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 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 die you roll that equals or exceeds the Target Number counts as one Success. For example, 4D6 indicates that you roll 4 six-sided dice.
• TN(X+) indicates that you need to roll X or higher for a die to count as a success. For example TN(3+) indicates that any dice that roll 3 or higher count as a success.
• The Difficulty is the number of successes you need to get to achieve a given task, and is written as Diff X. For example Diff 2 indicates that you need to attain 2 or more successes to achieve a task.

So, for example, 6D6 TN(5+) Diff 3 would indicate that you roll 6 six-sided dice, counting any that roll "five" or "six" as a success, with three such successes needed to achieve the stated task.

Determining Dice Pools

The number of dice you roll for task resolution is determined by several factors, but primarily by your Attributes. The three Attributes 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.

Birthright Modifiers

Several Dragon Breeds are especially blessed in certain ways, and receive a bonus to their dice pools accordingly. For example, Sable Dragons have Exceptional Will and gain +1 dice to Sophis-based tasks that relate to mental willpower.

Dragon Breeds can also be weak in certain ways, and can receive dice penalties. For example, Ghost Dragons have Unsettling Presence and take a -1 dice penalty to Pneuma-based tasks that relate to positive social interaction.

Defining Target Numbers

Your Target Number is the score you must get on a dice for it to count as a success. This is generally 4+, 5+ or 6+, depending on the Dragon's level of Training.

Level of Training

The base Target Number is set by your level of training. This in turn is set by your current and past Lifepath. Those that have followed a Lifepath find skills associated with it come more naturally to them. Each of the Lifepaths has a list of skills and tasks associated with that career choice, listed under "Lifepath Skills".

If you are currently on a given Lifepath, and have been on that Lifepath for at least 50 years, then you are considered to be Expert in its Lifepath Skills, for as long as you remain on that Lifepath.

If you are not currently on a given Lifepath, but have previously been on it for at least 50 years, then you are considered to be Trained in its Lifepath Skills, and will remain so for the rest of your life.

If you are currently on a given Lifepath, and have been on that Lifepath for less than 50 years, then you are considered to be Trained of its Lifepath Skills, for as long as you remain on that Lifepath, or till you have spent 50 years or more on it.

If you are not currently on a given Lifepath, and have never been on that Lifepath, or have spent less than 50 years in total on that Lifepath before leaving it, then you are considered to be Untrained in its Lifepath Skills.

Note that all Dragons spend the first 50 years of their life as Neonate Dragons, so have the advantage of remaining Trained in all the skills of this Lifepath for the rest of their lives. Naturally they cannot ever return to that Lifepath once they leave it.

• Untrained tasks are attempted at a TN(6+)
• Trained tasks are attempted at a TN(5+)
• Expert tasks are attempted at a TN(4+)

Example:

The Pure Dragon Words-Remembered is currently on the Scholar-Sage lifepath and has been for the past 165 years. He has previously spent 85 years sating his wanderlust as a Farsky Ranger and 30 rather violent youthful years as a War Dragon. Before this, of course, he was a Neonate Dragon for fifty years.

He is considered to be Expert at the Lifepath Skills of the Scholar-Sage, having pursued this career for far more than fifty years, and keeping his skills fresh with daily use.

He is considered to be Trained at the Lifepath Skills of the Farsky Ranger as his previous experience has held him in good stead. Though he can't claim to be as sharp in those skills as he once was, the wisdom and talents acquired in eighty five years of travel will never truly abandon him.

Like all adult Dragons, he also is Trained in the Lifepath Skills of the Neonate Dragon. This is a fairly limited skill set, of course.

He remains Untrained at the Lifepath Skills of all other Lifepaths. Back during his thirty years as a War Dragon he had some skill at arms, but now he has laid that aside he has grown rusty and is no better than as if he had never taken up that Path, unless of course he returns to it later.

Internal modifiers

Level of Training sets the base Target Number, but other factors can influence how well a Dragon is able to access his skills, and can change the Target Number. The most common of these is wound penalties - a Dragon that is badly mauled can take a penalty of +1 or even +2 to his Target Number.

For example, a Dragon who is Expert at a task (TN(4+)) and who has a +1TN wound penalty actually has a modified TN(5+) for the task.

Any task that is modified to TN(7+) or higher automatically fails.

Aside from wound penalties, other factors that directly affect the dragon's skill levels can apply internal modifiers. For example, a sorcery that enhances a dragon's fighting prowess might give a -1TN bonus to tasks relating to combat.