FUDGE Dec7: Addenda 4
Steffan O'Sullivan
A Free Role-playing Game (RPG).
Version: December 7, 1993
Copyright 1992, 1993 by Steffan O'Sullivan
Please read the legal notice following the text.
7 Addenda: Samples and Options (Continued)
7.4 Alternate Rules
7.41 On-the-Fly Character Creation
7.42 Open-Ended Dice
7.43 Other Dice Techniques
7.44 Offensive/Defensive Combat
7.45 Tracking Wounds
7.4 Alternate Rules
--------------------
It is one of FUDGE's basic premises that people have different tastes.
Here are a collection of alternate rules sections for doing things
slightly differently.
7.41 Alternate Section 2.4: Character Creation
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Date: December, 1992
By: Ed Heil
Instead of creating characters before starting the game, create them
as the game progresses!
The GM assigns a number of *skill* levels available to a PC during a
session. This should be based on how finely the GM defines skills:
about 10 to 15 for very broad skill-group games, and maybe twice that
for very fine skill-group games. These may be traded at the regular
rate of 3 skill levels = 1 attribute level, or 6 skill levels = 1
gift. Faults may also be taken, subject to GM approval.
The players start with most of the character sheets blank - simply
write out a brief sentence or two describing the character in a
general way. ("Jeb is a surly dwarf, a good fighter, who is out to
make a name for himself as a mean customer - and pick up some loot on
the way. He likes to talk tough, and doesn't care much for
halflings.")
As the character is confronted with challenging situations, the player
must decide the level of the trait in question. For example, the PCs
are confronted with a ruined castle to explore, and all the players
state their characters are looking for hidden passageways. At this
point, each player must set his PC's skill in finding hidden
passageways (however the GM defines such a trait: Perception
attribute, or Find Hidden skill, or Architecture skill, etc.). Those
who are not yet willing to set such a trait must stop searching: if
you use a trait, you must define it. Since setting an initial skill
at Fair level uses up two skill levels, and setting it at Superb uses
up five levels, one must carefully weigh spending levels on skills as
they are used versus saving them for emergency situations.
As usual, attributes are considered Fair unless altered, and most
skills are considered Poor. Taking a trait at a level below the
default adds to your available skill level pool, of course. However,
you may only define a trait as it is used in a game situation.
Experience points are given out as usual, but EP awarded are reduced
by any unused skill levels after each session. That is, if you have
two levels left after the first session, and the GM awards you three
EP, you only get one more level for the next session, since you
already have two levels unused. EP, in this case, can be used either
to raise existing skills, as discussed in Section 5.2, Objective
Character Development, or they can be used to add new skills, as
discussed in this section, above. Note that it costs more EPs to
raise an existing skill than it does to define a previously undefined
skill in this on-the-fly system. EP should be slightly higher under
this system than a regular character creation system, perhaps a range
of up to 10 per session.
7.42 Alternate Section 4.2: Rolling the Dice
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Date: January, 1993
By: Andy Skinner
As a simple variation on any dice technique, allow players who roll a
+4 result to roll again. If the result is positive, add it in to the
+4 already rolled. If the result is negative or zero, ignore the
second roll. This allows a small chance of results up to +8, which is
especially nice in truly dire situations!
Only a pitiless GM would balance this by requiring additional rolls to
see how miserably a person can do on a -4 result, however.
7.43 Alternate Section 4.2: Rolling the Dice
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Date: November, 1993
By: Steffan O'Sullivan, with Andy Skinner and others
Here are two different techniques for rolling the dice, for those who
wish to try something other than the system given in Chapter 4.
1. 2d4
Instead of 2d6, use 2d4. Any of the three dice methods in the main
FUDGE rules can be used with 2d4, except that 2d6-7 becomes 2d4-5.
This method is actually a bit smoother than the listed method, as
there is no +/-5 result to convert to 0. Substitute the following
table if using the 2d4-5 method:
Rolled: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
--------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|----
Result: -3 | -2 | -1 | +0 | +1 | +2 | +3
This creates a smaller range of possibilities, which is good in some
ways, and bad in others. Characters will tend to do closer to their
trait levels, which reflects reality better, but can make for a more
static game.
Using 2d4:
Chance of achieving +3 or better: 6%.
Chance of achieving +2 or better: 19%.
Chance of achieving +1 or better: 38%.
Chance of achieving 0 or better: 62%.
Chance of achieving -1 or better: 81%.
Chance of achieving -2 or better: 94%.
Chance of achieving -3 or better: 100%.
Four-sided dice are generally poor-rolling dice. However, at least
one company, Gamescience, makes eight-sided d4s. This is a special
d8, numbered twice from 1 to 4, and it rolls very well. They are
available in five different colors - ask your local retailer if
interested. (Neither the author nor Wild Mule Games has any
connection with Gamescience.)
2. 2d5
Gamescience also makes a d5: this is a ten-sided die, numbered 1 to 5
twice. They come in many different colors. Two of these can be used
instead of 2d6: they return the same range as 2d6 (-4 to +4), without
the inconvenience of having to convert +/-5 results to a zero result.
