Starting A Character:
As with Live Action all characters start out with a character concept. Race and Class are chosen from the Live format. To determine your characters starting characteristics Players will need 3x 6-sided dice (3D6).
SKILL - Role 2D6 and add together. The average SKILL characteristic is 9 points. If in the event a player rolls badly for their SKILL, they are able to burn up to 3 LUCK points to increase their SKILL score up to 9 but no more. This is done at Character creation ONLY.
STAMINA - 5 All Characters of Darken Vale Tabletop start with 5 STAMINA the same as Live Action. This score may increase depending upon Level, Race and Class of a character. A Character may restore STAMINA lost in combat either through drinking a Potion, Magical Spells or sleeping.
LUCK - Role 3D6 and add the 2 highest together. Example - Player roll 3D6 = 2, 2, 4 , 2 and 4 added equals a Luck of 6 All Characters have a LUCK Characteristic. This, quite obviously, reflects how fortunate the Character is. A Player may test their Characters LUCK when requested to by the GM, although they do not have to. A GM may ask for LUCK to be tested to see if a Character is caught by a trap, affected by a magical spell, or indeed any other situation that is not governed by SKILL. If the test for LUCK is successful, events go the way of the Character, and if the test for LUCK is unsuccessful, events go against the Character.
A Player may also SPEND their LUCK points throughout a game to change the outcome of an event or effect.
Example: Othrim the Necromancer prepares a paralysis spell, this his last remaining mana and casts it at the Ogre bearing down on him. Othrim's Player rolls 1d12 (11) and checks his SKILL (9) to see if the spell hit it's mark. The spell fails to hit at this critical point, so Othrim's Player decides to SPEND one of Othrim's LUCK points to change the miss and to re-roll the attack. The second roll scores a 3 therefore the spell hits and the Ogre is paralyzed.
Whether the re-roll succeeds or not, the Player must reduce his current LUCK score by 1. This new value is used for the next test. A Character will restore his LUCK score at the end of the adventure or Points may be gained as a reward from the GM for heroic actions. Players may only spend their LUCK once on any specific task. You cannot spend another LUCK if the first try fails.
MANA - Mana is only gained when 'Mana Bands' skill is taken by magical spell casters. Some Characters have the ability to cast magical spells and cause some truly spectacular effects. These Characters also have a MANA Characteristic, which represents the ability of the Spellcaster to cast magical spells (in Live Games these are represented by the Blue Mana Bands). These will be replenished at one MANA point every 10 minutes of rest in game time (More for some races and skills), these points are expended when a spell is cast. Casting Spells takes time so it will cost a Character 1AP per level of spell to action the spell. During this prep - cast time if the Spellcaster is distracted, either by combat, spell effect from another or environmental effect the spell is lost. The Mana spent preparing the spell is also lost. Every Spellcaster will have a list of spells on their Character sheet, detailing the effects and MANA points required to cast. When a Spellcaster attempts to cast a spell, the player must declare the fact at the beginning of the round. The Spellcaster must deduct the appropriate number of MANA Points from their temporary total
Combat
Characters will often face foul creatures and evil monsters in combat, this is when the free flowing action of the game becomes "Turn Based". Battles are broken down into rounds (of approximately 10 seconds in game time). Each Character upon their TURN will have the ability to make 2 actions
(2AP) per turn. See examples of Actions and their AP costs below:
Move 1AP
Attack 1AP
Cast Spell 1AP / level of spell
Simple Action 1AP
A Battle is resolved as follows:
1: All Characters involved in the combat will role 1d12 plus their skill. The Player who rolled the highest goes first in the round followed by the player who rolled the next highest and so on. This process is called the Initiative roll. In the result of a tie the player with the highest SKILL value goes first.
2: The Player rolls a 12-sided dice (1D12) and checks the result against their SKILL. If the roll is equal to or less than their SKILL, then the attack is a success.
Example: Rask Torn-ear is fighting an Orc in a dungeon room. Rask has a SKILL of 9. Rask’s Player uses an ACTION POINT (AP) to attack with his axe, rolls a 4, which is under his SKILL and so his attack hit his mark.
The Games Master rolls a 12-sided dice (1d12) and checks the result against the monsters SKILL. The Orc has a SKILL of 5, and the GM rolls a 5. The Orc has successfully managed to block Rask's attack with his own axe.
