0. IntroductionElements the RPG is an attempt to try to somewhat unify and vitalize an otherwise undeservedly overlooked and chaotic subforum. The game is modeled after some classic Pen and Paper or Tabletop fantasy games, while designed to be easy to understand and playable through Forums or chat. To set up a game you only need a good story, a Gamemaster, a group of players and an arranged time when everyone can pick up their roles.
The ruleset is still malleable, and new additions could easily be included. All of this is intended more as a foundation to build upon rather than a complete game, though it is our hope that we can make it work as is. As such, a Gamemaster is free to, even encouraged to make up or overwrite rules in order to make the game better. Criticism and suggestions are all welcome and will definitely be considered.
| Please note while the mechanics in their current state are fully functional, all things may be still subject to updates and changes. |
I. The World"Elements are the fundamental building blocks of nature."
Elements the RPG is set in a universe that is based on the natural balance of the twelve elemental forces. The game takes place in the concept of a world, the material plane, where all 12 elemental influences overlap equally. This is the Earth as we know it.
The world itself is what you make it. The game can take place in any age or context, maybe the only restriction being Elements the Game itself. Game Masters are advised to make preparations for their campaigns and use improvisation only as an utility to further enhance the role-playing experience.
II. CharactersPlayer characters are the protagonists of Elements the RPG. As most people would have difficulties impersonating a creature (and its habits outside of battle) made purely by one of nature's well-defined energies, the characters here are mere humans, living on the material plane. While they may seem fragile and weak at first, humans have one very unique feature, that with experience comes an ever-increasing attunement to any of the elements.
Every person has different reasons for taking the path of adventuring, but also differs in strengths and weaknesses - and on some occasions, when such people crossed their paths, even history may take a different turn.
Spoiler for Google Docs:
Character planning is always an important part of RPG games, and (currently) there's Google Docs to handle that for us.
Following the link above you'll see a set of character sheets, just choose one that's unused, pick a name and you're ready to go. There will be hints spoilered throughout this guide on how to accurately fill out the character sheet if you're having problems, in their respective chapters. The sheet calculates most things automatically, so it's nothing complicated.
Feel free to play around with character planning.
If there's no unused sheet available, just right click on the locked sheet labeled 'Charsheet' and choose Duplicate.
There's also another locked sheet called 'Core'. That's there to make things work.
Talents are one's innate features, or the mark of Destiny they call it.
These provide a basic orientation, an element to affiliate to, and determine the primary attribute of the character - and they cannot be changed later.
While the Primary Stats can be completely re-arranged, note that Talent modifiers also increase/decrease your minimum/maximum values but they still cannot exceed 10. You also gain a +1 to any checks made against your primary attribute.
Spoiler for Google Docs:
Choose one of the five Talents from the drop down menu.
Sadly, it's only for aesthetics yet. Talent bonuses haven't been implemented in the google doc yet, but they increase/decrease the relevant primary stats of your character. You still have to enter the bonuses manually, but it is worked on.
2. Traits
Because of balance issues, Traits are still work in progress and may be updated (or scrapped altogether.. ) later.
Traits modify different aspects of a character, including (but not limited to): Secondary Statistics, Combat modifiers and Proficiencies. Traits are optional, and always have both positive and negative effects. When creating your character, you will be able choose one Trait.
Like Talents, Traits cannot be changed later on, and remain until your character dies.
3. Primary StatsPrimary Stats are your character's natural attributes.
(ST) Strength - Physical prowess or brute force. Strength determines your attack strength with melee and throwing weapons, as well as the ability to wear heavier equipment.
(EN) Endurance - The character's physical resistance to hardship, injury and disease. Sets the base amount of Health points.
(IN) Intelligence - The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. Higher Intelligence equals to more Quanta, therefore this is a must for using elemental abilities.
(DX) Dexterity - Agility and reflexes. Affects your reaction time, natural defense and your chance to score critical hits.
(CH) Charisma - Combination of personal magnetism, charm, leadership and talent. Charisma determines the amount of spells and minions you may have.
| Characters may gain 2 additional Stat points along their journey, at level 8 and level 16. |
Spoiler for Google Docs:
Primary Stats are rated from 1-10 and are freely distributable. The total amount of stat points are based on your Character Level, which is rated from 1-20. The sheet will inform you if you have any points un- or overused.
Currently, at level 1 you have 26 Stat points to distribute, which includes Talent bonuses.
The Stat modifiers in the right column are needed to determine the Secondary Stats.
4. Secondary StatsSecondary stats are derived from the five primary stats, and are used for measuring the character's combat efficiency.
