Rules & Mechanics
"There aren't too many people swinging a sword at your head these days, Melv. Best keep your bean-shooter on your hip and visible, lest someone try to blip you off in a dark alley somewhere."
5th Edition Modifications
The changes for 5th edition to make this setting a little more dangerous and exciting are as follows: Edge. Characters and dangerous enemies have Edge instead of Hit Points. The assumption in the Zephyr RPG is that most people are not getting hit with bullets and volt blasts 20 or more times during a single combat. Instead, Edge is the culmination of experience, daring, and luck when on the battlefield. Burning Edge means an agent ducks at the last second, finds cover at the right time, or perhaps simply benefits from the chaos of combat. In Zephyr - Tales from the Void, Edge is recovered in a similar way as hit points; that is rest and hit dice recovery. Health. Everyone still does have a pool of points called Health. Your Health is equal to your Constitution score. When you are out of Edge, any attacks against you that would cause you to lose Edge is instead applied to your Health. Most followers, NPCs, and general riff-raff do not have Edge and rely solely on their Health in combat. Damage. Taking damage (see Edge) is a little bit different in Zephyr - Tales from the Void. When an attack roll meets or exceeds your Dodge rating, the "damage" is first subtracted from your Edge and then from your Health (See Health above) once your Edge is gone. Wounds and Critical Wounds. While Edge is an important means of staying alive in combat, it doesn't always help if the enemy gets a lucky shot.1 | Disadvantage on Ability Checks
2 | Speed halved
3 | Disadvantage on Attack rolls and Saving Throws
4 | Edge maximum halved
5 | Speed reduced to 0
6 | Death
An Effect or Treatment that removes a Wound reduces its effect as specified in the effect’s description above, with all Wound Effects ending if a creature’s number of wounds is reduced below 1. Being Off the Clock (see below) for 8 hours or more reduces a creature’s Wounds by 1, provided that the creature has been medically treated and has also ingested some food and drink. Death's Door. It is difficult to outright kill someone or something in Zephyr. Creatures past 0 Health, are not necessarily dead and are said to be at Death's Door. Most enemies are defeated at 0 Health, but are still alive until they exceed their Death's Door score (usually equal to their Constitution attribute). A creature at Death's Door can automatically be "knocked out" or given the Unconscious condition as an action by an attacker. At Death's Door (0 Health), the target also takes a Wound. If a creature is not unconscious or dead, but at 0 Health they are limited to one action (move, attack, or otherwise) on their following turns. However, if they do take any action, they must also roll a d20 Death's Door roll. If the score is 10 or lower, they automatically receive another Wound. If a creature takes more damage than their Death's Door score, they are dead and require far greater means to come back - and most never do. Treatment, Medical. Breather. For purposes of 5th Edition, a Breather is the equivalent of a Short Rest. Off the Clock. In 5th Edition rules, being Off the Clock is the same as taking a Long Rest. Dodge. In Zephyr - Tales from the Void, very few, if any people run around in heavy armor and rely on it to deflect sword swings. Instead, combatants focus on not getting hit in the first place. Your Dodge rating is equal to 10 + your Dexterity modifier. Certain armor can improve that, but cover also dramatically helps improve your Dodge rating.
Prot. (or Protection) When people do use armor, they use it to reduce the damage they are likely to take if they are hit. Prot reduces the total amount of any attack from another creature that would reduce a target's Edge or Health. Most prot ranges from 1 to 4 points, but some heavier armor such as security or power suits can have significantly more.Cover Examples
1/2 Cover. +2 to Dodge and Dexterity Saving Throws Examples of 1/2 Cover: low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or a creature, whether that creature is an enemy or a friend 3/4 Cover. +5 to Dodge and Dexterity Saving Throws Examples of 3/4 Cover: a foxhole, an arrow slit, or a thick tree trunk Full Cover. Can't be targeted with direct weapons / a creature with full cover also can't target with direct weapons those attackers that can't target them. Examples of Full Cover: behind a wall with no windows, over a cliff, inside a troop transport Heavily Obscured. Creatures are treated as if they have the Blinded condition when looking into heavily obscured areas Examples of Heavily Obscured: a smoke grenade, dense fog, heavy underbrush, a crowd of people
Protection Examples
Heavy Jacket. Prot: 1; Weight: 7 lbs., Cost: 1
Combat Vest. Prot: 2; Weight: 10 lbs., Cost: 3
Aether Mesh Vest. Prot: 0; Weight: 1 lbs., Cost: 10, Special: Absorbs 30 lighting damage before being ruined.
