MLPFMTORPG v1.3 Core Rules

MLPFMTORPG

My Little Pony Fantasy Multiplayer Text Only Role Playing Game

First Edition, version 1.3
HTML: goo.gl/SlOrW — PDF: [GDrive link] — Image: [GDrive link]
Table of Contents — Multiclasses: goo.gl/Wd25h

MLPFMTORPG is a simple roleplaying system for creating and playing epic fantasy adventures set in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic universe and settings inspired by it. We’re not here to recreate the show, and we’re not trying to reskin a pre-existing highly-complex RPG system, and we’re certainly not out to make money off of MLP:FIM or claim any of it as ours. We just want you to have fun.

These are not unbreakable rules, just guidelines for ideas. Change the rules as you need for your specific campaigns, and please share any ideas you have!

# BASICS

Pick a race and class, roll ten-side dice (d10). That’s it!

## Quick Character Creation

These are the basic properties of a character in MLPFMTORPG.

Name: Your character’s identity.
Gender: Boy or girl?
Race: Each race has unique racial skills.
Class: How you kill stuff. Determines which skills you can take.
Skills: You get 5 points to spend on skills.
Special Talent: Typically a +2 bonus to one skill.
Hits/Wounds: The amount of nonlethal/lethal damage you can take.
Weapon/Catalyst/Armor: Adventuring essentials.
Character Traits: Fluff and details that make your character unique, like their looks, personality, and whether they praise the sun.

We recommend rolling dice or using the Seventh Sanctum Magical Legend Pony Generator to draft a quick concept for characters if you’re strapped for ideas or time.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BASICS

Quick Character Creation

ROLLING

Standard Rules

Autocrit — Critical — Minimum — Roll Modifiers

Optional Rules

Default — Partial Result — Supercrit — Unnatural Crit

RACES

Pony

Crystal — Earth — Pegasus — Unicorn

Buffalo — Diamond Dog — Donkey — Goat — Griffon — Zebra

CLASSES & SKILLS

Reading Skill Entries

Tags

Multiclasses

Cross-Class Skills

Bard — Cleric — Knight — Mage — Necromancer

Paladin — Rogue — Shaman — Tracker

TALENTS

COMBAT

Damage and Helplessness — Hits and Wounds — Helpless

Sequence of Combat — Combat Action — Counterattack

Pets and Minions — Controlling and Rolling

Player vs Player

EQUIPMENT AND ITEMS

Spellcasting Catalysts

Inventory, Items, and Tools

Special Weapons

Catalyst Weapons — Dual Wielding — Enchanted Weapons — Fencing

Great Weapons — Unarmed Combat — Shields — Weapon Quality

Unique Items

# ROLLING

10-sided dice (d10s) are used to resolve the success of all actions, from negotiating a conversation to landing a blow in combat. If you intend to play on a reasonably fast-paced chan-style imageboard that doesn’t have a dice function, you can use the last digit of your post number to simulate dice rolls. If you use post numbers, treat 0 as 10.

## Standard Rules

These are the standard rules that every adventure in MLPFMTORPG should use. You can adjust it to your liking using the Optional Rules provided in the next section, or modify them as you like to fit your campaign and player’s tastes.

### Autocrit

Some skills can autocrit. Any successful roll with an autocrit is treated as a critical success.

### Critical

An unmodified roll of 1 or 10 always incurs a critical result, creating dramatic and extreme changes to your circumstances. Some skills have increased critical range and can score a critical success on 9+, or even score a critical failure on 2-. Some skills have special effects that occur on a critical roll. Normally, criticals can only occur if the original unmodified roll landed in the critical range (see Unnatural Crits).

### Minimum

Every roll must meet or exceed a minimum value (or Min) to be counted as success. Normally, the minimum is 6+. Changes to circumstances can adjust Min up or down; a difficult task could be 8+, while an easy one might be 3+. Some skills have special effects that require a specific Min. Remember that Min is noted as the minimum value followed by a + plus symbol.

Example rolls and corresponding minimums

| Easy (4+) | Normal (6+) | Difficult (8+)
Roll of 10 | Critical Success | Critical Success | Critical Success
9 |  |  |
8 |  |  | Minimum for success
7 |  |  | Failure
6 |  | Minimum for success |
5 |  | Failure |
4 | Minimum for success |  |
3 | Failure |  |
2 |  |  |
1 | Critical Failure | Critical Failure | Critical Failure
Examples: | Attacking a clumsy target Picking a simple lock Spellcasting without distraction | Attacking evenly matched foes Hiding in lighted areas Spellcasting in combat | Attacking while crippled Hiding on a salt flat in daylight Spellcasting while gagged, bound

### Roll Modifiers

In addition to changes to Min, specific skills, talents, and other favorable conditions can add bonuses to your roll; for example, a +1 bonus means a roll of 5 is treated as a result of 6. On the flipside, unfavorable conditions like injuries, distractions, and opposing forces can inflict penalties, subtracting from your roll. Normally, even if the modifiers change your result into a critical value, criticals occur only if the original unmodified roll landed in critical range (see Unnatural Crits). Remember that a bonus or penalty is a + plus or - minus symbol followed by the modifier.