(ATK) Attack - Shows how seriously a character can physically harm another. Almost all weapon damage adds up to this value.
(HP) Health points - The vitality of the character. If it reaches 0, the character dies (or in certain situations, becomes incapacitated).
(Q) Quanta - The total amount of elemental energy available to use abilities. There's a separate pool for each element.
(DEF) Defense - Damage reduction and dodging skills. Negates incoming attack damage at a 1:1 ratio.
(#) Copy - The number of abilities a character can perform daily.
(%) Critical chance - % chance to ignore armor and do +50% damage on attack, rounded up. Negative values mean a chance to fumble your attack, missing completely.
Spoiler for Google Docs:
Secondary stats are calculated automatically.
The 'Current' column is there to manually highlight any possible damage or effect.
5. ProficienciesProficiencies are a measure of your combat and magical abilities. They may range from 0 to 5: 0 being completely unskilled and 5 having mastered the skill.
The following are the five proficiencies:
Melee Combat - The skill of wielding close combat weapons. From bare fists and broken bottles to enourmous axes and ancient swords; they all belong here. And naturally, the stronger you are, the harder you hit.
Ranged Combat - The adept handling of projectile weapons. Throwing knives and crossbows are good examples. The efficiency of using such weapons is based exclusively on the character's skill level.
| Characters using weapons that they're unproficient with gain a -1 ATK modifier. |
- The ability to invoke elemental energies and use them to alter one's environment. The most powerful and destructive spells come from these incantations.
Summoning Rituals - The power to call forth and temporarily bind creatures under your will. Summoners need a very strong personal will and presence when conjuring more powerful beings, otherwise the creature might turn hostile.
Enchantment & Alchemy - The ability to imbue elemental energies into material substances. Certain recipes of this skill requires the character to spend some of his resources working on items beforehand and call upon their power later in need. Magically empowered equipment and alchemical potions are some of the possibilities.
Starting characters gain 2 proficiency points that must be distributed in two separate skills. Afterwards you gain 1 point every third character level, up to a maximum of 9 at level 20. |
6. Elemental AffinityElemental Affinities represent your link and attunement to the Elements. High affinity levels allow you to use high-tier abilities and may also allow you to intuitively sense or gain knowledge corresponding to your chosen element in certain situations.
You gain one point to distribute every level. Note, that your chosen Talent restricts your very first pick as an elemental affinity.
Spoiler for Google Docs:
You gain 1 point of Affinity every level, right? All you have to do is to put an 'x' under your desired element each time you gain a level.
It will then calculate the Quanta available automatically for each element you marked, based on your Level and Intelligence.
III. BattleWhen all other methods fail, you can always result to violence. Players should be warned that fights can easily end with quick and sometimes grim results, therefore characters should carefully pick confrontations. Also note that the death of a character is permanent, and the means of reviving someone are extremely rare.
1. The Flow of CombatThe course of battle runs somewhat similar like it's done in EtG, but there are a few key differences in how humans and elementals are able to fight. Combat is divided into turns, in which each participant is able to act one by one. Battles are usually fought between two parties (mostly the player characters vs. some hostiles) and lasts until all the remaining members of a party has fled or are dead.
| By the nature of the game mechanics, PvP is a completely viable option, though not advised, unless played exclusively. |
2. Combat SequenceThe turn order of the characters involved in battle is based on their Reaction time, which is the sum of their DX values and a d10 roll (rolled seperately for every encounter). Minions act after their Summoner's turn, in the order their master wishes.
3. ActionsAn action is what a character is able to perform under a set of combat turn(s). Turns represent only a fraction of time (a few seconds) in the real world, thus most creatures are capable of a single action under a turn; though some spells and skills can alter this limit.
In case of any positive/negative effects or modifiers present (for example: Critical or Fumble chance) when making an action, a d100 roll is required on each seperate action to determine the outcome.
Actions are split into 6 categories, and consist mostly of physical or elemental abilities and attacks (the latter being EtG's cardpool basically):
Movement - The simple act of changing position. To simplify things there are three types of distances measured in battle:
- Engaged/Immediate: The character is only a few steps away or is already engaged with its target and there is plenty of time left to perform a full action.
- Short distance: The character and its target have approximately 1 turn's distance between them. A medium sized hall or room may be good examples.
- Long distance: When the target is rather far away and several turns are needed for the character to engage it. The exact amount is up to the GM's discretion.
