4th Earth RAW: Sprinkles

4th Earth RAW: Sprinkles are individual, official mechanics that MAY be sprinkled on top of 4th Earth RAW: Vanilla or your own 4th Earth RAW specification.

Note: Sprinkles add complexity to gameplay.

Version: 0.1.1

• Each Round, Players MUST draw one card from a standard 52 deck of playing cards for each Character they’re playing; no jokers or specialty cards.
• Actions MUST be resolved from highest to lowest.
  • Ties MUST be resolved in alphabetical order of suit names; clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.
  • Players SHOULD decide prior to drawing whether the ace represents 1 (lowest), 14 (highest), or, if the Player can choose to be lowest or highest (a special feature of drawing an ace).

• Each round, Characters MUST decide what they will attempt to do. All Actions MUST be given a Difficulty Rating. All Players MUST modify the Difficulty Rating.
• Resolution SHOULD be from the most difficult to the least.
  • Ties SHOULD favor Player Characters.

• Players MUST roll a 12-sided die and add the total of their unspent Battery Points.
• Turn order MUST be resolved in descending order.
  • Ties SHOULD favor Player Characters.

Version: 0.1.0

The following mechanics MAY be applied to both advanced technology Tools and magic.

• The use of advanced technology Tools and magic MUST use two rolls and Dice Pools.
  • The first Difficulty Rating MUST represent the difficulty of using the advanced technology or casting a spell.
  • The second Difficulty Rating SHOULD use the Antagonist Difficulty Rating mechanic.
• If the Difficulty Rating of using the Tools or casting the spell exceeds 7, the Difficulty Rating SHOULD be set at 7.
• Difficulty Rating to use MUST start at 0 and SHOULD be adjusted using the tables below.
  • Initial Difficulty Rating SHOULD be greater than 0 and MUST NOT be less than 0.
  • We RECOMMEND using all the tables, however, Players MAY pick and choose, or, build their own.
    • The tables used SHOULD remain consistent for an entire session.
• Players SHOULD specify whether Items, Tools, and similar are considered advanaced technology and magic.

Some advanced technology or magic MAY move from the Protagonist to the target (external) while others may start within the target (internal).

• External technology and magic SHOULD be impacted by Resistance, if applicable.

Version: 0.1.0

• An active ally MUST be a Character who has the ability to perform Actions during a round and those Actions will be in support of the Protagonist or Antagonist, not both.
• If the Antagonist has active allies, the Difficulty Rating MUST be increased by 1 for every 2 active allies. (1 active ally MUST NOT result in an increase, 4 active allies SHOULD result in an increase of 2.)
  • If the Protagonist has active allies, the Difficulty Rating MAY be reduced in the same way as it is increased for the Antagonist. (Both have 2 active allies, Difficulty Rating MAY NOT change based on allies.)

Version: 0.1.0

Criticality represents success and failure beyond the intention of the Character for mundane and aggressive Actions.

• Characters SHOULD have one or more non-health Life Batteries, or, some aspects of the RECOMMENDED resolution tables MUST be altered.
• Players MUST add an extra die to the Dice Pool, which is known as the Criticality Die and SHOULD be distinct from other dice in the pool; we RECOMMEND using a die with the same number of sides or greater.
  • The die MAY be changed per Session or Action.
• If a 1 is rolled on the Criticality Die, the result is a critical success or failure based on the success or failure of the rest of the Dice Pool, respectively.
• Players MAY decide to opt-out or -in to using the Criticality Die prior to the creation of the Dice Pool.
  • Players SHOULD decide whether they will apply the Critically Die prior to becoming aware of the Difficulty Rating assigned to the Action.
  • Players MAY decide to always roll a Criticality Die as a group decision (part of the Social Contract). We RECOMMEND the decision be made prior to the beginning of the Session.
• Beyond the narrative implications and outcomes, Criticality SHOULD come with mechanical impacts on the Character.

A critical success on a non-combat (mundane) action, results in the following changes to the Target Action Battery.

• MUST NOT be the health Battery.
• If the Target Action Battery becomes full, the Player MAY distribute the remaining points to other non-health Batteries.

The Player rolls one, 12-sided die.

Critical, mundane failure is the opposite of a Critical, mundane success.

• MUST subtract the affect in the Critical, mundane success table.
• If the Target Action Battery reaches 0, the Player MUST spend the remaining points against other non-health Batteries.
  • Players SHOULD NOT use other Life Batteries to recharge the Target Action Battery as part of the resolution of Critical, mundane failure.

