Sir Bob: Squire for Hire

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Heroine's Quest

Starship Quasar

Larry Lotter and the Test of Time

Quest for Yrolg

Errand

Oceanspirit Danish

META

Sub Terra Draconis

Indiana Rodent

Herby

Beer!

Sherwood

Vector Vendetta

Leylines

Heroine's Quest

Monkeys to the Moon

Simplex

Elemental Wars

Spöl

Simplex

A freeform pen-and-paper role playing system that is easy to learn, developed over a couple years with numerous playtesters, and featured in the now-defunct DragonScroll webzine.

Simplicity - the number of rules and amount of dice rolling is kept to a minimum. This accounts for good flexibility, making it easy to grasp the rules and create a character.

Realism - the world should be realistic after accounting for magic. The rules should be balanced, and that logical things happen. This also means that combat is very lethal.

Development - your character starts out weak but gets the option of improving every session by gaining experience. Players can also add own inventions of skills, traits, spells or equipment to the game.

• Summary
• Basic rules
• Advanced options
• Mystic powers
• Char sheets

Spöl

A card game developed for the anniversary of the city of Enschede, requested by the municipality and designed by me and a group of friends. Its simple gameplay involves scoring points in several areas, such as safety and nature. The game features pictures taken from the city, and was distributed among over 50,000 citizens.

As a long-standing member of the local boardgaming club, I've written several gaming-related articles and puzzles for their newsletter. I've also had a hand in a number of unreleased board and card games, with themes varying from elections to the Loch Ness monster, and from a card game with hidden rules to a board game of Leylines. And no game designer would be without a set of custom Magic: the Gathering cards.

• About Enschede
• Rulesets

As a powerful wizard, you start by ruling a small nation as you plot to take over the world! Rule over seven diverse races, from shapeshifting Theria, to spider-riding Dwarves, to the decadent Regency. Explore a vast fantasy world, expand by building more cities, battle the armies of rival wizards, and cast earth-shattering enchantments to ensure your victory.

Leylines is a 4X game, a turn-based strategy game of exploration and conquest. The game features seven unique races with each their own tech tree; over 180 units in total, including summons and customizable hero units; and 90 diverse spells. Fast gameplay that avoids micromanagement; tactical terrain effects; and local multiplayer with hotseat and/or splitscreen.

"Leylines has many advanced options that allow you to have fun creating power according to their own preferences." - 8AppStore

"I really like the intense variety between the races ... you’ve got some amazing variety." - Jay

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META

A parody of amateur adventure design, this metagame consists of a simple treasure hunting game, and a complex editor needed to complete it. The editor and its assistant Cuppit are all part of the game; anyone involved in game or level design should appreciate the humor.

The editor is an exercise of twisted logic and lateral thinking. You have to see it to believe it; with its offbeat controls, inventory items that kill you, and intentional misspellings, it's the weirdest thing since sliced bread!

META is based on Adventure Game Studio, the platform for most of our games, and is runner-up for two AGS Awards.

"A great game, with some of the best puzzles I have ever seen in an AGS game. Kudos!" - David Cooper

"Possibly the most original concept I've ever seen in an AGS game! ... The puzzles are deviously ingenious. This is what I like - thinking outside the box!" - Trovatore

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It is time for final exams at the Magic University, and notorious slacker Larry Lotter is about to flunk all of them because he spent less time studying and more time drinking beer. His last hope is to cheat like there's no tomorrow! Using a spell to reverse time, he gets the chance to do his day over again until he passes. His Destiny has spoken!

Join Rob Greasley, Calliope DeRanger and Professor Mumblemore in this short Harry Potter parody, loosely based on the greatly admired books by J.K. Rowling. Watch the other characters interact in real time, and spin time back and forth to interfere. The game is fully voiced.

MAGS contest winner.

"Combines sarcasm with innovative gameplay and great graphics ... the overall story is very entertaining." - FrostClick

"Great little game! I love how the characters wander round doing their own thing and talk to each other." - Pelican

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The ancient kingdom of Theylinn is beset by enemies. Within the castle walls, nobles vie for the old king's favor, and not everybody is happy with the sole heir to the throne, princess Rhiannon.

Meanwhile, danger approaches, in the form of an invading army, a hostile giant, and a mercenary troop who are ancient enemies of the Theylann king...

A Tale of Two Kingdoms is a graphical adventure in the world of Celtic mythology and fairy tales, with many sidequests and alternate endings. It was named Game of the Month by PC Zone UK, Game of the Year by Screen7, and won four AGS Awards including Best Animation and Best Puzzles.

"If ATOTK came out during the genre's heyday, we'd probably be waxing nostalgic about it today in the same breath as King's Quest." - Games for Windows

"Most of the hand-drawn backgrounds are little works of art ... It offers a replay value that’s unseen in most adventures." - HardcoreGaming101

"A Tale of Two Kingdoms simply blew me away ... This game is a great achievement ... Final Grade: A" - Just Adventure

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Deep within his dungeon, Yrolg the Necromancer is summoning a mighty demon to conquer the World. Three brave adventurers, a warrior, a rogue and a sorceress, come to his lair to disrupt this dark ritual. Your job is to stop them!