Attack - Attacking is the act of physically hurting others with anything available. If the character's attack value exceeds the target's defense, a successful attack can be made within the proper range of the weapon. All attacks count as a hit automatically, considering no modifiers or effects are present, even if target defense negates all incoming damage. Note, that multiple attacks per turn always follow the adrenaline-attack table and may count as several turns in case of status effects.
Spellcasting - If the character has sufficient quanta and knowledge, he may be able to use one of his elemental abilities. Each spell has its own casting time and duration of effect, and may take more than a turn to finish.
Free Action - Free actions are innate abilities or feats that require little to no distraction in the heat of battle. They are made "automatically", and still allow a character to perform a regular action, but can be taken only once a turn. Summoned creature's abilities are also counted as such, unless noted otherwise.
Wait - Character is uncertain or simply waits for the right opportunity to take action. Reaction time is set to 0 for that turn. In other words, the character delays his action to the end of the turn order.
Flee/Disengage - Characters may choose to escape a tight spot to make some distance between the enemy or leaving the battlefield completely behind. Be warned, that all enemies currently targeting (engaged or within reach of) the fleeing character gain an Attack of opportunity as a free action, regardless whether they have already acted that turn or not. Airborne creatures receive no penalty for disengaging from grounded/non-airborne opponents.
4. EquipmentWeapons and armors are categorized into different groups for the sake of simplicity, it is up to your imagination and preference what weapon you exactly use. Categorization follows common sense and is always up to the GM's approval: for example, a giant two-handed Greathammer thats head was carved from a Stone Pillar itself, should be counted as a heavy melee weapon. A scimitar would be a medium weapon while a recurve bow would be a medium ranged weapon.
Melee weapons have five categories:
Unarmed - As the name implies, this is used when you have no weapons at your disposal. Your fists have no base damage of their own; your only source of attack damage is your strength and skill.
Basic - Basic weapons could be anything from the broken off leg of a table to a kitchen knife. These makeshift weapons are often not very suitable for combat but can still prove advantageous. These deal 1 base damage.
Light - Light weapons are small, fast and effective. Daggers, maces, short swords and the like fall into this category. They deal 2 damage and have a Strength requirement of 3.
Medium - Medium weapons are between light and heavy, a balance of speed and damage. Long swords, battle axes are just a few that could be listed here. They deal 3 base damage and have a Strength requirement of 5.
Heavy - Heavy weapons require two hands and great strength to be wielded (which means you're unable to use shields at the same time), but causes the most serious of injuries. They deal 4 base damage and have a Strength requirement of 7.
Your character's Strength and/or Proficiency modifier always adds up to the final attack power when using a melee weapon.
If the character becomes more proficient in certain fighting techniques, he will also be able to perform faster and deadlier attacks with his weapon of choice.
|
have three categories:
Throwing - Quite self-describing, all muscle propelled weapons belong here.They deal 1 base damage plus your character's strength modifier, up to a short distance. Since these usually require only one hand, you are still able to wear shields, unlike other ranged weapons. Minimum strength requirement: 3
Medium - Shortbows, light crossbows and the like are considered medium ranged weapons. These have a base damage of 2 with a long range and a Strength requirement of 4.
Heavy - Heavy crossbows, long bows, mechanic projectile weapons fit into this category. They deal 3 damage at a long range and also ignore one point of damage reduction on the target but a Strength of 6 is required.
All ranged weapons require ammunition to maintain (though exact amount is not necessarily needed) and forces the character to resupply from time to time. Again, the GM's discretion.
When engaged in melee combat with an enemy, medium and heavy ranged weapon users gain a -1 DEF penalty, while throwing weapons may be used as a basic melee weapon. Naturally, your melee combat proficiency is applied if this happens.
| You're unable to equip shields when using Medium or Heavy ranged weapons. |
is the sum of several factors:
No armor - When wearing no armor only your natural agility protects you. When wearing any kind of armor your natural defense from Dexterity is lost, but gain damage reduction based on your armor class.
Light Armor - Any kind of body armor that provides some minor defense against blows but still light enough to allow delicate movement for spellcasting. They provide 1 defense point and have a strength requirement of 4.
Heavy Armor - Wearing heavy body armors prevents you from using Invocations and Summoning Rituals. They provide 2 defense points but require Strength 7 to wear.
Shield- Shields provide 1 defense but like heavy armors they prevent you from proper spellcasting. Minimum strength required: 5.
If a character fails to meet an item's Stregth requirement he gains 10% Fumble chance and -1 Reaction Time modifier for each missing ST value. Cumulative. |
Note that some spells and enchantments are able to circumvent the equipping rules. Also, all equipment count as separate permanents in ingame terms and can be manipulated as such. |
Spoiler for Google Docs:
Use the drop down menus and choose your preferred (or available) equipment.
