Rules

[Ancient Gamer]

First of all:
To read the downloadable PDF, you must first install this:
http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/8.x/8.0/enu/AdbeRdr80_en_US.exe
(click the link, it installs a 20 MB program called Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is a great utility that you should have on your computer)

Then, after installing Adobe Acrobat, click this to download the PDF:
http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/coc_quick_start_color.pdf

Some of you are having problems reading the PDF. If the problem persists, do call me, but please try the steps above first! Please...

IMPORTANT:
The PDF is very, very large! It WILL take a lot of TIME before it is downloaded. If NOTHING happens, just sit back and watch tv while the PDF downloads!

Coming up: Post with scanned CoC and RQ tables.

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCInjuriesPoison.jpg <--- Click to view larger version

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CocInjuriesandHealing.jpg <--- Click for larger image

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCCombat.jpg <--- Click for larger image

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCFirearms.jpg <--- Click for larger image

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCWeaponsTable.jpg <--- Click for larger image

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill1.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill2.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill3.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill4.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill5.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill6.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/CoCSkill7.jpg <--- Click for larger view

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/RQGameAids.jpg <--- Click for larger image

[Ancient Gamer]

http://ancient.strolen.com/Bleak%20Wood/RQFumbleTable.jpg <--- Click for larger image

[Ancient Gamer]

Okay, y'all need to read this. At least give them a cursory glance as they will explain how combat and damage works and what skills you can choose from. Please note that Cthulhu Mythos is NOT a part of the game and neither is the skill.

-There will be precious little new skills, but those that are new will be listed within a short period of time.

-Your education points will be limited by your profession, so wait until I have posted available skills for the different professions.

- Your intelligence (interest) skill points can be freely distributed and reflects your hobbies and interests. You can choose accounting and art, but in the wilderness those skills are rare.

[Ancient Gamer]

Strike Rank - AG amended rules

For ranged: (add 1 for firing single round, burst and automatic. For multiple shots add 2 per bullet, unless the gun got some kind of stabilizer / rapid fire system)
DEX            Dex Strike 
                Rank Modifier
1-5               5               
6-9               4               
10-15           3               
16-19           2               
20+              1               

For melee: (add melee weapon SR and initiative)
Combined Siz+Dex        Melee Strike Rank
        2-4                       9       
        5-9                       8       
        10-14                   7       
        15-19                   6       
        20-24                   5       
        25-29                   4       
        30-34                   3       
        35-39                   2       
        40+                      1

MAX SIZ BONUS = 20.

In addition we roll +1d4 for randomness.


The standard rule deviation comes from this thread on the net:

Well, I'll try to start a thread here.  As Nick Brooke reminded us in
  today's (5/19/93) RQ Daily, the current SR system has awkward stat based
  breakpoints, among other problems.  Now, one possible fix for this is the
  alternate SR system proposed by George Harris on the net last year.  In
  anyone hasn't seen that, I'll include it here.  Skip on down for further
  discussion if you're familiar with it.

  <<<<<<<<<<<<begin included file>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From: gharris@jade.tufts.edu (George W. Harris)
Subject: RQ: Changes to the Strike Rank Calculation Method
Date: 13 Aug 92 12:06:26 GMT

    As most of you probably know, when one attacks with a melee or missile
weapon and when a spell takes effect are in a large part determined by one's
Dex and Siz strike rank modifiers.  The underlying assumtion of this mechanic
is that the more dextrous one is the sooner one acts, and the larger one is
the quicker one lands a blow in melee. I am not going to contest these
assumtions, but rather try and streamline how they are implemented.

Characteristic  Dex Strike      Siz Strike
                Rank Modifier   Rank Modifier
1-5             5               4
6-9             4               3
10-15           3               2
16-19           2               1
20+             1               0

    Ordinarily, when one is using a missile weapon (or casting a spell), one
acts on Dex Strike Rank (plus the magic points in the spell), and when one
is using a melee weapon, one acts on the sum of Dex Strike Rank and Siz
Strike Rank and Weapon Strike Rank.  These are the main uses of the Dex/Siz
Strike Rank table.  However, there are two things that should strike you
about this table:

    One:    It is not an even progression.  The steps alternate in size
between four and six, rather than being a constant five.

    Two:    Siz Strike Rank alone is never used for anything, but is
only used in conjunction with Dex Strike Rank.

    The first item is easy to fix.  Just make the intervals 1-4, 5-9, 10-14,
15-19, 20+.  As for the second, I propose replacing the Siz Strike Rank
column with a combined Dex+Siz Strike Rank column to be used for figuring
melee strike rank.

    As the table stands, someone with a Dex 10 and Siz 10 would have a melee
strike rank of 5.  However, someone with Dex 9 and Siz 11 would have a melee
strike rank of 6, as would someone with Dex 11 and Siz 9.  Since, the way the
system is structured, Siz and Dex are equally important in figuring melee
strike rank, this result doesn't seem proper.  Therefore, I propose using the
following table for figuring melee strike rank:

Combined Siz+Dex        Melee Strike Rank
        2-4                     9       
        5-9                     8       
        10-14                   7       
        15-19                   6       
        20-24                   5       
        25-29                   4       
        30-34                   3       
        35-39                   2       
        40+                     1

    The advantages of this table are that it eliminates the standard optimal
breakpoints for Siz and Dex, and also regularizes the progression.  One
could complain that it is undesirable for a table to use the sum of two
characteristics, but as the damage bonus table already does this, that
objection doesn't stand.  Of course, one would still use the Dex Strike Rank
table to figure strike ranks for spells and missile weapons.
--
"If you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste more like
prunes than rhubarb does."              -Groucho Marx
gharris@jade.tufts.edu          George Harris, Tufts Univ. Dept. of Mathematics

  <<<<<<<<<<<<end included file>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  Now, my group and myself have been using this rule for a while now, and it
  works well with one correction.  With the normal human range of SIZ,
  everything is copacetic, but if you start using this with trolls, giants,
  and scorpionmen, those with SIZ>>20 pose the following problem.  If the
  creatures DEX SR is less than their SIZ SR in the old system, the new
  will give them a melee SR less than their DEX SR.  In other words, they
  could hit with a maul before they could throw an axe.  This is fixed by
  just ruling that any SIZ > 20 uses SIZ=20 in the Melee SR table.  In this
  case, their Melee SR would equal their DEX SR, which gives the same result
  as the current system.

  With this fix, this system works well, and eliminate