Welcome to Razorback Company, Rookie! #OiE is a Freeform-based RPG with constant Operations, ran with a fully inhouse customized version of Enhanced D6 Version 3, containing numerous homebrew additions and a host of fully custom game systems. ***** HOW TO JOIN: create a sensible loadout at innawoods.net and save the image. It's also good to shop in non-listed weaponry, but nothing too extreme. You may take a maximum of ONE heavy weapon/main weapon, a secondary firearm, a backup firearm, and two melee weapons, while the rest is for you to determine. Just don’t be Infinite Pockets. We still maintain an IRC channel on esper.net; download any working IRC client and join channel #OiE, OR go to www.esper.net and join #OiE from there. However, it's unlikely that anyone will be lurking there now. Since we no longer operate on /that/ sjw-infested cancerous pile of pigshit site, the quickest method to contact us would be to make a post in thread. *************************************************************************************************************************************** NEW INSANITIES: brand new DLC's, available on any of your favorite (or most hated) electronic devices. The currently unlocked expansions are: >The Construct Incursion: "Heh, it used to be if you wanted attention, you'd just shout 'Construct!' and everypony goes straight into combat stance. Now though, we're a little wiser, can't let 'em know that we know they're here. Oh sure, we've got hundreds of shells, hulls, weapons, both whole and in parts, little bits and pieces of this or that.. there's even some place that I ordered be filled with all their damned orange 'blood', or whatever it is. Can't tell you where though, that's a secret. If you've ever wondered what an unstoppable biomechanical tidal wave of logic backed up by weapons that makes your own tech seem pathetic in comparison looks like, you don't have to wonder any longer. They're back for another round, and after all the wars we've had with 'em, who knows? They might just win this time." -Twisted Wing >Ethereal Plane Interlude: "As old as the other Planes, the Ethereals are ruled by a caste system that is absolute and totalitarian, with zero mercy given for ignoring the lightest, most useless of orders and rules. They abide by maddening laws which defy comprehension and ability to understand. In short, Ethereals are more alien to us than those laws travelers to the Dominion Plane have shared. The Ethereals as a whole state that they concern themselves with preventing incursions from other Planes and worlds, and, some have rumored, are privately at war with their own supposed allies, the Crystal ponies. Portions of the first and second are indeed true, yet both are vague. Since Equestrians almost never deal with them, aside from their so-called ‘diplomats’ once each year, and the Crystal Empire refuses to respond to our inquiries, I have to question what the 'external threats' that Ethereals claim to defend against truly are, and what, precisely, we are now forced to deal with." -Denra >Imminent Retrievals: "At times, it becomes prudent to.. dispose of something. A creation too terrible, horrifying, devastating, abominable even. It does not matter if such a ‘thing’ is physically, marentally, or politically harmful to keep, only that it must be disposed of in the quietest of mareners. ..of course, sometimes an enemy disposes of a ‘thing’ too. At that point, it becomes more prudent to deny the enemy what they have willingly chosen to cast away, and to acquire it with all due haste. The true problem, however, is what to do once it is in your possession. And, what you must do to keep it that way." -Hodch >Medical Lesbians: "I'm not quite sure where they've all come from, but this much I know: nurse and doctor pairs, mostly unicorns so far as we have seen, with Crystal ponies as the remainder, have been sent to most every city and town in Equestria, as well as the capitals and major cities of other countries, city-states, and etcetera. They're given a single Clinic building, much like how the old one here was, a large number of extraordinarily potent alchemical and medical supplies, and allowed to hoof out flyers stating that they will treat virtually anypony, or anyone for that matter, whom enters, whether injured, ill, or what have you. Of course, I find it a little odd that they all demonstrate such remarkably high aptitudes for medical care, but what is most concerning is that if somepony, or someone, enters and is not wounded or sick, they.. put on a show. By that, I mean with each other. Sexually. Which begs my next question: what, exactly, ARE they doing on Tallus?" -Tipper >The Ancient Naval Treaty: “What, you think ponies are backwards with technology? ...yeah, we pretty much are these days, so you’re right! I’m a Ferron, from the Sea’s Bounty of course, so I know a lot about the history of Tallus oceans, navigable waterways, and Airstream passages. In fact, the month of Navember means ‘the last safely seen passage’! It can also mean ‘the embers might burn out in the wind’, too. Long, long, LONG ago, there weren’t ANY Ferron at all, just pegasi! Pre-modern, post-feral, whatever you want to call them. Unicorns say ‘Type Three Unadjusted’…. or something like that. Ferron are smaller so that means we aren’t as strong, tough, or have the endurance modern pegasi have, but we’re better at delving into the Void, flying, and evading stuff that we’d rather not deal with. Since our wings are really sensitive to the Airstreams, we can sense weather shifts and avoid or easily ride out storms. We consider a pegasus.. ‘defective’ if they can’t predict weather patterns, natural or not. I know how speciesist that is, but it’s painfilly true. I know how weird all of that sounds. We don’t know how the Ferron separated from most pegasi, but there used to be way more of us since we tended to have six to nine foals per mare. Still do, too! Compare that to the normal three, four, or five for most pegasi. There’s a saying: ‘it’s easier to trade with Neighsia than it is to fly to the next cloud village’, and at the time it was true. But there were a lot more flying hostiles back.. like Shrikes. Those were mostly wiped out around 4,500 years ago, but not all of them. Majority were too fast to keep up with, too big to pin down, and too strong for us to kill, or even stop. Dusk Strider Tunnels helped a lot, but they couldn’t find a safe point for each and every single village, so you can see why that saying has stuck around. Before the Otherworld alicorn known as Silver started her Dynasty stuff, Tallus had a lot of ships. Not just the river and ocean ones either. Every coastal village had at least three of the medium sized ships and a bunch of smaller ones; stone, wood, metal, crystal, magical, and even some purely made from magic! All of them had lots of Float Plates, real similar to a Float Core except they could propel a vessel in a specific direction, and a few had something called a Barrier Plate. That was an armored version. These days just finding the ruined pieces of either one are worth a small fortune. There used to be around five hundred of the bigger cloud towns and cities; Storm Peak, Highcloud Eyrie, Featherend, Skybrook, Roc’s Rest, Downpour Metropolis, Highkeep, Rainbow Heights, Cloudsdale, Shimmering Vale, and Crested Ridge. ...that was before everything fell apart during the Pegasi Civil War. No. I’m not gonna talk about that, if ever. In any case, the Four Princesses encouraged trade across Tallus, especially when Barrier Plates became widespread; the Otherworld and Planar Harpies helped make those. Nearly all the second left to a different Plane to colonize, they’d lost a lot of their populations from Constructs, and according to some they hated Ethereals with a real passion. Of the first? We dunno. Haven’t seen or heard of them much in the past three centuries. Early on we converted ships into skyboats similar to Otherworld Harpy designs, then started building our own once we realized it wasn’t possible to copy their pseudo-metalloids. Couldn’t carry as much and were more fragile, yet our skyboats were a bit faster due to weighing less. Also equally as likely to be attacked by flying threats, hence why Ferron get really wet, or diamondine hard, for dual-beamed spears. ….and harpoons, can’t forget those! A lot of our own records were destroyed during the Late Dynasty Conflict. Nopony knows what the word ‘Ferron’ means, or if it’s a name, title, rank. What we know is nothing. But! What we do have are the signed, original Treaties of Naval Freedom that empower the unalienable right to freely trade, visit, explore, and chart at whim, will, and wile! Which are pretty much worth nothing without any real ships. There’s only a few Lunar ones left with Float or Barrier Plates, but those are floating museums, and I’m certainly not going to ask for one. Making them was an art, not a science, and most unicorns think translocation matrices are the best possible thing. ..nopony in the modern times understands how truly free the Ferron were back then. We could sail the rivers, seas, or skies with the Otherworld Harpies, explore the Wild Clouds, even build new cloud towns whenever we wanted. That’s why we still honor the Harpies.” -Kiwi Salad AKA ‘Finny’, Windsweeper >Resurgence of the Dynasty: 'The head of every earth pony, whether they know it or not, is subtly bowed in shame. The ancient fields of their ancestors, once resplendent and coveted by all, yes, even a few Changelings, have been neglected and now lay fallow, doomed to grow little more than endless fields of grass above blood-soaked soil. Their stone halls, parts of the Vigils formed to repulse Undead that tormarented the living, now lie silent, buried deep in the earth with their memories forgotten. Mares, the bearers of their entire species, have grown desperate for answers as to why when each colt is birthed, there are never less than ten fillies, and more than that in some places. As a species, they bear the collected guilts and crimes of the Empress upon their necks. As I have seen through my life, that weight has crippled them. At times I find their dedication to make up for her reign odd; it is both honorable, yet morbid, though neither bears much of meaning in this era. Even we Changelings have accepted history, especially the leaders of our history, for what it is and what they are, learning important lessons that we would not have otherwise. As of late, however, each earth pony I have come across is... restless. Nervous. They are liable to snap vocally, or even physically, at the smallest provocations, and they cannot even explain why. Make no mistake: there is nothing that makes me more cautious, or concerned, than a restless earth pony.' -Roust *************************************************************************************************************************************** NEW FEATURES: >CUSTOMIZABLE COMPANIONS. Depending on your Companion's skills and combat capabilities, they will be able to equip new clothing, weapons, armor, items, or other devices, by simply asking: "Want to change your outfit/equipmarent?" -Depending on the standard outfit of said Companion, not all of them will accept bows in their mane or tail. Side effects may include but are not limited to: disappearing clouds, exploding seagulls, and large amounts of wine. -Note: socks may be worn by any species, but you may be subject to foalnadoes if applicable. NEW ARMAMARENT OPTIONS INCLUDE: >Hoofboots, hoofclaws, hoofspikes, biteblades, and short swords may be equipped by all ponies. >Custom Light Armor may be worn by all ponies. >Single and wing-covering custom Wingblades are pegasi only. >New item: Custom Wingclaw Armor. Usable only by batponies, Wingclaw Armor can be made to improve DR, provide additional punch in Melee, and other skill bonuses. While a bit constraining to free-mango'd batponies, most of them will eventually come to enjoy their new armored claw additions. Go seek out Krinza in the Workshop if you would like to have a pair made >Light Lances, Halberds, Pikes, and other polearms may be equipped by all ponies, but Heavy polearms may only be equipped by Crystal/Earth ponies and Saddle Arabians. >Custom Medium weaponry may be equipped by all but pegasi. >Custom Medium Armor may be worn by Crystal/Earth ponies and Saddle Arabians. >Custom Heavy weaponry may only be equipped by Saddle Arabians, and Crystal & Earth ponies. >Custom Heavy Armor may only be worn by Crystal & Earth ponies. >Friendly Eldritch weapons and armor may be used by any pony willing to put up with it. Or them. Or THEY. -WARNING: all Eldritch items come with their own dangers. This goes double for any Eldritch weapon that one wishes to dominate for their own use. *************************************************************************************************************************************** OPEN POSITIONS: As Hollow has taken an inordinate number of hallucinogens and is going to be comatose for a while, the positions of both Fortress Marshall and Defense Forces Manager are open: >FORTRESS MARSHALL is the position given to an Operator whom can request offensive deploymarents by the Guards, marecenaries, and/or Allies. It comes with a few responsibilities, in specific: #1: issuing paymarents through Naliyna or Jeff for services rendered. #2: dealing with inter-faction disagreemarents & disputes. #3: if available, providing tactical support for said deploymarents. >DEFENSE FORCES MANAGER is the position given to an Operator whom can request and take commarend of defensive deploymarents by the Guards, mercenaries, and Allies. This position comes with these responsibilities: #1: acquiring working knowledge of each faction and their abilities. #2: dealing with each faction's leader(s), e.g.: Marble Leaf & Kitang of the Day, Royal, and Honor Guards; Steel Blitz & Aster of the Night & Lunar Guards, as well as whichever veteran mercenary is currently awake and undrugged enough to hoofle either the Arcane Blades or Tartarus Air Corps. #3: providing benefits and paymarents if tasked to perform nonstandard deploymarents. While it is possible for a single Operator to take both positions, one should ensure that they are capable of doing so. *************************************************************************************************************************************** P.U.P.S. >Not a highly secret project by any means, P.U.P.S., short for Personal/Ponial Utility Platform Structures, were developed by Bren's research into the human ideas of standard and modular structures. Incorporating the idea of modularity into her own designs, she produced a number of small buildings and defensive structure schematics that could be constructed at a momarent's notice and delivered via translocation matrices, or through unicorn translocation if such is unavailable. The majority of P.U.P.S. are lightweight enough to be easily carried, moved, or teleported about once in field, and are designed to accommodate extra armoring or additional utilities if requested. *The Heavy Barricade, the Heavy Outpost (still undergoing testing), and the Adv. Survival Shelter (coming soon) all come with retractable landing skids & wheels for movemarent. -Ambush Blind: 75 Armor, 1DR A simple, easy to conceal ground blind frame, 3' tall, 6' long, and 3' wide. Little more than four thin walls with a opening large enough for a heavy rifle in the front, this skeletal frame is meant to be carried by an Operator, or a pony of unicorn size and smaller, without hindering them much. As the weight had to be under 25 pounds to allow any human wanting one for their own use, Bren's crew needed more small dimarension wood planks than could be readily cut down from the massive stocks of ironwood. As a result, she ordered her crew to begin harvesting smaller trees and larger shrubs around Razorback Fortress, specifically those of light weight and moderate durability, though they placed greater importance on neutral wood colorations that could be easily hidden in field, ready to be disguised and concealed at the user's opportunity. -Light Barricade: 150 Armor, 4DR, Destructible A single slab of thinly steel plated, moderately enchanted ironwood, 3' tall, 5' long, and 2" thick, stabilized by a pair of steel brackets with 1' long skids mounted on both ends to prevent it from being knocked over. This light barricade wasconstructed solely for the purpose of fast deploymarent. The frontal facing is slanted at a 40 degree rearward angle, providing modest cover if disguised properly, offering decent protection against lesser threats, and has a moderate chance of deflecting ranged attacks. Nearly all humans are quite capable of dragging one around with