TEXT: Game Engine Manual
  Page 1
  Game Engine Manual
  ©1998 Neale Davidson
  For the GEM System and Scrolls of Virtue
  Revised Edition
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 2
  Welcome
  Welcome to the second major version of the Game
  Engine Manual. It’s been an interesting road so far.
  Response to the game has been great, much more
  than I expected. I want to start off by thanking
  everyone who wrote to me about the game, and
  thank them again for their kind words.
  In the two years since GEM was first put together,
  I’ve been making a number of small and subtle
  changes. There’ve been some requests that were
  put in, and some streamlining of things that were a
  bit clunky before.  Most of these things were subtle
  and minor, but they started to build up. After so
  long, it became obvious that a slight revamp of the
  system was needed.
  If you’ve played the earlier version of the GEM,
  you’ll instantly notice that several things are missing
  from this version. Most of the Game Master material
  has been moved to a new book, the Gem Cutter’s
  Guide. Most players won’t need that information
  right away, and Game Masters can reference that
  material much easier in a separate book.
  There are some rules missing, notably the sample
  extensions found in the older book. Back when
  GEM was first made, Elemental Reign and Live Wire
  hadn’t come together yet, so a starting point was
  needed for what those books now cover. A lot of
  players, though, felt that including large sections on
  everything from magic to cybernetics detracted
  from the basic rules of the game. They too, have
  been moved.
  That brings us to the basic rules. What’s changed
  here? Frankly, not much was. Many bits of
  confusion have been cleared up. Sections have
  been rewritten, and some examples have been
  added. Extraneous rules have been removed, and
  the details streamlined a bit.  What remains is a
  more slender and more accessible Player’s Guide to
  the GEM system.
  I hope that everyone who starts the GEM off with
  this new version enjoys it as much as I have had
  with making it. I’m looking forward to the next two
  years. As always, your comments, suggestions, and
  even criticisms are welcome.
  I want to again thank my play-testers, who are now
  getting too numerous to list by name here. I also
  especially want to thank my wife, Shayna, and my
  daughters Jennifer and Mina, for letting me work so
  much on this pet project of mine. I’m very thankful
  for a loving and supportive family. Without them,
  this would have never been possible.
  Lastly, I want to thank my father for showing me
  that through determination and perseverance,
  anything you want to accomplish can be
  accomplished.
  Sincerely
  Neale Davidson
  Introduction to role-playing
  If you’re reading this, then you have an interest in
  role-playing games.  This can be an exciting and
  fulfilling hobby, and we hope that you find as much
  enjoyment from it as we have. We would also like
  to thank you for picking up the Game Engine
  Manual, or GEM.
  The Game Engine Manual is, and isn’t, a complete
  role-playing game. In this book are the basic rules
  for a role-playing system, including character
  generation, training, combat, and improving
  characters. Don’t worry if these terms aren’t familiar,
  they soon will be.
  Role-playing is a form of interactive-storytelling. The
  Game Master serves as the narrator of the story. The
  other players act out the parts of the characters in
  that story.
  Unlike most stories, however, the role-playing story
  isn’t written before the game begins. The story
  unfolds with the imaginations and decisions of the
  players. The player decides the critical actions of the
  character, not a script.
  Of course, each character does have some limits on
  her abilities. A player simply cannot go wild with
  the character’s actions and let her own imagination
  run away with the story. Something needs to reign
  in the fancies. That’s where the rules and the
  rulebook come in.
  This rulebook serves as a guide to keep reality, or a
  form of reality, in check while the game is being
  played. If a character tries to hit another, for
  example, the rules will say if the attacker hit and
  how hard if he did. It’s the job of the Game Master
  to decide what rules apply in what situation.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 3
  The Game Master
  The Game Master is one of the players of the group.
  He has a couple of fairly important jobs that sets her
  apart from the others at the table.
  The first is to present the other characters, the
  ‘party’ with the challenges and situations that
  they’re going to face. She keeps tract of the villains,
  adversaries, and the entire fantasy world that the
  characters interact with.
  Her other job is to ensure the game goes smoothly
  for everyone involved. To do that, the Game Master
  is the authority in each campaign in how the rules
  are interpreted. If there’s doubt about how
  something within the game, the Game Master
  makes the final decision in how to proceed.
  The Game Master should be the person in the
  group most familiar with the rules, and most
  comfortable in talking to all the other players
  present. She’s part lawyer, part judge, and mostly
  diplomat. If she does her job right, everyone has a
  good time.
  Required Materials
  The massive volumes of books, buckets of dice, and
  hundreds of pewter miniatures used in gaming may
  intimidate many newcomers. Take heed, these are
  not necessary! A typical role-playing game needs
  only a few basic things.
  Paper and Pencils:
  Paper and Pencils: Paper and pencils are required in
  this game because players will be keeping track of a
  lot of information about character, and will want to
  write it down. This information is placed on a
  Character Sheet. Game Masters will have even more
  things to keep track of as they run game sessions.
  Dice.
  Dice. While gaming rules differ, almost all of them
  have one thing in common, dice. In this game, we
  use only one type of dice, the six-sided dice found
  in most board and casino dice games. Dice are
  referred to as 'D,' usually proceeded with a number.
  A '2D' roll would be two dice rolled and added
  together.
  Example: Jon's player is told to roll three dice. In this
  game, that means to take three standard six-sided
  dice and add them together. Jon's dice shows a
  three, two, and a six, totaling out to eleven.
  Also, though it doesn’t come up too often, any time
  that the rules say to divide, the result is usually
  rounded down to the nearest whole number. This is
  to keep the math as simple as possible.
  The Rules:
  The Rules: Most players won’t need too many
  rulebooks, usually no more than one or two. These
  rules usually the basic rulebook and any extensions
  needed for the current campaign.
  Imagination:
  Imagination: This is the most important part of any
  role-playing game. The first step in creating a
  character is to think about what type of character
  you wish to portray. Will you play a man or
  woman? Will he (or she) be a human, or one of the
  many races of the world? Role-playing is acting, as
  said before. To create a fun character, you will need
  to fill in his quirks, likes, dislikes, and skills.
  Using This Book
  Not every player is going to need to read, much less
  memorize every bit of this book. Still, everyone
  should go through it once to see how the games
  unfold and what goes into playing them.
  The Players:
  The Players: This chapter discusses the role of the
  player in the game, and how characters are created.
  It goes into detail about character statistics and
  natural abilities.
  Skills and Training:
  Skills and Training: Characters can improve their
  abilities through the use of experience points. This
  chapter explains the basics in improving skills and
  buying special abilities.
  The Method:
  The Method: This chapter contains the basic rules
  for playing a character, including feat rolls and
  combat. Every player should be familiar with the
  topics discussed in here.
  Skills:
  Skills: This chapter provides a long list of sample
  skills, broken down into different technology levels.
  The Game Master can pick and choose what skills
  are appropriate for his campaign.
  Equipment:
  Equipment: This is a sampling of various forms of
  equipment through the ages. A casual listing
  covering everything from weapons and armor to
  clothing and gadgets can be found here.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 4
  The Players
  Of course, games cannot be played without players.
  The player’s part within any role-playing game is to
  act out the role and life of a character within a
  setting.
  The player’s job, at the root, is to control the actions
  of a character in the Game Master’s setting. Usually,
  this is as easy as free-form storytelling. Each player
  will simply state what she desires her character to
  do, and the character attempts to do it.
  There are, however, limits to the abilities of
  characters in a setting. Each character will have
  different degrees of strength, intelligence, and
  power. To find what these limits are, a player will
  first have to generate her character.
  The Character
  The character is the playing piece of the game. It is
  one of many roles played within each setting. Role-
  playing characters are like the characters in a book,
  they're the heroes of the story, and are the ones
  that interact with the world around them. What
  makes a role-playing game different from a book,
  however, is that a player is in direct in control of
  that character. The player makes the decisions, not
  a script.
  A player will have to solve the challenges that her
  character will face. She will have to use her wits in
  controlling her character during the head of battle.
  The player determines if the character’s love life,
  becomes tempted by darkness, learns magic, and
  how the character lives or dies.
  Characters do have limits, however, just like players
  do in real life. These limits come in the form of a
  character description, which will be written down
  on a blank piece of paper, which will be the
  character sheet. On this sheet, the player will write
  down all the character’s important information,
  such as her strength, her skills, how healthy she is,
  character history, and more.
  Statistics
  Every character, at her basest level, can be defined
  with eight basic statistics. These statistics give an
  idea of the physical and mental abilities of that
  character, such as how strong she is, how smart she
  is, whether she is attractive, or how hard it takes to
  get her sick.
  Strength:
  Strength: This is simply how strong a character is. A
  character with a low strength score is a scrawny
  weakling, and one with a high score is a muscle-
  bound weight lifter.
  Endurance:
  Endurance: This measures a character's physical
  fitness and general health. A character with a low
  endurance will get tired easily and will be prone to
  disease. A high endurance character almost never
  gets sick.
  Dexterity:
  Dexterity: This is a character's coordination.
  Someone with a low dexterity is clumsy and heavy-
  handed, while someone with a high dexterity score
  is very agile and skilled with his hands.
  Comeliness:
  Comeliness: This is how good-looking your
  character is. Characters with a low comeliness are
  simply ugly, maybe even hideous. Characters with a
  high comeliness are beautiful and turn heads
  everywhere.
  Intelligence
  Intelligence is your character's raw book smarts, and
  how quickly he learns. Characters with a low reason
  tend to be, well, stupid. Those with high reason can
  master calculus, verbose literary works, and
  understand several languages.
  Willpower:
  Willpower: is simply how firmly in control your
  character is of his mind. Characters with a low
  willpower can be manipulated quite easily while
  characters with a high willpower are noted for
  being particularly stubborn.
  Perception
  Perception is your character's ability to notice detail
  with his senses. Characters with high perceptions
  can see well, hear well, and smell faint scents.
  Those with low perceptions, on average, have
  weaker senses and cannot see or hear as well as
  others.
  Charisma
  Charisma is a measure of how charming a character
  can be. It also states how well he is able to sway
  others, or be noted from his words and
  mannerisms. Charismatic characters can sway
  violent crowds, while those with low charisma
  scores tend to be quite rude in any social setting.
  Statistic Values
  Every statistic is given a value, usually from one to
  ten, which indicates how good that particular
  character is in that area. For instance, a character
  with a ten in Intelligence is very smart, while a
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 5
  character with a two in Strength is very weak.
  Players will need to determine these values by either
  assigning values to them or by rolling dice.
  Random Rolls.
  Random Rolls. If you're on your first character, or if
  you want to make one quickly, you may want to
  simply roll your character's statistics with dice. For
  random statistics, roll 1d and add two to the result.
  Place this value for one of your statistics and repeat
  this step until all of your statistics are filled. Each
  statistic should now have a value between three
  and eight, giving an average spread character.
  Example: This character is going to be randomly
  rolled. Eight six sided dice are rolled, getting a 6, 4,
  4, 6, 3, 6, 6, and a 5. Already, this character is likely
  going to be very powerful. Adding two to each roll,
  and then assigning the numbers to statistics, we get
  a character with a Strength of 8, Endurance of 6,
  Dexterity of 6, Comeliness of 8, Intelligence of 5,
  Willpower of 8, Perception of 8, and Charisma of 7.
  Point Placement.
  Point Placement. This method allows you to
  customize how your character is going to take
  shape. Start with 45 points, and spread them out
  through all twelve statistics. No statistic can have
  less than a two, and no single statistic can be more
  than a ten.
  Example: This character is getting a point spread of
  45 points. It's easiest to start by spreading them
  evenly, such as given them all fours, and then use
  the remaining points to build up desired statistics.
  This character winds up with Strength of 6,
  Endurance of 5, Dexterity of 8, Comeliness of 5,
  Intelligence of 5, Willpower of 5, Perception of 6,
  and Charisma of 5.
  Setting-Specific Methods: N
  Setting-Specific Methods: Note that some settings
  and campaigns will allow for characters with
  extraordinary statistics. Ultra-heroes, for instance,
  commonly would have strength scores in the
  twenties or even higher. If the statistics needed in a
  campaign are different than the standard rules
  presented here, players should follow the rules of
  the campaign.
  Game Master Fiat. 
  Game Master Fiat. There will be some occasions, as
  well, where the Game Master decides that she
  wants all characters to be generated in a certain
  manner. She may want to shift statistics a certain
  way or she may want to assign character statistics
  to different players. The Game Master has the final
  call when making this decision.
  What the Numbers Mean. 
  What the Numbers Mean. Now that each of these
  statistics has values, it’s time to explain what they
  really mean. What does a ‘three strength’ mean
  when looking at the real world? Exactly how smart
  is an intelligence of ten?
  Statistic
  1-3
  4-6
  7-8
  Strength
  Weak
  Average
  Strong
  Endurance
  Frail
  Average
  Athletic
  Dexterity
  Clumsy
  Average
  Nimble
  Comeliness
  Ugly
  Average
  Attractive
  Intelligence
  Dense
  Average
  Skilled
  Willpower
  Soft
  Average
  Stubborn
  Perception
  Myopic
  Average
  Observant
  Charisma
  Irritating
  Average
  Affable
  Statistic
  9-10
  11-14
  15+
  Strength
  Powerful
  Ogre
  Titanic
  Endurance
  Stolid
  Fortified
  Impervious
  Dexterity
  Gymnast
  Darting
  Lightning
  Comeliness
  Beautiful
  Gorgeous
  Captivating
  Intelligence
  Brilliant
  Genius
  Oracle
  Willpower
  Iron Will
  Steel-mind
  Adamant
  Perception
  Keen
  Astute
  Omniscient
  Charisma
  Inspiring
  Commanding
  Mesmerizing
  To get an idea of a character’s relative power in
  each of his statistics, a player can refer to the
  statistic chart on this page. This is only meant to get
  an idea of a character’s relative raw power. A player
  shouldn’t become distressed if she sees an aspect of
  her character described in less-than-flattering terms.
  Secondary Statistics
  Your character's also has two other, secondary,
  statistics that measure different forms of fatigue.
  Health and Mana are determined from the sum of a
  character's other related statistics.
  Health:
  Health: This statistic, basically, is how resilient your
  character is when taking damage such as sword hits
  and dagger cuts. The starting value for your
  character's Health is found by adding your
  character's Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity
  scores together. This is your character's Maximum
  Health. Your character's running Health can
  fluctuate greatly, but will almost never be above this
  limit and will hopefully not go below zero.
  Example: Amir is finding his current health. He adds
  his Endurance of six, Strength of five, and Dexterity
  or seven together, giving him a maximum health of
  eighteen.
