Enchanted Realms

Rules

Enchanted Realms Rulebook

Talent and Expertise

Learning how to learn is life’s most important skill.

Other than the attributes, sub-attributes and race, everything else in the system is based on a skill. Some skills may be restricted by a prerequisite, but all mechanics of the game are controlled by skills. All beginning characters have roughly three skills when factoring in racial skills. All of those must be selected from the basic skill list above or be a free skill by the chosen race.

Skills attempt to perform an action. The simplest and most common example would be combat. Another example would be social interactions, such as bartering for price. The details of each of these will be explained later; however, as an explanation of game mechanics, the skill allows the player to roll a die against a DC (Difficulty Class). The die is thrown to determine the raw score. Then any other modifiers are applied. The most common come from sub-attribute scores and modifiers. Then any other modifiers from magic or other effects. The total score is added. If the adjusted value is equal or greater than the DC, then the action is successful.

Starting Skills

What my character can do well.

Starting characters should only select from the basic skills list below. Some races may have additional skills that are not in the basic list as part of their racial abilities. The details of the basic skills and how they are used are explained in the Skills section. Other skills are available and also explained in the Skills section, which is broken into eight different sections: Racial, Combat, Adventuring, Vocational, Magickery, Runes, Divinity and Sorcery.

It is important to note that skills can sometimes be seen by players as a menu at the table-top restaurant. To be fair, in many ways that analogy works; skills are purchased with karma as tender. That said, it is important to remember that just because a skill is listed in the book with a cost doesn't mean it is readily available in the game world -- or that there are not other costs beyond karma spent.

Throughout Earth's history governments and other organizations have resorted to tariffs, taxation, certifications and special-group memberships to discourage undesired social behaviors. The world of Enchanted Realms is no different in that regard. Probably the strongest example would be joining the clergy of a particular church. The karma investment is low and the character gains a lot of benefits; however, there is a church hierarchy, lists of sins, politics and other upkeep that goes along with divine accord and the some of the other skills that can only be learned through the church. Characters could find a bounty-hunter after them even if a priest is in perfect standing with his or her deity.

Adhering to a code of conduct in trade for gaining a certain skill is not limited to just the clergy. Each game world will be slightly different with "guild nuance" being determined primarily by the GM, but it is possible such implied social contracts exist for any skill. If there is a heavy-handed union for brewers in the region … well, that's just the world where the game is played. GMs should be fair to players, allowing them to know and understand what they are getting into if such as skill in that world has obligations; however, there could be reasons some social-restrictions are not known publicly, but from a game design perspective, anything on the starting list should be disclosed.

In summary, the point here needs to be clear. When selecting skills, players need to understand there might be more cost than just the karma points used to acquire it. Some skills could have very “in-game” strings tied to them.

Skill			Skill
Combat			Vocational
	Melee Fighting	Fighting with melee weapon		Agriculture	Planting, Harvesting
	Ranged Fighting	Fighting with a range weapon		Animal Breeding	Animal Breeding
	Unarmed Combat	Fighting without weapons		Armoring	Forge Metal Armor
Adventuring				Bowyer	Build Bows, Arrows
	Acrobatics	Bonus to Agility Actions		Brewing	Create Beer and Ales
	Alertness	Increases Awareness		Carpentry	Make Wood Construction
	Astrology	Sense of Direction, Foretelling		Cooking	Prepare Food, Clean Carcass
	Bartering	Lower Costs, Increase Sales		Creature Lore	Knowledge of Monsters
	Cartography	Read, Decipher Maps		Farrier	Horseshoeing
	Dash	Burst of Movement in Combat		Fishing	Catch Fish
	Discipline	Bonus for Spiritual Defenses		Flora Lore	Knowledge of Plants
	Fire-Building	Build Fire without Tools		Gardening	Landscaping, small food
	Language	Learn a new Language		Glass-Blowing	Glassworks
	Lip-Reading	Eavesdrop from a Distance		History	Knowledge of History
	Mountsmanship	Control a Mount		Hunting	Hunting Game
	Mental Fortitude	Bonus for Mental Defenses		Knots	Tie Knots with Proficiency
	Stamina	Bonus to Exertion Actions		Lapidary	Cut Gems
	Swimming	Ability to Swim		Leatherworking	Create Leather, Hide Armor
	Tap and Touch	Improves Searching		Legal Work	Urban Government Work
	Under-Navigation	Direction Underground		Masonry	Extract, Build with Stone
	Wilderness Lore	Survival in the Wilderness		Papermaking	Create writing surfaces
	Wound Care	Render Medical Aid		Religious Studious	Knowledge of Religions
Divinity				Sailing	Sail a Ship, Command Crew
	Divine Accord	Connection to Deity		Scribing	Writing, Calligraphy, Forgery
	Benison	Create Holy Philters		Skinning	Recover Hide, Extract Organs
				Knots	Advanced Rope Use
Fey Magickery				Sailing	Navigate a water vessel
	Cantrip Control	Ability for Simple Magic		Scribing	Writing, Calligraphy, Forgery
	Any Cantrip	Simple Magical Effect		Skinning	Remove Hides
Sorcery				Tailoring	Create Clothing, Armor
	Sorcery	Ability for Advanced Magic		Weaponsmith	Force Metal Weapons
	Spell Axiom	Learn New Spell to Cast		Woodworking	Weapons, Build with Wood

Racial Skills

Things innate to a specific race.

