Player Handbook — Custom Rules

How Rolls Work

Roll 1d100 and try to roll equal to or under your skill. There is no separate Hope die — your d100 result tells you everything.

Special Results

• 0–5 = Critical Success + gain Hope and remove Stress (roll 1d10 to gain stress back).
• 90–100 = Fear — a crit failure only if the GM spends the Fear, otherwise just a failure.

NPC Tier Reference

Find the enemy's Tier, then apply modifiers ("Tier walking") to set the difficulty of your roll. ▲ Advantaged / ▼ Disadvantaged mark how the enemy rolls to hit or dodge.

Armor (DR) = damage reduction subtracted from each hit. Dmg = the enemy's attack die.

Tier Modifier System

Situational Modifiers

Experience Modifiers

• In combat, an Experience that clearly applies (Hunter, Soldier, Sharpshooter…) reduces difficulty by one Tier (−1) if a Hope is spent.
• In non-combat checks, an Experience instead grants Advantage (roll twice, keep the best) when a Hope is spent.

Weapons

• Weaker metal blades are +½ DB. Poor-quality bows/swords deal reduced damage or DB (GM's choice).

Ranged Difficulty

• Short = no penalty · Medium = −10% to skill · Long = −20% to skill.
• Aiming = Advantaged or +10%. Advantage/Disadvantage and % modifiers applied per GM guidance.

Turns

Players go as a group, then the GM goes with the NPCs.

Hope & Fear

A Critical Success (0–5) grants Hope. On a 90–100 the GM may bank Fear.

Hit Points & Wounds

• Damage is deducted from HP. HP never goes below zero.
• At 0 HP a character falls unconscious and may, in some situations, die.

Major Wound

• Taking damage ≥ half your full HP in a single blow = a major wound → make a CON roll or fall unconscious.
• A character with a major wound who hits 0 HP is dying: make a CON roll at the end of the following round and every round after, or die.
• Only a successful First Aid stabilizes the dying condition (and heals 1 HP, rousing them).
• Damage ≥ your maximum HP in a single blow = instant death.

After Combat

• No major wound → heal via short and long rests.
• Major wound → make a healing roll (≤ CON) at the end of each week: success regains 1d3 HP (2d3 on Extreme). The wound is removed on an Extreme success, or once HP is healed to ≥ half maximum.
• Scavenge armor from enemies: roll 1d100 per enemy for their Tier of armor in 1d100%; craft it in downtime.

Armor

Armor gives Damage Reduction (DR) subtracted from each hit, up to a Soak cap.

• DEX penalty is based on the higher DR tier only. Max DR is −6 per type.
• Repair is free during any Short or Long Rest.

Upgrading Armor — Scavenge & Craft

You build better armor from battlefield salvage. The loop:

1. Scavenge from kills. After combat, roll 1d100 per defeated enemy to see the percentage of parts you salvage. Those parts are that enemy's armor tier — a Tier 2 enemy yields Tier 2 components. The GM may allow an Advantaged roll for a higher % when the narrative supports it.
2. Stockpile to 100%. You must accumulate 100% or more of a given tier's parts before you can build that tier. Leftover parts can offset mod costs or be sold.
3. Craft it. Make the Craft Armor roll — difficulty equals the armor's tier (see the DR table: e.g. Studded Leather = Hard, Plate = Extreme). Success = you build the armor.
4. Craft above the bar for a bonus. Beat the required success by one level (e.g. roll Hard when Regular was needed) → reduce the DEX penalty by 10%. Stacking reductions can reach zero-DEX-penalty armor even at high tiers — and it sells at a premium for the quality.

Rest & Recovery

Short Rest (≈1 hour) — choose 1

GM effect: gains 1d4 Fear after the rest.

Long Rest (6–8 hours) — choose 2

GM effects: gains Fear = (players + 1d4); fully restores MP & daily abilities; may advance time or story clocks.

Healing

• Heal during short and long rests.
• If a player drops to 0 HP, a First Aid roll (Regular) stabilizes → success = 1 HP.
• Healing Elixir / Potion = heal 1d4 (only 1 per day). Magical Healing Potion = heal 3d4.
• The Medicine skill heals 1d3 HP/day (needs an hour+, proper location, equipment & supplies — healer's tent, hospital, etc.). On a dying character it allows a healing roll at the end of one week.
• Wizards can heal with spells or wands. Magic, faith, or potions are up to the GM.

