So we decided to host them until Gold Rush Games returns. Normally, we only host files in Open Document Formats, but we did not want to alter the original RTF files.

We love the Action! System and believe that it can be developed into an enjoyable rule set for experienced players and new players alike. We believe it has many advantages over other OGL-Licensed system, especially because the rules for character creation are detailed twice in the core rules.

A very good set of expansion rules have been created by MechAssembler. The rules detail Mecha, mecha pilots, and large vehicles. Go visit and take a look. If we can gain permission, we will one day host those files here.

MagicQuest, a Fantasy rule set distributed by Com-Star Media, is also a well-designed system.

Please contact us if you know of any other Action! System products out there.

Roll nine dice and arrange them in a 3 X 3 square. You have eight chances to roll a syccess, how you determine those changes depends on the attribute related to the spell. Consider the dice positions below:

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

If the power attribute was the base of the spell, your eight chances would be determined by eight lines. Namely: 123, 456, 789, 147, 258, 369, 159, 357.

If the aptitude attribute is the base of the spell, your eight chances would be determined by corners. Namely: 412, 236, 698, 874, 426, 842, 684, 268.

If the defense attribute is key, total all four dice and divide by three. Yes, this gives defensive spells a slight advantage, but it’s not as much as you would think.

For example, casting a spell that turns a pound of lead into a pound of gold has a TN of 30. It relies on the ‘aptitude’ attribute which for you is 6. Your skill with this spell is an 8. Rolling attribute (6) + skill (8) + 3d6 versus 30. This means you need to roll a 16 or better. Instead of the 3d6, consider the following:

You roll nine dice in this pattern

3 4 2
5 1 6
2 6 5

Because it is an aptitude based spell, your eight ‘corners’ yield:

12
12
13
17
15
16
17
15

You have three successes. This means you get two extra dice for effect.

Give it a shot.

The body, on the other hand, can be animated. It can even be given the power to speak and understand simple commands. However, it is not alive. It cannot think for itself and will only do exactly as it is instructed. Animations have no impulse to self-preservation. This means if ordered to march off a cliff, they will march off the cliff without hesitation. The body is just like any other object in this respect – any object (statue, block of wood, pile of dirt) can be animated. A reanimated body is called a skeleton or zombie in other game systems. An animated collection of material is called a golem in other game systems.

Either kind of animation is rumored to be able to understand 1000 words only. There’s a story of an ancient golem whose creator wanted to teach the monster every word he could. Unfortunately, he never made it past the A’s. Instructions to this golem can only be given in words that start with the letter A. Most magician syndicates have a standard list of 1000 words for ‘animations’. A few use Ganarii due to the nature of their spoken language. (Ganarii animations can almost pass as intelligent.)

The soul, however, travels to the afterworld at death. It first travels to Hades. Hades is a holding place for the soul until it decides to travel to the Elysium fields for rest, or to Limbo in search of a way back to the world of the living. Some souls never leave Hades – at first this may be due to indecision, but ultimately as Hades tends to destroy desire, a soul stays because it has no desire to move on.
The Elysium fields are a place of rest for those that choose it. Ultimately, it is a place that allows for continued ambition and desire with the comfort of immortality. The fields are large enough that those that do not wish to be caught up in the ambitions of others can readily escape. As a place that allows for desires, no one can be compelled in the Elysium fields.
Limbo is a place of motion. The soul in Limbo loses its identity. Once ‘blank’ it returns to the world of the living as another person.
There are gateways to these places in the world of the living. A few even try to direct the incorporeal souls that remain to Hades. Souls that enter directly into the Elysium fields from the world of the living are unique and very rare cases. Most are the ‘nobility’ of the Elysium fields. Many an emporer has sought to keep their power by attempting to bypass Hades.

However, there are tales of three mages that have chosen a fifth option. These mages were all stricken with the Phage that debilitates some spellcasters. In an attempt to find a cure (instead of seek treatment which robs them of their ability to use magic), these three sought to reconnect the soul with the body immediately after death. When the body dies and the soul separates, the Phage goes away. Seeking to take advantage of this, these three sought to return to their own Phage-free bodies.

To their delight, it worked. To their dismay, however, they found that the body must be sustained by magical power. Since the body died, it cannot produce new blood cells or heal by normal means. These three use magic to repair all damage to their bodies at a very rapid rate. (This extends to the cellular level.) As a result, they never age, never grow hair longer, never shave. Other body systems also shut down, so they do not eat or feel the need for sleep. The only living organ is the brain.

Unfortunately for them, they feel perpetually hungry. Occasionally, they consume the blood of sentient species. Doing so allows them to appear as normal humans in skin color. It also offsets some of the gauntness they are prone to have. One has been driven mad by his condition, the other two may not hold out much longer. They have supposedly recorded their steps in order to duplicate the process.

Only the gods or titans can actually create new life force. It is presumed that the presence of these three has gotten their attention and completely reviled them all. Many believe that the tales of these three mages are simply moral stories to teach children the evils of unbridled ambition.