These are traits that are exclusively possessed only by members of certain races. These cannot be learned by others unless specifically stated otherwise. However, in all other ways, they operate exactly as all other skills.

Skill	Race
Armor-Movement	Dwarf
Body-Weapons	Batfolk; Lizardfolk; Monsters
Chance	Halfling
Under-Navigation	Dwarf
Weather Omen	Elf

Armor Movement
With this racial skill, all armor worn will have an effective encumbrance-weight of no more than 10 pounds. If the actual armor is lighter, then its real weight is used for the calculation of encumbrance. This does not alter one’s true mass. If pressure plates or weight tolerances are triggered, the creature’s true weight of the armor will be used. It is only obtainable to dwarves and specifically identified monsters.

Armor Movement

With this racial skill, all armor worn will have an effective encumbrance-weight of no more than 10 pounds. If the actual armor is lighter, then its real weight is used for the calculation of encumbrance. This does not alter one’s true mass. If pressure plates or weight tolerances are triggered, the creature’s true weight of the armor will be used. It is only obtainable to dwarves and specifically identified monsters.

Savage Form
This skill permits combat with natural body weapons of claws, tail, etc. For playable races, this is unique to batfolk and lizardfolk; however, other non-playable monster types might have this skill also. It does not combine with melee fighting as these attacks are not part of the primary hand die pool. Instead, savage form uses the “savage” die pool. Whenever a “savage” die pool is used in an attack, no other die pool can be used - unless specifically stated by another skill or game rule. To determine the number of dice in the die pool, one would use what is defined as an "appendage" by this special skill. Certain body parts work in conjunction as an appendage. Claws, biting and kicking all act as a single d20; a tail attack is 1d20; horns provide one d20 to the die pool; and wing buffets would add 1d20. Unless stated differently, such as using a spinning moves skill, all of these dice would be used in the original “savage” die pool. The only other skill that adds to this die pool is martial arts, which adds one additional d20 and is not specific to any appendage. Finally, damage type would be based on the type of body part used and the weight of the body weapon is zero by default. Monster descriptions might change that value.

Savage Form

This skill permits combat with natural body weapons of claws, tail, etc. For playable races, this is unique to batfolk and lizardfolk; however, other non-playable monster types might have this skill also. It does not combine with melee fighting as these attacks are not part of the primary hand die pool. Instead, savage form uses the “savage” die pool. Whenever a “savage” die pool is used in an attack, no other die pool can be used - unless specifically stated by another skill or game rule. To determine the number of dice in the die pool, one would use what is defined as an "appendage" by this special skill. Certain body parts work in conjunction as an appendage. Claws, biting and kicking all act as a single d20; a tail attack is 1d20; horns provide one d20 to the die pool; and wing buffets would add 1d20. Unless stated differently, such as using a spinning moves skill, all of these dice would be used in the original “savage” die pool. The only other skill that adds to this die pool is martial arts, which adds one additional d20 and is not specific to any appendage. Finally, damage type would be based on the type of body part used and the weight of the body weapon is zero by default. Monster descriptions might change that value.

Chance
Halflings are quite propitious, often attributed to their agility. Those with the chance skill are allowed to re-roll any d20 which scores a natural 1. However, if re-rolled, the next die value must be used regardless of the score.

Under-Navigation
Through secret roles by the GM, a character can passively detect the following on a successful Will feat:
Slope and Direction	DC 7
Unsafe Walls	DC 10
Depth Underground	DC 13
Cardinal Points	DC 17

Weather Omen
At dawn every day, an elf can accurately predict natural, non-magical weather for the next four hours. It does not have to be used at dawn, as it can be performed at any time. Further, this forecasting ability is not innately constant; it requires approximately fifteen minutes to discern to upcoming weather. However, the earliest it can be used again is the either the next dawn or after a long rest, whichever is later.

Weather Omen

At dawn every day, an elf can accurately predict natural, non-magical weather for the next four hours. It does not have to be used at dawn, as it can be performed at any time. Further, this forecasting ability is not innately constant; it requires approximately fifteen minutes to discern to upcoming weather. However, the earliest it can be used again is the either the next dawn or after a long rest, whichever is later.

Skills limited to be learned by specific races.

These are skills that can only learned by a particular race or creature, usually due to physiological restriction. However, there might be other explanations for the racial limitation. These can never be beginning skills and most often require a trainer or be learned by self-training. The symbol indicates that a skill can be learned or self-trained without karma, but more on that later.

Skill	Cost	Skill	Cost
Flight-Stamina	200	Camouflee	300
Hurdling	200	Vibrational Identity	300
Prehensile Feet	250

Camouflee	Gnome Only
Immediately after taking damage, a gnome with this racial skill can use a reaction to fall prone and roll up to 15 feet. This unique flee and camouflage method allows the gnome to be effectively invisible until the end of the round or the start of his turn, whichever comes first. After using this ability once, it cannot be performed again until finishing a short or long rest.