  Mana:
  Mana: This statistic represents the mental power
  your character can muster, and how much mental
  trauma your character can take. The starting value
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 6
  for your character's Mana is found by adding your
  character's Intelligence, Willpower and Perception
  scores together. This is your character's Maximum
  Mana power.
  Example: Amir is now finding his total available
  mana. He adds his Intelligence of four, his
  Willpower of three, and his Perception of eight
  together, giving him a maximum mana of fifteen.
  Personal Background
  Once your character has his skills, you will want to
  flesh out the character by adding a bit of history
  and color to him. This is largely up to the player's
  imagination, but keep in mind the background of
  the game and what would be reasonable to a
  Game Master.
  Family History:
  Family History: The best way to start fleshing out
  your character's background is to start with the
  family. Were his parents in the nobility and did they
  get along with him? Are they alive? Were there any
  brother or sisters out there? What are they doing
  now?
  Example: Melissa, a skilled computer programmer,
  was a privileged child, growing up in a well-off
  family in good neighborhoods. She never
  questioned how her family acquired their funds,
  until she found some of her father’s files.
  Friends and Enemies:
  Friends and Enemies: You may also want to give
  your character a few close friends and threatening
  enemies to liven up life a bit. Is the enemy powerful
  and likely to hunt your character down? Is your
  character's friend also your teacher or mentor who
  needs him from time to time?
  Example: Melissa was caught. Her father’s closest
  advisor was a ruthless man named Terrace. Terrace
  knew enough to keep his distance, but he also
  knew that Melissa was a potentially dangerous
  threat. He would act subtly, and she would have to
  protect her life.
  Romance
  Romance. Simply put, is your character now, or has
  he even been in love? Romantic interests, both past-
  and-present, add a good amount of detail into your
  character's life. Is that long-lost love going to return
  someday? Did an enemy harm him or her? Is your
  character's love one-sided or forbidden by some
  arrangement?
  Example: She met him in a moment of desperation.
  His bravery for the sake of a stranger more than
  impressed her, it infatuated her. James’s quick
  action with his rifle took care of Terrace’s current
  threat, but now Melissa found herself drawn to this
  stranger.
  Dramatic Event:
  Dramatic Event: Normal, rational, sane people aren't
  the types to risk their lives and livelihoods week-to-
  week, even if the profits are great. What happened
  to your character to make him want to adventure?
  Is he instead forced to adventure? Does he have an
  end-goal in mind?
  Example: Melissa’s protection was over. Her father
  lied before her, bleeding from the temple. A well-
  placed bullet ended his life. Melissa knew that if she
  didn’t start to strike back, that it could end hers as
  well.
  Description:
  Description: A character's physical description can
  play a major role in adding color. Does the
  character have any notable scars? Is her red hair
  shining and curly? Is she a tall, shapely person?
  Look at your statistics, particularly Comeliness,
  Strength, and Endurance to help decide what the
  character could look like.
  Example: Melissa carries a dark expression on her
  dark tanned skin. Her black hair drapes loosely
  across her face. Black eyes peer into the room,
  piercing everything. Though small, at only one and
  a third meters, her stance commands attention.
  Personality:
  Personality: Finally, once you've gotten some major
  goings on, decide on a basic personality for your
  character. Is he a rude snob? Is he brave and
  daring, sometimes to the point of being foolhardy?
  Is he a sniveling coward? These are the kinds of
  things that make role-playing a character fun and
  rewarding.
  Example: Melissa was once affable and charming,
  but the death of her father has scarred her terribly.
  Now she is a dark, quiet figure, constantly more
  concerned about striking against Terrace and his
  minions. She has little other interest, except for her
  well-hidden infatuation with the renegade gang-
  member, James.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 7
  Skills and Training
  Even though the statistics and advantages a
  character may possess can give a great idea for the
  basics of a character, it doesn’t say much for the
  special talents a character has learned or picked up
  through his adventures. This is the role for the skills
  for a character.
  Skill and other improvements are purchased
  through experience points, which is a measure of
  how much the character has improved over her
  career.
  Experience Points
  As a character grows and matures, she will gain
  experience. The more a character lives through, the
  better she will be in handling future situations. For
  most role-playing games, each time a character
  makes it through a tough spot, or completes an
  adventure, she is rewarded with experience points.
  These points, in turn, are used to increase skills and
  statistics, making the character stronger.
  Each character sheet should have a place marked
  on it that states how many remaining experience
  points a character possesses. This number will
  change often as characters will spend these points
  for improvements.
  Spending Experience.
  Spending Experience. When experience points are
  spent, they are permanently removed from the
  character.  This doesn’t mean that the character is
  somehow less experienced than before, it’s just that
  now that experience has been applied to improving
  the character’s ability somehow.
  Example: James has twenty experience points, and
  wants to improve a skill. Improving the skill costs
  nine of those points, leaving him with eleven.
  Gaining Experience. 
  Gaining Experience. There are a number of
  methods used for gaining experience. A character
  can gain experience by completing adventures,
  performing daring feats, or by the character’s player
  remembering to bring snacks to the game. When
  The Game Master awards experience points to the
  character, that amount is added to the character’s
  running total.
  Example: James, who has eleven experience points,
  has just completed a long adventure. The Game
  Master awards James twenty more experience,
  raising his total to thirty-three.
  Starting Experience
  Most campaigns will give a moderate amount of
  experience to characters when they are first created.
  This enables a character to begin picking up skills
  right away, making her useful to a campaign the
  moment she’s played.
  Generally, a new character should receive fifty
  experience points for customizing her abilities. This
  amount will vary, of course, on the needs of the GM
  and the particular campaign. Ultra-heroes, for
  instance, will want a large amount of experience for
  their incredible powers. A primitive setting,
  however, may require a small amount of
  experience, to keep the characters simple.
  Campaign
  Starting Experience Points
  Unskilled
  25
  Normal
  50
  Heroic
  100
  Ultra-Heroic
  250
  Unskilled: This level of starting experience is
  appropriate for those campaigns where everyone is
  uneducated, such as primitive-age campaigns.
  Normal: This level works for most campaigns, and
  assumes some level of education, and perhaps even
  a tad of adventuring experience. These characters
  are ripe for new adventures and challenges.
  Example: Melissa is a new character. Her campaign
  is in the normal range of experience and so the
  Game Master assigns her fifty XP.
  Heroic: These characters have a good amount of
  experience, and are ready to take on major powers
  and small forces all by themselves. This is
  recommended for martial arts and high-action
  campaigns.
  Ultra-Heroic: This level of experience should be
  reserved for very powerful starting characters, such
  as ultra-heroes, or great creatures. This can occur in
  high-powered, high-fantasy campaigns.
  Learning Skills
  Skills, as well as other abilities, are improved by
  spending experience points. The more experience
  used into improving a skill, the better a character is
  at performing it.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 8
  Every skill has a base cost, generally ranging from
  one point to five points. The base cost is a way of
  telling how difficult a skill is to learn. The higher the
  base cost, the more difficult that skill is to master,
  and more experience is needed to improve it.
  To purchase a level of the skill, a player needs to
  multiply the next level of the skill times the base cost
  of that skill. The result is the amount of experience
  required to raise that skill to the next level.
  Skill descriptions do not formally list the base cost of
  each skill, but instead give a more descriptive
  qualifier. The table below compares the difficulty of
  each skill with its actual base cost.
  Difficulty
  Base Cost
  Trivial
  1 XP
  Easy
  2 XP
  Average
  3 XP
  Difficult
  4 XP
  Hard
  5 XP
  Example: James is gaining an acting skill, and
  wishes to raise it to level three from level two.
  Acting is an average skill, giving it a base cost of
  three. He then multiplies that number by three, the
  next level of the skill for him. To raise the skill, he
  needs to spend nine experience points.
  When purchasing more than one level of a skill,
  keep in mind that each level of the skill must be
  purchased separately.  The quick way to do this is to
  add each wanted skill level, up to the new desired
  level, the multiply that result by the base cost. This
  will give the experience total required for the
  increase.
  Example: James is gaining a magic skill, which is
  listed at average, and wishes to develop it to level
  three. Since it is an average skill ,it has a base cost of
  three. He adds the levels that he's purchasing
  together  (1 + 2 + 3 = 6) and then multiplies that by
  three, giving him an eighteen experience cost.
  Maximum Skill Levels
  In general, skills and abilities are capped at level ten.
  This doesn't always need to be the case, however.
  When a normal feat roll topping out with a statistic
  of ten, and a skill of ten, even difficult rolls have an
  excellent shot at success. Normal people will not
  normally get that level of skill; adventurers will rarely
  get it; some ultra-heroes might.
  Example: Our dark knight has a dodge skill at level
  ten. He has accumulated 44 experience points and
  wants to increase his skill to level eleven. This isn’t
  allowed in ‘mortal’ campaigns, but since he’s an
  ultra hero, the can go ahead and bump up the skill.
  Improving Statistics
  Statistics can be raised with a base cost of ten. For
  instance, raising Strength from six to seven would
  require seventy experience points. This is done fairly
  rarely, and it becomes much less expensive to buy a
  number of skills with experience than to try to raise
  a high statistic.
  Example: Melissa is raising her strength from six to
  seven. All statistics have a base cost of ten, making
  the needed experience to get stronger a heavy
  price of seventy.
  Karma
  Some characters always seem to have luck go their
  way. Sometimes, people will call it fate, other times,
  it’s simply luck. The truth, however, is that the
  characters have good karma.
  Karma allows a character a second chance at trying
  a task, in case she would have normally failed. Each
  point of karma a character has allows the player to
  re-roll any single failed feat. If this doesn’t make
  sense yet, don’t worry, it is explained in greater
  detail later.
  A character can purchase karma as if it were a trivial
  skill, with a base cost of one experience point. The
  first point of karma would cost one point, the
  second would cost two, and so on. Normally,
  characters may not possess more than ten points of
  karma at once.
  Example: James wishes to store up a little luck for
  his next endeavor and purchases two points of
  karma. This will cost him a total of three experience
  points.
  Characters created by the Game Master, usually,
  cannot possess karma, unless that character
  specifically possesses the luck advantage, or other
  ability that grants karma.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 9
  The Method
  “When push comes to shove, it’s best to be able to
  push harder and not get shoved at all.”
  Any story and game revolves around a conflict.
  Resolving this conflict is the job of the game system
  and the Game Master. The Game Master uses the
  rules to determine who succeeds and fails at what
  they try, including beating up an enemy, picking
  locks, or any other task involving chance.
  The Rule of the Land
  It should be made clear that the Game Master has a
  few basic jobs. The first is to entertain her players.
  The second job is to arbitrate the rules. In this vein,
  the Game Master is, in a sort, the leader of the
  game session.
  Knowing the Rules.
  Knowing the Rules. Every player should know the
  very basics of the rules, particularly those rules that
  directly pertain to their characters. The Game
  Master, however, needs to be mildly familiar with all
  the rules in her setting. The Game Master doesn’t
  need to memorize every obscure reference, just
  enough to know how things should work and get a
  feel for running the game sessions.
  The Game Master is the one who will tell the other
  players what to roll and when, as well as set up
  encounters, assign experience, and other system-
  specific duties. Obviously, Game Masters should
  have some idea of what they’re doing. In effect, the
  Game Master, along with the rules here, tells the
  other players how to play the game.
  This doesn’t mean the Game Master tells players
  what their characters are going to do, just basically
  how well they do in their attempts, by determining
  how the rules apply to each situation.
  Game Master’s Authority.
  Game Master’s Authority. There are occasions that
  the rules here won’t cover a specific instance. It’s
  the Game Master’s job to use the rules as best that
  she can, and also to determine how events that
  occur outside the scope of the rules should occur.
  When the Game Master decides upon an action,
  that decision is considered ‘reality’ for the purposes
  of the game.
  Example: A pilot is making a very unusual
  maneuver, trying to cut around an enemy fighter
  just right to bring his weapons to bear. These rules
  don’t have specifics in handling maneuvers, so the
  Game Master decides that the pilot needs to make
  both a difficult Piloting roll and a hard Gunnery roll
  to pull of the stunt.
  It may also happen that the Game Master may rule
  against the player’s liking. Sometimes, the Game
  Master might even be wrong. These matters should
  not be addressed during the course of the game,
  however, as rules-arguments disrupt the game for
  everyone else. If the ruling is a major problem,
  discuss the situation after the game, quietly, to
  determine how things can be handled better for the
  next time.
  Feat Rolls
  Skills are used to enhance your ability to perform
  certain actions. Most of the time, your character will
  be able to do most everyday things without
  encountering any difficulties. But occasionally, a
  problem may come up that isn't covered by
  everyday situations, such as calming a wild animal
  or dodging spell-fire. These types of situations
  involve making a Skill Roll.
  First, the GM will inform you which of your
  character's statistics will be the most appropriate to
  use in performing the action. Next, the GM will
  inform the player of any skill directly relating to the
  task at hand. The player adds that skill to his
  character’s appropriate statistic.
  Example: James has entered an ancient shrine, and
  is trying to determine the nature of the shrine, and
  which religion built it. James is using his Religion
  skill, tied to his intelligence.
  The Feat Roll comes when the Game Masters tells
  the player to roll a number of dice. The more
  difficult the intended task, the more dice are
  needed. If the result from the roll is less than or
  equal to the amount figured from the statistic plus
  the skill level, then the feat succeeds, otherwise, the
  feat fails.
  Example: The Game Master informs James’ player
  that the shrine is very old, and would be difficult to
  determine more about it. The Game Master tells
  James’ player to roll three dice. The player does,
  getting a twelve. His combined Intelligence statistic
  and religion skill is a fifteen. James figures out what
  religion is responsible for the shrine.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 10
  Determining Difficulty. 
  Determining Difficulty. When the Game Master tells
  players how many dice that they need to roll, she is
  assigning a difficulty to the intended feat. As stated
  before, the more dice that need to be rolled the
  more difficult the task at hand becomes.
  The Game Master will assign anywhere from no die,
  which is trivial, to nine dice for inhuman feats for
  ultra-powerful characters. Most settings and
  campaigns should probably top out feat rolls to
  hard rolls, or four dice.
  Example: Steel-jaw is attempted to crack open a
  chain with his teeth. The Game Master decides that
  this is an amazing feat, if it is pulled off, and assigns
  seven dice for the feat roll. Normal humans
  wouldn’t even get the chance for the attempt.
  The table below is a brief, narrative, description of
  each level of difficulty for a feat. For instance, if a
  Game Master decides something is average
  difficulty, the table informs her that two dice are
  required. Feats of incredible daring would require
  six dice. Anything that would require more than
  nine dice should be considered nigh impossible,
  even for ultra-powerful characters.
