Characters and Rules

[tibbius]

Making a character, according to Ouroboros, has the following steps:
0. You start at level 1.

1. roll 2d6 in order for SKill, STamina, and LucK.
SK applies to men and monsters, ST to the environment, and LK to the gods and mind.
If your total for all three stats is less than 20, then you may choose to distribute 20 points among the three stats.

2. For each stat less than 10, pick an advantage. Advantages don't have to be tied to a particular stat. They can be things such as:
- fighting
- knowing
- hiding
- fixing
- calling
- casting
- etc. (be creative, but think of likely challenges as well)
You don't need an advantage to attempt anything.

3. roll 1d6 for wealth: (1-2) pennies; (3-5) shillings; (6) pounds [of silver]
You may carry at most 8 items, but a pouch or pack and its reasonable contents count as a single item
You may have anything that costs less than your wealth. If you want something that equals your wealth, test SK (more about Testing below ...) If you fail the test, your wealth goes down a level.
Of most interest, most adventuring gear costs pennies, but anything metal, such as weapons or tools, cost shillings. Light armor or shields also cost shillings. Moderate or heavy armor, and great weapons (usable as both weapon and shield - two hands), cost pounds.

Testing a stat
Roll 1d12. If you have advantage, roll 2d12 and pick one. If you have disadvantage, roll 2d12 and I pick one. Advantage cancels disadvantage. 1 always succeeds, 10 always fails. If the challenge is higher level than you are, add its level to the roll. If the total is less than or equal your stat, you succeed. Otherwise, fail.

Time and movement
Time and movement are tactical, exploration, or montage.
Tactical time and movement happen in "moments" and yards. In each moment, you can retreat, move adjacent to a different opponent, or make an attack. Opponents likewise.
Exploration time and movement happen in "turns" and locations. In each turn, you can move to or search a location. On some turns, I will make an encounter roll.
Montage time happens in "montages". This is when you can heal, travel, etc. In each montage you can move to a new major location and I also will make an encounter roll.

Combat
Test SK to hit. Test SK to dodge. Monsters make no rolls. Ambushing side (sometimes you need to test LK), or smallest side, or the side most at home, goes first.
If you succeed at hitting, your opponent takes a hit. If you fail at dodging, you take a hit.
Light armor blocks one hit per combat. A shield blocks one hit per combat. Moderate armor blocks two hits per combat. Heavy armor blocks four hits per combat, but all tests are at disadvantage (unless you have an advantage, then it's straight 1d12).
The first unblocked hit HURTS. If you take another unblocked hit while you're hurt, you start DYING.

Pain and suffering
If you're HURT, then during a montage you can test ST to return to full health. If you're DYING, then you immediately need to test LK. On a success, you're just HURT. On a failure ... you get to make a dying declaration.

Treasure
May be vast. It can change your level of wealth. Knights and merchants have pounds, craftsmen and armsmen have shillings, peasants have pennies. Lords and bishops and great merchants have hundredweights.

Leveling up
After a "session", you will gain a level and may add 1 to any stat OR add an advantage that is consistent with what you've been doing. I will define "sessions" so that you level up at least 2x during the adventure - maybe more depending how many rooms you get through.

"Encounter" rolls
1d6 | Result
1 | Critter(s)
2 | Person(s)
3 | Obstacle
4 | Food
5 | Water
6 | Latrine

"Montage" rolls
1d6 (1-3) Gain (4-6) Lose
1d6 | Result
1 | Friend
2 | Lead to adventure
3 | Shelter
4 | Ally
5 | Foe
6 | Tool

Please post characters below

[tibbius]

Looks good, although the advantages don't have to be tied to specific stats.

[jemmus]

OK, thanks, revised.

[tibbius]

SK 7 + fighting advantage makes Delx a potent fighter. Stealth advantage makes him a ninja against ordinary men. 9 LK + knowing advantage gives him a 6% chance of not knowing something relevant. Routine puzzles will be sideshow entertainment for him if you want to roll-play them.

