• (Fortmayn)

Long example

DM : So you're in the sewer, knee deep in muck, it's dark and to the north there's a portcullis, what do you want to do?
Brainy : I'll move to the portcullis, and as my action I'll check it for traps.
Brawny : Assuming it's safe, I want to bend the bars.
DM : Ok, Brainy, the darkness would put you at a disadvantage to check for traps.
Brainy : So before I check traps, I want to cast Illusory Torch.
DM : Ok, well roll your HEAD Dice.
Brainy : *rolls* None lost!
DM : Good stuff, you are holding an Illusory Torch. Roll HEAD Dice again to look for traps.
Brainy : *rolls* All less than 5 ...
DM : That's right. It's free of anything designed to do you harm, Brawny, still want to bend the bars? If so, roll your BODY Dice! The bars have 2 Difficulty Dice.
Brawny : *rolls* Piece of cake!
DM : Huh. Brainy didn't notice that the edges of the bars are
sharp. You find out by cutting your hands. Wound one of your BODY Dice. What would you like to do now?
Brawny : Explore down the tunnel..?
Brainy : Agreed! I'll sneak ahead.
DM : Ok Brainy, you move down the sewer, still Nearby to Brawny, please roll your BODY Dice to see if you're quiet - you get advantage to this kind of test, roll d8s.
Brainy : *rolls* despite rolling two d8 I've got a 3 and a 4. What are the odds?
DM : Ouch. You're making so much noise being sneaky, a Ghoul hiding in the darkness close to you leaps and attacks! Brainy, you're at
disadvantage in this first exchange.
Brainy : Bugger! How long was it to roll up a character?
Brawny : I run up and smash the Ghoul with my Broadsword.
DM : Ok Brawny, you move Close to the Ghoul. Brainy, Brawny, roll your Body Dice - remember, Brainy, you roll d4 in this first round.
Brawny : *rolls* Rolled a 7! And a 5!
DM : Good hit! You removed all of the Ghoul's Difficulty Dice. It collapses into the muck and effluent. But first ... the Ghoul was closer to Brainy. Brainy, you gotta make your roll.
Brainy : Uh, yeah, I got a 2. And a ... 1.
DM : And ... that's both of your Body Dice. Oh boy, Brawny, your brain trust also collapses into the muck!

• (Fortmayn)

• (Fortmayn)

Making a character

• Choose a type
• Buy equipment
• Sample characters

Choose a type

There are 2 choices: Brawny or Brainy. Your type determines the sizes of your BODY Dice and HEAD Dice.You start with four dice. You must assign one HEAD Die and one BODY Die. The other two dice can be allocated however you want. A character with more dice in BODY is hard-hitting; one with more dice in HEAD is erudite; and one with equal dice in HEAD and BODY is handy.You gain more dice through experience.Brawny
BODY Die : d8
HEAD Die : d6A Brawny may choose to sunder (destroy) their shield or armor - if they are so equipped - rather than being put OofA.Brainy
BODY Die : d6
HEAD Die : d8Roll with advantage to avoid damage or effects from traps and magical devices; when performing delicate tasks, climbing, hearing sounds, moving silently, understanding written languages, or opening locks.Can build or repair items (including armor) by rolling HEAD Dice against a Difficulty agreed by the GM and players, given adequate time and materials.

Equipment

A new character starts with adequate clothes, a one handed weapon, and 3d6 x 10 coins for buying equipment. Equipment can enable or grant advantage to various actions.

NOTES :: Backpack lets you carry more items than you have hands. Holy symbol gives advantage when banishing undead. Holy water repels undead when sprinkled at them. For Torches, roll Usage Die once per Hour.Usage die Any item listed in the equipment section that has a Usage Die is considered a consumable, limited item. When an item is used, roll its Usage die. If the roll is less than 3 then the usage die is reduced to the next lower die in the following chain:

d12 >> d8 >> d6 >> d4 >> expended

When you roll less than 3 on a d4 the item is expended and the character has no more of it left.Alternatively, track expendable items by marking off boxes or counting down numbers.

Sample characters

- Linda :: A heavy-hitting Brawny (3 B, 1 H). 60 coin, arming sword, clothing. Buys a small shield (d4), backpack, fresh rations. Has no coin left.
- Jasper :: An erudite Brainy (1 B, 3 H). 80 coin, arming sword, clothing. Buys gambeson (d4), backpack, fresh rations, wineskin, wine. Has 18 coin remaining.
- Vincent :: A handy Brainy (2 B, 2 H). 90 coin, arming sword.
Borrows 18 coin from Jasper, buys discount leather armor (d6). Has no coin left.

• (Fortmayn)

• (Fortmayn)

How to play

• Death and healing
• Time and distance
• Combat

The core mechanic Everything a character might possibly attempt that could fail is resolved by rolling the character's BODY Dice or HEAD Dice. Dice showing less than 3 get lost (temporarily). Dice showing more than 4 remove a Difficulty Die.Difficulty Dice Living opponents and inert obstacles have Difficulty Dice. These measure how much damage or embarrassment the opponent or obstacle might cause, and how much effort is needed to defeat it.Advantage & disadvantage A GM may decide that a particular course of action or task has a higher or lower chance of success. They will ask a player to roll the next bigger or smaller size of BODY or HEAD Dice

d12 <<>> d8 <<>> d6 <<>> d4

when attempting that action. If a d4 is rolled, a 4 removes a Difficulty Die.Converting saves (Fortmayn) ignores saves and instead asks the player to roll BODY or HEAD Dice when any obstacle or event could cause harm or disgrace.Players turn During a player's turn a character may move and perform an action. They could attack, look for a clue, talk with an NPC, cast a spell - interacting with the world is an action. Often they will test their attributes to determine the outcome.

