Chapter 2
Playing the Game
Combat
Not all situations can be resolved in a diplomatic manner. Fortunately, there are more ways to settle disputes and this section will cover one of them: Combat.
Your character has a number of Proficiencies and most of these have moves.
All your moves have an Execution Time. This indicates the time it takes to perform the move.
As combat is split up into turns, there is only a limited amount of things you can do.
In each combat round, you have:
- 1 Action
- 1 Short Action
- 1 Reaction (Except for free reactions, you can do those as many times as you like)
- Movement
Your Action may also be used to perform a Short Action, but not the other way around. You may perform these in any order of your choosing.
At the end of the round, all these actions replenish.
As combat starts, each PC will roll an Alertness check to determine their Initiative. The hits rolled will determine the combat order as the GM does the same for all opponents. Character’s turns are ordered using their roll, in a descending order. This is similar to what other systems use and as such you may already be familiar with this concept.
If players and enemies roll the same number, the players go first. Players rolling the same number may decide for themselves who acts first. In addition, players with a high Initiative may choose to delay their action until later that turn (In essence, you may treat your Initiative as any value lower than your actual Initiative).
When it is your turn to act, you may spend your actions as you wish.
Movement is a little different than other actions; you can move a number of metres equal to the movement speed on your character sheet. You can split this up into multiple Movement actions until your movement is depleted.
While combat is performed in turns, this is merely for keeping order and structure in your game. In reality, each round happens simultaneously and takes around ten seconds. Players can, as such, decide to wait out their turn to act together with another player if they want to. (For example, Player on order 1 does nothing yet, so that he can do something simultaneously with Player on order 3)
Your character has a number of Proficiencies and most of these have moves.
All your moves have an Execution Time. This indicates the time it takes to perform the move.
As combat is split up into turns, there is only a limited amount of things you can do.
In each combat round, you have:
- 1 Action
- 1 Short Action
- 1 Reaction (Except for free reactions, you can do those as many times as you like)
- Movement
Your Action may also be used to perform a Short Action, but not the other way around. You may perform these in any order of your choosing.
At the end of the round, all these actions replenish.
As combat starts, each PC will roll an Alertness check to determine their Initiative. The hits rolled will determine the combat order as the GM does the same for all opponents. Character’s turns are ordered using their roll, in a descending order. This is similar to what other systems use and as such you may already be familiar with this concept.
If players and enemies roll the same number, the players go first. Players rolling the same number may decide for themselves who acts first. In addition, players with a high Initiative may choose to delay their action until later that turn (In essence, you may treat your Initiative as any value lower than your actual Initiative).
When it is your turn to act, you may spend your actions as you wish.
Movement is a little different than other actions; you can move a number of metres equal to the movement speed on your character sheet. You can split this up into multiple Movement actions until your movement is depleted.
While combat is performed in turns, this is merely for keeping order and structure in your game. In reality, each round happens simultaneously and takes around ten seconds. Players can, as such, decide to wait out their turn to act together with another player if they want to. (For example, Player on order 1 does nothing yet, so that he can do something simultaneously with Player on order 3)
Health and Death
In combat scenarios and on plenty occasions outside of these, your PC may become injured.
Your health represents the physical condition of your body. Your health is divided into six parts; your head, torso, arms and legs.
On level 1 each bodypart starts with 1 health. You can increase this by putting points into the Health Proficiency, explained later.
When you deal damage the defender may choose where to assign that damage. However, for each 6 that was rolled, the attacker may assign an extra damage point to a bodypart of his or her choosing.
For example: You attack a creature and roll a 5, a 2 and a 6. The 2 misses and the defender assigns the damage from the 5 to its right leg and the 6 to its torso. You, the attacker, assign one additional damage to its head because of the 6 you rolled.