[tibbius]

. . .

. . .

Hi, guys. Over here?

[jemmus]

This is the only thread for the game so far, correct? Just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

[tibbius]

Waiting for ybn1197 and grognardsw to post characters then we'll start IC

[tibbius]

Equipment (not sure on costs. Are casters restricted on weapon/armor?)

Looks great!

The default for Ouroboros is eight items, containing a reasonably loaded pouch or pack as a single item. Looking at your items, the pack is reasonably loaded. But I'm going to rule that it takes one moment for you to pull out any particular item from the pack, so don't try that in combat because you can't defend while rummaging.

Spells ... you're first level so I'll give you one. Chariot Transport Vulture - make of it what you will. You may test LK to cast it, on a failure you are HURT but the spell is still effective. If you fail a casting while you're HURT, you die but the spell is still effective.

[Grognardsw]

Thanks! How does the Casting advantage affect spell casting?

Ah yes, the classic Chariot Transport Vulture spell. An ectoplasmic flying flaming 4’ long chariot pulled by a screaming black hole vulture materializes and can be directed by the caster to hit a target for 1d4 Hurts. Alternately, it can be used to blow open a door, put hole in a wall, scare the superstitious or cause a general mess. Material component is a vulture feather.

[jemmus]

(My character post above has been revised).

[jemmus]

Thanks! How does the Casting advantage affect spell casting?

Ah yes, the classic Chariot Transport Vulture spell. An ectoplasmic flying flaming 4’ long chariot pulled by a screaming black hole vulture materializes and can be directed by the caster to hit a target for 1d4 Hurts. Alternately, it can be used to blow open a door, put hole in a wall, scare the superstitious or cause a general mess. Material component is a vulture feather.

Oh, it's that one!

[tibbius]

Thanks! How does the Casting advantage affect spell casting?

It means you start knowing a spell, and it also means you roll 2d10 and pick the lower one when you try to cast it.

Any fool can try to cast a spell they've learned, but fools with the casting advantage have a better chance of things going well.

Learning a spell also requires a LK test ...

[Grognardsw]

Thanks on the spell info.

I somehow missed this before…

Ghosts can be killed only by silver or salt or spells like Chariot Transport Vulture.

I think we all need pouches sacks backpacks of salt

Can we get a silver weapon?

[tibbius]

Can we get a silver weapon?

I think that a functional weapon made of precious metal (silver) would cost pounds of silver for the materials and labor plus mark up ...

however, a slender silver rod for poking ghosts would probably cost shillings.

[jemmus]

Added a pound of salt to the backpack, if that's OK.

[Juramenta]

Loving the two other character concepts, and it helped me come up with some ideas.

- The ultimate swordsman, except ultimate does not cover skill as he is level 1.
Instead, he uses swords as a way of life. He knows everything, as long as it is linked to swords. He knows everything about cattle, but only those who are made into leather straps, which are wrapped around the hilt of a sword.
He knows everything about cooking, as long as a sword is used to cut the ingredients and then slowly slides them over the flat side of the weapon into the pan.
Every obstacle in life he figures out through a sword or fails to figure out the answer.

---

- The slave without a master.
This extremely helpful little man is in search of the perfect master to serve.
He will test out many masters before he finds the perfect one (probably a player).
His potential masters will live a pampered luxury life until he finds a better master to serve.
While helpful, he does tend to make decisions to make his master's life easier. Even if his master never intended for him to help or goes completely against their ethics.
Life should be always be convenient for the master, even if the world or the master disagrees. Only perfection counts for the master.

---

- The over-engineer.
This one never goes for the easiest route, but always has an overly engineered answer.
He specializes in jury-rigging, shielding and explosive solutions.

