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| | [[Category:Game System]] | | [[Category:Game System]] |
| − | [[Category:OpenD20]] | + | [[Category:Open4E]] |
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| | =Open4E= | | =Open4E= |
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| | =Sections= | | =Sections= |
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| − | ==The Core Mechanic== | + | ==[[Open4E:Core_Mechanic|The Core Mechanic]]== |
| | + | All situations are resolved through a single mechanic, called a [[Open4E:Core_Mechanic|check]]: you roll a D20, add modifiers based on your competency or the situation, and announce the result. The Dungeon Master (DM) will compare this check result to a difficulty class (DC) based on the situation and the inherent difficulty of what you’re trying to accomplish. If your check result matches or exceeds the DC, you succeed; if it doesn't, you fail. |
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| − | As you play your character, you will describe things that you want to do. The DM’s job is to help determine what happens as a result of your actions. In this game, all of these situations are resolved through a single mechanic, called a [[Open4E:Main_Page#check|check]]: you roll a D20, add modifiers based on your competency or the situation, and announce the result. The Dungeon Master (DM) will compare this check result to a [[Open4E:Main_Page#Difficulty|difficulty class]] (DC) based on the situation and the inherent difficulty of what you’re trying to accomplish. In many common situations, the process for determining the check modifier and DC have been worked out in detail, but always remember that you and the DM can decide to arbitrate situations that haven’t been specifically spelled out in the rules, or modify the check or DC of well-established rules based on special circumstances.
| + | ==[[Open4E:Actions|Performing Actions]]== |
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| − | ===Difficulty===
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| − | Some tasks are easier to perform than others. In general, the base DC of a task will be one of five numbers.
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| − | * Trivial tasks have a DC of 5. These are actions that, in general, the DM should just declare that you succeed at rather than having you roll at all. A DM might require a roll on a trivial task in extraordinary circumstances.
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| − | * Easy tasks have a DC of 10. These are actions that an average, untrained person is expected to have an even chance of accomplishing successfully. Examples: walking eight hours along a paved road without rest, assembling a puzzle, applying bandages to a wound, remembering the name of the capital city of a neighboring province.
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| − | * Average tasks have a DC of 15. These are actions that the average person can pull off with some luck, and which a competently trained person is expected to have an even chance of accomplishing. Examples: walking eight hours through a hilly woodland without rest, assembling a model ship, sewing up a wound, remembering the name of the capital city of every province in your country. If no task difficulty is specified, assume that the task has an average DC.
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| − | * Hard tasks have a DC of 20. These actions require a good amount of expertise, training, and natural ability to pull off well, and are only accomplishable through extraordinary luck otherwise. Examples: carving a path through a densely overgrown jungle for eight hours without rest, assembling a clockwork pocketwatch, digging a barbed arrowhead out of a wound without causing more damage, remembering the name of every capital city of every country in the world.
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| − | * Legendary tasks have a DC of 25. These are tasks that a normal person might accomplish once in a lifetime, and which are noteworthy even for heroes. Examples: assembling a working clockwork model of the solar system, performing open-heart surgery without the aid of magic or modern medicine, remembering the name of every city in your country with a population of 50 or more.
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| − | * Impossible tasks have a DC of 30 or higher. These tasks seem utterly impossible to perform, but the truly gifted might pull them off once in a lifetime. Examples: assembling a thinking, feeling clockwork man, reviving the dead, remembering the name of every city the world and a specific historical fact about each of them.
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| − | ===Check Modifiers===
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| − | Each time you make a check, one or more modifiers will most likely apply to the roll. Modifiers go in two directions - bonuses are added to your die roll, while penalties are subtracted from it.
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| − | ====Bonuses====
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| − | Most bonuses come from a particular source; these modifiers will have an adjective to describe them, such as feat bonuses or class bonuses or circumstance bonuses or racial bonuses. If several bonuses apply to the roll you are about to make that all have the same adjective, only the highest one applies, and only once. For example, if you have a +2 class bonus to saving throws, and a +5 class bonus to saving throws vs. charm effects, then you apply the +5 modifier when making a saving throw vs. a charm effect, not the +7 that you would get from adding them together. However, if you have two different bonuses, such as a +2 class bonus and a +3 proficiency bonus, you may add them both to the roll. Untyped bonuses are bonuses which have no type - you add all of these together when you make your roll.