When you take damage from an attack, you may divide that damage however you like among bodyparts that haven’t been destroyed. Certain traps might force you to pick certain bodyparts (spike traps damage your legs, psychic damage always goes to the head, etc.). In addition, if an attacker rolls a hit against you that is a 6, the attacker may choose a bodypart to assign an additional point of damage to (for each rolled 6). Damage cannot be assigned to a Destroyed bodypart, but can be assigned to Crippled ones. This means the health of a bodypart can never fall below the negative of its maximum health. If this would happen, the damage must be dealt somewhere else.
When a bodypart’s HP is reduced to or below zero, that bodypart is permanently destroyed. You can attempt to prevent this by using the Protect Limb move in the Health Proficiency.
When you collide with something or fall very far, roll a Check against yourself, with an amount of dice equal to the distance of your fall in metres, minus one. You get one damage point to your bodyparts that hit the wall/floor for every Hit.
Your health represents the physical condition of your body. Your health is divided into six parts; your head, torso, arms and legs.
On level 1 each bodypart starts with 1 health. You can increase this by putting points into the Health Proficiency, explained later.
When you deal damage the defender may choose where to assign that damage. However, for each 6 that was rolled, the attacker may assign an extra damage point to a bodypart of his or her choosing.
For example: You attack a creature and roll a 5, a 2 and a 6. The 2 misses and the defender assigns the damage from the 5 to its right leg and the 6 to its torso. You, the attacker, assign one additional damage to its head because of the 6 you rolled.
When you take damage from an attack, you may divide that damage however you like among bodyparts that haven’t been destroyed. Certain traps might force you to pick certain bodyparts (spike traps damage your legs, psychic damage always goes to the head, etc.). In addition, if an attacker rolls a hit against you that is a 6, the attacker may choose a bodypart to assign an additional point of damage to (for each rolled 6). Damage cannot be assigned to a Destroyed bodypart, but can be assigned to Crippled ones. This means the health of a bodypart can never fall below the negative of its maximum health. If this would happen, the damage must be dealt somewhere else.
When a bodypart’s HP is reduced to or below zero, that bodypart is permanently destroyed. You can attempt to prevent this by using the Protect Limb move in the Health Proficiency.
When you collide with something or fall very far, roll a Check against yourself, with an amount of dice equal to the distance of your fall in metres, minus one. You get one damage point to your bodyparts that hit the wall/floor for every Hit.
Bodypart Damage
Head
You go unconscious. As long as you are unconscious because of a Crippled Head, your Head regenerates 1 health per hour until it reaches 1 health.
When unconscious, your opponent chooses bodypart target for all hits instead of you.
Destroyed:
You die.
Torso
You can no longer use your action to Run. Whenever an attack hits you, your Torso takes an additional 1 damage (even if your Torso was not assigned any damage as part of this attack)
Destroyed:
You die.
Left Arm
Your left arm drops any items it is currently holding and becomes unusable. This includes grabbing, attacking, climbing and any other action you might need your arm for.
Destroyed:
All the effects of Crippled; You permanently lose your left arm.
Right Arm
Your right arm drops any items it is currently holding and becomes unusable. This includes grabbing, attacking, climbing and any other action you might need your arm for.
Destroyed:
All the effects of Crippled; You permanently lose your right arm.
Left Leg
Your movement speed is reduced by half of your base movement speed (or to zero, if other leg is crippled as well). You can no longer use your action to Run and you can no longer jump or kick.
Destroyed:
All the effects of Crippled; You permanently lose your left leg.
Right Leg
Your movement speed is reduced by half of your base movement speed (or to zero, if other leg is crippled as well). You can no longer use your action to Run and you can no longer jump or kick.
Destroyed:
All the effects of Crippled; You permanently lose your right leg.
Healing
Bodyparts which have taken damage but are not Destroyed can be restored via normal methods. Health regained can be assigned to any damaged bodypart until it reaches its maximum health. This can either be done with magic, or with regular medical care. When you Rest for a minimum of 8 consecutive hours, every Crippled bodypart regains 1 Health. First-Aid Checks may help heal Crippled bodyparts faster.