Rask's Player chooses to attack again expending his second ACTION POINT. He rolls a 3 and checks it against his SKILL. It's under, so the attack again hits its mark.
The Orc has to defend against a second attack so again the GM rolls 1D12 and checks it against the Orcs SKILL of 5. He rolls an 8. The Orc FAILS to stop Rask's attack and so takes 1 Point of damage which is deducted off the Orcs STAMINA.
3: In turn the other Characters involved in the combat will each take their turn and use their actions how they see fit, including the GM who will always control the Monsters and other None Player Characters (NPC's) until everyone has taken their turn for that round.
4: Progress to the next round of combat and repeat! If any of the combatants reach 0 STAMINA, they will fall unconscious, and a monster can be considered to be dead. This process will apply to combats between two opponents. If more than one enemy fights a single combatant, then the single combatant must declare which of his opponents he will attack.
Example: Daria is fighting two goblins. Daria's Player decides to spend 1AP attacking one goblin and the 2nd AP to hit the second goblin. When the Goblins fight back, because she is outnumbered 2 to 1 the Games Master decides that Daria will take a -1 penalty to her SKILL when defending against the goblins attacks until she is either able to kill one of the goblins or until a friend comes to distract one of Daria's opponents.
HIT LOCATION CHART
As with Live Action all characters start out with a character concept. Race and Class are chosen from the Live format. To determine your characters starting characteristics Players will need 3x 6-sided dice (3D6).
SKILL - Role 2D6 and add together. The average SKILL characteristic is 9 points. If in the event a player rolls badly for their SKILL, they are able to burn up to 3 LUCK points to increase their SKILL score up to 9 but no more. This is done at Character creation ONLY.
STAMINA - 5 All Characters of Darken Vale Tabletop start with 5 STAMINA the same as Live Action. This score may increase depending upon Level, Race and Class of a character. A Character may restore STAMINA lost in combat either through drinking a Potion, Magical Spells or sleeping.
LUCK - Role 3D6 and add the 2 highest together. Example - Player roll 3D6 = 2, 2, 4 , 2 and 4 added equals a Luck of 6 All Characters have a LUCK Characteristic. This, quite obviously, reflects how fortunate the Character is. A Player may test their Characters LUCK when requested to by the GM, although they do not have to. A GM may ask for LUCK to be tested to see if a Character is caught by a trap, affected by a magical spell, or indeed any other situation that is not governed by SKILL. If the test for LUCK is successful, events go the way of the Character, and if the test for LUCK is unsuccessful, events go against the Character.
A Player may also SPEND their LUCK points throughout a game to change the outcome of an event or effect.
Example: Othrim the Necromancer prepares a paralysis spell, this his last remaining mana and casts it at the Ogre bearing down on him. Othrim's Player rolls 1d12 (11) and checks his SKILL (9) to see if the spell hit it's mark. The spell fails to hit at this critical point, so Othrim's Player decides to SPEND one of Othrim's LUCK points to change the miss and to re-roll the attack. The second roll scores a 3 therefore the spell hits and the Ogre is paralyzed.
Whether the re-roll succeeds or not, the Player must reduce his current LUCK score by 1. This new value is used for the next test. A Character will restore his LUCK score at the end of the adventure or Points may be gained as a reward from the GM for heroic actions. Players may only spend their LUCK once on any specific task. You cannot spend another LUCK if the first try fails.
MANA - Mana is only gained when 'Mana Bands' skill is taken by magical spell casters. Some Characters have the ability to cast magical spells and cause some truly spectacular effects. These Characters also have a MANA Characteristic, which represents the ability of the Spellcaster to cast magical spells (in Live Games these are represented by the Blue Mana Bands). These will be replenished at one MANA point every 10 minutes of rest in game time (More for some races and skills), these points are expended when a spell is cast. Casting Spells takes time so it will cost a Character 1AP per level of spell to action the spell. During this prep - cast time if the Spellcaster is distracted, either by combat, spell effect from another or environmental effect the spell is lost. The Mana spent preparing the spell is also lost. Every Spellcaster will have a list of spells on their Character sheet, detailing the effects and MANA points required to cast. When a Spellcaster attempts to cast a spell, the player must declare the fact at the beginning of the round. The Spellcaster must deduct the appropriate number of MANA Points from their temporary total
Combat
Characters will often face foul creatures and evil monsters in combat, this is when the free flowing action of the game becomes "Turn Based". Battles are broken down into rounds (of approximately 10 seconds in game time). Each Character upon their TURN will have the ability to make 2 actions
(2AP) per turn. See examples of Actions and their AP costs below:
Move 1AP
Attack 1AP
Cast Spell 1AP / level of spell
Simple Action 1AP
A Battle is resolved as follows:
1: All Characters involved in the combat will role 1d12 plus their skill. The Player who rolled the highest goes first in the round followed by the player who rolled the next highest and so on. This process is called the Initiative roll. In the result of a tie the player with the highest SKILL value goes first.