Jury-rigging
He can fix anything regardless of materials available, he will find a overly complicated way to use them just to fix something temporarily. All fixes which makes sense in his mind eventually break. It is great for overcoming simple obstacles, but terrible for long term solutions.

Shielding
He keeps his allies safe. Unless there are absolutely no materials around to use (his greatest weakness), he can find a way to use the most strange objects in a way to shield himself and his allies from whatever might ail them. However, the jury-rigging flaw influences his shielding. So he can make sure an ally lands safely by creating a temporary parachute, but it might easily break his legs if the chute catches fire midflight or worse. See below:

Explosive solutions
Stuff breaks, and it happens, surely it is not the fault of the engineer.
Sometimes the best answer is a mishap and if luck will have it. A solution will present itself through the chaos.
Just trust in the math, even if the math is alien to your world.

---

Currently leaning to the last one, but I have a few more ideas.
I am partially going to leave it up to chance.

GM, would you be so kind to roll the stats and wealth?
If the result is under 20, I’ll divide them myself. Other than that, I will make a character depending on the dice results.
If everyone is okay with that?

[tibbius]

GM, would you be so kind to roll the stats and wealth?
If the result is under 20, I’ll divide them myself. Other than that, I will make a character depending on the dice results.
If everyone is okay with that?

SK:
ST:
LK:
wealth:

[Juramenta]

Interesting result.
The concept of being scared of the world and hiding in a heavy plate while everything fails because I am too clunky (aka disadvantage) is out.
Simply too poor to play a scared heavy armored yet always safe character.

The low attribute rolls do allow me to pick my stats.
9,9,2, come to mind, but maybe I should go for a more middle ground.
Lots of ways to go with this.

Tibbius (and the others ofc) are you feeling any of the 3 concepts so far? Should I come up with something completely different? or are you open for anything?
These were just my original thoughts before the dice rolls.

[tibbius]

Tibbius (and the others ofc) are you feeling any of the 3 concepts so far? Should I come up with something completely different? or are you open for anything?
These were just my original thoughts before the dice rolls.

It would be quite easy for me to bring your character into the game if one of your advantages was shapeshifting and you had been in the form the Black Dog up until now. Would fit well with the "perfect servant" concept.

I think I would test ST for shapeshifting.

On a failure, either (a) you don't know the form well and give up or (b) you don't know the form well but force it anyway, change shape and are HURT

[Juramenta]

Originally I thought no, but I gave it some thought and was unsure due to a few reasons.
1) I love dogs, especially my own because she is awesome, but playing one felt like a short gimmick and not a long term idea for a character concept.
2) It is part of a player concept and won’t play it unless the player is on board.

The pro part is never having played a pet and made it work long term. So an intriguing challenge was born.
I thought about it and I think it might actually work.

What about a werewolf dog, but originally born as one who isn’t cursed, but tied to a racial origin.
Instead of being created from a human(oid), he was actually a canine.

He learned how to act and behave like a human, even understands their language and can speak it when not in dog form, but doesn’t like to walk around in their clumsy skin.

So he has three forms (weredog/dog/human), but prefers his natural form, which is a dog. If he shifts into his weredog form, he becomes more powerful but the backlash is severe. Which is why he doesn't do it often.
He is still in search of the perfect master, but feels content for now, and maybe he already found him. Time will tell.

His advantages would be:

Rage (You better not oppose my master, his allies or show me ways which will hurt them in the future. Or withhold meat from me, that’s just mean and should be met with fangs)

Speed (He is not only fast as a dog, but can shape-shift really fast when needed. As long as you are faster than those who threaten your master, you are fast enough)

Unstoppable (Due to his loyalty tracing back to his original heritage, he becomes fiercely loyal and dedicated to completing tasks. (Once he puts his mind to it, he won’t let anything stop him)

So stats would be 9,9,2
Doubt he would be very smart or receiving many blessings from the gods.


Is this something we can work with?

(rage could be switched with shapeshifting, think unstoppable could also work to switch it.)