Should the heroes succeed, your Master will be slain, his reign of terror ended, and the world shall be covered with flowers and puppy dogs. That must never happen - this time, evil shall prevail!

A short adventure game where you play a minion of darkness, using your wit and guile to lead the heroes into traps and to a nasty demise. Runner-up for S7's Game Of The Year award; includes voice acting.

"An excellent point-and-click fantasy adventure." - Gnome's Lair

"The graphics are fantastic and the voice acting is top notch." - Quinny

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Vector Vendetta

A frantic and addictive shooting game in vector graphics: kill the evil polygons before they kill you! Who needs a plot? Just sit back, dodge, and keep blasting until you reach the boss monster!

Featuring twenty different enemies that chase you, snipe from the corners, or blast you with a frickin' laser beam; selectable upgrades to boost your speed or firepower; and several play modes and difficulty levels to keep it fresh. And of course it has a two-player mode to share the madness!

"First I thought this is too retro but hell, it's entertaining." - Matti

"Bless me, this is a brilliant little game! Anyone else so obsessed with this little gem?" - Musica Ferrum

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On the starship Quasar, the lack of shore time causes tension to run high. The latest argument has proved too much, with each of the crew stalking off to different parts of the ship. To the medical officer, bringing these warring characters back together will be no easy task.

In this short adventure game, you control four different characters as they explore the ship, each with their own skills and reactions to the environment. Instead of on puzzle solving, the game focuses on the personalities of the characters and their interactions. The game is fully voiced.

"A science fiction tale whose restricted setting proves no obstacle to telling a compelling story." - Adventuregamers.com

"A competent and surprisingly pretty little adventure game that satisfyingly achieves what it set out to do." - PC Gamer

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Explore the rich world of Nordic mythology! Egther, last of the Frost Giants, has sworn to turn all the world to ice. A young heroine is called to fight him, but first she must survive the harsh environment, battle hostile trolls, and deal with many creatures and characters from the classic myths.

Heroine's Quest is an adventure / RPG inspired by the classic Quest For Glory series, and was voted 69th All-Time Best Computer RPG by RpgCodex. Best of all, it's completely free!

Play as fierce warrior, cryptic sorceress, or elusive rogue. Their skills can be customized and each has her own solutions and sidequests, offering great replay value. Are you up to the quest, or will you die trying?

Best Adventure Game of the Year in the AGS Awards. Has a leaderboard on Speedrun.com.

"As perfect a tribute to Sierra's classic Quest for Glory series as you could hope for." - Kotaku

"Arguably surpassing the series that Lori Ann and Corey Cole created with an intricate Nordic setting and deeper roleplaying mechanics." - HardcoreGaming101

"It's great to see a female-centric heroic quest." - Corey Cole

"The attention to detail is staggering ... Heroine’s Quest is a glorious adventure-RPG hybrid." - RockPaperShotgun

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Indiana Rodent: Raiders of the Lost Cheese

In this fast-paced platform game, you take the role of the Mouse With The Hat and go in search of the vaunted Lost Cheese. Traverse forests, deserts, and the Halls of Illusion; jump over hedgehogs, hitch a ride on a turtle, and evade vicious snakes - all for the reward of more cheese than you could ever eat, and what more could a mouse want?

The game was made for a charity fundraiser that raised over $4000. It won two OROW awards and was runner-up for four AGS awards. As befits a platformer, it has hidden objects to collect, unlockable game modes, and the vicious Moby Duck as boss monster!

"Gameplay-wise Indiana Rodent is pure gold ... a platformer that earns its place in almost any platformer lover's heart easily." - PC Game Reviews

"Very good response and smooth scrolling, it was very satisfying to beat." - Ghost

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Sara wants to go out and play in the sunshine, but she has a few errands to complete before she does that. Nothing special, just sweeping her room, feeding the dog, that sort of thing.

What could possibly go wrong?

Is it the hidden treasure map? The village of terrified elves, right in your kitchen? Surely a little girl can clean her room without being assaulted by a firebreathing dragon... right?

A short adventure game with two endings, voice acting, and epic soundtrack!

MAGS contest winner.

"Beautiful art and music. Delightful and imaginative game." - Shadow

"I'm now kind of terrified about what state my daughter might leave the house in when she's a bit older though!!" - Captain D

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Newly hatched from an egg, our young dragon searches for the important things in life. And to a dragon, that means treasure! Search underground mazes and solve elaborate puzzles in your quest for gems, and see if you can hoard enough to impress the other dragons!

A classic puzzle challenge, featuring over a hundred levels and many different objects including treasure chests, replicators, floating balloons, fire beams, thieving elves, conveyor belts, gravity switches, and many more! Between all these traps, the levels require a good mixture of reflex action and thoughtful planning; and the varied mechanics keep things interesting to solve.