## Optional Rules

Game Masters can rebalance their campaigns using these optional rules. GMs can choose to implement these at the start of a campaign, and introduce or remove them as needed.

### Default

Default allows adventure to progress more smoothly with fewer hindrances to the players. By defaulting to the Min value, a player can automatically succeed at a task as though they had rolled the Min value. This should only be used for situations where the PCs are under no duress and are free to work on something for as long as they can (ex: exploring a nonhostile city, crafting an item, picking a lock in a secure location, etc). Players may also choose to default to critical success, but getting these kinds of results should cost them an increased amount of time and resources, and also requires the PCs to be under no duress whatsoever.

### Partial Result

For a more nuanced game, the GM can rule that successes and failures have varying intensities based on their difference to Min. For example, for a Min of 6+ a roll of 6 would mean only a partial success that had very poor results, while a roll of 8 would be a solid success; in the same situation, a roll of 5 would incur a partial failure that still accomplishes the goal at a bare minimum, a roll of 4 is a straight failure, and a 2 would be an abysmal failure without being critical to the point of backfiring on the PCs.

### Supercrit

GMs can include dramatic effects for certain critical rolls. Roll modifiers applied to a critical roll can amplify the effect of the critical roll beyond what a regular critical roll would incur. Successive critical rolls can also incur amplified effects. Note that these work for both critical successes and failures.

### Unnatural Crit

Unnatural crits dramatically alter the difficulty of a campaign, usually in the players’ favor. Roll modifiers applied to a roll count towards critical range; for example, a roll of 7 with a +3 modifier counts as a critical roll of 10. An unmodified roll of 1 is still a critical failure, and penalties can also pull rolls down into critical failure range.

# RACES

The first step to creating a character is usually choosing their race. All kinds of intelligent creatures exist in the MLP:FIM universe, and you can choose any race and class combination. Every race has a racial skill.

## Pony

Ponies are the most common and prolific race, many of them spread across the kingdom of Equestria and realms beyond. Ponies are distinct in encompassing several subtypes populating all echelons of society. A pony manifests a “cutie mark” on their flanks that symbolizes their special talents.

### Crystal

Residents and descendants of the ancient Crystal Empire, the emotions of Crystal Ponies are said to be reflected on all of Equestria.

Crystal Emotions: passive; when you roll a critical success, your rolls next turn receive a +1 bonus. When you roll a critical failure, your rolls next turn receive a -1 penalty.

### Earth

Sturdy, tough and often big. Can move, lift, and carry heavier weights than other races.

Tough: passive; Earth ponies take 1 additional hit before becoming helpless as well as 1 extra wound once they become helpless, for a total of 6 hits and 6 wounds without other modifiers. They can also lift, carry and move heavier objects than unicorns or pegasi.

### Pegasus

Speedy and adventurous. Can fly freely when they’re not carrying too much weight.

Pegasus Flight: Pegasi can fly, and get a +1 bonus to actively evade and dodge midair. Flight is about as taxing as running at full speed.

### Unicorn

Noble and intelligent. Can levitate objects with telekinesis and cast magic.

Unicorn Catalyst: passive; a unicorn’s horn counts as a catalyst for spellcasting.

Unicorn Telekinesis: spell; manipulate objects through sheer force of will. Complex tasks and heavier objects may require more focus.
Improved - Improved Telekinesis: spell, recharge 2; use sheer force of will to perform highly detailed or complex tasks such as watchmaking, or lifting extreme weights or multiple individuals.

## Buffalo

Hardy desert dwellers, a buffalo's charge is as strong as their connection to the land. They are big, lumbering things with thick muscle and bones.

Huge: passive; if a buffalo has more than one hit remaining till helpless, any effect that would normally render a character helpless instead reduces a buffalo to one hit remaining.

## Diamond Dog

Subterranean gorilla dogs with a taste for gems.

Burrowing: Diamond dogs can dig tunnels and holes with ease, setting traps, moving unseen and fleeing in unexpected directions.

## Donkey

Similar to earth ponies in a physical sense, if somewhat less bulky and far more stubborn.

Unbreakable Will: passive; famously stubborn, donkeys are immune to mind control, domination, intimidation and suggestion.

## Goat

A curious sight in the lands of ponies, some say they are distantly related to the dread ram Grogar.