Flight-Stamina	Batfolk Only
Upon being trained in this skill, a batfolk can use his or her Strength bonus to add as an additional round of flight. Thus, a batfolk with a Strength score of 6 could fly for a total of five rounds.

Hurdling	Alseid Only
As part of normal movement, an alseid with this skill can clear or land on surfaces ten feet in height without a run. Heights of fifteen feet are possible if the alseid has a twenty foot running start. A standing broad-jump of fifteen feet can also be performed, while a running long-jump can clear thirty feet. The long-jump does not count against the current round's movement; however, it does remove half of the length of normal movement in the following round as the alseid recovers his or her footing from the leap.

Hurdling

Alseid Only

As part of normal movement, an alseid with this skill can clear or land on surfaces ten feet in height without a run. Heights of fifteen feet are possible if the alseid has a twenty foot running start. A standing broad-jump of fifteen feet can also be performed, while a running long-jump can clear thirty feet. The long-jump does not count against the current round's movement; however, it does remove half of the length of normal movement in the following round as the alseid recovers his or her footing from the leap.

Prehensile Feet	Batfolk, Gryf Only
This is a special combat skill for bipedal creatures capable of gliding or flight who also have talon-like feet. The GM may rule that other species are capable of learning this skill; however, it would be highly unlikely for giant eagles, gryphons or similar creatures to ever master this skill. What this conveys is that melee weapons, even heavy two-handed ones, can be employed and wielded with the creatures feet while in air. This makes the primary hand die pool to be defined by the flier’s feet instead of the weapon hand. This does not grant a a second die pool, but rather shifts the body parts using that primary die pool. Therefore, while in flight or during a gliding attack, a combatant with this skill can strike with the feet-wielded weapon just as if it were held in his or her hands. This does not convey the ability to fight with one's feet or use one's feet to wield weapons while standing on the ground. However, it can be used while prone, so long as the combatant is on his or her back, but the attacks are at disadvantage. Further, if a gryf combined this with a gryf-diving attack and also had two-handed fighting, then “multi-strikes” could occur as the feet would act as a second die pool from the two-handed skill. This second die pool option would not be available for batfolk, as they require their arms to be in use during flight.

Prehensile Feet

Batfolk, Gryf Only

This is a special combat skill for bipedal creatures capable of gliding or flight who also have talon-like feet. The GM may rule that other species are capable of learning this skill; however, it would be highly unlikely for giant eagles, gryphons or similar creatures to ever master this skill. What this conveys is that melee weapons, even heavy two-handed ones, can be employed and wielded with the creatures feet while in air. This makes the primary hand die pool to be defined by the flier’s feet instead of the weapon hand. This does not grant a a second die pool, but rather shifts the body parts using that primary die pool. Therefore, while in flight or during a gliding attack, a combatant with this skill can strike with the feet-wielded weapon just as if it were held in his or her hands. This does not convey the ability to fight with one's feet or use one's feet to wield weapons while standing on the ground. However, it can be used while prone, so long as the combatant is on his or her back, but the attacks are at disadvantage. Further, if a gryf combined this with a gryf-diving attack and also had two-handed fighting, then “multi-strikes” could occur as the feet would act as a second die pool from the two-handed skill. This second die pool option would not be available for batfolk, as they require their arms to be in use during flight.

Vibrational Identity	Lizardfolk Only
This skill is one that hones a lizardfolk's natural sense of vibrations to an extremely heightened point and commonly used while hiding or using stealth. With this skill, at a range of 60 feet, a lizardfolk is able to identify the race of one being encroaching the area even if it cannot be seen, so long as the lizardfolk remains perfectly still, taking no other action, for one round. This is performed by concentrating on the patterns of footfalls, air movements from breathing and even the heartbeat on one other creature. This means if the lizardfolk encounters this being again and performs the skill, the entity would be recognized. It also allows the lizardfolk to identify those he or she knows. This can be used to identify illusions instantly and even highly-skilled shape-shifters on a Perception check against a DC:18. Further, this grants a +2 on the Perception check to detect a lie if the lizardfolk also has tell-tale. Lastly, a silence effect will negate this skill.

Vibrational Identity

Lizardfolk Only

This skill is one that hones a lizardfolk's natural sense of vibrations to an extremely heightened point and commonly used while hiding or using stealth. With this skill, at a range of 60 feet, a lizardfolk is able to identify the race of one being encroaching the area even if it cannot be seen, so long as the lizardfolk remains perfectly still, taking no other action, for one round. This is performed by concentrating on the patterns of footfalls, air movements from breathing and even the heartbeat on one other creature. This means if the lizardfolk encounters this being again and performs the skill, the entity would be recognized. It also allows the lizardfolk to identify those he or she knows. This can be used to identify illusions instantly and even highly-skilled shape-shifters on a Perception check against a DC:18. Further, this grants a +2 on the Perception check to detect a lie if the lizardfolk also has tell-tale. Lastly, a silence effect will negate this skill.