relative ease, and can shelter two Operators at a time if they squeeze together behind it, though for obvious reasons isn't suited to defense against any other threats. Once the Light Barricade's Armor has been entirely depleted, it will no longer provide any protection and fall apart. -Moderatus Barricade: 300 Armor, 6DR, Destructible A single slab of enchanted, externally steel-plated ironwood barrier, 4' tall, 7' long, 4" thick, stabilized by a pair of heavy steel brackets with 2' long skids mounted on both ends to prevent it from being knocked over. Considerably more protective than the light barricade, the standard version is meant for deploymarent against significant ranged (or stupid) threats, and as a result is quite a bit heavier. The frontal facing is slanted at a 35 degree angle rearwards, providing a high degree of protection against most threats, even unicorns, and if needed can be further armored by additional plating. Requiring two Operators to mareneuver due to it's weight, the Moderatus (Standard) barricade is difficult to disguise due to it's shape, yet is sturdy enough to allow for the placemarent of directional explosives, particularly mines, on it's facing, making ear plugs a bit more valuable than they used to be. Three Operators (or four manlets) can take cover behind this variant Barricade. -Ruin-Heavy Barricade: 450 Armor, 8DR, difficult to destroy A heavily enchanted ironwood barrier, 5' tall, 8' long, and 6" thick, sandwiched between steel plates. When her initial design of the heavy barricade was unable to be moved by an 8-man squad of Operators, Bren was forced to ask Krinza for a mechanical solution to her problem of overbuilding. Questioning Clemency's knowledge of aircraft and Kraut's vehicle aptitude, Krinza hoof-forged a set of six mechanically retractable and swiveling steel legs, along with an equal number of steel-plated, alchemically sealed maple wood wheels, further sealed over by several layers of vulcanized rubber and melding them onto stainless steel brackets. Melding four retractable landing skids to allow for additional support and some maneuverability in field, the innovative (at least to ponies) additions still require either a Minotaur, a pair of mature earth ponies, whether Psion or not, a skilled unicorn, or an entire Operator team to aid in moving this particular barrier. It’s virtually impossible to disguise due to the dimarensions, though allows four Operators (or five manlets) to take cover behind it. *Bren's renaming of this P.U.P. design recently coincided with an Elite Operator squad encountering an unknown, massive creature bearing numerous Middle Dynasty Era weapons. After further analysis of the entire design, she chose to leave it be as it is simply too heavy and difficult to move while under direct assault. Instead, she made the suggestion of carrying more powerful weapons and acquiring better offensive Elementals instead of increasing the RHB's already difficult weight. -Watchtower, Basic Prototype: 900 Armor, 10DR (Hardened, Prototype) Before Spiral's departure, Bren's further interest in adapting modular designs to various Fortress buildings caused her to frequent the Workshop during opportune hours. Combining her knowledge with the more technologically and tradeskill inclined Operators, Bren's months of research eventually culminated in a highly functional, semi-permanent defensive structure intended to perform anti-air and anti-ground combat roles with equal capabilities. Eight heavily enchanted and sealed ironwood 'legs', each 1M long x 1M wide x 0.5M tall, allow the design to sit evenly on most soft surfaces without sinking. A 6M in diameter, 1.5M tall cylinder of newly produced, stainless steel-infused ironwood capped off by a quarter-circle dome, equipped with three large sliding door hatches, allow a trio of Operators to maintain *somewhat* optimal offensive-defense (and room) against every possible 'normal' threat that Bren and Krinza could think of. *Bren intends to upscale and revise this design to create deployable Outposts, one Moderatus and one Heavy, capable of holding 5 and 8 Operators comfortably. ***** SAVING! >You may now SAVE at any time by sacrificing a Miniature Translocation Disc before performing dumb shit. Doing so will take you to The White Room (or the Green Room, if you are a pony). And no, you really don't want to go to either unless necessary. -You will also be auto-saved upon use of the Miniature Translocation item and choose between entering The White/Green Room or Razorback Fortress, though there will always be side effects attributed to entering The White Room. -Your GM will ALWAYS auto-save you before talking to Mercy and other volatile NPC's, but only ONCE. After that, the utmost of discretion is either mandatory or marendatory! ***** SUPPORT ACTIONS: certain NPC's and Companions may be called upon to deliver supplies, teleport you out of lava, facestomp your enemies, and perform other combat or noncombat actions such as healing and curing allies, or pick an annoying lock. However, only TWO Support Actions may be attempted per Operation, so choose whom you want to aid you wisely. -Allies & Companions available for Support Actions: Bren, Denra, Hodch, Mercy, Naliyna, Roust, and Twisted Wing. -Factions available for Support Actions: Fortress Day Guard, Fortress Royal Guard, Fortress Honor Guard, Fortress Night Guard, Fortress Lunar Guard, Fortress Arcane Blades, and Fortress Tartarus Air Corps. *************************************************************************************************************************************** NEW ENCOUNTERS: >DRAGONS. The Dragonspine Mountains are now unlocked! Don't go trying to loot any dragon hoards now, you won't even survive one yawning at you. >ELITE Operations are now open! An Operator with a minimum of 51XP may join a Team Operation, but will require 71XP at minimum to accept a Solo Operation. BE ADVISED that while the rewards are great, the dangers are greater. >Hostile Eldritch weaponry may attempt to be tamed by the Four Sisters, or contested alongside a (preferably) LARGE number of stalwart Operators and Razorback’s closest Allies. >MEDICAL LESBIANS. Almost every town in Equestria and the capitals of most countries, now feature unaligned, seemingly Independent Medical Clinics which offer free services, regardless of species or lack of paymarent. >XL, XXL, & Monstrous enemies have been unlocked. Don't go wandering around the New Everfree hoping to stay unmolested, or you WILL know true pain. *************************************************************************************************************************************** -List of Operators and their skills: http://pastebin.com/JktpVZLG -List of Operator innawoods pictures: http://imgur.com/a/9zfyN#3 -BULLETIN BOARD: https://pastebin.com/UaxgkbgV -Fortress Map: http://i.imgur.com/Nfy0UK4.png?1 -All Previous Thread Archives: http://pastebin.com/YwC9CTvY - THE FULL ARCHIVE AND THIS HANDBOOK ARE REQUIRED READING FOR NEW RECRUITS. Well, not necessarily required.. but FAILURE TO DO SO MAY RESULT IN SPINE INJURIES, PERMARENENT SCARRING OF THE FACE, NOODLE SHAPED LACERATIONS OF THE GENITALS, AND MULTIPLE VISITS TO THE MORGUE! ***** CHARACTER CREATION: read the descriptions below, which contains all guidelines of character creation. Once you have a good idea of what you want to play as, edgelords excluded, send a message to me with this format: Name: (Character Name goes here, obviously) Position: (What position you want to take in an existing Razorback squad, or you may remain as a Free Operator) Theme: Description of your character, how they act and Operate HP: 10 (Basic HP amount, can add +2HP for 1XP, etc.) Armor: DR (Damage Reduction) amount, only viable if you have armor and are wearing it. Vests & Flak Jackets grant 1DR, Riot Armor/Body Suits/etc grant 2DR. XP: (New characters start with 5XP in addition to the required Human skills) Skill #1: Name of skill goes here Skill #2: Name of skill goes here Skill #3: Name of skill goes here Skill #4: Name of skill goes here Skill #5: Name of skill goes here etc. *************************************************************************************************************************************** HOUSE RULES: #0: IF YOU ARE ABLE TO, read this Handbook, former threads (and collations), Records, Bulletin board, and the rest of the pastebin before asking highly involved questions. Time is valuable and not a commodity to waste. If you miss something important or glaringly obvious.. too bad. Nearly everything can be checked out rather quickly, so do the smart thing: READ NIGGER, READ! before asking for information. #1: what an Operator brings with them is all they have to start with. If you want to take an item that is not in Innawoods, contact a GM to see if it can, but especially SHOULD be allowed, then shop it in. To keep from (fully) relying on Innawoods, the Items & Equipment listing has been fully expanded to keep track of all owned items, including all single use items. Any specialized or constructed possessions will then be added to the Item & Equipment paste once acquired/completed/stolen/constructed/etc. *IT IS STILL RECOMMENDED TO USE THE INNAWOODS.NET SITE, THAT WAY IF SHIT HAPPENS, ANYONE CAN REFERENCE IT AS A BACKUP! #2: need to take or rent something useful, or have something you don't want anymore? Use the Armory: https://pastebin.com/hceyC22m then notify a GM of what you want added or removed. #3: all actions that require a roll WILL BE DONE OPENLY. This NECESSARILY excludes a GM rolling for secret events and the like. If you are unable to roll in thread for any reason, ask someone to post rolls (or your entire post) for you. We’ve done that lots. #5: reposts, rerolls, prerolls, and addendums are not allowed UNLESS a GM states to do so. A repost is counted as deleting a post that is completed, whether due to Operator error or the board fucking itself. #5a: a reroll is counted as either a repost or double posting a set of rolls. #5b: a preroll is defined as attempting to roll abilities the turn BEFORE allowed to be in use, or would otherwise not be allowed. #5c: everyone should know what an addendum is! #6: due to the state of the board, a maximum of 1 Operator response per each GM response is allowed. Quite frankly, yes, we all love walls of text OR ELSE WE WOULDN'T BE HERE. While there are no technical limitations on the number of rolls one may do, I would personally prefer Operators to keep their roll numbers under 30. *IF POSSIBLE. That is not an exclusion, only a request. Take it AS a request: ignore when unnecessary or useless. Reading through too much gives everyone a headache. Trust me, I've had a dickmillion frontal migraines and a few on the sides to back it up. If you simply must have 5 people working to restore a banged up 1957 Chevy 4-door hardtop.. please be responsible about it and don't ask for specifics ….unless you REALLY want to be given said specifics. #7: since the board allows a greater amount of freedom and flexibility, there are a number of changes to keep in mind: #7a: there is no preference between first person paragraph narrative or third person. That is SOLELY up to the player in question to determine their posting style. There are no font selections, however, there IS an expectation of at least somewhat proper, IE: decently readable, formatting. #7b: please write all first and third person written narratives in the ‘large multi-paragraph style’. PLEASE. This is done for easier, simpler reading purposes. FORMAT NOTES: there are several brackets that MUST be used to indicate specific : is to be used for any language that is not Common Equestrian, IE: Human Common. It is not (((english))) as the britcucks added nothing to it. Refer to it as that, and you will be fucked. (Non-Spoken Thoughts Go Here) is to be used for private thoughts, and magical or Psionic communications. *"Radio Messages Go Here"* is to be used for…. radio/electronic/digital communications. #8: WHEN RESPONDING TO OTHERS AND THE GM (or GM’S) LINK DIRECTLY TO THEIR POST! #9: don't overpost. What this means is: do not drop a response, then drop another response, OR a series of responses, without waiting for a post in return. GM's must be given time to catch up on responses to prevent from being backlogged. This is due to having numerous overposts in the past and lacking the time to properly respond to others. Seriously, the average 3,000 character post takes 10-15 minutes to respond to. Do the math, then times that by the number of responses. #10: there is an absolute maximum of 5 Operators allowed during an Operation, not including a Companion or Ally. This is done to allow a rotation of Operators equal "screen time" and to cut down on large response times. In short: less lag. #11: unless stated that an Operator is well and truly dead, either by vaporization, fatal injury/injuries, having completely bled out, or by other fatal means that cannot be recovered from, a FINAL post is allowed by making one’s full Iron Will rolls to attempt staving off death. DEPENDING* on the form of injuries sustained, the Operator may OR will survive for a short period longer, become comatose, or, if the roll/rolls fail, they will die. Death is permarenent. Finding an alternate way around that is up to the individual. #12: GM's will not push back times for an Operation. Don't make it on time? You're shit out of luck… but not forever! If you miss an Operation, request to be on the next one and you will be given an available slot, IF POSSIBLE. Time might not always be on your side, so be considerate and question whether you have enough time to do X or Y. #13: only those directly participating in an Operation may host a group call to prevent disasters like those that have occurred in the past. Communication is vital, so to put it shortly: do not interrupt. #14: similarly, any #OiE channel WILL NOT be used for blogposting, external discussions, or anything else. Those are ONLY for ingame use. Want to shitpost or share news? Do it elsewhere. This rule will be closely enforced. #15: when a GM states that there is an Operation beginning, those going on it are immediately required to finish their conversations as quickly as possible. Clearing yourself from other conversations (or DLC content!) must be your ONLY priority at that point. Failure to do so may cause those still posting to get "lost" for a while. Don't expect to continue a prior conversation while participating either. #16: if you are stuck and the GM is unable to give any more information, consider the situation, contexts, and the area carefully. REALISTIC MODE is on people! Easy, Normal, and Hard Modes are long since over, thus there will be no more spoilers, hints, tips, or advice. tl;dr: you're on your own now, deal with it. #17: there will be no breaking of the 4th, 5th, and 6th walls. This rule will be closely enforced. #18: THERE WILL BE NO METAGAMING OR POWERGAMING TOLERATED FROM ANY SOURCE. *METAGAMING is solely defined as using OR abusing information AND features that are not, or would not be, available to a particular Operator/NPC, whether by abusing features, abilities, or skills that were not meant for anything other than their intended purposes. Also included are taking items from Operators/NPC's that have not been earned, allowed for use, are not capable of being used, and etc. *POWERGAMING is defined as allowing an Operator/NPC to attempt, perform, resolve, or complete actions that they should not be able to; nor use, borrow, ask for, or exploit skills, abilities, or awarded, given, or sold items that are deemed too powerful or too game-breaking for use. Violators will be warned on the first attempt. They will only be given ONE chance to correct that mistake. After this, they will be severely punished for breaking either of these rules immediately, in the HIGHLY unlikely chance that they aren't permanently removed at that time. We have had NUMEROUS instances of shitheels doing both. The time for !!UlTrA zAnY wAlL bReAkInG bUlLsHiT!! is long gone. #19: for the purposes of item, weapon, armor, or knowledge advancemarent, ie: using Alchemy, Engineering, or Research, a maximum of 10 responses in a row are allowed, after which a break must be written in. *This was previously limited to 3, 5, and 8 posts in a row, which did not properly allow for time constraints nor posting space. Completing more than 10 responses in a row will most likely result in negative effects, effectively simulating an individual wearing down and burning out from their efforts. You always have the CHOICE of adding extra !horse words! to such posts, or to not add extra !horse words! Mileage will vary. #20: have nothing to do? Learn a language or a new skill, build cracker barrels