The puzzles are fair: no luck-based puzzles, no searching for walls you can walk through, and all time limits are optional.

Finally, a powerful level editor lets you make your own levels and share them on the Steam workshop.

"One of, if not the best puzzle game ever ... It's definetely worth a try for any puzzle fan. 4.9 / 5." - Reloaded.org

"Solid gameplay mechanics that makes for hours of enjoyment." - MobyGames

"Exciting and relaxing at the same time, SubTerra is guaranteed to provide you with many hours of pure enjoyment." - Home Of The Underdogs

Featured on television by Locomotion.

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Beer!

Beer! is a collection of frantic minigames where you have ten seconds to grab the beer! Easy to pick up and difficult to master, this game rewards quick and out-of-the-box thinking. It comes with a cheerful cafe-style soundtrack, and assorted cast of bears and deer.

Designed for a community fundraiser, Beer! includes 33 levels, a secret bonus round, and several cameos. Suitable for all ages; alcohol not included.

"The concept was brilliant: seemingly mindless speed-click game that actually really makes you think about how to solve each puzzle." - Baron

"It's a fun time waster and casual enough to pick it up for a short round (pun intentional)." - Ghost

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A Shakespearean adventure! Watch Oceanspirit Dennis and his companions Ray and Mr. Cheeses as they stumble through the plot of Hamlet, order too much room service, and make a general mess out of Denmark.

There are lots of combat scenes with an innovative rune engine, and as befits a Shakespearean tragedy, most of the cast dies like mayflies. With dialogue written by The Bard himself, how can you resist a game like this? As Guildencheese says, "Squeak!"

MAGS contest winner.

"A great combat system, and a full on taste of a Shakespeare like story ... a recommended free adventure!" - Indie Retro News

"It's really funny! And well done." - AprilSkies

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Monkeys to the Moon!

Would you believe the MOON is a banana? Well, the monkeys do! And they're not going to take that lying down! Using spare wood, electric eels, and gratuitous reed they plan to build a rocket to fly to the world's biggest banana! In space!

Features

Control up to 25 monkeys in an RTS'like puzzle game

Scour the jungle for resources, build crafting workshops, breed more monkeys, and build The Rocket!

Don't forget to defend yourself from hungry snakes.

MAGS contest winner.

Runner-up for two AGS Awards.

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Herby

Search the maze for keys and treasure! John 'DRJ' Vanderaart is one of the first published game designers from the Netherlands, best known for "Eindeloos". Herby was his first game on the C64, which I played as a child. This is also my first game, as I did a remake in BASIC back then. Decades later I found out I still had the source code, so I decided to update it to more modern systems.

Featuring one maze by DRJ, one by myself, and a random maze generator; and the famous Popcorn as background music. Unlike the originals, this one has save points and an automap.

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Sherwood

A stealth roguelite where you sneak through the forest of Sherwood to rescue Robin Hood from the Sheriff of Nottingham; originally created for the 7-Day RogueLike contest, and later expanded.

• Enemies can see, hear, and/or smell you!
• Stun soldiers with rocks and steal their stuff!
• Procedurally generated areas!
• Bribe common enemies with gold and/or raw meat!
• Invisibility potions!
• Rescue the gang of Merry Men!
• Art and music courtesy of OpenGameArt!

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Sir Bob: Squire for Hire

In the legends of King Arthur, meet Sir Launcelot the Brave! Sir Sagramore the Just! And Sir... Bob... who I'm sure has a great personality!

Take the role of the eager but clumsy squire Bob; as nobles, soldiers, and the Lady of the Lake all say you're too wimpy to become a Knight. Can you prove them wrong?

This lighthearted adventure game features well-known and lesser-known characters from the King Arthur legends, taking inspiration from the famous classics and offering fun for all ages. Any similarity to any person actually named Bob, or for that matter Launcelot, is purely coincidental.

Coming soon-ish!

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Simplex Roleplaying System

Complete version

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The Six-Page Rulebook

(c) 1999-2007 by Pieter Simoons

After over five years of playing and mastering roleplaying games, I found myself getting more and more dissatisfied with existing systems. Of course this is a matter of opinion, but the several systems I've played are hard to learn, often requiring you to page through many chapters of text in order to make a character, some of them lack realism, and many of them have rules or mechanics that don't make much sense. I've tried fixing existing systems with house rules, but finally realized that I should make my own system. That's when Simplex was born.
I set several aims for the Simplex system. The first, obviously, is simplicity. Rules should be understandable, consistent and easy to learn. Experience shows that I can explain rules and character generation to a somebody who has never roleplayed before, in fifteen minutes. The second goal is realism. For one, characters should be roughly balanced, to avoid power play. For another, the characters should have a plausible powers for human beings. As a result, combat tends to be more dangerous than in most RPGs. The final goal is development. Players should be encouraged to make a character with personality, and work towards developing personality and skills. Indeed I've seen my players thinking ahead in what they want to learn, and changing their attitudes towards each other's characters as the story goes along.

