Fifth 2005 Update
This is coming close to the end. The next version of Gods & Monsters will have most, if not all of the following changes:
- A better skill system that is integrated with the rest of the rules.
- Character creation extended through the first level.
- An easier to calculate competitive experience system.
- An optional swashbuckling survival point system to replace the current light/deep survival option.
Equipment
Weapons have somehow avoided being classified as one-handed or two-handed. A new column has been added to the weapon list to note whether the weapon requires one or two hands. The battle axe is a two-handed weapon; in the combat example, Toromeen no longer uses a shield.
Backstory
Backstory questions have been clarified and expanded. Players are now asked to answer:
- Who raised you?
- How do you know the other characters?
- How did you get here?
Sample Characters
The description of how Tony Barlow created Toromeen has been clarified, outlined, and expanded. As part of this, I also discovered that Toromeen’s weight was wrong (this affected his Carry and Lift), and Charlotte Kordé’s Charisma modifier was listed incorrectly.
Contests
Each action is a single roll. No matter how long an obstacle is, overcoming it is a single roll. Whether a player’s thief scales a 20-foot wall or a 200-foot wall, only one roll is required to complete the climb, as long as completing the climb is one action. If, for example, the character climbs a hundred feet, has an encounter, and then climbs another hundred feet, there will be two climbing rolls. The size of the obstacle may affect the difficulty of the roll. Climbing a 200-foot wall will have more penalties than climbing a 20-foot wall, for example.
Difficulty Adjustments
If an obstacle’s size will affect the difficulty of an action, apply larger penalties for larger obstacles. Usually, penalties will increase as obstacle size doubles.. For example, climbing a 20-foot wall would have a penalty of 1. Climbing a 40-foot wall would have a penalty of 2. If the wall is at least 80 feet, the penalty is 3, and so on.
| Size | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 | 128 | 256 | 512 | 1024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penalty | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Often it will be easiest to consider difficulties using a common-sense term such as “easy” or “difficult”.
| Easier | Bonus | Harder | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Difficult | 0 | Difficult | 0 |
| Easy | 2 | Very Difficult | 2 |
| Very Easy | 4 | Extremely Difficult | 4 |
| A Snap | 8 | Nearly Impossible | 8 |
| Incredibly Easy | 16 | Practically Impossible | 16 |
This replaces the similar table in the Adventure Guide’s Handbook.
Semi-conscious
Semi-conscious counts as unconscious for Death rolls.
Adventure Guide’s Handbook
I added something Callan Sweet wrote on the Forge: “rearranging your character’s activities for a better story is a skill”. Not all players have it.
Specialties
The animal form specialty had a confusing first sentence, and it’s been modified, too. Characters start with the ability to change once per day, and may change to a reptile, bird, or mammal.
An aquatic animal form specialty has been added. Characters with this specialty may change into an amphibian or fish.
Spirits
The helpful hemp spirit manifestation was missing the numeric effects of the rope knowing where it needs to go. Attempts to loop the rope over a stationary object are at a bonus of twice level. Attempts to use the rope as a lasso are at a bonus of half level, and attempts to evade the lasso are at a penalty of half level.
Encounters
The lingering effects of carrion worm poison has been more clearly stated: it halves movement and causes a penalty to initiative, attack, and defense.
- Gods & Monsters Rules
- All rules on creating characters and playing the game. This is what you’ll be using most as both player and adventure guide.
- Arcane Lore
- Lists of spells, skills, psychic powers, and specialties.
- Divine Lore
- Lists of divine spirits and gods.
- Encounter Guide
- A full panoply of creatures from Borogoves to Revenants and more.
- Crosstraining-style fields and skills
- One of the problems with making skills in a Dumasian, space-operaish game like Gods & Monsters is that characters don’t necessarily need them. Skills in such a world need to be as big as the characters.
- Extended character creation
- Starting characters gain mojo which they can use during first level to gain extra skills, money, or other starting resources.
- New, improved experience rules for Gods & Monsters
- Characters in Gods & Monsters will gain experience points for performing difficult archetypal actions, for engaging planned encounters, for conflicts, and for acquiring excess loot.
- Swashbuckling and survival points
- This optional rule gives each archetype the same survival die, but half of a character’s survival can only be used for archetypal activities.
- The Forge: Ron Edwards
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