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| − | ====Penalties====
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| − | Penalties, on the other hand, always accumulate regardless of their source. While many penalties will have adjectives, the adjectives are only important when specific powers or capabilities allow you to reduce or ignore a particular type of penalty; once you are ready to roll the dice, add all penalties that apply to the dice roll together and subtract that from the result.
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| − | ===Rewarding Creativity===
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| − | Even in situations where the mechanics are well established, creative and appropriate responses to situations should be rewarded. Check modifiers or DC modifiers of -2 to +2 are appropriate in situations where player ingenuity should reasonably lean the odds in your favor. Players who find a creative and novel way of approaching a situation might even adjust the difficulty level of the task by a difficulty level or more (such as hard to moderate, or moderate to easy), which is equivalent to a +5 or higher bonus. As always, the DM is the ultimate arbitrator of what modifiers are appropriate and when.
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| − | ===Critical Success and Failure===
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| − | Most of the time, you only care if you succeed or fail. You succeed on a roll whenever the check result is equal to or greater than the DC; you fail on a roll if your check result is less than the DC. If the check result is exactly equal to the DC, you only achieve a basic success - you succeed, but only barely. This has no effect on gameplay, but can sometimes add cinematic flavor to the flow of the story.
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| − | Whenever you roll a natural 20, if the check result is sufficient to have succeeded at the roll, you achieve a critical success. Critical successes with attack rolls are called critical hits. When you achieve a critical success, you perform the action spectacularly well, and may optionally negotiate a relevant benefit from the DM. Certain special circumstances may allow you to achieve a critical success on a natural roll of 19, or even lower. You must still succeed at the roll (i.e., have a check value higher than the DC) to achieve a critical success.
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| − | If the DC of a check is ever higher than your total modifier + 20, you can only succeed at that task by sheer luck. If your natural die roll is a 20 before any modifiers are applied, you still achieve a basic success (but not a critical success) on that task - luck was simply on your side.
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| − | On the other hand, whenever you roll a natural 1, if the check result was insufficient to have succeeded on the roll, you achieve a critical failure. Some horrible mishap occurs, causing complications that are up to the DM to resolve. Even if your check result was sufficient to have succeeded on the roll, you still achieve a basic failure (but not a critical failure) on a natural 1 - you were simply unlucky.
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| − | ===Saving Throws===
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| − | Most rolls that you make are against a specific DC - either an attack vs. a creature’s defense, or a skill check against a specific difficulty. Sometimes, however, you need to make a roll in opposition to another roll that was made. These rolls are called saving throws. To make a saving throw, roll your skill, proficiency or ability modifier vs. the original roll’s check result, as if it was a DC. When you perform an action against another character that they can save against, write down your check result in case that creature later attempts to make a saving throw against your action.
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| − | ==Performing Actions==
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| | When you want to do something in the game, you tell the DM what you want to accomplish, and then the DM assigns a difficulty class and tells you what modifiers apply to your check roll. While this is enough to get started, the game provides more detailed rules to determine what kinds of actions that you can perform at what times. | | When you want to do something in the game, you tell the DM what you want to accomplish, and then the DM assigns a difficulty class and tells you what modifiers apply to your check roll. While this is enough to get started, the game provides more detailed rules to determine what kinds of actions that you can perform at what times. |
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| − | There are multiple kinds of actions that you can perform in the game, divided into how long they take and how often you can perform them.
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| − | ===Free Actions==
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| − | Free actions take almost no time or effort to perform, like noticing something that you’re looking at or speaking a word or two.
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| − | ===Minor Actions===
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| − | Minor actions take a half second or so of your concentration, like drinking from a cup or picking up keys that are lying on the table.
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| − | ===Move Actions===
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| − | Move actions take enough concentration to watch where your feet are going, but not much more. As you would expect, move actions typically let you move around from place to place, but other move actions use your legs or body to do other things.
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| − | ===Standard Actions===
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| − | Standard actions take several seconds of your full attention to pull off, like aiming and firing a weapon, threading a needle, or working the controls of a complex machine.
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| − | ===Extended Actions===
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| − | Finally, Extended actions take more than a few seconds to perform, and hence tend to keep you committed for more time than the tempo of combat allows for.
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| − | ===At-Will Actions===
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| − | At-Will actions can be free actions, minor actions, move actions, standard actions or extended actions; the key qualification is that you can perform an at-will action whenever you feel like. Thus, if something is an “at-will move action”, that means that whenever it’s your turn and you feel like it, you can decide to spend as much effort as it takes to walk across the room to perform that action.
