D6 & Combat
Character Creation Abridged
After approval for a character based on backstory and its adherence to sim lore, a character sheet will be filed out for the character. The sheet should have your name, age, and house already filled in by Staff but if not then feel free to input them. The only sections that you should actually need to fill out are the empty white boxes beneath “Skills and Attributes.”
Fill your skills
Points will be allotted based on character age into the available skills. The character sheet will tell you how many points remain to be spent above Skills & Attributes and will go red if you bypass character creation limitations. Once a character has been approved the attribute limits will be gone and any favor points spent can push attributes above their limit, however once all skills are maxed out (3 per skill) Favor points must be spent in another manner.
Languages purchased in the Language skill can be noted (subject to staff approval depending on backstory and access) beneath the skills, and any other notes about the character can be placed in the notes section. This will likely be mention of Valyrian Steel, Possession of a Dragon Bond, Egg, etc. If there is concern for Metagaming regarding these notes they may be left off the sheet and placed where only staff can view them.
Favor
These are 'points' that can be spent to better the chances of success for a roll and would ICly be reflected as 'Favor of the Gods' if they would result in a feat that is otherwise impossible (such as unnatural strength, quickness, constitution, etc.) Favor can be earned through participation in sim events and outstanding story moments and are a reflection of a character's growing legend, examples of moments when Favor may be bestowed could be winning a Tournament, Killing a King, Leading an army through an incredibly risky battle and surviving despite all odds. Clearing one's name in court. Things that would make a person objectively 'famous.' Jamie the Kingslayer would, no doubt, have Favor, even if he is in fact infamous.
These will be recorded on the player sheet in the top right corner and when used will be removed. Their use is simple enough. Spending favor doubles your dice pool for a roll, but must be declared (and accepted by the Storyteller, though I can think of no reason it would be denied) BEFORE rolling, the Storyteller will tell you to double your pool (or roll twice) and roll.
Favor can also be spent to better your character sheet if saved with 2 favor purchasing 1 skill point.
For full information see
D6 System
Songs of Seven Realms will be using what is commonly referred to as a D6 pool or additive pool system as opposed to the common D20 system. Each player will have a character with skills and attributes that offer a range of how well he or she can perform an action. Attributes will be based on how many points are spent in that category’s skills and represent a character's innate ability, while skills are a specific application of those attributes.
Some shorthand that will be used in this explanation is D for a 6 sided die, such as 1D, 3D, 6D etc, where the number represents how many and the D is… well. Die. So 3D is a roll of 3 D6. There is also “DC” which is Defense Check, or Difficulty Check depending on context. This is sometimes reflected as the “obstacle.” In situations where there is a possibility of critical success or critical failure, the term “first die” will be used, and that will be explained below in the critical section.
The roll system here is as follows: “Meets it beats it” and “tie goes to the defender.” These refer to occasions where if we call for a DC of 14, and you land on 14, you win and during head to head rolls someone who is acting to maintain the status quo (their safety, their goods, a hiding spot etc) takes the win in a tie. In the event a tie occurs during a non competitive role such as during initiative, then an additional die will be rolled on each side until one party comes out the victor between the two.
In this system skill is represented by the amount of dice that you can bring to bear against an obstacle. Points spent during character creation allotted by age (or gained through participation in sim story and earned favor) are spent to build your character's experience in the given skills.
The experience that your character has in the provided skills will build their foundational attributes. A character with more experience in the pursuit of wisdom skills will have more power with the wisdom attribute, a character who has focused more on learning feats of strength will possess more of a foundation in strength.
Skills and attributes both work together to build the broader qualities of your character such as how well you defend yourself, how skilled you are with close in fighting, how perceptive and skilled you are with ranged weapons. How well you can defend yourself or manage an intrigue encounter.
Combat
Combat RulesCombat is a fairly straightforward set of steps.