until you have the best damn cracker barrels on Tallus, improve a Tertiary skill.. seriously, do SOMETHING! Please don’t wait on one specific GM all the time unless you have no other choice. It takes an average of 15-20 minutes per GM post (when typing at 120 words per minute) and 30-40 minutes for others depending on the response required. Yes, that is correct, do the math. #21: the allowable number of weapons that may be taken on an Operation has been limited to an absolute maximum of 4 (not including a backup), specifically for game balance reasons, AND for keeping track of everything in I&E. An Operator may have a maximum of ONE primary firearm, ONE secondary firearm, and up to two small melee weapons or one standard sized melee weapon, not including the backup weapon. And, before asking whether or not an Ally or Companion can or will carry something for you… the answer is probably an automatic no. *This rule is non-negotiable to prevent exploitation from metagaming. Yes, it has happened. Yes, the idiot was a fucking retard for doing it. Yes, IF, however, an Operator infield needs to grab another Operator's weapon or weapons, they're going to be weighed down for it, but is otherwise allowable. #22: anthro shit is not allowed anywhere. Seriously, don't even. We know full well how 4cuckoids went 900% cancer. No more. #23: avoid spoiling anything for, or to, anyone. OPENLY THEORIZING ABOUT ANYTHING RELATED TO #OiE is only allowed on a certain person's channel. This rule is… mostly ignored? It could be enforced, but I’m #24: similar to above, don't share or spoil your future plans to others…. uuuuuuunless you feel such to be absolutely necessary? Leave what should be hidden, hidden. Also, don’t cause heart attacks. #25: if anyone, for any reason, ever wastes my or one of my GM's time, that person is to be handed down EXTREME penalties. If you are: playing another game at the same time as an Operation is going on, consistently fucking around, doing something else and somehow NOT notifying us that you really aren't available for an Operation, even though you promised to be active by taking a slot on it, you are going on an automatic, permarenent vacation. tl;dr version: you will, 99% of the time, be instantly removed. Don't fuck around. Really. We all have better shit to do with our time. #OiE was STARTED as a way to blow off stress. DON’T make it stressful. #26: shitposting other Operators, being a prissy bitch, whining, teamfagging, dramafagging, being a cuck, or other interruptions will not be tolerated. As has been explained before, #OiE is a TEAM-BASED STRATEGIC GAME REVOLVING AROUND FLUFFY MARSHMALLOW EQUINES, HUMANS, AND EVERYTHING BEING DRUNK, STONED, HIGH, OR TRIPPING HALF THE TIME. This, of course, necessitates a modicum of interpersonal conduct and rational thought. If this can't be done.. then you are doubly shit out of luck. *************************************************************************************************************************************** RULES FOR HOSTING AN OPERATION: probably disallowed anyways. #1: an accepted GM, that is, a GM that has been approved, may at any time offer to host an Operation. It is solely up to the GM to devise the Operation, direct the participating Operators through the Operation, write out the the reactions to the Operators, set up encounters and events, determine the actions of NPC's & events, and so on and so forth. #2: when a GM has stated that he is willing to host an Operation, he may state basic information such as difficulty, the number of Operators needed or wanted, while the relevant Operation giver will state a brief description of the situation, and whatever else said GM feels like writing out. The most commonly accepted writing style is FREEFORM, so work hard on your Operations, take the time and effort to refine, then work on the details if you must. This DOES NOT and WILL NEVER suggest that ALL campaigns need to be epic-tier writing! What we DO ask is: be as descriptive and informative as you feel is necessary, depending on the amount of time you have available! Have your own fun alongside everyone else’s fun! #3: once a GM has announced an Operation, it is up to the Operators to offer to take the job, or be assigned if this is a special mission. The Operators, if offered, may then deliberate upon whom will be selected to embark on that Operation WITHOUT THE GM'S INFLUENCE, or the GM may ask for individuals to roll for the opportunity if the Operators cannot agree upon whom will go. Operations are played in turns which are started, and ended, by the GM, as indicated by the GM using Post #1/2, then Post #2/2, and so on, after all Operators have performed their actions and rolls in post! *************************************************************************************************************************************** CHARACTER UPGRADES: >HP: hit points, health, Hardiness Points; or what have you, HP is the *simple* indicator of how much maximum harm one can take in combat. Operators start with 10HP and may not start with less, or more.. unless special circumstances dictate otherwise. After an Operation has concluded or a new Day/Night cycle has begun, an Operator must spend 1XP to gain +2 MaxHP, up to a limit of 20HP. From that point onwards, an Operator must spend 2XP to gain +2 MaxHP, capping at 30HP. *Kraut's excellent cooking has had great effect on the Operators as a whole, greatly increasing their potential vitality and natural durability. >XP: all Operators begin with 5XP available, excluding the seven Standard Skills that a Human is REQUIRED to have upon joining. >REQUIRED HUMAN SKILLS. -All Humans automatically begin with these Defensive skills: Basic Block, Basic Evasion, Basic Speed, Basic Sprint. -All Humans automatically begin with these Offensive skills: Basic Assault, Basic Parry, Basic Riposte. (*This is DEFINITELY going to have future changes and revisions, just not rite Nao >_>) >SKILLS: all Skills cost 1XP to buy for a Basic, Expert skills cost 2XP, Master skills cost 3XP, and Grandmaster skills cost [REDACTED] XP. An Operator can only upgrade a Standard Skill either AFTER an Operation or during a new Day/Night cycle. However, an Operator may only upgrade each skill ONE RANK between Operations, though there is no limit on how many skills may be upgraded at one time! In addition to this, an Operator may only have a maximum of three Grandmaster skills, including Unique skills. -The total number of Standard Skills is hard capped at 20, meaning that a Human will ALWAYS arrive with the 7 required, and may thusly obtain a total of 13 more. -STANDARD SKILLS may no longer be exchanged. If an Operator decides to remove a Standard Skill, all XP used to purchase that skill will be permanently lost. >UNIQUE SKILLS are precisely that: the unique, exemplary facets (or capabilities) that a particular individual has. By their nature, Uniques must be visibly different and viable, and should be well thought out before being allowed. As well, Uniques may no longer be exchanged; if an Operator decides one of their Uniques no longer fits or is viable, all XP used to purchase that skill will be permanently lost. *ADDENDUM: certain Uniques may be created and assigned to an Operator.. or may not be controllable. *************************************************************************************************************************************** ROLLING DICE: All standard rolls are performed using the Basic Version 3.4 [1d6] dice system, with additional modifiers and rolls depending on rank of skills, bonuses from armor, weaponry, enchantmarents, equipment, Leadership, and other sources. In combat, ALL roll results are reduced by 2 unless otherwise indicated (this accommodate for a result of 1 being a complete fucking screwup, and a 2 being a screwup/neutral result), while MOST out-of-combat and non-combat rolls function normally. *Additional modifiers ONLY affect the chance of success, while the base roll result or cumulative base results are taken into effect for each action. Rolling a 1 out of combat without modifiers is designated as a critical, HORRIBLE failure, which will lead to any number of catastrophes, disasters, or incredibly hilarious situations. While in combat, rolling a 1 can lead to dropping a weapon, crashing into a tree, setting yourself on fire with a lit match, or any other bad (but most likely amusing) results. Rolling a 2 out of combat without modifiers is either a screwup or neutral result, which may be ignored depending on numerous factors, while rolling the same in combat is a complete miss. Rolling a 3 out of combat is judged as a slight success, such as gaining a small amount of interest from an NPC, while rolling the same in combat is considered a grazing strike/shot. Rolling a 4 out of combat is considered a moderate success, while rolling the same in combat is considered a winging/partial hit. Rolling a 5 out of combat is considered a high success, while rolling the same in combat is considered a solid or near-direct hit. Rolling a 6 out of combat is considered a perfect success, while rolling the same in combat is considered a direct hit, and will OFTEN cause additional effects solely depending on GM determined circumstances. IN SHORT: the higher the roll, the better the end result. ***** ROLLING DICE FOR PRIMARY SKILLS: An Untrained skill allows you to roll: [1d6] The damned spider was hard to hit, and seemed about as sturdy as my trauma plate. I was getting tired, but it couldn't be helped. Performing a rather shallow combat roll under it, I was greeted with yet another frantic hammering as it's sharpened legs partially pierce the plate on my chest. [1d6-1] Jacking the revolver into my hand, I took aim at the center of it's disgustingly bright yellow body and squeezed the trigger twice because, let's face it, at this range, how can I miss? [1d6+3] SUBTYPE: Storm. A non-directed sidegrade that increases area of effect greatly, though total damage decreases. -Poison: recipients of poison may become sickened, lose some of their physical abilities, and become more suceptible to other forms of harm depending on the specific poison. Typical poisons deals their damage on the following turn after being struck, while Lethal or Mystic poisons deal their damage on the same turn. Poison is extremely effective against living beings, but does nothing against Ethereal or Void beings, Planar Constructs, Spectrals, and Undead beings. >SUBTYPE: Acid. Acid is intended to weaken and damage armor or weapons, and as such causes additional damage to very soft or hardened targets. Extremely effective against all living targets, but does nothing or little against incorporeal and Spectral beings. -Void: may cause random forms of harm, disintegrate body parts, and can severely damage to armor and weaponry. Deals excessive additional harm to fragile and non-Void beings. Highly effective against all living and non-living beings, does not effect Void based creatures, and has been noted to cause beneficial effects on beings from the Vortex plane. >SUBTYPE: Shadow. A weaker form of Void that causes instant harm to an affected area, most often in the form of physically fracturing the target. Effective against all living and non-living beings, but has great difficulty overcoming heavy armor. -Water: may slow down an enemy from additional weight, cause kinetic trauma, or put out physical fire; if mystical water then that may put out mystic-based flame effects. Moderately effective against all targets, but does little against Eldritch, Spectral, or Undead beings. -NOTE #1: attacking an Elemarental being with it's opposing Elemarent deals either DOUBLE, TRIPLE, or QUADRUPLE damage depending on the enemy's size, resistance, and other factors. Operators and NPC's may also activate Elemarental effects of a weapon, without actively harming a target, to intimidate oppositely aligned Elemarental opponents, create ligt, cool oneself down, etc. -NOTE #2: when attacking with an elemarentally enchanted melee weapon, an Operator or NPC may choose to NOT utilize the Elemarent, if they would prefer. -NOTE #3: offensive Elemarental or non-Elemarental enchantmarets, abilities, or attacks may ONLY gain additional bonuses from Dante's Unique 'Fire On My Target' or using Marker, an alchemical debuffing item. ***** >STANDARD PERSONAL ENCHANTMENTS: passive, reactive, or standard effect based enchantments are used to improve the protection of armor and equipmarent, allowing an Operator additional abilities that they are not capable of performing themselves, such as granting Elemental resistances, limited float capacity, automatic defensive abilities, and much more. -Float: a variable strength enchantmarent that reduces or nullifies the weight of it's bearer, allowing one to remain a certain distance above solid objects and ground with a potential chance for limited directional and controlled flight depending on speed and strength of the enchantmarent. May provide Defensive skill or Stealth bonuses if the enchantmarent is performed by a Grandmaster ranked Caster, or a Crystal pony ranked Superior or higher. -Slowfall: an enchantmarent that slows one's velocity from falling with marental commarend, and will automatically stop it's bearer from crashing into solid objects, ground, or floors. This effect cannot be overridden and will always prevent a crash landing, though damage may still be caused if falling from a great height. *************************************************************************************************************************************** ARMOR SYSTEM. How armor works is this: each point of DR (Damage Reduction) reduces physical damage taken, by the wearer, by 1 per attack's roll. This does not apply to certain Elemarents, Eldritch, Otherworldly, Spectral, or other forms of damage that nullify or negate physical protection. *All Unarmored Operators, that is, an Operator whom has either no armor or very light armor, gains +1 to all Evasion, Reaction Speed, or Sprint rolls from being unhindered and thus unconstrained. *Armored Vests, Light Bodysuits, and Light Armor may provide from 1DR to 3DR (Damage Reduction), and have no penalty to Movemarent rolls. Unmodified Heavy Suits and Heavy Armor may provide from 2DR 4DR, and have a -1 penalty to Movemarent rolls. Unique armor may confer other bonuses or negatives depending on what was used to create it or enchantmarents added. EXAMPLE: OperatorA attacks OperatorB. OperatorA rolls a 3 and 5 using Basic Shotguns, adding the +2 hidden damage bonus. OperatorB cannot defend, but is wearing a 2DR Heavy Armor. OperatorA's rolls are reduced by -2 due to the combat roll reduction, and OperatorB's armor absorbs 2 damage per attack, thus OperatorB takes a total of 3 HP damage. *************************************************************************************************************************************** SKILL SPECIALIZATIONS: Skill Specializations are small bonuses added to Standard Skills. They may be acquired or conferred through training with allies that have VETERAN or ELITE ranked skills, a Companion or NPC with the Savant Quirk, in-depth research at a Library, or insight gained from allied Eldritch beings. Each Skill Specialization allows an Operator may gain a maximum of +1 to their Standard Skills under specific circumstances. NOTE #1: if an Operator is at Elite status (71XP or more) and has a Master ranked Standard Skill, they may teach their Specialization to another Operator, but they cannot exceed the teaching capacity of +1. NOTE #2: there is a maximum of 25 Skill Specializations allowed. 