The Sword of Cepheus PDF
Preview The Sword of Cepheus
S��������� P��������� T S C HE WORD OF EPHEUS 2D6 SWORD & SORCERY ROLE-PLAYING C REDITS AUTHORS PROMOTIONALVIDEO OmerGolan-Joel.,RichardHazlewood, JoelLovell AndJoshPeters PLAYTESTERS EDITORS Da'ud Vyd, Joel Lovell, Karsten Fritsche, Günther Lietz,IngolfSchäfer,MHaroldPage,MartinSchramm, RichardHazlewoodandJoshPeters PeterKre�,MarkBober INTERIORART ADVISORS HannahSaunders,Publicdomainart,andPublisher's MarcTabyanan,RobertWeaver ChoiceQualityStockArt©RickHershey/FatGoblin Games,LuigiCastellani,MiguelSantos LAYOUT COVERART OmerGolan-Joel StephanieMcAlea LEGALDISCLAIMER • This Product is derived from the Traveller System Reference Document and other Open Gaming Content madeavailablebytheOpenGamingLicenseanddoesnotcontainclosedcontentfromproductspublished byeitherMongoosePublishingorFarFutureEnterprises.ThisProductisnotaffiliatedwitheitherMongoose PublishingorFarFutureEnterprises,anditmakesnoclaimtoorchallengetoanytrademarksheldbyeither entity. The use of the Traveller System Reference Document does not convey the endorsement of this ProductbyeitherMongoosePublishingorFarFutureEnterprisesasaproductofeitheroftheirproductlines. • CepheusEngineandSamardanPress™arethetrademarksofJason"Flynn"Kemp”;StellagamaPublishingis notaffiliatedwithJason"Flynn"KemporSamardanPress™. • Thenames“Cepheus”and“CepheusEngine”areusedinthisproductwithJason"Flynn"Kemp’spermission. • ProductIdentity:ThefollowingitemsareherebyidentifiedasProductIdentity,asdefinedintheOpenGame Licenseversion1.0a,Section1(e)andarenotopencontent,andthusarepropertyofStellagamaPublishing: All trademarks or registered trademarks, proper names (characters, organizations etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines,locations,characters,artworkandtradedress.(Elementsthathavepreviouslybeendesignatedas OpenGameContentorareinthepublicdomainarenotincludedinthisdeclaration.)OpenContent:Except for material designated as product identity (see above), any game mechanics are Open Game Content as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the materialdesignatedasOpenGameContentmaybereproducedinanyformwithoutwrittenpermission.A copyoftheOpenGameLicenselicenseisshownonthelastpageofthisbook.TolearnmoreabouttheOpen GameLicense,pleasegotoh�p://www.opengamingfounda�on.org/. • Allevents,persons,locations,andothermaterialincludedwithintheserulesarestrictlyfictional.Thisalso includesthealienandpsionicsrulesinAppendixA. 2 T�� S���� �� C������ T S C HE WORD OF EPHEUS 2D6 SWORD & SORCERY ROLE-PLAYING Copyright © 2020 Stellagama Publishing All rights reserved. 3 S��������� P��������� T C ABLE OF ONTENTS Introduction 5 Combat 54 Die Roll Conventions 7 Damage and Healing 56 Skills 8 Morale 57 Skill List 8 Example of Personal Combat 58 Languages 9 Chase and Vehicle Combat 60 SkillAdvancement 9 Example of Naval Combat 64 Character Generation 10 Sorcery 66 Step 1: Characteristics 10 The Basics of Sorcery 66 Step 2: Background Skill 12 Concentration 67 Step 3: Careers 12 Learning Spells 67 Careers 14 Critical Failures 67 Mustering Out - Material Benefits 27 Talismans and Foci 69 Example of Character Generation 29 The Shades of Magic 69 Traits 31 Example of Spellcasting 73 Trait List 31 Spells 74 Equipment 37 Spells 75 Gold, Silver, and Other Coins 37 Monsters 93 Encumbrance 37 Monster Types 93 Living Expenses 38 Treasure 117 Adventuring Equiupment 39 Magical Research 117 PersonalArmor 40 Generating Treasures 119 Vehicles and Mounts 41 AppendixA- Inspirational Media 127 Weapons 43 Appendix B - Legal Information 128 Hirelings and Mercenaries 45 important notice 128 Adventuring 48 Publishing Your Own Materials 128 Law and Chaos 48 The Sword of Cepheus Compatibility-Statement License NPC Reactions 48 (CSL) 128 Roaming the Seas 52 4 T�� S���� �� C������ I NTRODUCTION