Rules

Attributes

A Delver has six attributes ranging from 3 to 18, reflecting a range from the minimum viable capacity for a playable character to the maximum normal human level.

Three of these attributes are physical.

Strength, reflecting physical prowess, melee combat, carrying gear, and brute force.

Dexterity, reflecting speed, evasion, manual dexterity, reaction time, and combat initiative.

Constitution, reflecting hardiness, enduring injury, and tolerating large amounts of magical healing.

Three are mental attributes.

Intelligence, reflecting memory, reasoning, technical skills, and general education.

Wisdom, reflecting noticing things, making judgments, reading situations, and intuition.

Charisma, reflecting commanding, charming, attracting attention, and being taken seriously.

Attribute Modifiers

Each attribute has a modifier, usually ranging from -2 to +2 based on its score. This modifier is added to skill checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, Shock damage, and the relevant saving throw targets.

In this text, when referring to an attribute’s score, it will be spelled completely, like Strength. When referring to an attribute’s modifier, it will be abbreviated to three letters: Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, or Cha.

Some Feats and abilities may add bonuses or penalties to an attribute’s base modifier. Such bonuses or penalties cannot increase the modifier above +2 or below -2. If an injury or character advancements alters an attribute, immediately update the attribute’s modifier.

Hit Points

A character’s hit points (HP) measure their distance from death. If a character is reduced to zero HP, they are dying.

A new character rolls the hit die for their Class, adding their Con to it. If they have chosen the Die Hard Feat they may add +2 to the roll. The final value for a given die cannot be less than 1 hit point.

A character gains HP as they advance in character level, re-rolling their prior levels and taking the new score if it’s higher, as explained in advancement.

NPCs roll a number of d8’s for thier HP equal to their Hit Dice (HD).

Saving Throws

Saving throws are rolled to resist some unusual danger or chance hazard. To make a saving throw, a person rolls 1d20 and tries to get equal or higher than their saving throw target. Sometimes a save might have bonuses or penalties applied to the roll, but a natural roll of 1 on the die always fails the save, and a natural roll of 20 is always a success.

There are four types of saving throws. Usually it will be obvious which type is most appropriate for a threat, but the GM can decide in marginal situations.

Physical saves resist exhaustion, poisons, diseases, or other bodily afflictions. A Delver’s Physical saving throw target is equal to 16 minus their character level and the highest of their Str or Con.

Evasion saves apply when dodging explosions, avoiding traps, reacting to sudden peril, or other occasions where speed is of the essence. A Delver’s Evasion saving throw target is equal to 16 minus their character level and the highest of their Dex or Int.

Mental saves apply when resisting mental attacks, insubstantial magic spells, psychological trauma, and other mental hazards. A Delver’s Mental saving throw target is equal to 16 minus their character level and the highest of their Wis or Cha.

Luck saves are used when only blind chance can save a Delver, regardless of their native abilities. A Delver’s Luck saving throw target is equal to 16 minus their character level, unmodified by their attributes.

NPCs have a single saving throw target equal to 15 minus half their rounded-down hit dice. Thus, an NPC with 3 HD would have a saving throw target of 14+ for any particular hazard.

Skills

A Delver’s skills reprsent their training. A newly-created Delver starts with a few trained skills and may gain more as the Delver advances in level.

Interpretting Skill Levels

Skills are rated on a scale from -1 to 4. Level -1 represents an absence of training. Level 0 represents basic competence. Level 1 represents professional-level skill. Level 2 in a skill likely makes a character the best in a village or city block. Level 3 represents mastery, and likely makes the character one of the best in a city. Level 4 represents world-class skill.

All skills start at level -1.

The Skill List

Skills may overlap in their application; the character may use either skill at their discretion.