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| − | ===Per-Encounter Actions===
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| − | Per-Encounter actions tend to be fatiguing, and so can only be used a limited number of times before you need to sit down and rest. Like at-will actions, per-encounter actions can be free, minor, move, standard or extended.
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| − | ===Daily Actions===
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| − | Daily actions tend to be epic feats that take a good deal out of you, and so can only be used a limited number of times per day before you need a full night’s sleep to recharge. Like at-will and per-encounter actions, daily actions can be free, minor, move, standard or extended.
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| − | ===Action Description Blocks===
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| − | Whenever these rules wish to describe an action that you may perform, they will use an action description block. An action description block looks like this:
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| − | Take a Drink
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| − | At-Will Minor Action * Basic Utility
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| − | Requirement: You must have a drink in your hand.
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| − | Special: When you perform this action, you may stop and not take the drink if you notice that it tastes odd.
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| − | Effect: You take a drink from the drink in your hand.
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| − | The first line, in bold, is the name of the action - in this case, “Take a Drink”. This means that when you want your character to do this action, you tell the DM “I’m going to Take a Drink” so he knows what’s going on and can react appropriately.
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| − | The next line, in italics, is the action’s type and keywords. This is two blocks, separated by an asterisk. The first block tells you when you can perform the action (in this case, at-will), how complicated the action is (in this case, it’s a minor action), and whether it’s an Action (which you can do any time on your turn) or a Reaction or Interrupt (which you can do on your or other players’ or NPC’s turns, but only in response to specific triggers).
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| − | The next lines will list special circumstances around performing the action, such as ‘Prerequisites’, ‘Requirements’, ‘Triggers’ or ‘Special’ blocks. A Prerequisite is something you need to have before you can even learn to do the action - in this case, taking a drink has no prerequisites. A requirement or trigger is a need that must be met before you can perform the action - in this case, it is a Requirement that you have a drink in your hand in order to take a drink, which makes perfect sense. A Special block just tells you some special rules or circumstances around this action that don’t fit into any other category, such as the fact that you can decide to stop taking the drink before it affects you if it tastes odd.
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| − | The next lines will list what happens when you perform the action. Each of these lines will say ‘Effect’, ‘Check’, ‘Target’, ‘Save’, ‘Success’, ‘Failure’, ‘Hit’ or ‘Miss’, and will be listed in the order that they occur. An ‘Effect’ block always happens when you perform the action; just read the line and assume that that effect occurs. A ‘Check’ or ‘Target’ line means that you must make some kind of check at this step, while a ‘Save’ means you must make a saving throw. ‘Target’ lines have you make a choice, usually selecting a particular creature or area, before making the check; the check’s DC will be based on the target that you choose. Finally, ‘Success’ and ‘Hit’ lines only occur if you succeed at the last check that you made, while ‘Failure’ and ‘Miss’ lines only occur if you didn’t succeed at the last check that you made.
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| | ==Pacing and Tempo== | | ==Pacing and Tempo== |
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| | During the game, the flow of time may be measured in two distinct pacings, based on the tempo and tactical danger that the characters are in. | | During the game, the flow of time may be measured in two distinct pacings, based on the tempo and tactical danger that the characters are in. |
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| − | ===Scenes=== | + | ===[[Open4E:Scenes|Scenes]]=== |
| − | | + | Scenes are periods of improvisational acting and preparation, where second-by-second decisions are less important than maintaining a smooth flow of the dialog and narration. |
| − | Scenes are periods of improvisational acting and preparation, where second-by-second decisions are less important than maintaining a smooth flow of the dialog and narration. Scenes are divided into minutes, and an average scene should take around five minutes. Most extended actions occur at scene pacing; if an extended action takes longer than five minutes, the DM is allowed to simply say “a few hours later” and skip to the next scene, in which you’ve finished that action or something else interesting happens. Scene-based challenges are typically skill challenges, where your character’s skills determine how well you succeed and what happens next. | |
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| − | ====Performing Actions in a Scene====
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| − | Actions that you take within a scene can take anywhere between a few seconds and several hours. You can always perform any action during a scene; simply declare the action that you want to perform, and the DM will keep track of how long it will take to finish, and may ask you to describe how you’re performing the action. Remember that good descriptions and clever ideas are rewarded, but don’t drag down the game with florid prose that doesn’t advance the story or entertain the other players. Remember that everyone’s first goal is to have fun as a group.
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| − | =====Use Skill=====
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| − | At-Will Extended Action * Basic Skill Utility
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| − | Effect: You perform any action listed in the Skill section.