This implementation presumes 4th Earth RAW: Vanilla. Players MAY replace Potential Energy with the label they use to calculate a draining affect on the health battery (damage).

The Player rolls one, 12-sided die.

Aggressive Success Extension Table: Criticality

The Player rolls one, 12-sided die.

A note on Recurring and Compounding: A Protagonist is fighting an Antagonist with a Difficulty Rating 6; based on Proficiency Ranks in the Protagonist’s Action. The Player rolls a Critical, success resulting in the Difficulty Rating being reduced by 2, becoming a Difficulty Rating 4. Every following round, the Antagonist’s Difficulty Rating will be 4 (Recurring). If the Player manages to roll the same Critical, aggressive success a second time, the Antagonist’s Difficulty Rating becomes 2 (compounding). This could increase to the point where the Antagonist’s Difficulty Rating becomes 0.

The Player rolls one, 12-sided die.

Aggressive Failure Extension Table: Criticality

The Player rolls one, 12-sided die.

Version: 0.1.0

• If a Character dies, 1 Proficiency Point SHOULD be removed from all completed Proficiency Ranks; including Tools. This represents relearning or recovering while maintaining memory.
• If a Character is resurrected, the health battery MUST be set to 1; all other batteries MUST be set to 0.
  • The Character MUST die and the impact of death applies.
  • 1 Proficiency Point SHOULD be removed from all Proficiency Ranks; including partials.
  • The Character is the same character and MAY retain possessions.
• If a Character is reincarnated:
  • The Character MUST die and the impact of death applies.
  • The Character MUST be considered resurrected and the impact of resurrection applies.
  • The Character loses all physical possessions they had with them at the time of death.
    • The Character MAY return where they died and MAY recover some or all of their items; consider things like decay, environment, and theft.
  • The Character, if maintained as the same Character, SHOULD appear in their hometown (place of birth) or place of residence.
    • If considered a different Character, MUST NOT appear near the Character who died.

Version: 0.1.0

This Sprinkle affords one Character to assist another Character by transferring Life Battery points to the other Character.

• The Difficulty Rating to perform the transfer MUST apply to the assisting Character.
• The transfer MUST be from the same Life Battery the point will be transferred to.
• Players MAY transfer Battery Points from a Character they control to another Character in the Setting; the Initial Difficulty Rating MUST be based on distance between Characters:
  • Touch: Difficulty 0.
  • Distance (usually line of sight): Difficulty 1.
  • Ranged (MAY be out of sight): Difficulty 2.
• Players MAY increase the Initial Difficulty Rating.
• The Difficulty Rating to assist SHOULD be less than the Initial Difficult Rating of the Action being performed by the assisted Character.
• Assisting SHOULD NOT require movement by the assisting character.

Version: 0.1.0

This Sprinkle is designed to aid:

1. solo-adventuring (the Player is not rolling for another, non-Player Character),
2. introduce opposing rolls (Players can go “head-to-head” with rolls), or
3. both.

• If using opposing rolls between two Players, two Actions MUST be created; one for the the Protagonist and one for the Antagonist.
  • The Initial Difficulty Rating SHOULD be for the Protagonist based on their Action against the Antagonist (see Antagonist Difficulty Rating from 4th Earth RAW: Vanilla).
  • The Difficulty Rating for the Antagonist SHOULD be an opposing Difficulty Rating (see opposing value in the Difficulty Rating Table from 4th Earth RAW).
  • Both Players MAY reduce their Difficulty Ratings as if their Character was performing the Action.
    • The Player with the most ones rolled from their pool SHOULD win.
    • We RECOMMEND ties go to the Protagonist.
• If using opposing rolls to facilitate solo-adventuring, one Action MUST be created and SHOULD use the Difficulty Rating Table from 4th Earth RAW to determine Difficulty Rating for the Player.
  • The non-Player Character (when they are the Protagonist) MUST reduce the Antagonist Difficulty Rating to 0, if possible.
    • If the non-Player Character cannot reduce the Antagonist Difficulty Rating to 0, they MUST reduce it as much as possible.
  • If the non-Player Character’s Adjusted Difficulty Rating is greater than 0, the Player uses the opposing value in the Difficulty Rating Table from 4th Earth RAW.
• If using a Criticality Die, resolution SHOULD be handled as if the non-Player Character rolled the Criticality Die and the non-Player Character SHOULD receive the affects as if they were the Protagonist.

