Black Amazon - Player's Mate of July/August - Part I

DESCRIPTION

In the Fire Lands black Amazons or damubinti as they call themselves, are considered the same as fairies or nymphs in the temperate and cold climates. This happens for several reasons, first of all no one has ever seen damubinti childs, but only young or adult women. The second is that these are of great stature, usually between six and seven feet tall, with an athletic body but proportionate to their height. They all have a lithe but tough physique because all damubinti seem to be well trained warriors skilled to fight with spear and shield of which are typically equipped.
But the black Amazons do not share the graciously bucolic fame of fairies and nymphs: they are known as warriors, hunters and especially raiders of travelers, merchants and caravans, so that when one of the latter approaches or borders the forests that are known to be territory of the damubinti it often stops to pay homage to one of the sanctuaries of Angamasa, almost always made ​​from a huge rock carved with the likeness of a face of a damubinti with a severe expression, where they leave gifts to propitiate a safe passage through the territory of the Amazons who worship the Goddess.
It is seldom possible in towns or villages of some importance to find a lone damubinti or small group: they may both have come to trade or barter something they need as to be stationated in the city because they are employed by a potentate or noble as a personal guard of a princess or female dignitary of importance.
More than a ruler of the Fire Lands marrying a daughter to create an alliance with a powerful neighbor, has spent considerable amount of gold or goods to pay his pupil an escort of black amazons on his journey to the thalamus.

ROLLED FEATURES 

PROFESSION FEATURES

PECULIAR FEATURES

Damubinti Combat Style

Being the only nation of women warriors of Fire Lands black amazons are used to face almost exclusively male adversaries and their fighting style reflects that, leading male opponents to fall prey to lustful desires while watching the damubinti dance enraptured and take advantage of this weakness when their lithe body moves in the far more lethal dance of combat.

Malus

-enemy is not prone to luxury: -4

-enemy uses a two-handed weaapon: -1

-enemy uses a weapon with an attack range equal or greater than the one of the user: -3

-enemy isn't a male: -2

-enemy has an AGIlity FEV of 20 or more: -2

-enemy has an AGIlity FEV greater than damubinti one: -2

Special:if the opponent is prone to lust suffers a penalty to any damage it inflicts to damubinti of which is the prey of 10+POF of the clash which arouse the lust.

Angamasa's Dances

Black amazons are deeply devoted to Angamasa and prior to each fight devote to Her a war dance for propitiatory purposes.

Besides being very choreographic dance has too an adverse effect on enemies who watch damubinti dance so frantically, provided that she is able to complete her choreography before the fight begins. Conversely, if an enemy acquainted of this custom and its consequences tries to attack the damubinti during this dance, he may have the opposite effect to anger the Goddess by stopping one of his devout while she is performing something valued as a cerimonial prayer and gift that damubinti with a blessing far more powerful than the one that is normally granted. The chance of this happening is equal to 1% per experience level of damubinti in the discipline.

The ritual dances unlike those of war are used to honor the Goddess through a sacrifice, usually bloody, that can be so much to an opponent now dying as an animal, usually a predator.

BASE EQUIPEMENT

Mkuki Spear(4d6+6/3/60/ar4)

Ngao Shield(7+1MAX14)

Janijiwe Heagear and Guards(21+7xMAX63/6+2xMAX18)

Tests: Trials and Clashes - Rules of the Game n.1

TEST

The procedure to roll a test is very simple: first calculate the lowest number obtaining which the test is passed, then roll a dice. If the value rolled is equal to or higher than the one calculated the test is passed, otherwise it is failed.

Note well that we spoke of dice and not of d20. In Ventura the rules do not require the use of a d20 for resolution of tests, but rather recommended, given the opportunity, to use a dice with an increasing number faces starting from d12 or d14, and change the dice with another with more faces asthe experience level of characters increases. The d20 is recommended for beginners, because it has some slight arithmetic advantages over other dices (but nothing more).

TEST TYPES

There are two types of tests: trials and clashes.