Basic rules

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There are thirteen character attributes. These are ranked one through ten, with five being the human average. If a character attempts something, a test can be made on any of these attributes, by rolling two dice (2d6) and adding them to the attribute rank. The test succeeds if the total equals or exceeds the difficulty.
An easy test is difficulty 12; this is something that most people can do most of the time, such as climbing a tree. An average test, something that requires skill to do consistently but is possible to amateurs, like hitting the target in archery, is difficulty 14. A difficult test might be climbing a vertical wall, or hitting the bullseye, something that only the trained can succeed at, or difficulty 16. Situational modifiers apply; for instance, tracking a deer may be average (14) normally, but difficult (16) in twilight, and heroic (18) during a blizzard.
There are a wide variety of traits or skills, generally representing specialization within an attribute. Traits start at rank zero; the trait rank may be added to attribute tests when applicable. For instance, climbing is a trait related to the attribute agility, so a character may add his rank in climbing to any agility test involving climbing. Having rank zero in the trait is the same as not having that trait. There are no trained-only skills: a character may always test on an attribute regardless of whether or not he has ranks in a traits. However, tests with difficulty 16 or higher are practically impossible to the untrained.
For opposed tests, such as two characters in a running contest, there is no set difficulty; rather, the highest result wins. In case of a tie, the character with the highest rank (in attribute plus trait) wins, because skill beats luck. For a non-playing character, the storyteller may simply assume a seven is rolled. For instance, an average human as agility five and no running skill, so outrunning him gets a difficulty of 12.
Opposed tests need not use the same attribute or trait for both sides. For instance, in hide-and-seek, one side uses stealth and the other uses perception. Because such things as sneaking, persuasion and intimidation tend to be difficult, the resisting side should get a +2 bonus to their test.
A roll of two sixes is called a critical, and always succeeds if physically possible, generally in a spectacular way. A roll of two ones is called a fumble or botch, and always fails, generally in an unexpected way. This could involve character clumsiness, but also external circumstances; for skilled and competent characters, it tends to be the latter. For instance, a rookie tracker rolling a fumble might become entirely lost; an expert tracker might be distracted by an angry bear.

Sample difficulties

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Easy tasks include swimming in calm water, accurately throwing a ball, calming a tame dog, driving a car, not getting drunk after a couple of beers, simple card tricks, or force marching for several hours.
Average tasks include configuring a computer system, recalling an address you heard last week, concentrating during a firefight, leaping over a chasm, succesfully disguising yourself, or resisting poison gas.
Difficult tasks include cheating at cards, swimming in a storm, climbing a smooth wall, piloting a helicopter, tracking a rabbit, staring down a dragon, performing basic surgery, or untying your own hands tied behind your back.

Adjudicating tests

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Most tests indicate whether a character can do something; such tests may not be repeated. For instance, if you fail a test to lift a boulder, you are simply not strong enough, and trying it again won't help. Some tests indicate whether an action succeeds this time, such as hitting an opponent in combat, or searching a book in a library. Such tests may be repeated, but each repeat costs time, and sometimes, money or materials.
If a test can be attempted by multiple people, the storyteller should take care that the difficulty is somewhat higher, or that only the most skilled character can attempt it, with a +1 bonus per person helping him. Without this consideration, any task could be completed simply by having enough people attempt it.
In calm situations, the storyteller should not generally require the characters to make tests for their actions. Instead, he could keep a list of their attributes around, and assume that a character of high intelligence has no problems using a computer to access the internet, or that a character of low agility is not capable of balancing on a rope. This applies especially to social situations: rather than simply making a test, it is far more interesting to play out the dialogue, with reactions potentially depending on the character's charisma.
Additionally, the storyteller may want to give perceptive characters more detailed descriptions of their surroundings, or characters lacking in empathy less information about the mood of the people they meet. For these reasons, characters with low attributes are a challenge to play, and attribute scores of one or two have serious hindrances and are best left to advanced players.

Attributes and Traits

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The attributes, and some examples of related traits, are the following:

• Agility (climbing, dancing, running, stealth)
  
• Endurance (resist toxin, fast healing, stamina)
  
• Perception (ranged combat, car driving, search, track)
  
• Reflex (unarmed and melee combat, dodge)
  
• Strength (swimming, rowing, weightlifting)
  
• Intelligence (art, business, computer use, science, linguistics, strategy)
  
• Knowledge (memory, research, herbalism, first aid, various expertises)
  
• Technical (crafts, sleight of hand, lock picking, repair, play instrument)
  
• Willpower (courage, concentration, pain resistance, magic resistance)
  
• Charisma (bluff, performance, animal handling, intimidation, etiquette)
  
• Empathy (intuition, psychology, ride animal, sense the supernatural)
  
• Persuasion (barter, interrogate, public speaking, teaching, politics)
  
• Status (network, wealth, reputation, influence, bloodline)