2: The Player rolls a 12-sided dice (1D12) and checks the result against their SKILL. If the roll is equal to or less than their SKILL, then the attack is a success.
Example: Rask Torn-ear is fighting an Orc in a dungeon room. Rask has a SKILL of 9. Rask’s Player uses an ACTION POINT (AP) to attack with his axe, rolls a 4, which is under his SKILL and so his attack hit his mark.
The Games Master rolls a 12-sided dice (1d12) and checks the result against the monsters SKILL. The Orc has a SKILL of 5, and the GM rolls a 5. The Orc has successfully managed to block Rask's attack with his own axe.
Rask's Player chooses to attack again expending his second ACTION POINT. He rolls a 3 and checks it against his SKILL. It's under, so the attack again hits its mark.
The Orc has to defend against a second attack so again the GM rolls 1D12 and checks it against the Orcs SKILL of 5. He rolls an 8. The Orc FAILS to stop Rask's attack and so takes 1 Point of damage which is deducted off the Orcs STAMINA.
3: In turn the other Characters involved in the combat will each take their turn and use their actions how they see fit, including the GM who will always control the Monsters and other None Player Characters (NPC's) until everyone has taken their turn for that round.
4: Progress to the next round of combat and repeat! If any of the combatants reach 0 STAMINA, they will fall unconscious, and a monster can be considered to be dead. This process will apply to combats between two opponents. If more than one enemy fights a single combatant, then the single combatant must declare which of his opponents he will attack.
Example: Daria is fighting two goblins. Daria's Player decides to spend 1AP attacking one goblin and the 2nd AP to hit the second goblin. When the Goblins fight back, because she is outnumbered 2 to 1 the Games Master decides that Daria will take a -1 penalty to her SKILL when defending against the goblins attacks until she is either able to kill one of the goblins or until a friend comes to distract one of Daria's opponents.
HIT LOCATION CHART
Equipment A Character will start with various pieces of equipment, detailed on their Character sheet. A Character will almost certainly find new equipment and treasure during the course of an adventure, and these should also be recorded on the sheet.
ARMOUR
During their adventures characters will be able to buy and equip Armour. As with the Live games these come in 4 types. Padded, Light, Medium and Heavy. Each Armour will grant the character ARMOUR POINTS: Padded 1 (gambeson) Light 5 (leather/hide/banded leather), Medium 10 (chain/ring/scale mail) and Heavy 15 (plate mail). When a character is hit in combat, damage allocated by rolling 2x 10-sided dice (2d10 or percentage dice). This will show where a character has been hit in the whirlwind of combat. If a character has armour on that location, it is the Armour that is damaged, thus saving the Character from injury. Once the armour has lost all its points the armour is considered unusable. Armour can be repaired by Leather smiths and Blacksmiths for a cost of either coin or materials. Once Armour is written on the Players Character sheet the number of armour points it has is also recorded in the boxes next to it.
WEAPONS
In these dark and dangerous lands everyone has some skill at using a weapon whether it is a farm hand who uses a dagger to cut bale twine, or a noble knight trained in the use of large two handed swords. As such (just like "Live" all characters gain the use of One Handed Short weapons. Weapons however are not indestructible and there are skills out there that can if used properly even shatter the strongest of blades. To reflect this each weapon class has its own "shatter" points. A successful parry against a "CLEAVE" attack will result in the weapon taking damage. Once these points are used up the weapon breaks and is useless. Again, this damage can be fixed with the right skills.
One Handed Weapon
Knife (throwing or otherwise) has 0 shatter points.
Dagger = 20" max Has 1 shatter point.
Short Weapon = 32" max Has 2 shatter points.
Long One Handed Weapon
What it allows you to do: Use of Long one-handed weapons. Long Weapon = 32.1" Has 2 shatter points.
Bastard Weapon
What it allows you to do: Use of Bastard-length weapons. Bastard Weapon = 39.1"Has 3 shatter points.