In the trial the character has to do with objective difficulty of an action, like climbing a rock wall, or lift heavy objects correctly pronounce a magic spell. In the clash instead a feature of character is opposed to a another feature of an opposing creature somehow connected to the one of the character. A tug of war challenge, trying to move without being seen and heard by a sentry and even combat between two opponents are examples of clashes.

SUCCESS THRESOLD

Earlier we talked about getting the lowest number which passes the test: you will see now how to calculate this number, which is called threshold of success or simply threshold.

First take the score that expresses the difficulty of the trial or the feature value of the feature of the creature adverse to player character in a clash and sum to it the dice modifier. The dice modifier is a fixed value that depends on the number of faces of the dice and is always equal to half the number of faces of the dice. So if you use a d20 the dice modifier value is 10.

From the score just obtained value is then subtracted the player character feature value. The result of the subtraction is the threshold of success.

The threshold can be a negative number.

SAMPLES OF HOW TO CALCULATE THE THRESOLD

Trial on climbing of difficulty 21. The feature score in climbing of the climber is 19.

If d20 is used, the dice modifier value will be 20/2=10 and so the success thresold will be: 10+21-19=12

If we use d16 instead, the dice modifier value will be 16/2=8 and the success thresold will be: 8+21-19=10

Conflict in a tug of war challenge against an adversary with a score in the STRength feature of 24. The feature score of STRength of the player character who fights is 28.

If d20 is used, the dice modifier value will be 20/2=10 and so the success thresold will be: 10+24-28=6

If we use d14 instead, the dice modifier value will be 14/2=7 and the success thresold will be: 7+24-28=3

THE DICE ROLL

When you roll the dice which results will decide whether or not the test has been successful there are three different situations.

1. You get the maximum value of the dice, that is usually equal to the number of faces of the same, 20 in the case of d20.

2. You get a 1

3. You get a value that is neither 1 nor that of the dice maximum.

In case 3, your score is the result of the dice roll.

In case 1, roll again the dice and sum the score obtained with the reroll to the maximum value of the dice. If with the reroll you got again the maximum value roll again until you get a different score from the maximum value. Then sum the latter score to the maximum value of the dice multiplied by the number of rerolls made.

In case 2, reroll the dice and unless you get the maximum value of the dice consider the score obtained with the new roll as a result of the dice, but consider it as a negative number. If you get the maximum value reroll again until you get a different value from the maximum value. Then sum to this value the maximum value of the dice multiplied by the number of times you have obtained the maximum score.

SAMPLES OF DICE ROLLS

Suppose we use the d20 as dice:

you roll the d20 and you get a 15: 15 is your score. Have you got any value between 2 and 19 that would have been your score.

you roll the d20 and you get a 20: it is the maximum value of the dice, so you roll again: you get a 14. your score will be 14+20=34.

you roll the d20 and you get a 20: it is the maximum value of the dice, so you roll again: you get another 20. being the maximum value of the dice, so you roll once more: you get a 6. Your score will be 6+20x2=46, where 2 is the number of rerolls you did.

you roll the d20 and you get a 1: it is a 1 so you roll again: you get an 8. Your score will be: -8 because when you get an 1 and reroll the new roll result must be taken as a negative number.

you roll the d20 and you get a 1: it is a 1 so you roll again: you get a 20. it is the maximum value of the dice, so you roll once more: you get a 12. Your score will be 12+20=34, but coming from getting an 1 and rerolling it will be taken as negative and so: -34.

SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Seen how to calculate the threshold of success and how you roll (and eventually reroll) the dice, you are left to deal with the score you got. Even as it is defined the threshold of success you can easily understand that, if the dice gave you a score less than the threshold the test was failed. Otherwise you did it and the test passed. Success!

You just have to do a simple subtraction to see the extent of the success or severity of failure.

If the test was successful you subtract from the score obtained with the dice the threshold of success. The number obtained is called Plus and will be used very often in the game, to calculate the effects resulting from a successful test.

If the test was failed subtract from threshold of success your score with the dice. The number obtained is called Plus of fault or oftener POF and will be widely used at the expense of the characters to calculate the effects caused by the failure of a test.