So, the Hesberian Empire material I came up with will have its name changed again. I am making certain that there are no duplication of specific people mentioned in other products. Awrelius will have a name change to Cutelium, but others with different names should be okay.

Henceforth, the empire that dominated Dira and influences Lenga is known as the Bedrian Empire.

NKQB

Nabrolus Kenuraque Bedrianus

For the Senate and Ken of Bedriana

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Tahares suffers penalities to TN and increase to mana ceiling. They cannot purchase the trait that provides bonuses to TN.

Paucalus suffers penalities to mana cieling and bonuses to TN. They cannot buy trait that increases mana ceiling.

The power trait will not increase the multiplier to compute mana for a spellcaster.

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• The magic system has been completely worked out.
• The Lenga language has been developed enough to begin giving the proper Lenga names to spells. (Optional in game play)

For those that play the Action! System, being an autulus (spellcaster pronounced aw-TUL-us) cost about 90 skill points for two advantages (choosing type of autulus and one metamagic advantage) and 15 spells with level 5 proficiency in three schools of magic. A character could not be this type of autulus in a Realistic game, but fits in well with a Cinematic or Extreme game.

More later.

As such, the Bantu languages will serve as less of an inspiration for Lenga spells inspired by Basque instead. However, as many of the concpets were more Oriental in inspiration, the elemental foci of magic and other mechanics should not change very much.

It will also give me a chance to rename the Ogdan to the Gruyet (pronounced Groo-YAY). I just couldn’t stop thinking of Ogden Nash everytime I sat down to write about them.

The next post will specifically deal more with the geogrpahy and the rewrite of previously posted material.

Dacia: Where most characters are from.

Serhanakintra : Land of the Sun and Moon. Trade is important with this region, especially spices and silk. Many scholars of this region are accused of being atheists by the Dacians – this is one of the sources of a negative ethnic stereotype of Serhanakintri by Dacians.

Il-Zehar: Land of the Midday Heat. Trade is somewhat important with this region as it is the home to most saffron growers. Also important in this area is metalworking, mathematics, engineering, and teachers of magic. Stories from explorers to Il-Zehar tell wild tales of large ‘metal-men’, exotic magic, and great riches.

Che-san: Land of Tea. Many in Dacia love tea and import almost all of it from Che-san. Many socities within this area are closed to outsiders. Those who travel here also call it the land of demons as these powerful creatures fight for control of this world and various off-worlds as well. It has been said that one of the powerful rulers in this region has traveled to other worlds bodily, not astrally. (If such stories can be believed.)

Ogdan: The Ogdan lands are not largely human populated, but much favored by humans. This area is named for the predominate species living there, the Ogdan. Although Ogdan are mute, they have no trouble communicating or being understood, despite the use of hand signals to ’speak’. Humans have studied the hand signals, but there appears to be little consistency in signs between each individual Ogdan.

The Ogdan are known for their artistry and metal-working. Ogdan steel is lighter and stronger than even the best Dacian steel. The Ogdan do not make armor, despite heavy bribes offered, but occasionally make swords. (Most Ogdan do not carry weapons, in times of war, an Ogdan is usally armed with either a polearm or a mace.) Ogdans are also known for their crystal work (not glass, but heavy crystal) in addition to their blue and purple dyes. Blue and purple dyes are rare in Dacia and fetch a good price. Many Ogdan trade for things made with sugar, glass items, or horses. (Ogdans did not encounter horses until the first traders arrived.)

More to come, but not much detail yet…

Ohiini: (the ii represents a long vowels as the i in ‘pick’ held longer)

Myenda:

However, tiny bits of magic are available to the common man or woman. They do not do much, but can be helpful in a jam. Basically, if a person has been taught, a piece of everyday magic can be used. A person needs a small piece of metal (about the weight and size of two nails or a copper piece). It requires three rounds of uninterrupted effort to chant the phrase and perform the apporpriate motions. When a person is finished, the metal is consumed, regardless of the success or failure of the piece of everyday magic. An ordinary person can only use up to three pieces of everyday magic in a 24 hour period.

Three examples:

Spice

This piece of everyday magic allows you add spice to something being cooked. Unlike using the actual spice, the finished food will taste like it is missing a little of the spice called for, no matter how much you use. This piece of everyday magic is usually done when only a pinch remains and more is needed. If you use some of the actual spice AND spice created with the piece of everyday magic, the finished food will taste fine. The chant for this piece of everyday magic is “*” and the motion is rubbing fingers together over the item being cooked.

Clean
This piece of everyday magic removes all small stains from a small pile of clothes. The chant is “*” and the motion is a scrubbing motion over the pile of clothes. (Small stains are determined by the GM.)

Bring to a Boil
This piece of everyday magic allows a person to boil up to a gallon of water or a quart of other liquid that is mostly water (like soup or a stew) within a minute. It is mainly by healers, but is also useful for making meals without a campfire. The chant is “*” and the motion is simply holding the container for half a minute.

Kirnemians are more commonly known as the the Kir, a species of ken living beyond the borders of the old Hesberian Empire. They were nevered conquered and they also never sought Hesberian land. The few skirmishes between Kir warriors and the Hesberian army demonstrated the superiority of the Kir infantry to the Hesberian’s infantry. (However, the Kir did not have calvary as such, allowing the Hesberians to escape a total rout.)

