i. Introduction ii. The Basics iii. Character Creation iv. Items a. Weapons b. Armor c. Potions d. Miscellaneous Items e. Spells v. Battle vi. After the Battle vii. Leveling Up i. Introduction This is the Fast Battle System, a method for fighting quick fantasy-type battles with your friends. Using nothing more than a pen, paper, and a handful of coins, you can create and improve characters while doing battle in an arena setting. ii. The Basics In this game, players create characters, who then may fight each other to gain levels. All actions are resolved by flipping various numbers of coins. A flip that comes up heads is successful; one that lands as tails is not. Weapons, armor, and spells are bought between battles at a "store". iii. Character Creation When creating a character, begin by choosing a name and writing it down. This has no effect on the game itself; you could name your fighter "Fluffy Bunny the little girl" and he could still fight as well. You can also write up a short description, but that is by no means necessary. Next, you must set the strengths and weaknesses of your character. All fighters have the following attributes: Strength (ST, determines extra hits and hit points), Quickness (QK, determines who gets to attack first), Intelligence (IN, determines how many attribute points are gained at level-up), Magical Ability (MA, determines how well the character can cast spells), and Magical Resistance (MR, determines how resistant the character is to magic). New characters have a minimum of 6 points to put on whatever attributes the player sees fit. After the 6 points have been assigned the player flips three coins and may assign as many more points as the number of heads he has flipped. New characters have 5 hit-points; the player also flips one coin for each point of ST to determine extra HP, with each "heads" coin indicating one extra HP. Each player also starts out with 5 gold pieces. Having done that, the player buys any standard issue weapon and, if desired, a standard issue armor (see secton iv, "Items"). Note that armor reduces MA by a given amount. If the character's MA meets the MA requirements for a spell in the store, he may also buy that. It would also be wise for the player to buy some potions for use during battles. After equipping the character, you are ready for the battle! iv. Items Items are, well, items that a player buys for his character. Items include weapons, armor, potions, and things such as amulets. For practical purposes, spells are sold like items in the store, but they cannot be resold by characters. a. Weapons Weapons are wielded by characters to deal damage to each other. The effects of weapons are counteracted by armor, but armor has its own problems. Most characters can wield most weapons, but some require a certain ST or QK amount or have a minimum wielder level. While both hands can carry weapons, at least one hand must be kept free if the player wishes to cast spells. Some weapons require the use of two hands. Weapons have a number of attack flips (AF); this is the number of coins flipped to determine damage dealt. b. Armor Armor is used to counteract the damage dealt by weapons. They reduce damage by a number determined by flipping coins. Each piece of armor has its own number of flips of resistance (FR) for weapon-based or magic-based attacks, so a piece of armor might have a FRW (flip resistance, weapon) of 3 and a FRM (flip resistance, magic) of 2, meaning that the wearer flips 3 coins to determine damage resisted from weapons and 2 for damage from magic. While armor is handy for saving your skin, it also makes it difficult to move quickly or to cast spells. Each piece of armor has a number by which is reduces QK and a number by which it reduces MA. c. Potions Potions are very handy to have in battle; they can increase your ST, QK, MA, MR, or HP. They can also heal you to some extent. d. Miscellaneous Some items don't fall into any of the above categories. These include armor-increasing amulets, spell-casting rings, and other oddities. These items are usually quite expensive because they are so useful. A character can wear: One item around his neck, one item on each wrist, two rings, and an earring in each ear. e. Spells While magic is pretty intangible, it is understood that scrolls are sold in the store which can teach your character a spell if he has the necessary MA score. If a character's MA drops below the requirement of a spell he already has (if he wears some armor, for instance), the spell is simply not available until his MA becomes acceptable. Spells have a certain SP (spell penetration) value. This number of coins is then flipped; if the defender can flip at least 1/2 of that number in defence the spell has no effect. If the spell succeeds, it has the effect listed in the spell description. v. Battle Alright, so you've created a character and have all his equipment. Now it is time to fight! Battles require at least two characters, but there is no maximum number. A battle should not occur between characters who are more than a few levels apart. It is of course up to the players to decide whether or not to fight, but a very low level character has next to no chance of defeating a high level character. Battle is conducted in turns. Unless specifically stated, every action takes exactly one turn. The character with the higher QK gets to act first; after determining who goes first battle can begin. The player who gets to go first decides what to do in his turn. He can attack with a weapon or a spell, change armor or weapons or other items, quaff a potion, etc. After deciding, he declares his intention. When attacking with a weapon, the character flips the number of coins equal to his weapon's AF to determine damage dealt. His opponent then flips a number of coins equal to his armor's FRW and subtracts that number from the damage dealt. He then subtracts the remaining damage from his HP. If a character attacks with magic, he flips the SP value and adds in the number of MA points he has above the minimum MA for that spell. The defender then flips his FRM and add his MR; if he achieves at least half of the attacker's flips the spell has no effect. If, however, the defender cannot nullify the spell, then the spell has its listed affect. Quaffing a potion does exactly what the potion's description says it does. A player can have his character change a weapon, piece of armor, or other item in one turn. Players take turns attacking each other until one reaches zero hit points. vi. After the Battle The winner of the battle takes his opponent's weapon or armor. The winner receives 5 gold pieces for each of his levels and another 5 gold for each level above his that his opponent was at. The loser receives five gold for half of his levels (rounded up), with 3 gold subtracted for each level lower that his opponent was. If the loser is a lower level than the winner, he receives an extra 3 gold for each level's difference. Thus, if a level 3 fighter beats a level 4 fighter, the winner gets 20 gold (5*3 + 5*1). The loser gets 7 gold (5*2 - 3*1). However, if the level 4 fighter won, he would get 17 gold (5*4 - 3*1), but the loser, being a lower level, would get 13 gold (5*2 + 3*1). Experience is also awarded after the battle. The loser receives no XP. The winner receives 1 XP plus .5 XP for each level higher his opponent was. The theoretical 3rd level fighter above would therefore get 1.5 XP if he beat the 4th level fighter, who would get 0 XP. Every 3 XP, a character gains a level (see section vii, Leveling Up). After a battle, all HP are regained and any spell effects are removed. The player can also buy new equipment with his newfound wealth. vii. Leveling Up After a few battles, a character's XP total will reach or pass 3 XP. At that time, he levels up. His XP total has 3 subtracted from it, so if a character has 2.5 XP and gains 1 more point, his after-leveling total is .5 XP. The character also gets a number of new attribute points equal to his IN score, which he then assigns to whatever attributes he wants, including IN. At each new level the character gains 3 more HP and flips equal to his ST to get extra HP. SAMPLE CHARACTER: Name: Zippy the Mean Level: 1 ST: 3 QK: 1 IN: 1 MA: 1 MR: 2 HP: 6 Gold Pieces: 2 Weapons: Standard Issue Sword (AF: 2) Armor: Light Robe (FRW: 1 FRM: 1 QK: 0 MA: 0) Other Items: Potion of Cure Light Wounds (heals 3 HP) (c) 2005 John Floren