• Exert: Run, swim, climb, jump, labor for long periods, throw things, or otherwise exert your physical strength, stamina, and coordination. Even a Delver with poor physical attributes might have a good Exert skill reflecting athletic training and expertise in making the most of their available talents.
• Heal: Treat wounds, cure diseases, neutralize poisons, diagnose psychological health issues, and otherwise tend to the wounds of body and mind.
• Know: Know matters of history, geography, natural science, zoology, and other academic fields appropriate to a sage or scholar. While some sages might specialize in particular fields, most learned folks have a broad range of understanding, and will rarely be unable to even attempt to answer a question relevant to this skill.
• Lead: Inspire others to follow your lead and believe in your plans and goals. Manage subordinates and keep them focused, loyal, and motivated in the face of danger or failure. A successful leader will keep their subordinate’s faith and confidence even when reason might make the leader’s plan appear questionable at best.
• Magic: Cast or analyze magic and know things about famous mages or notable magical events. Classes that can’t cast spells obtain only intellectual and scholarly benefits from this skill.
• Notice: Notice small details, impending ambushes, hidden features, or concealed objects. Detect subtle smells, sounds, or other sensory input.
• Brawl: Fight unarmed or with natural body weaponry. Punch, kick, grapple, or otherwise brawl without the benefit of man-made tools. This mode of fighting is inefficient at best without a Feat to improve it, but it’s reliably non-lethal.
• Shoot: Fire a bow or crossbow or throw a hurled weapon. Maintain ranged weaponry and fletch arrows.
• Sneak: Move silently, hide in shadows, avoid notice, pick pockets, disguise yourself, pick locks, disable traps, etc.
• Stab: Fight with melee weapons or throw a hurled weapon. Maintain and identify weaponry.

Skill Checks

Most Delvers are skilled, competent folks who are perfectly capable of carrying out the ordinary duties of their role. Sometimes, however, they are faced with a situation or challenge beyond the usual scope of their role and the GM calls for a skill check.

To make a skill check, roll 2d6 and add the most relevant skill level and attribute modifier (denoted as Attribute Modifier/Skill, like Str/Exert or Int/Magic). If the total is equal or higher than the check’s difficulty class (DC), the check is a success. On a failure, the Delver either can’t accomplish the feat at all, bad luck cheats them, or they achieve it at the cost of some further complication. The GM determines the specific consequence of a failure.

To express to this compactly, we write DC {Difficulty Class} {Attribute Modifier/Skill}. For example, DC 8 Int/Know or DC 12 Dex/Heal.

The GM is always the one who calls for a skill check, and they do so at their discretion. The player simply describes what their Delver is attempting to do, and the GM will tell them what skill and attribute combination to roll. If multiple skills or attributes might plausibly fit the action, the player can pick the one most favorable to them.

NPC Skill Checks

When an NPC needs to make a skill check, they roll 2d6 and add their listed skill modifier if their action is something they ought reasonably to be good at. If it isn’t, they roll at +0, or even at -1 if it seems like something they’d be particularly bad at doing. If the NPC is special enough to have actual attribute scores and skill levels, they use those instead.

Group Checks

When multiple Delvers face a situation together, they elect one to make the roll. For each other Delver with at least level 1 in the skill, add 1 to the roll. For each delver with -1 in the skill, subtract 1.

This represents forcing open a heavy door together, everyone trying to stealth past a guard, or collectively climbing a cliff face.

Opposed Skill Checks

When skills oppose each other, the participant attempting to change the situation rolls a skill check vs a DC of 8, plus the other participant’s modifier. For example, a Delver trying to sneak past a guard might roll 2d6 plus their Dex/Sneak against a DC of 8 + the guard’s skill modifier. If the guard is significant enough to have attributes and skill levels, it might be a 2d6+Dex/Sneak against a DC of 8+Wis/Notice. We write this compactly as Dex/Sneak vs Wis/Notice.

Keeping Track of Time

A Turn is a time measurement used to determine how often certain abilities or actions can be taken. Some powers can be triggered only so many times per Turn, while some special abilities only work once per Turn.

A Turn is one particular fight, event, activity, or effort that usually doesn’t take more than ten or fifteen minutes. A fight takes a Turn. A chase takes a Turn. A tense backroom negotiation takes a Turn. So long as the party is doing the same general activity in the same general location, it’s probably one Turn. Most Turns don’t last more than fifteen minutes, though a GM can stretch this if it seems logical.

Combat is made up of Rounds, each one lasting approximately ten seconds. A single combat may involve multiple Rounds of action, but always takes a Turn. A round begins with the actions of the side that wins initiative and ends after the actions of the side with the lowest initiative.

Between adventures or in safe places, time passes naturally, usually counted in either hours, days, or weeks as appropriate.

Injury, Healing, and System Strain

Injury is almost inevitable in an adventurer’s career. Some forms of it can be longer-lasting than others.

Mortal Injury and Stabalization

When a Delver is reduced to zero hit points by a lethal attack, they are Mortally Injured. They will die at the end of the sixth round after their incapacitation unless stabilized by an ally or some special ability. A Mortally Injured character is helpless, and can take no actions and do nothing useful.

Stabilizing an ally is a Main Action that requires a Dex/ Heal or Int/Heal skill check with a DC of 8 plus the number of full rounds since the target fell. If the medic lacks a healer’s kit or other tools, this difficulty is increased by 2. Only one ally can try to stabilize a victim per round, though others can attempt to aid their check, but attempts may be retried each round for as long as hope lasts.

