Underwater Owlbear Games
HEARTS, A Simple Elfgame
Inspired by Marcia B’s post: Abstract Monsters & Hit Locations. Latest version here.
Character Creation
Warrior
You start with ❤️❤️❤️ and 3d6🪙. Purchase your equipment:
| Item | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Simple weapon | 1d, 1H (dagger, club, etc) | 1🪙 |
| Hand weapon | 2d, 1H (sword, axe, mace) | 2🪙 |
| Polearm | 3d, 2H (billhook, pollaxe, spear) | 4🪙 |
| Bow | 1d, 2H, can’t block | 4🪙 |
| Shield | 1d, 1H, can only block, sunder for 🛡️ | 4🪙 |
| Maille | 🛡️ | 20🪙 |
| Plate | 🛡️🛡️ | 100🪙 |
Mage
You start with ❤️❤️, ⭐⭐⭐, 3 random spells, and 2d6🪙. Purchase your equipment:
| Item | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Simple weapon | 1d, 1H (dagger, club, etc) | 1🪙 |
| Wand | ⭐, 1H | 1🪙 |
| Staff | ⭐⭐⭐, 2H | 4🪙 |
| Spellbook | One random spell | 6🪙 |
Thief
You start with ❤️❤️ and 4d6🪙. Purchase your equipment:
| Item | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Simple weapon | 1d, 1H (dagger, club, etc) | 1🪙 |
| Hand weapon | 2d, 1H (sword, axe, mace) | 2🪙 |
| Bow | 1d, 2H, can’t block | 4🪙 |
| Lockpicks | Succeed on 4+, takes a turn | 6🪙 |
| Grappling hook | Automatically succeed on climbing up to 50’ | 2🪙 |
| Poison | Apply to a blade to automatically hit for ❤️❤️. Three doses. | 6🪙 |
| Linguistics education | +1 on reaction rolls with monsters. You speak their language. | 10🪙 |
| Magical knack | Gain ⭐. You will have to steal your spellbooks elsewhere. | 20🪙 |
Cleric
You start with ❤️❤️, ✝️, and 3d6🪙. Purchase your equipment:
| Item | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Simple weapon | 1d, 1H (dagger, club, etc) | 1🪙 |
| Hand weapon | 2d, 1H (sword, axe, mace) | 2🪙 |
| Polearm | 3d, 2H (billhook, pollaxe, spear) | 4🪙 |
| Shield | 1d, 1H, can only block, sunder for 🛡️ | 4🪙 |
| Maille | 🛡️ | 20🪙 |
| Plate | 🛡️🛡️ | 100🪙 |
| Cross | Turn undead (all in sight with ❤️ equal to or less than ✝️ spent) | 4🪙 |
| Holy water | Heal one ❤️ per ✝️ spent. Three doses. | 4🪙 |
| Tithe | Gain one ✝️. Can buy once per week on Sunday. | 10% of your 🪙, minimum 3🪙 |
Combat
Reaction Rolls: When encountering a wandering monster or other entity, and their disposition is unknown, roll 2d6 to determine their reaction.
| 2d6 | Reaction |
|---|---|
| 2- | Hostile |
| 3-5 | Negative |
| 6-8 | Uncertain |
| 9-11 | Positive |
| 12+ | Enthusiastic |
Initiative: Roll for initiative. Each side rolls d6, highest goes first.
Attacking:
- Choose opponent
- ⚔️ in melee only ⚔️ Each combatant chooses stance:
- Aggressive: Cannot block attacks. All successes deal hits.
- Defensive: Spend successes to block attacks. Shields are always defensive.
- Roll weapon dice (they are d6s). Succeed on 4+.
- ⚔️ in melee only ⚔️ Combatants in defensive stances block hits.
- Unblocked hits are applied.
- Remove 🛡️ first, then ❤️
- When out of ❤️, dead or dying.