Some differences may need explaining. Agility is mostly about athletics, whereas reflex is mostly about combat. Charisma causes people to like you, whereas persuasion causes people to do what you want them to. Charismatic characters tend to be handsome or beautiful, although it's possible for an ugly character to be striking (i.e. high charisma), or for a pretty character to be cold and unapproachable (i.e. low charisma). Status indicates a character's social standing, as well as income.
In some cases, traits can be related, such as melee skill for similar weapons, or playing skill for different instruments. If you have a trait at rank zero, you may substitute half your ranks in a related trait for all tests, rounding up. If you have a trait at rank one, you may substitute your full ranks in a related trait. Taking more than one rank is thus not necessary. For instance, if you have five ranks in guitar playing, and one in piano, you use the full +5 bonus for piano tests, and half (+3) for flute playing tests.
Additionally, there are absolute traits which are not based on an attribute. These represent things that a character simply can or cannot do, without the need for tests. These need not be taken above rank one. Examples include languages known (other than a character's native tongue, which is free), a powerful ally, or membership of some guild, faction or other group.
If applicable to the setting, other absolute traits include possession of a magical artefact, lesser magical tricks known as cantrips, and body shapes such as having horns, a prehensile tail, cat eyes, or gills, assuming the shape has a game effect and is not merely ornamental. Allowing characters wings or other flying ability is not recommended, and should be expensive in points, or disallowed entirely.

Character generation

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A starting character is built from 100 experience points, which can be used to purchase ranks in attributes and traits, according to the table below. All the points must be spent. Traits may not be ranked above four initially. At the end of each game session, the character may gain more points, which can be used to increase attributes and traits by paying the difference. For instance, raising an attribute from rank 6 to rank 7 costs 10 points (15 – 5).
A character may only increase an attribute or trait that was seriously used during the session, as judged by the storyteller. At this point, traits may be raised to rank 5 and up, but each trait may be raised only once per session. At the end of each session, a character may choose to lower one trait, but not attribute, by one rank if that trait wasn't used for a while, and the character gets the points back. This reflects lack of practice.
In addition to attribute and traits, a character may purchase adrenaline points at the cost of one experience point each. An adrenaline point may be spent on any test to allow the character to roll three dice rather than two, adding all three to the attribute and/or trait ranks. This represents heroic effort, and has a far greater chance of succeeding. Once spent, adrenaline is lost, and the experience is not refunded.
You do not get extra character points for taking flaws or weaknesses, such as being cursed, cripple or paranoid, although you may gain additional experience points later on by roleplaying them well. In general it is recommended for the storyteller to give characters 2 to 6 experience points per session.

Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Attribute cost	–20	–15	–10	–5	0	5	15	25	40	65
Trait cost	5	6	8	10*	13	16	20	24	29	34

	Agility	Endurance	Perception	Reflex	Strength
1	Korsakov	Terminally ill	Blind and deaf	Continental plane	Lame
2	Block of stone	Bed-tied	Nearsighted	Ent	Very old
3	Wooden board	Bad health	Drawn back	Turtle	Weak
4	Uncontrolled	Often sick	Uninterested	Slow	Untrained
5	Average	Average	Average	Average	Average
6	Supple	Well-built	Eye for detail	Swift	Warrior
7	Trained	War veteran	Tracker	Rapid	Strongman
8	Acrobat	Body builder	Hawk	Lightning fast	Weightlifter
9	Yogi	Fakir	Crystal ball	Faster than eye	Five horses
10	Piece of rubber	Block of granite	All-seeing	Lucky Luke	Herakles
	Intelligence	Knowledge	Technical	Willpower
1	Potato	Empty-headed	Elephant	Zombie
2	Animal	Stupid	Breaks everything	Spineless
3	Village idiot	Child	Clumsy	Uncertain
4	Slow-witted	Unknowing	Inept	Restless
5	Average	Average	Average	Average
6	Quick learner	Well read	Craftsman	Confident
7	Thinks ahead	Bibliophiliac	Juggler	Strong will
8	Highly intelligent	Scientist	Pickpocket	Iron-willed
9	Brilliant	Homo universalis	Flash	Unshakeable
10	Albert Einstein	Zen	Telekinetic	Yoda
	Charisma	Empathy	Persuasion	Status (medieval)	Status (modern)
1	Disgusting	Heart of stone	Socially inept	Pariah	Homeless
2	Annoying	Unfeeling	Clueless	Outcast	Unemployed
3	Unfriendly	Blunt	Blond	Servant	Student loan
4	Uninteresting	Rough	Tactless	Farmer	Minimum wage
5	Average	Average	Average	Citizen	Normal job
6	Eye-catching	Attentive	Interested	Wealthy	Well-off
7	Impressive	Feeling	Tactful	Lesser noble	Specialist job
8	Famous	Sensitive	Diplomat	Greater noble	Celebrity
9	Eye blinding	Empathic	Born leader	Duke	Millionaire
10	Divine	Telepathic	Napoleon	King	Bill Gates