Asorcererblastinghisenemieswiththepowerofhis Biblicalorfaux-Romanworld,menandwomenwith mind.Amuscledbarbarianwieldingaflamingsword sharpwitsandstrongsword-armsfightmythological against the local tyrant’s thugs. A secret cabal of creatures and overthrow tyrants. The common magiciansplottingtocontrolthemindsandsoulsof threads of all three genres are the blade-wielding kings. A gladiator who freed himself from slavery protagonistswhousetheirbrawn,aswellasbrains, wanders the land, righting wrongs and smashing to fight foes both supernatural and mundane and villains. Big muscles, big swords, eldritch sorcery, undertakehair-raising,violentadventures. powersofthemind,eldritchbeasts.FromBurroughs There are three main themes to Sword of Cepheus: to Howard to Moorcock to Italian Peplum films to Gri�yHeroism,DarkSorcery,andanOpenWorld. those dreaming of outlandish post-apocalyptic worlds, heroes raise swords against corrupt nobles, GrittyHeroismmeansthataskilledcharacteriswell inexplicablesorcerers,andalienmonstrosi�es. above a normal person in power and ability. An expertswordsman(MeleeCombat-3)ingoodarmor SwordofCepheusallowsyoutodiverightintothese can defeat many lesser warriors in armed exciting tales and take the role of the heroes and confrontation. They will parry their opponents’ anti-heroes wielding swords and sorcery in such weaponsandstriketrueattheirbodies.Withagood se�ngs. Tactics skill, they will also act well before them. Adventuresawait! However, they are still mortal. An ambush, sneak attack, poison, or other underhanded tactic will put them in grave peril. A lucky arrow can still strike WHATISAROLE-PLAYINGGAME? them, though good armor will mitigate part of the impact.Tacticsandstrategymatter.Evenaso-called A roleplaying game (RPG) is a game in which the "highlevel"charactermustthinkbeforetheyact,and players assume the roles of characters in a fictional lesserfoescandefeattheheroes. setting.Playersactouttheseroleswithinanarrative, either through literal acting or through a process of Dark Sorcery implies that magic is unreliable and structured decision-making based on rules. These often corrupting to those who use them. Doubly so rulesallowfairanddramaticresolutionofuncertain for any "magic items". Any spell can fail, and any or dangerous situations faced by the players’ ritual has a certain risk of dire consequences. Using characters. black magic - such as necromancy - corrupts the sorcerer's soul and body. There are no teleporting Playing Sword of Cepheus requires imagination, supermen throwing fireballs around in Sword of inspiration,anddiscussion.Twoormoreplayerscan Cepheus.Rather,therearesorcerersweavingsubtler play, though typical groups range between 3-5 spells and conducting risky arcane rituals. The same players.Allyouneedtoplayisthisdocument,afew goes to monsters - while often easier (on paper) to six-sided dice, and writing supplies. One player, the slaythanthoseoftraditionalD20games,theyposea Referee, “plays” the game world and describes the danger to those who try to confront them - even fictionalsituation,whiletherestoftheplayerseach skilledheroes. playonePlayerCharacterwhoactsfreelywithinthis world and deals with the consequences of their The worlds of adventure Sword of Cepheus is actions. Together, the Referee and players create a designed to emulate are Open Worlds. The world story, much like the way many of us used to create does not scale with the characters; a moderately stories by playing make believe as young children, skilledcharactercantryandtacklehorriblemonsters, exceptwithmorediceandmorestructure. ataseriousrisk,whileanexpertadventurercanstill face a challenge against "weaker" foes. The players choosetherisklevel;therearenoscaling"challenge WHATISSWORDOFCEPHEUS? ratings" here. Scouting, information gathering, and