Experience Adventurers learn through defeating and overcoming obstacles. Killing one boring Kobold won't bring a revelation of learning to someone. Surviving a dungeon, completing a quest or simply living to tell the tale are the things that bring perspective and growth. The old experience system has been completely discarded.For every session / dungeon level / quest / major event the character survives they gain a Die that can be assigned to HEAD or BODY.The GM will decide which, and it's recommended that this decision remains more or less a constant throughout the campaign - and a GM should be clear and upfront with the players so they know where the 'goalposts' are.Encumbrance A character with two hands can carry two things or maybe just one big thing. A character with a backpack can carry a larger number of items. Carrying an excessive load imposes disadvantage to all rolls - they also can move only to somewhere Nearby in a turn. Some items have Difficulty Dice to be carried.Random events At the start of each turn, roll 5 six sided dice in order. If any die rolls higher than the last time it was rolled, the corresponding event occurs during this turn:

• (Fortmayn)

• How to play

Time and distance

Time & turns There are 2 important types of tracked time - Ounces (rounds) and Moments (turns). According to Wikipedia, a Moment is one 40th of a solar hour; an Ounce is one 12th of a Moment (about 8 seconds).Ounces are used during combat and fast paced scenes of danger and Moments are used when exploring and adventuring. You can stroll the length of a football pitch in a Moment. A GM may advance the clock as they need substituting Moments for Hours, Days or even Months should the adventure require it.Movement & distance Rather than track precise numbers, (Fortmayn) uses 4 abstract ranges for measuring distances in combat: Close, Nearby, Distant, and Far-Away. This system is designed to support the narrative 'theatre of the mind' style of play, and is less concerned about tracking squares and fiddly distances. For converting existing movement rates or measures (for spells or areas of effect) use the following as a guide:

In each Ounce, every character can move somewhere Nearby in addition to performing an action, or can forego their action and move somewhere Distant. Anything beyond Distant can be classified as Far-Away and would take longer to get to.During exploration, a character can easily move 100 yards in a Moment (12 Ounces) or 3 miles in an Hour.

• (Fortmayn)

• How to play

Combat

Example of Hitting and Getting Hit A Brainy with 3d6 BODY uses a club to attack a Brawny with 2 Difficulty Dice. Brainy has a small shield (d4). Brawny has a club as well, is wearing leather armor, and has a small shield.Brainy rolls BODY Dice (4,5,3) - meaning that Brawny's small shield gets broken, and also one of Brawny's Difficulty Dice is removed.Brawny retaliates. Brainy again rolls their 3 BODY Dice, getting (1, 3, 2). Brawny has ONE remaining Difficulty Dice - meaning that only one of Brainy's BODY Dice could get wounded. Brainy chooses to use their small shield to "save" that BODY Die, and rolls 2 on the Usage Die. The small shield becomes broken, but the BODY Die is not wounded.Initiative There is no "roll for Initiative" in (Fortmayn). Melee combat happens in flurries of blows exchanged. If a character is surprised by a sudden attack, they suffer disadvantage in the first exchange; if they surprise an opponent, they gain advantage. Ranged attacks are asynchronous and risk-free for the characters when they attack; as targets, the characters must trust to luck.Stunting A player can describe an unusual action that their character attempts to overcome an opponent or obstacle, and declare a "stunt." When a character stunts, then if the majority of their dice show more than 4, they completely overcome the obstacle or opponent. However, regardless of the opponent's Difficulty Dice, a stunting character must wound or exhaust all of their own dice that show less than 3.Melee When a character fights in melee, they roll all of their unwounded BODY Dice against each opponent. For each BODY Die that shows more than 4, remove one of the opponent's Difficulty Dice. For each of the opponent's Difficulty Dice, wound one of a character's BODY Dice that shows less than 3, unless armor is used to save it. When an opponent is out of Difficulty Dice or when a character has no unwounded BODY Dice, it is Out of Action.Ranged combat When a character makes a Ranged Attack, they roll their HEAD Dice and remove one of the target's Difficulty Dice for each HEAD Die that shows more than 4. When a character gets shot at, they roll their BODY Dice; for each of the opponent's Difficulty Dice, wound one of a character's BODY Dice that shows less than 3, unless armor is used to save it.The character suffers a disadvantage when shooting at Distant targets (and gains advantage against Distant opponents when being shot at).Armor Characters can use armor during combat to save any number of BODY Dice from being wounded. When you use armor to save a BODY Die, roll the Usage Die for the armor. Rolling less than 3 reduces the die size.If you have a shield and also are wearing armor, you may choose which die to roll. If armor is at less than its original Usage Die, it is damaged and gives its user disadvantage to all tests, until it is repaired to its original Usage Die. Most damaged armor can be repaired to the next higher Usage Die by spending coins equal to 10 times a roll of its current Usage Die. Damaged shields cannot be repaired.Humanoid opponents may have armor, which characters could seize. They also can carry shields. If a player rolls exactly 5 when hitting an armored target, the armor becomes damaged (first shield, then armor that is worn). The armor of humanoid opponents does not affect how often characters damage those opponents.Different sizes of weapons In the hands of a Brawny character, larger melee weapons can deal additional damage. In the hands of a Brainy character, smaller melee weapons can be easier to hit with. If a player adequately narrates what their character does to take advantage of differing weapon sizes, give them advantage on their melee combat roll. Unarmed characters always have disadvantage.

• (Fortmayn)