Goatcraft: passive; Min -1 for all climbing and agility rolls, and can use anything as food, including non-food items.

## Griffon

Half eagle, half lion. Flight-capable and larger than ponies, they can carry more weight while flying, but tire quickly when doing so.

Griffon Flight: Griffons can fly, and have a +1 bonus to divebomb attacks from high altitude. This is about as taxing as running at full speed.

## Zebra

Hailing from a faraway land, zebras are knowledgeable in natural healing and shamanism. They are often regarded with suspicion by ponies.

Heightened Senses: passive; +1 to perception-based rolls (spotting, searching, listening, etc)

# CLASSES & SKILLS

A character’s class is the archetype for their abilities and role in a world of high adventure. Characters start with five (5) Skill Points to spend on class skills. When using most skills, you must roll a dice to determine the result.

Spellcaster classes begin play with a catalyst of some kind to channel their spells, such as a holy symbol, fetish, wand, or power crystal. A unicorn’s horn counts as a catalyst.

## Reading Skill Entries

Skills are constructed in the following format:

Name: tags; description

Skills have a name that identifies them, tags for a shorthand understanding of common mechanics concerning their usage, and a description giving the purpose and appropriate usage for the skill.

### Tags

Automatic: no roll is needed when you take this action; the skill works whenever you activate it. This skill still takes up your turn as a normal action would.

Instant: no roll is needed when you take this action, the skill works whenever you activate it. In addition, you can use up to one other skill in the same turn as an Instant skill.

Once Per: rather than a recharge, this skill can be used once per given time period (a combat encounter, an in-game day, or even once per game session). Skills that are listed as once per combat may be used outside of combat, recharging at GM’s discretion.

Passive: no action or roll is needed, this skill is always in effect

Recharge #: you must wait # combat turns after activating this skill before you activate it again; most skills begin recharging when they are activated, while some recharge only after the duration of their effect ends. Skills listed with recharge may be used outside of combat, recharging at GM’s discretion.

Requires: this skill requires some condition to be met, such as wielding a specific weapon type

Spell: this is a magic spell, and may be subject to special rules for spellcasting

Weapon: this skill can use your weapon’s properties, such as roll modifiers

## Multiclasses

You can also choose to mix two classes to create a multiclass character. A multiclass character starts with three (3) Skill Points to spend on skills from the two classes they chose, and also gains a unique title and skill depending on which two classes they chose.

For full descriptions and information, refer to this chart of multiclass descriptions and skills: goo.gl/Wd25h

Reference grid for multiclass combinations

| Bard | Cleric | Knight | Mage | Necromancer | Paladin | Rogue | Shaman
Tracker | Wardancer | Pilgrim | Ranger | Omniseer | Dark Hunter | Inquisitor | Stalker | Soothsayer
Shaman | Earthsinger | Druid | Landkeeper | Witch Doctor | Voodoo Doctor | Wildguard | Monk |
Rogue | Trickster | Charlatan | Dark Knight | Arcane Blade | Deathmaster | Lordblade |  |
Paladin | Warlord | Ascendant | Crusader | Battlemage | Blackguard |  |  |
Necro | Deathsinger | Lifebinder | Death Knight | Warlock |  |  |  |
Mage | Illusionist | Thaumaturge | Spellsword |  |  |  |  |
Knight | Troubadour | Templar |  |  |  |  |  |
Cleric | Preacher |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## Cross-Class Skills

These skills can be taken by any character, regardless of class. Cross-Class skills may not be suited for every class, however.

1 point
Defense Mastery: passive; you gain +1 hit of damage to become helpless (if you had 5 hits, you now take 6 hits, etc).
Improved Spellcasting: passive; for every spell you know or learn, you also know one Improved version of that spell. Whenever you cast the spell, you can choose to cast either the normal or Improved version, using the recharge of the version you cast to determine the next time you can cast that spell. Learning an additional variant costs 1 skill point.
Every spell listed below is followed by its Improved variants.
Pet Mastery: passive; you can control one additional minion. This skill can be taken multiple times to gain more minions.

## Bard

Entertainers by trade, bards travel in search of new tales and new adventures to partake in. Most commonly armed with light weapons like rapiers or knives, as well as their musical instruments.

1 point
Cheap Shot: weapon; outside of combat, this skill is automatic and renders the target helpless. In combat, 9+ renders the target helpless.
Improvise: instant, recharge 3; tossing a solution together can be better than stopping to make a plan. Your next roll succeeds on a 4+ but cannot crit
Inspire: You use song and performance to enthrall a crowd or rally your allies.
Combat: the entire party gains +1 to all rolls next turn, or +2 on a critical success; this bonus does not stack with repeated use. Critical failure replaces the bonus with a -1 penalty to all rolls next turn.
Noncombat: you perform for a gathered audience, and can garner reputation, favors, and resources as the GM deems appropriate

2 points
Bluff: whatever you say to someone, they firmly believe it. Critical failure makes target more likely to stop helping you.
Terrify: recharge 2; 8+ renders a group of targets helpless

3 points
Heroism: recharge 8; the whole party turns all non-critical failures when using abilities into successful hits for 3 turns.