15 of these MAY be applied to any Standard Skills, as the remaining 10 are meant to aid in dealing with specific situations, circumstances, or opponents. >WORK IN PROGRESS!!! The number of specializations are likely to undergo drastic increases or decreases in the future. Certain limits are somewhat constraining in comparison to marely of the challenges that have been faced in the past, thus these numbers will fluctuate depending on many factors as part of playing. *************************************************************************************************************************************** >TRADESKILLS. Whether an off-and-on college student, an unfunded side-project researcher, a not-so-armchair tactician, an unlicensed electrician, electronic gurus, robotics tinkerer, mechanical liaison, these interests and more tend to define certain Operators, either due to their profession or simply using their spare time in an interesting fashion. Trade Skills are typically high level cumulative disciplines requiring large amounts of study to understand and attempt to improve on one's working knowledge of a subject. As the majority of information, techniques, and working skills brought with an Operator is all that they may ever have available, it has become prudent to collect and collate human knowledge in order to adapt to Tallus' subtle differences, particularly when it comes to the physical sciences. Since most Operators understand the basics of Tallus' uniquely long and large scale histories, some have consumed enough knowledge to progress beyond their original interests, becoming adequate substitutes and functioning in place of, or possibly even matching, marely of the dedicated long term faction members they've come into contact with, taking on vital or just plain missing roles due to the small number of humans making up Razorback Company. Due to the broad, near endless wealths of knowledge open to humans, it has become quite easy to safely experimarent in absentia.. whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate. An Operator may have any number of Tradeskills applicable to what they have learned. Each Tradeskill is an individual's accumulated knowledge of a specific subject, whether information on a Faction, a particular species, or a barely known being that has been recorded enough to have, at the least, a vague idea of what it is. -The result of rolling for Lore knowledge on a subject or science indicates the TOTAL number of important details, facts, or specific pieces of information available to an Operator at the time. In effect, this is played out as an Operator searching their memory for relevant information and known data or factors. -The use of a Lore IS allowed in conjunction with a Trade Skill. -a Lore may only be allowed ONCE per Operation during combat; attempting to use a Lore during combat after the first will result in the Operator being distracted for the turn and likely suffering injuries. Or death. Death usually isn't what an Operator wants. Just don't do this. Please? Okay, good, thank you. EXAMPLE: if an Operator has Lore: Tallus Earth Ponies, they will also be able to perform that Lore when attempting to recall information about the associated factions, countries, and city states that earth ponies are heavily involved with, or has a well known number of them. This rule is not entirely inclusionary as specific pieces of information, for example: cultural attitudes about what color is considered the cutest between mares of one city distant from another may differ greatly. ***** >AVAILABLE TRADE SKILL OPTIONS: -Alchemy: self-explanatory. -AstroMeteorology: a combined disciple of both Astronomy & Meteorology on Tallus. Highly common and adored due to sheer amusemarent value, only Colleges with enough unicorns are able to teach this discipline. *May be used with maps, GPS systems, and the like to confirm one's location or intended destination. Also useful for calculating weather conditions, high-orbit trajectories, the Alicorn Phase Cycles, predicting the movemarents of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] [REDACTED], the use of [REDACTED], or for when a Sorceror needs to guide a meteor down onto Tallus. -Biology: self-explanatory. -Chemistry: self-explanatory. -Cooking: self-explanatory. -Ecology: may be used alongside Wilderness Survival to determine the relative prospects of an area. Useful for establishing flora and fauna relationships in an ecology, as well as likely harvestables in a region. -Engineering: self-explanatory. -Geology: may be used when Mining for additional aid in determining nearby ore or other valuable deposits. Useful for increasing one's output for Mining, or for swinging Mining related weapons at a stubborn enemy. -Tactics: can be used in conjunction with Leadership, or only on its own. Useful in determining viable long term strategies or pinpointing the precise location of an attack, ambush, siege, and other forms of warfare activity. -Thermodynamics: self-explanatory. -Research: self-explanatory. ***** LORE is a subset that function exactly the same as Tradeskills. Standard ones include: *FACTIONS: all known factions lifted in the Hoofbook that an individual has logical access to or knowledge of. *SPECIES: #1: Tallus Ponies including but not limited to Batponies, Changelings, Crystal ponies, Earth ponies, Pegasi, Saddle Arabians, and Unicorns. #2: Exotic Tallus Inhabitants including but not limited to Drakes, Gryphons, Rams, Tallus Basilisks, Tallus Harpies, etc. #3: Otherworldly beings, e.g.: Alicorns, Dragons, Eyes, Minotaurs, Planar Harpies, etc. #4: Planar Realms, e.g: Dominion, Ethereal, The Rift (Construct inhabited), Vortex, etc. #5: Spectral beings. #6: Undead. -NOTE: if an Operator desires to have a Lore that is not listed here, it will mostly likely be allowed if it makes sense in context. ***** TRADESKILL TITLES, XP COST, & ASSOCIATED ROLLS: -Amateur: grants a [1d6] roll. -Apprentice: grants 2 [1d6] rolls. -Pupil: grants 2x [1d6+1] rolls. -Observer: grants 2x [1d6+2] rolls. -Junior: grants 2x [1d6+3] roll. -Adept: grants 3x [1d6+3] rolls. -Proficient: grants 3x [1d6+4] rolls. -Senior: grants 4x [1d6+4] rolls. -Graduate: grants 4x [1d6+5] rolls. -Teacher: grants 5x [1d6+6] rolls. *************************************************************************************************************************************** ***** >LIMITATIONS ON UTILITY SKILLS: *Only 1 of the following may be used each turn: -Alchemy and Medical may be used together during one's turn, though one cannot utilize any Offensive or Ranged skills and are only allowed to Block. -Engineering and Explosives cannot be used together as each requires total concentration. Depending on the complexity of the task, one may be allowed to Block. -Engineering and Thievery can be combined to increase cumulative potential successes on a task but only if the action makes sense; for example an Operator cannot place a trap, then attempt to create another during that turn. ***** EXCLUDING certain Energy Weapons, single-shot and sniping weapons, and some other unique weaponry, the NUMBER of rolls used is directly equal to the number of shots made during that turn. For example, if an Operator is using Basic Small Arms with a revolver, this means that his 2 rolls are considered to be taking 2 shots, or performing 2 bursts from a submachine gun (SMG). The same applies to most other forms of weaponry as well. Attacks from a Battle Rifle, Anti-Tank Destroyer, Grenade/Rocket/Missile Launcher, and others are defined by an Operator improving their talent for landing more accurate and damaging hits on targets. RELOADING: see Movement for more details. *************************************************************************************************************************************** MASTER LIST OF OFFENSIVE SKILLS: all damage causing combat skills are hereby known as Offensive Skills. Excluding Ambush or Combined Arms, only one offensive skill may be used each turn; this limitation include Unique skills. ***** >SPECIAL RULE: PUT HIM DOWN! Any Operator whom turns against Companions, Allies, another Operator, non-combatants, loses his mind, acts in an insane fashion, is seen willingly damaging Razorback's Reputation, or commits treachery may be targeted with an automatic, flat +2 bonus to all Offensive and Ranged weapon rolls, ONLY if using non-lethal or less-than-lethal force, such as aiming for an offender's legs or arms. Upon a result of 6 or higher, the targeted Operator suffers a -2 penalty to ALL rolls. Humans are long since used to fighting humans, after all... *If an Operator chooses to use lethal force against another Operatr during an Operation, this bonus instead becomes a flat +1 bonus to all Offensive and Ranged Weapon rolls. ***** >LIMITATIONS ON OFFENSIVE SKILLS *Only 1 of the following may be used each turn: -Archery, when Bow or Crossbow -Energy Weapons, whether Light or Heavy -Ranged Weapons, whether Combat Rifles, Shotguns, Light Machine Guns or Heavy Machine Guns, Grenade/Rocket/Missile Launchers, other Heavy Weapons, or mounted weaponry -Tasers *Melee weapons and Small Arms may be used together, see the Combined Arms section below for complete details. *AMBUSH may be used at any time when not in direct combat. *INTIMIDATION may be used at any time, whether before or during combat. *************************************************************************************************************************************** -AMBUSH: upon rolling Ambush and achieving a 6 or higher, an Operator gains 1 Ambush token. These tokens stack up to a maximum of 2 for Basic Ambush, 3 for Expert Ambush, and 4 for Master Ambush. Once an Ambush token is stacked, each may only be used as an additional dice rolls for Explosive, Melee, Ranged, or certain Unique offensive abilities. ON YOUR OPENING ROUND OF COMBAT, you MUST use the saved Ambush tokens for extra attacks on your opening turn! Failing to use them on the opening turn means you will lose all of your Ambush tokens, and you may not attempt to roll for extra Ambush tokens during an Operation once combat begins, unless otherwise noted. All normal modifiers that would be applied to Explosives, Melee, Ranged, or other offensive skills are added as per normal. HOW AMBUSH TOKENS WORK: add ALL +X modifiers that you would normally use on your Explosives, Melee, Ranged, or Unique rolls, as Ambush tokens are simply an additional attack. Once you use up stored Ambush tokens, they are gone, so plan your actions WISELY! When rolling more than regular dice, you must hit at least 6 on your roll, thus: If you have [1d6+1] ARCHERY: combines the usage of all forms of bows, e.g.: shortbows, longbows, compound bows, great bows, and the myriad forms of crossbows. Causes an additional +2 damage per roll upon landing a hit and inflicts Bleeding status on a max critical, but must be reloaded/drawn after every arrow or bolt is loosed. If an Operator DOES NOT have both Expert Archery and Expert Movemarent, they must sacrifice their Movemarent roll to reload their bow or crossbow. Upon encountering a heavily armored target, one may want to switch weapons as crossbow bolts and arrows are limited in number that an Operator can carry, and may not provide sufficient penetration or damaging qualities on said targets. -Standard arrows and bolts may be improved or enhanced up to +2 modifier, but may not have an Elemarental attack. -Custom arrows and bolts can be enhanced up to +4, may carry an Elemarental attack, and may have Armor Pierce (DR penetration/negation) qualities depending on the materials used. >VITAL SHOT: similar to the Steadying rule for Battle Rifles, an Operator with at least Basic Archery may spend ONE turn ,attempting to focus on and determine the weaknesses of a target, whether suspected or confirmed, a specific bodily part, or a vital organ. Upon the next turn, the Operator must loose their arrow or bolt with a modifier of +3 to all Archery rolls. As with Steadying, an Operators may NOT fire and move to ready for a Vital Shot, or move and fire, as they must remain mostly still to focus. *************************************************************************************************************************************** ENERGY WEAPONS: the proper and effective use of non-traditional weaponry using projected particulate or energy systems, such as chemical, electrical, or focal-point lasers, plasma, particle projection weaponry, and more. Each specific weapon has their own modifiers & attributes, and can ONLY be used effectively by the specific Operator they came with or were summoned by. NOTE that Energy Weapons are divided into two types: Light, which comprises anything smaller than what would typically be equivalent to a rifle, and Heavy, which comprises anything larger than a rifle. ***** -LASER: a tightly focused coherent beam of light, amplified by any number and type of radioactive emissions, formed from an electrical current passing through a positive wavelength conductive medium such as: semiconductors, superconductors, rare earth crystals (or even synthetic variants), specially designed ion-chemical glass, active gases or metallic vapors, metallic or crystalline liquids, through an optical matrix consisting of two mirrors, with one partially transparent to allow a stable energy 'beam' to function as a partially lossless weapon. Chemical lasers rely on chemical reactions instead of radiation amplified emissions, while focal-point lasers are simply multiple extreme density light wavelength sources powered by a self-contained energy source that are focused together from a single 1 degree, or less, angle. -NOTE: all laser weaponry creates uniquely cauterized wounds that are unmistakable to even the most non-discerning eye. LASER WEAPON CLASSES: -Pistol: ignores 1DR -Rifle: ignores 1DR and causes an additional +1 damage per roll that lands -ANTI-TANK: ignores 2DR and causes an additional +2 damage per roll that lands -LIGHT CANNON-CLASS: ignores 3DR and causes an additional +3 damage per roll that lands -MEDIUM CANNON-CLASS: ignores 4DR and causes an additional +4 damage per roll -HEAVY CANNON-CLASS: ignores 5DR and causes an additional +5 damage per roll ***** >PARTICLE PROJECTION: an extraordinarily costly and difficult to maintain form of semi-energy weaponry that expels a stream of focused protons, ions, or relativistic molecules in sequence from a heavily shielded electromagnetic chamber through a hyper-conducting barrel, typically meant for defeating exceptionally thick or advanced armor. The stream of charged particulates is able to punch through armor with ease, though for their size, weight, complexity, and reliability issues, they tend to do slightly less damage than other energy weapons. Large scale portable particle projection systems usually weigh upwards of 100 pounds for shoulder-mounted anti-tank versions, and are very limited in the number of firing cycles they can achieve. Smaller pistol and rifle particle projection weapons are slightly more powerful and longer ranged than traditional weaponry, yet often have fewer charges available for use. -NOTE: particle projection weaponry may also cause erratic electrical fluctuations against technological targets on max criticals, causing additional heat buildup, flash-burning processing chips, melting or slagging metallic components, and other miscellaneous reactions. PARTICLE PROJECTION CLASSES: -Pistol: ignores 2DR & causes an additional +1 damage per roll that lands -RIFLE: ignores 4DR & causes an additional +2 damage per roll that lands -ANTI-TANK: ignores 6DR & causes an additional +3 damage per roll that lands -LIGHT CANNON-CLASS: ignores 8DR & causes an additional +4 damage per roll that lands -MEDIUM CANNON-CLASS: ignores 10DR & causes an additional +5 damage per roll that lands -HEAVY CANNON-CLASS: ignores 12DR & causes an additional +6 damage per roll that lands ***** >PLASMA: plasma weapons deliver a semi-contained or contained super-heated substance of varying coloration, typically disposable materials, through a superconducting barrel via an electromagnetic propulsion ejection system. Most weapons of this type have some form of integral internal shielding to prevent a pinch-bottle reaction from forming and subsequently detonating, though prototype and early models on human worlds tend to be overlooked when it comes to safety standards or requiremarents. Most of a plasma weapon's weight is taken up by smaller, heavy components, and 'ammunition', such as it is, can be relatively lightweight and virtually limitless (glass, sand, small rocks, etc.), thus weapons of this type tend to use fiberglass, plastic, or synthetic stocks & parts to lighten overall weight as they require little maintenance and can be cheaply or easily replaced. Larger variants of plasma weaponry often weigh much the same as similarly styled combat rifles, while shoulder-mounted and anti-tank variants tend to be considerably heavier than traditional weapons. *NOTE: plasma weapons typically deal double damage against armor and weaponry, much quicker than other energy weapons, but often fail, misfire, overheat, ooooorrrrrr may explode on base results of 1. PLASMA WEAPON CLASSES: -PISTOL: causes an additional +2 thermal damage per roll that lands -RIFLE: causes an additional +4 thermal damage per roll that lands -ANTI-TANK: causes an additional +6 thermal damage per roll that lands -LIGHT CANNON-CLASS: causes an additional +8 thermal damage per roll that lands -MEDIUM CANNON-CLASS: causes an additional +10 thermal damage per roll that lands -HEAVY CANNON-CLASS: causes an additional +12 thermal damage per roll that lands *************************************************************************************************************************************** >CLOSE RANGE OFFENSIVE SKILLS: a widely used trio that encompass the proper and effective