The BASiCs: The Ins and Outs of the BASiC System

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

▰▰▰ What is the BASiC System:
The Battle Adventure System including Crafting [ BASiC ] System is a conglomerate ruleset made for the T1 Forum Roleplay Guideline to give a concise reference for players and an easy-to-follow guide through dedicated systems.

The BASiC System was designed as a method to keep new systems easily plugged into a baseline while assessing and providing clear rules for those already in play. It is intended to provide clear case rules and references and be your one-stop shop for any situations that arise in the wild.

▰▰▰ The Tier One Roleplaying System:

The Tier 1/T1 Roleplay system is one of the administrative standards for roleplay guilds with combat: It allows a solid base, with a simple premise, and standard rules. Combat posts give and take, with a set definition of attack, and reply. Admittedly for those who are not used to the T1 standard, it is an adjustment, but it is coopted for its fairness and easiness to read. Across many other guilds and roleplay settings, T1, T2, or various delineations of their core settings have been used to maintain a fair setting for players when engaged in combat, or near-combat settings.

Tier 1 is turn-based, with the Initial combatant's actions being host to those to follow, until the chain has completed and all combatants have had the ability to react to the initial investment. This gives the ability for an attack, counter-attack interaction in most events. Special rules detailed further within will address special rules and disparities possible within our open settings. Such as; Resource Comparison, Ranked Attacks, Swarming, Resource Mismatch, Massive Damage, Zero Resource, and more.

▰▰▰ BASIC Skills:

The basis of our Combat System is the Freeform BASIC system, comprised of a Scaled, Resourced Managed, play that draws from one of three resource nodes. Stamina for any combat activity based on physical expenditure, and Spirit similarly utilized for magickal pursuits. While these two resources are the gauge for a character's strengths and weaknesses in combat, they are only used for such purposes, with a few nascent circumstances outside of active combat; such as mages setting wards or active strength checks against heroic measures. Such cases are rarities or will be spelled out clearly. In times where new cases for measurements, not currently written into our rules arise, it is the duty of the crew to make a note of the circumstance and reference it in the living rules for future guidance.

The BASiC Combat Skills are ranked in terms of efficiency and lethality as follows:
E: 2 [ lesser, non-lethal, this is where people tend to train when not padded ]
D: 4 [ Minor, major bruising, burning, expect minor injuries ]
C: 8 [ Injurious, major bruising, piercing wounds common at this level ]
B: 16 [ Injurious, Intentful, even glancing blows tend to bruise ]
A: 32 [ Major, Magick is Baleful, force applied in attacks is offputting ]
S: 64 [ Murderous, Intent is unquestioned, Magick tastes of iron ]
S+: 128 [ The Abyss Stares Back ]

▰▰▰ Actions:
Actions are settled into one of three categories: Offensive, Defensive, or Supplementary. In a single combat turn, a player is given two actions, whether they choose to act offensively or defensively is their prerogative, but neither option is limited to a number of actions per turn beyond their total investment.

▰ Offensive: An act of aggression with the intent to overpower, gain an objective, or force another into an area of submission.
▰ Defensive: Acts with no aggressive intent and that are entirely meant to protect the user. An act declared as defensive cannot by virtue deal damage, and may be modified by specialized equipment.
▰ Supplementary: Supplementary abilities don't consume an action but still consume either stamina or spirit. Only a single supplementary ability may be activated in a combat turn.

▰ Additional Actions:
In the event of gaining additional actions either through swarming, abilities, or other means, they may be applied to either [ Offensive ] or [ Defensive ] unless stated otherwise.

▰▰▰Stacking Bonuses:
While some features may give players bonuses in Combat, Social Interactions, Creation Abilities, or Mercantile Function, a keynote shall be maintained. No bonuses shall stack to give a bonus of above TWO [ 2 ] Ranks, unless specifically mentioned.

Any such likely modifiers will be short-lived in nature, and with scrutiny under situational rules.