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| − | =====Use Weapon=====
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| − | At-Will Extended Action * Basic Weapon Utility
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| − | Effect: You use a weapon for a non-combat purpose.
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| − | ====Reacting to Actions in a Scene====
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| − | If you want to react to an action in a scene, tell the DM that you want to react to it, and then describe the action that you want to perform in response. Within a scene, the precise order that things happen in isn’t usually important; if it is, the DM will likely have you make an Initiative check to determine if you can pull it off fast enough. The rules for initiative, and for other actions, will be given later.
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| − | �
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| − | ===Encounters===
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| − | Encounters are periods of fast-paced action where every second counts. Encounters are divided into rounds, which represent about six seconds of action. Within a round, each character gets a turn, which is the point at which they get to act. Encounter challenges are typically combat challenges, where you must fight a group of enemies to determine how well you succeed and what happens next.
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| − | ====Initiative====
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| − | Whenever a new encounter begins, each player makes an Initiative check to determine the turn order. The DM will then likewise make an Initiative check for each group of enemies in the encounter. Whoever got the highest Initiative check result goes first, and then each other player or NPC goes from next-highest Initiative to lowest. Specific rules for determining your Initiative check bonuses will be provided later.
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| − | Sometimes there is a chance that you might be surprised by the start of an encounter. If there is a chance to be surprised, the DM will set a difficulty level for the surprise; your Initiative check then also becomes your check to see if you’re surprised by the encounter. Being surprised means that you have to wait out the first round of the encounter to gather your wits; once everyone who isn’t surprised has gone, you stop being surprised and may participate normally in the second round. Even if there normally isn’t a chance to be surprised, a critical failure on your Initiative check will still cause you to be surprised for the first round of combat.
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| − | ====Taking Your Turn====
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| − | When it becomes your turn during an encounter, you get to decide what your character does during the next few seconds. During your turn, you can perform four different kinds of actions. You can perform one standard action, one move action, one minor action, and a reasonable number of free actions (where “reasonable” is decided by the DM).
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| − | =====Standard Actions=====
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| − | During your turn, you may perform a single standard action. Standard actions are generally acts that require a good deal of your focus and concentration to pull off. You will have a good number of standard actions that you can perform, based on the choices you make when you create your character. However, all characters can perform the following basic standard actions, regardless of who they are.
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| − | Melee attacks are used to attack creatures who are within reach of your weapons, while ranged attacks are used to attack creatures who are too far away to reach with a sword or a spear. When you make a ranged attack, you provoke an opportunity attack from any adjacent creature - the creature can perform a basic melee attack against you as an immediate interrupt.
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| − | Basic Melee Attack
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| − | At-Will Standard Action * Basic Melee Attack
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| − | Effect: You make a basic melee or unarmed attack against one creature.
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| − | Ranged attacks are used to attack creatures who are too far away to reach with a sword or a spear. When you make a ranged attack, you provoke an opportunity attack from any adjacent creature - the creature can perform a basic melee attack against you as an immediate interrupt.
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| − | Basic Ranged Attack
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| − | At-Will Standard Action * Basic Ranged Attack
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| − | Effect: You make a basic ranged attack against one creature.
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| − | Full Defense is used when you don’t want to attack or perform some other action, but don’t want to be hit by an attack either. Full Defense is a stance - an activity that you begin with an action, but continue to maintain until you decide to stop it, or some other event causes the stance to end.
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| − | Full Defense
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| − | At-Will Standard Action * Basic Stance
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| − | Effect: You enter into a defensive stance, which makes it harder to be attacked by other creatures and lets you catch your breath. More complete rules for the Full Defense action will be provided in the combat section.
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| − | Finally, Skills are specific collections of activities that you can gain training in. Most actions that aren’t attacks are covered by making skill-based checks.
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| − | Use Skill
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| − | At-Will Standard, Move, Minor or free Action * Basic Skill Utility
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| − | Effect: You perform a standard, move, minor or free action listed in the Skill section.
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| − | Sometimes, you need to perform an extended action in combat. While this is risky, it is occasionally necessary. Extended actions are handled as stances:
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| − | Perform Extended Action
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| − | At-Will Standard Action * Basic Stance
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| − | Effect: You begin performing an extended action. If you maintain this stance without interruption for a number of turns equal to the action’s duration in rounds (or ten time the action’s duration in minutes), you may make the check for that action.