Your Secondary Stats and damage modifiers will update automatically based on your Proficiencies and Primary Stat modifiers. Use 'Misc' to calculate any active effects or enhancements.
- Natural defense is a mixture of dodging ability and in some cases the special epidermis of a creature. As its name suggests, it does not hinder the creature in any way.
Draconic - Physical and Magic resistant. All incoming damage is reduced to 1.
5. Fight examplesSpoiler for Zach:
Zach in his years as a royal guard has specialized himself in wielding halberds of all sizes as it was demanded from him to do so. This kept him in a formidable condition even to this day, long after his retirement. One night some vagrants were looking for the worst kind of trouble and crossed paths with him, not realizing who they are addressing. He was unarmed at the time, but he had worse scars to remember than these youngsters could possibly make. He attacks without hesitation.
(1d100)=97 (Critical: 3 damage!)
Not only the brigand wore no helmet to protect his face, the retired guard's attack was so unexpected that the powerful blow knocked him right out, collapsing instantly. The other stands confused for a moment only to accept Zach's next blow.
(1d100)=25 (2 damage)
Since the brigand tries to flee the instant he has a chance to act, Zach receives an attack of opportunity:
(1d100)=27 (2 damage - death)
This resulted in another common outlaw picked off the streets.
Zach heads down the quiet alley, searching for his house of interest.
"Should've restrained myself", he thinks to himself.
This encounter exemplifies how quickly a battle can end when someone gets overly confident. The two brigands both wielded iron maces, were unarmored and counted as simple level 1 NPCs. Zach on the other hand - despite his elderly look - is a level 9 veteran fighter with plenty of combat experience and a muscular build.
Brigands (5 DX + 2d10) = 8 and 10 as reaction time
Zach (6 DX + d10) = 13, so he comes first.
Being an expert in melee combat, and having a strength of 7, Zach deals 2 DMG unarmed, and attacks twice every turn. Considering they were already in immediate range when picking a quarrel, he could attack one of the brigands right away. In addition, his first attack scored a Critical hit, almost killing the outlaw in a single hit. Having a remaining attack because of his skill, he throws the second blow straight at the other bandit. Zach not only breaks his jaw, he breaks his morale as well, the brigand runs in terror which gives another attack for Zach as a chance of opportunity, killing him quietly with a devastating and precise blow.
This fight took no longer than a single turn.
6. Status EffectsThese are mostly environmental or magical effects that may hinder or aid your character, and are the following:
Airborne - Cannot be hit by non-airborne Melee attacks.
Berserk - Attack nearest party member.
Blind - -50% chance of critical strike (d100 on attack).
Chaos - A random effect is inflicted on target (d12 to determine).
Confusion - May take no action or go Berserk.
Delay - Cannot take any action.
Fatigue - Gain 15% Fumble chance for each restless day (d100 on action).
Freeze - Cannot take any action.
Fumble - % chance to fail all actions (d100 on action), rolled separately from Critical chance.
Gpull - Party is forced to engage with target.
Haste - Gain +1 action this turn.
Immortal - Cannot be targeted.
Invisible - Cannot be targeted (area effect negates).
Lobotomy - 60% chance to fail all elemental abilities (d100 on spellcasting).
Miss - % chance to fail attack (d100 on attack).
Momentum - Ignore target's DEF and Shield on attack.
Mutation - All five Primary Stats are temporarily randomized (5d10).
Phase - Cannot be harmed by physical attacks.
Poison - DMG after each action.
Purify - HP before each action.
Reflective - Reflects targeted spells to caster.
Silence - Cannot use spells and abilities.
Stasis - Cannot attack or change position.
Weak - Temporary ATK penalty.
IV. Elemental AbilitiesElemental abilities come from the three elemental skills: Invocations, Summoning Rituals and Enchantments & Alchemy. They are sorted into five tiers, each requiring a larger investment. Each tier requires a combination of Proficiency and Elemental Affinity as follows:
| TIER | SKILL | AFFINITY |
| Tier 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tier 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Tier 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Tier 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Tier 5 | 5 | 15 |
1. InvocationsCantrips - These are the most elementary incantations that represent the character's ability to shape/affect/change/bend/control their respective elements to a certain degree. Hence some of their naming, all cantrips have their certain uses in combat (if used as a direct attack), but characters should avoid relying solely on them because they may prove useful or even life-saving in non-combat situations as well.