knowingwhentorunawayareimportantinSwordof SwordofCepheusisaroleplayinggameinthetriple Cepheus. This also means that lightly or moderately “Sword” genres: Sword and Sorcery, Sword and skilled characters can adventure, shoulder to Planet,andSwordandSandal.InSwordandSorcery, shoulder, with highly experienced veterans, and still often-amoral protagonists face vile sorcery and makeadifferencebothinandoutofcombatwithout horridbeastsastheycompleteawesomeadventures beingtotallyovershadowedbytheirexpertpeers. for gold and glory. In Sword and Planet, humans finding themselves on barbaric or decadent alien planetsusetheirsuperiorbrawnandvaliantheartsto win fame, fortune, and the heart of an alien princeling.InSwordandSandal,oftensetinaquasi- 5 S��������� P��������� Sword of Cepheus also draws inspiration from old- only recently gained its freedom from the mighty school science-fiction roleplaying games. It shares Reticulan Empire. Our flagship ruleset is Cepheus manysimilarities,intermsofgamemechanics,with Light,anold-school2D6sci-firole-playinggame. them.Materialsfromold2D6rulesets,includingthe OGL 2D6 Sci-Fi SRD, the Cepheus Engine Core, and Cepheus Light are easily compatible with Sword of TWOBASICRULES Cepheus with only a moderate amount of Rule 0: to facilitate play, the Referee is the final adjustment. arbiterforanygame-relatedques�on. To play, you need a copy of these rules; several six- Rule1:thisisagameplayedforfun.Ifarulegetsin sided dice, available at game and teacher supply the way of your group’s fun, change or ignore it, stores (you'll need at least two, but more is better); subjecttoRuleZero,above. you’llalsoneedapencilandsomepaper. ANOTEONUSABILITY ABOUTTHEAUTHORS All material included in this book, except for the OmerGolan-Joelisa38yearsoldfreelanceEnglish- above introduction chapter and the Open Game Hebrew-English translator and an avid sci-fi and Licensetextatthebackofthebook,isOpenContent. fantasy gamer. He lives in the town of Yavne, Israel This means that the book, with the above-noted withhiswifeEinatandtwocatsSakiandChicha–the exceptions, can serve as a basis of your rules and realmastersofthehouse–aswellasanentourageof products(includingcommercialones!),andevenre- house geckos. Omer is a fan of science-fiction, publishedifyousodesire. fantasy,andhistory,anamateurcook,andahobbyist herpetologist. He also writes sci-fi and fantasy role- As noted above, the name “Cepheus Engine”, playing gaming material, including These Stars Are however, is a trademark owned by Jason “Flynn” Ours! a full-scale campaign setting for the Cepheus Kemp and Samardan Press™ and using them is Engine and other OGL 2D6 sci-fi games, which he subject to consent from Jason “Flynn” Kemp and published by Stellagama Publishing® in 2017, and Samardan Press™. Claiming compatibility with the CepheusLight,afull-scalesci-firuleset,publishedin Cepheus Engine follows the Cepheus Engine 2018. Compatibility-Statement License, as given in the Cepheus Engine System Reference Document Richard Hazlewood has been playing RPGs since publishedbySamardanPress™. 1976. HeservedeightyearsintheUSNavy,operating nuclearreactorsonsubmarines. Heenjoyedthatso muchhegotoutoftheNavyandwentintoaviation. Richard has a master’s degree in Aerospace EngineeringandworksforamajorUSairline. Hehas twogrownchildrenandthreegrandchildren.Richard lives with his wife and three dogs in the Southern USA. JoshPetersisahighschoolmathandhistoryteacher, an accomplished drummer, and avid tabletop RPG gamer. Josh has a Master's Degree in History, and resides in Montreal, Canada, with his beautiful, pa�entwifeandtwodeviouslyadorablechildren. STELLAGAMAPUBLISHING Stellagama Publishing is a small international role- playing game publisher focused on science fiction gaming,foundedinJanuary2016.Wepublishgaming material for the