Battlestorm Basic

The actions and occurrences described in this part of Fables Game System take place on a planet called Lharna. Lharna is a world within our own universe but far away from here. Because Lharna is within our universe the laws of physics and science, philosophy and ethics are virtually the same as on our own world. Lharna differs from Earth in some ways though. Lharna is located at a crossroads of eternity, on the edge of our reality, where a tear in the space-time continuum sometimes allows inter-dimensional forces to enter and exit our universe and other neighboring universes. The strength and size of this tear varies from age to age and at the time of the battle you are playing, the tear is just beginning to widen. (This is the era will be known to historians as the Advent of Wonders.)

The first thing a petitioner must do is establish a sacred spot in the form of an altar, cauldron or place of worship. This takes one round and can be done almost anywhere, at any time. The faith worker must remain within 6" of his holy spot to call miracles.

Just as anyone can pray for anything, during his round of activation a faith worker may choose any one act of faith.

Every thaumaturge, witch or shaman has a Faith Quotient (F.Q.). Each supernatural event has a Faith Die, which is large or small relative to the difficulty of the event. If the player rolls less than his character’s Faith Quotient the event is activated. Note that in many cases, defenders may be entitled to a saving roll.

If the player rolls higher than the character’s Faith Quotient, the event does not occur. Further, if the roll is higher than his Faith Limit (F.L.), the faith worker has exceeded his given deity’s tolerance with this mortal’s vanity and presumptuousness and the faith worker may not call for an act of faith for the remainder of the game.

Each miracle, hexx or wonder listed in the ambits is assigned a "Faith Die", which represents the miracle’s difficulty. The player must roll this die lower than the supplicant’s Faith Quotient to activate a supernatural event. Faith Dice are open ended meaning that whenever a player rolls the maximum value possible on the Faith die (for example a "4" on a d4), he must re-roll the die and add it to the previous roll. There is no limit to the number of rerolls a player might have to make.

It isn’t that the miracles are difficult for God, but sometimes it is hard for the petitioner to maintain his faith.

In the lists of supernatural events, the "area of effect" (sometimes abbreviate A.o.E.) indicates the space on the tabletop of that is influenced by the event. In most cases, the area of effect is a radius in inches. In these cases, the player who is calling the supernatural event picks a spot on the table as the center of the event. Then after the center has been selected, he may measure to see who is included in that area of effect. If any portion of the model (except the base or a single extremity) is not in the area of effect, then the model only need roll a "partial" save. For a partial save, roll the normal save and then divide by two.

Some A.o.E.’s specify an individual in which case only one model may be selected to receive the benefits or the damage from the event. If the model represents a swarm, pack or a host of individuals, the A.o.E. will only affect one individual in the throng.

If the A.o.E. specifies "self" the miracle, hexx may not be thrown upon anyone other than the individual who called the event.

This is the distance from the faith worker that the supernatural event can occur. The player must always select a target and roll to see if the event occurs before measuring range. If the selected a target is beyond the listed range, the event did not occur.

If the range is LOS (or "Line of Sight") the player must be able to establish a straight line from the wonder worker’s head/eyes to the spot that he is unleashing the supernatural event. To target a character is hidden or invisible, the faith worker must pass an Intuition check as described in the first volume of Battlestorm (on p. 28-29 under Search).

Most faith works have a duration or length of time that the miracle, wonder or hexx actually occurs. Durations are expressed in turns, which are equal to approximately one minute of game time. Durations are counted by the victims/beneficiaries activation. For example, if a hexx has a duration of 3 turns, the victim must suffer with the hexx for 3 of his activations. If the victim has not yet activated, the hexx is considered to have affected him one turn after he activates. The same is true of a miraculous blessing. For example, if the beneficiary has already taken actions, the blessing does begin counting down duration until the beneficiary activates.

The exception to this is any wonder that affects the defensive capabilities of the target. Since, those benefits/penalties take effect immediately, the duration rolls over on the faith worker’s activation.

If the target is a does not have Fate, he must a 10 or lower than 10 on a d30 to save. If the target has Fate, he must roll less than or equal to 15 plus current Fate to save Call Lightning!

If the target is a does not have Fate, he must a 10 or lower than 10 on a d30 to save. If the target has Fate, he must roll less than or equal to 15 plus current Fate to save.

In the Fables Game System, normal Damage rolls are open-ended, meaning that the maximum roll is "infinity." This is because an attacking player may re-roll any dice on which he rolls a maximum, and add this to the total. This continues for as long as the attacker is rolling maximums.

However, this rule does NOT apply to Damage dice rolled as a result of Fabled Actions. Fabled Actions include all wonders, hexxes, miracles, PSI skills and magic. Damage caused by Fabled Actions is NOT open-ended.

In some cases the wonder calls into being a weapon of some sort. When this occurs, the wonder, hexx or miracle will specify a Combat Error Rating specific to the weapon. This C.E.R. is not modified by Dexterity, helmet or any other factor. A supernatural C.E.R. is fixed and may not be altered by any combination of supernatural, extranatural or natural effects.

	Area of Effect	Range	Duration*	Faith Dice	Notes
Faith Sword	self	1"	10 turns/special	d3	Appears as a crystalline translucent sword wrapped in insubstantial flaming mists. If the thaumaturge misses a swing the Sword instantly disappears. Stats: Combat Error = 3 Thaumaturgy Quotient, 1 A/R, 2d8 damage, Sword Ignores absorption
Faith Missile	self	1" per PIE	10 turns/special	d4	Barely visible until loosed. When thrown it bursts into flames and trails sparks as it flies. Each time the thaumaturge releases the missile, another reappears in hand if missile hits. Stats: Combat Error = 2. 1 A/R, 2d4 of damage, ignores Absorption.
Faith Armor	self	self	d10 turns	d6	Allows 2d8 of Absorption like normal armor without cost to Evasion.
Cripple	individ.	PIE	d4 turns	d8	Target loses one half of base Movement. Effects last until save (target may save each round) or until duration, whichever is sooner.
Encumber	individ.	LOS	d4 turns	d12	Target loses 2d4 of Evasion. Effects last until save (target may save each round) or until duration, whichever is sooner. Cannot lower a stat below 2.
Potestate’s Bow	self	2" per PIE	10 turns	d12	Bow is completely invisible to everyone except user, but arrow is glowing white-hot shaft. Stats: Combat Error = 1. 1 A/R. 2d8 of damage. Ignores absorption.
Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust	individ.	5"	perm.	d20	Lose 2d10 of Fate. If target has any Fate at all when the miracle is discharged can lose no more than all it’s Fate. A target with no fate crumbles to pile of powdery inanimate ashes.
Brimstone and Hellfire	2�" rad.	LOS	d8 turns	d30	Flames leap up from the ground to consume the enemy. 2d12 of damage. Each turn roll d10 vs. FQ to continue to summon hellfire. (To maximum duration.) Miracle ends on a fail, or if faith worker breaks concentration.
Call Lightning	individ.	LOS	d8 turns	d30	Thunderclouds form and the thaumaturge can call lightning down upon the enemy. Lightning does 2d20 of damage. Each turn roll d10 vs. F.Q. to continue to call down bolts (up to maximum duration). Miracle ends on a fail, or if priest or breaks concentration. No Absorption is allowed for metal armor