Action scenes

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Combat or other action sequences are played in rounds, which correspond to roughly six seconds of time. During a round, each character can take one action, such as striking an opponent, climbing a wall, finding something from a backpack, etc. All actions are assumed to take place simultaneously, regardless of who rolls the dice first.
It is possible to do two things at the same time, but this imposes a –2 penalty to both action tests. This includes two-weapon fighting, but it is not possible to strike multiple times with the same weapon. In the rare case that a character does three things simultaneously, this imposes a –4 penalty.
It is not possible to hold lengthy conversations during action sequences; players are advised to discuss tactics in advance. Also, anything said during combat is likely to be overheard by the opponents.
A character has a defense score of the average of his reflex and empathy, rounded up, plus eight, plus trait ranks if any, plus 1 to 4 points if the character is wearing armor. To hit a character in combat, the attacker must pass a test with this defense score as difficulty. Situational modifiers may apply for surprise (+2), flanking (+1 per surrounding character), full defensive stance (–2), camouflage (–2), left-handed attack (–1), and so forth.
Thrown weapons have a range of five to ten meters. Pistols go as far as fifty. Bows and crossbows have a range of about 100 meters, and rifles about twice that. Attacks have a penalty of –1 at half this range, –2 at 3/4ths.
For wide-area attacks, such as machine gun spreadfire, falling rocks, or an explosion, an attack test is generally not needed. Instead, the victims may instead make an easy reflex test to halve damage, or a difficult test to negate damage, assuming there is room to dodge the attack.
For each rank of strength above 6, the character does one additional point of damage in melee. Likewise, for each rank of strength below 4, the character does one point less damage, to a minimum of one. Heavy armor and protective magic can have an absorption score of 1 to 3 points. A character may reduce all physical damage he takes (except falling, poison and the like) by his absorption score, to a minimum of one point per hit.
Funky combat moves such as tripping, disarming, or swinging from chandeliers are greatly encouraged.

Damage

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Light damage is 1d3, basically scratches and just a flesh wound. This includes daggers, rocks, clubs and other light weaponry, scalding water, mild acid, and falls of a meter or two.
Severe damage is 1d6, which is rather painful and bloody. This includes normal weapons like swords, axes and crossbows, boiling water, ordinary fire, holy water against a vampire, and falls of up to five meters.
Critical damage is 2d6, which could land ordinary people in a hospital. This includes heavy weapons like a huge two-handed sword, most firearms, being trampled by a horse, cave-ins, thrown boulders, napalm, dragon breath and falls of ten meters or less, or twice that if you land in water.
Deadly damage is 2d6+3 and is, well, deadly. Then again the player characters are supposed to be heroic, so it may just hurt a lot. This includes molten lava, shotgun blasts, explosives, lightning strikes and long falls.
Of course the storyteller is free to vary these amounts. It is also possible for attacks to do more damage than that up to the point where it outright kills anyone (e.g. submersion in lava, tacnuke hits, orbital falls) but this should not generally happen unless you're playing Paranoia.

Wounds and healing

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Each character has a maximum health equal to his strength plus endurance, plus trait ranks if any. If a character takes damage, e.g. from a crossbow bolt, this is subtracted from his health. Health is regained at a rate of one point per night of rest, up to the character's maximum. A character may make an endurance/fast healing test to recover an additional point. Characters do not heal naturally if there is no food or water available.
A character below half maximum health takes a –1 penalty to all tests; a character below one-quarter health takes a –3 penalty. A character at zero health may spend adrenaline points to raise his health above zero, at 3 health points per adrenaline spent; if the character cannot or will not do so, he passes out. There are no set rules for dying, since player characters should not die purely as the result of dice rolls. The character may be healed, taken captive, awaken several hours later at one health point, etc, at the storyteller's discretion.
Depending on the setting, herbalism or medicine can be used to heal characters faster. Both are traits based on the knowledge attribute. First, the character needs materials. Medicine can be bought in stores, herbs can be found outdoors. For the latter, the character makes a difficult test each hour, with success yielding 1d6 doses. Some additional time is needed to prepare the herbs or medicine, in effect making potions or pills.
When needed, the medicine can be administered. This needs not be done by anyone skilled, but at this point a difficult test is made by the character who prepared the medicine, to see if the preparation was successful. If so, the character recovers 1d6+1 health points. At the storyteller's option, this system can also be used to treat poisons, injuries and diseases, create addictive strength-boosting drugs, make sleeping concoctions, and so forth.

Character sanity

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This is an optional rule for some settings, giving each character a score that shows how stable and rational the character is. This score is called psyche, and has a maximum of the character's willpower plus knowledge, and cannot be increased by a relevant trait.
If a character encounters nerve-wracking situations, such as fighting particularly gruesome monsters, coming face-to-face with things he fears, or the death of party members or other close friends, this may cause the character's psyche to drop by one or two points over a session, at the storyteller's discretion. Characters with low psyche tend to be nervous, chaotic and verging on paranoid, or twitchy and borderline-insane in other ways if the player desires.
Psyche is not particularly likely to increase unless a character makes a major effort to stabilize himself and/or resolve the issues that were bothering him. A character with zero psyche has gone permanently insane, and is no longer under the player's control.