Cepheus Engine, 2D6 Sci-Fi OGL, Stars Without Number, and White Star RPGs. Our goals are primarily to publish enjoyable and immediately playable supplements, settings, rulesets, and adventures for our fellow players and Referees.OurflagshipsettingisTheseStarsAreOurs! a high-action space-opera universe in which Terra 6 T�� S���� �� C������ DIE ROLL CONVENTIONS alternately,ifyouthrowa4,yourEffectis4–8=-4. A"natural"resultof2isalwaysafailure,regardlessof Sword of Cepheus uses common six-sided dice. We skillsorotherDMs.A"natural"resultof12isalways noteeachdieyouneedtorollasa“D”.Unlessnoted asuccess,eveninadversesituations.Insomecases, otherwise, “2D”, for example, means “roll two dice suchassorcery,a"natural"resultof2hasfurtherdire andaddtheresultstogether”. consequences. In this game, DM means Dice Modifier – a number Opposedthrows:inasituationwheretwocharacters you add or subtract from a dice roll. For example, opposeeachotherinanattempt,forexampleathief “2D, DM-2” means “roll two dice, add the results trying to sneak past a guard, each character throws together,andthensubtract2fromthetotal”. 2D plus the appropriate skill or characteristic modifier;thehigherrollwins.Re-roll�es. Another common die roll is ”D66”, typically used in large tables. In this case, roll two six-sided die, If no difficulty level is listed, assume an Average preferrablyofdifferentcolor.Oneprovidesyouwith throw(6+) ”ones” and the other with ”tens”, for a total of 36 Note that skilled characters are competent and can possibleresults. oftenpracticetheirtradeorprofession,undernormal conditions, without a throw. Use throws only when THEBASICGAMEMECHANIC the characters are at serious risk or under pressure, such as time pressure, opposition, or adverse ThebasicmechanicofSwordofCepheusisthethrow, conditions.Forexample,amasterhealer(Medicine- and when we say this, we mean dice throw. Throw 3) can give effective first aid without requiring a 2D,addtherelevantskillorcharacteristicDM,andif throw and can help characters recover from serious the total is equal or higher than the target number, wounds but will have to make a Medicine throw to you succeed. For example, “throw STR 8+” means treat an unknown disease. Combat is always an “throw 2D and add yourSTR DM;if thetotal is 8 or adverseandstressfulsituationandhencetheattack more,yousucceed”Theamountbywhichyourtotal throwsandothercombat-relatedthrows. throwexceedsormissesthetargetnumberiscalled the Effect. If, using the previous example, you roll a total of 11 on that throw, your Effect is 11 – 8 = 3; CommonTargetNumbers Difficulty TargetNumber Examples Rou�ne 4+ Ligh�ngafirewithoutflintandsteel Average 6+ Leadingandinspiringothersincombattofightmoreeffec�vely Difficult 8+ Findingwaterinadesert VeryDifficult 10+ Foragingenoughfoodtoeatwhiletraveling Formidable 12+ Cas�ngthemostpowerfulspellsknowntomortals! 7 S��������� P��������� S KILLS CharactersinSwordofCepheususeavarietyofskills Deception: convincingly avoiding the truth and tosurviveandthriveinworldsofhorror,sorcery,and misleadingotherpeople. high adventure, from sailing the high seas to Investigation: this skill combines keen observation, swordsmanship. forensics,research,anddetailedanalysis. Skills are a character’s greatest asset. Skilled Jacko’Trades:thisspecialskillreducestheunskilled characters are competent. A Skill at level 0 denotes penalty (DM-3, noted above) by its level. For basic training, which allows some use of the skill example, a character with Jack o’ Trades at level 2 (without the "unskilled" penalty) but is insufficient wouldonlysufferDM-1tounskilledrolls.Youmaynot forholdingajobinthatfield;forexample,acommon gain more than 3 levels in this skill and cannot town guard might have Melee Combat-0 and a improveita�ercharactergenera�on. blacksmith'sapprenticemighthaveCraft-0.ASkillat