- Initiative is rolled with the agility pool to determine the order that combat proceeds in. High roll goes first, any ties will roll 1 additional die until someone wins that roll.
- The winner of initiative (Presumably the attacker) will post, and then roll their attack against their targets Defense Check. If the roll meets or beats the Defense Check (DC) then the target takes a wound (see below for more information)
- Once all possible wounds have been taken by either side of a combat, combat is over.
A note about the DC - It is a combination of a character's ability to dodge, and soak a hit so while a failed attack may not provide a wound, it is entirely fair to write as a landed hit that the character shrugs off under the umbrella of the 'rule of cool.'
Fleeing Combat
At any point, in lieu of an attack roll, a flee roll can be made which is Agility+Acrobatics as the dice pool. If this roll meets or beats the attackers Defense Check (in the case of a multi party combat, it must beat the highest check of all declared attackers) you have successfully fled combat. Any NPC Guards you had in the scene, will be ‘lost’ to cover your escape and may be killed by the attackers (if they so choose.)
Wounds and Stagger
Wounds are automatically calculated based on attributes and skills and can be tracked on the character sheet with the provided check boxes if the writer prefers, but if nothing else they will be placed so that it is clear how many wounds a character can bear. More information about wounds and healing can be found below in the combat section of the rules.
Stagger is (currently) an optional mechanic that can be used if both players in combat agree to its use and is a threshold where an attack roll that is so far beyond the Defense Check that it reaches ‘stagger’ will leave a character stunned or staggered and unable to attack in the following round. This is likely primarily going to be used by staff in tournaments or high risk high reward events where applicable, but can be used by players during duels, training, etc to add a little something extra.
Multi Party Combat
Group combat will adhere to the “too many cooks in the kitchen” rule. Only so many people can attack a target at any point before they risk striking their allies.
Multi party combat is a 2v1 situation, only 2 parties can attack a specific target at one time with any additional attackers standing in reserve to replace a felled ally.
Once combat begins, either single or multi party, no others can join until the combat is at an end. Those who might have been called (city watch through a storyteller, or allies drawn by a fleeing character) can initiate combat against the victors to stop a murder, or make an arrest. Additional combat will include the wounds taken in previous combat encounters. There is no guarantee the city watch will arrive in time (Storytellers may be otherwise occupied) and a target may be subject to the victors.
Criticals & First Die
Critical rolls in this system are rare and will only be available when called for by a Storyteller
If a critical is an option there is a critical success, and a critical failure based on the result of the first die.
In some circumstances the Storyteller may state a special result for a critical success or failure regardless of the final roll result, but this must be declared BEFORE calling for the roll when it is stated that the role can be Critical.
First die
The first die in any pool (even if it is the only die in the pool) is where the critical can be found.
To land a critical success, the first die must roll 6, (for example, a 4D pool with 6, 2, 1, 4 has a critical success but 2, 1, 4, 6 does not) if it does, you add your total (13 in the example) and then roll the first die again alone, you can roll it as many times as it comes up 6 and add those to your total, but once the first die rolls anything beside 6, that is your total (3, 6's and a 1 for example would add 19 to the 13 in the example for a total of 32) 1's rolled after the initial critical success do not constitute a critical failure.
To land a critical failure, the first die must come up 1 (for example, 1, 2, 4, 6, not 6, 2, 1, 4) in the event this happens you will subtract the highest die from the pool (in the example, 6, leaving a total of 7) and proceed unless there are superseding critical results (such as in the War & Dragons system.)
Wounds and Healing
Upon character creation, your stats will determine how many wounds your character can bear.
Wounds heal one at a time at a rate of 1 wound per RL day, or can be healed entirely by a players medicine roll which can only be attempted once in the presence of a story teller. Even if all wounds are healed on an OOC level, the healing process is expected to be played.