▰▰▰ Combat Interactions:

While we strive to avoid an overabundance of rules and cluttered techniques, to make the actual entrance into the roleplay simplistic and enjoyable, the knowledge that many communities have a solid base in combat roleplayers exists. To this end, we are simply introducing a few layered rules overtop the T1 Turn-based system and BASIC interactions system, to make things interesting. These rules are intended to give a more in-depth and oriented feel to the world, as well as a sense of structure for items like armor, weaponry, and the like alongside wondrous things such as magick in such a setting, and will allow us to build custom tools and rules going forward.

▰ Armor Bonuses:
While specialized custom armors with magickal benefit are a warrior's best friend, all armors begin with a simple archetype; they come in three stages.
Light: This armor is nothing more than specialized clothing, and provides no statistical value. Often this armor is a signifier of a unit, or grants a special modifier.

Medium: This armor grants a One [ 1 ] Rank Defense increase against physical and magickal techniques [ considered to be at a minimum of E Defense ].

Heavy: This armor grants a Two [ 2 ] Rank Defense increase against physical and magickal techniques [ Considered to be at a minimum of D Defense ].
Wearing Heavy Armor costs the wearer One [ 1 ] Activation per turn, unless otherwise noted.

[ For further rules on Armor and Weapon degradation, see the following [LINK ARTICLE WHEN DONE] for more information ]

▰ Elemental Statuses:
Magickal power can be either baleful or wondrous and at all times is a cause for concern. Their powers are ruinous and create great things. They stand at odds with one another and are constantly in flux. Each element is beaten out by another, suffering a One [ 1 ] Rank Penalty in collisions against the other, and while most of these elements are static, the holiest of elements are constantly at war.

With Sacred and Curse being corrupted by the newest arrival. Darkness disrupted by a new light, and light eclipsed by the arrival of a new dark. When these two elements come into contact with each other, the first one in play will lose its superiority.

Fire beats Wind ▰ Wind beats Lightning ▰ Lightning beats Earth ▰ Earth beats Water ▰ Water beats Fire

Sacred beats Cursed ▰ Cursed beats Sacred

In Summary:
• The inferior element loses One [ 1 ] Rank of efficiency against its weakness.
• Sacred or Curse determine their weakness on priority. Newer = Stronger  

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

▰▰▰ Introduction to Combat Systems:

While the introduction to the BASIC system introduced the concepts of combat in What Fate Wrought and the standard level and elemental effects, it did not settle into the deeper concepts of combat. This was purposeful, as combat is not the primary focus of the guild, and reference back to this article should be largely for those details in simple clashes.

The more advanced rules of combat will follow below, and specialized techniques of both the Warrior and Spellcaster will be found in their individual Manuals, found alongside the Crafter's manual in the :: Feats :: Equipments:: Deities :: Guide

▰▰▰ Physical Combat ▰▰▰
Physical Combat is the use of the body, weapons, and one's environment through physical means to achieve victory. Physical Combat trees, Physical Defense, and Unique Abilities draw from the Stamina Resource Pool.

▰▰ Physical Combat - Classifications:
There exist three simple classifications of Physical Combat:

• Unarmed [ Combat consisting of simple hand-to-hand or martial arts ]
• Armed Melee [ Frontline Combat with Weaponry ]
• Armed Range [ Combat performed with Bows, Crossbows, Slings, at Range outside of Melee and with a bonus against armours ]


▰▰ Physical Combat - Unarmed:
The simplest, yet most demanding, combat art style. Facing opponents in simple unarmed combat and positioning for a better vantage. The art of Unarmed Combat combines Grappling, throws, and various forms of fisticuffs to subdue foes.

The most straightforward combat style, and burdened by a singular Special Rule: When facing an armed melee opponent, the first round of combat, the unarmed combatant faces a Two [ 2 ] Rank Penalty to any attack or defensive action, until they can close the distance of their opponent's weapon fairly.


▰▰ Physical Combat - Armed [ Melee ]:
There are three categories of Melee Weapons:

• Versatile: Quick, Fluid, and Multi-Positional weapons.
• Heavy: Hard-hitting, shattering, and position breaking.
• Reach: Extensive, long, and designed to stop progression.

