Core Rule Book Illustration by: Anthony Catillaz

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The Core Rule book is near completion. The gaming system is undergoing rigorous testing. Soon it will be a work of perfection for all to enjoy.

Class Archetype System

Choosing a class can be fun, but you are always constrained by the narrow rules of what that class can do and what they can wield. The only way to simulate choice in this type of system is to simply offer more classes, sub classes, multiclass, etc. All of these still make you feel confined within the borders of that set of rules. When using a predetermined class system, the character already exists. You are merely the puppet master pulling its strings. Every character of a specified class is the same as the one next to it with very little deviation.

The Unbound Odyssey™, Birth of Legends does not use the standard classes that you must choose in character creation. Using the Class Archetype system, the character does not exist until the player creates them. There is no set of classes to choose from and very light boundaries on what can be created. You get to hand pick your personal stats to create your own player class. The stats are divided up into Stat Categories (Melee, Ranged, Magic and General). These stats can be mixed and matched to make for a powerful hybrid or all taken from a single Stat Category to become a powerful combatant with a singular purpose.

Since there are so many variations of how you can create your class, it is very unlikely there will be another just like it. For example, if you want to make a fighter type build that is really tough, pick the stats that increase the ability to take and withstand damage. The trade off is that this class build may not have much offense. You can do the reverse and have a fighter class build that is purely offensive but is really easy to kill. This type of build will yield high damage output at the sacrifice of survivability. You can even throw a little magic in the mix and have a warrior that can also cast spells to enhance their attacks or even aid a friend or hinder an enemy.

With a mixture of both offensive and defensive abilities, your class will be unique. Even if you are unsure on what to do, stats can always be added as you progress. The character only gains about half of their total stat potential. As you play the game, you may add to this potential. You may have picked all magical stats to become a mighty sorcerer and decide that you also want to wield a large weapon. During character progression, you may spend Battle Points to unlock stats to start adding to your abilities.

Character Progression

Players gain experience by completing missions. Due to the nature of the game mechanics, it is possible for the players to face terrible dangers. You don’t have to kill everything to receive experience, you simply need to complete a mission or quest. If a quest was not completed, you may still gain experience if a good effort was put into trying, this would be up to the Game Master.

Experience is used as a currency. You spend these points to add points to your stats. You get to choose the stat you put these points into. Yes, you! Your class doesn’t dictate how you gain power, you do. They can be divided up into as many stats as you wish or all put into one stat. Character progression is entirely up to the player.

When certain milestones of gained experience are met, you will receive a Battle Point. You may spend these points to unlock a stat that you have not taken. Just like in character creation, you may choose this new stat from any of the Stat Categories. Battle Points may also be spent to add a rank to an already chosen stat. Adding ranks decreases the total amount of experience it takes to increase its value.

Progression is not a level based system but an analog power increase. Because of this, a player can miss several game sessions and re-enter the campaign without any catch up mechanics. This makes it easier for people who can not make regular game sessions be able to enjoy the game without worry.

Reactive Combat

Birth of Legends uses an Action system for rounds of combat. Each player receives four actions at character creation to use each battle Round. This number increases once total experience gained milestones are reached for a total of up to eight actions per Battle Round. Most abilities a character can perform during combat cost at least one action, some abilities cost more than one action.

You do not have to wait for your Initiative Step to use your actions. In fact, it is possible to use all of your Actions before your Initiative Step begins resulting in the passing of that step when it is time. You may use actions during another player’s Initiative Step to react to abilities. This means you may use an Action to react to an enemy who is attacking you by trying to defend against the attack. You do not have to stand around doing nothing until it is your turn any longer. You have more control over your character’s destiny in combat than you ever have.

The choices you make in combat could have a profound affect on your character. As you receive wounds, you also receive negative modifiers to all skill checks. Your character will actually function as if it were hurt. Sometimes using an action to avoid damage is the smart thing to do.

With a healthy mix of both offensive and defensive stats in every Stat Category, you can build a class that excels in defending against attacks, aiding others when they are attacked or a wide variety of other things. With the ability to react to player abilities outside of your Initiative Step, combat is more enjoyable and strategic.