As a fight proceeds, every successful hit against a character's DC will result in a wound, when a character runs out of wounds to take they will be killed. If a character has 3 wounds, they will fall unconscious on the 3rd, and a 4th strike against the character will kill them. Once a character is unconscious, the writer has NO SAY on the fate of their character. It is up to their attackers if they are killed. A writer cannot force their characters death while unconscious, similarly, ANY strike against an unconscious and fully wounded victim such as a slap to the face, kick to the body, or other possibly injurious action will be considered a killing blow unless there is specific note in a post that the victim is being treated carefully and the intention is to keep them alive. Storytellers may ask for clarification in this regard.
Wounds can be taken from poor care in captivity as well. A captive (who is getting the required RP) who is intentionally being poorly treated (refused food and water) or is being kept in horrific conditions (the black cells, a crows cage in the elements, etc) will earn 1 wound per RL day from adverse conditions and may die in captivity due to abuse or neglect.
Death, Grievous Wounds and Loot
Death
This sim goes by the common standard of RRTL as stated in the sim rules, specifically #4, but as stated in rule #4, there is also a reasonable right to consequence. If a character has acted in such a fashion that it would not be a surprise that someone might want them dead, then killing is on the table. What would cause another character to draw steel on yours (or your character to draw steel on another) is likely also enough to justify the expectation of in character death for either party. Even still, wherever possible alternatives to death should be considered.
Arrest or Capture, is a possibility, as is mercy and release with the understanding that the target loses something, be it their possessions, their noble standing, reputation, dignity, there are many things that can be done to male and female characters both that might 'even the scales. or perhaps that they take...
Grievous Wounds
Agreement between players on the application of grievous injury in lieu of death or other punishment is with the expectation that the player receiving the grievous wound will survive it. There are Maester's who can provide care all over King's Landing and in service to EVERY single house. A played Maester (or a player with skill points in medicine) can aid in healing wounds faster but no character who survives a fight would perish of their wounds for lack of 'quality' care.
If you issue a grievous wound as the result of a fight, there should be no expectation that the victim will die from the wound. If you want them dead and have cause to kill them. Kill them.
If you are the victim and have taken a grievous wound and you later state that you died of that wound there could be dispute resolved by staff relating to this to keep the player who granted the 'mercy' of a wound rather than a killing blow from receiving unintended consequence from that decision.
Having said that, grievous wounds (and other sorts of heinous acts) are often better punishment and build more long term story for the victim and the offender than death or exile. A thief losing fingers, or an adulterous wife suffering scarring either physical or psychological impact story far more than the exit of a character.
Loot
Upon capture or death, a character's possessions can be retrieved. We trust people captive or departing a character to honestly state what they might have had on them, be it a Valyrian Steel sword, a signet ring / letter seal in the sigil of the deceased's house or office, coinage, letters / intelligence that might have been recently received / useful to the attackers. Consider also what guards or servants might be carrying if they were captured or slain with the character.
If a character is captured or killed and there is disagreement regarding what might have been on a character based on roleplay, staff may arbitrate the dispute though it is generally preferred players handle these matters.
Valyrian Steel and Special Equipment
A skilled combatant is skilled and an unskilled combatant is unskilled regardless of their arms. The special properties of Valryian Steel when wielded as a weapon do not contribute to combat in a tangible enough sense without training to effect the rolls, but Valyrian Steel may have impact on story in other ways through status, intimidation on individuals of a 'lesser education' or special circumstances yet to be determined.
Valyrian Steel armor however is supposed to have significant resistance to slashing and piercing weapons and would provide such boons even if worn by the unskilled as it is in effect a 'second skin.' It is however considerably more rare than weapons made of Valyrian Steel with no known suits still in Westerosi hands. It may never be known to Westeros outside of rumor and myth.
(Valyrian Steel armor provides +1 DC when worn)
Other special equipment not yet known may provide bonuses on a case by cases basis and such effects will likely be listed here as they are integrated into the story.
A full list of known Valyrian Steel equipment can be found on the Valyrian Steel Citadel page.