Whether armed in Sword and Shield, or Polearm and Grit, the art of armed melee is a dance. The aim of armed combat is maneuvering one's arms beyond the defenses of their opponents and into the weaknesses of whatever armor they bear. Though not necessarily an easy dance, it has many schools, each with its own specific skills to change the rules just slightly and tilt the odds ever in their favor.

Versatile Weapons beat the Heavy Weapons ▰ Heavy Weapons beat the Reach Weapons ▰ Reach Weapons disrupt Versatile Weapons


▰▰ Physical Combat - Armed [ Ranged ]:
To fight at range is to engage in the most impersonal form of combat and the most unreliable without practice. Archers are prey to the whims of weather, wind, and chance in a world dominated by magick and fate. For the simplicity of taking target on an opponent at range and avoiding prolonged physical encounters, any ranged attacks take both activations for a round. While defensive reactions take the standard amount.

▰ Armor Piercing ▰
The greatest bonus afforded to Ranged Attacks is their ability to take enemies by surprise and to penetrate the armor of foes. Ranged Attacks for all they surrender in close combat, have the ability to bypass rated armor of opponents, but can still be deflected by opponents who are aware.

This affords ranged combatants great strength versus armored enemies, but at the cost of action economy. It also puts them at risk of melee opponents quickly closing the distance in open combat.

▰ Roll 1d6 to Hit ▰
:: To hit you must hit the level of your Technique [ E1, D2, C3, B4, A5, S6 ] minus One-Third [ 1/3 ] of your Character Level [ Rolling Up ] or above. A 1 will ALWAYS be a miss, so the minimum to hit something must always be a 2.  

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

▰▰▰ Magickal Combat ▰▰▰
Magickal talents, Spells, and some Unique Abilities attributed as such draw from the Spirit Pool.

The dance of the soul, untamed, wild, now given form and direction. Different Schools of Arcana have raised notions of the proper form of magic, as have the minds and hearts of many aspiring children locked beneath their parents' homes yearning to free their gift. The five common forms, Bolt, Touch, Orb, Storm, and Wave come from a mixture of wild and scholarly sources.

▰▰ Magickal Combat - Classifications:
There exist three simple classifications of Magickal Combat:

• Cantrip/Immediate [ Combat focusing spirit into spells immediately surrounding the body in concentrated strikes and wards in Melee Range. ]
• Area of Effect [ Zone Affecting spells, that harm or help everyone in the vicinity ]
• Magickal Ranged [ Focused precise magickal energies delivered from outside of Melee range with a bonus against Armour ]


▰▰ Magickal Combat [ Cantrip/Immediate Cast ]:
Cantrips are the arts of the Magickal Casting styles. They allow everything from such small acts as lighting a candle with a wave of one's hand to facing opponents in simple close-quarters combat.

Combat cantrips are focused and precise, building forms of magick and throwing them directly at one's foe. When in close quarters, Cantrips are considered equal to Unarmed Combat, with the distinction that they consume Spirit instead of Stamina.

The most basic magickal abilities, and burdened by a singular Special Rule: When facing an armed melee opponent, the first round of combat, the mage faces a Two [ 2 ] Rank Penalty to any attack or defensive action, until they can build a sufficient charge. If their foe meets them in an active Area of Effect Spell, this penalty is negated.


▰▰ Magickal Combat [ Area of Effect Cast ]:
"The Tempest of the Soul can be brought forth and placed upon the mortal realm with practised hands. Too long have emotions and bitterness harnessed in our souls been left to languish, and now is the job of the magi to free it."

Just as with Ranged Spells, a Magi can cast Area of Effect spells that affect a number of players in the immediate vicinity of the zone. Area of Effect Spells are great tools for affecting many people at a low cost, but they are uncaring, affecting both friend and foe.

Area of Effect Spells require both Activations to cast, but only one to sustain. And if the caster has a separate power source, a caster of at least 4th level may power their spells for a short time by exterior means.