Once stabilized, the victim remains incapacitated for one Turn before recovering with 1 hit point and the Frail condition.

NPCs who aren’t important enough to merit a name die instantly when reduced to zero hit points.

Frail

Creatures who reach 0 HP and then recover are Frail.

A Frail character can act normally, but if reduced to 0 HP again, they die instantly. Frail characters do not recover hit points through Natural Healing.

Frailty is removed with a week of bed rest and medical attention by someone with a healer’s kit and at least Heal-0 skill. In addition, someone can with at least Heal-1 can make one attempt to remove Frailty with a healer’s kit, an hour of labor, and a successful DC 10 Dex/Heal or Int/Heal check.

Frail characters without this level of medical care must make a Physical save after a week; on a failure they die 1d6 days later, while success means they lose their Frailty after another month’s rest.

Natural Healing

A wounded creature can recover hit points by getting a good night’s rest and adequate food. Provided they are warm, fed, and comfortable, they regain hit points each morning equal to their experience level, or equal to their hit dice if they are NPCs. Characters suffering some form of privation do not recover hit points through sleep.

Frail creatures do not recover hit points through natural healing.

First Aid

Healers can patch up victims in a hurry at a cost to their physical resilience. By spending one minute patching up an ally with a healer’s kit, a healer can heal 1d6+Heal points of damage. Each such application adds one System Strain to the target. First aid can restore hit points to a Frail target, but it cannot remove their Frailty.

One Turn is enough time for a healer to apply as much first aid as is wanted to the rest of their party.

System Strain

Magical forms of healing (like Healing Touch) or use of powerful augmenting magic (like Haste) can take a toll on a user’s physiology. Their System Strain total reflects the total amount of stress their body has undergone.

A healthy character starts at zero System Strain and has their Constitution as their maximum.

Magical healing and certain spells and abilities (like Speed) will add to a subject’s System Strain. If this addition would put them over their maximum they cannot activate the spell, benefit from healing, or otherwise gain any use from the ability. If they are forced over the maximum by some unavoidable effect, they are instead knocked unconscious for an hour.

Characters lose one point of accumulated System Strain after each night’s rest, assuming they are warm, fed, and comfortable and can get at least eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. Cold camps, stony bedding, etc, prevent this recovery.

Poisons and Diseases

Most toxins force a victim to make a Physical saving throw to resist their effects or mitigate their harm. Weak perils might grant as much as a +4 to the saving throw, while dire threats might apply a -4 penalty.

If the save is failed, the poison or disease takes hold. Most poisons act quickly, inflicting hit point damage, adding System Strain to the target, or applying long-lasting penalties. Diseases can have a slower onset but often apply the same sort of harms.

A medic who treats a poisoned person within a minute of the poisoning can use a healer’s kit to give them a better chance to resist. They may add twice their Heal skill level to the victim’s saving throw roll, or +1 if they have only Heal-0 skill. Once the poison takes hold, the victim has 1d4 Turns to live. The medic can counteract the toxin with an Int/Heal skill check at a DC of at least 10 for most poisons, or 12 or more for truly fearsome ones.

Chases and Pursuit

Delvers have a habit of chasing others and being chased.

If one group is faster than the other group, that group succeeds.

Otherwise, the pursuing group makes an opposed group Dex/Exert or Con/Exert skill check vs the fleeing group’s Dex/Exert or Con/Exert subject to the following modifiers:

On a success, the pursuing group catches up with the fleeing group, beginning combat if they’d like and automatically winning initiative, with the front-members in melee range of the rear members of the fleeing group.

Encumbrance

Gear has encumbrance, measured in points, as exampled in the table below. The more awkward or bulky the object, the greater the encumbrance. The GM adjudicates ambiguous objects.

Gear is either Stowed or Readied.

Stowed gear is packed away carefully in pockets, packs, and harnesses. It’s easier to carry but harder to quickly access. Using Stowed gear requires that the bearer take a Main Action to pull it out before using it. A character can carry a total number of Stowed encumbrance points equal to their Strength score.

Readied gear is carried in hands, holsters, quick-access pockets, or other easily-accessible places. It can be used as part of an action without any further preparation. A character can carry a number of Readied points equal to half their Strength, rounded down.

Delvers can haul much heavier objects if necessary. If they push their limits for longer terms, they can carry an additional two Ready and four Stowed items. The first time they do this, their Move speed is cut by 30%, from 30 feet to 20 feet. The second time, it’s cut by 50%, from 20 feet to 10 feet. More weight than this can’t be practically hauled over significant distances.