use of one's fists and melee weaponry. *Close Combat Weapon Classes: -Light Weapons: a rock, knives, daggers, wooden clubs, lock in a sock, etc. Anything that doesn't weigh much and can be easily used without much training. All Light melee weapons cause an additional +1 damage per roll upon landing a hit. -One-Handed Weapons: hammers, axes, machetes, short swords, entrenching shovels, etc. Anything that requires some skill to use due to higher weight and length, also including precision assassination weapons. All One-Handed Weapons cause an additional +2 damage per roll upon landing a hit. -Two-Handed Weapons: polearms, greatswords, sledgehammers, double headed combat axes, etc. Anything that usually weighs more than 4 pounds, requiring significant skill to use due to longer length and precision. All Two-Handed Weapons cause an additional +3 damage per roll upon landing a hit. ***** >ASSAULT: the standard usage, Assault signifies the use of melee weaponry, fists, boots, or even one's own skull at absolute minimum, to: stab an opponent, use a hammer to smash a sculpture, kick down a door, tear open a tough kevlar bag of Cheetos, shatter bricks with one's asscheeks, and other such physical requiremarents. Assault may be used against single OR multiple targets, but unless directly aiming for the target's weapons, shield, or specific points of armor, does not provide any defensive capabilities. THROWN WEAPONRY: when one wants to throw a knife, rock, javelin, pony or whatever else, they must use Assault to do so. THROWN GRENADES: same as above, except the number of Melee rolls determines how close the grenade lands to the target. The damage and blast/shrapnel radius are set numbers, all of which are listed in I&E. Operators must add +1 to all Assault rolls when throwing a grenade due to Razorback's Improved Demolitions. -MAXIMUM EFFECTIVE THROWING RANGE: effective thrown range of grenades is as follows: Basic Assault: 30M Expert Assault: 40M Master Assault: 50M Grandmaster Assault: 60M *All Operators may make use of an additional [1d6+1] PARRY: when attacked in close combat, this signifies the use of an Operator using all of their Melee rolls to deflect attacks away from themselves. If a defender's total result is higher, then they will have completely avoided harm; in addition to this, all remaining results will automatically be used to negate harm from other attackers. ***** >RIPOSTE: when attacked in melee, this signifies the use of an Operator automatically using all of their Melee rolls to deflect damage onto the attacker. If the Operator's total result is higher, then they deal all leftover damage to the target, mitigated by the target's DR, Block, and Evade result, but only to a specific enemy. -Example of a charging Operator with Basic Melee and using a non-enchanted weapon: [1d6+1] INTIMIDATION: Intimidation is used to damage and destroy an opponent's morale, disrupting their attacks, movemarents, and skill usage via violent physical or vocal displays of aggression, showing off weaponry, or other means. This skill may also be used to interrogate or taunt an opponent with, but must be labelled as COMMON RESULTS OF INTIMIDATION: -1: total failure, enemy may laugh or become angered/enraged. -2: failure: target will shrug or dismiss what was said/done. -3: slight success: target will be very slightly worried/concerned/irritated. -4: minor success: target will be minorly worried/concerned. -5: partial success: target will be somewhat worried/concerned. -6: moderate success: target will be reluctant to allow you to continue breathing or consider their options carefully. -7: good success: target may focus solely on you, change their target to something less difficult to deal with, or consider exiting combat. -8: solid success: target may lose the use of one of their tertiary or secondary skills, and has a decent chance of leaving combat. -9: excellent success: target may lose the use of one of their skills, and has a good chance of either leaving combat or becoming shocked. -10: perfect success: target loses the use of one of their main skills with a decent chance of losing a secondary skill as well, and is automatically stunned via pants shitting terror. Higher results have increasingly worse effects, which the GM will describe. ***** >DEMORALIZE is a high ranking, specialized enemy skill used to incur penalties on an enemy, while also causing the same effects as Intimidate. If subjected to Demoralize, the only possible defense is to counter with Iron Will or Fearless; the highest roll is used to determine if whether or not one takes a reduction to the targeted skill. -The primary effect of Demoralize effect, that being penalizing specific skills, only occurs on a 6 or higher; if a 6 is achieved, a skill will be reduced by -2, and if a 10 is achieved that penalty will instead be upgraded to -4. EXAMPLE: Enemy3 uses SMALL ARMS: standard, often low pressure, velocity, or grain weight calibers in single or double-action, semi-automatic or submachine gun, aka: SMG, platforms (4.6x30mm, 5.7x28MM, 9x17, 9x19, 10MM, .40 S&W., & etc.) -Spread Fire: an Operator may, once per turn, choose to empty an SMG's magazine onto multiple chosen opponents; the first target will receive the first roll's damage, the second target will receive teh second roll's damage, and so on. This may be performed until an Operator no longer has any full magazines remaining. -Basic: 2 targets -Expert: 3 targets -Master: 4 targets ***** MAGNUM SMALL ARMS: heavier, more powerful calibers in revolver, semi-automatic, and submachine gun, aka SMG, platforms. (.327 Magnum, .357 Magnum, 10MM Magnum, .410 Shotshell, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .45ACP, 454 Casull, .460ES, .480 Remington, .50 AE, & etc.) >Spread Fire: an Operator may, once per turn, choose to empty a Heavy or Magnum SMG's magazine onto multiple chosen opponents: the first target will receive the first roll's damage, the second target will receive the second roll's damage, and so on. This may be performed until an Operator no longer has any full magazines. -Basic: 2 targets -Expert: 3 targets -Master: 4 targets ***** COMBAT RIFLES, whether carbine or full length, burst mode or fully automatic. (5.45x39MM, 5.56x45MM, 7.62x39MM, 7.62x51MM): causes an additional +2 damage per roll upon landing a hit. *Can only be used in concert with Melee if equipped with a bayonet. >Spread Fire: an Operator may, once per turn, choose to empty a Combat Rifle's magazine onto multiple chosen opponents; the first target will receive the first roll's damage, the second target will receive the second roll's damage, and so on. This may be performed until an Operator no longer has any full magazines. -Basic Combat Rifles: 2 targets -Expert Combat Rifles: 3 targets -Master Combat Rifles: 4 targets >Grenade Launcher attachments on a Battle Rifle use Explosives rules, only adding +1 to Battle Rifle rolls when launching the grenade. ***** SHOTGUNS, whether single or double-barreled, lever-action, bolt-action, semi-automatic, or automatic. (12, 14, 16, 18, 20 Gauge) *If you are using a shotgun at a range determined to be too far, you must roll at whatever penalty a GM states. *Can only be used in concert with Melee if equipped with a bayonet or similar. >SHOCK: on a roll of 10 or greater, incurs a penalty of -2 to all rolls to the targeted enemy the next turn due to sustaining heavy kinetic and blunt trauma. ***** HEAVY SHOTGUNS, whether single or double-barreled, lever-action, bolt-action, semi-automatic, or automatic. (6, 8, 9, 10 Gauge): causes severe kinetic trauma on a base critical. *If you are using a Heavy Shotgun at a range determined to be too far, you must roll at whatever penalty a GM states. *Can only be used in concert with Melee if equipped with a bayonet. >SHOCK: on a roll of 10 or greater, incurs a penalty of -3 to all rolls to the targeted enemy on the next turn due to sustaining heavy kinetic and blunt trauma. ***** HEAVY WEAPONS fall into three different categories, the first being Light Machine Guns (LMG's) & Heavy Machine Guns (HMG's); second are missile, rocket, and grenade launchers; while the third is composed of miscellaneous heavy weapons such as flamethrowers, cryogenic liquid dispensing weaponry, and others that do not fit the first or second definitions. Heavy Weapons cannot be used in concert with Melee. >HEAVY EXPLOSIVE WEAPONRY: an RPG, M79 or M203 grenade launcher, or other similar weapons, can only be reloaded during a turn by sacrificing all Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint during that turn. >M72 Law or any other disposable single-use rocket launcher, an M79/M32 and other Grenade Launchers, any of the RPG series (rocket-assisted grenade launchers), or ANY OTHER missile, rocket, or grenade launcher rolls are solely to determine damage caused. >LIGHT MACHINE GUNS (LMG's) & HEAVY MACHINE GUNS (HMG's): (.303 British, 7.62x51, 7.62x54R, etc.): causes an additional +4 damage per roll upon landing a hit. At Basic Heavy Weapons and using an LMG or HMG, an Operator can fire upon 2 targets close together with no penalties, 3 targets at Expert, and 4 targets at Master. LMG's and HMG's cannot be used in concert with Melee. >MOVEMENT PENALTY: moving during your turn and then attempting to fire upon a target or targets incurs a penalty of -4 to all LMG/HMG rolls. Firing, then moving, remains unchanged ***** VULCANS, GATLINGS, & M134: causes an additional +5 damage per roll upon landing a hit. An Operator using this type of weapon cannot attempt to use Evade or Speed and fire in the same turn due to their often immarense weight, and may only attempt to BLOCK damage dealt to said Operator. Heavy Weapons of this type most CERTAINLY cannot be used in concert with Melee. -AN OPERATOR using a Vulcan, Gatling, M134, or similar weapons may fire upon up to 3 targets close together at Basic, 4 targets at Expert, and 5 targets at Master, with no penalties. ***** BATTLE RIFLES, whether single or double barreled, lever-action, bolt-action, or semi-automatic. (.25-06, .264, .270, 7.62x51, 7.62x54, .30-06, .308, .300 WinMag, .338, & etc.) >NO RECOIL: current Battle Rifles, that is, Battle Rifles in possession of Operators whom have been on Tallus for some time, have been extensively modified by Krinza to absorb and dissipate the shock from firing said weapon type. However, for a new Operator that has not yet had their weapon serviced, this will still apply a penalty of -1 on all of the NEXT turn's shooting rolls if they choose not to Steady. >SHOCK: A roll of 10 or greater incurs a penalty of -1 to all the targeted enemy's rolls the next turn. Some targets, especially those that are hardened or heavily armored, may be immune to this effect. Can only be used in concert with Melee if equipped with a suitable weapon. >STEADYING: an Operator may skip their current turn in order to Steady their aim, and must take their shot on the next turn with a bonus of +5 to ALL Battle Rifle rolls. Operators may NOT, however: fire and move, then Steady, OR: move and fire, then Steady, as the Operator MUST remain mostly motionless or will not be able to Steady their aim. In short, you are not Hancock, because even he found trying that shit absurdly difficult. EXAMPLE of an Operator using Expert Battle Rifles with a Bipod, and Steadied with current ammunition: [1d6+8] If used in a Combat Rifle, use Combat Rifle rules; if used in a Battle Rifle, use Battle Rifle rules; if used in an LMG/HMG, use LMG/HMG rules. ***** -Specialized Anti-Armor Calibers (.375 & .408 Cheytac, .50BMG, 12.7x82/102MM, etc.): typically long ranged, highly accurate calibers meant for damaging light/medium tanks, APC's, aircraft, and the like. >If used in a Combat Rifle, use Combat Rifle rules; if used in a Battle Rifle, use Battle Rifle rules; if used in an HMG, use HMG rules. >SHOCK: a roll of 10 or greater incurs a penalty of -2 to all the targeted enemy's rolls the next turn. Some targets, especially those that are hardened or heavily armored, may be immune to this effect however. Cannot be used in concert with Melee if in a 2-handed platform. >NO RECOIL: current Specialized Battle Rifles, that is, Specialized Battle Rifles in possession of Operators whom have been on Tallus for some time, have been extensively modified by Krinza to absorb and dissipate the shock from firing said weapon type. HOWEVER, for a new Operator that has not yet had their weapon modified and serviced, this will still apply a penalty of -1 on all of the NEXT turn's shooting rolls if they choose not to Steady. >STEADYING: an Operator may skip their current turn in order to Steady their aim, and must take their shot on the next turn with a bonus of +5 to ALL Battle Rifle rolls. Operators may NOT, however: fire and move, then Steady, OR: move and fire, then Steady, as the Operator MUST remain mostly motionless or will not be able to Steady their aim. In short, you are not Hancock, because even he found trying that shit absurdly difficult. ***** -Light Anti-Tank Cannon-class Calibers (13.5MM, 14.5MM, 15MM, 17MM, 20MM, & etc.) >STEADYING: if acquired in a Battle Rifle platform, an Operator may skip a turn to Steady their aim, and fire the next turn with bonus of +5 to ALL Ranged rolls of this type. Operators may NOT, however: fire and move, then Steady; or move and fire, then Steady, as the Operator MUST remain mostly motionless or will not be able to Steady their aim. In short, you are not Hancock, because even he found trying that shit absurdly difficult. >SHOCK: on a roll of 10 or greater, incurs a penalty of -3 to all rolls to the targeted enemy the next turn. Some targets, especially those that are hardened or heavily armored, may be immune to this effect however. >NO RECOIL: current specialized Light Cannon Class Battle Rifles, that is, Cannon Class Rifles in possession of Operators whom have been on Tallus for some time, have been extensively modified by Krinza, or Kraut, to absorb and dissipate the shock from firing said weapon type. HOWEVER, for a new Operator that has not yet had their weapon serviced and extensively modified, this will still apply a penalty of -2 on all of the NEXT turn's shooting rolls if they choose not to Steady. ***** -Medium Anti-Tank Cannon-class Calibers (20MM, 23MM, 25MM, 30MM) >STEADYING: if acquired in a Battle Rifle platform, an Operator may skip a turn to Steady their aim, and fire the next turn with bonus of +5 to ALL Ranged rolls of this type. Operators may NOT, however: fire and move, then Steady; or move and fire, then Steady, as the Operator MUST remain mostly motionless or will not be able to Steady their aim. In short, you are not Hancock, because even he found trying that shit absurdly difficult. >SHOCK: on a roll of 10 or greater, incurs a penalty of -4 to all rolls to the targeted enemy the next turn. Some targets, especially those that are hardened or heavily armored, may be immune to this effect however. >NO RECOIL: current specialized Heavy Cannon Class Battle Rifles, that is, Cannon Class Rifles in possession of Operators whom have been on Tallus for some time, have been extensively modified by Krinza, or Kraut, to absorb and dissipate the shock from firing said weapon type. HOWEVER, for a new Operator that has not yet had their weapon serviced and extensively modified, this will still apply a penalty of -2 on all of the NEXT turn's shooting rolls if they choose not to Steady. ***** Heavy Anti-Tank Cannon-class Calibers: causes an additional +10 damage per roll upon landing a hit, penetrates 6DR on target(s). MAY ONLY BE ACQUIRED IN BATTLE RIFLE OR HMG PLATFORMS. >STEADYING: do you REALLY think that's possible? >SHOCK: just. get. fucked. >RECOIL: there's gonna be a LOT of it. *************************************************************************************************************************************** TASERS: all taser weaponry uses a single [1d6] roll that causes 1 damage upon landing a successful hit, though advanced versions will have modifiers. This weapon MUST be reloaded after every cartridge (if cartridge based). You may also sacrifice your Movement roll(s) to reload a Tazer during your turn, however, battery and capacitor based tasers do not have this limitation. NOTE #1: the roll for a Taser is only to determine the accuracy of the stun effect: a roll of 1 or 2 means a miss or the opponent has resisted; roll result of 3 or 4: 1 round stun; roll result of 5: 2 round stun; roll result of 6 or higher: causes an automatic 3 round stun. NOTE #2: tasers may not work on bosses or other special creatures indicated by the GM. After the number of turns stunned ends, the target may not be stunned for the next 4 turns. NOTE #3: tasers DO gain bonuses from LIMITATIONS ON DEFENSIVE SKILLS: *Only 1 of the