In the limiting case in which the score with the dice is precisely equal to the threshold if the test was a trial this will be successful by a whisker, or the skin of our teeth. But if it was a clash, despite the best efforts from both sides neither is able to get the upper hand and the test will be repeated unless one of the two decides that a tie goes well (accepting the necessary consequences).

THINGS ARE EASIER FOR PLAYERS

If as I hope you understand the above rules be aware that you understand the core of the Rules of Ventura and just knowing those and some basics about the combat that will soon follow you can even embark in the role of the Game Master.

For players, however, rolling tests is much easier: when their character must pass a trial or engage a clash Game Master will say something like: "Trial on AGIlity against 25" or "Clash on STRenght against 25." In both cases in the 25 is already calculated the value of the dice modifier, so the player will only have to subtract 25 from the feature value his character had to test and roll the dice, hoping to succeed, to achieve a score greater than the difference.

Man-At-Arms - Professions n.1

DESCRIPTION

Core of many of military forces not so large as to be considered a real army the men at arms perform defense tasks, patrolling and escorting strong of their martial training, alternating between long periods of service for landowners, merchants, or villages with short periods of license spent in orgiastic debauchery and drukenness.

Men-at-arms are tough guys, often foreigners in the place of employment, but otherwise employed by a local authority that sees them as a need to preserve order, protect the settlements by bands of outlaws and humanoids or escorting officers (mostly tax collectors) or goods of value. Unlike the employment of mercenaries men at arms is more durable and much less risky (as in most cases do not face an enemy well trained and when they do escape is not so shameful) but precludes the opportunity of raids and looting are the easiest and fastest way in which a man can get rich in arms. For this reason the men at arms are often corrupt or easily corruptible and do not hesitate to abuse their authority when it gives them the opportunity to enjoy a profit or leisure (often carnal) if they think their act could be without consequences (but their perception is often faulty: many serfs uprisings started just like that).

FEATURES OF THE PROFESSION

Character Creation - Part I - Introduction and Creation Sequence

INTRODUCTION

The character creation process is performed under the supervision of the Game Master and is intended to give, using numerical values ​​that will be used later in the game rules, an idea of how the character is physically or psychologically to the viewer, to those who converses or has to do with him more formally. This information, along with all non-numeric data that you can determine rolling dices in this process, are cue to inspire ideas about interpretation: with dices you can know if your character is muscular or skinny, tall or short, agile or clumsy, but no table will tell if she's shy or swaggering, reserved or expansive, suspicious or optimistic, greedy or spendthrift. It will be up to you to decide the facets of his nature and how to run him. Once made the decision be consistent with it. Change the way you run your player character according to the advantages that a situation may offer and not to his chosen behaviour is childish and takes away much of the fun that a good interpretation can give over the time.

CHARACTER'S NUMBERS

The success of many of the actions that player characters do during the game will depend on their bodies, their minds and their knowledge. In order to determine whether or not a player character has been successful in what he was trying to do is somehow necessary to measure its abilities in order to test them, comparing them to the difficulty of the action taken and determine what percentage of being successful he has.

These measurements are called Feature Values or FEV. The field of knowledge or physical, mental and social tract that each FEV rates is called Feature.

FEATURES

The score of each Feature is given by the sum of two values​​: Base Value or BAV and the Experience and Training Level, called simply Level or LEV.

This indicates, as the name already reveals, how long the character has already exercised and trained, so much practical as theoretical, a Feature. Can be increased by gaining experience while adventuring or with training.

With respect to the Base Value(BAV), Features can be divided into two types: Rolled and Independent and Calculated or Dependent.

For Rolled Features the BAV is determined rolling some 8-sided dices (usually 2 of them) and adding a modifier to their sum, whether positive or negative, depending on the race or other factors.

In Calculated Features BAV is calculated from scores of other Rolled Features. Will see in detail Calculated Features later during the creation process so suffice it to say this for now.