  Dice
  Difficulty
  Dice
  Difficulty
  0
  Trivial
  5
  Exceptional
  1
  Easy
  6
  Incredible
  2
  Average
  7
  Amazing
  3
  Difficult
  8
  Spectacular
  4
  Hard
  9
  Inhuman
  Modifiers: 
  Modifiers: Sometimes, extenuating circumstances
  will increase or decrease the difficulty of a typical
  feat. These variations on a task are modifiers. If a
  Game Master determines that something unusual is
  affecting the chances to succeed a given task, he
  may add or subtract dice as needed to make the
  feat more in-line to the situation.
  Example: Normally, attacking someone with a
  melee weapon is considered an easy feat. The
  target, however, is moving incredibly fast. The
  Game Master decides to modify the to-hit roll by
  two dice, increasing the difficulty from easy to
  difficult, requiring the player to roll four dice instead
  of two.
  Defaulting: 
  Defaulting: Many skills can be defaulted. That is, a
  character can attempt the skill with only using the
  statistic. Others, such as most of the Intelligence-
  based skills, require at least some specific
  knowledge of the skill to perform it. Any exceptions
  are given in the skill's description. The Game Master,
  of course, can feel free to allow or disallow
  defaulting in certain situations as he sees fit.
  Example: Melissa is taking a shot with her bow at a
  target. She is unskilled with a bow, but since
  anyone could, at least, make an attempt, the Game
  Master decides that she can make the roll without
  the skill.
  Example: Julia is attempting to identify several
  unusual plants. The Game Master decides that Julia
  needs the botany skill to perform this task, and
  cannot use the default on the feat roll. Since Julia
  does not have the needed skill, she automatically
  fails the task.
  Skill contests
  Sometimes, two or more characters will be
  attempting the same skill in a contest. One person is
  pitting his skill against another. The winner of the
  contest is whichever character either wins the feat
  roll by more, or loses by less.
  Example: Sam and Amir are at a table, playing the
  old game of checkers. Sam has an intelligence of six
  and a Checkers skill of four. On a two-die roll, he
  gets an eight, making it by two. His opponent has
  an intelligence of five, but has a checkers skill of six.
  He also rolls an eight, but makes his roll by three.
  The opponent wins in a close match.
  In event of a tie, the involved parties should either
  roll again, or give the victory to the character with
  the person who has the highest statistic plus skill
  total.
  Example: If both players above had made their rolls
  by three, the higher skilled player would win the
  game. In this case, Sam’s opponent would win,
  since his Intelligence added to his checkers skill is
  one point higher than Sam’s total.
  The Attack Roll
  An attack roll, also called a ‘to-hit’ roll, is basically a
  feat roll made when one person is attempting to
  cause harm to another. The attack roll is at the heart
  of any combat system, and all players should
  become intimately familiar with how it works.
  Melee Attacks.
  Melee Attacks. A melee attack is simply taking a
  weapon and hitting something nearby with it. A
  character, in general, will want to succeed an
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 11
  average feat roll against his strength statistic plus
  appropriate weapon skill to succeed a melee attack.
  If the roll succeeds, the weapon, if there is one,
  strikes successfully and the results are determined. If
  the roll fails, the attacker missed.
  Example: James wants to strike an opponent with
  his scimitar. He has strength of nine and a Scimitar
  weapon skill of five. He only needs to roll two dice,
  and easily succeeds, striking his opponent. (Note
  that this example means that James will always
  succeed a typical attack.)
  Ranged Attacks.
  Ranged Attacks. A ranged attack is basically
  throwing or shooting something at a target. If an
  attacker can see his intended target, and the target
  is within range of the chosen weapon, the attacker
  can make a ranged attack.
  The attack roll succeeds for ranged weaponry if it is
  under the character’s dexterity plus any appropriate
  weapon skill. Most attacks within the effective range
  of a weapon are considered average (two-dice)
  attacks.
  Example: Melissa is using a rifle to fend off a few
  wolves moving on her position. She has a clear line
  of sight on them, and the wolves are well within
  the range given for the rifle. She attempts to roll
  two dice under her combined dexterity statistic and
  her rifle skill.
  Effects of Range.
  Effects of Range. With ranged attacks, the ability to
  hit the target relies mostly on how close the attacker
  is to it. The closer a target is, the larger it appears,
  and therefore the easier it is to hit.
  Targets within half the effective range of a weapon
  are generally considered easy targets, and require
  only one die to hit them normally. This is considered
  ‘short-range’.
  Example: The listed range for a crossbow is fifty
  meters. Any target within half that range, or
  twenty-five meters, is considered a short-range
  target and is easy to hit.
  Targets between the effective range of a weapon,
  and twice that range, are considered to be at ‘long-
  range’, and are difficult to hit. These targets require
  three dice to hit them normally.
  Example: The crossbow can hit targets beyond its
  effective range of fifty meters. Between fifty and one
  hundred meters, targets are said to be at long-
  range, and are difficult to hit. Most weapon reaches
  don’t extend beyond long-range.
  A select few weapons, mostly energy weapons,
  have an ‘extreme-range’, where the weapon cannot
  normally be aimed with any accuracy. Extreme-
  range for these weapons extends to four times the
  weapon’s normal effective range, and requires a
  hard roll, or four dice, for an attack.
  Lastly, some ranged attacks are more difficult
  because they are too close. These are point-blank
  attacks, where the ranged weapon isn’t too
  effective because the target is actually interfering
  with the aim. These attacks start at average
  difficulty.
  The table below is provided to be an easy reference
  for basic attack difficulties based on range. Keep in
  mind that other circumstances may make the
  attacks harder than normal.
  Range
  To-Hit Dice
  Melee, Point Blank
  2d
  Short Range
  1d
  Medium Range
  2d
  Long Range
  3d
  Extreme Range
  4d
  Effects of Line of Sight.
  Effects of Line of Sight. Most attacks require a line of
  sight on the target. This means that the attacker has
  to have a clear view of at least part of what he is
  shooting at.
  Cover blocks line of sight, making someone
  considerably harder to hit. Depending on the
  amount of cover, attack rolls to-hit can be made
  more difficult or simply made impossible.
  Small Cover occurs when the target partially blocks
  himself with a thick object, like a small shield,
  broken chair, or shrubs. Hitting targets in small
  cover adds one dice of difficulty on attacks.
  Example: Thomas is attempting to nail some
  criminals with a rifle. One of the criminals hides
  behind an overturned filing cabinet, partially
  covering himself from ranged attacks. Thomas finds
  his attack roll one die more difficult than before.
  A more effective cover is heavy cover, where the
  target hides half his body behind something large,
  revealing only enough to use a weapon and to see
  the attacker. Heavy cover makes attack rolls two
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 12
  dice more difficult than normal. This is offered by
  large shields, trees, or building cover,
  Example: Thomas’s target runs behind a large tree,
  covering most of his body from the incoming
  energy fire. Thomas’s difficulty goes from partial
  cover to heavy cover, and his attack rolls go up one
  die.
  Full cover is where the target is completely blocked
  by something and cannot be seen. Attack rolls
  against someone in full cover are impossible.
  Example: Thomas’s target, runs like crazy behind a
  building and doesn’t bother to give himself possible
  attacks. Thomas has lost line-of-sight at this point,
  and can no longer attack.
  Effects of Weapon Accuracy.
  Effects of Weapon Accuracy. Some weapons feel
  very well weighted when in-hand, and are very
  accurate when used in combat. Other weapons are
  awkward and more difficult to use. This feel of a
  weapon is its accuracy, and it modifies, subtly, the
  attack rolls of that weapon.
  When attacking with a weapon, add the accuracy
  of the weapon to the statistic plus skill required. This
  gives a ‘corrected’ target number to roll under
  when trying to hit the target.
  Example: Dan is attacking a target with his long
  sword. He has strength of six and a long sword skill
  of four, giving him a ten so far. Sadly, the weapon is
  not accurate, with a minus two rating. The
  corrected number is an eight, worsening his odds.
  Weapon Accuracy should be considered an
  optional rule, which means that it should be used if
  everyone is comfortable with it. If the group would
  rather not add to the complexity of the combat,
  then feel free to ignore this rule.
  Effects of Size.
  Effects of Size. Large targets are, of course, much
  easier to hit than smaller ones. Every time an
  opponent doubles the size of the attacker, the
  attack is one level easier. Every time the opponent
  halves the size of the attacker, the attack is one level
  harder.
  Example: A centaur is attacking a human. Since the
  centaur is twice the size of the human, the centaur
  must roll an additional dice on his attack. The
  human has it easier, rolling one less dice than
  normal.
  Evading Attacks
  Most characters will go to great lengths to avoid
  getting hurt. In combat, the most effective ways are
  to evade incoming attacks. This can be done with
  dodging or evading.
  Dodging
  An important skill in combat is the ability to get
  away from incoming attacks. This is called ‘dodging’.
  A character can try to dodge one attack every
  combat round. This dodge comes at the cost of
  negating the character’s next action during this
  combat.
  Example: James is running from a skilled archer. He
  declares that he is attempting to dodge the first
  incoming arrow attack.
  The Basic Dodge: 
  The Basic Dodge: A dodge roll is a dexterity feat.
  The dodge roll is made before the incoming attack
  is rolled. The difficulty of the dodge roll is based on
  the speed and style of the incoming attack. The
  chart below lists the various types of incoming
  attacks, and how difficult they normally are to
  dodge.
  Attack
  Dodge Roll
  Slow Traps
  Easy
  Melee Attacks
  Average
  Thrown Weapons
  Difficult
  Arrows, Bolts
  Hard
  Projectiles, Bullets
  Amazing
  Energy Weapons
  Inhuman
  If the dodge succeeds, the attack will miss,
  regardless of the attacker’s attack roll. If the dodge
  fails, the attacker still must make his attack-roll, and
  may still hit or miss.
  Example: Jon is engaged in heavy combat against a
  swordsman and a knife-thrower. The swordsman
  declares that he is going to attack. Jon states,
  quickly, that he is going to dodge, and then
  succeeds an average dodge feat. The swordsman's
  first attack automatically misses. However, the
  swordsman’s second attack, and the knife-thrower’s
  attacks are handled normally.
  Anticipating a Dodge:
  Anticipating a Dodge: The only way for an attacker
  to make a dodge more difficult is to focus his own
  attack. Doing this increases the difficulty of the
  attack by one dice, but also makes a countering
  dodge one level more difficult.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 13
  Example: Jon’s opponent is getting tired of his
  constant dodging, so is now going to attempt to
  anticipate Jon’s movements. Doing this raises his
  attack roll by one dice. When Jon attempts to
  dodge these attacks, however, he does so with a
  one-die penalty.
  Evading Combat:
  Evading Combat: Another form of dodge allows
  defender to break out of melee combat with his
  opponent. Not only does the defender move out of
  the immediate attack, but also out of melee range
  for that round. Turning a normal dodge into an
  evade raises the difficulty of the dodge roll by one
  level.
  Example: Jon sees that his opponent is getting more
  determined to kill him. He therefore decides to make
  a break for it on the next attack. As his dodge
  action, he opts to evade. The normal dodge is two
  dice for a melee attack. The effort the attacker is
  placing in anticipating Jon’s move raises this to
  three dice. The evasion maneuver Jon is attempting
  raises this to four dice. Jon barely manages the roll,
  but leaps away from his attacker, out of melee
  combat, where he can safely run.
  Parrying
  Parrying is a type of defense-move that deflects
  incoming blows. A character may attempt to parry a
  single incoming melee attack per combat round.
  The parrying weapon must be the same size as the
  opponent’s weapon, or larger. Usually, the act of
  parrying negates the character’s next available
  action on his round.
  Example: James is attempting to parry an incoming
  attack from a cutlass. His scimitar is larger than the
  cutlass, so the parrying is allowed. James will
  sacrifice one of his attacks during the next round,
  however.
  A character can parry immediately after the attacker
  succeeds his attack feat roll. The parrying character
  then rolls his attack roll, at one die more difficult
  than normal, to parry away the incoming weapon.
  If the roll is successful, the blade is parried away,
  and the attack negated.
  Example: Jon is again fighting the swordsman. The
  swordsman succeeds his first attack, to which Jon
  declares that he is going to parry. Jon rolls three
  dice for his parry feat roll and succeeds. The
  swordsman's first attack is effectively negated.
  Disarming. 
  Disarming. This type of attack is used for removing
  an opponent’s weapon.  A character can disarm
  someone by attempting to parry one level more
  difficult than normal. If this maneuver succeeds, the
  weapon is thrown several meters away from its
  owner.
  Example: A brigand, who uses a cutlass, is attacking
  James. James attempts to disarm with his own
  cutlass, and rolls four dice, barely making the roll.
  The first attack is not only parried, but also disarmed
  by James. The loose weapon flies randomly to the
  side.
  Full Defense: 
  Full Defense: When a character commits both a
  dodging and parrying action in one round, he’s
  going for full defense. There is no special penalty for
  doing both, except that the maneuvering character
  looses all of his actions on his next round.
  Example: Jon has just dodged and parried in a
  single combat round. Now that Jon’s actual turn
  has come around, he’s go no actions left to him. He
  skips this turn and will have to wait for the next go-
  around.
  Specialized Attacks
  Many times, a simple attack will not be enough.
  Characters will often try what they consider to be
  unique methods of attack. These attacks stray, a
  little, outside of the normal rules, but are easily
  handled.
  Off-hand rule:
  Off-hand rule: Most characters prefer the use of one
  hand to the other. Characters are generally either
  ‘right-handed’ or ‘left-handed’. If a character is
  performing a delicate task with his off-hand, such as
  using a weapon, that task is one die more difficult
  than normal.
  Example: James has been wounded in his right
  hand, and is forced to use his left hand for the rest
  of combat. Instead of rolling average feats for his
  attacks, the feats are now difficult.
  Characters who have taken the ‘ambidextrous’
  advantage do not need to worry about this rule.
  Two Weapon Fighting.
  Two Weapon Fighting. Some characters will adopt
  the use of two melee weapons in combat, one in
  each hand. This is a difficult style, but the added
  ability for parries and attacks makes the difficulty
  worth the effort for some.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 14
  Using two weapons always increases the ability to
  hit with the main weapon by one level, generally
  raising the attack from an average to a difficult roll.
  The second weapon is used for parrying. The
  advantage here is that the character may parry an
  incoming blow without expending an action in
  combat.
  Example: James is carrying a long and short sword.
  His main weapon is the short sword, which he uses
  for his attacks. He uses the long sword to parry.
  During his turn, James is attacking with his long
  sword. The target has a shield, which raises the
  difficulty of the feat roll from average to difficult.
  The two-weapon style James is using raises the roll
  again from difficult to hard. James must roll four
  dice under his weapon skill and strength to succeed
  in his attack.