following may be used each turn: -Block -Evasion -Reaction Speed -Sprint *Stealth may be used at any time when not in combat. ***** >BLOCK: used to deflect or absorb damage with melee weapons, an equipped shield, or one's own armor. Blocking reduces 1 point of damage for all results above 2. *Both Block and Evade negate 1 point of damage for all results above 2. Operators must choose which version they are using by indicating as either: EVASION: used to prevent damage via dodging, rolling, or other contextual actions. May also be used to evade oncoming Formations. Evading reduces 1 point of damage for all results above 2. -JUMPING & FALL HEIGHT LIMITATIONS: Having Basic Evasion allows an Operator to jump up to a maximum of 2M in height, leap a maximum distance of 4M, and safely fall from a height of 5M Having Basic Evasion allows an Operator to jump up to a maximum of 4M in height, leap a maximum distance of 8M in length, and safely fall from a height of 10M. Having Master Evasion allows an Operator to jump up to a maximum of 6M in height, leap a maximum distance of 12M in length, and safely fall from a height of 15M. Having GRANDMASTER EVASION allows an Operator to jump up to a maximum of 8M in height, leap a maximum distance of 16M in length, and safely fall from a height of 20M. ***** >REACTION SPEED: order of attack, often called Initiative or other similar terms in other dice games, is used against opponenents to determine whom acts first. *For example, if OperatorA rolls a 5 on Speed and Enemy1 rolls a 6 on Speed, this allows Enemy1 to attack slightly before OperatorA does, forcing OperatorA to defend. *RELOADING: whenever an Operator's ranged weapon has run dry of ammunition, they may choose to either skip a turn to reload, or they may sacrifice their Movemarent rolls to reload their weapon in that same turn. This limitation applies to all magazine, clip, shell, belt-fed, internal magazine storage, energy-based, and explosive weapons, while the rule differs for bows and crossbows. -At Expert Reaction Speed, an Operator may automatically reload a weapon ONCE per Operation without sacrificing their rules. -At Master Reaction Speed, an Operator may automatically reload a weapon TWICE per Operation without sacrificing their rolls. -At Grandmaster Reaction Speed, an Operator may automatically reload any weapon, at any time, during an Operation without sacrificing their rolls. ***** >SPRINT or FLIGHT: gauges the user's distance traveled on foot, or with the use of Float enchantmarents, or with wings. Effects are listed in the following tables. -MOVEMENT TRAVEL & RANGE FOR OPERATORS & NPC'S ON FOOT OR HOOF: DISTANCE: for the purpose of physical distance traveled in meters during an Operation: the highest roll result of Speed times 10 equals the number of meters traveled. RELATIVE VELOCITY: for the purpose of physical acceleration: the highest roll result of Sprint times 5 equals the MPH (miles per hour) traveled. -MOVEMENT TRAVEL & RANGE FOR FLIGHT CAPABLE OPERATORS & NPC'S: DISTANCE: for the purpose of physical distance traveled in meters during an Operation: the highest roll result of Speed times 15 equals the number of meters traveled. RELATIVE VELOCITY: for the purpose of physical acceleration: the highest roll result of Flight times 5 equals the MPH (miles per hour) traveled. -MOVEMENT TRAVEL & RANGE FOR GROUND VEHICLES: DISTANCE: for the purpose of physical distance traveled in meters moved during an Operation: the highest roll result of Driving times 20 equals the number of meters traveled. VELOCITY: for the purpose of vehicular acceleration: the highest roll result of Speed times 5 equals the MPH (miles per hour) traveled. E.G.: Operator3 rolls an 11 on Speed while driving in order to traverse a long distance, 11*5 thus equals 55MPH, thus Operator3 travels 55 miles in 1 hour. -MOVEMENT TRAVEL & RANGE FOR AERIAL VEHICLES: DISTANCE: for the purpose of physical distance traveled in meters moved during an Operation: the highest roll result of Piloting times 25 equals the number of meters traveled. VELOCITY: for the purpose of vehicular acceleration: the highest roll result of Speed times 20 equals the MPH (miles per hour) traveled. E.G.: while piloting Helo1, Operator3 rolls an 11 on Speed in order to traverse a long distance, 11*20 thus equals 220MPH, thus Operator3 in Helo1 travels 220 miles in 1 hour. *************************************************************************************************************************************** >STEALTH: simply put, stealth works differently on Tallus. The Operators as a whole have slowly been infused with minor amounts of strange and unknown energies, often rendering their sounds unheard and their movements unseen, rather than solely requiring camouflage as they would on their own worlds. NOTE #1: once you roll a 6 or higher critical, you can ONLY be noticed with an Arcane Awareness or Perception-type rolls of the same or higher. Once you roll a 6 or max critical, you do not need to re-Stealth unless taking an action that would break it such as attacking an enemy or healing someone, or you simply want greater Stealth. NOTE #2: if Stealthed on a critical, you do not need to re-Stealth after speaking quietly to someone within a very short range, or if you are ONLY taking minor actions, ie: Perception/Leadership/planting explosives/setting traps. NOTE #3: ALWAYS roll Stealth and then Ambush in sequence, IF you have Ambush! NOTE #4: unless otherwise indicated, items DO NOT add bonuses to Stealth. Items that DO add Stealth must be in the Handbook or listed in Items to be counted for taking effect. If an Operator has an Auto-Stealth item or enchantmarent, their FIRST Stealth rolls is to be replaced with and indicated by ALCHEMY: the knowledge of, and the ability to, combine herbs, metals, chemical compounds, trace essences, and other esoteric ingredients to create liquids or powders which achieve and perform specific effects on either oneself, an ally, or against an enemy. Certain items require greater amounts of preparation, refinemarent, and processing in order to use, or they may be considered incomplete, poisonous, or dangerous to utilize. -In order to use an alchemical item on an Ally or enemy, the intended target must either be close enough to use a specific item on, or the item must be thrown at the target. This may be achieved by using one's Melee rolls to throw the item while rolling Alchemy as a secondary usage; doing this forces the user to sacrifice their Movemarent rolls to do so. -While at Untrained or Basic Alchemy, an Operator may carry 1 item; 2 items may be carried at Expert, 3 items may be carried at Master; and 5 items may be carried at Grandmaster. The full list of Alchemy items is available in the Items & Equipmarent paste. -Alchemy requires either being taught the basic how-to's of doing so or by performing 200 points of Research. To advance further, one must study the processes, perform personal experimarentation, or take courses. *************************************************************************************************************************************** >ENGINEERING: used in creating new items, converting and/or upgrading older ones, repairing damaged firearms in the field, creating combined explosives and setting traps, attempting to defeat or remove locks with brute force, and etc. Blacksmithing is handled under Engineering, but an Operator MUST be trained in it's specifics in order to utilize. Engineering can, and SHOULD, be used in conjunction with other tools! Engineering is the only skill used when setting off explosives or explosive traps as grenades are utilized via Melee. Example text using Basic Engineering and a basic Toolbox in field: [1d6+5] EXPLOSIVES: an Operator's skill with Explosives is used for detonating a device, though this does not apply to grenades or other thrown explosive weaponry. -NOTE #1: Stuns may not be consecutive and can be interrupted for some time, depending on species, armor, rank of opponent, and GM's discretion. -NOTE #2: when creating a trap using items (Duct Tape, Superglue, Rope, etc.), roll all relevant Engineering & item rolls. This determine whether or not it has a hair trigger, functions properly, or merely does what's expected. -NOTE #3: when setting off an explosive trap, only Explosives may be rolled. If the trap is NOT triggered by the Operator, roll Explosives to determine the damage dealt. -NOTE #4: when combining Explosives, you may ONLY combine a certain number at one time; Basic Explosives allows 2 to be combined; Expert Explosives allows 3 to be combined, Master Explosives allows 4 to be combined; Grandmaster Explosives allows 5 to be combined. This is a HARD cap limit. Don't expect to be allowed to rig and throw 4 bombshells duct taped together either, as weight and size of each component ARE taken into consideration. MOAB's are not viable. Example of an Operator using Basic Engineering and WITHOUT using a Multitool: [1d6+1] MEDICAL: medical capabilities on Tallus are a much starker and differing contrast to normal skills, even compared to Stealth, as it no longer takes weeks or months to recover from an injury, especially those that would normally be crippling or fatal. Omnipresent, beneficial energies drawn from the world itself are used to infuse simple recovery items, heightening their effects once applied or used. Since items are static on Operations and resupply is difficult, it is recommended that one be careful with their use. -USAGE: upon an Operator rolling their Medical skill, the total results for all rolls indicate the amount of HP restored in addition to items used. Negative results typically do not cause harm, unless performing a delicate operation. -Untrained Medical: 1 item allowed for use each turn, may attempt to treat 1 affliction. -Basic Medical: 2 items allowed for use each turn, may treat 2 afflictions. -Expert Medical: 3 items allowed for use each turn, may treat 3 afflictions -Master Medical: 4 items allowed for use each turn, may treat 4 afflictions. -Grandmaster Medical: LOCKED. >RESUSCITATION: when attempting to revive a downed living being that has passed beyond Critical status and has been deceased less than 2 turns, roll one's Medical skill with all applicable modifiers to attempt resuscitation. Base critical failures (that is a base result of 1) will severely hamper the attempt, while base critical successes (a base result of 6) will improve the chance to revive, depending on GM's discretion. Resuscitation cannot be performed on other species besides Humans unless one has been properly trained or acquired the appropriate information to do so. *Any PC or NPC that is the target of a Medical skill usage may only attempt to Block or use Reaction Speed, and is limited to one Offensive skill as moving will hamper and invalidate the efforts of the Medical skill's user. *Morphine allows an Operator to act normally while in Critical status, and does not to be rolled for. *************************************************************************************************************************************** >THIEVERY: covers the identification of likely items carried on a target, and, of course, stealing from others. -Roll Thievery and Perception to identify what valuables a target has on them or to determine where valuables would be stored, as well as probable locations for hidden items, doors, and etcetera. The higher the result, the more likely something interesting will be spotted. -Roll Thievery and Stealth when attempting to steal, the highest result is then compared against the target's Perception. If both Thievery and Stealth are higher than Perception, the selected item is taken; however, if the target's Perception roll is higher.. consider surrendering. *When attempting to steal from a conscious or otherwise awake and aware target, the higher the result, the greater the chance you can take something without being noticed, as well as making it less likely the target will realize the item(s) are missing, at least right away. ***** >LOCKPICKING: covers picking or otherwise defeating locks. Lockpicking functions as follows: roll Lockpicking, the highest result is then compared to the lock's difficulty; *Roll Lockpicking and Perception to identify what form of locking mechanism is being used. If the type of locking mechanism is known, this will allow the user to select an appropriate tool. *Roll Lockpicking to attempt to defeat a lock; the higher the result the less noise will be made, and the less likely the lock will be jammed. If the lock is too difficult and the user's rolls are too low, the lock could be permarenently jammed and rendered unsalvageable. EXAMPLE of an Operator with Basic Thievery, using Advanced Lockpicks: [1d6+2] TRAPS: covers the creation, identification, placemarent, and removal of traps, whether simple, complex, or explosive. *Roll Perception and Traps to identify where a trap may be placed. The higher the result, the less likely you'll step on or walk into something bad. This can also be used to determine if, for example, a shoe locker has been set with a C4 charge and twine. *Roll Traps and relevant items to attempt the disarming and/or removal a trap. The higher the result, the more likely it will be kept in one piece for reuse. *************************************************************************************************************************************** UTILITY SKILLS: Utility Skills are those that are indirectly combat related, or non-combat related, including but not limited to: Bartering, Human/Pony Relations, Leadership, Negotiation, Scouting, Perception, and Wilderness Survival. ROLLING DICE FOR UTILITY SKILLS: If you are untrained in a particular skill, you roll: [1d6] HUMAN/PONY RELATIONS: the most varied skill available for an Operator to learn, H/P.R. is the basis for understanding the extraordinarily large number of subtle body language movemarents, ear flicks, nose wiggles, tail swishes, speech quirks, and facial expressions of the marely small varieties of marshmallowy equines present on Tallus. With the right training and knowledge, it even becomes possible to analyze vocal tones when used in conjunction with Perception, but due to their finer senses and primal instincts some ponies will readily notice a human using this ability. Although the standard usage of Human/Pony Relations grants extra rolls for the purposes of Negotiation and Perception, using any of the below options MUST be indicated in post. This skill cannot be taken to Grandmaster. At Basic Human/Pony Relations, an Operator may use Body Language Analysis; when used as Perception, the highest result may aid the user in determining the selected or targeted pony's current hostility and Threat levels towards them, though a critical failure will likely result in the user being viewed and treated with a high degree of suspicion. At Basic Human/Pony Relations, an Operator may use Mirror Language Analysis; when used as Negotiation, the user may entice a selected or targeted pony into becoming more at ease in the current situation, potentially lowering their guard or outright calming down, though a critical failure will usually result in activating the latent stubbornness inherent to all ponies. At Expert Human/Pony Relations, an Operator may use Active Response Coercion; this option's sole use is meant to provoke a pony's instinctually primal Flight or Fight response when used as Negotiation, the highest result may be applied to the selected or targeted pony as either a difficult to counteract form of Intimidation OR Negotiation, though not both at the same time. Depending on the pony's current marental state, a critical failure if applied as Intimidation will often result in the user being viewed as a loud-mouthed thug, or worse; a critical failure if applied as Negotiation will often be viewed as the user being a demeaning shithoof. At Expert Human/Pony Relations, an Operator may use Vocal Cue Analysis; with the proper training this option may be used as Perception, the highest roll of Human/Pony Relations cuing the listener in on the selected or targeted pony's moods and emotions, though a critical failure will often result in the user being seen as prying too closely into the situation and being treated with a moderate to high amount of distrust, whether visible or otherwise. At Master Human/Pony Relations, an Operator may use Potential Intent Analysis; when used as Perception, the highest result may aid the user in determining the selected or targeted pony's next viable action, or actions, though a critical failure will result in the pony becoming uneasy and potentially hostile due to the heightened focus leveled upon