Morale: Check morale when a side takes their first casualty, and again when they lose half their number. Roll 2d6; a result equal to or greater than the morale score means that the side routs and flees the field. Morale is usually based on the combatants experience level, per the table below.
| Experience | Morale Roll to Rout | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 6+ | Conscripts, levy |
| Trained | 7+ | Militia, town guards |
| Veteran | 8+ | Experienced fighters |
| Elite | 9+ | Knights, house guards |
Undead are always hostile, never check morale, and normally cannot be reasoned with (intelligent undead such as liches or vampires are an exception).
Healing
Restore all 🛡️ at end of combat. Restore one ❤️ or all ⭐ per night’s rest. Restore all ❤️ and ⭐ with a week’s rest in town.
Spellcasting
- Animate Dead: Animate a number of undead equal to ⭐ spent. Roll d6 when spell ends: (1-3) undead become hostile, (4-5) undead collapse into dust, (6) undead serve the caster permanently.
- Augury: Perform a divination to determine whether a given course of action will result in “weal” or “woe”. The caster may ask one question per level. DM rolls a d6 secretly: on a 4+, the answer is truthful. Sacrifice one ❤️ in blood to guarantee a truthful answer.
- Charm: Hostile creatures become neutral, neutral become friendly, and friendly creatures become infatuated. Affects a number of creatures equal to ⭐ spent.
- Circle of Protection: Draw a circle on the ground with chalk, salt, or blood. Undead, fey, demons, or other unnatural creatures cannot cross the boundary. Protects one creature per ⭐ spent.
- Control Weather: Control the weather, causing clear skies, storms, winds, etc as desired. Effects last for 1 day per ⭐ spent.
- Dominate: Release control of your own body and domineer that of a nearby creature. Subject saves to prevent.
- Fireball: Deals ❤️ damage per ⭐ spent to all targets in a small area (such as a melee or a room). Targets save for half damage.
- Fly: Fly at walking speed. Affects one creature per level. Spell is reliable for 10 minutes per ⭐ spent, then has a chance to end on each subsequent turn on a roll of 5+ on a d6.
- Hold Person: Paralyzes a number of creatures equal to ⭐ spent. Subjects save to avoid.
- Invisibility: Turn one creature per ⭐ spent invisible.
- Knock: Open one stuck or locked door within arm’s reach.
- Lightning Bolt: Deals ❤️ per ⭐ spent to all targets in a line. Targets save for half damage.
- Scry: Requires a mirror, crystal ball, still water, or similarly reflective surface. Remotely see and hear events that are up to 10 miles away per ⭐ spent.
- Sleep: Puts all within a small area (such as a melee, or a room) into a deep slumber. Subjects save to avoid.
-
Speak with Dead: Ask 1d6 questions of the corpse of a deceased intelligent creature. Reaction rolls apply and negotiation may be required. Corpse may be dead for a period of time based on ⭐ spent…
⭐ spent Deceased for… 1 1 week 2 1 month 3 1 year 4 10 years 5 100 years 6 1000 years - Third Eye: You can see all invisible, ethereal, and shapechanged creatures in their true form. You also see the auras of spells (both cast and prepared) and enchanted objects.
- Tongues: You can comprehend all written and spoken languages.
- Water Breathing: Can breathe under water for 10 minutes per ⭐ spent. Affects one creature per ⭐ spent.
- Wind Barrier: Buffeting winds prevent missile attacks from harming those within. Protects one creature per ⭐ spent.
- Wizard Lock: Locks one door, chest, window, or similar portal. Requires a knock spell or similar magic to open.
Conversion
Give monster one ❤️ per HD. Monsters do not have 🛡️. If moderately armored (chain), give +❤️. If heavily armored (plate), give +❤️❤️ instead.
Melee attacks: 2d or 3d, can be aggressive or defensive. Ignore shields.
Ranged attacks: 1d. If particularly powerful, 2d.
Dragon’s breath, etc: Treat as spells. Give monster ⭐ if slightly magical (gnome), ⭐⭐⭐ if moderate (shaman), ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ if majorly (lich, dragon).
Morale as B/X.