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| − | =====Move Actions=====
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| − | During your turn, you may also perform one move action. Move actions generally involve legwork and maneuvering to perform. If you need to move quickly, you may also expend your standard action as if it were a move action, giving you a total of two move actions during your turn.
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| − | All characters have a speed rating, which is how fast they can move at a jog in one move action. Speed is measured in five-foot steps; if you have a speed of 3, you can move 15 feet in a turn. The most basic move action that you can perform is to move this distance. However, movement is not particularly defensive - if you are adjacent to a hostile creature when you attempt to move, you provoke an opportunity attack.
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| − | Move
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| − | At-Will Move Action * Basic Movement
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| − | Effect: You move a number of 5-foot squares equal to your speed.
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| − | If you need to move move safely, you may shift. Shifting only moves you five feet, but you maintain full awareness of all threats around you, and so you do not provoke opportunity attacks while shifting.
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| − | Shift
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| − | At-Will Move Action * Basic Movement
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| − | Effect: You shift one 5-foot square.
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| − | Some areas are more difficult to move through than others. Each square of difficult terrain counts as two squares, so you may not normally shift through it in a single move action. If you use two different actions to move, you may combine them into a single movement and count your speed as doubled for this movement - either shifting two squares (or shifting through one square of difficult terrain), or moving a total number of squares equal to twice your speed (counting each square of difficult terrain twice).
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| − | =====Minor Actions=====
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| − | You may also perform one minor action during your turn. Minor actions are simple, reflexive acts that you can perform without paying much attention, such as picking up an item, pulling something out of a pocket or holster, or taking a drink from a bottle. If you need to do several simple things in a turn, you may also expend your move action or your standard action or both as if they were minor actions, giving you a total of two or three minor actions during your turn.
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| − | =====Free Actions=====
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| − | Free Actions are simple things that you can do without really thinking about, such as speak a few words or give a hand signal. You can perform any number of free actions during your turn, but if it stretches the limits of credulity or bogs down play the DM is likely to cut you off and tell you to move on.
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| − | ====Reacting to Other People’s Actions====
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| − | There are certain actions that you may perform in response to another character’s action. These are called Immediate Actions. You may perform one Immediate Action per turn, whether it’s your turn or not, but all immediate actions have a ‘trigger’ that must be fulfilled before you can perform the immediate action.
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| − | =====Immediate Responses=====
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| − | There are two kinds of immediate actions that you may take in response to an event: Immediate Reactions and Immediate Interrupts. Immediate Reactions must be performed after the triggering event has fully resolved; you get to perform your action in response to theirs. Immediate Interrupts, on the other hand, happen before the triggering event has resolved - if an Immediate Interrupt changes the circumstances around their action, you might cause that action to fail or succeed when it otherwise would not have, or enhance or degrade the effects of their success or failure.
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| − | Opportunity Attack
| + | ===[[Open4E:Encounters|Encounters]]=== |
| − | At-Will Immediate Interrupt * Basic Melee Weapon Attack
| + | Encounters are periods of fast-paced action where every second counts. |
| − | Trigger: An adjacent enemy attempts to move out of their square without shifting, or attempts to make a ranged attack, or performs another action that provokes opportunity.
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| − | Effect: You make a basic melee attack against the provoking creature.
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| − | =====Free Responses===== | + | ==[[Open4E:Abilities|Abilities]]== |
| | + | All characters in this game have six core abilities, which determine or influence all their other statistics: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom. |
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| − | In addition to immediate responses, some special powers or feats will allow you to take Free Reactions or Free Interrupts. A Free Reaction is just like an Immediate Reaction, except that you may perform any number of them per turn. Similarly, a Free Interrupt is just like an Immediate Interrupt, except that you may perform any number of them per turn. You may only respond to a single action once with any single response, however - you cannot perform a single response several times to the same triggering event. | + | ==[[Open4E:Skills|Skills]]== |
| | + | In addition to Abilities, Skills are a more detailed way to specify your character's proficiencies. |
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| − | =====Automatic Responses===== | + | ==Other Traits== |
| | + | In addition to Abilities and Skills, the following traits help define your character's capabilities in and out of combat. |
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| − | Some responses occur automatically, even if you cannot perform a free or immediate action or response. These operate identically to free responses, except that you can perform them even while stunned or unconscious.
| + | ===[[Open4E:Defenses|Defenses]]=== |
| | + | ===[[Open4E:Hit Points|Hit Points and Vitality]]=== |
| | + | ===[[Open4E:Proficiencies|Weapon Proficiencies]]=== |