FAMILY AND PARENTS

Maybe you never thought, but with all due exceptions applicable, birth was not your choice, but your parents. You are here because they have conceived you and certainly their role in society which you have joined at birth influenced yours. Think of the children of slaves, slaves also by birth or children of kings to which fate could have reserved even a throne, or just the children of wealthy, educated and raised in luxury in the best schools or even by private tutors, and those of the poor for whom each new day offers only hunger, misery and desire.

Since Ventura prides itself to be a realistic game, the first part of the character creation does not concern him directly, but is to determine who his parents were and what their role within the society of which your character will become part.

THE 10 STEPS OF CHARACTER CREATION

Here we are, ready to begin rolling dices and/or make decisions (with the consent of the Game Master), but before we do let see quickly what are the steps of character creation.

Step 1: Parents In this step will be determined the race of both parents and their position within the society in which the character is born. In this step are set Racial Modifiers for Rolled Features and Features of the character's background.

Step 2: Profession The player, drawing also on background Features rolled in step 1, chooses the Profession of the character or proposes the Game Master (if it has the time and agreed) to create a new Profession that reflects the kind of activities he has in mind.

Step 3: Experience the player chooses which Features, among his professional and background ones, he wants the character learn and which experience Level assign to each one of them, within the limits set by the Game Master.

Step 4: Rolling dices The Players rolls or calculates according to parameters chosen by the Game Master the Base Value (BAV) of his Rolled Features.

Step 5: Assignment: Scores just rolled are assigned to Rolled Features and are increased or reduced by Racial Modifiers determined in step 1.

Step 6: Training The player assigns Levels of experience to its Rolled Features, favoring those who have more weight in the Base Value of Calculated Features in which, in step 3, he awarded the highest Levels of experience.

Step 7: Calculation In this step are calculated Base Values for Calculated Features, and the Feature Value of all the Features, adding to the Base Value of each its Expereince and Training Level.

Step 8: Progression: Starting from the LEV value of each Feature or Discipline take note of how many experience points are needed to reach the next level.

Step 9: Knowledge: If the characters owns combat or magic-using Features with an experience level high enough he can choose (or be assigned the Game Master) a certain number of Combat Competences or Techniques and Spells, Rituals or Charms.

Step 10: Equipment: based on the social class of the parents of the character and how much his Profession is considered to be profitable the player will receive a certain amount of coins that will be spent to buy character's equipment.

Character is ready to be played.

It may seem long and complicated way, but keep at hand the manual and a sheet (or better yet a character sheet ready to be filled) and you will see how quickly you will scroll the following paragraphs arriving with remarkable speed to complete the character a lot sooner than you think possible: the rolls are not that many and calculations are of the kind of simple additions and multiplication for two or three.

What is Ventura?

Ventura is a system of rules for role-playing games born in the summer of 1991 from the ashes of a unsatisfactory D&D campaign and a too lethal Warhammer one mastered by two friends with a long past experience with the Tunnels & Trolls rules and supported by a active group of players eager to experience something new and exciting.

Still burnt by a short approach to the Rolemaster system, the unanimous decision of our party was that we all wanted a set of rules simple to use and to explain, but at the same time that allowed to achieve a high degree of realism in the handling of characters actions and combat circumstances.

Over the years the system has been the subject of seven subsequent revisions designed to improve and enhance it without changing one iota the basic structure that is the same as the first version.

Before listing key points of the set of rules, we want to stress that this is a system of rules for role playing and so it is the minimum mechanical structure needed to support storytelling and interpretation. Without latters to make the game an RPG, this set of rules is only a set of numbers, operations, and dice rolls.

Set this here are the features of the Ventura rules system

• Player characters and monsters are portraid by a single type of scores simply called features. There will thus have no need to deal with attributes, skills, talents, feats, modifiers, saving throws, THAC0 scores or anything else: a single type of scores will outline characters and monsters regardless of the feature being physical, mental, social or dealing with their knowledge, both those related to their profession and those that are part of their cultural heritage, family, or genetic.
  