Riot Armor. Prot: 8; Weight: 90 lbs., Cost: 20, Special: Illegal without permit
Rolling the Dice
In order to tell a better narrative Zephyr - Tales from the Void looks to standardize DCs in order to allow the Mastermind the opportunity to express difficulty without boiling it down to just numbers.Standardized Difficulty Steps (DC Steps)
These terms are interchangeable with the DCs and make for more streamlined game play. Whenever the rules refer to increasing or decreasing "steps", it means you should move to the next Step DC on the list (either up or down)
| Difficulty | Step DC | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Effortless | 6 | Very easy tasks. Only need to be rolled if there is a consequence to failure |
| Easy | 8 | Not normally difficult to overcome; repairing a familiar device, researching from a familiar library or tome, etc |
| Impractical | 10 | Tasks that are as likely as not to succeed |
| Moderate | 12 | Unfamiliar tasks or difficult to accomplish with average knowledge |
| Difficult | 14 | Something the average person would have a very difficult time completing or achieving |
| Hard | 16 | These types of tasks are often seen as herculian or exceedingly specialized |
| Severe | 18 | The average person could not complete this task and would be in awe of someone who could |
| Extreme | 20 | People who have accomplished these tasks are considered local legends |
| Heroic | 22 | War stories of individuals taking on entire units and surviving fall into this category |
| Impossible | 24 | People assume these types of accomplishments are folklore in nature; things a god might be able to do |
| Godlike | 26 | Superheroes and radio adventurers are the only ones capable of these sorts of feats |
Example
GM: "The rock face is slick with rain and mud is flowing down from the top of the cliff. It appears it would be a pretty severe climb, if you were to attempt it."
Player 1: "Ok, that sounds pretty bad. I'm going to attempt the climb and I'm going to spend a point of surge to help."
GM: "Great. Make your check and I'll reduce the difficulty from severe to hard because you spent a surge point."
Player 1: Rolls check - "Looks like a 16 on the dot! I take my jacket and use it as a sort of hoop to grab the rocks as I pull myself up."
GM: "It's a scramble, but using your jacket and experience, you make it to the top of the cliff, muddy and soaking wet."
Critical Successes and Failures
Critical Successes. Any time a player rolls a 20 on a d20, it is a Critical Success. A Critical Success means additional, beneficial things occur as a result of the roll. In combat, for example, a Critical Success means the player deals maximum damage x 2 and inflicts a critical wound. "Maximum damage" includes dice and all bonus damage modifiers (in addition to dealing a wound). Exception: a player may not get a Critical Success on checks with a difficulty of Heroic , Impossible, or Godlike. They may, however, still achieve a Major Success (see below). Upon achieving a Critical Success, the party is awarded 3 Surge Points to their pool. Major Successes. Any time a player exceeds the difficulty check by 5 or more, they have achieved a Major Success. A Major Success has significant impact on the results of the check. For example, in a Trial (see Trials), a character achieves an additional success for every 5 by which the check exceeds the DC. In combat, a Major Success means the player rolls an additional die for damage (i.e. 1d8 becomes 2d8) and inflicts a wound on their target. For other circumstances, the Mastermind should incorporate significant benefits for achieving major successes. A party is also awarded one Surge Point for a Major Success. Major Successes and Critical Successes do not stack on a single roll. Major Failures. When a player fails any roll (attack, skill check, saving throw, etc.) by 5 or more, it is a major failure. This has a negative impact on the activity or encounter, as determined by the Mastermind. In combat a weapon may be dropped or thrown, a sneak attempt may end up kicking over a bundle of metal pipes, and so forth. Example: Jeen rolled a 6 on her skill check to pick a lock, but needed a 12 - this is a major failure. The Mastermind determines that not only was the check not successful, but the nearby security cog was alerted to the sound and is now approaching. Critical Failures. When a natural 1 is rolled on any d20, it is a Critical Failure. When this occurs something detrimental to the encounter or or situation occurs - a weapon breaks, a character falls from a building, a door permanently locks, and so on. Additionally, the party loses one Surge Point (SP) from their pool. From the example above: With her party defending her, Jeen makes another attempt on the lock. It is not her day - she rolls a natural 1. The Mastermind determines that her lock picks break off in the lock, permanently disabling the lock while a magical shield appears between her and the door, pushing her back 5 feet. The party then loses a Surge Point from their pool.Surge Points and Surge Pool
Surge Points (SP) are used to alter or influence events determined by the dice or the game master. Surges are similar to Inspiration, but replace Inspiration in games where SP are used. Imagine an epic battle in which our heroes must make a leap to save someone from falling to their doom in a lake of lava. The player describes what their character does to save the other, but the dice roll fails and they plummet to their death anyway. What if instead the character spends an Surge point they earned earlier in the session in order to lower the difficulty of the check (or in some other way modify the results) and save them from falling? Surge Points can be earned in several ways, but here are the basic methods:- A Critical Success (a natural 20 in Combat, on Skill Checks, or on Action Checks) earns 3 Surge Points
- A Major Success (a success that beats the Difficulty by 5 or more) earns 1 Surge Point
- Anytime the Mastermind awards a player for heroic actions (through role-playing or otherwise)
Surge Pool
Surge Points accumulate for the entire party. Think of it as overall synergy for the group. Every time surge points are earned by an individual, they are added to a running pool for the party. Any player may spend from the pool when allowed by the rules to do so. A Mastermind may include options for the party to vote or "second" the use of surge points in order to mitigate disagreements on how they might be spent. Some examples of how to spend SP are below:1 Surge Point may be used to:2 Surge Points may be used to:
- Reduce the Difficulty of a skill check or trial test by one step (i.e. hard down to challenging, etc.)