level 1 (denoted Skill-1) represents someone who is Leadership:motivatinganddirectingothers,oftenin employable, such as a guild journeyman; Skill-3 �mesofcrisis. denotes a professional, such as a guild master; and Liaison: the art and practice of negotiation and Skill-5 represents an expert – a rare true master of diplomacy in a myriad of social situations. This skill thecraft.Forexample,acommonvillagehealerhas covers diplomatic meetings, haggling with Medicine-1;anexperiencedphysicianhasMedicine- merchants,ordiffusingasituationbeforebladesstart 3; and a fabled healer of the sick, far beyond any flashing. normal physician or herbalist, has Medicine-5. The task resolution system takes this into account – Medicine: training in the art of healing, from professionalsshouldalmostautomaticallysucceedat diagnosistobindingwoundstosurgery. routine tasks (difficulty 4+) and easily perform MeleeCombat:fightinghand-to-hand,eitherwitha averagetasks(difficulty6+),whileexpertswillalmost weaponorunarmed. automatically succeed in routine and average tasks andeasilymanagedifficult(8+)ones. Science:thestudyofnatureandtechnology. Sorcery:thedarkartsofmagic,fromritualspellsto iden�fyingandcrea�ngmagicalitems. S L KILL IST Stealth:traininginbeingunseenandunheard. Alchemy:theesotericartofcombiningandcreating Steward: the care and serving of passengers and alchemical and chemical substances. Also covers otherguests. herbalismandpoison-making. Streetwise: familiarity with underworld society and Animals:thecareandtrainingofanimals.Alsocovers thewaysofworkingwithit. generalagriculture. Survival: staying alive in the wilderness. This also Ar�fice:crea�ngandappraisingmagicalitems covers“outdoor”skillssuchastracking,foraging,and fishing. Artillery: the use of siege engines such as ballistae andcatapults.Inhigher-techsettings,thisalsocovers Tactics: tactical planning and decision making, theuseofprimi�vecannons. whetheronthegroundorinthesea. Art: the use of artistic talent, from painting and Recon:scou�ngfordangerandspo�ngthreats. sculp�ngtosonganddance. Religion: knowledge of gods and demons – and the Athletics: the ability to exert oneself physically. You waystoworshipthem.Insomesettings,thisskillmay may add the Athletics skill to appropriate physical grantcertainsupernaturalabili�es. characteris�crolls.Thisskillisneverrolledunskilled. Riding:usinganimalsfortransportation,fromriding Archery: using bows and crossbows. In higher-tech a horse to driving a chariot to riding an elephant or settings,thisalsocoverstheuseofprimitivefirearms. dinosaur. Carousing: the art of mingling in social settings to Rulership: Administration and dealing with realms, achieveyourgoals.Alsocoversgambling. bureaucracies,andthelaw.Alsocoversforgery. Craft: the ability to maintain, repair, and build Watercraft: controlling and using boats and ships, mechanical devices of all sorts, from crossbows to includingnaviga�on. cartwheels.Alsocoverslockpicking. 8 T�� S���� �� C������ AnoteaboutCepheusLightskills:Tobettersuitthe LEARNINGLANGUAGES worldsofsword&sorcery,SwordofCepheususesa Youmaylearnanewlanguagebyinves�ng10XP. somewhat altered skill list. Most notably, Riding is a separateskillfromAnimals,duetoitsimportanceas a "vehicle" skill in lower-tech societies; Archery OPTIONALRULE:FASTERADVANCEMENT replaces Gun Combat, Craft replaces Repair, Rulership replaces Admin, and Artillery replaces If the players and Referee desire faster character Gunnery; and there are new skills, namely Alchemy progression, grant 1 XP per session rather than andSorcery. adventure, or 2 XP for an outstanding job in that session. However, the limit for the total sum of a character’s skill points still exists. For even faster L ANGUAGES advancement, simply grant 10 XP after each adventure. Any character knows a number of