The Dying Earth RPG For One Shots

[Cynical Cat]

The possibility has been raised (by me) of doing Dying Earth for one shots or short campaigns in between our larger endeavours. As the idea has been favorably received by those I have approached and so this modest presentation has been generated in anticipation of such a happy event and the questions that might arise.

1) What do I need to get?

Behold! Free Quickstart Rules!

http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php ... rpg-index/

This is all that is required. Your benevolent storyteller has the full rules of course, but the system is simple enough that the quickstart will suffice for all players if they do not have the interest or the disposable income to buy the main book (the others are very much optional).

2)What's the Setting?

It is the last days of Earth. The sun is small, red, and feeble; the moon is gone; and there are few stars in the sky. Magic has risen and fallen, as have countless civilizations, as Earth's inhabitants pursue their own interests and comforts during Earth's lasts days.

3) Cool. What kind of Characters will we play?

We will playing at the Cugel level, where the characters are rogues, wanders, vagabonds, mercenaries, thieves, and dabblers in magic who seek to escape the trouble behind them and seek their own comfort and ends. While not necessary moral lepers, the players are not the stainless champions of epic fantasy.

4) Play style?

Earth in its last days can be a dangerous place, especially for vagabonds who might need to escape the law, flee angry magicians, or take sudden and unannounced sojourns into the wilderness. For that reason it is best to deploy your powers of persuasion first when possible and rely on magic and violence when you have no choice or when the situation strongly favors those options.

Players can be persuaded as well. Cunning swindles, dubious schemes, and heartless betrayals are a staple of the setting and players can be on the receiving end of them as well. Fortunately such will normally put the player into a disadvantageous situation, allowing the player to turn the tables and extract revenge for the trials and humiliations he or she has undergone.

5) Build advice?

There are several crucial stats: Persuade, Rebuff, Attack, Defence, Health, and Magic. Magic costs double. Persuade, Rebuff, Attack, Defence, and Magic all have styles that give different benefits. You can pick or go random. If random you get 6 bonus build points. Persuade and Magic both give bonuses to using certain kinds of Magic, so an aspiring Magician should check them out before deciding to feast on build points or making hard decisions. Those uninterested in Magic should put 1 point into it in order to benefit from the free points from the random style. You can also pick or to go random to get extra points for Resistances, which allow you resist various blandishments.

6) I don't like losing control of my character. How to resist?

You will be persuaded. That said, if you invest points into resistances and Rebuff, you will be very hard to persuade.

7) Give me a quick rundown of the mechanics.

Each stat has a rating. Mid to high single digits is good for Cugel level.

You roll six sided dice.

1=Dismal Failure.

2-3=Failure

4-5=Success

6=Illustrious Success

It costs you 1 point to reroll a die. A dismal failure costs you 2 points off your rating, an uncountered Illustrious Success add 2 to your rating.

A levy means a roll costs an additional rating point.

A boon means the roll grants you an additional point.

A penalty (rare) means that you suffer a -1 on your roll. A 6 is still an Illustrious Success, but 1 and 2 are Dismal Failures.

A bonus (rare) means you suffer +1 on your roll.

Opposed Tests

Each Persuade and Attack style trumps a Rebuff and Defence style and is trumped in turn by another style. A trumped style suffers a Levy of 1.

You roll until you generate a success or quit. Then your opponent rolls his opposed stat until the same. A Dismal Failure or Illustrious Success ends the contest, but one can spend 3 points to counter the roll and reroll.

Health is used to resist some damage.

Injury Levels:

Okay
Injured
Down
Dead or Dying

Pools generally refresh after several hours of appropriate activity or a good night's rest.

Examples:

Lys is trying to Persaude rhoenix to a adopt a plan of action he has reservations regarding. There are no modifiers. Lys has Persuade 7, rhoenix has Rebuff 8

Lys(7)=3
Lys (6)=6 waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hoooooooooooooo!. Tyson (8) pays 3 to make her reroll the Illustrious Success(5).
Lys (6)=5
rhoenix (5)=5
Lys (6)=1 Lys goes down to (4). A reroll will cost her 3 more points. She decides to give it up.


Hotfoot (8) is trying to persuade Marcao (6) regarding a dubious plan of action. Marcao trumps Hotfoot.

Hotfoot (7) 8-1 for the ley=6 Illustrious Success Motherfuckers! Boo ya. Marcao pays 3 to force Hotfoot to reroll. Marcao's Rebuff goes from 6 to 3.

Hotfoot (7)=3 Failure. With the levy, rolling again will cost 2 points, not 1.

Hotfoot (5)=4

Marcao(3)=1 Dismal Failure. This brings Marcao's Rebuff down to 1 and he doesn't have 3 points to negate it. With a sigh he accedes to Hotfoot's plan.