Skill transfer - Transfers respective weapon proficiency bonuses at 3 / 6 / 10
affinity, up to Specialized (3). Strength bonus does not apply. Exclusive to Flying Weapon.
2. Summoning RitualsSummonings are complex elemental practices which grant the user the ability to temporarily bind powerful creatures under his will. The Summoner's Charisma must be always greater than the summon's rated Charisma (or equal to, in which case a d10 roll is added to each value) to take control of the creature. If not, it'll likely take revenge on its summoner or simply go away. This is also true when a character comes across a creature that falls under his summoning capabilities, he is able to dominate its mind as a regular Summoning Ritual.
With a few notable exception, the total amount of summons that can be present at a given time is equal to the #Copy of the character.
Obsession - If not summoned in combat, deal damage to owner each rest (per day). Applies from the very first summoning. Exclusive to Ghost of the Past.
| Tier 4 creatures require 2 turns to summon while Tier 5 creatures require 3 turns to summon. |
3. Enchantments & AlchemyThe items in this tree are divided into 3 categories:
Permanents - You make preparations beforehand during rest but the quanta is spent during combat when the item is used. The item becomes useless after the spell ends.
Enchantments and Artifacts - You enchant a piece of item that you wear as equipment, like an armor or shield with elemental power during combat. These items are created in advance and the quanta is used up during their creation (but may of course be regenerated back during the next rest), and from that point they will count as Artifacts. In combat, Quanta is also spent 'on the spot' and the item's power can be invoked temporarily. Multiple items may be created of the same type, as many as the enchanter's Charisma allows. Artifacts may be given or sold away, but some of them have an Affinity requirement for their use. Some of them are always active, others need to be activated during combat.
Alchemy - Alchemy consists of potions and other dangerous and magical compounds. They work similar to Artifacts but are single use only, and the Quanta is used up while making preparations.
Shared - Effect also applies to party members. In case of Quanta or ability gain: the caster accumulates as many as he is able or wishes to, and the rest is available for the group. Exclusive to: Sanctuary, Nova, Serendipity, Immolation.
V. Creatures & NPCs1. Non-Player CharactersIn contrast to player characters, non-player characters are controlled by the GM, or by people assisting the gamemaster. Non-player characters fill out the population of the setting and can act as antagonists, bystanders or allies of the player characters.
They mostly follow the player character creation process, however they're not required to do so.
Spoiler for Google Docs:
There is a compact, working NPC generator, however it still needs to be updated with some stuff.
Can link it if anyone wants.
Creatures are other non-human inhabitants of the world, mostly consisting of the monstrous and magical wildlife of the outdoors.
The Summon table represents the relative strengths of the creatures of the world, but GMs should be warned when creating other, new entities, that some current higher level summons can completely demolish a lower-mid level party. |
2. FamiliarsThese are (mostly) small creatures who after having been summoned remain by the character's side until banished or slain, and do not count towards the simultaneous #Copy limit of summons.
Spoiler for example:
A character with a Charisma of 4 can make 2 voodoo dolls. It requires him 1 turn (and 2
) to create a link between a doll and a target, so he won't have to engage that foe to deal damage. If the target dies and the doll still have some HP left, it can be used again later if the need arises.
3. EquipSome creatures are capable of wielding some basic equipment. Available weaponry and armor differs from race to race. The equipment of summoned creatures is random and there is a predetermined chance for each possibility.
4. DraconicDragons are legendary creatures, that most mortals don't live to see. They are tremendous in size and bear otherwordly strength and cunning. Their thick skin, swift movement and magical nature allows them to resist heaps of attacks seemingly unharmed. All dragons are fully affiliated with their respective element, may differ in personality or personal goals and are not necessarily hostile. However, contact with these creatures should be avoided at all costs.
| Dragons are also able to use the Cantrip of their respective element at will, as a free action. |
"A gigantic, majestic and regal beast
that can phase in and out of the material world at will, the Phase
Dragon is also extremely intelligent and wise. With its mastery of the dimensions and
its immense physical power in mind, you would do well to stay on their
good side no matter what."
/Lady Higurashi's advice to a group of adventurers before taking on a dangerous quest./
5. ElementalsElementals are mysterious creatures originating from other planes of existence. While their presence in the material world is an extremely rare sight to witness, legends tell about their past confrontations that upset various places on Earth, leaving dangerous anomalies and beings behind.
Elementals hold godlike powers over their respective parts of nature compared to humans and should be treated as such: direct player confrontation remains futile until late theoretical 'epic' character levels. |
VI. Gamemaster's HandbookWork in progress - Coming soon.