## Cleric

Spellcaster. Clerics support their allies and crush the unworthy using the force of their spirit and a firm belief in causes greater than themselves. Though many Clerics draw their power from deity worship, an equal number are empowered by personal ideology. Often armed with blunt weapons like maces, staves or large holy icons.

1 point
Bolster: automatic spell, recharge 4; the target’s next roll to recover from helplessness is successful
Improved - Inure: spell; target is immune to a specific damage type (fire, ice, poison, possessed etc) for a short time
Compassion: passive; persuasion Min -3
Heal: spell; restores target’s hits to full and restores one wound, or removes all status effects. Crit restores all wounds, crit fail deals a wound of damage to the target.
Improved - Mend: spell; mends broken bones, severed limbs, and other horrifying injuries that go beyond mere wounds.

2 points
Read Intentions: spell; see into the hearts of others to reveal their intentions and influence along with mood and emotions.
Improved - Mind Reader: spell; discern the motives and thoughts of the target. Crit fail reveals your thoughts to the target instead.
Wrath: spell; damage all nearby foes with a powerful blast, ensuring they cannot attack you on the next round; renders targets helpless on 9+
Improved - Undoing: spell, recharge 2; stop enemy movements for a turn, crit can render them helpless or even kill weak enemies
Improved - Vengeance: spell, recharge 2; you are wreathed in mystic flame, dealing damage to attackers when you are damaged

3 points
Prayer of Healing: spell; fully heals the entire party, but you are helpless afterward
Improved - Overhealing: once per combat, spell; in addition to normal effects, this spell now overheals and energizes party members, granting them additional hits and wounds over the maximum.

## Knight

Clad in armour and armed with both an iron will and an iron blade, knights excel at protecting others and themselves from harm. Knights are martial masters, able to wield every variety of weapon but most commonly armed with swords, axes, polearms, and shields.

1 point
Martial Defender: passive; you take +2 hits before going helpless (if you had 5, you now have 7, etc), and Slam crits on 8+
Sentry: passive; first action taken in combat is Automatic
Slam: damages the enemy via a crushing body slam. Crits on 9+

2 points
Protect: instant, recharge 3; Takes all damage for a target until the end of next turn (2 turns total). Neither can be rendered helpless in that time, but the knight becomes helpless afterwards if the target would have become helpless during Protect’s duration.
Suppress: weapon; overpowers the target, rendering it helpless. Crits on 9+. On crit, apply a +1 to all actions against the target for the next turn.

3 points
Guardian: recharge 5 after it ends; Allies cannot become helpless for 3 turns. If the Knight becomes helpless during this time, the effect ends instantly.

## Mage

Spellcaster. Magic is useful for everyday work, though some train to become devastatingly powerful mages instead. When forced to fight without magic, most mages rely on staves, daggers or heavier spellbooks for self defense.

1 point
Elementalist: passive; when you choose this skill, select an elemental type (fire, ice, lightning, etc); the elements you select can alter the effects of other spells you know. This skill can be taken multiple times to gain or create additional elements.
Fire: a target rendered helpless by a fire attack has a reduced chance of recovering (DC +1), and especially flammable targets take ongoing wounds. Fire spells can be used to warm and burn objects and the environment.
Ice: a target hit by ice grants an increased crit range for the next turn (10 becomes 9+, etc); this ice effect does not stack. Ice spells can be used to chill and freeze objects and the environment.
Lightning: target becomes helpless for one turn on a critical hit. Lightning spells can be used to shock and charge objects and the environment.
GMs and players may choose to create their own elemental effects as deemed appropriate for their characters and campaign settings.
Farsight: automatic spell; peer into the distance without a spyglass, and even see through darkness
Improved - Astral Projection: automatic spell, recharge 2; the caster leaves their body to observe fine details and hear sounds in a distant location.
Magic Bolt: spell, recharge 2; this volatile energy attack lets you roll once to damage a target twice, but crit-fails on 2-. This spell can apply one Elementalist effect when cast.
Improved - Storm Bolt: spell, recharge 3; you attack a single target multiple times with a single roll, increasing your chance to crit fail for each additional attack (3- for 3 attacks, 5- for 5 attacks, etc) up to a maximum of 9 regardless of other modifiers. This spell can apply one Elementalist effect when cast.