Bulk Weights

Sometimes the Delvers need to transport bulk amounts of goods that are measured in pounds. When it’s necessary to convert these weights into encumbrance points, a GM can just assume that fifty pounds is worth about ten points of encumbrance.

Pack Animals and Porters

To haul more equipment and loot than the Delvers can carry, they need pack animals or porters.

Falling and Other Hazards

Some perils occur with some regularity for adventurers. A few of the most common are detailed here.

Falling: Most creatures will take 1d6 damage per 10 full feet they fall, up to 20d6 maximum. Spikes or other hazardous terrain at the bottom will add at least 1d6 to the total. A creature that intentionally leaps or skids down in a controlled way may make a Dex or Str/Exert skill check at a difficulty of 7 + 1 for every 10 full feet; on a success, the effective distance fallen is halved.

Suffocation: Creatures can fight or act normally without air for one round per point of Constitution, or 10 rounds for most NPCs. If they don’t move, they can quadruple this time. Once they run out of air, they must make a Physical save each round or take 1 hit point of damage per HD or level they have.

Starvation: Each day of insufficient food (1 Ration) causes 1 System Strain.

Dehydration: Each day of insufficient water (a waterskin’s worth) causes 3 System Strain.

Starvation and Dehydration are ignored so long as the Delvers aren’t trying to sleep in a dungeon. Assume that they can find sufficient food in the wilderness.

Overland Travel

Unless there is an extremely compelling reason to play it out, montage through the geography traveled and arrive at the destination. For time-tracking purposes, Delvers are able to travel ~18 miles/day.

Dungeon Exploration

These rules are meant for tracking adventures in a dangerous site where perils could spring up at any moment. Not all Wandering Encounters are hostile (see [, but each is a risk of pointless fighting or sudden alarm.

At the start of each Turn after the party enters the site:

1. Roll a secret Wandering Encounter check if necessary. On a 1, the encounter will happen at some appropriate moment this Turn.
2. The Delvers decide what they want to do this Turn: move into a new room, carefully search their current location, fiddle with some object they’ve found, or something else that takes ~ten minutes.
3. The GM explains the result of their actions, whether that’s a first-glance description of a new room, notice of the hideous abomination that’s rearing up before them, or the explosive detonation of the crystal they just experimentally prodded.
4. Start over from the top, assuming their actions have consumed a Turn, until they withdraw from the site or it becomes safe enough to stop counting Turns.

Timekeeping in the Dungeon

Once the Delvers intrude on a ruin, dungeon, corrupt noble’s mansion, or other dangerous site the GM starts tracking time in Turns. Each Delver can do one significant thing per Turn. Different Delvers can be doing different things in the same Turn.

The point of tracking Turns is to have a rough measure of how much activity they’re engaging in within the ruin. The more the Delvers do and the longer they stay, the more likely that they’ll run into Wandering Encounters or the denizens will have time to realize that intruders are present. Eventually, the Delvers need to either pull back or clear the site entirely of its dangerous inhabitants.

Encounters

When the Delvers encounter a group of NPCs in a dungeon, either from a Wandering Encounter or because the room contains NPCs, then:

1. The GM describes what the Delvers see/hear/smell,etc.
2. The Delvers choose if they want to fight, talk, run, or wait.
3. The GM rolls for (or chooses) the NPCs reaction. This frequently results in parley or in combat.

Encounters and Surprise

Delvers are sufficiently alert when exploring a site to avoid any chance of surprise, barring a set ambush. If they burst in on the denizens suddenly, however, the locals might be too stunned to act for a round.

If the GM thinks this is possible, use an opposed roll. Represent bursting into a room as group Str/Exert vs Wis/Notice. Represent sneaking up on a group as group Dex/Sneak vs Wis/Notice.

If the Delvers run into a Wandering Encounter in a room, the creatures will enter through one of the available entrances. In the corridors outside, they’re usually 1d8 x 10 feet away when first spotted or heard, assuming there’s enough space for such a distance.

Wandering Encounters

Every so many Turns, a GM should roll 1d6 to check for a Wandering Encounter. On a 1, the Delvers will run into one at some point during the Turn. The frequency of the check will depend on how alert and organized the site’s inhabitants are.

The actual contents of the encounter are decided when the GM puts together the site. Not all encounters involve running into creatures. Some are mere events or situations that fit the site. In the same vein, not all encounters are necessarily hostile, either. Reaction rolls should be made for all groups of creatures.