Two-Handed Weapon
What it allows you to do: Use of Two Handed weapons. Two-Handed Weapon = At least 45” Has 4 shatter points
Two-handed Weapons can be used to perform a "cleave" attack. For more information on Cleave, see the Professions chapter. Two hands are required to use a two-handed melee Weapon. If you lose an arm you can still fight with a two-handed Weapon, but you will not be able to cleave, and you must role play fatigue when playing this way.
Small Polearm
What it allows you to do: Use a Staff or similar smaller polearm. Small Polearm = Over 58" but not over 77" Has 4 shatter points. Striking surface must be made entirely of metal in order to cleave.
Large Polearm
What it allows you to do: Use large Staff, Halberd or similar polearm. Large Polearm = Over 77" but not over 90" (229 cm) Has 5 shatter points. Striking surface must be made entirely of metal in order to cleave.
Once a weapon is written on the Players Character sheet the number of shatter points is also recorded in the boxes next to it.
SHIELDS
Simply put shields can take unlimited strikes from any weapon unless your opponent has the ability to "Cleave". Shields can take limited cleave hits according to the shield point values in the chart below. Once a shield has no hit points left, that shield is considered "broken" and will not be able to defend a blow if struck.
There are 4 sizes of shields that a character can learn to use. Below are the descriptions of each shield type. Level requirements are located on your class (since many things have cross-class abilities so values will fluctuate).
If you do not see the skill listed in your class, then that class can’t learn said skill.
You must have the ability to use each type of shield listed, you cannot simply get a big shield skill and use all shields smaller than the skill you have.
Shield Definitions
Buckler
Cleave Point Value: 1,
Size - Up to 14" in diameter (36 cm) from edge to edge
*Bucklers can be handheld or strapped to the arm. If strapped to the arm, you may still wield a weapon in the same hand that the shield is strapped to. This is not the same as putting your arm through one strap and gripping the other, this means the buckler is independently strapped to your forearm. *
Medium Shield
Cleave Point Value: 2,
Size - From 14.1" in diameter Up to 20" in diameter (40.89 cm) from edge to edge
Large Shield
Cleave Point Value: 3,
Size - From 20.1" in diameter Up to 34" in diameter (86 cm) from edge to edge
Tower or XL Shield
Cleave Point Value: 4,
Tower - MAX length 48" (122 cm) MAX width 36" (91.5 cm) (ANY shield larger than 34" (86 cm) in diameter, length, or width, is considered an extra-large shield.)
When a character with a shield successfully blocks/parries a "Cleave" attack they may choose to allocate the damage to the shield or the weapon. Some skilled warriors are so well trained with the use of their shields that they may even be able to use it to effectively block more "cleave" attacks than stated above.
RANGES & DURATIONS IN TABLETOP
Many of the skills and spell like abilities will designate a certain range and duration for its effect. When converting it to a tabletop format we follow this formula:
Gridded play - 1sq = 5ft,
Grid-less play - 1 inch = 5ft,
10 meter range - 30ft = 6sq = 6 inch
A simple move action - 15ft = 3sq = 3 inch
10 second duration = 1 round
The Games Master Central to the action, the GM is responsible for describing the action, making all rolls for the enemies and indeed playing the roles of the enemies. The GM should first make sure that he has read through the basic rules presented here. Above all, the game should be fun for all concerned: GM and players alike. This is rule number 1! Then, get some friends together, with each player create a Character sheet, grab some dice and have some fun!
ARMOUR
During their adventures characters will be able to buy and equip Armour. As with the Live games these come in 4 types. Padded, Light, Medium and Heavy. Each Armour will grant the character ARMOUR POINTS: Padded 1 (gambeson) Light 5 (leather/hide/banded leather), Medium 10 (chain/ring/scale mail) and Heavy 15 (plate mail). When a character is hit in combat, damage allocated by rolling 2x 10-sided dice (2d10 or percentage dice). This will show where a character has been hit in the whirlwind of combat. If a character has armour on that location, it is the Armour that is damaged, thus saving the Character from injury. Once the armour has lost all its points the armour is considered unusable. Armour can be repaired by Leather smiths and Blacksmiths for a cost of either coin or materials. Once Armour is written on the Players Character sheet the number of armour points it has is also recorded in the boxes next to it.