Dynamic Magic System

The character is only limited to how much magic they can harness with the chosen school of magic. There are three schools of magic: Void, Transmutation and Blood. Each of these types provide a unique way to harness magical energy or Sorcerer Points. Once a player harnesses Sorcerer Points, they must calculate their spell using these points for the spell components that are needed to shape the desired spell. Every magical character has available to them all Spell Effects that can be cast for the entire game, their power may not be high enough to effectively shape certain Spell Effects or the Spell Effects may be too weak to be effective until the character grows their ability to harness even more magical power.

There are no spell slots or spell levels, only Spell Effects. It is up to the player to explain what the spell is. For example:

When shaping a Damage Spell Effect that targets an enemy 5 inches away from your miniature, you must calculate the amount of Sorcerer Points needed to do so. You must add a Range component to project the Spell Effect 5 inches away (5 Sorcerer Points), the spell uses the Direct and Instant spell components (both 0 Sorcerer Points). The Damage Spell Effect is calculated using the Sorcerer’s Spell Power stat value subtracted from the target’s Resistance stat value. This means that the higher the target’s Resistance value is, the more Sorcerer Points it will take to cause wounds.

The Spell effect only states that it is a Damage Spell Effect. It is up to the player to make it whatever spell they want. This could be a standard Fire Ball, a Spike shooting from the ground, a magical whip extending from the sorcerer. It is completely up to you to craft your own spells. After all, you are the sorcerer. The magic is yours, the spell is yours.

Another example would be a Control type Spell Effect. Many of these Spell Effects can lower a stat by an amount depending on the Sorcerer Points put into the Effect. One such effect can reduce the movement of a target. If the movement is reduced to zero, the target can not move for an action. This can be ice forming around the target’s feet, vines growing from the ground, quicksand, the options are only limited by your imagination.

Unlike most other magic systems, the Sorcerer is more dangerous the closer they are to their target. To project your Spell Effect at range, you need to spend your Sorcerer Point resource. If you do not need to add a range component to your Spell Effect, you have more Sorcerer Points to add to your Spell Effect making it more powerful.

WEAPONS

There is no armory in Birth of Legends. Weapons are categorized by 2 components, Size and Type. Each of these components adds an ability that makes it more useful in certain situations.

Most weapons take 1 action to use. Weapon sizes of Large or more will take 2 actions. The action cost can be reduced for weapons that require 2 actions to use by spending Stamina.

Weapons have 3 Types: Sharp, Pierce Blunt. The weapon types are useful against armor that has the same weakness. When used against this armor, they may sunder the armor permanently reducing the armor Hardness value. In most cases this can be repaired as dictated by the RP of the campaign.

Weapons are not categorized by 1 hand or 2 hand. Each weapon has a grip value. If the character’s grip value is equal to or higher than the weapon’s grip value, it can be held in 1 hand. If the weapon grip value is higher than the character’s grip value, the character must use 2 hands to double their grip value. If this still is not enough, they can not wield the weapon. The only restriction whether a character can or can not use a weapon is if they are strong enough to hold it. Yes, you can be a Sorcerer wielding a large melee weapon with both hands.

A weapon example in the traditional system is a 2 handed Broad Sword. In Birth of Legends this same weapon would be stated as a Large, Sharp melee weapon. Once your character becomes strong enough, they may wield these large weapons with 1 hand and even dual wield them.

Melee attacks deal damage that is not random. Each weapon has a Physical Force contribution that is added to the character’s Physical Force stat. This determines how much total Physical Force is available to the character when calculating wounds.

ARMOR

Armor does not just provide a higher hit DC, it actually does what it is intended to do and reduces incoming Physical Force. There are 3 types of armor: Light, Medium and Heavy.

Light armor is similar to standard cloth armor and has a weakness to Sharp and Pierce weapons. Medium armor is similar to Leather armor with a weakness to Pierce weapons. Heavy armor is similar to metal or plate armor with a weakness to blunt weapons.

Wearing armor can have huge benefits and drawbacks. For example wearing Light armor will provide very little protection due to its light weight, but will not give large negative modifiers to Avoidance and Subtlety. You will be more maneuverable at the cost of protection.

Heavy armor will provide very good protection at the cost of large negative modifiers to Avoidance and Subtlety. You will be less maneuverable and will be hit more often but the Physical Force reduction will cause you to take far fewer wounds.