When to Roll an Encounter Check

Reaction Rolls

When the party enocunters other creatures, the GM describes what they sense and asks the Delvers what they do. Broadly, the Delvers can:

• Start a fight, in which case combat begins.
• Try to talk (if the other creatures will listen). Getting anything useful requires leverage.
• Run away, and the other creatures might give chase.
• Wait to see what happens.

If how the other creatures respond is uncertain, the GM rolls their reaction, comparing the result against the Delver’s action:

Results of Fight mean just that - head immediately into combat.

Results of Fight if could win, run otw means that they’ll fight if they think that victory is very likely; typically this means they have a 3:1 HD advantage or greater.

Results of Talk mean that they parley with the Delvers. Meaningful parley requires leverage, otherwise it’s just pleasantries or posturing.

Results of Chase means they’ll chase the fleeing Delvers.

Results of Ignore means they’ll continue doing what they were doing before encountering the party.

Denizens of a dungeon immediately turning to combat should be rare, reserved for mindless undead, guardian automatons, or creatures protecting their children. More often, they’ll go fetch allies to create an overwhelming advantage and force the Delvers to retreat.

Parley

Talk is cheap, especially in a dungeon. Getting anything of value (information, assistance, items) requires Leverage.

Leverage is (non-exhaustively) anything the Delvers…

• have that the NPCs want (an exchange).
• can do, that the NPCs want them to do (a promise).
• have done, that the NPCs appreciate (gratitude).
• can do, that the NPCs don’t want them to do (a threat).

The amount of value a NPC is willing to offer should be no more than how much leverage the Delvers have.

Beasts and monstrosities typically want food and territory. Dragons want food, territory, treasure, and domination. Humanoids tend to be interested in territory, treasure, domination, or higher order concepts like fairness, kindness, loyalty, obediency, and sanctity. Giants tend to be interested in their place in the hierarchy of Giants, and anything that will help them climb that hierarchy. Undead and constructs are compelled by whatever directive created them. Fiends want to cause suffering. Aberrations have intentionally alien, unintelligible motives. Fey have emotional motives, often following dream logic, though always personal.

Advancement

Characters accumulate XP by defeating monsters, extracting coins and treasure from dungeons, and making it back to a settlement. The party accumulates XP while on an adventure, and then all surviving members get a share of that treasure when they return to town. Delvers get a full share and Henchmen get half of a share.

Coins and Treasure award 1 XP per 1g worth of value, regardless of whether the treasure is sold or the coin is spent. It just has to make it back to town.

XP for Monsters

XP Thresholds

Once a character has enough XP to level up and is in a settlement, they do.

Advancement Benefits

More HP. To determine their new maximum, they roll their hit die for each level they now possess, adding their Con to each die. No individual die can be reduced below 1 point, even with a negative Con. If the total roll is greater than their current maximum hit points, they take the roll. If less or equal, their maximum hit points increase by one.

Better Saves. Their saving throw scores decrease by one, making it easier to succeed on saving throws by rolling equal or over it. As a first level character has saving throw scores of 15, reaching second level would lower them to 14, modified by their appropriate attributes.

Improved Attack Bonus. A Delver’s base attack bonus improves according to their level and their chosen class.

Gain Advancement Points. A Delver who advances a level gains three advancement points they can spend on improving their skills or attributes. Experts and Partial Experts gain an extra bonus Advancement Point to spend (via Quick Learner), giving them four points each time they advance.

The cost for improving a skill is listed below. Every skill level must be purchased in order; to gain level 1 in a skill you need to pay one point for level 0 and then two points for level 1. A Delver must be the requisite minimum level to increase a skill to certain levels. Less hardened adventurers simply don’t have the focus and real-life experience to attain such a pitch of mastery.

A Delver can also spend their Advancement Points to improve their attribute scores by 1, recalculating their modifier each time.

Gain a new Feat. At levels 2, 5, 7, and 10 a Delver can add a level to an existing Feat or pick up the first level in a new Feat.

If this is the first level they’ve taken in the Feat, they might be granted a bonus skill. During character creation, this bonus skill pick is treated like any other skill pick. Taken as part of advancement, however, it counts as three skill points spent toward increasing the skill.

This is enough to raise a nonexistent skill to level 1, or boost a level 1 skill to level-2. They may do this even if they aren’t high-enough level to normally qualify for a skill level that high.

If the skill points aren’t quite enough to raise the skill to a new level, they remain as credit toward future advances. If applied to a skill that is already at level 4, the Delver can spend the three skill points on any other skill of their choice.

More Spells and Arts. Mages learn new arts, can cast and prepare more spells, and automatically learn new spells as they advance, based on their class and level.