Bodyparts which have been Destroyed cannot be healed by normal means. Powerful restoration spells may be able to regrow limbs.
Bodyparts which have been Destroyed cannot be healed by normal means. Powerful restoration spells may be able to regrow limbs.
Interacting with the world
When not finding yourself in a fight, the flow of actions is less restricted.
While playing the game, you can use your Proficiencies as you wish, staying within the constraints the GM has determined for your campaign. The timing of actions remains the same, but as there is no pressure from incoming attacks this often does not matter.
While playing the game, you can use your Proficiencies as you wish, staying within the constraints the GM has determined for your campaign. The timing of actions remains the same, but as there is no pressure from incoming attacks this often does not matter.
Interacting with NPCs
Daios exists of more than just the PCs and the fodder for them to beat to a pulp. There are many other NPCs who may be friendly or hostile towards you, or varying in between.
As is the nature of Role-Playing Games, you can usually talk to any NPCs you encounter. The GM will act out the NPC, while you do the same for your PC.
NPCs are one of the best ways of gathering information, tools and influence. Asking about rumors in a tavern, negotiating with a shopkeeper and requesting aid from leaders of various groups or factions may be things you find yourself doing regularly.
The fun in a Role-Playing Game often comes from acting out these interactions. While you’re at the table, immerse yourself fully in the personality and mannerisms of your PC. Imagine yourself as an actor and your PC is your role.
As is the nature of Role-Playing Games, you can usually talk to any NPCs you encounter. The GM will act out the NPC, while you do the same for your PC.
NPCs are one of the best ways of gathering information, tools and influence. Asking about rumors in a tavern, negotiating with a shopkeeper and requesting aid from leaders of various groups or factions may be things you find yourself doing regularly.
The fun in a Role-Playing Game often comes from acting out these interactions. While you’re at the table, immerse yourself fully in the personality and mannerisms of your PC. Imagine yourself as an actor and your PC is your role.
Unskilled Moves
Generally, if your action requires a skill check you do not have proficiency in, you cannot perform the action and automatically fail. However, several Moves may be performed unskilled (those will be marked as such).
When you make a roll with proficiency, a 4 or higher is counted as a hit.
In an unskilled roll, you only have one d6 (similar to having one level in the proficiency), but instead of a 4, you must roll a 5 or higher to achieve a hit, which increases the difficulty of your check.
In addition, the GM may rule that, because you had no skill in the performed action, your failure may weigh heavier than that of a character that was skilled at this particular action.
Advantages and disadvantages work as usual, even when you are unskilled.
When you make a roll with proficiency, a 4 or higher is counted as a hit.
In an unskilled roll, you only have one d6 (similar to having one level in the proficiency), but instead of a 4, you must roll a 5 or higher to achieve a hit, which increases the difficulty of your check.
In addition, the GM may rule that, because you had no skill in the performed action, your failure may weigh heavier than that of a character that was skilled at this particular action.
Advantages and disadvantages work as usual, even when you are unskilled.
Determining Difficulty
For many actions, the difficulty of related checks is already determined by other factors. For many others however, difficulties must be improvised as players often perform actions not expected by either the GM or the system.
A player can never roll more than six dice from skill level alone. With bonuses, however, it is possible to score more than six hits.
As such, in general, the difficulty is determined as such: 0: Performing these tasks requires barely a thought. Anyone can do this. Failure is only possible if you try deliberately, or are severely impeded by external factors.
Examples include finding a book in a small library, walking to the other end of a hallway, lighting a candle or opening an unlocked door.
1: Something relatively easy. Only minimal training is required to perform the action. Sometimes even untrained individuals may succeed on this.
Examples include picking an easy lock, jumping across a gap, climbing a wall or finding something that has been hidden.
2: Moderate training is required to perform tasks of Difficulty 2. Unskilled characters can not perform them, but to the better trained individuals these actions are often successful.
Examples include walking across narrow footing, climbing a tall cliffside or swimming through a large body of flowing water.