  Another, but exceedingly difficult, option is to use
  both weapons to attack in the same round. A
  simultaneous strike begins with the two-handed
  style penalty, added to a possible off-hand penalty,
  for the secondary weapon, added to a single-die
  penalty for a dual strike. In simpler terms, striking
  with the main weapon is two levels more difficult,
  and striking with the secondary weapon is generally
  three levels more difficult.
  Example: A famed warrior uses a long sword and
  short sword. He has strength of nine, a long sword
  skill of nine, and a short sword skill of nine. He
  declares that he is attempting a dual strike. His
  primary weapon starts at difficult, but the opponent
  is wearing a shield, making the roll, so far, hard.
  The dual-strike raises the hard roll to an exceptional
  roll. Since the warrior is ambidextrous, he has no
  off-hand, making both rolls exceptional. He rolls five
  dice for his long sword attack, getting a fifteen, and
  succeeding. He then rolls five dice for his short
  sword attack, getting a twenty, which misses. He
  then rolls damage for the long-sword attack.
  Called Shots.
  Called Shots. A called shot is when a character is
  taking specific aim at a specific part of a target.
  Instead of hitting a bus, for instance, the character
  is shooting for the tire. Effectively, the character is
  now going for a new target that happens to be a
  part of the old one.
  At the least, a called shot will increase the difficulty
  of an attack by one level. The smaller the new target
  is in relation to the whole body, the more difficult
  the feat becomes. Also, sometimes, a specific part of
  a target may be moving faster, or be better
  protected, than other parts. This would also make
  the called shot more difficult to accomplish.
  Example: Jon is shooting at a bus, but decides
  instead to go after the tires. His roll would have
  been average, but since the tires are so much
  smaller than the bus, the Game Master declares that
  shooting the tires would be a hard feat.
  A called shot should never be used to outright kill
  an opponent. This is one thing that certain players
  might use to gain an unfair amount of power in a
  combat. It should be clear that such actions are well
  out of the spirit of the game.
  Example: Jon is very angry with his opponent, and
  attempts a called-shot with his pistol on the
  opponent’s eye. This is clearly out of the spirit of the
  game. Even if such a thing were allowed, the called
  shot would be, at least, three dice harder than
  normal to work, and there is still no increase in
  damage to the overall target, though the eye itself
  will suffer the full force of the blow.
  Switching Targets.
  Switching Targets. Sometimes, a character will want
  to attack two different targets within the same
  combat round. Changing targets adds an additional
  die of difficulty for the attack on the second target.
  Example: Two creatures cover Rich. He attacks the
  first one as normal, requiring an average feat roll.
  He then switches targets to the remaining creature,
  but his attack roll is increased from average to
  difficult.
  Shooting Into Melee.
  Shooting Into Melee. There are occasions where a
  character may need to shoot at a target that is
  within a group of people. Hopefully, she won’t
  miss, because if she does, there is a good chance
  that she’ll manage to nail someone else.
  If the character misses the target, she will then need
  to fail a second to-hit roll. If the roll succeeds
  instead, one of the other possible targets nearby,
  chosen at random, is hit with the attack.
  Example: Melissa is firing a crossbow into a crowd,
  hoping to save her friend from a mob. She fires at
  one of the mob members, and misses. She rolls a
  second time, this time making the roll. The Game
  Master rolls to see who takes the arrow, and
  chooses Melissa’s friend. Melissa accidentally strikes
  her own friend.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 15
  Grappling.
  Grappling. A grappling or entangling move is when
  one opponent attempts to restrain the other. He
  uses his own strength or something to bind the
  victim, and keep him held.
  Grapple feats are made with normal attack feats. No
  damage is scored on a successful hit, however.
  Instead, the victim must make strength feat in order
  to break out of the entanglement. The difficulty of
  the feat is determined either by the material binding
  the person, or by the strength of the attacker.
  Materials: For a solid material, consider that normal
  ropes would be difficult to break, and chain to be
  exceptional. From here, a Game Master can
  determine the relative strengths of other materials.
  Personal Restraint: Every five points of strength
  (rounded up) increase the difficulty of a hold by
  one. A character with strength of six, for instance,
  would require a victim to succeed an average, or
  two-die, roll to escape.
  Example: James has Thomas in a tight hold. James
  has strength of nine, requiring Thomas to succeed
  an average Strength feat in order to free himself.
  Other unusual circumstances.
  Other unusual circumstances. Of course, characters
  and their players will come up with many different
  and unique fighting styles to try to subdue or defeat
  their opponent. A Game Master should simply
  consider how difficult such feats would be, how
  such feats would be modified, and assign needed
  dice appropriately.
  Areas of Effect
  When damage, or other effects, are applied, it may
  cover an area, strike a single target, or go through a
  straight line. Everything caught by the effect is said
  to be in the ‘area-of-effect’.
  Touch-Based.
  Touch-Based. This describes when the attacker must
  physically touch the intended target for an effect to
  occur. This usually, but not always, involves rolling a
  bare-hands or melee feat roll.
  Example: A wizard is attempting to cast a spell on a
  target. The spell description states that it is a
  touched-based spell. The wizard must roll a
  barehanded attack on his target and successfully
  strike for the spell to be successful.
  Line-Of-Sight:
  Line-Of-Sight: This is, basically, an unobstructed
  view from the attacker to the intended target.
  Nearly all ranged attacks require at least a partial
  line-of -sight. Cover can partially obscure line-of-
  sight, making some attacks difficult.
  Example: James is using a scanning beam over a
  clearing. The beam can identify anything within
  line-of-sight of the holder. So long as the beam can
  physically ‘see’ something, it is a valid target.
  Range.
  Range. As described before, most weapons and
  other effects have a maximum range of effect. The
  range is simply the distance the attacker is to his
  target. If the range to the target is greater than the
  range of the effect, the target is completely safe.
  Example: A laser with a maximum effective range of
  200 meters is shooting Jacob. He is standing at 210
  meters away, and cannot be hit unless his
  opponent closes the distance between them.
  Area of Effect:
  Area of Effect: If an effect covers an area, it is said to
  have an area-of-effect. Most of the time, this term
  applies to a sphere, going out a certain range from
  the center. Basically, if someone is anywhere within
  the listed range of the effect, within the sphere, he
  is affected.
  Example: Melissa casts a fireball. The center of the
  fireball is placed twenty meters away, and the
  fireball itself explodes ten meters from the center.
  Everyone and everything less than ten meters from
  the center of the fireball is consumed in flames.
  Tight Spread:
  Tight Spread: A tight spread covers a thirty-degree
  arc, one hour on a clock, out to a specified range,
  affecting everything within.  The area of effect forms
  a cone.
  Example: James is firing a machine-gun, which
  affects a tight spread up to 50 meters. Everyone
  within a thirty-degree arc, up to the given range,
  suffers from the machine gun’s firepower.
  Wide Spread:
  Wide Spread: This is similar to a tight spread, only
  that it affects a ninety-degree arc, or three hours on
  an analog clock. The area of effect has the shape of
  a wide cone.
  Example: James is firing the same machine-gun into
  a wide arc. The arc goes out to fifty meters again,
  but covers a fill ninety-degree arc, effecting
  everyone within. The wide arc attack, however, is
  less powerful than the tight arc, and causes less
  damage.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 16
  Effects of Cover on Area of Effect.
  Effects of Cover on Area of Effect. It is possible for
  cover to reduce the amount of damage a character
  takes from an area-of-effect attack. Small cover will
  reduce one dice of the effect. Heavy cover will
  reduce two dice from the effect. Full cover will
  completely block the effects of the attack to the
  target.
  Example: Jon is hiding behind a brick barrier, giving
  him heavy cover. A machine-gun operator is firing a
  wide spread, which includes Jon in its wake. While
  damage from the machine gun is normally two dice
  for this type of spread, Jon’s cover effectively
  negates the incoming attack.
  Damage and Ill-Effects
  If a character spends a good deal of time in combat,
  inevitably, she’s going to be getting into a world of
  hurt. Damage is the unfortunate result of getting
  sliced by a weapon, and occurs whenever a
  character gets hurt.
  Types of Damage.
  Types of Damage. An important thing to note about
  damage is that it can occur in many different
  varieties. How things can cause damage is
  sometimes just as important as how much damage
  has been caused.
  Blunt. Hammers, clubs, and fists often deliver this
  type of damage. Blunt damage occurs when an
  object is used to bash and bruise an opponent.
  Edged. Weapons with edges, such as swords and
  knifes, delivered edged damage. Edged damage
  occurs when a weapon slices into a target, cutting
  into it.
  Energy: Energy damage can be delivered through
  electric shock or laser fire. It occurs when a high
  amount of energy is delivered to instantly burn into
  a target.
  Flame. Damage from burning can occur through
  any open contact with flame or intense heat. Flame
  damage occurs as the target becomes singed.
  Piercing. This type of damage can be delivered
  through spears or bullets, and occurs when a
  weapon bores into a target, drilling a whole into it.
  Other: There are, of course, many other types of
  damage that can befall a character, but the ones
  listed above will suit most purposes within the
  game.
  Bare Handed Damage
  Bare Handed Damage. When a character attacks
  someone with her fist, she is attempting to cause
  some amount of damage. When using bare hands,
  the amount of damage delivered on a successful
  blow is equal to one-forth that character’s strength,
  rounded up.  Barehanded damage is considered
  blunt damage.
  Example: Ryan has strength of five. Whenever Ryan
  is forced to fight barehanded, he will cause two
  points of blunt damage to those he's facing. This is
  considered Ryan’s base damage.
  Melee Weapons.
  Melee Weapons. Weapons add, tremendously, to
  barehanded damage. The amount of damage a
  weapon causes is equal to the character’s
  barehanded damage, plus the indicated damage for
  the weapon. The type of damaged suffered is from
  the weapon.
  Example: Ryan uses daggers. When he strikes
  someone successfully with one, he causes his
  barehanded damage, plus the dagger's damage in
  an Edged attack. For Ryan, this is two points, plus
  one dice from the dagger.
  Ranged Attacks.
  Ranged Attacks.  Ranged weapons, such as guns
  and bows, do not enjoy the minor benefit of bare-
  hand damage. Instead, the damage listed for each
  weapon is the fill amount that the weapon is
  capable of causing.
  Example: Ryan is opting to throw his dagger instead
  of stabbing with it. The dagger, now a ranged
  weapon, will strike with the one dice of piercing
  damage indicated, but gain nothing from Ryan’s
  strength.
  Suffering Damage. 
  Suffering Damage. Most, but not all damaged will
  wound a character's health. Eventually, he could
  suffer enough damage that he will possibly go
  unconscious, or even die from his various wounds
  and injuries.
  When damage occurs, and makes its way through
  armor and any other defenses, a character will
  temporarily lose that amount of damage from his
  current health. This is referred to as ‘taking damage’.
  Example: Jon has been hit with fifteen points of
  edged damage with a scimitar. He is not wearing
  armor, and subtracts fifteen points from his current
  health of twenty, leaving him with five points.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 17
  A quick glance at the weapons in this book reveals
  that most can cause a character a world of hurt in a
  single blow. Other weapons are capable of
  slaughtering a person outright. A wise character
  would think about armor and defense skills. Even
  wiser characters might consider staying out of
  combat outright.
  Going Unconscious. 
  Going Unconscious. Once a character has
  expended his health, he begins taking damage
  directly to his Endurance statistic. During this time,
  the character is incapable of action. She is lying
  unconscious and very likely near death.
  Example:  Jon's health is down to six points. He
  then suffers another blow of twelve points. The first
  six points zero out Jon's health. The remaining three
  lower Jon's endurance from seven points to four.
  Jon immediately falls unconscious and has suffered
  a severe wound.
  Death:
  Death: Once a character hits zero endurance, that
  character is dead. No amount of recovery is
  possible. Game Masters should tend to not let this
  happen often, but players should not get too
  discouraged when it does. A character is simply part
  of the game. When it dies, the player should simply
  make a new one.
  Example: With Jon already down to four
  endurance, his opponent maliciously decides to
  finish him off, striking for another ten points of
  edged damage. Taking the damage, Jon loses his
  remaining endurance, and dies from this last and
  fatal wound.
  Mana and Willpower damage.
  Mana and Willpower damage. Some attacks can be
  more mental in nature, and strike at a character's
  mana instead of his health. This sort of damage
  works in the same manner as physical damage, but
  is instead applied to a character’s running mana.
  Once this mana is expended, damage is taken from
  willpower. If a character has expended all his
  willpower, he dies.
  Example: A spell has been launched at Ronald to
  damage his mana. Nine points of mana damage are
  applied to him. Ronald has no defense against this,
  and lowers his running mana from its maximum of
  fifteen to six.
  Vehicle Scale Damage
  In 
  combat 
  against 
  vehicles, 
  meka, 
  and
  emplacements, the sheer volumes of damage get to
  be very difficult to measure. To simplify things, the
  game can use a shortcut. Vehicle scale damage is
  basically ten times normal damage. Every ten points
  of normal-scale damage equals one point of vehicle
  damage, rounded down.
  Example: Max is shoot at a car with a high-powered
  rifle. His first shot causes twelve points of normal
  damage, which equals one point of vehicle
  damage. His second shot scores nine points of
  normal damage, which unfortunately drops to no
  vehicle damage.
  Heavy weapons often list their damage as ‘dV’,
  which means ‘dice of vehicle damage’, usually
  followed by a damage type. Heavy armors will also
  use ‘V’ to denote that they resist on a vehicle-
  damage scale.
  Example: The car that Sam is shooting at has an
  armor against piercing weapons of 2V. This means
  that it would require at least thirty points of normal
  damage, or three points of vehicle damage, to
  penetrate.
  Damage Reduction
  With such a large amount of incoming damage, it’s
  only natural that most characters are going want to
  protect themselves and reduce at least some of the
  hurting. This is the role of armor.
  Reducing Damage.
  Reducing Damage. Armor reduces the amount of
  incoming damage being directed to a character.
  When an armor reduces damage, it lowers the
  strength of an attack based on the rating of the
  armor for the appropriate damage type.
  Example: A cutlass strikes Emir for seven points of
  edged damage. Emir’s ceramic armor is listed as
  reducing six points of edged damage. The weapon,
  after cutting through the armor, leaves only one
  point of damage to get through to Emir’s hide.
  Layering Armor. 
  Layering Armor. Some characters will attempt to
  one type of armor upon another to try to increase
  their defense. While this will reduce a greater
  amount of incoming damage, each set of layered
  armor makes any and all Dexterity related tasks one
  dice more difficult, and slows up the character’s
  movement by ten meters per round. Every two sets
  of layered armor makes any and all Strength related
  tasks two dice more difficult.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 18
  Example: Bob thinks he’s an armadillo and layers
  two sets of leather armor on his hide. While the
  reduction of both armors is cumulative, all his
  Strength and Dexterity-related tasks are one die
  more difficult. He’s simply too encumbered by his
  armor.