▰▰ Magickal Combat [ Ranged Cast ]:
You've captured lightning in a bottle, how do you safely release it? The answer is you cannot. You mitigate the risks, you find a target you want to destroy, and you hope that its desire to survive isn't stronger than your will to strike it down. Even if your intent is powerful, Magick is wild, deceitful, and may not bend entirely to your will, and there is a chance it may break away from you.

Casting magic at range takes focus and avoiding or ignoring the presence of immediate combat to focus on a distant target and nearby physical encounters, any ranged spells take both activations for the round. While defensive reactions from aware opponents take a standard activation.

▰ Armor Piercing ▰
The greatest bonus afforded to Ranged Spell is their ability to take off guard and bypass their armor. Casting Ranged Spells, for all you surrender in close combat, these spells have the ability to bypass rated armor of opponents, but can still be deflected by opponents who are aware.

This affords spellcasters great strength versus armored enemies, but at the cost of action economy. It also puts them at risk of melee opponents quickly closing the distance in open combat.

▰ Roll 1d6 to Hit ▰
:: To hit you must hit the level of your Technique [ E1, D2, C3, B4, A5, S6 ] minus One-Third [ 1/3 ] of your Character Level [ Rolling Up ] or above. A 1 will ALWAYS be a miss, so the minimum to hit something must always be a 2.  

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

▰▰▰ Introduction to GUILE-Based Systems:

While the introduction to the BASIC system introduced the concepts of combat in What Fate Wrought and the succeeding posts clarified rules on physical and magickal combat specifically, it has not yet touched on the matters related to the GUILE System.

GUILE is most blatantly, the Social Mechanism of the Guild, where Spirit, Stamina, and Health relate around the aspects of Combat. Guile deals in all manners that handle Social, Creative, and Hierarchal matters.

As before, the more advanced, Class-Specific, rules of Guile will follow below, and specialized abilities of the Patrician, Laborer, and Merchant [ The Hand of the Hierophant ] will reference this page when or if they provide any differring rules from those found within.

Many of the rules and systems here affect or are conceived in conjuction with the articles found in the Crafter's manual in the :: Feats :: Equipments:: Deities :: Guide

▰▰ GUILE - General Use: [ The following skills can be used by any class ]

• Conflict Avoidance: When in conflict, or threatened with conflict, a player can use the [ Conflict Avoidance ] ability; to use this they must pay an amount of Guile equal to the Level of the Highest Level Threat [ E:1-2, D:3-4, C:5-6, B:7-8, A:9-10, S:11-12 ]. At which point they can attempt one of two Avoidance techniques.
tab :: Parley: Negotiate passage or safe harbor as a contract, guarantees safety for at least 4 turns while negotiations are made.
tab :: Sanctuary: Call upon the 'Old Law' of Sanctuary, marks anyone who fails to abide the law with a doubled bounty. Less likely to work with unlawful or non-religious opponents.

• Gather Information: When in an unknown region, looking for characters, monsters, or even obscure information, this is the go-to skill. On a battlefield, this check allows players to learn more information about forces at large. [ All event forces must have a set limit from the outset ] This skill is essentially, if you need to find out, ask someone relevant:
tab :: While not all uses of this skill are known currently, we will update any new uses as we find them, please feel free to experiment.

• Contract: Guile can be used to arrange contracts between standing parties, at a cost per Term. Each Term added to the [ Contract ] costs an E-Ranked amount of Guile to Propose. A disagreeable Term can be [ Countered ] for the same cost. When the Terms of the [ Contract ] have been established, both parties must pay their due portion of the finalized contract once more to [ Sign ] the Contract.

tab ▰ [ Contracts ] arranged in this method will be recorded in the [ Contract Charter ]. ▰

tab ▰ Eligible Terms for Contracts:
tab • Amount of Payments
tab • Act of Service [ Craft, Gather, Travel, Delivery, Guard, Siege ]
tab • Length of Service
tab • Remedy for Breach
tab • Granted Items
tab • Granted Properties
tab • Granted Titles

Debate terms of a basic contract, imposes expectation on agreement. Can use Counter to nullify terms, each new term costs a E-Rank amount of Guile to propose. Final Contract costs ALL TERMS amount of Guile to Activate.