Any of the dice techniques can be used with 2d5, except 2d6-7 becomes
2d5-6. Substitute the following chart if using 2d5-6:
Rolled: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
--------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|---
Result: -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | +0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4
Using 2d5:
Chance of achieving +4 or better: 4%.
Chance of achieving +3 or better: 12%.
Chance of achieving +2 or better: 24%.
Chance of achieving +1 or better: 40%.
Chance of achieving 0 or better: 60%.
Chance of achieving -1 or better: 76%.
Chance of achieving -2 or better: 88%.
Chance of achieving -3 or better: 96%.
Chance of achieving -4 or better: 100%.
7.44 Alternate Section 4.6, Combat
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Date: January, 1993
By: Jay Doane, Andy Skinner, Steffan O'Sullivan
With these alternate rules, melee combat is handled as a series of
attacks and defenses instead of simultaneous action. Each combat
round involves two actions: the fighter with the higher initiative
attacking while the other defends; then the second combatant attacking
while the first defends.
(Initiative can be determined with a single d6 die roll. However, if
the GM has an Initiative attribute (such as Reflexes) or skill, treat
gaining initiative as an Opposed Action. If the GM allows a gift such
as Combat Reflexes, that grants a +1 to initiative. Surprise may
grant a bonus to the roll, or give automatic initiative. Initiative
can be rolled once for each battle - the simplest way - or once each
round. Or the character who did the best the previous round could
automatically control the initiative in the next round.)
Each attack is an Opposed Action: the attacker's Offensive skill
(Sword, Melee Weapon, Martial Art, etc.) against a defender's
Defensive skill (Shield, Parry, Dodge, Duck, etc.). This makes combat
take longer, but some players feel it gives a character more control
over his own fate.
Using these rules, Defensive skill is a separate skill that must be
bought independently of an Offensive skill. Simply taking Sword at
Superb implies only *offensive* use of the sword: the character must
also take Parry with Sword for defensive capability.
Obviously, the GM must tell the players at character creation which
method she is using - or allow them extra levels on the fly to adjust
their defensive abilities. The GM may also allow Parry with Weapon
Skill to default to Weapon Skill minus two levels: that is, a Great
Sword skill automatically means a Fair Parry skill. While some GMs
might restrict Parry to being no higher than Weapon skill (or even to
a maximum of one less than Weapon skill), others can imagine a
defensive specialist who might parry Superbly, but attack Poorly!
The default for animals depends on their type: carnivores will usually
have a Defense value one level less than their Offense, while this is
reversed for most prey species.
Note that some weapons, such as an Axe, are poor parrying weapons.
Such fighters should have decent Shield or Dodge skills. Each player
should ask the GM at character creation if a weapon may be used to
parry, and still be used to attack without penalty in the next turn.
All-out offensive and defensive tactics still work with this system: a
character simply forfeits his attack for a round if he chooses All-out
defense. Likewise, a fighter is at -2 on his defense on his
opponent's next turn if choosing All-out offense.
7.45 Alternate Section 4.7, Damage and Healing
-----------------------------------------------
Date: December, 1992
By: Bernard Hsiung
A very easy way to keep track of wounds is with cards: give a player
one face-down card when his character is Hurt, and another face-down
card when his character is Very Hurt. He gets rid of them when the
character is healed. Face-up cards represent fatigue - the character
is reeling from exhaustion. He gets rid of those by resting. (A
character can get fatigued by anything that fatigues real people:
physical or mental activity, work, stress, etc. Note that casting
spells, using psi powers, etc., might or might not count as fatiguing
mental activity.)
Each card the character has represents a -1 to traits that would
logically be affected until the third, which represents
incapacitation.
The cards may also describe hit location, if desired: a black card is
the torso, while a red card means an extremity. The lower the red
card, the lower the extremity; the higher the red card, the higher the
wound on the body.
[End Addenda]
======================================================================
Legal Notice
------------
Version: December 7, 1993
FUDGE is copyright 1992, 1993 by Steffan O'Sullivan. It may be freely
copied and distributed by any means desired. This legal notice must
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(1) The publisher's copyrighted material must be longer than the
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(4) There can be no extra charge for including FUDGE in the book.
FUDGE was first published in 1992 on the Internet, and was written by
Steffan O'Sullivan (s...@oz.plymouth.edu) with an extensive amount of
high-quality input from Andy Skinner. Other valued contributors
include Martin Bergendahl, Thomas Brettinger, Robert Bridson, Travis
Casey, Paul Jason Clegg, Peter F. Delaney, Jay Doane, Ann Dupuis, Paul
Dupuis, Brian Edmonds, Shawn Garbett, Ed Heil, Richard Hough, Bernard
Hsiung, John H. Kim, Pete Lindsay, Bruce Onder, Christian Otkjaer,
Bill Seurer, Larry Smith, Stephan Szabo, John Troyer, Corran Webster,
and others on rec.games.design on the Internet.
Groo the Wanderer (TM) is a trademark of Sergio Aragones, and use of
the name in this product does not challenge the trademark status in
any way.
--
-Steffan O'Sullivan | "You may have noticed that the less I
| know about a subject the more confi-
s...@oz.plymouth.edu | dence I have, and the more new light
| I throw on it" -Mark Twain