them. *************************************************************************************************************************************** >PERCEPTION: used to see, hear, smell, taste, touch, or 'sense' additional information that may not be gained without searching. May be upgraded to Piercing Eye, a much more advanced but limiting form. NOTE #1: Perception can be used at any time to search for something in particular, though cannot be used in conjunction with Offensive skills DURING ONE'S TURN to identify and attack specific body parts, items, or other targetable features. This rule is not subject to GM discretion, it is a hard rule meant to prevent attempted speedrunning or OMH exploiting an Operation. NOTE #2: after acquiring Basic Perception, an Operator may then take Scouting or Wilderness Survival, both of which are situational in their usage, though only one of these three may be used each turn. NOTE #3: if Blinded or one's vision is otherwise obscured or impaired in melee combat, Perception is used to determine whether or not one's attacks even hit, do partial damage, or do full damage, with GM's discretion. NOTE #4: Perception-type items only add their bonus to a SINGLE roll, and only if an Operator can use them. Example of an Operator with Basic Perception and no Perception items: [1d6] NEGOTIATION: used to convince a target to divulge information they may not want to share through normal means. May also be used when offering to perform a service, acknowledging or honoring a target, speaking in a marener that the target prefers, and soliciting information through various means. Negotiation MAY be used in place of Bartering, though will have moderately reduced effects. COMMON RESULTS OF NEGOTIATION: -1: irritation, disgust, or rage at the user. -2: no change, will likely ignore the user. -3: slight hint(s) of further information, may desire to know more about a service rendered. -4: openly admits a hint for further information and may accept the service with some reservations. -5: states a small amount of information, and will accept the service after ensuring no backstabbing/trickery will occur. -6: states a decent amount of information, and will accept the service after asking for clarification. -7: states a moderate amount of information, and will generally accept the service with an assurance of honor or by watching. -8: reveals a large amount of information, and will trust the service rendered, but may keep an eye on you. -9: reveals nearly everything, and will trust the service rendered, but will ask how it went. -10: reveals everything IF POSSIBLE, and will give a single chance for a previous service or second chance to be performed, though will hold a small amount of negativity for such if the previous request was failed. ***** >BARTERING: used to trade with others, either by requesting special stock, allocating reserve space, or lowering a trader's prices. Can also be used -NOTE #1: for each point of 'attack' Bartering that is higher than the target's 'defending' Bartering, the target's prices are reduced by -5%. -NOTE #2: if the 'attack' Bartering roll is lower than the 'defending' Barter result, then the target's prices are increased by +5%. You break it you buy it, and something else too! -NOTE #2: if the highest Bartering roll is equal to a target's highest Bartering roll, the target's prices will remain the same, however, attempting to try again may not have as much effect. ***** >LEADERSHIP: a reactive skill that can only be utilized once an Operator has Basic Leadership. The use of Leadership requires being in a group with a minimum of one other Ally. This skill's only use is to increase (also known as 'buff') the rolls of specific skills up to a MAXIMUM of +2 in addition to all other bonuses and may be used with all other skills so long as an Operator can be heard. -NOTE #1: this skill may ONLY be applied if an Operator/ally can hear the Operator using Leadership. If you DO NOT have a radio, or are in Stealth too far away from an Operator or Companion using Leadership, you will not gain any bonuses from others using this skill. -NOTE #2: Leadership CANNOT add extra bonuses to Traits, Unique or Shared skills, unless otherwise specified. -NOTE #3: Leadership ONLY activates on a result of 6 or higher, thus if a 6 is not achieved then no additional bonuses may take effect. The example roll below would add +1 to all Ranged attacks for all Operators with a radio, or within earshot: [1d6: 2] LEADERSHIP OPTION: SUPER SQUADS! Composed of at least 2 Operators that both have Expert Leadership, and have a minimum of 1 other member in the team. Whomever has the highest Leadership rank & bonuses may order those with lower (or no) Leadership to perform a single selected task, enhance a preferred skill for the entire squad, or leave it up to the other Leadership users to make their own choices. NOTE that this rule may have drawbacks, side-effects, or unintended and unforeseen consequences. >SUPER SQUAD OPTION: OVERWATCH! Overwatch functions as follows. RULES: #1: if an Operator, Companion, or Allied NPC capable of ranged combat does not wish to take any offensive actions during a turn, or they are unable to do so for various reasons during that same turn, they may declare that they are performing an >>> Assault Overwatch <<< OR an >>> Ambush Overwatch <<<< by choosing a cardinal or standard direction. -NOTE that for obvious reasons this does not function while in a vehicle, unless the vehicle is equipped with an otherwise stationary mounted weapon emplacemarent or a manually directed turret in which case only the gunner(s) are capable of using Overwatch. #2: by declaring either form of Overwatch this directly implies that the Operator, Companion, or Ally has their finger on trigger (or triggers), or is marentally ready to unleash a spell with the mindset that they MUST fire at the first target to enter their weapon's optimal range, or within the caster's optimal focus range. #3: the GM in charge will then notify the Operator or caster with the highest Reaction Speed roll to make their Ranged attacks first, then the second highest Reaction Speed roll, and so on. #4: performing an >>> Assault Overwatch <<<< OR >>> Ambush Overwatch <<<>> Assault Overwatch <<< means that the Operator is NOT in cover and can be easily seen. This cannot be declared if an Operator, Companion, or Ally is currently under attack. #2: an >>> Ambush Overwatch <<< means that the Operator IS behind cover, using Stealth, or otherwise difficult to spot, though firing while under the effect of Ambush Overwatch will AUTOMATICALLY break Stealth. #3: neither form of Overwatch can be used when being attacked from beyond optimal range, nor if an Operator, Companion, or Ally is under indirect fire. *************************************************************************************************************************************** THE LAST STAND PROTOCOL In early fall on the Tallus date of 28,996, a period in which humans would consider to be somewhere within late August or early September, the formation of an Otherworldly mercenary group was formally declared and immediately authorized by the approval of Princess Celestia. A majority approval from the Canterlot Noblility, though with half opposition and half approval from the Canterlot Royalty, a tacit minority approval from the Exiled Canterlotlian Nobility currently in the Crystal Empire, most of the remaining Lunar Nobility & Royalty, and with Princess Luna abstaining, led to the allowance of founding of the then-to-be Razorback Company. Utterly confident of her capabilities and desiring little more than to deliver on her promise, Princess Celestia herself undertook the immarense efforts to summon exactly one human from 100 omniverses, one from each world contacted, onto Tallus to serve her requests. Of note is that a handful of humans were delivered letters of a lifelong duty offering, all written by Princess Celestia herself, to serve Equestria's needs, whether due to peculiar skillsets, especially valued knowledge, or veterancy in combat. The first 100 humans to arrive on Tallus were saved from certain present and post-death circumstances, arriving in a physically debilitated state with their original weaponry, armor, and equipment in a deteriorated state. In the cases of those humans with heavily advanced post-modern technologies, the physical transitions from their own omniverses necessitated a massive degradation of individual technologies down to the level of the average Operator, a newish equine term used to describe warrior, tactician, berserker, defencer, and other forms of combatants so as to maintain a uniform level of combat effectiveness. Succeeding in her goal of altering the Era Lock's defensive principles in identifying friend or foe, Princess Celestia was, however, incapable of altering the entropic aspects which led to the "necessary" technological degregations and physical debilitations of arriving humans. Despite a great deal of study on this event, few ponies of either the Solar or Lunar factions understand the how, when, why, or where of Princess Celestia accomplishing this task. What has become known over (nearly) the past three years is that Princess Celestia altered an earlier, fully artificial Law known as the Era Lock System. Created by the combined efforts of Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadenza, and Queen Chrysaslis in one of their rare, sisterly brooding times before the Middle Dynasty, the Era Lock was devised as a weapon against both the Planar Constructs, a vast yet poorly understood Plane of existence inhabited by strictly mechanobiological 'beings' that function solely in pairs or as maniples, ranging from a lowly four to a staggering ten thousand in number, and the Endless March of Stone, an altered dimensional off-spectrum of Golems that succeeded in a near complete invasion of the early Minotaur Hegemony. Since few equine cultures and civilizations were able to repel the nearly-implacable technological efforts of Constructs or the relentlessness of the Endless March, the Three Princesses and One Queen chose to 'lock out' advanced technologies from entering Tallus, whether from dimensions, Otherworlds, Planes, Spectrums, and all others as a whole. Utilizing a self-fulfilling pseudo-deific creation which relies upon a myriad of Tallus-borne entropic effects, the Era Lock was designed to be immutable and thus able to degrade large numbers, potentially in the millions, of invaders attempting to enter Tallus within nanoseconds. Regardless of these efforts, Razorback Company's existence on this new 'home' has not been a kind one, specifically due to purposeful failures. After the arrival of the first 100 Operators, Princess Celestia's first order, albeit vaguely worded, was to recover her adopted and long-deceased daughter, a former General of the Solar Guardians named Sharonel. This attempt met with subsequent, and purposeful, failure less than three days later. Due to the influence of [REDACTED], the Operation utterly failed when Sharonel could not be recovered. Rather than being convinced to journey into New Canterlot and reconcile the crimes she committed towards her adopted mother, Sharonel was forced into dooming her Undead self into destruction under the weight of Old Canterlot Fortress. Calling the ancient fortress down atop her with a song of sleepful beckoning, Sharonel, along with the thousands of Spectrals that she once commarended during the Lunar-Solar War, would not be given the peace they deserved. As this event was witnessed and recorded by Razorback's train conductor, as well as the unicorn diplomat Sharpened Words under his Equestrian byname 'Denra', the information the first gave to Princess Celestia later on would prove to be the first of many downfalls for Razorback Company. Denra's true actions, thoughts, and reactions towards this event have not yet been occurred, so far as the Operators know. When Princess Celestia's last modificaton of the Era Lock occurred, there were to be only 100 humans summoned, specifically, to Equestria, though an additional human would be brought forth should an original or a replacement die. During an event in Canterlot Palace wherein a fragment of the Solar Tyrant was awoken from imprisonment due to being, tactlessly, given the knowledge of General Sharonel's last death, the False Tyrant's sole act was to create a fantastically massive plasma storm in an effort to 'burn out' Razorback Company's supposedly heavily corrupt and tainted existence. In doing so, the Era Lock's newly changed rules were disrupted, causing a once slow, now steadily increasing number of displaced (and sometimes outright abducted) humans, swelling Razorback's ranks to over 240 at the current time. Furthermore, humans have begun arriving across Tallus, seemingly at random. For over two years, General Sharonel, destroyed in body yet not spirit by the actions of Razorback's subversives, an unknown portion of her heavily suppressed psionic will persisted while embedded in Lont's psyche through the scar delivered by the Lance of Magnus upon his chest. Between teaching her own honorable combat methods, excoriating his negative actions, and sharing her equine dignity from thoughtforms that relied on her own life, Sharonel's will was imposed upon Lont, often for poorly recognized purposes, and especially for unknown reasons. When Lont returned to Old Canterlot Fortress he found Sharonel's soul sitting at guard before a newly placed, unfinished white marble grave stone. Now little more than a fading, broken Revenant of her formerly powerful self, Sharonel's last words and fate have never been spoken of, though her rapidly diminishing soul was at last laid to rest when Lont proved to his formerly unwanted teacher that he had achieved a true balance between equinity and humanity. Showing a highly advanced and calculating, though perhaps cold and admittedly cruel intelligence towards humans, the Era Lock's modification changed the laws of transition from human omniverses to the world known as Tallus. Allowing humans that meet strict standards to enter, all Operators are automatically (some say automagically) felt as Otherworldly beings, both hostile to, and expected to be necessarily bitter towards equines. This painful weakness is highly exacerbated by the normal usages of Crystal Runes, Psionics, Casting, Druidry, Mysticism, basic Alchemicals, and common weaponry found across Tallus, causing excessive damage and loss of functionality over time through a process known as Arcane Poisoning. Similar to radiation poisoning, yet with no (currently known) lasting effects, an Operator must carefully choose what they consume, drink, and are affected by, or face quickly increasing negative side-effects. As the loss of a single human life is both a destabilizing influence and a long term threat, Razorback's position upon Tallus has gone from precarious to outright endangered depending upon whom is asked, and regardless of each individual is capable of performing, the presence of humanity is not assured. In response to these pressures and threats, the limited human gestalt known as Anonymous has, for the first time yet, taken a directly overt action in the hopes of alleviating Razorback's potential downfalls. As a result, a solo Operator in a Critically Injured status, or an Operator whom chooses to remain behind and cover a team's escape, likely exchanging their own life for the lives of others, may temporarily revive their lost talents and capabilities to the full extent they once had. However, for an Operator whom has exceeded the capabilities they once had are instead granted a fraction of the human gestalt's potential. The rules for this capacity are as follows: >SOLO OPERATORS automatically gain ONE additional roll to ALL skills and MUST add +2 to all rolls (including Elements). In addition, the Operator is granted a moderately powerful close combat [1d6+4] AN OPERATOR that has chosen to cover a team's escape automatically gains TWO additional rolls for TWO of the following skills: Assault, Evasion, Reaction Speed, Small Arms, Combat Rifles/Shotguns, Battle Rifles, Heavy Weapons, and MUST add +2 to all rolls of the same. In addition, every turn after the Operator is initially wounded they are granted a moderately potent [1d6+4] IRON WILL: Iron Will is a passive marental skill, used to lessen negative effects from Intimidation, Demoralize and other abilities that would effect an Operator's marental state. In the event that an Operator is to be killed, Iron Will may be used to attempt to save versus death with a roll of 6 or higher, depending on injuries sustained and the GM's discretion. How it works is this: EnemyA rolls 4 on Intimidation, OperatorC rolls 3 on Iron Will; after