Overview

Ruins & Raiders is a fantasy roleplaying game. The game master is called The Adversary.

Adventurers

Game characters are described by traits, skills, gifts, and fortune. Traits are inherent qualities like brawn and brains. Skills are acquired professions. Gifts are special abilities. Fortune is the x-factor that separates adventurers from ordinary people.

Players begin the game with a number of character points. These are used to build the player's in-game persona. The number is chosen by The Adversary based on how powerful He or She wishes beginning characters to be.

• Average person: 25
• Apprentice adventurer: 100
• Journeyman adventurer: 150
• Master adventurer: 200

The Adversary may also limit the maximum level of beginning traits.

As characters adventure, The Adversary may occasionally give out experience points for their actions, usually at the end of a game session or three. One hundred experience points can be exchanged for one character point. This allows adventurers to grow more powerful over time.

More about character generation can be found in the following chapters. Those who wish to skip these sections can choose one of the examples in Appendix A.

Trait and Skill Checks

The trait check is the fundamental mechanic of the game. Trait checks are used whether one is building a table, picking a lock, swinging a sword, or casting a spell.

Roll a pair of six-sided dice, add them together, and add the result to the character's trait level. High rolls are always better than low rolls. A roll of 2 is an automatic failure. A roll of 12 is an automatic success.

When a task is unopposed (such as climbing a cliff face or picking a lock), The Adversary assigns a challenge level. The player's trait check must equal or surpass this number to succeed.

If two characters are in conflict, the active character makes a trait check vs a challenge level equal to the opponent's trait plus 7. If both characters are equally active (such as two diving for the same weapon), let the player roll. If both are player characters, they may split the difference - both may roll 1d6 + Trait instead of 2d6. Highest result wins.

The difference between the trait check and the challenge level is the margin of success or failure (known hereafter as "mox" for short). A mox of 1 is a moderate success or failure; a mox of 10 is an incredible success or a horrible failure. A mox of 0 could be a partial success, a partial failure, or a tie. The mox is resolved normally in the case of automatic success or failure, but the minimum is 1.

If a situation does not require a roll (because success is trivial), then the character's trait level is the mox.

Characters may have bonuses or penalties based on tools and time. More on this in Conflict.

Conflict

In-game conflict is resolved in one of two ways: talk or dice. Negotiation and conversation should be resolved through talk. Logic and reasoning should be as well, though exceptions can be made if the intellect of a character exceeds that of the player. Dice are needed when characters use traits in conflict with opposing forces.

Time and Space

Conflict is handled by dividing time and space into discrete units.

Time is measured in rounds. Each round is six seconds in duration.

Space is measured in spaces. Each space is an area two meters across.

Injury

There are two types of damage: wounds and shocks.

Wounds represent physical damage caused by fists, weapons, fire, poisons, falls from great heights, and the like. A person who has ten or more wounds is incapacitated and may die.

Shocks represent mental damage caused by psionic attacks or psychological trauma. A person who has ten or more shocks is bordering on madness and may lose his mind for good.

Recovering from Wounds or Shocks takes weeks. More information on damage and recovery is found in Pain and Suffering.

Examples