  Special-Case Effects
  Sometimes, certain attacks will not strike to inflict
  normal damage. Sometimes, they can cause stuns,
  shocks, or be serious enough to count as a severe
  wound.
  Stun.
  Stun. Stunning is a type of attack where the victim is
  unable to act for a number of rounds. He is aware
  and conscious, but simply unable to focus on his
  next action.
  Example: Jennifer is able to stun an opponent for a
  few rounds by rolling two sixes in her damage. The
  opponent staggers back and can take no action
  other than gathering his wits together. At the end
  of the two rounds, the opponent can act normally.
  Daze. 
  Daze. This is a less severe form of a stun. The victim
  of this attack is able to defend himself, using shields
  and other defensive skills, but is otherwise unable to
  act for a few rounds.
  Example:: James has managed to cast a spell to daze
  an opponent for two rounds. The opponent
  staggers back and is dazed. He is unable to
  concentrate on anything except blocking incoming
  attacks and defend himself.
  Shock. 
  Shock. This is the most severe form of a stun. Shock
  will totally immobilize a character, making him
  unaware and prone for a number of rounds.
  Example: While failing to disarm a trap, Ryan is
  covered in a magical blast that shocks him for two
  rounds. Ryan is prone and unable to move for the
  duration, as if he were unconscious. He's taken no
  damage, however, and can act normally at the end
  of the two rounds.
  Critical Hits.
  Critical Hits. When a weapon strikes heavily, a target
  can become stunned for awhile. Each die of most
  weapon damage that results in a six may stun the
  target for one round. For blunt weapons, the target
  would be dazed instead.
  Example: Ryan hits an opponent with a cutlass and
  rolls two sixes and a three for damage. The
  opponent may be stunned for two rounds, and still
  suffers the fifteen points of edged damage.
  A target can avoid this effect by succeeding an
  average endurance roll. If the target succeeds, he is
  merely dazed, but still suffers from the attack as
  normal.
  Example: Ryan’s opponent needs to roll an average
  endurance roll, rolling a nine, well above his
  endurance of five. The opponent is stunned for the
  next two rounds.
  Severe Wounds.
  Severe Wounds. (Optional Rule) Sometimes, after a
  severe amount of damage, endurance loss, or as a
  special effect from an attack, the GM may rule that a
  character has suffered a severe wound. A severe
  wound includes anything including heavy tissue
  damage. A torn arm, punctured lung, or burnt eye
  could be considered a severe wound. These
  wounds can be treated with the appropriate tools
  and skills, so long as they're around. Severe wounds
  that go untreated could result in the loss of a limb,
  permanent endurance or strength loss.
  Example: Jon has been engaged in combat against
  a creature with a nasty biting attack. On one attack,
  the creature causes eighteen points of piercing
  damage into Jon. The Game Master has Jon try an
  average Endurance roll, which Jon fails. The Game
  Master then indicates that Jon’s arm has been torn.
  If Jon survives to recover, the arm is weakened, and
  any strength-related task tried with that arm is one
  die more difficult.
  Falling Damage.
  Falling Damage.  When characters get knocked over
  a cliff they’re going to take some substantial
  damage. Every two meters of a fall will cause one
  dice of blunt damage to the character on impact.
  Example: Mike has been tossed off a twenty-meter
  roof to ground below. This will cause a large
  amount of damage to Mike, ten dice worth. Mike’s
  player rolls the ten dice, and gets an eighteen,
  reducing Mike’s running health to three. He luckily
  survives the fall, but is not decent shape. On
  average, the fall would have outright killed him.
  Unique Effects.
  Unique Effects. A number of things, such as magic
  spells and ultra-powers, will have their own effects
  assigned to them. These unique abilities will have
  the rules for handling their effects supplied with
  them.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 19
  The Combat Round
  Combat is a very chaotic time, and very difficult to
  be kept track of. Characters are scurrying around,
  attacking creatures and each-other, making many
  feat rolls very quickly. To make sense of this, when
  the flow of the game goes into combat, time is
  broken into combat rounds.
  A combat round, from the character’s point of view,
  lasts around fifteen seconds. In the real world,
  however, combat rounds can take quite a bit
  longer. During this time, the Game Master will ask
  all the players their planner actions, determine the
  actions of her own characters and creatures, and
  determine what worked, what happened, and what
  failed.
  What’s Possible in One Round.
  What’s Possible in One Round. When things break
  down into combat, the actions that a character can
  perform are limited to what’s possible in a single
  round. Usually, a character can perform two actions
  during a single combat round.
  For its part, an action is something that the
  character attempts that takes very little time. Some
  possible actions are listed below.
  ⇒ 
  Attack an opponent
  ⇒ 
  Dodge
  ⇒ 
  Switch weapons
  ⇒ 
  Open a chest
  ⇒ 
  Maneuver a vehicle
  ⇒ 
  Trip an alarm
  ⇒ 
  Move ½ total movement
  ⇒ 
  Dive for Cover
  Example: Melissa is engaged in combat, and gets
  two actions per round. On this particular round, she
  decides to move half of her maximum movement,
  and then attack an enemy close to her new
  position.
  Multi-Round Actions. 
  Multi-Round Actions. Some things that a character
  will attempt will take more than one combat round,
  such as starting a stubborn car, or searching for a
  particular item in a pack. A character will simply
  spend several rounds doing the same task until he’s
  done.
  Example: James desperately is searching for a
  program in a computer system while his allies are
  fighting off armed criminals. The Game Master
  informs James’s player that the task will require
  three rounds before its complete. The rest of James’s
  group will have to keep in combat without him for
  those three rounds, until James can do something
  else or stops looking for the program.
  Negligible Time:
  Negligible Time: Some actions don’t really affect the
  course of a combat, and do not require any real
  length of time to accomplish. They also do not
  affect the character’s ability to perform any of his
  own regular actions. These minor actions can be
  performed as needed, on that character’s turn,
  without impacting any other part of the game.
  Examples of these actions follow.
  ⇒ 
  Shout warnings.
  ⇒ 
  Look around.
  ⇒ 
  Drop excess gear.
  Example: Melissa wants to get her bearings in the
  combat she’s fallen into. She ‘looks around’, and her
  player asks the Game Master to describe the
  situation to her, which he does. This action, though
  it requires time for the Game Master, doesn’t require
  any time on the part of the character, leaving
  Melissa with her two actions for this round.
  Combat Sequence
  Keeping things organized in combat can be a little
  difficult. A Game Master has to organize who gets
  to attack whom and when. For this, the combat
  round is broken down into a few parts.
  Every round starts with initiative, which determines
  which faction gets to attack first. Then, the side that
  wins initiative states and performs their actions.
  Lastly, the side that loses initiative performs their
  actions. When the round is complete, the cycle
  starts over again.
  ⇒ 
  Initiative
  ⇒ 
  Winner performs actions
  ⇒ 
  Loser performs actions
  ⇒ 
  Start a new round
  Initiative: 
  Initiative: Each faction in the combat chooses one
  member to roll for initiative. That member rolls two
  dice.  Whichever faction gets the highest roll goes
  first, followed by the next highest, and so on. If two
  or more factions are tied, re-roll only them.
  Example: Melissa’s group of warriors is about to
  engage a group of monsters. The Game Master rolls
  for his monsters, getting a nine for initiative. Melissa
  rolls for her party, and gets a twelve. Melissa’s party
  gains the initiative.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 20
  Surprise.
  Surprise. Sometimes, one group may clearly have
  the drop on another before engaging into combat.
  In these cases, the Game Master either modifies the
  initiative rolls, or outright gives the initiative to one
  faction without a roll.
  Example: Melissa’s group is now rounding a corner
  right into a pack of waiting monsters. The group
  has stepped right into a trap, so the Game Master
  declares that the monsters have initiative.
  Modifiers to initiative occur when a situation might
  make it a little easier for one group to attack
  another. Here, the Game Master adds a small
  amount to the dice roll for each side.
  Example: A group of monsters is standing up an
  above a group of heroes within a pit. The monsters
  have a slight advantage in attacking, and gain a
  two-point bonus for their initiative.
  Delaying Initiative.
  Delaying Initiative. If a character or group that has
  initiative wishes instead to go last or later in the
  round, they simply state that they are going to
  delay their action until someone else has had theirs.
  A character may only delay once per round.
  Example: Jon and Melissa are engaged against a
  creature. Jon wins initiative over Melissa, but
  announces that he’s going to let Melissa have her
  actions first. After Melissa takes her actions, Jon then
  performs his.
  Taking Actions.
  Taking Actions. During their part of the combat
  round, each character may take their actions. There
  is an endless number of actions possible for
  characters, as these rules have already pointed out.
  When each character completes her actions, her
  part of the combat round ends.
  Example: Melissa has two actions for this turn. Her
  first is to move near her intended target. Her second
  is to take a slice out of it with her long sword. When
  she’s done, the combat round goes to the next
  person in the order of initiative.
  Movement
  With a round being about ten seconds in length, it’s
  logical to assume that a normal character can move
  about anywhere he needs to within those seconds.
  Sprinters and runners, after all, can cover huge
  distances in Olympic contests.
  In a perfect world, a typical character can move
  fairly quickly, about fifteen kilometers per hour.
  People give out quicker than that, however, and
  some sprinters can hit closer to twenty meters per
  hour for very short periods of time.
  Long- Distance Movement.
  Long- Distance Movement.  A typical character, in
  the course of one hour, can move at ten kilometers.
  There are a number of factors that can affect this
  speed, however. Weather, terrain, and even the
  character’s own limitations and abilities can alter
  this overland movement rate.
  Example: Melissa is a typical human moving over
  hilly ground to approach a small settlement. The
  weather is drizzling, and the ground is less than
  ideal for travel. The Game Master declares that her
  movement rate overland is dropped to five
  kilometers per hour.
  Movement in Melee:
  Movement in Melee: For a full combat round, a
  typical character can move up to twenty-five meters.
  Full movement will, of course, either pre-empt or
  make harder any other actions that the character
  may take that for that round.
  Example: James is rushing headlong into combat,
  and runs twenty-five meters closer to his target
  during this round. On the way, he is also
  attempting to fire his pistol at the target. The attack
  feat is made one level more difficult because James
  is running as he is firing.
  Half-Movement:
  Half-Movement:  Many times in combat, a character
  will wish to move up to a target before attacking, or
  move only a partial bit of their total movement. If a
  character wishes to move only one-half of his
  normal movement, he only expends one action.
  Typical characters can move up to twelve meters for
  half-movement.
  Example: James is ten meters away from his target.
  For his first action, he will close to within melee
  range, moving those ten meters. James uses his
  second action to attack his target.
  Retreat.
  Retreat. (Optional Rule) Sometimes in combat, it is
  advisable for a character to back away from an
  opponent and break from combat. In more simple
  terms, retreat. There are two ways to accomplish a
  retreat.  The simplest is to use only one action to
  move away from the opponent. This is considered a
  careful-retreat.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 21
  The other option is more dangerous. The character
  expends his full movement to back away from the
  attacker. While this certainly gives the character a
  good amount of distance between himself and the
  opponent at the end of the round, it also makes the
  character prone to an attack of opportunity.
  The opponent can get a single, free, melee attack if
  someone engaged with him breaks and runs. The
  attack is determined normally, and happens before
  the character begins his retreat.
  Example: In well over her head, Melissa decides to
  run from a hydra. She turns to retreat. Seeing the
  opportunity, the hydra takes one last swing before
  Melissa bails out, hitting her, but not killing her.
  Melissa then runs her full movement away from the
  hydra, breaking into full retreat..
  Swimming.
  Swimming. Characters may occasionally find
  themselves in the water. Fortunately, even basic
  swimming can be accomplished without a great
  deal of, or any skill. Without any impediments, a
  typical character can swim on the water at a rate of
  ten meters per round.
  Someone who isn’t skilled at swimming is not
  guaranteed to drown when she steps into the
  ocean for the first time.  On the other hand,
  tumbling down rapids in a rainstorm is going to be
  a challenge for even the most experienced
  swimmer. 
  Difficult 
  situations 
  would 
  require
  Endurance feats, aided by appropriate skills or
  abilities.
  Example: Melissa is afraid of swimming, having
  taken the phobia at a level of two. When thrown in
  water, she cannot concentrate enough on
  swimming and begins to flail around helplessly.
  Every round, the Game Master tells her player to roll
  an average check against her Endurance or begin
  to drown. Each round she makes it, she can try to
  swim to shore. She fails right off, and begins to go
  under. If she isn’t saved soon, she will drown.
  Healing
  Once damage is delivered, the first thing on a
  person's mind is how soon are they going to be
  able to rest it off. Damage hurts, after all, and every
  point of damage a person takes brings him one
  point closer to death.
  People do heal, fortunately, and characters are no
  exception. Health lost to damage can be grained
  through healing and rest. Health cannot be gained
  beyond the maximum health of a character,
  however.
  Recovering Health.
  Recovering Health. With a full night’s rest, and
  unaided with medicine or special magic or skills, a
  character can recover lost health equal to her
  Endurance statistic.
  Example: After a long battle, Melissa’s running
  health has dropped to a dangerously low number
  of three. After a night’s rest, however, her
  Endurance of six brings her running health to a
  slightly more comfortable nine.
  Recovering Mana. 
  Recovering Mana. Mana can degrade and be spent
  in a number of ways. A full night’s unaided rest,
  however, can recover that mana equal to the
  Willpower statistics of the character.
  Example: Jon has cast far too many spells during the
  day, and dropped his running mana down to one
  point. After a night’s rest, his Willpower of nine
  brings that low total back up to a ten.
  Recovering Statistics. 
  Recovering Statistics. It takes a great deal of time to
  recover damaged Endurance and Willpower. When
  these statistics are damaged, a character is
  incapable of any action, and is very near death.
  With even minimal care, a severely injured character
  can recover one point of Endurance and one point
  of Willpower per night, until they are back to their
  original levels. Characters must first recover statistics
  before they can recover any Mana or Health.
  Example: James has been badly beaten in combat,
  losing all of his sixteen health, and dropping his
  normal endurance of six down to one. With some
  care, James will spend five days recovering his
  Endurance. After that, he will require three more
  days to bring his Health back up to maximum.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 22
  Common Skills
  “With knowledge comes power. With practice
  comes wisdom.”
  This section contains suggested skills for various
  campaigns. Of course, this list includes a great
  number of skills that shouldn’t be included in every
  specific campaign. For instance, Alchemy probably
  shouldn’t be in a cyber-punk campaign and
  Combat: Energy Weapons won’t often appear in
  fantasy.