2 points
Energy Orb: spell, recharge 2; you can damage multiple enemies at range as though using Cleave; for each additional enemy, increase the crit fail range for this roll by +1, so 3 targets crit fails on 3-, 6 on 6- and so on. This spell can apply one Elementalist effect when cast.
Improved - Energy Spike: spell, recharge 2; you damage a single enemy at range as though using Dual Wielding; you roll two attacks, and at least one critical fail makes both attacks miss. This spell can apply one Elementalist effect when cast.
Wink: automatic spell, recharge 2; you may target yourself or a willing or helpless subject or an unattended item within 10 meters of you within line of sight; the target is warped to an unoccupied space within the same range. Warping a hostile target or carried item is Min+2.
Improved - Displacement: spell, recharge 2; warps yourself or a single target of any type within 5 meters of you within line of sight to a destination within the same range. If you warp the target into an occupied space, occupying objects of equal or lesser mass are obliterated, while an occupying creature of equal or lesser mass takes 1 wound of damage. If the target is of lesser mass than the occupier, these effects apply to the target instead.
Improved - Teleport: spell, recharge 2; warps yourself or a single target of any type within 50 meters of you within line of sight to an unoccupied destination within the same range. Warping a hostile target or carried item is Min+2.

3 points
Spell Focus: instant spell; next spell is critical, whether a hit or miss.
Improved - Arcane Instability: spell, recharge 3; on success, your next spell is a guaranteed critical success, and on crit your next two spells are guaranteed crits. The reverse is true: failure makes your next spell a guaranteed critical failure, crit fail guarantees two critical fails

## Necromancer

Spellcaster. Everypony lives, not everypony truly dies. If death seems like too much to deal with, a necromancer is the one to call when you need to hug grandma one last time. Or when you need some zombies to take hits for you. Necromancers often favour symbolic weapons like scythes and sickles, though many also fall back on the more traditional staves and daggers.

1 point
Commune: spell; ask the dead for aid. The better you roll, the more helpful they are. Crit fail summons a hostile undead.
Improved - Last Rites: spell, once per day; the caster can project into the memory of the deceased subject, witnessing their immediate surroundings at the moment of their death.
Raise Dead: spell; raises the freshly dead as a mindless minion. Crit fail summons a hostile undead.
Improved - Raise Ancients: spell; fresh corpses are no longer required, this spell can now summon ancient minions from bones deep in the earth.
Touch of Death: spell; touch an enemy to cause them to age rapidly.
Improved - Touch of Life: spell, recharge 1; the caster channels life energy from a helpless or willing victim to a chosen benefactor (the caster can choose to be either if they wish). The victim takes 1-4 wounds, depending on the success of the roll (6 transfers 1 wound, 8 transfers 3, etc); the chosen benefactor heals the same amount. This spell does not work with undead creatures.

2 points
Corpse Explosion: spell; explodes a dead creature’s corpse, dealing damage to all nearby enemies on success. +1 to crit range per target corpse’s power level (10+ crits on Weak, 9+ on Medium, 8+ on Strong etc). Exploded corpses cannot be resurrected, raised or communed with. Target reanimates as a hostile on miscast
Improved - Time Bomb: instant spell; turn a corpse into an explosive undead minion you control that explodes as per Corpse Explosion on command. The minion explodes after 2 turns of waiting, earlier if the caster decides to trigger it.
Transfix: spell; overpowers an opponent's mind, keeping them helpless. You must maintain the effect with successive rolls.
Improved - Influence: spell, once per combat; the caster gains very basic control of the target’s actions, and must make a successful roll each turn to maintain control. This effect ends if the caster fails a roll, or when the target becomes helpless.

3 points
Resurrect: spell; brings one of the dead back, good as new, but renders both you and the target helpless.
Improved - Revive: spell, once per day; for one day, the first time the target ally perishes they will be instantly restored to life and ready to fight the turn after they die, but when this happens the caster is immediately rendered helpless.

## Paladin

Spellcaster. Paladins smite their foes with great power and spirit, fueled by inner fire and a firm belief in their cause. Though many Paladins draw power from worshiping a deity, just as many choose a path of their own making. Most Paladins favor large weapons like greatswords, warhammers, battle axes or larger holy books tied to sticks.

1 point
Blast: weapon, recharge 1; your weapon lands with explosive force. This attack autocrits a specific type of foe, selected when the skill is learned. Hits all nearby targets on a crit.
Spellbreaker: recharge 2, spell; nullify a spell or magic effect
Improved - Spellbiter: passive; after successfully nullifying a spell with Spellbreaker, you have a +1 bonus to attack rolls til the end of your next turn
Word of Power: In combat, forces an enemy to miss their next attack and renders them helpless on a crit. Outside combat, can extract information on a success.

