Age Of Dragons: Game Systems

Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> Age Of Dragons: Game Systems

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Overview of Task Resolution

Age of Dragons aims to keep dice-rolling systems as simple as possible, to keep the emphasis on storytelling and to make the game easy to learn.

The game system uses pools of six sided dice. Generally half a dozen six-sided dice per player should be more than enough to start off. The rules henceforth refer to these as D6, with standard terminology as follows.

• XD6 indicates that you roll X number of six-sided dice. Each "4", "5" or "6" you roll counts as one Success. For example, 4D6 indicates that you roll 4 six-sided dice, and if you were to roll "1, 2, 4, 6" that would be 2 successes.

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Determining Dice Pools

The number of dice you roll for task resolution is determined by several factors, but primarily by your Spheres. The three Spheres are Soma, Sophis and Pneuma.

Soma, Sophis and Pneuma

Soma is "body" - the clay from which a dragon's physical body is formed. Those with strong soma are brutally powerful, resilient and physically adept. They tend to be more agile when on the wing, and can achieve greater feats of strength and endurance. A Dragon's Soma attribute sets the dice pool for any tasks relating to pure physical prowess.

Sophis is "mind" - the intellect and will that governs and guides the Dragon. A strong sophis indicates keen intelligence, good memory, strong logic and great force of will. Dragons with well-developed sophis are not easily dissuaded from their chosen course, and are more adept at intellectual pursuits of all sorts. A Dragon's Sophis attribute sets the dice pool for any tasks relating to mental strength or mental agility.

Pneuma is "breath" - the mystical force which the Mother Goddess animated the first Dragons, and the living energy that accounts for all movement and change in the world, be it the burning of a candle, the flow of a river, or the flight of a dragon. A Dragon's Pneuma attribute sets the dice pool for any tasks which relate to social charm, using magic, artistic creativity, environmental awareness or acting with grace and fluidity. Essentially any task that doesn't easily fit under the auspices of Soma or Sophis can be handled using Pneuma.

Example tasks, for a Dragon with Soma 3, Sophis 4 and Pneuma 5:

• Battering down a castle gate - Soma, 3D6.
• Shaking off the effects of the Red Scab Contagion - Soma, 3D6.
• Researching histories in the carved libraries of the White Archives - Sophis, 4D6.
• Recalling the name of an elvish diplomat you spoke to just once, four centuries previous - Sophis, 4D6.
• Singing a tearful lament for a fallen brother - Pneuma, 5D6.
• Waking to the footfalls of the knight who is creeping up on you in your lair as you sleep - Pneuma, 5D6.

Modifiers and Variations

Cetrtain Birthrights, Flaws and Powers can modify or vary these rolls in different ways.

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Assigning Difficulties

The difficulty is the number of successes you must attain to succeed at a given task. This number is set by how hard the task is.

Note that difficulty is independent of who is attempting the task. Two dragons of different capabilities who attempt the same task will face the same difficulty.

Levels of challenge

• Difficulty 1

This is the default difficulty for tasks that present some challenge, but are fairly straightforward.

For reference, the odds of getting at least one 4+ success on even just three dice is 87.5%, so even young dragons rolling their worst attribute with no modifiers will succeed at Difficulty 1 tasks most of the time.

On the other hand, for a mortal (who normally have Attributes of 1) a Difficulty 1 task is still quite hard. Dragons are quite simply better than mortals at all tasks - physical, mental, magical and social.

Example tasks: Searching a messy room for a dropped key; Smashing down a heavy wooden door; Lifting a two-hundred-kilo box off the ground;

• Difficulty 2

This represents hard tasks, that even a Dragon requires some skill to achieve consistently. Tasks of this difficulty are beyond the abilities of all but the most specialised and skilled mortals.

Its worth noting again - Dragons are better at almost all tasks than humans. They are not just brutish monsters, but are capable of enhanced tasks of dexterity, greater mental agility and greater creativity as well.

Example tasks: Tossing a dart so that it snatches a leaping frog out of the air; Composing a symphony to the standard of the greatest mortal composers; Distilling a herbal cure for a new plague; Lifting a fully loaded cart;

• Difficulty 3

These are tasks that lie beyond mortal capability, and are not altogether easy for dragons either.

Example tasks: Pulling down an iron portcullis; Spotting a face in a crowd of ten thousand on the fly from three hundred feet up;

• Difficulty 4

Even Dragons find these tasks of this level incredibly hard, and usually a combination of expert training, natural aptitude and a little good luck is required to pulls these tasks off.

Example tasks: Smashing through a stone castle wall with just your claws; Creating an impromptu haiku that will convince a frenzying Blood Dragon to spare your life; Recognising a passing ant is the same one as the one you saw a week ago;

• Difficulty 5

These tasks are the stuff of legend, even for Dragons - the sort of thing that they describe their mythological culture heroes doing. Most Dragons aren't even capable of tasks of this magnitude, and those that are may push themselves this far maybe once or twice in their lives.

Example tasks: Convincing a dozen hungry Wyverns to serve you rather than fight you; Coming up with a revolutionary new system of politics that shakes the world's societal foundations; Dodging a lightning bolt in open skies;

External modifiers

External modifiers are crcumstances that make a task easier or harder or easier to complete. They increase or decrease difficulty accordingly.

For example, composing a serene poem about a mountain valley is only a Difficulty 1 task. Given an hour or two of peace, a few books of poetry to inspire you, and good weather, it will become Difficulty 0. On the other hand being forced to do so in a few minutes, in the middle of driving rain and sleet, might increase the Difficulty to 2. Trying to form the poem while fighting for your life against a trio of snapping wyverns might be Difficulty 3 or even higher.

External modifiers reflect the environment rather than the individual. Anybody coming into the task would face the same external modifiers. For example, hunger and injury are internal modifiers, whereas weather and equipment are external modifiers.

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Permutations

Open tasks

Open tasks have no set difficulty, but instead more successes garnered equates to better results.

Competed tasks

Competed tasks are made when two characters act in direct opposition to each other. In this circumstance the character that achieves more successes past the difficulty wins the contest.

For example, playing a game of chess is a Difficulty 1 Competed Task. Both players of the game make the roll, and the one that scores more successes wins the game, with a larger margin of victory resulting in a more solid victory. If both fail to score any successes, then neither has the skill to close the game, and you must roll again. If both score equal successes, then the game is a stalemate.

Extended tasks

These are tasks which take more than one roll to succeed. The GM could rule that a certain number of total successes is needed to complete the task. Failing a single roll along the way could indicate that the player makes no progress towards his goal, or that he has to give up the task altogether.

For example, flying out of a storm to safety could be an extended task, at difficulty 2. If the player accumulates 20 successes over time, then he has flown free of the storm into calmer skies. If he fails a roll, then he is forced to land, and cannot take off again safely.

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