3: Only well-trained individuals that have dedicated large amounts of time to their skills can consistently clear these checks. Lesser trained individuals have little hope of success.
Examples include swimming through a storm, jumping off a fast-moving vehicle unharmed, finding a straw of hay in a needle-stack, navigating a burning building filled with heavy smoke or creating a priceless work of art.
4: Only those that have pushed themselves further than the people around them will be able to regularly succeed in these situations.
Examples include lifting a large vehicle with your bare hands, catching an arrow mid-flight, hitting an eagle with a stone or navigating a trap-infested dungeon in absolute darkness.
5: These actions are only doable by those that have gone above and beyond, with years of experience and training.
Examples include toppling a giant, holding your breath as you dive far beneath the surface to locate sunken treasure, playing (and winning) a match of tennis with a flail or dodging a cannonball fired at close range.
6: The absolute peak of mortal ability. Even those at the upper limits of skill will have a very hard time performing these actions.
Examples include throwing a stone at supersonic speeds, stopping a fired cannonball with your body, hearing a pin drop in the midst of a battlezone or dodging a streak of lightning.
>6: Only the absolute best of the best have any hope of success and only with powerful magical aid. Pure strength and skill is no longer enough to succeed.
Examples include swimming through pure sulfuric acid, wrestling an adult dragon naked, diving through a volcano or leaping off a skyscraper unharmed.
A player can never roll more than six dice from skill level alone. With bonuses, however, it is possible to score more than six hits.
As such, in general, the difficulty is determined as such: 0: Performing these tasks requires barely a thought. Anyone can do this. Failure is only possible if you try deliberately, or are severely impeded by external factors.
Examples include finding a book in a small library, walking to the other end of a hallway, lighting a candle or opening an unlocked door.
1: Something relatively easy. Only minimal training is required to perform the action. Sometimes even untrained individuals may succeed on this.
Examples include picking an easy lock, jumping across a gap, climbing a wall or finding something that has been hidden.
2: Moderate training is required to perform tasks of Difficulty 2. Unskilled characters can not perform them, but to the better trained individuals these actions are often successful.
Examples include walking across narrow footing, climbing a tall cliffside or swimming through a large body of flowing water.
3: Only well-trained individuals that have dedicated large amounts of time to their skills can consistently clear these checks. Lesser trained individuals have little hope of success.
Examples include swimming through a storm, jumping off a fast-moving vehicle unharmed, finding a straw of hay in a needle-stack, navigating a burning building filled with heavy smoke or creating a priceless work of art.
4: Only those that have pushed themselves further than the people around them will be able to regularly succeed in these situations.
Examples include lifting a large vehicle with your bare hands, catching an arrow mid-flight, hitting an eagle with a stone or navigating a trap-infested dungeon in absolute darkness.
5: These actions are only doable by those that have gone above and beyond, with years of experience and training.
Examples include toppling a giant, holding your breath as you dive far beneath the surface to locate sunken treasure, playing (and winning) a match of tennis with a flail or dodging a cannonball fired at close range.
6: The absolute peak of mortal ability. Even those at the upper limits of skill will have a very hard time performing these actions.
Examples include throwing a stone at supersonic speeds, stopping a fired cannonball with your body, hearing a pin drop in the midst of a battlezone or dodging a streak of lightning.
>6: Only the absolute best of the best have any hope of success and only with powerful magical aid. Pure strength and skill is no longer enough to succeed.
Examples include swimming through pure sulfuric acid, wrestling an adult dragon naked, diving through a volcano or leaping off a skyscraper unharmed.
Adrenaline and Favour
In general, a player cannot ever roll more than six dice. There are, however, exceptions to this in the form of Adrenaline and Favor. Both are bonuses handed out by the GM on his or her discretion, though both work slightly differently.