Werewolf setting

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There are two additional attributes, rage and gnosis, which start at zero rather than five. Rage tests are used to check for frenzying when the Garou gets angry; gnosis tests are used for spiritual efforts. Additionally, the character has a number of rage points equal to his attribute, which can be spent as adrenaline, and are regained when the character gazes upon the moon. The same applies to gnosis points, which are spent to empower spirit gifts, and are regained through meditation.
The amount of spirit gifts a character knows is represented as a trait with respect to experience point costs. This is not based on any attribute, and is not tested on. The amount of rites known is likewise represented as a trait.
A character in crinos form has +4 strength, +1 agility, +2 reflex, +3 endurance, and ignores wound penalties to tests. Lupus form has +2 to all physical attributes. Glabro and hispo form use the average of the two adjacent forms.
To reflect the brutality of werewolf combat, a character's full strength rank is added to all damage he does in melee. A character's endurance rank is subtracted from all damage taken except from silver weapons, to a minimum of one point. A character's health is set at 10 for a human, 15 for a werewolf, plus trait ranks if any. Characters in any form other than their birth form regenerate one health point per round, except for severe damage such as from fire, lightning and silver.
For converting characters from the White Wolf system, note that WW dexterity corresponds to agility, reflex and technical in Simplex, and that WW intelligence corresponds to Simplex knowledge. If a WW test requires X successes at difficulty Y, the corresponding Simplex test has difficulty would be 2*X + Y + 1.

Fantasy setting

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An additional attribute is faith. Faith tests are used to perform miracles; a high-faith character can be considered an acolyte or priest. For a faith test, the dice roll is halved, rounded up, and adrenaline may not be spent on this. Depending on the character's deity, about fifteen miracles should be available at difficulty 11 through 15. Most deities require a certain code of conduct, and miracles may fail if used averse to the deity's cause.
Beneficial miracles tend not to work on unbelievers; the (halved) dice roll must be equal or less than the target's faith for the miracle to work. Of course, harmful miracles work on unbelievers just fine. Miracles are sent by the gods, and generally override, and are unaffected by, mortal spells and magical effects.
As an example, a nature deity might grant the following miracles:
11 - calming animals
12 - growing claws; healing wounds; leaving no tracks
13 - animal empathy; conjure fog cloud; poison antidote; summon small animals
14 - calming storms; rapid plant growth; shapeshift to animal form
15 - group invisibility; summon animal horde; travel by rainbow

A character has mana points equal to the average of his intelligence and willpower, rounded up, plus trait ranks if any. Mana is spent to cast spells or perform miracles, generally one point per attempt. For a full night's rest, a character recovers mana equal to his faith attribute minus five, or half the ranks of his magical trait, rounded up. A character with both faith and magic uses the higher of the two values; a character with neither has no mana.
Characters are considered illiterate unless they take the absolute trait of literacy. I've found that the sanity rules work very well in these settings. Psyche defaults to faith plus knowledge.
Medieval-style armor includes leather (+1 defense), hide or studded leather (+2 def), chain mail (+2 def, 1 absorption) and plate armor (+3 def, +2 abs). Heavy armor may be uncomfortable and impose penalties on agility. Most weapons do light (1d3) or severe (1d6) damage.

Runic magic

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This magic system uses two traits. Runecraft indicates the character's skill at drawing runes, and is used for tests; rune lore indicates the amount of runes known. Neither trait is not added to any attribute, which can make tests rather difficult. Runes can be learned from heavy tomes through careful study.
Runes are generally drawn into thin air, possibly using a bone, wand or crysknife for style. This costs one round and one mana point, and lasts for about fifteen minutes; difficulty is 12. Alternatively, runes can be painted on a person, carved into stone, etc; this process takes an hour and lasts for about a week; difficulty is 14. It costs two mana points, one of which is not returned until the effect ends. Drawing a rune without obvious audiovisual effects adds +4 to the difficulty. Legend has it is possible to permanently engrave runes using exotic materials and lengthy rituals.
Runes can be enhanced by drawing them in blood. This requires that the runemaster cut himself, costing as many health points as the mana cost. This tends to be viewed as evil and distasteful.
If you are familiar with a rune, you can undo it by drawing it backwards. If not, it can only be undone by disrupting the physical drawing, or by employing a special counter-rune.
As an example, a fire rune could start fires, protect from cold or set a weapon alight, or if drawn in blood could cast flame at an enemy. A binding rune could mend broken objects, prevent a door from opening, or if drawn in blood prevent someone from leaving a certain area. An illusion rune could create a simple audiovisual illusion, that if drawn in blood reacts as if it were alive.