2 points
Fervor: instant, recharge 2 after it ends; next two actions autocrit, but you are helpless afterward.
Shatter: weapon, recharge 2; Breaks the target's defenses, opening them up for attack. Any attacks against a Shattered target crit on a 8+ for one round. Can be used against inanimate objects to break and damage them efficiently.

3 points
Heroic Fortitude: automatic spell, recharge 7; you cannot become helpless and take no wounds for 3 turns, then become helpless. If you would have become helpless (hits, etc) during those 3 turns, you have a -1 penalty to recover
Improved - Heroic Retaliation: passive; Heroic Fortitude no longer renders you helpless at the end of its damage-immunity phase, instead leaving you at one hit; when you cast Heroic Fortitude, you gain a +1 bonus to attacks which persists after damage-immunity fades, until you take damage again or combat ends.

## Rogue

Thieves, assassins and dwellers of shadow, rogues prefer to remain hidden and strike when least expected. They often prefer easy to hide weapons like dagger or knives, as well as throwing knives and hidden blades.

1 point
Backstab: weapon; strikes the enemy from behind. Auto crits if hidden. Crits on a 9+ otherwise. Kills helpless targets.
Disguise: Pretends to be someone else. Min 6+ allows the user to pass as a generic person (a guard, a noble, a commoner, etc); 8+ allows the user to pass as a specific person; a crit allows the user to mimic different races and/or genders.
Stealth: become hidden. Enemies cannot attack you until you reveal yourself.

2 points
Blind: recharge 1; temporarily blinds an enemy, giving a +2 bonus to all rolls targeting it for 2 turns
Escape Artist: automatic, recharge 2; break free of all immobilizing effects (grabs, roots, freeze traps etc.) and also removes helplessness. If this is used to escape helplessness, you only recover half hits, rounding up.

3 points
Vanish: instant, recharge 1; can only be used in combat. You become hidden as though you used Stealth and move behind a target. When you use a second action, treat it as though using it while hidden.

## Shaman

Spellcaster. While only mages wield spells and only the devout wield divine power, all can turn to the elements of nature itself for help. Often the tools of the shaman double as his weapons, including ritual knives, staves, heavy ornaments or small totem poles.

1 point
Child of Gaia: passive; you gain a +1 bonus to rolls when fighting in natural environs (forests, natural caves, etc.)
Natural Remedy: Use an unpredictable tincture to fully restore a target’s hits to full and restore one wound, or removes status effects. Crit on 9+ restores wounds to full, but crit fail on 2- deals a wound of damage.
Earthen Strike: spell; a melee attack against a single enemy using an earth-covered limb, crits on 8+ and crit fails on 3-
Improved - Boulder Strike: spell, recharge 1; launch a boulder at a distant enemy to deal double damage, crits on 8+ and crit fails on 2-

2 points
Animal Mastery: spell; you can talk to and understand animals, and wild animals obey your orders.
Improved - Animal Assistance: spell, recharge 5; summon an animal of large size or smaller that obeys your orders for 5 turns before leaving
Improved - Animal Swarm: spell, once per combat; summons a swarm of small animals and bugs to deal ongoing damage to a non-helpless target. If the target becomes helpless, the swarm moves to another standing target. The swarm dissipates if it is somehow cast off, or cannot find a new target.
Earthen Grasp: spell; summoned vines, stones, or earth traps an enemy, leaving them helpless (only immobilized if large or bigger)
Improved - Earthen Golem: spell; summon an Earthen Golem minion that can cast unimproved Earthen Grasp. You can have only up to one Earthen Golem active at any time.

3 points
Nature Elemental: automatic, recharge 8; your connection to the natural world is complete, allowing your body to reflect the natural cycles. The transformation lasts for the next 3 turns, and you may perform any action that you normally can. You can choose 1 of 3 forms whenever you transform:
Decay: you burst into rot and fungus, multiplying your physical attack damage by 1.5 rounded up and gaining +1 to intimidation
Earth: you harden like stone, gaining +2 hits and a +1 bonus to physical attacks
Life: young buds and sprouts flow from you, passively healing an ally (but not yourself) for two hits or one wound each turn

## Tracker

Trackers live off the land and love it. They know nature like the back of their forelimb, and can thrive in situations that would drive many others to giving up or endless whining. Trackers are masters of ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows, but often also carry survival tools like knives or axes.

1 point
Marksman Shot: recharge 3, requires ranged weapon; autocrits (any success is critical)
Survival: spot check Min -3; create and forage for basic supplies like rope, bandages, tents, torches and low-quality meals
Vantage Point: passive; grants you a +1 bonus to all attacks in combat until you roll any failure. You can use an action to roll 8+ to regain this bonus.

