Inspired by Marcia B.’s Cinco.

Character Creation

You have 3 hit points (HP), a saving throw (ST) of 11, and 3d6 coins.

Equipment

Purchase your equipment:

Item Notes Cost
Dagger d4, can be thrown 1 coins
Club d6 2 coins
Sword d8 10 coins
Polearm d10, 2H 4 coins
Bow d6 4 coins
Shield +1 AP 4 coins
Maille +1 AP 20 coins
Plate +2 AP 100 coins
Wand +1 Mana 1 coins
Staff +3 Mana, 2H 4 coins
Spellbook One random spell 6 coins

Skills

For everything except fighting and casting spells.

Roll 3d6 four times, assign the scores to four skills.

When using or testing a skill, roll under your skill on a d20 to succeed. If you fail, suffer a consequence, but increase your skill by 1.

Prole Artisan Bourgeois Academic Linguistic
Cooking Blacksmith Dance History Gnomish
Hunt & Forage Carpenter Equestrianism Surgery Black Speech
Stealth Scribe Appraisal Alchemy Pirate
Animal Husbandry Locksmith Musician Engineering Liturgical
Seamanship Stonemason Accounting Barrister Ogham

A note on languages

  • Gnomish - The language of gnomes, cats, small mammals, and songbirds.
  • Black Speech - The language of the enemy.
  • Pirate - The language of criminals, sailors, street musicians, Vikings, clowns, and other disreputable types.
  • Liturgical - The language of the Church, their Demons, and the Undead.
  • Ogham - A language found scarred into old birch trees. No known speakers.

Saving Throws

To make a saving throw, roll under your skill on a d20 to succeed. If you fail, suffer a consequence, but increase your ST by 1.

Combat

Reaction Rolls: When encountering a wandering monster or other entity, and their disposition is unknown, test the appropriate language skill to see if you can negotiate with them. On a failure, they are offended by your accent, and attack.

Initiative: Roll for initiative. Each side rolls d6, highest goes first.

Attacking:

  1. Choose opponent.
  2. Roll weapon dice. Deal damage based on the result:
    • no hits on 3 or less
    • 1 hit on 4+
    • 2 hits on 8+
    • 3 hits on 12+
  3. Hits are applied. Remove AP first, then HP
  4. When out of HP, dead or dying (or Critical Damage effect if using Cairn monsters)

Morale: Per MOSAIC rules.

Healing

Restore all AP at end of combat. Restore one HP or all Mana per night’s rest. Restore all HP and Mana with a week’s rest in town.

Spellcasting

  1. Animate Dead: Animate a number of undead equal to Mana spent. Roll d6 when spell ends: (1-3) undead become hostile, (4-5) undead collapse into dust, (6) undead serve the caster permanently.
  2. 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 HP in blood to guarantee a truthful answer.
  3. Charm: Hostile creatures become neutral, neutral become friendly, and friendly creatures become infatuated. Affects a number of creatures equal to Mana spent.
  4. 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 Mana spent.
  5. Control Weather: Control the weather, causing clear skies, storms, winds, etc as desired. Effects last for 1 day per Mana spent.
  6. Dominate: Release control of your own body and domineer that of a nearby creature. Subject saves to prevent.
  7. Fireball: Deals 1 damage per Mana spent to all targets in a small area (such as a melee or a room). Targets save for half damage.
  8. Fly: Fly at walking speed. Affects one creature per level. Spell is reliable for 10 minutes per Mana spent, then has a chance to end on each subsequent turn on a roll of 5+ on a d6.
  9. Hold Person: Paralyzes a number of creatures equal to Mana spent. Subjects save to avoid.
  10. Invisibility: Turn one creature per Mana spent invisible.
  11. Knock: Open one stuck or locked door within arm’s reach.
  12. Lightning Bolt: Deals 1 damage per Mana spent to all targets in a line. Targets save for half damage.
  13. 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 Mana spent.
  14. Sleep: Puts all within a small area (such as a melee, or a room) into a deep slumber. Subjects save to avoid.

  15. 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 Mana spent…

    Mana spent Deceased for…
    1 1 week
    2 1 month
    3 1 year
    4 10 years
    5 100 years
    6 1000 years
  16. 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.
  17. Tongues: You can comprehend all written and spoken languages.
  18. Water Breathing: Can breathe under water for 10 minutes per Mana spent. Affects one creature per Mana spent.
  19. Wind Barrier: Buffeting winds prevent missile attacks from harming those within. Protects one creature per Mana spent.
  20. Wizard Lock: Locks one door, chest, window, or similar portal. Requires a knock spell or similar magic to open.

Conversion from B/X

Give monster one HP per HD. Monsters do not have AP. If moderately armored (chain), give +1 HP. If heavily armored (plate), give +2 HP instead.

Attacks as damage die.

Saving throw as average of all categories, or 10 + HD.

Dragon’s breath, etc: Treat as spells. Give monster 1 Mana if slightly magical (gnome), 3 Mana if moderate (shaman), 6 Mana if majorly (lich, dragon).

Morale as B/X.

Conversion from Cairn

HP = HP

Armor of 1 or 2 gives +1 HP

Armor of 3 gives +2 HP

Attacks as damage die.

Saving throw as STR.

Morale per following table.

B/X Morale WIL score
2 1
3 2
4 3
6 7
7 9
8 13
9 15
10 18
11 19
12 20

Table: Morale-to-WIL Conversion