Disciplinary magic

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This magic system uses various disciplines, each of which is a separate trait; the ranks in this trait determine what kinds of power the magician commands. A separate trait, spellcasting, is used for tests; this trait is not added to any attribute. Difficulty is easy (12) for a single target within ten meters, lasting about fifteen minutes, +1 difficulty for doubling the range or duration, +2 difficulty for doubling the amount of targets (16 for 4 targets, 18 for 8, etc). Casting a spell costs one point of mana, and each additional point spent adds a +2 bonus to the test.
For every odd rank in a discipline, the magician gains an additional power. At four ranks and above, he can identify spells from that discipline at sight. At eight ranks, he can cast spells from the first power level for one less point of mana (essentially for free). At twelve ranks, he can cast second-level spells for one less mana.
A sample discipline is creation. At level one, raw matter can be created, such as stone or wood. At level two (rank 3), simple objects can be created, such as a rope or knife. At level three, the creations are permanent. At level four (rank 7), things can be created at a range, such as over an enemy's head. At level five, complex items can be created, such as a working lock or pistol, At level six, huge items can be created, such as a car.
Other possible disciplines include energy control, telekinesis, mind control, shapeshifting and teleportation.

Alchemical magic

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This magic system uses a single trait, alchemy, which is based on intelligence. Rather than simply casting spells, the alchemist needs to gather ingredients and perform a delicate process of several hours involving beakers, burners and grinders. A laboratory is not necessary, but it is quite a lot of glasswork and tools to carry around.
In general, alchemical potions are drank, and affect the imbiber, for instance giving him gills, or fire breath, or making him stronger. Potions have a strong smell and taste, and cannot be feasibly mixed through somebody's food. Alternatively, potions can be rubbed on an item, e.g. to harden it, or can be thrown, releasing an explosion or toxic cloud when broken. Space, time and mass cannot be affected.
Alchemy is sympathetic magic, which means that ingredients in a potion have an effect related to the nature of the ingredient. A potion requires at three such reagents; the reagents determine the power of the potion. For instance, for a toughening brew, one might use powdered rock (common/weak), a piece of turtle shell (uncommon/moderate) or a diamond (rare/powerful). To invoke fire, one might use sulphur (common/weak), a will-o-the-wisp (uncommon/ moderate) or a phoenix feather (rare/powerful).
A simple strength potion with three common ingredients (e.g. human sweat, bits of iron, and hair of a horse) could give the imbiber +2 to strength for a few minutes. Using one or more uncommon ingredients (a bear's muscle, piece of granite, bark of an ancient oak) could mean a larger increase and/or a longer duration. Using a rare and powerful ingredient could make the potion last for a year.
Difficulty for making a potion is 16, +1 per uncommon ingredient used, +2 per rare ingredient used, +2 if the character is in a hurry. Using inappropriate ingredients may cause strange side effects, at the storyteller's discretion.


Appendix: Master Trait List

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This is the complete list of skills and traits for a variety of settings. For werewolf campaigns, add the fantasy or modern group as well, as appropriate. The group of unimportant skills are things that do not seem to come up very often in-game; it is fine to take them as part of character development, but do not expect to use them often.

	Physical	Mental	Social
Any setting	Acrobatics (agi) Climbing (agi) Dodge / parry (ref) Fast healing (end) Health points (end) Mighty feat (str) Resist toxin (end) Running (agi) Search (pcp) Stamina (end) Stealth (agi) Swimming (str) Tracking (pcp) Unarmed combat (ref)	Camouflage (int) Concentration (wil) Courage (wil) Craft / repair (tech, by type) Expertise (kno, by type) Lock picking (tech) Memory (kno) Research (kno) Resist pain (wil) Sleight of hand (tech) Survival (kno) Languages (amount known)	Ally (by name) Animal ken (cha) Artifact (by name) Bluff (psu) Etiquette (cha) Guild (by name) Influence (sta) Intimidation (cha) Manipulation (psu) Performance (cha) Psychology (emp) Wealth (sta)
Fantasy	Battle technique (by type) Body shape (by type) Catch missile (ref) Flight (agi, if capable) Weapon skill (ref/pcp, by type)	Astral guidance (wil) Herbalism (kno) Literacy (special) Mana points (wil) Resist magic (wil) Runecraft (special) Rune patterns (amount known)	Blessing (fth) Cantrip (by name) Divination (emp) Exorcism (fth) Familiar bond (by name) Ride animal (emp) Magesight (emp)
Modern	Drive vehicle (pcp) Melee weapon (ref) Ranged weapon (pcp)	Business (int) Computer use (int) Medicine (kno) Science (int)	Contact network (sta)
Science fiction	Cybernetics (by type)	Psi (special)	Astrogation (emp)
Werewolf		Gifts (amount known) Rites (amount known)	Bloodline (sta)
Unimportant	Arcade games (ref) Dancing (agi) Juggling (ref) Knots (dex) Massage (agi) Rowing (str) Sports (agi) Surgery (dex)	Artist (int) Astronomy (kno) Cryptography (int) Fire building (tech) Forgery (tech) Noise mimicry (tech) Strategy (int) Trivia (kno)	Barter (psu) Leadership (psu) Orientation (emp) Style (cha) Teach (psu)