2 points
Trap: spend 1 turn; starting next turn, first enemy to attack is helpless for 2 turns
Trick Shot: recharge 2, requires ranged weapon; 2- is a critical failure. When you learn this skill, choose one of the following effects for it to apply:
Explosive: attack closely grouped targets at range with Cleave (increase crit fail range by 1 for each additional target: 3- for 2 targets, 5- for 4 targets, etc)
Knockout: 7+ renders target helpless
Null Shot: recharge +1; target unable to cast spells next turn, usable twice per combat against PCs
Poison: target suffers 1 wound every turn; PCs suffer 1 wound every 2 turns
Smoke Screen: recharge +2; choose up to 3 targets in short range of each other. All rolls against those targets will benefit from a +1 bonus for the next 2 turns

3 points
Rapid Barrage: recharge 4, requires ranged weapon; attack 5 targets at once, or take recharge +2 to use a Trick Shot effect on up to 5 targets

# TALENTS

Every character has a talent that represents special training and focus or a natural ability that makes them incredibly good at some kind of action, activity, or ability. The typical talent is a +2 bonus to one of a character’s class skills; with the GM’s approval, players may create a talent bonus appropriate for the character they want to make. A pony character with a Talent manifests a cutie mark on their flanks symbolizing the talent.

Here are some examples of the most common types of talents that might be chosen for a character:

- +2 to Class Skill: The standard talent bonus, your character gains a +2 bonus to the use of one class skill.
- +1 to Actions: A more general talent bonus that applies to a more generalized range of actions, such as using specific weapon types, performing athletic maneuvers, or interacting with specific creatures.
- +2 to Specific Action: Like the standard talent bonus, your character gains a +2 bonus to a specific type of action, such as a crafting skill, professional calling, or recalling knowledge from an area of study.
- -1 to Crit Range: This distinct talent bonus reduces the critical success range for a specific action or class skill by 1. A skill that normally crits on 10 now crits on 9+, and a 8+ crit skill now does so on 7+.

# COMBAT

Big adventure comes with tons of fun, often in the form of violent encounters with hostile NPCs. Combat is typically resolved through determining initiative, attacks and counterattacks, rendering opponents helpless, and ultimately killing your enemies.

## Damage and Helplessness

In summary, the typical amount of damage a character can take in combat is:

5 hits while standing to render a character helpless; this resets to 0 when they recover

and

5 wounds while helpless to kill a character, which remain until healed

### Hits and Wounds

Hits are generally superficial damage, representing wear-and-tear and reduced endurance; they can be restored easily with the Heal spell, a healing action, or with a short rest. Wounds are more persistent injuries and deep bodily damage; taking too many wounds will kill a character. Wounds can be quickly restored using a Heal spell, but otherwise require significant effort and time, even days, to be patched up.

Some skills and effects, such as the Cross-Class skill Defense Mastery, can grant your character additional hits.

### Helpless

A character that takes too many hits becomes helpless; powerful blows and some skills can instantly render a character helpless. A helpless character or an ally must roll (usually Min 6+) to recover and continue fighting. While helpless, a character is immobile and cannot take many actions, and most attacks against them incur wounds.

Rolling a critical failure to recover from helplessness deals a wound of damage to you, and each turn you remain helpless the range for critical failure increases by 1, up to 4-, beyond which you automatically take a wound for remaining helpless. If you are reduced to 1 wound, you no longer automatically take wounds unless attacked, but you cannot roll to recover.

## Sequence of Combat

Combat takes place in turns, a short period of time enough for a single action such as casting a spell, issuing orders, or executing a daring maneuver. Each turn, the players declare the action their characters will take.

### Combat Action

A character in combat can perform an action: a normal attack with their weapons, using a skill, or some other action. Automatic skills require an action to use, but require no roll. Instant skills require no roll, and allow up to one other skill to be used in the same turn. Passive skills and effects require no roll nor action, and grant their bonus at all times.

### Counterattack

Characters taking combat action leave themselves open to counterattack; if their roll fails (5- by default), they may be struck by a counterattack and take damage accordingly.

Roll 5: 0 Hits Taken — Roll 4: 1 Hit — Roll 3: 2 Hits — Roll 2: 3 Hits — Roll 1: Instantly Helpless

## Pets and Minions

Skills such as Raise Dead allow the player to take a pet or minion. Normally, a character can have up to one pet at a time; for one skill point, they can take the Pet Mastery skill to increase the number of pets they control by one (see Cross-Class Skills above).

### Controlling and Rolling

Characters can control their minions at the same time they take other actions. Each minion rolls separately for its action. If the player chooses, they can use one roll to determine the results of all minions they control.

## Player vs Player

When friendship is no longer magic and players must turn against each other, the GM can step aside and let players make dice rolls, determine the results, and react to each action appropriately. In PvP combat, failed rolls don’t incur counterattack damage. The GM may intervene if PvP combat is no longer tenable, so play nice! To help speed up combat, you should stay down after being rendered helpless three times in PvP, regardless of wounds.