Hardcore / Survival Healing (Zombie mode)

Create a Healing Elixir

• Search for herbs (Nature — Regular); need 3 batches. Each search ≈ 3 hours (split up to parallelize).
• Mix with mortar & pestle (Potion Making — Hard); a failure ruins it.

Stress (called Sanity in Call of Cthulhu)

Represents combat shock — the body shutting down when the mind can't cope.

• When facing fear, exhaustion, or trauma (GM's discretion): roll 1d100; if you roll below your Stress, you take 1d10 Stress damage. Lose that many Stress. Recover via rest mechanics.

Breaking Point

• At your Insane Threshold (or GM-set limit): roll 1d4 → lose that many HP from collapse or shock.
• Effects may include fainting, vomiting, shaking, panic, or temporary immobility.
• GM may impose a short penalty (disadvantage, or 1d4 rounds of disorientation).

Experiences

Experiences are short narrative tags describing something your character has learned, endured, or become. They act as situational bonuses you spend Hope on — lightweight "feats" or "aspects," dormant until invoked.

Creating Experiences

• Each character begins with two Experiences (training, belief, trauma, or growth).
• They provide advantage or lower a tier. New ones may be gained through major story milestones.

Using an Experience

• Before a skill or combat roll, spend 1 Hope to invoke one — describe how it applies.
• Advantage on non-combat rolls, or lower the tier in combat.
• Only one Experience may modify a single roll. The same Experience can be reused across scenes when relevant.

Earning New Experiences

• On growth or a life-altering event, the Keeper may allow replacing an outdated Experience or adding a new one (max 4). It must emerge naturally from play or downtime.

Example Experience Tags

Experiences are freeform 2–5 word phrases (Daggerheart-style). Invent your own — these are just seeds. They can be a strength or a flaw (a "Coward" tag can be invoked to justify a clutch escape).

Leveling Up (End of Each Night)

At the end of each session, choose one:

• Option 1 — Roll to grow: roll each skill you used. If you fail (roll above it), increase that skill by 1 point. If you succeed, roll 1d6 and add that instead.
• Option 2 — Distribute: add a total of 10 points among skills you used this session. No single skill gains more than +6, and you can't raise a skill above 75% this way.

Character Generation

Characteristic Points

• 460 total points. All characteristics start at 40; add in increments of 5.

Secondary Attributes

• Hit Points = (CON + SIZ) / 10, round down (min 1). e.g. CON 50 + SIZ 60 → 11 HP.
• Stress = POW × 1 (called Sanity in CoC; max 99 − Cthulhu Mythos). Rarely tracked as a stat.
• Luck = starts at 50; spend for rerolls and avoiding danger.
• Move (MOV): DEX & STR both ≥ SIZ → 9; one < SIZ → 8; both < SIZ → 7.

Damage Bonus & Build (STR + SIZ)

Skill Points

• Select 10 skills for your occupation (mark them with a ★).
• Occupation points = EDU × 4 → distribute among your 10 occupation skills.
• Personal points = INT × 2 → distribute to any skills.
• Skills can't exceed 75% at creation.

Ship Battles

1 · Piloting Phase (Initiative & Power)

At the start of each round, roll Pilot (Starship) for available Power:

• Regular: full Power (current HP) to distribute. Hard: +2 to Shields/Speed. Extreme: +4. Failure: −3 units; max Shields & Speed −1 for the turn.
• Distribute Power across Speed (1 unit = 1 hex), Shields (1 unit = 1 soak; specify front/rear), and Cannons (1 unit = on).

Movement

• Turn Ratios: Starfighters 0:1 (turn & move same hex) · Freighters 1:1 (1 forward per 45°) · Capital 5:1+.
• Bicycle Rule: starfighters fire only in the forward 45° arc — move to line up the shot.

Firing & Defense

• Roll Pilot (Targeting) vs enemy Tier; on hit, roll damage (Z-95 = 1d6). Turrets swivel 360°, no aim needed.
• Shields soak by arc and don't recharge until next round — once broken, further hits that round go to the hull.
• Lost HP reduces the Power you can distribute next turn.
• Self-repair (Mechanical/Electrical) restores HP but skips your action. Astromech neural link caps skills at 60%.

Ship Profiles