  The Game Master can use this list to pick and
  choose which skills fit within her desired campaign.
  If there’s a question on if a skill should be available,
  the decision is hers.
  Primitive-age Skills
  Primitive skills are those skills that require no special
  technology or advanced education. Science has not
  yet surfaced, and the scientific method does not
  even exist. Most primitive skills involve basic
  personable-skills, and some purely physical skills.
  Many of these skills still carry over to present day.
  Acrobatics:
  Acrobatics: (Average Dexterity) This skill enables a
  character to perform incredible acts of dexterity,
  such as flips, twists, and spins.
  Acting.
  Acting. (Average Charisma) This is the ability of the
  character to act believably. Lying, doing a play, and
  setting a con are valid uses of this skill.
  Agriculture:
  Agriculture: (Trivial Intelligence) This is the study of
  farming and planting. Characters with this skill
  know the growing seasons and how much to plant.
  Alertness:
  Alertness: (Average Perception) Characters with this
  skill try to notice things out of place, or sudden
  changes in their surroundings. This enables people
  with the 'sixth-sense' for trouble.
  Animal Handling:
  Animal Handling: (Easy Intelligence) This skill
  includes the feeding, grooming, and general proper
  care of animals. It also enables the handler to calm
  and pacify pack animals.
  Animal Training:
  Animal Training: (Average Presence) This involves
  the training of any animal to perform certain labor,
  such as training a horse to take a rider, training
  oxen to pull, training lions not to bite, et cetera.
  Begging.
  Begging. (Easy Charisma) This is the character's
  basic skill in panhandling. The better the skill, the
  more pathetic and needy the character can appear.
  Boating.
  Boating. (Average Strength) This skill enables the
  character to pilot a rowing boat or small sailing boat
  effectively. This includes a general knowledge of
  small boats and how to use them.
  Boxing.
  Boxing. (Average Strength) Probably one of the
  oldest sports, a boxer is a person who learns to
  maximize his physical damage. On a punching
  attack, a boxer can add one point of blunt damage
  for every die he attempts on a Boxing feat. If he fails
  the roll, he scores no extra damage.
  Brewing.
  Brewing. (Easy Intelligence) This skill is for those
  people who mix and cook potions, stews, and ales.
  It applies to any liquid that needs to be cooked
  before being served.
  Camouflage.
  Camouflage. (Average Intelligence) This is the skill of
  disguise someone to blend in with the background.
  This is useful for hiding in trees, desert sands, and
  other natural settings.
  Combat: Bare Hands.
  Combat: Bare Hands. (Easy Strength) This combat
  skill adds to a character's basic chance to hit with
  his hands and feet.
  Combat: Melee.
  Combat: Melee. (Average Strength) This skill adds to
  your character's chance to hit with a single melee
  weapon. Each weapon skill is treated as a separate
  skill. For instance, a long sword skill and a mace skill
  are two different skills.
  Cooking.
  Cooking. (Trivial Intelligence) This is the basic ability
  to cook a fine meal from scratch. Basic knowledge
  of chef's techniques and ingredients are also known
  in this skill.
  Curing.
  Curing. (Average Intelligence) This is the ability of
  the character to purge toxins from an infection or a
  poison from another character. The more stubborn
  the toxin, the harder the roll. This does not regain
  lost health.
  Dancing.
  Dancing. (Easy Dexterity) Characters with this skill
  know the latest dance styles and can aesthetically
  move their bodies with the music.
  Direction Sense.
  Direction Sense. (Average Perception) This is the
  uncanny ability to simply sense which way is north,
  or which way a person is facing.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 23
  Dodge.
  Dodge. (Difficult Dexterity) This skill enables you
  character to dodge away from any single incoming
  attack per turn. Average rolls can dodge most melee
  attacks. Difficult rolls can dodge thrown weapon
  attacks. Hard rolls can dodge arrow attacks.
  Projectiles, such as bullets, would fall within the
  amazing range. Energy weapons, at the very least,
  would require an inhuman roll. Note that a
  character may only dodge one attack per round in
  this manner.
  Falconry:
  Falconry: (Difficult Willpower) This is the skill in
  training a falcon, or other bird-of-prey, into hunting,
  fetching, or performing other combat-related tasks.
  Fishing.
  Fishing. (Trivial Intelligence) This is the knowledge
  of proper fishing techniques and fishing centers.
  Basic knowledge of the fish themselves is also
  possible with this skill.
  Foraging.
  Foraging. (Easy Intelligence) This is the ability to find
  supplies in nature, such as suitable firewood, food,
  and other common supplies.
  Fletcher:
  Fletcher: (Average Intelligence) Characters with this
  skill are able to hone and craft bolts and arrows.
  Usually, this isn't a difficult task, unless an unusual
  bolt or arrow type is being crafted
  Gaming:
  Gaming: (Trivial Charisma). This is the basic skill of
  'winning' at games of chance. In other words, it's
  partially the ability of the player to play the game,
  and partially the ability of the player to make his
  own odds.
  Haggling.
  Haggling. (Easy Charisma) This is the skill involved in
  negotiating for the best price. Charismatic souls can
  easily save a great deal of their coinage at the
  bargaining table.
  Hiding.
  Hiding. (Average Perception) This is the character's
  base ability to remain in one place and do his best
  not to be noticed.
  Jumping.
  Jumping. (Trivial Strength) This is the ability to leap
  over long distances or to jump carefully on a
  narrow ledge.
  Knife Throwing.
  Knife Throwing. (Difficult Dexterity) This skill adds to
  a character's chance to hit with knife when it is
  thrown. This skilled is often used by showmen to
  impress crowds with their prowess.
  Languages.
  Languages. (Average Intelligence)  This skill enables
  the character to speak, read, and write a single
  languages to some degree.  Each modern language
  is treated as a separate skill. Note that most primitive
  societies did not have a written form of their
  language. Illiterate societies require that this skill be
  learned separately for speaking and writing.
  Local History.
  Local History. (Trivial Intelligence) The character
  with this skill knows many of the legends, folklore,
  and actual historical facts about his village and the
  surrounding area.
  Meditation.
  Meditation. (Average Willpower) This skill involves
  the proper channeling of internal energies.
  Successful rolls for meditation double the mana
  recovery of the character for the next night. Failed
  meditation will halve the recovery rate.
  Mining.
  Mining. (Easy Intelligence) This is the ability to mine
  ore from inside a mine. This is also some basic
  knowledge 
  of 
  mining 
  techniques, 
  support
  structures, and mineral identification.
  Musical Instrument.
  Musical Instrument. (Average Dexterity) The skill
  improves the bard's ability to play an instrument
  and to read music designed for that instrument.
  Netting.
  Netting. (Average Strength) This skill raises the
  ability of a character to use a net effectively in
  trapping prey.
  Observation:
  Observation: (Easy Perception) This is the ability to
  watch someone or something, noting locations of
  others, their gear and how they use it. This is an
  excellent skill for tactics.
  Occultism:
  Occultism: (Average Intelligence) This is the
  knowledge of the world of the occult, including its
  mysticism, rituals, and superstitions.
  Philosophy:
  Philosophy: (Average Intelligence) A philosopher
  studies himself, his mind, and his existence,
  struggling to gain an understanding of the world
  around him and his place within it.
  Poetry.
  Poetry. (Average Perception) This is the ability to
  speak and write in verse. This is the skill to use for
  lyric-writing and love-sonnets.
  Pottery.
  Pottery. (Average Intelligence) This is the knowledge
  of creating tools and crafts from clay. Characters in
  this skill would know about ceramics, clay pots, and
  other crafts associated with pottery.
  Religion:
  Religion: (Easy Intelligence) This is the knowledge of
  religious texts, tenants, and church structure for a
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 24
  religion. This also includes knowledge of secular
  divisions.
  Riding: Airborne:
  Riding: Airborne: (Difficult Strength) This is the
  ability to ride a tamed, flying beast during
  maneuvers. The beast, of course, has to be big
  enough to carry the rider as a mount.
  Riding: Land-based.
  Riding: Land-based. (Average Strength) This is the
  ability to ride a tamed beast, such as a horse, during
  maneuvers. The character can also attempt to do
  fancy riding tricks, such as firing a bow, with this
  skill.
  Ritual:
  Ritual: (Easy Intelligence) This skill involves the
  knowledge of specific rituals, such as religious rites
  or magical. In some campaigns, the Game Master
  may require that this skill be purchased separately
  for each ritual that the character wishes to learn.
  Roping.
  Roping. (Easy Dexterity) This is the character's skill at
  using a rope. The character can basically rope
  around things for swinging, capture, and so on
  with this skill.
  Running.
  Running. (Easy Endurance) This is the ability to run
  very fast over short distances, also known as
  sprinting, or the base ability to run long term at a
  good clip.
  Seduction:
  Seduction: (Average Comeliness.) This is the
  character's ability to make himself or herself more
  physically attractive to someone.
  Singing.
  Singing. (Trivial Charisma) Characters with this skill
  can carry a tune all the way into a melody. A must-
  have skill for bard-type characters.
  Snake Charming.
  Snake Charming. (Easy Intelligence) This character
  can play soft music to mesmerize serpents and get
  them to sway rhythmically. Often used to impress
  crowds for coins.
  Snares.
  Snares. (Average Intelligence) Characters with this
  skill are proficient in setting and disarming common
  traps, such as tripwires, snare ropes, and some pit
  traps.
  Spelunking:
  Spelunking: (Average Endurance) This is the skill in
  climbing caves and walls with proper tools and
  equipment, such as repelling gear, spikes, and
  climbing boots.
  Stealth:
  Stealth: (Difficult Dexterity) This is the thief's ability
  to move around without being noticed, as well as
  the ability to sneak up upon someone without them
  seeing you.
  Swimming.
  Swimming. (Trivial Endurance) This is the ability to
  swim. Most people can swim to a limited degree,
  but those skilled in it can swim rough waters or for
  long periods.
  Teaching.
  Teaching. (Difficult Intelligence) This is the ability to
  impart one’s knowledge onto a student. A more
  effective teacher can, modestly, improve the time
  his student may learn a new skill.
  Tracking.
  Tracking. (Easy Perception) This is the skill at
  following trails and prey. The character with this skill
  can spot where something or someone has passed
  through, and can follow it.
  Tumbling.
  Tumbling. (Difficult Dexterity) This skill enables the
  character to lessen the amount of damage from falls
  by one point per dice rolled under this skill.
  Weather Sense.
  Weather Sense. (Average Perception) This is the
  ability to sense changes in the weather, by scent, or
  by sight, or by the pain in the ankle, or however it
  could possibly manifest.
  Weaving.
  Weaving. (Difficult Dexterity) This skill enables the
  character to creature vivid tapestries and sewn arts
  from cloth and threat.
  Wrestling.
  Wrestling. (Average Strength) This character is adept
  and holds, pins, and escapes in Greco-Roman style
  wresting. This skill adds to any feats involving
  wrestling moves, such as holding an opponent, or
  breaking free of a strong hold.
  Medieval-age Skills
  This age saw the arrival of structured knowledge,
  and the beginnings of science. Knowledge,
  however, was still very prone to leaps of logic, and
  only a select few employed the scientific method.
  Still, the age saw the rise of ranged weaponry and
  more advanced topics, particularly in map-making.
  Many of these skills are still in use, though some
  have been replaced with more formal studies.
  Accounting.
  Accounting. (Average Intelligence) This is the skill in
  balancing financial reports with reality. It is the skill
  is using complex mathematics and applying them to
  money.
  Alchemy:
  Alchemy: (Hard Intelligence) This skill is the
  knowledge of combining materials to form other
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 25
  materials in a mystical manner. Characters with this
  skill can create useful, or even magical, items out of
  certain materials.
  Appraising.
  Appraising. (Average Perception) This is the skill in
  knowing the value of an item or a stone by close
  examination.
  Animal Lore:
  Animal Lore: (Average Intelligence) Those versed in
  animal lore are likely to know what a creature is,
  and what it is capable of, upon sight. She will also
  know its mating and migratory habits, and anything
  else notable about the animal.
  Architecture:
  Architecture: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the ability
  to design structures for aesthetic value. An architect
  can design a function and attractive structure.
  Bard Lore.
  Bard Lore. (Average Intelligence) The character that
  learns this skill learns about history through the
  songs and ballads of his culture. Of course, the
  character’s knowledge of history tends to be very
  dramatic and exaggerated, due to the need to
  please an audience.
  Blacksmithing:
  Blacksmithing: (Difficult Strength) This is the ability
  to forge metal into common tools and items. This is
  the skill used to make iron wagon treads, shoe
  horses, and so on.
  Calligraphy: 
  Calligraphy: (Average Dexterity.) This is the art of
  fine lettering, such as that found on older Bibles
  and ancient parchments. Here, handwriting is
  considered a work of art.
  Carpentry:
  Carpentry: (Average Intelligence.) The characters
  that take this skill are adept at constructing common
  buildings and other structures from wood and other
  materials.
  Cartographer:
  Cartographer: (Difficult Intelligence.) This is the skill
  of maps and map keeping. Characters with this skill
  can both read and make sometimes-accurate maps
  of towns, regions, and anywhere else they know.
  Combat: Ranged.
  Combat: Ranged. (Difficult Dexterity) This skill adds
  to your character's chance to hit with a single type
  of bow or other ranged weapon. Each weapon skill
  is treated as a separate skill. For instance, a
  crossbow skill and a bow skill are considered two
  different skills.
  Combat: Sporting.
  Combat: Sporting. (Average Strength) This skill
  enables a character to perform well in a melee-
  related combat sport, such as stick fighting or
  fencing. Different weapon sports are treated as
  different skills. This skill does nothing for true
  combat, however.
  Combat: Weapon Art.
  Combat: Weapon Art. (Difficult Dexterity) A
  character with this skill is not only better at striking
  with a chosen melee weapon, but does so with an
  artistic style and grace. Their moves are sharper,
  cleaner, and often are thrilling to watch in combat.
  A character using this skill in melee uses his
  Dexterity to hit opponents instead of his Strength.
  Cosmetics:
  Cosmetics: (Average Intelligence) Characters with
  this skill are knowledgeable in using make-up,
  blush, and other cosmetics to improve the
  appearance of others, and himself.
  Disguise.
  Disguise. (Difficult Intelligence) This is the ability of
  the character to use make-up and props to make a
  convincing disguise. Simple disguise, such as
  changing a wig and adding lip-gloss are simple
  rolls, while more complex and purposeful disguises
  are more difficult.
  Etiquette:
  Etiquette: (Average Charisma) This is the character's
  ability to demonstrate proper manner in social
  situations.
  Fashion.
  Fashion. (Average Comeliness) This is the skill of
  knowing the right clothes to wear and look good
  while doing it.