Personality: The Kir tend to be a peaceful people that enjoy the spoken word, linguistics, vocal arts and drama. Kir are generally welcoming of new ken and enjoy discussing new ideas with anyone with the patience and forbearance to listen. By comparison, the most quiet and reserved Kir would be considered chatty by most ken standards. Other ken tend to react negatively to Kir, especially with their tendency to speak in never-ending run-on sentences. There are Kir that enjoy a good fight and those that devote themselves to a temple, but most Kir tend to enjoy working in the market selling vegetables or cloth or any manner of goods because of the opportunity afforded to talk to others.

Physical description: Kirnemians are broad, squat humanoids with a greyish red, thick, leathery skin. Their eye color ranges from typical colors of green, brown, and hazel. They can also have bright golden colored eyes (not yellow), but do not have grey or blue eyes. They are about five to five-and-a-half foot tall. They are broad in the shoulder and the trunk with two stocky legs.Their heads are wider than a human’s but not longer from scalp to chin. Except for the presecene of a second mouth, they could be mistaken for a beardless Duregar or Dwarf. The second mouth is located just below the rib cage in the center of the abdomen. It is capable of speech as it has its own set of lungs and voice box, like the upper mouth. The lower mouth, though, is the only mouth that allows for eating. The upper mouth can only be used to breathe and to speak. Each set of lungs is smaller than for most humanoids and considering the physical difficulties of both sets of lungs holding air at the same time, they are unable to hold their breath completely for any length of time.

The Kir generally have a weak digestive system. Their food is considered bland and overcooked by most other ken. The Kir would describe their food as very subtle in flavor and prepared dry as a matter of preference. The Kir are not capable of drinking beer or strong drink. They enjoy a type of white wine, but generally drink water and teas.

They dress in whatever clothes are fashionable in various lands except for heavy shirts that would cover the lower mouth. Many enjoy wearing Hesberian togas and traditional garb which consists of a specially made leather jerkin with a cotton half-shirt underneath and breeches. The third button of the jerkin allows a Kir to expose the lower mouth for eating or talking. This can be fastened on the wearer’s left side to close the rectangular flap, or their right side to open it.

Relations: The Kir are quite sociable and strive to maintain good relations with all ken. However, as Kir have the appearance of constantly talking, Duregar avoid them and Ilosians consider them undisciplined and annonying. The Kir enjoy humans – the younger generations tend to imitate various aspects of human life, most notably their dress. Like others, they dread the violent Sook.

Kir lands and society: The Kir enjoy having an urban society and pay great attention to spoken and theathrical arts. Their society has enjoyed real peace for hundreds of years. Elements of their traditional culture still thrive in older cities. Certain artisans still practice the art of harmonic speaking and singing. Despite two airways and voiceboxes, it is still uncommon for a Kirnemian to use both at the same time with any amount of skill. (generally they switch back and forth, one speaks while to other inhales.)

Those with this skill and the ability to use magic have a superhuman ability to control their magic. In general, they are not able to discover new spells or magic abilities easily. Instead, what they do know and use is quite reliable. When Kir spellcasters cast a spell, it will do what they intended unless countered by another spellcaster or the traget has immunity to the magical effect. Their spells do not backfire in any way.

In Lenga, they are almost always surgura and not echewa.

Religion: The Kir acknowledge their own pantheon of Gods. The most revered being similar to Ebulus, a god of the Sun, art, and medicine. Those that become preists concern themselves with ritual chants and sacred rites, the most sacred being a vow of silence. Preists are generally revered for piety as the clergy have little power over day to day life of an average Kir.

Language: Ancient Kir spoke a di-tonal language that often relied on speaking in chords. Speaking in a third chord conveyed a different meaning from speaking in a fifth chors. Speaking in the same tone had a different meaning still. Over time, however, the Kir learned to speak in the same tone and with only one mouth. To keep the meaning of ancient texts, the language added a series of markers to denote the correct tone. The word pra before and after a phrase or sentence denotes a third chord. A single pra added to a word adds the meaning of a third chord to that word only. There are seventeen markers to denote the sixteen chords and monotone in Kir music. (There are sixteen notes in their scale as opposed to twelve in many Western scales.)

The ancient language cannot be spoken without the aid of magic for most ken. Kir that are trained in harmonic speaking are much sought-after to read the ancient texts.

Names: More on this later

Combat: Their chain mail armor is still the strongest for its weight currently made by anyone in the known world. They are master infantrymen as the stockiness and low center of gravity make them difficult for even calvary to plow through. They do not ride horses and rely on archers and spellcasters for long-range attacks. An individual Kir tends to lack skill for single combat, though they naturally wrestle well.

Adventurers: Kir love to learn new things and so they tend to be enthusiatic companions. However, their combat skill tends to develop over time making them less valuable in times of crisis for an adventuring party.
Kir RACIAL TRAITS

More on this later.

• Automatic Languages: Kir

DESCRIPTION TABLES

Random Height and Weight