subtracting -2 from the highest roll, Operator C is then considered 10% shook up/disturbed/worried/shocked/scared, depending on the context. NOTE #1: effects beyond 50% Intimidated/Demoralized can lead to preventing an action, or worse, depending on the enemy or enemies in question. NOTE #2: rolling a 1 on Iron Will while being subjected to an Intimidate of 6 or higher may cause an Operator to lose a skill, ability, or roll for one or more turns by the active GM rolling a [1dX], where X is the number of skills or abilities the Operator has, the result indicating which skill or ability is disabled. As the amount of Intimidation increases, other penalties will be assigned subject to the GM's discretion. IRON WILL ROLLS FOR EACH RANK: -Basic Iron Will grants 2x [1d6] rolls. -Expert Iron Will grants 3x [1d6+1] rolls. -Master Iron Will grants 3x [1d6+2] rolls. ***** >SUPPRESSION FIRE: may only be acquired by an Operator that has acquired Expert Heavy Weapons. This skill ONLY adds additional Heavy Weapon rolls with Light Machineguns, Heavy Machineguns, Gatlings, Vulcans, or other large automatic weaponry. This also includes certain Heavy Energy Weapons. -Basic Suppression Fire grants 1 additional Heavy Weapons roll. -Expert Suppression Fire grants 2 additional Heavy Weapons rolls. -Master Suppression Fire grants 3 additional Heavy Weapons rolls. NOTE: if an Operator has have moved in their last turn, they will will still suffer the -2 penalty to all Heavy Weapon rolls when using Suppression Fire the next turn. *************************************************************************************************************************************** TERTIARY SKILLS: Tertiary skills are comprised of non-combat skills that one learns to perform, such as singing, dancing, or sports. While typically non-essential to daily life, except for professionals such as mapmakers, crafters, artists, singers, and the like, competitiveness amongst ponies and most other species on Tallus is extremely high, with matches and competitions constantly being organized at will so long as there are enough performers to join in and bystanders to watch, mostly for fun, though in some cases a pool of rewards are given to the winner or winning team. ***** IMPROVING A TERTIARY SKILL: an Operator may select up to five Tertiary skills, with each starting at Basic, though XP is not used to increase a Tertiary skill's rank. The better the performarence, the more often the skill is utilized, the higher the number of onlookers, and the greater the overall reactions increase the chance that improvemarents will be made, either with additional rolls or modifiers. ***** ACCEPTABLE TERTIARY SKILLS: -Cartography -Carving -Dancing -Electronic Warfare Operator -Gambling -Geography -Masseuse -Musical Instruments: a specific instrument must be chosen -Painting -Singing -Sports -Whistling -Writing *************************************************************************************************************************************** STATUS EFFECTS: certain enemies may utilize specialized weapons, attacks, or use a detrimarental capability to cripple and weaken Operators and Companions, causing various abnormal physical, psychological, and spiritual states. While some status effects are unavoidable, simple care or rapid medical attention often reduce the negatives sustained. ***** >BLEEDING: an Operator, Companion, or NPC afflicted with the Bleeding status loses 5% of their MaxHP per turn. This negative status effect can ONLY be removed via staunching the affected wounds. Use of an allies' Recovery skill to close wounds or leaving combat to take care of one's injuries is recommended as the constant movement and strain of combat can cause this condition to worsen. -SEVERE BLEEDING causes a -10% MaxHP loss per turn, and is much more difficult to staunch. -LETHAL BLEEDING causes a -20% MaxHP loss per turn, and requires either specialized training or powerful spellcraft to halt. ***** >BURNED & SCORCHED: an Operator, Companion, or NPC afflicted with the Burned or Scorched statuses, dealt solely through Fire Elemarentals, flamethrowers, or any other heat based forms of harm, will suffer from movemarent penalties due to the nervous system becoming unable to differentiate between misfiring neurons and constant pain signals, weakening and slowing one's control of their body. BURNED: suffers a -1 penalty to all Movemarent rolls. SCORCHED: suffers a -2 or higher penalty to all Movemarent rolls. ***** >CHILLED, FROSTBITE, FROZEN: whether caused due to environmental exposure, offensive Alchemical items, unicorn based Casting or through Mysticism effects from several races, Druidry, or offensive Elemental enchantmarents, an Operator, Companion, or NPC that has been struck by critical or significant Ice or very cold Water based harm will begin physically slowing down, reducing all rolls accordingly. Heatstones and thermally insulating clothing can resist this effect for a certain period depending on the severity of the temperature, though if the target is thoroughly soaked then it will be very unlikely to resist these effects. -CHILLED: suffers a -1 penalty to all physical rolls, except for those abilities a GM states are unaffected. -FROSTBITE: suffers a -2 penalty to all physical rolls, except for those abilities a GM states are unaffected. -FROZEN: the Operator/Companion/NPC becomes fully encased in ice and becomes unable to move, suffering continual damage and must be freed before suffocating, or dying. ***** >PACIFIED: typically used by Druids, Mystics, and Shaman/Shamares. A Pacified target is incapable of utilizing any Offensive or Ranged skills, including Intimidation/Demoralize, Uniques, or any other abilities that could cause harm, for a set number of turns. IRON WILL may be utilized to shake off Pacification if the defender's roll is higher than the user's. -Evolving Abilities may be utilized indirectly. ***** >FATIGUE: whether caused by attempting to perform too marely actions in a row, through drawn out combat, lack of sleep, overexertion, poor nutrition, dehydration, or the effects of harm caused by a Spectral being, an Operator, Companion, or NPC afflicted with Fatigue suffers increasing penalties the longer they do not take care of the problem's source. -Minor Fatigue: occurs when one's Fatigue counter is equal to their MaxHP. Has no appreciable effects unless afflicted by Poison, Toxin, or other negative status effects. -Moderate Fatigue: occurs when one's fatigue is double to their MaxHP, suffering a penalty of -1 to ALL rolls. -Severe Fatigue: occurs when one's Fatigue counter is triple their MaxHP, suffering a penalty of -2 to ALL rolls. -Extreme Fatigue: occurs when one's Fatigue counter is equal to quadruple their MaxHP, suffering a penalty of -3 to ALL rolls. An Operator with Iron Will may temporarily stave off the effects of Fatigue stages at the cost of -1 to ALL Iron Will rolls per turn for Severe Fatigue, and -2 to ALL Iron Will rolls per turn for Extreme Fatigue. Once the Operator becomes unable to achieve a result of 6 on Iron Will, they can no longer avoid a penalty. ***** >CRITICAL: an Operator, Companion, or NPC significantly wounded in combat that drops to below 25% HP, loses more than 75% of their HP in one blow, or otherwise takes a significant amount of harm in one turn becomes afflicted with the Critical status, suffering a -4 penalty to ALL rolls until the end of Operation. Using Morphine will negate this penalty for 4 turns, while being recovered to full health eliminates it entirely, although other temporary, detrimarental effects may occur depending on the nature of the injury or injuries sustained. ***** >REVIVISCENCE TRAUMA: if an Operator, Companion, or Allied NPC has been killed and subsequently revived, they will enter a physical and mental trauma recovery period of 24 hours, or however long they are deemed unfit until fully recovering, suffering a -4 penalty to ALL rolls. This will prevent them from joining an Operation until fully recovered, and conducting strenuous activity is greatly ill advised to perform. ***** >SHOCK: an Operator, Companion, or NPC afflicted with the Shock status suffers -4 to ALL rolls for two turns, and has a chance of becoming unconscious, traumatized, or more depending on the nature of the attack, with other effects possible. Being struck by a potent electrical or lightning surge or discharge, inside the effect blast radius of a powerful explosive, or becoming significantly Intimidated or Demoralized will inflict Shock status. An Operator with Iron Will may temporarily stave off the effects of Shock at the cost of -2 to ALL Iron Will rolls per turn. Once the Operator is unable to achieve a result of 6 on Iron Will they can no longer avoid the penalty. *************************************************************************************************************************************** ARCANE FATIGUE, OVERDOSE, AND POISONING: due to the differences between human physiology and spirituality being relatively weak in comparison to beings that are born on Tallus, an Operator that is subjected to greater than normal exposure to arcane or Eldritch energies will absorb unnatural, to them, latent energetic properties, slowly weakening their body and mind. Once a certain amount of energy has been absorbed, listed as points for the sake of simplicity, this effect becomes apparent for the first stage, advancing further. +1 point is acquired from: consuming any alchemical substance or being the target of the Crystal Runes skill. +2 points are acquired from: being the subject of Psionic healing, Recovery, or being the target of Elemarental harm, including offensive & defensive based enchantmarents. +3 points are acquired from: resisting the direct impact of Casting, Druidry, Mysticism, and Sorcery, or sustaining harm from an Eldritch or Otherworldly being. +4 points are acquired from: sustaining a direct impact from Casting, Druidry, Mysticism, or Sorcery. +5 points are acquired from: sustaining near-lethal or lethal harm from an Eldritch or Otherworldly being. ***** >ARCANE FATIGUE EFFECTS: -Minor Poisoning: 10 points. At the first stage, an Operator will feel an unshakeable physical and mental exhaustion that begins to drain their willpower and motivation, suffering a -1 penalty to all rolls. -Moderate Poisoning: 20 points. At the second stage an Operator will suffer drastically worsening effects, typical symptoms including: unexplained vertigo, hallucinations, vomiting of non-physical substances, Otherworldly and Spectral beings attracted to the Operator's presence with hostile or mischievous intents, furthermore, suffering a -2 to -5 penalty to all rolls. There is a high chance that an Operator will also sustain the risk of personal, weapon, and armor enchantmarents failing, refusing to activate, or outright harming the owner each turn they are used. It is possible to die from this condition if left untreated as it will rapidly progress. -Severe Poisoning: 30 points. At the third stage, an Operator at this point suffers from immarense, crippling full body and marental pain, becoming completely disabled and rendering them utterly useless without proper and rapid treatmarent. At this point, an Operator cannot function at all, are incapable of performing any actions, and must be treated within a day/night cycle if they are to remain conscious. *************************************************************************************************************************************** PHYSICAL INJURIES & PERMARENENT DAMAGE: humans are generally considered amongst the top ten predators of their own home worlds, but Tallus is an entirely different beast. Where ponies are often capable of surviving injury from much stronger creatures thanks to their naturally high resiliency, human physiology is much less forgiving in this regard, often ending in severe injuries that may take weeks or months to recover from, and in worst case scenario leaving permarenent, difficult to negate penalties. >TORSO: sustaining a direct, unarmored Torso injury greater than 50% of one's MaxHP, or an armored torso injury greater than 60% of one's MaxHP, may cause severe pain and bleeding, hampering the target's overall mareneuverability, strength, and capabilities. Should an injury of this type occur, penalties proceed as follows: -Mild injury: suffers a -1 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Riposte & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls. -Moderate Injury: suffers a -2 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Riposte & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls, causes Bleeding (-5% HP lost per turn). -Severe Injury: suffers a -3 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Riposte & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls, causes Severe Bleeding (-10% HP lost per turn). -Critical Injury: suffers a -6 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Ripose & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls, causes Critical Bleeding (-20% HP lost per turn), and puts the target into Shock for 2 turns. >LIMBS: sustaining a direct, unarmored Limb injury greater than 40% of one's MaxHP, or an armored Limb injury greater than 50% of one's MaxHP, will slow and hamper the ability to move and defend oneself. Should an type of injury of this type occur, penalties proceed as follows: -Sprain: suffers a -1 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Riposte rolls if suffered to the arms, or a -1 penalty to all Block/Evasion/Reaction & Speed/ Sprintrolls if suffered to the legs. -Laceration: suffers a -2 to all Assault/Parry/Riposte & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls, and an additional -1 penalty to all Archery and Ranged rolls if one or both arms are injured. -Fracture: suffers a -3 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Riposte & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls, also disabling the use of Archery/Ranged abilities due to extreme pain except for utilizing a one handed Small Arm if applicable. -Critical Fracture: suffers a -5 penalty to all Assault/Parry/Riposte & Block/Evasion/Reaction Speed/Sprint rolls, also disablding the use any Archery, Melee, and Ranged abilities due to overwhelming agony. >HEAD: sustaining a direct, unarmored head injury greater than 30% of one's MaxHP, or an armored head injury greater than 50% of one's MaxHP, may cause a concussion of varying levels. Should an injury of this type occur, the penalties proceed as follows: -Mild Concussion: suffers a -1 penalty to all Perception/Scouting & Ranged rolls. -Moderate Concussion: suffers a -2 penalty to all Perception/Scouting/Wilderness Survival, all Melee or Ranged abilities, and all Bartering/Charm/Negotiation/Seduction rolls. -Severe Concussion: suffers a -4 penalty to all rolls, causes Severe Bleeding status if applicable (-10% HP lost per turn), puts the target into Shock for two turns, and may have other effects depending on the base criticals and/or forms of injury sustained. ***** -PERMARENENT DAMAGE: despite the overwhelming medical and arcane recovery abilities of Tallus natives, the loss of one's bodily part, or parts, is still a serious concern as it is extraordinarily difficult to reattach a severed limb. physical regeneration of a limb or other body part is virtually impossible without a number of severe side effects. Any body part that receives overwhelming damage or multiple injuries without treatmarent will be considered permarenently damaged. Unless surgically operated on by a human or pony with at least Grandmaster Medical, or a highly trained Ward, a person will be considered crippled as the GM will indicate. Depending on which part of the body is lost, there will be minor, moderate, significant, or severe penalties to the affected individual. -PENALTIES: losing an arm would incur the permarenent loss of one or more Melee rolls due to both weight imbalance and the loss of equilibrium, while losing an eye causes the permarenent removal of 50% of all Perception/Scouting/Wilderness Survival and Ranged rolls due to the loss of depth perception. These are examples as loss of bodily parts will always come with their own unique penalties. *The exception to this above rule is the HEAD: if a living being receives overwhelming damage to their skull, OR would otherwise die from sustained fatal injuries, they may roll Fearless/Iron Will in an attempt to stifle Death itself. If at least ONE Fearless/Iron Will roll succeeds on a 6 or higher, the target survives, although barely. If the roll or rolls do NOT succeed, the target DIES. Physical death on Tallus is PERMARENENT, there are no do overs or second chances. Unless outside circumstances dictate otherwise.