  Fast Talking:
  Fast Talking: (Difficult Charisma) This is the ability to
  effectively and quickly con someone by talking fast
  and keeping their attention diverted.
  First Aid.
  First Aid. (Easy Intelligence) This enables the
  character to stop bleeding, prevent infection, and
  ease pain on an injured person. It does not bring
  back any lost health.
  Forgery:
  Forgery: (Hard Perception) This is the ability to
  duplicate handwriting or documents. Copying a
  signature could be an average task, while forging
  legal papers would be more difficult.
  Heraldry: 
  Heraldry: (Average Intelligence) Characters versed in
  heraldry can identify titles, kinship, and country
  from various symbols, emblems, and flags.
  Herbal Lore:
  Herbal Lore: (Average Intelligence.) Those versed in
  herbal lore are likely to know what a plant is, and
  what it basically consists of, upon sight. The
  character will know basic medicinal uses, and if the
  plant is edible.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 26
  History: 
  History: (Average Intelligence) This is a character's
  knowledge about the past. History, in general, will
  give a brief and general knowledge about all
  known history. This skill can also be taken as a
  specific-case skill, which would give a more detailed
  knowledge on that aspect of history.
  Hobby:
  Hobby: (Average Intelligence) The character with a
  specific case of this skill is adept at a particular
  hobby, such as ship-bottles, kite-flying, model-
  building, or stamp-collecting. The better his skill, the
  more he knows about it.
  Illusion:
  Illusion: (Difficult Intelligence) The clever ones with
  this skill are masters of the art of illusion, using
  sleight-of-hand and optical trickery to fool their
  audiences into seeing magical effects. In many
  societies, though, illusionists had to be very careful
  not to confuse themselves with true magicians.
  Jewelry: 
  Jewelry: (Difficult Intelligence) Characters with this
  skill are highly knowledgeable about gems, their
  worth, and how to cut them into jewelry. The better
  the skill, the more likely a person is to cut to a
  flawless gem.
  Juggling.
  Juggling. (Average Dexterity) Characters with this
  skill are very adept at throwing and catching items
  in their hands, usually, but not always, to the
  delight of their audience.
  Law.
  Law. (Difficult Intelligence) The character versed in
  law knows exactly what is legal and not legal in an
  area, and knows what punishments are appropriate
  for each crime.
  Leather-working.
  Leather-working. (Average Intelligence) Characters
  skilled in this field can make armors, wallets, and
  other crafts from leather. The finer the quality, and
  larger the end product, the more difficult the feat.
  Locksmith:
  Locksmith: (Difficult Dexterity) This is the nimble art
  of mechanical locks and involves both lock creation
  and lock picking.
  Mountaineering.
  Mountaineering. (Average Dexterity) This is the
  ability to climb large rocks, hills, and mountains.
  Characters in this skill know how to use proper
  footing, ropes, and other equipment to properly
  scale mountains.
  Oratory:
  Oratory: (Average Charisma.) This is the ability to
  speak in front of a large group with conviction.
  Characters with this skill are good at public speaking
  and addresses.
  Pickpocket:
  Pickpocket: (Average Dexterity.) This is the basic
  thieves’ skill in robbing someone, picking their
  pockets, without being noticed.
  Seamanship:
  Seamanship: (Easy Intelligence.) This is the basic
  knowledge of how to live on a ship, and what
  duties need to be performed, such as proper
  cleaning, names of the parts of the ship, and where
  the privy is located.
  Showmanship:
  Showmanship: (Trivial Charisma.) This is the ability
  to whatever else the character does, only with style.
  The character knows how to manipulate and play
  his audience. Basically, this is the skill of 'hamming it
  up'.
  Sports:
  Sports: (Average Strength) A character that learns a
  sport becomes proficient in that game. This skill
  should be purchased separate for each sport. Soccer
  and baseball, for instance, would be two separate
  sports.
  Tailor.
  Tailor. (Average Perception) This is the skill in
  creating fine suits and dresses from cloth. It can also
  be used to garnish or garish armors.
  Teamster:
  Teamster: (Average Intelligence) A teamster is a
  person skilled at handling a few animals to move a
  cart or stage. He has to know how get the animals
  to move with one-another, as well as keep them
  under control in tough situations.
  Woodworking: 
  Woodworking: (Average Dexterity) Characters with
  this skill are adept at the carving and shaping of
  wood to create crafts, weapons, and tools.
  Industrial-age Skills
  When science began to be applied and respected,
  the industrial age spread throughout Europe and
  North America. Reason and study replaced
  superstition and ignorance, and mankind saw a
  wide growth of his knowledge. Myth and lore gave
  way to history and literature. Skills became more
  formal. Study became respected.
  Anthropology:
  Anthropology: (Average Intelligence) This is the
  knowledge of the development, culture, and origins
  of a race. Characters with this skill will have a
  general working knowledge of sentient races.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 27
  Archaeology:
  Archaeology: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the study
  of history through artifacts, ruins, and ancient texts.
  An archeologist will know the proper methods for
  learning about a culture's past.
  Astronomy:
  Astronomy: (Average Intelligence) This is the basic
  knowledge of stars, planets, moons, and other
  space-borne bodies. It is a working knowledge of
  the basics about space.
  Botany:
  Botany: (Average Intelligence) This is the character's
  knowledge of plant life. A character with this skill
  will know certain details of a planet after analysis,
  such as whether it’s edible.
  Chemistry:
  Chemistry: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the
  knowledge of molecules, atoms, and how they
  bound to form different compounds. This is the
  modern, more scientific, equivalent of alchemy.
  Combat: Projectile Weapons.
  Combat: Projectile Weapons. (Average Dexterity)
  This skill adds to your character’s chance to hit with
  a modern handgun or rifle, which are treated as
  different skills.
  Demolition:
  Demolition: (Average Intelligence) This skill imparts
  the knowledge of explosives and their proper
  placement onto structures to remove them
  somewhat safely and effectively.
  Ecology:
  Ecology: (Difficult Intelligence) Characters with this
  skill can determine the nature of the natural settings
  around him and make basic judgments on the life
  forms, terrain, and climate of the area. He can also
  determine the amount of damage caused from
  pollution.
  Engineering.
  Engineering. (Hard Intelligence) This skill is the
  knowledge of building large or complex structures,
  such as bridges or aqueducts. This includes being
  able to know the time needed for a project, and
  what materials and personnel is required.
  Geology:
  Geology: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the
  knowledge of tectonics, volcanic activity, and
  planetary structure. A geologist can identify
  minerals, know earthquake zones, and determine
  irregularities in the earth.
  Gunnery:
  Gunnery: (Average Perception) Characters with this
  know how to properly fire large, mounted
  weapons, like those found on heavy ships, with
  some degree of accuracy. Some heavy guns will
  require this skill before a character can fire the
  weapon. Others are simple enough to not require
  this specialized knowledge.
  Meteorology:
  Meteorology: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the
  character's skill to determine weather patterns and
  to make educated guesses about near-future
  weather conditions.
  Navigation:
  Navigation: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the ability
  to plot and stay on a course, be it on a sailing ship,
  mount, or on foot. This includes the ability to read,
  but not make, maps of various kinds.
  Photography:
  Photography: (Easy Perception) Characters with this
  skill are adept at making pictures with dramatic style
  and flair. This includes the knowledge of
  development and photographic settings.
  Surgery:
  Surgery: (Difficult Intelligence.) This skill enables a
  doctor to perform operative procedures on a
  patient, ranging from toe-nail removal to heart-
  surgery. This skill applies to all surgery, but more
  difficult and involved procedures may not only be
  harder, but may require other skills as well as
  multiple feat rolls.
  Vet Healing.
  Vet Healing. (Average Intelligence) This is the skill
  for healing animals from damage. It works in much
  the same manner as the first aid for humans.
  Zoology: 
  Zoology: (Average Intelligence) This is a better-
  versed version of animal lore. Characters with this
  skill have made it their study to know details about
  the animal kingdom and animal biology, including
  mating habits, evolution, migrations, and so on. A
  character may, at her option, specialize into types of
  animals, making feat rolls involving these animals
  simpler.
  Modern-age Skills
  The modern age came about with the ability of
  mankind to completely, and irrevocably, destroy
  himself. This daunting thought thrust the world into
  new directions, and new power. Information and
  finance replaced military might as the measure of a
  country. Powers that once saw themselves supreme
  through 
  their 
  arsenals 
  found 
  themselves
  bankrupted and trembling to smaller and wealthier
  nations. Though many failed to realize it, education,
  knowledge, and wisdom, became the paramount
  mark of a man.
  Computer Operations:
  Computer Operations: (Easy Intelligence.) Those
  who learn this skill are able to perform the basic
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 28
  functions of computer operations, such as running
  programs and using databases.
  Computer Programming:
  Computer Programming: (Average Intelligence.)
  This skill enables a person to get a computer to do
  what he wants, sometimes. The more complex the
  program, the more difficult the feat roll involved.
  Driving: Automotive: 
  Driving: Automotive: (Easy Dexterity) Characters
  that need to drive a car, well, may take this skill to
  improve their driving prowess, and even allow them
  to perform stunts. Note that most contemporary
  campaigns will not require a character to have this
  skill in order to perform mundane driving.
  Driving: Motorcycle:
  Driving: Motorcycle: (Average Dexterity) This skill
  enables a person to ride and control a motorcycle.
  Characters learning it can perform stunts and
  possess 
  riding 
  prowess. 
  Note 
  that 
  most
  contemporary campaigns will not require a
  character to possess this skill for mundane riding.
  Electronics:
  Electronics: (Average Intelligence) Those with
  knowledge in electronics know about circuits and
  hardware logic for machines, and can properly fix
  such things with the proper tools. This includes
  simple electronics as lamps, to complex integrated
  circuits found in computers.
  Forensics: 
  Forensics: (Difficult Intelligence) Doctors who
  specialize in forensic medicine study how people
  have died, and are the experts in determining the
  cause of death of a poor soul. They are often the
  first to discover foul play.
  Mechanic:
  Mechanic: (Average Intelligence.) This is a
  character’s knowledge about complex and large
  machines, and his ability to fix them and keep them
  running. Skilled mechanics can even fine-tune their
  machines to run slightly better than their original
  designs.
  Music Recording:
  Music Recording: (Average Intelligence) Characters
  that learn the art of recording know about mixing
  sounds and music for the best quality.
  Optics:
  Optics: (Average Intelligence) A slightly more
  advanced version of Electronics, Optics make use of
  light-filled wires to transmit signals. Those who learn
  this technology understand the optical circuitry and
  how to properly connect and repair it.
  Parachuting.
  Parachuting. (Easy Dexterity) A skill for the brave,
  parachuting involves jumping off of a flying craft,
  and controlling a descent with a parachute and
  wind gusts. Skilled parachutists must react well to
  land on their designated targets.
  Pilot: Jet Aircraft.
  Pilot: Jet Aircraft. (Difficult Perception) While the
  basics in flying a prop aircraft and jet aircraft remain
  the same, the skill involved, as well as the pace, is
  much higher. Characters who take this skill have the
  needed knowledge in basic flight. Experts in Jet
  Aircraft are superb dog-fighters.
  Pilot: Motorboat. 
  Pilot: Motorboat. (Average Dexterity) This skill
  applies to small motor-driven boats. Characters that
  need to pilot one well may take this skill to improve
  their driving prowess, and even allow them to
  perform stunts. Note that most contemporary
  campaigns will not require a character to have this
  skill in order to perform mundane boating.
  Pilot: Prop Aircraft.
  Pilot: Prop Aircraft. (Average Perception) Characters
  with this skill have the necessary knowledge and
  skill to use any propeller-driver aircraft safely.
  Experts in the field can even perform stuns.
  Pilot: Rotary-Wing Aircraft.
  Pilot: Rotary-Wing Aircraft. (Difficult Perception)
  Characters with this skill know the basics needed
  when flying helicopters, gyrocopters, and other
  types of rotary-wing craft. Experts with this skill can
  perform daring stunts.
  Programming.
  Programming. (Difficult Intelligence) This is the skill
  in teaching a computer exactly what the
  programmer wants done. The more complex the
  program, the more time and skill is required to
  accomplish the programming work.
  Video Production:
  Video Production: (Average Intelligence) The
  character with this skill knows how to frame and
  produce entertaining, if not informative, video clips
  for television, movies, or video distribution.
  Cybernetic-age Skills
  Adventuring in the near future can be dangerous.
  New technologies push the edge of mankind’s
  creative and destructive abilities. Those who master
  the skills of these new technologies are those who
  hold the true power.
  Battle-Suit Operations:
  Battle-Suit Operations: (Average Intelligence) Battle-
  suits are large machines that form armor around a
  pilot and act as a sort of weapons platform for
  special infantry. A character’s ability to use these
  suits is based upon his knowledge of them.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 29
  Cybernetics:
  Cybernetics:  (Difficult Intelligence) This skill is the
  knowledge of connecting electronic gear directly to
  neural tissue, allowing for cybernetic gear for
  purposes of medicine, intelligence, and warfare.
  Driving: Hovercraft: 
  Driving: Hovercraft: (Average Dexterity) Characters
  that need to drive hovercraft with some degree of
  skill can improve their driving prowess with this skill.
  Note that many Cybernetic-age campaigns will not
  require a character to have this skill in order to
  perform mundane driving.
  Genetics:
  Genetics: (Difficult Intelligence.) This study of nature
  is the knowledge of the gene-marks of creatures,
  and how to manipulate them to create specific
  traits. It also includes specific knowledge on
  evolution and genetic mutation.
  Immersion Gaming:
  Immersion Gaming: (Trivial Willpower) A character
  with this skill is better able to control himself and his
  environment in playing ‘Immersion Games’. These
  games are a type of full-sensory virtual reality
  games.
  Neurology:
  Neurology: (Hard Intelligence) This is a character’s
  knowledge of the nervous system, the brain, and
  how they work. Experts in this field can actually tap
  into correct nerve impulses for certain purposes.
  Pilot: Meka. 
  Pilot: Meka. (Average Dexterity) This skill enables a
  pilot to learn and control the giant robots of
  Japanese animation.  Stunts and critical situations
  add to the difficulty of feats. Some campaigns may
  not require this skill to perform very basic
  maneuvers.
  Pilot: Rocketry.
  Pilot: Rocketry. (Hard Intelligence) Characters with
  this skill know the basics in controlling and
  maintaining flight with rockets and early spacecraft,
  such as the space shuttle and satellite launchers.
  Robotics:
  Robotics: (Difficult Intelligence) Characters with this
  skill know about the complexities of small worker
  machines, and how to route the electronic
  components 
  from 
  servos. 
  Robotics 
  requires
  knowledge of more delicate working parts, and
  operates on a slightly smaller scale.