WEAPONS
In these dark and dangerous lands everyone has some skill at using a weapon whether it is a farm hand who uses a dagger to cut bale twine, or a noble knight trained in the use of large two handed swords. As such (just like "Live" all characters gain the use of One Handed Short weapons. Weapons however are not indestructible and there are skills out there that can if used properly even shatter the strongest of blades. To reflect this each weapon class has its own "shatter" points. A successful parry against a "CLEAVE" attack will result in the weapon taking damage. Once these points are used up the weapon breaks and is useless. Again, this damage can be fixed with the right skills.
One Handed Weapon
Knife (throwing or otherwise) has 0 shatter points.
Dagger = 20" max Has 1 shatter point.
Short Weapon = 32" max Has 2 shatter points.
Long One Handed Weapon
What it allows you to do: Use of Long one-handed weapons. Long Weapon = 32.1" Has 2 shatter points.
Bastard Weapon
What it allows you to do: Use of Bastard-length weapons. Bastard Weapon = 39.1"Has 3 shatter points.
Two-Handed Weapon
What it allows you to do: Use of Two Handed weapons. Two-Handed Weapon = At least 45” Has 4 shatter points
Two-handed Weapons can be used to perform a "cleave" attack. For more information on Cleave, see the Professions chapter. Two hands are required to use a two-handed melee Weapon. If you lose an arm you can still fight with a two-handed Weapon, but you will not be able to cleave, and you must role play fatigue when playing this way.
Small Polearm
What it allows you to do: Use a Staff or similar smaller polearm. Small Polearm = Over 58" but not over 77" Has 4 shatter points. Striking surface must be made entirely of metal in order to cleave.
Large Polearm
What it allows you to do: Use large Staff, Halberd or similar polearm. Large Polearm = Over 77" but not over 90" (229 cm) Has 5 shatter points. Striking surface must be made entirely of metal in order to cleave.
Once a weapon is written on the Players Character sheet the number of shatter points is also recorded in the boxes next to it.
SHIELDS
Simply put shields can take unlimited strikes from any weapon unless your opponent has the ability to "Cleave". Shields can take limited cleave hits according to the shield point values in the chart below. Once a shield has no hit points left, that shield is considered "broken" and will not be able to defend a blow if struck.
There are 4 sizes of shields that a character can learn to use. Below are the descriptions of each shield type. Level requirements are located on your class (since many things have cross-class abilities so values will fluctuate).
If you do not see the skill listed in your class, then that class can’t learn said skill.
You must have the ability to use each type of shield listed, you cannot simply get a big shield skill and use all shields smaller than the skill you have.
Shield Definitions
Buckler
Cleave Point Value: 1,
Size - Up to 14" in diameter (36 cm) from edge to edge
*Bucklers can be handheld or strapped to the arm. If strapped to the arm, you may still wield a weapon in the same hand that the shield is strapped to. This is not the same as putting your arm through one strap and gripping the other, this means the buckler is independently strapped to your forearm. *
Medium Shield
Cleave Point Value: 2,
Size - From 14.1" in diameter Up to 20" in diameter (40.89 cm) from edge to edge
Large Shield
Cleave Point Value: 3,
Size - From 20.1" in diameter Up to 34" in diameter (86 cm) from edge to edge
Tower or XL Shield
Cleave Point Value: 4,
Tower - MAX length 48" (122 cm) MAX width 36" (91.5 cm) (ANY shield larger than 34" (86 cm) in diameter, length, or width, is considered an extra-large shield.)
When a character with a shield successfully blocks/parries a "Cleave" attack they may choose to allocate the damage to the shield or the weapon. Some skilled warriors are so well trained with the use of their shields that they may even be able to use it to effectively block more "cleave" attacks than stated above.
RANGES & DURATIONS IN TABLETOP
Many of the skills and spell like abilities will designate a certain range and duration for its effect. When converting it to a tabletop format we follow this formula:
Gridded play - 1sq = 5ft,
Grid-less play - 1 inch = 5ft,
10 meter range - 30ft = 6sq = 6 inch
A simple move action - 15ft = 3sq = 3 inch
10 second duration = 1 round
The Games Master Central to the action, the GM is responsible for describing the action, making all rolls for the enemies and indeed playing the roles of the enemies. The GM should first make sure that he has read through the basic rules presented here. Above all, the game should be fun for all concerned: GM and players alike. This is rule number 1! Then, get some friends together, with each player create a Character sheet, grab some dice and have some fun!
| dvtt_character_sheet.pdf |