languages, in additiontotheirspecies'standardlanguage,equalto their EDU modifier. After character generation, characters may learn additional languages using the experiencerules(seebelow).Therearenoskilllevels forlanguages,eitheracharacterknowsthatlanguage ortheydonot.However,theRefereeisfreetoallow aLevel-0versionofalanguageskill,representingvery basicunderstandingofthatlanguage. S A KILL DVANCEMENT Sword of Cepheus characters can slowly improve their skills through experience. This is done by spending Experience Points (XP). A Character will typically gain 1 XP per adventure, or 2 XP if the character did an outstanding job, at the Referee’s discretion. Characters can only advance skills during downtime. Note that advancement is incremental: for example, to rise from Skill-1 to Skill-3, the character must first purchase Skill-2 and only then Skill-3.Ingeneral,acharacterwillusuallyincreasea level1tolevel2skilla�erafewmonthsofsolidplay. Note, however, that the total sum of a character’s skillpointsmaynotexceedthesumoftheircurrent INT+EDUcharacteris�cs. INCREASINGSKILLS SpendXPtoincreaseskillsperthefollowingtable. XPSkillCosts DesiredSkillLevel XPCost 0 2 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 20 5 30 9 S��������� P��������� C G HARACTER ENERATION Your character starts the game as a skilled, Educa�oncolumninthecareertables. experiencedadult.Thischapterwillshowyouhowto • A character gains a number of additional generateacharacterandtakethemthroughacareer. languagesequaltotheirEDUDM. • Together with INT, Education determines the STEP 1: CHARACTERISTICS character’smaximumnumberofskillranks. SocialStanding(SOC):Acharacter’sconnectionsand Characteristics describe your character’s general posi�oninsociety. talents and abilities. They serve as basic skills – for tasks which every human (or lizardman!) can • Social Standing provides characters with a perform,butsomecanperformbetterorworsethan numberoffreeAlliesequaltotheirSOCDM. others. • Characters with SOC 11+ may automatically Throw2Dsixtimesandassigntheresultsinanyorder applytotheNoblecareer. desiredtoyoursixcharacteris�cs: • AttheReferee'soption,nobles(SOC11+)might enjoyvarioussocialprivilegesorevenhaveafief. Strength(STR):Physicalprowessandbruteforce. • Strength determines a character’s carrying OPTIONALRULE:IRONMAN! capacity. Foratrueold-schoolexperience,throw2Dsixtimes • Strength, along with Dexterity and Endurance, and assign them to the characteristics in the order determine how resistant your character is to givenabove. physicalinjury.SeetheCombatchapter. Dexterity(DEX):Agility,coordina�on,andspeed. OPTIONALRULE:HEROICHEROES! • Dexterityisthecharacteristicusedforthrowing Throw 3D seven times and in each case, drop the knives and bombs, as well as evading physical lowestdie,dropthelowestroll,andassigntherestto threatswherespeedisessen�al. thecharacteris�csasdesired. • Dexterity, along with Strength and Endurance, determine how resistant your character is to physicalinjury.SeetheCombatchapter. Endurance (END): Physical resilience, fitness, and forceofwill. • Enduranceisthecharacteristicusedforavoiding physical threats, such as poison, where toughnessandstaminamatters;italsoservesto resist effects trying to bend a character's will, fromtorturetosorcerousdomina�on. • Physical injury is first applied to Endurance beforetheothertwophysicalcharacteristics.See theCombatchapter. Intelligence (INT): Reasoning, creativity, and intellectualcapabili�es. • Intelligence is the characteristic used to resist attemptstotrickthecharacter,fromhypnotism toillusionspells. • Together with EDU, Intelligence determines the character’smaximumnumberofskillranks. Education (EDU): Formal schooling and general knowledge. • Education 8+ allows rolling on the Advanced 10
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