# EQUIPMENT AND ITEMS

The right equipment can be the difference between success and failure, life and death. Before you send your character out into the world, make sure to select some armor, weapons, and other tools to give them the extra edge they’ll need.

## Spellcasting Catalysts

As described above, spellcaster classes such as the Mage and Shaman require a catalyst to help them channel their magical power into specific forms and effects. Without a catalyst, a character cannot cast skills with the spell tag.

A catalyst can be just about any kind of item, from a religious symbol to an item of great sentiment, or even a weapon or piece of armor, typically inscribed with magical runes and symbols.

You must be touching your catalyst and have it visible and exposed to the target(s) for spellcasting to work.

## Inventory, Items, and Tools

Nopony would go out on an adventure without some adventuring gear. Usually this includes things like food rations, rope, camping supplies, personal items, and crafting tools. Choose a few items that are appropriate to your character’s interests and the dangers they expect to see.

## Special Weapons

Adventurers can take weapon types or find weapons with unique properties allowing different methods and means of attack. Special weapon properties do not apply to the use of skills unless otherwise noted.

### Catalyst Weapons

Some weapons double as spellcasting catalysts and can be used to cast spells. Unless the weapon is also spellbound (see below), it does not grant the ability to cast any spells on its own.

### Dual Wielding

Light weapons are perfect for use in pairs or with a second light weapon. Doing so requires great skill, but can yield impressive results if done well. Light weapons include: daggers, katars, rapiers, small hammers and maces, sickles, and shortswords. If using a pair of weapons, you can use Dual Wielding instead of a normal attack.

Dual Wielding: weapon; make two rolls to attack twice; if either is a critical miss, both attacks miss.

### Enchanted Weapons

With enough skill or money, weapons can be enchanted to become stronger than mundane counterparts, but often with a drawback. Example enchantments:

- Elemental weapons have been imbued with the power of the elements. When a normal attack hits, the elemental weapon discharges magical energy, converting the attack into a hit with an effect corresponding to the Mage’s Elementalist effects. The GM may allow creation of or introduce different elements and elemental effects as with the Elementalist skill.
- Poisoned weapons are created by applying the substance beforehand, storing it within some vessel in the weapon, or even impregnated within the metal itself. A normal attack with this weapon deals a wound of damage, instead of a hit. A crit miss deals a wound to the user.
- Spellbound weapons have been built as conduits for a single kind of spell. This can be a staff that shoots fireballs, a ring that cures poison, a book that raises the dead etc. The bound spell is considered to have at least recharge 3. While Improved spells may be bound to weapons at a monumental cost, the Improved Spellcasting skill does not affect a spellbound weapon.

### Fencing

A character can use a single weapon to gain Min-1 for their normal attack rolls (6+ by default, now 5+). A character using Fencing cannot use Dual Wielding, Great Weapons, or Shields.

### Great Weapons

Heavier than most weapons, Great Weapons require more strength to wield, but offer far greater damage potential at increased risk. A great weapon user can use Cleave or Power Attack instead of a normal attack.

Cleave: weapon; attack multiple targets within range that are close to each other. Every additional target increases the chance of a critical miss (attacking 2 targets crit fails on 2-; attacking 5 targets crit fails on 5-; etc)

Power Attack: weapon; counts 9+ as a critical hit, 2- as a critical miss.

### Unarmed Combat

A character fighting without a weapon cannot cause wounds with normal attacks, but can still do so by using skills. A character whose special talent is unarmed combat may deal wounds without a weapon.

### Shields

A character wearing a shield gains +1 hit of damage before becoming helpless (if you had 5, you now have 6, etc). You cannot use Dual Wielding, Fencing, or Great Weapons while wearing a shield. Discarding or destroying the shield removes the bonus immediately.

### Weapon Quality

Weapons of exceptional quality or condition add modifiers to normal attack rolls. Skills with the weapon keyword apply weapon quality to their rolls.

+2: epic or legendary, the result of magical endowment or divine power
+1: fine or masterwork, a fortuitous creation or the product of expert craftsmen
-1: poor or damaged, worn down and in dire need of maintenance
-2: worthless or useless, missing pieces and best abandoned if not melted down and remade

## Unique Items

Unique items are inhabited by a will of their own. They can gain a variety of special properties, like a bonus against certain types of targets (undead, elemental, larger/smaller than the user, etc), but will turn on the wielder or deactivate their powers if they are used or treated in ways the item deems unacceptable (used to harm the living, allowed to rust, not told a bedtime story, and so on). The exact properties of a unique item are left to the GM to create and describe.