracted conditions that Tests normally have. 

Using Aspects: You can invoke an aspect after rolling to get a +2 to your roll or a -2 to someone else's action (If the ogre you are fighting has "Sand in his Eyes", that might give you +2 to a fighting roll or an Athletics roll to move past him. It could also give the ogre a -2 on his fighting roll). If the Aspect has a free use, it costs one of those otherwise you have to spend a benny. 

Removing Aspects: Aspects go away when it makes sense. Your "Hungry" aspect would go away if you eat. They also go away after the free invokes are gone. Additionally, you can make a Skill roll to remove an aspect from play ("Sand in Your Eyes" might be removed with a Vigor roll, "Off Balance" might be removed with an Athletics). 

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Situation Benny

Sometimes the GM might throw out specific conditions of a scene (foggy night, icy ground, steam pipes). You can always use a benny with those conditions for your narration. Additionally, the GM might throw out a couple free bennies that can be used only if you can narrate that condition into your benny use. 

• Example: The GM has thrown out "steam pipes" with 1 free benny on it for the location you're fighting in. You try and perform a Trick by shooting a pipe next to a target. You're shooting roll comes up 1 short, but you use the free "steam pipe" benny for a +2 and your trick works. 

Narrated Benny

To makes things more entertaining (with a nod to FATE), you're not allowed to just play a benny and get the benefit. Bennies are supposed to be cool, just rolling dice is not cool. If you use a benny and get a better result, you have to narrate what happened. Just give a quick explanation of what is happening in the game that caused that new cool result to occur. You've got artistic license to do what you like here. Some examples:

• • "The orc tries to dodge my sword blow, but the blood-soaked ground causes his foot to slip slowing him down. Benny to re-roll my attack."

  • "As I flee across the rooftops, my Acrobactics edge comes into good use as I vault over rooftop gaps, barrel roll across chimney tops. +2 to my chase roll."

Additionally, that explanation has to be tied to something with your character or something going on in the game. You're not allowed to invent a narration completely out of the blue ("a meteor streaks by blinding my opponent"). We call these things "aspects". Some examples of where you might get aspects from:

• • If there is something that should be in the scene, you can use that in your narration even if the GM hasn't mentioned it. If you're fighting on a modern day street; a light post, mailbox, manhole cover, homeless person, or parked car can be part of your narration. 

  • Hindrances are aspects that describe your character. It might be a little hard to think of a way to use a hindrance to give yourself an advantage (and if you're doing that a lot, it's probably not a hindrance), but the GM might invoke your hindrance when he spends a benny against you. 

  • Edges can be an aspect. You might invoke your Rich aspect to get a +2 to a Persuasion roll against a fellow rich person. The GM might invoke it against you when talking to a poor person. 

  • Wounds might be an aspect the GM could use against you. 

  • The personality of your character - if you're a Paladin, you might spend a benny for +2 on a Persuasion roll since you're trusted in the land. 

  • Situation Aspects: Sometimes the GM might throw out specific conditions of a scene (foggy night, icy ground). You can always use a benny with those aspects for your narration. Additionally, the GM might throw out a couple free bennies that can be used with that aspect. 

  • Created Aspects: Similar to Test of Will or Tricks, this is an action you can take in combat to create an Aspect. The GM will ask for a roll of some sort. On a 4 you get one free use of that new aspect. On a raise you get 2 free uses. You can use these uses to increase your rolls or to help out your fellow players. Example: Kick a barstool at the charging bouncer, throw sand in someone's eyes, pull down your (character's shirt) revealing ample cleavage. 

Story Benny: At the completion of each "act" within a campaign, everyone gets a benny. Find where the dragon lives and journey there - get a benny. Defeat the dragon, rescue princess: benny. Sit in the inn and discuss the best route to the dragon for 30 minutes - no benny. 

    Edges that apply to bennies kick in here. So Luck would get you 2 bennies at the first story benny of each session.

Max Bennies: You can't go above your maximum amount of bennies. If you get a benny when already at your max, you can give it to someone else.