• Counter: When imposed upon by another Guile ability, arguing a Term of a contract, refuting an investment, or the like, you can utilize the [ Counter ] skill to work against their endeavour. To this end, you must only meet their challenge to prevent it.
tab :: Meeting an opposed Check stops the effect or negates the Term when deciding contracts.
tab ▰ [ Counter ] can be used in response to the following Skills.
tab • Gather Information
tab • Terms of Contract
tab • Haggle
tab • Investment
tab • Terms of Trade Contract
tab • Markup

• Stealth: To remain hidden is an act unto itself and consumes Guile each turn where you would obscure your position from the masses. While under the effect of [ Stealth ] you are actively hiding your physical presence as well as your personal effect, allowing you to undertake actions without revealing your allegiances. A [ Stealth ] requires a declaration of obfuscation [ intent that the character wishes to remain obscured ] and the amount that they will be paying each turn.
tab :: Players of a high enough level may passively detect a player under the effect of [ Stealth ].
tab :: Passing an Awareness check exceeding the Stealth level will expose a Stealthed character.

• Awareness: When given reason to believe there is a hidden threat or someone is not who they are set out to be, one may wish to make an Awareness check. [ Awareness ] allows you to detect those under the effects of [ Stealth ] by exceeding their Stealth level, however, in combat it can only be checked at the end of your turn. Subjecting you to the effects of those currently under Stealth when your turn begins.
tab :: To detect those under the effect of [ Stealth ] in combat, you must exceed their stealth check by One [ 1 ] Rank.
tab :: To detect those under the effect of [ Stealth ] outside of combat, you must exceed their [ Stealth ] check by Two [ 2 ] Ranks.


▰▰ GUILE - Mercantile Use: [ The following skills can be used by any class; relates to Trade and Crafting ]

• Haggle: Players can attempt to haggle for up to Ten [ 10% ] Percent off of a shop's merchandise; by paying at Ranked intervals. Each equivalent amount of Guile amounts to a stacked 2% discount. Merely attempting to [ Haggle ] consumes an E-Ranked amount of Guile, offering diminishing returns, with a full Ten Percent only achieved at an S-Ranked payment. Shopkeepers, however, have the upper hand in this encounter and any rank of [ Counter ] They apply against a Haggle, counts in it's entirety against the Haggler, removing the discount with an A-Ranked attempt.
tab :: Attempting to Haggle in a disagreeable or neutral situation, you may use this system for balance. Players do not have to utilize this system if their characters have friendly relations.
tab :: Attempting to Haggle engages an E-Ranked amount of Guile, before any amounts are applied. Percent Bonuses for the Haggler begin at D-Rank.
tab :: Shopkeeper or Nobles if NPC business may choose to [ Counter ] proposal
tab :: Shopkeeper Counters remove 2% Discount per Rank, with no penalty.
tab :: Shopkeepers may choose to outright deny too many requests for Discount.

• Gather: In threads flagged for Resource Gathering, players may gather resources based on their rarity depending on the amount of Guile they spend. Only one kit worth can be gathered per expenditure; however, one may make multiple expenditures at once if you have the Guile for it. Some Classes have special rules for this.
tab ▰ Common E-Rank :: Uncommon C-Rank :: Rare A-Rank
tab :: Only one resource unit gathered per expenditure; unless stated otherwise.
tab :: You may gather multiple times at once.
tab :: Resources cannot be gathered during combat.

• Craft: Crafting items, whether in or out of combat, incurs a basic Guile cost at the time of creation. Only one item can be crafted per expenditure unless explicitly stated otherwise. Only Simple Items can be crafted in Combat, for two activations, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
tab ▰ Simple E-Rank :: Complex C-Rank :: Compound A-Rank
tab :: Only one item may be crafted per expenditure; unless stated otherwise.
tab :: You may craft multiple times at once.
tab :: Only Simple Items may be Crafted During Combat.
tab :: Crafting during Combat consumes both activations.
tab tab - Exception [ See Jobs :: Wandering Fools :: XIX : The Chemist ]