- Add your proficiency bonus to a check for a skill in which you are not proficient
- Gain advantage on any attack, proficient skill/ability check, or saving throw
- Impose disadvantage on their next ability or skill check
- Improve your Dodge by +2 until the start of your next turn
- Improve your Initiative Score by +5 for one round
- Re-Roll the damage dice from an attack or spell. Keep the second result
3 Surge Points may be used to:
- Automatically succeed at the next skill check in a Trial
- Automatically succeed at a Death's Door roll
- Avoid provoking an Attack of Opportunity
- Defend an ally within 10', forcing their attacker to roll their next attack at disadvantage
- Impose disadvantage on a saving throw to an enemy for one spell or ability
- Improve your Initiative Score by +10 for one round
- Increase your opponents Dodge DC two steps on your next attack roll, but gain +10 damage on a successful hit
- Temporarily improve a NPC's attitude, gaining advantage on social skills against them for 1d4 rounds
4 Surge Points may be spent to:
- Add an additional success to a successful Action Check during a Trial
- Raise your Initiative score by 5 for the entire combat
- Gain an additional movement action as a Reaction
- Gain a single use of an ability that would normally require a Breather to restore
- Force Disadvantage on enemy combatant or chase group (pursued or pursuer) for all d20 rolls that turn
- Impose disadvantage on an opponent's next ability or skill check
- Roll an additional d20 and add it to the results of the first d20 for an Action Check during a Trial (a 1 on the additional die is not a critical failure, nor is a 20 a critical success)
5 Surge Points may be spent to:
- Improve your Dodge or Prot by +4 until the start of your next turn
- Subtract 5 from an opponent's or trial's initiative
- Counterattack your opponent, dealing damage to them instead of them dealing damage to you
- Make a successful action check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check a Critical Success. Impossible or higher difficulty checks may only be upgraded to Major Successes. This does not grant additional Surge Points.
- Gain an additional turn this round
- Make a successful Impossible difficulty check or higher a Critical Success. This does not grant additional Surge Points
- Regain the use of a single an ability that would normally require being Off the Clock to restore
- Roll TWO additional d20s and add it to the results of the first d20 for an Action Check during a Trial (1s on the additional dice are not a critical failure, nor are 20s critical successes)
- Spend Hit Dice as if you had been Off the Clock, without resting. The Hit Dice count against your daily total
Rest and Recovery
Breather
At some point during a job, the agents are going to be burned out, meaning they have lost much, if not all,of their edge and they need to take a break. Taking a breather is one way to regain their edge, potentially recover from some types of wounds, and generally rest up. Taking a breather requires 1d6 x 10 minutes to complete, during which time the agents are patching up wounds, cleaning weapons, joking around, and evening grabbing a quick bite to eat.- Agents may benefit from one breather each day
- An agent may roll a number of dice up to their Hit Dice. The die is equal to their Hit Dice type. The agent recovers this amount of edge
- Agents who receive any medical attention (medic, first aid, magic) recover 1 wound condition
- Additional skills, talents, and profession abilities might also increase the amount of edge regained
- Certain profession abilities also refresh after a breather
Off the Clock
Once the situation is handled, the team will usually need to take a load off and rest. Agents who are Off the Clock are getting food, lounging at the bar, changing clothes, shopping, and all manner of things not associated with any Situation. Agents who take at least 8-hours off may do any of the following (assuming the resources and services are available):- Agents recover all burned edge and recover all Hit Dice rolled
- An agent may heal one wound condition without medical attention
- Seek medical attention for any critical wounds
- Make purchases and repairs
Comments