Adrenaline is given to a character performing a heroic or impressive action in severe danger or stress. This is given as the character performs the related check, meaning the character adds an extra d6 to his or her dice pool for this roll. Adrenaline cannot be saved for later and is used immediately. (Repeating the exact same action again will not give you adrenaline again).
Examples:
Adrenaline: “I rush underneath the maw of the beast, carefully avoiding its sharp teeth, turn around and stab it in its side with all my might.”
No adrenaline: “I hit the enemy with my sword.”
Adrenaline: “I look down the gap between the two buildings, gulping as I see the ground far, far below me. I take a few paces back, ready myself and charge forward screaming as my momentum carries me across to the other side.”
No adrenaline: “I jump across the gap”
Adrenaline: “I stare my enemy in its eyes as I suddenly launch myself forwards. I drop my weapons to free my hands and crash into him, pinning him to the ground.”
No adrenaline: “I grapple the enemy”
Adrenaline: “I look at the dragon as it flies past us on the cliff. I time carefully and charge forwards, launching myself off the cliffside to land on the beast, stabbing it in its back with my sword to keep myself steady.”
No adrenaline: “I do not jump off this cliffside because I like to live”
Favour is similar, but is expended in a different way. 66 is not a game where you always do the perfect optimal thing, because you’re not running a stat table but a character. Your character has ideals, flaws and morals which might mean you sometimes do things that, when viewed purely objectively, might not have been the most optimal action.
This is, however, what creates an interesting story around your character and will generally make the game more engaging for everyone involved.
Whenever the GM believes you are roleplaying your character especially well, disregarding what might be optimal to you to instead do something that enriches the story of the game or your character, the GM may bestow Favour on your character. You cannot have more than one favour (you either have it or you don’t). However, you cannot use this favour on yourself.
Whenever another character is performing an action, you may choose to expend that favour to allow that character to add an extra d6 to his or her dice pool for that check just as one might when under the effect of Adrenaline. You are allowed to stack these effects and multiple players might even join in to give one character a larger amount of Favour bonuses.
Adrenaline is given to a character performing a heroic or impressive action in severe danger or stress. This is given as the character performs the related check, meaning the character adds an extra d6 to his or her dice pool for this roll. Adrenaline cannot be saved for later and is used immediately. (Repeating the exact same action again will not give you adrenaline again).
Examples:
Adrenaline: “I rush underneath the maw of the beast, carefully avoiding its sharp teeth, turn around and stab it in its side with all my might.”
No adrenaline: “I hit the enemy with my sword.”
Adrenaline: “I look down the gap between the two buildings, gulping as I see the ground far, far below me. I take a few paces back, ready myself and charge forward screaming as my momentum carries me across to the other side.”
No adrenaline: “I jump across the gap”
Adrenaline: “I stare my enemy in its eyes as I suddenly launch myself forwards. I drop my weapons to free my hands and crash into him, pinning him to the ground.”
No adrenaline: “I grapple the enemy”
Adrenaline: “I look at the dragon as it flies past us on the cliff. I time carefully and charge forwards, launching myself off the cliffside to land on the beast, stabbing it in its back with my sword to keep myself steady.”
No adrenaline: “I do not jump off this cliffside because I like to live”
Favour is similar, but is expended in a different way. 66 is not a game where you always do the perfect optimal thing, because you’re not running a stat table but a character. Your character has ideals, flaws and morals which might mean you sometimes do things that, when viewed purely objectively, might not have been the most optimal action.
This is, however, what creates an interesting story around your character and will generally make the game more engaging for everyone involved.
Whenever the GM believes you are roleplaying your character especially well, disregarding what might be optimal to you to instead do something that enriches the story of the game or your character, the GM may bestow Favour on your character. You cannot have more than one favour (you either have it or you don’t). However, you cannot use this favour on yourself.
Whenever another character is performing an action, you may choose to expend that favour to allow that character to add an extra d6 to his or her dice pool for that check just as one might when under the effect of Adrenaline. You are allowed to stack these effects and multiple players might even join in to give one character a larger amount of Favour bonuses.