  
• There are no classes or careers. The features are collected in professions with no specific constraints but essentially a collection of features tailored to activities related to the profession itself. Nothing prevents a character to learn or improve different features from those of their profession. In fact each character at his creation will have some features besides the ones linked to his profession that are determined or chosen in different ways.
• Since there is an unique type of features the procedure to deal with rolled tests is identical for all features and this does not change both the roll is needed to successfully accomplish the action of a certain difficulty or to solve a fight between two features (both the same as two different) each beloinging to a different character or monster.
  In any way, the test is solved with the roll of a single dice (about the number of sides see next point).
• Ventura uses a 20-sided dice for simplicity and the wide availability of the dice among roleplayers, but is not bound to it. The test system provides that you can use any type of dice that has a fair number of faces. After several tests we have seen that at the lower levels the ideal would be a d12 or d14, and then as the level raise also should the sides of the dice used up to the d30.
• Combat rules are designed so that you can solve a round of combat between two opponents with a standard test between two features. This greatly reduces the number of rolls required, as characters and monsters do not have a number of attacks increases with the level of experience, although this does not reduce their effectiveness or not at all the number of combat options as the characters grow in experience.
• Ventura has a very effective system of critical hits that does not rely on the multiplication of the damage but has specific effects that can be calculated starting from the damage inflicted by a single additional die roll (or even without if you opt for fixed values). As these critics are often really bad blows they are rolled only once or twice for opponent, hardly more, so do not slow down the performance of combat.
  
• Thanks to the critical hits system just mentioned Ventura deals in a very realistic way with firearms, both ancient and modern.
• Life Points of the characters do not grow linearly with their level, so a well-aimed sword blow can be enough to kill much a beginner as well as a great hero. This does not mean that killing a great hero is as easy as killing a peasant militia, but that does not need to take it with cannon to lower quickly his Life Points.
• By Ventura rules system is not the character to experience, but each feature that progresses with the use and training. Some of profession features are then often combined into disciplines and this allows them a more rapid growth due to the fact that have been learned the one in the light of others or are somehow connected, and then improving in one gives a better understanding of others.
• In the character creation character's parents have a significant role and help define some traits of the character background and also the choice to choose some features from their professions.
• A character can also have parents of different races and even one or both parents who are themselves halfbreed, thus giving the chance of a range of choices manageable until the fourth of blood. Also with parents of different races is possible that genetic traits are dominant in one of two or, if you're lucky, from the mating could come out a specimen with superior traits. If you've never played a quarter-troll character, with Ventura you can do it without having to make too many calculations or speculations.
• Some professional features named fighting styles allow characters and monsters to use a peculiar fighting behaviour, allowing them to face opponents of some kind (against which the style is studied) with ease, while accepting to have more troubles with those against whose style has vulnerabilities.
• Combat procedures involves using maneuvers and combat techniques, specific for each profession and way of fighting. Character will have a good number of these even from the beginning and will advance with them as they increase in experience. At any time a character can learn new combat techniques, even with training alone. Facing to the already numerous options of fighting styles and techniques to make each different from the previous battle, requiring players to play their characters in a clever way to better use them, just as you would expect from a seasoned warrior.
• Spellcasting and use of all forms of magic is resolved with a standard test against a difficulty score. Wizards are not limited in the number of spells they can use. Only permanent magical effects and failures reduce their magical abilities.
  
• Spells can have multiple or articulated effects and hit more targets in a different way.
• In Ventura the limitations and rules follow the logic rather than the needs of balance. So there are no encounter, daily, twice weekly or fortnightly powers, but do not expect to be able to use twice the same combat technique against a clever opponent without running the risk that he will understand the mechanism (or deception).
  
  Likewise magic items, as it is and always will be detailed in their descriptions, will need sources of power to work and not work just because they are magical.

Like all rules systems not produced by a publisher, however, Ventura has also cons that must be taken into account

• You can downloaded it free of charge
  
• Not all the game manuals or books are ready to be consulted
  
• Its does not have a complete setting (because it is a rules system and not a setting)
  
• The basic races are just a dozen
  
• The additional races including halfbreeds and monstrous ones are little more than thirty-five thousand
  
• The professions ready to be used are only about fifty
  
• The kit of background features ready are only twenty
  
• The bestiary and spells and equipment lists are not yet final, so ideas and suggestions are welcome