Basic Mechanics & Concepts

The Magitech Chronicles follows in the footsteps of many great roleplaying games, and utilizes mechanics similar to games you may already be familiar with. Below you'll find an overview of important concepts and systems.
Our basic design philosophy is all about simplicity. We've endeavored to create a lightweight rules set that is easy for both players and GMs to understand, while still being robust enough to allow players to endlessly customize their characters.

Catalysts- The Big Hook

The Magitech Chronicles is set in the wake of the Godswar, and dead gods litter the galaxy. Your characters can gain power by visiting those Catalysts, and stealing a piece of the magic contained in that god's corpse. This can be anything from the moon-sized Skull of Xal, to the sacred pool of life under the Great Tree on Shaya.
A powerful character may visit a dozen sites of power, stealing a bit of magic from each. This magic also extends your life, and if you steal enough you may just become a god yourself.
Many adventures will center around a specific catalyst, and visiting one can be a massive, and very lethal undertaking. Even the act of taking magic can kill you, if you are not careful.
Each Catalyst corresponds to one or more aspects of magic, drawn from the legendary Circle of Eight. You can learn more about that in the magic section, but the takeaway is that during character creation you will get to choose the type of magic you begin play with, and that choice will dramatically influence your character's abilities.
Want your Spellsniper to be a healer? Might be awfully handy to heal from a rooftop thirty meters up. Maybe you'd prefer dream, so you can put targets into a deep slumber without killing them. Maybe you're a straight assassin, and disintegrating your target's face with a void bolt is more your style.
You get to choose.

The Basic System

Whenever a character needs to make an attack, use a skill, or take almost any other actions they will have to roll to determine if they succeed. This is handled as follows:

• GM sets a difficulty threshold (or DT)
• Player rolls a number of d6s equal to the Attribute + Skill
• If Skill is a Mastery, all 4, 5, and 6s count as a success.
• If Skill is not a Mastery, all 5, and 6s count as a success.
• Compare total successes to DT. If the total successes are less than the DT, the action fails
• If the action succeeds, all successes past the DT are added to damage or effect

For example let's say Aran is trying to pilot a heavily damaged spellfighter before it crashes into a mountainside. The GM sets a difficulty threshold (DT) of 3. Aran rolls Agility + Pilot (11) d6s. Piloting is NOT a mastery, so he only counts the 5s and 6s. He gets four successes.
The action succeeds with one extra. In combat that extra success adds directly to damage, and some spells or abilities will trigger additional effects if you beat the DT by a certain number of successes.

Difficulty Thresholds

DT 1 = A simple task. Simple computer research, or a basic knowledge check.
DT 2 = A moderately difficult task requiring concentration. Basic coding, or repairing a device.
DT 3 = A difficult task that most people will fail. Disarming a bomb on a timer. Convincing an enemy to help you.
DT 4 = Something many people consider impossible. Piloting a shuttle with no engines through re-entry, and landing.
DT 5 = Why are you even trying to do this?

Edge

Characters may gain an edge through a variety of means. If they have an edge they gain +2 successes for that action. Gaining edge through multiple sources does not stack, and some abilities will nullify edge.

Favor

Characters gain favor dice when they describe their actions in a way that adds to the narrative. The GM may choose to award between 1-3 favor dice to any roll if they approve of the character's description. These bonuses stack with edge.
Characters are encouraged not to try to game this system, and GMs are encouraged to hold their ground if players are fishing for dice.

Luck & Flaws

Luck is a very special system in that the only way to gain it is through using your character's Flaw. Each time your character voluntarily suffers from their flaw in a way that negatively impacts them they qualify for a luck point. Characters may spend luck in any of the following ways:

• Reroll any roll
• Cause an opponent to reroll
• Automatically avoid a single attack
• Gain an edge and remove all negative modifiers to one roll

Characters do not need to purchase a flaw if they do not wish to, but if they do not then they may not earn luck. GMs are the ultimate arbiters of whether or not the player earns a luck, and can decide how stingy they want to be based on how much luck they want in their games.
The flaws system exists to incentivize people into picking disadvantages that are actual flaws and not flaws in name only. Flaws are further cover in the Perks and Flaws section.

That pretty much covers the basics. Ready to make a character? Click the arrow on the bottom right.