Version: 0.1.0

This Sprinkle presumes the Criticality Sprinkle insofar as the Criticality Die is used. Players MAY choose to use this Sprinkle standalone.

• Players MUST add an extra die to the Dice Pool, which is known as the Criticality Die and SHOULD be distinct from other dice in the pool; we RECOMMEND using a die with the same number of sides or greater.
  • The die MAY be changed per Session or Action.
• If the highest number on the Criticality Die is rolled, the result is a partial or complication based on the success or failure of the rest of the Dice Pool.
  • A partial is a mildly positive effect on an otherwise failed Action.
  • A complication is a mildly negative effect on an otherwise successful Action.
• Players MAY decide to opt-out or -in to using the Criticality Die prior to the creation of the Dice Pool.
  • Players SHOULD decide whether they will apply the Critically Die prior to becoming aware of the Difficulty Rating assigned to the Action.
  • Players MAY decide to always roll a Criticality Die as a group decision (part of the Social Contract). We RECOMMEND the decision be made prior to the beginning of the Session.

Version: 0.1.0

Resistance results in a modification to Protagonist Potential Energy (PE) when performing aggressive Actions in a way that causes physical damage; draining the health Life Battery.

Every Character SHOULD have some type of flesh with varying degrees of thickness.

Characters MAY have some type of armor.

Players MAY apply different modifications for specific areas of the Character (being hit where a Character isn’t armored, for example).

Version: 0.1.0

• Players MAY spend Proficiency Points and non-health Life Battery Points to re-roll an Action.
  • When using non-health Life Battery Points, the Points SHOULD use the Target Action Battery. (Any inter-battery recharging mechanics SHOULD apply.)
• Players MAY spend 1 Point to re-roll the whole Dice Pool or 2 Points to re-roll a single die in the pool (including modifier dice, such as a Criticality Die).
• As long as the Character has Points remaining, the Player MAY continue spending Points to re-roll.

Version: 0.1.0

Scale is a way of measuring the size difference between Characters in a Setting or Scene.

• The smallest Character in a Setting or interaction SHOULD be given a Scale of 1; the Scale of other Characters is relative to 1 in whole number increments.
  • When characters are interacting, the smallest Character in the interaction SHOULD be given a Scale of 1.
  • If the interacting Characters are roughly the same size, both SHOULD be Scale 1.
• Scales MUST be in whole numbers; if a character is not twice or half the size of another, they are all scale 1.

Imagine a human trying to hit a fly. The human is hundreds of times larger than the fly. The fly is very difficult to hit without tools and being sneaky.

• If the Antagonist is lesser Scale, the Difficulty Rating SHOULD be increased by 1 for each step smaller.

Presumes Resistance Sprinkle or similar implementation.

Imagine a fly hitting a human. The human is hundreds of times larger than the fly. The human will most likely not take damage enough to matter, even if bitten by the fly.

• We RECOMMEND using in conjunction with the Resistance Sprinkle.
• Larger Scale Characters SHOULD have a higher Resistance, if applicable. We RECOMMEND increasing Resistance by 1 for each step greater the Antagonist is.

Version: 0.1.0

Stance affords Characters to be more or less aggressive, at a cost.

• Characters MUST be neutral in stance unless announced otherwise.
  • Players MAY decide whether the announcement should be with every Character Action, only if the Stance changes, or, in some other way.
• Changing stance MUST be considered a Fast Action.

• Difficulty Rating adjustments SHOULD take the Stance of the Protagonist and Antagonist into consideration.
• If the Protagonist and Antagonist are in neutral Stance, there MUST NOT be an adjustment to the Antagonist Difficulty Rating.
  • If the Protagonist is in an offensive Stance and the Antagonist is in a defensive Stance, there MUST NOT be an adjustment.
  • If the Protagonist is in a defensive Stance and the Antagonist is in an offensive Stance, there MUST NOT be an adjustment.
• If the Protagonist and Antagonist are both in an offensive Stance, the Antagonist Difficulty Rating SHOULD be decreased by 2.
  • If the Protagonist and Antagonist are both in a defensive Stance, the Antagonist Difficulty Rating SHOULD be increased by 2.
• If the Protagonist is in an offensive Stance and the Antagonist is in a neutral Stance, the Antagonist Difficulty Rating SHOULD be decreased by 1.
  • If the Protagonist is in a defensive Stance and the Antagonist is in a neutral Stance, the Antagonist Difficulty Rating SHOULD be increased by 1.

Compounding

Compounding means the effect can be applied multiple times.

Recurring

Recurring means the effect is applied every Round.