  Hyper-technology-age Skills
  The technology of the stars involves a number of
  new skills and sciences that go well beyond what
  we understand now. Those who learn these skills
  grasp technology currently only dreamed of.
  Astrogation: 
  Astrogation: (Difficult Intelligence) This is the skill of
  a character to plot and follow a course for
  interstellar travel. This skill is required for long range
  interplanetary or interstellar travel.
  Combat: Energy Weapons:
  Combat: Energy Weapons: (Average Dexterity) This
  skill adds to a character’s chance to hit with any
  single type of energy weapon. Each weapon skill is
  treated as a separate skill. For instance, a laser rifle
  skill and a electrical cannon skill are considered two
  different skills.
  Combat: Particle Weapons.
  Combat: Particle Weapons. (Average Dexterity)
  Characters with this skill have a bonus to hit with
  any particle-based weapon, such as a rail-gun. Each
  weapon skill is treated as a separate skill. A rail gun
  and ion cannon would be two different skills.
  Dimensional Physics.
  Dimensional Physics. (Hard Intelligence) This is the
  science of alternative dimensions (such as
  hyperspace) and the changes in conventional
  physics when traveling to them.
  Nanotechnology:
  Nanotechnology: (Hard Intelligence) A character
  with this possesses the knowledge of near-
  molecular-sized motors and electronics. These tiny
  ‘nanites ‘ can be found in medicine, computers, and
  other places where such advanced technology can
  be used.
  Pilot: Shuttlecraft:
  Pilot: Shuttlecraft: (Difficult Intelligence) A character
  with this skill knows the basics in piloting small
  starships and spaceships, such as fighters and
  personal transports. Experts in this skill can perform
  various stunts and press the limits of the ship’s
  design.
  Planetology:
  Planetology: (Average Intelligence) This is the
  applied science of planets, their makeup, and
  general surface conditions. A planetologist is
  knowledgeable about general weather trends,
  gravity, atmosphere, and habitability.
  Temporal Physics.
  Temporal Physics. (Difficult Intelligence) This
  character has studied the science of time, learning
  the methods of time manipulation, compression,
  and time travel.
  Xenobiology:
  Xenobiology: (Difficult Intelligence) Those who
  study this skill become versed in extra-terrestrial life
  forms. This field of biology opens up to many varied
  and unusual forms of life.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 30
  Common Equipment
  A character needs equipment. Where would a
  warrior be without his sword and armor? Where
  would a pirate be without his ship? This appendix is
  filled with the most common forms of equipment
  that filtered down through the ages. It is, by no
  means, a complete list, but should suffice as a start
  for new campaigns.
  The Game Master, of course, should decide what
  pieces of equipment are available in her setting or
  campaign. A Cutlass isn’t a match for a machine
  gun, after all. Computers wouldn’t normally exist in
  a primitive world.
  Currency
  Most settings will have one, or more, forms of
  currency used by its population. Adventurers will
  accumulate a good amount of wealth for their
  trouble, and wind up spending most of their
  income on better equipment, weapons, and armor.
  When characters are first generated, they will be
  given some starting equipment, and usually some
  amount of starting cash. The Game Master should
  get an amount that will be just enough to let the
  characters start their adventuring careers.
  It’s a good idea for a Game Master to set a price list
  for his setting, assigning fixed flat-market prices for
  the most common goods, and using them to
  determine the price of various other items.
  The Game Master could use the common ratio of a
  night’s hotel rates, a common meal, a common
  weapon, and a common armor to help determine
  prices.
  Example: In some places, the average night’s stay at
  a hotel is around $40. The average meal is about
  $5. A pistol would cost about $300, and a kevlar
  vest would cost about $750.
  From this, the Game Master can get an idea of the
  proper prices for goods in her campaign. She
  should keep in mind that laws, rarity of materials,
  and ease of fabrication would also greatly influence
  prices for a particular item.
  Example: In one campaign, the local sheriff prohibits
  the use of swords, making them very hard to come
  by. Because of the difficulty in obtaining and
  making the weapon, the normal price of 200 crown
  is jacked up to 500 crown while the law remains in
  effect.
  Melee Weapons
  While simple weapons existed long before recorded
  history, the medieval-age saw the great incursion of
  many hand-to-hand weapons, most of which are
  still found in use in various places of the world
  today.
  Weapon Name
  Accuracy
  Damage
  Technology
  Club
  -2
  2dB
  Primitive
  Dagger
  0
  1dE
  Primitive
  Axe
  -1
  2dE
  Medieval
  Cutlass
  -1
  2dE
  Medieval
  Long Sword
  -2
  3dE
  Medieval
  Mace
  -1
  2dB
  Medieval
  Quarter-staff
  -1
  2dB
  Medieval
  Scimitar
  -2
  3dE
  Medieval
  Short Sword
  -1
  2dE
  Medieval
  Whip
  -1
  1dE
  Medieval
  Chain
  -2
  2dE
  Industrial
  Energy-Knife
  0
  1dE, 1dEn
  Cybernetics
  Plasma-Knife
  0
  2dEn
  Hyper-Tech
  Axe.
  Axe. The axe is a large weapon, consisting of a
  heavy blade mounted on one-end of a shaft. The
  weapon is designed to carry its edge with a heavy
  force. The typical axe is about one-half meter in
  length, and would at least be hard to conceal on a
  person.
  Chain:
  Chain: This is basically a chain of metal links which
  drape to a length of about one half meter. The
  chain can be used as a cutting weapon, similar to a
  whip, but with limited accuracy. It is more effecting
  as an entangling weapon, being about average to
  break out of when wrapped around a target.
  Club.
  Club. Probably the oldest weapon known to
  science, the club is simply a large object, such as a
  tree-branch, which serves as a quick and dirty way
  to smash someone over the head. It’s not at all an
  accurate weapon, and used in more than primitive
  times only as a last resort.
  Cutlass:
  Cutlass: The cutlass is a curved, thin blade with a
  long edge. It does decent damage and is relatively
  affordable. It can be concealed with some difficulty,
  but its long blade is longer than most joints.
  Dagger:
  Dagger: This is the common dagger, a small bladed
  weapon that is easily concealed. Daggers can be
  found nearly everywhere, and are carried by just
  about anyone. It's a mildly effective weapon, but
  nearly useless against armored opponents.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 31
  Energy Knife:
  Energy Knife: The energy knife looks like any other
  dagger, and will strike as one when not charged.
  With a power-cell in its hilt, however, the blade of
  the knife can carry a sharp, damaging electrical
  charge to a target. Physically, the knife is no larger
  than a dagger and can be easily hidden.
  Long Sword:
  Long Sword: The stock weapon of fantasy, the long
  sword did not actually see heavy use by more
  structured armies. Long Swords can be around one
  and a third meters in length with a straight blade.
  They can also deliver large amounts of damage.
  They were a bit unwieldy, however, and cannot be
  concealed.
  Plasma-Knife:
  Plasma-Knife: This high-tech weapon is a energy
  projection from a charged hilt. When it strikes, the
  shaped plasma burns into its target with energy.
  When not in use, the weapon is nothing more than
  a small handle, and therefore very easy to conceal.
  Quarterstaff:
  Quarterstaff: This is a long pole, about a meter and
  one-half long and well weighted, designed to inflict
  blunt damage on a target. The weapons aren’t
  easily hidden, but are not very intimidating upon
  first glance.
  Scimitar: 
  Scimitar: This is an extremely common weapon in
  middle-eastern society. The blade is long and
  curved, and capable of delivering a severe amount
  of damage. It could possibly be concealed, with
  difficulty.
  Short Sword.
  Short Sword. Much of early history saw this simple
  sharp weapon in common use. The short sword is a
  straight, sharp, blade around one half meter in
  length, and very effective against light armors. It is
  possible to conceal the weapon with some skill.
  Whip.
  Whip. A whip is a length of leather designed to
  inflict pain and entangle opponents. Those who
  suffer from a whip’s sting take little damage, but
  suffer under a bitter pain. The whip, when
  entangled, is easy to break free from, but can allow
  the wielder to bring up some more serious
  weaponry.
  Ranged Weapons
  Delivering blows at range is always preferable to
  attacking 
  up 
  close. 
  When 
  the 
  crossbow
  revolutionized warfare in medieval times, it was
  hailed as the ‘weapon to end all wars’. Obviously,
  more modern ages and their weapons laid that
  dream to rest.
  Weapon
  Name
  Acc
  Range
  Dmg.
  Technology
  Dagger
  0
  10/20/40m
  1dP
  Primitive
  Long Bow
  -3
  35/75/150m
  3dP
  Medieval
  Pistol
  0
  50/100/200m
  2dP
  Industrial
  Rifle
  -1
  75/150/300m
  3dP
  Industrial
  Machine
  Pistol
  -2
  50/100/200m
  4dP
  Industrial
  Laser
  Pistol
  0
  100/200/400m
  3dEn
  Hyper- Tech
  Dagger:
  Dagger: This is the exact same weapon as the melee
  weapon, only this time it's thrown. Thrown daggers
  are commonly used, though the prospect of losing
  a perfectly good melee weapon to a missed throw
  should be a note of caution.
  Laser Pistol.
  Laser Pistol. This is the generic beam-gun of the
  future. A laser is a burning bolt of light-wave energy
  that scorches its way into its target. Lasers carry a
  powerful charge-clip, enabling the weapon to fire
  twenty shots before needing a recharge. These
  lasers can fire twice per round.
  Long Bow.
  Long Bow. The long bow came into being with the
  strength of English oak trees and powerful Scottish
  archers. The bow is over one meter in length as has
  a massive range and large potential for damage.
  The bow uses regular arrows, which can be easily
  fashioned. The weapon cannot be concealed, and is
  fairly rare. Its inherent inaccuracy requires a great
  amount of skill to master.
  Machine Pistol.
  Machine Pistol. This weapon is most powerful for its
  ability to affect both tight and wide spreads. With a
  normal shot, it affects one target at normal range.
  With a tight spread, it’s range is cut by half and
  decreases one die in damage, but effects everything
  it its cone. With a wide spread, it’s range is cut in
  half again, and the damage is reduce to two dice.
  Each burst from the pistol takes ten bullets, from a
  clip-box which can hold fifty.
  Example: Keith is firing a machine gun at a single
  target. He fires ten shots, and rolls to-hit on the
  target, succeeding and scoring four dice of piercing
  damage. The next round, he widens his fire to a
  tight-spread. His targets are automatically hit, but
  his range is cut to 50 meters, and only causes three
  dice damage. The third round, he spreads his fire
  thinner, to a widespread, affecting only out to 25
  meters, and causing only two dice of piercing
  damage.
  
  Game Engine Manual
  Page 32
  Pistol.
  Pistol.  A pistol is the basic common handgun,
  designed to shoot bullets over a decent range.
  While there are, literally, hundreds of varieties of
  pistols in the real world, the generic pistol used here
  is the 9mm. The pistol can carry ten bullets in its
  clip, and can be fired once for each character’s
  action.
  Rifle.
  Rifle. A rifle is, in a manner, a long version of a
  pistol, usually either capable of carrying stronger
  ammo, or firing to a longer range. The are
  thousands of rifle-types in the universe, but this is a
  generic .22 caliber rifle. The rifle carries a clip of ten
  shots, and can be fired once per character’s action.
  Armor
  Short of not getting into combat in the first place,
  the best defense against incoming damage is armor.
  Armor stops blows and reduces damage, and has
  been around ever since the first weapon failed to
  cause harm.
  Name
  Edged
  Piercing
  Blunt
  Energy
  Technology
  Leather
  3
  2
  0
  0
  Primitive
  Chain
  Mail
  7
  3
  1
  0
  Medieval
  Plate Mail
  7
  5
  2
  0
  Medieval
  Kevlar
  Jacket
  2
  6
  2
  0
  Modern
  Riot Suit
  12
  12
  6
  2
  Modern
  Defense
  Screen
  12
  12
  12
  6
  Hyper- Tech
  Chain Mail. 
  Chain Mail. The heaviest metal armor that is at all
  comfortable to wear, chain mail is a fair protector
  against most forms of damage. It is not easily
  hidden, however, and is costly. It was very prone to
  piercing damage, and fell out of use with the arrival
  of the crossbow.
  Defense Screen.
  Defense Screen. This hyper-technology device uses
  a field of energy to negate incoming attacks. It’s
  very portable and expensive, and there is simply not
  much better protection against weaponry. A charge
  clip feeds the screen, and lasts two hours before
  needing a recharge.
  Kevlar Jacket.
  Kevlar Jacket. Used most often by law-enforcement
  officials, the kevlar jacket is most effective against
  incoming bullets. It is a light, non-constraining
  jacket which hides fairly easily underneath normal
  clothes. It is only as expensive as the common pistol.
  Leather.
  Leather. Leather armor is made from the tanned
  hides of cattle and sometimes from other herd
  animals. The armor is durable and light, but is most
  often used because it's both cheap and much more
  innocuous than the heavier armors.
  Plate Mail.
  Plate Mail. A powerful medieval armor, plate mail
  was very effective against swords and other edged
  weapon. Plate mail primarily consisted of chain,
  with plates added in the more vital areas. It was,
  however, expensive, and usually reserved for
  nobility. As with most medieval armors, plate mail
  saw its demise with the advent of gunpowder. It is a
  loud armor, and not easily-concealed.
  Riot Suit.
  Riot Suit. Certain law-enforcement officers to protect
  against large crowds of unruly people. This suit
  stops most types of damage. The Riot Suit is a thick
  suit of armor that cannot be concealed, but can
  effectively negate most melee weapons, and greatly
  curb the damage from bullets.
  Shields
  In some battles, it’s a good idea to carry around
  your own cover, in the form of a shield. While the
  use of shields has fallen into disfavor in modern
  times, shields were quite common early on.
  Name
  Cover
  Technology
  Buckler
  Small
  Primitive
  Shield
  Small
  Primitive
  Riot Shield
  Heavy
  Modern
  Force Shield
  Small
  Hyper Tech
  Buckler.
  Buckler. A buckler is a small shield worn on the arm.
  It provides a small amount of protection, but is
  commonly used by most fighters for its affordability.
  Force Shield.
  Force Shield. The hyper-tech shield drains a charge
  of energy from its power-cell, and blocks incoming
  attacks as if it were a small shield.
  Riot Shield.
  Riot Shield. Used by police forces and some
  militaries in modern times, the Riot Shield is a kevlar-
  laminated titanium shield designed to give the
  wearer protection against hostile, but poorly armed,
  opponents.
  Shield.
  Shield. Larger and more expensive than the buckler,
  the shield does offer more protection than the
  smaller counterpart. Shields are common on
  dedicated warriors.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Game Engine Manual/Game Engine Manual Corebook.pdf