Lords of the Realm - Mechanics

Mechanics

1. Prestige
2. Combat
3. Weapons and Armour
4. Travelling and Supplies
5. Currency
6. Horses and Combat

Credit to Neith for helping me out with a lot of proof-reading and creating/improving/building upon mechanics.

1. Prestige

Prestige is a statistic that is unique to every player character. It is an estimate amount of how well-known that character is known throughout Wessenden. Whether or not that character is well regarded or not is based on that character's overall personality and actions in events that has gained them considerable amounts of prestige in the past.
Prestige is naturally earned as players progress throughout the plot but can also gain prestige through several ways. Winning major battles, duels, completing important quests, befriending notable lords or ladies and other similar actions can all add onto a character's prestige.
Commoners start with no prestige, whereas nobles start with a small amount of prestige based on their backstory, past profession and house. Commoners have 1.5-2x the base prestige gain than nobles gain. If a noble were to gain 10 prestige from an action, a commoner would gain 15 or even 20 from the same action.

2. Combat=

Combat mechanics and rules for Lords of the Realm are listed below. Over time I may add some more stuff if I find things a bit overpowered/lacking.

Traits and Use in Combat

Might: Used for melee combat and other things involving strength. Attacking with a sword, defending with a shield, bracing for an attack etc.
Agility: Used for ranged combat and other things involving dexterity and stealth. Shooting arrows, using throwing knives, dodging etc.
Wisdom: Used for charisma, knowledge rolls, perception rolls, etc.

Moons and Skulls

Moons on both sides (enemies and players) can do the following:
- negate cover
- negate dodging/evade
- destroy cover
- kill, fatally injure
- and whatever applies

Skulls on both sides (enemies and players) can do the following:
- damage/destroy their weapon/equipment
- destroy cover
- kill/fatally injure
- status debuff

Death

When a character reaches 0 health, a roll containing 5 dice is rolled. Depending on the amount of stars, the character will lose a limb or sustain a major injury. This is to encourage teamwork and to discourage suicide attacks.
After a character reaches 0 health, they must be stabilized with bandages, medicinal herbs or another healing item within 3 rounds or else they will perish. Permanently.
1 star - Loss of something small, such as a finger or ear.
2 stars - Loss of something semi-significant, such as a hand.
3 stars - Loss of something significant, such as an arm.
4 stars - Loss of something even more significant, such as a leg or jaw.
5 stars - Loss of something extremely significant, possibility of all things above depending on the cause.
Moon - No damage, miraculous survival.
Skull - Equivalent to 5 stars, but with even more.

Power Use

In Lords of the Realm, power has several uses. It can be used normally to add stars to a single roll and other combat related rolls. For example:
Special attacks: Special attacks are able to done through the use of power. The current special attacks are listed below:
- Lunging: Requires 1 power, extends a character's attack by one range for a single turn.
- Bracing: Requires 1 power, a character braces themselves for an enemy attack. Rolls half of a typical defence roll. Any stars are then added to the real defence roll.
- Parry and Counter: Requires 1 power, a character parries an attack and promptly attacks their attacker.

Ammunition

Ammunition is limited in Lords of the Realm. Arrows or bolts must be held in a character's inventory to use their bow or crossbow. Bows may fire turn after turn and use a single arrow each. The same applies with crossbows, except they require a turn to reload. You may also reload before and after battle.

Movement

In a turn, a character can move a maximum of 5 squares. You may not move diagonally. If there is cover, you use two of your movement squares to go over it.
If you wish, you are able to sacrifice your combat turn to gain 5 more squares of movement.

Defence

Characters have three options when it comes to protecting themselves. The option to use certain types of defence depends on a character's stats, equipment and the enemy's weapon. They are listed below:
- Blocking: Typical blocking, a might roll. The amount of stars rolled = the amount of damage prevented. Having a shield disregards a roll for defence but is replaced with a roll for bracing which determines whether or not the defending character will be able to hold off the attack without falling/dropping it. Blocking is available to all characters.
- Dodging: Typical dodging, an agility roll. The amount of stars rolled = the amount of damage evaded. Requires a minimum dexterity stat (any traits related to dexterity + reactions) of 4 to be able to use it. The higher the tier of armour, the heavier the armour and therefore the harder to dodge with. Furthermore, the higher tier the attacking weapon is, the harder it will be to dodge.
- Parrying and Countering: Parrying an attack and then countering them. Requires a roll of agility with a predetermined star success amount and if successful, half the die of a typical attack roll. Requires a power. Is high risk option due to two rolls needing to be successful and a power. If the initial roll of agility is failed, then the character takes full damage. If the agility roll is successful but the attack roll fails, then no damage is dealt. Available to all characters if they are ballsy enough.

Prestige

Affects the enemy's morale and willingness to flee. An incredibly high prestige amount may cause weaker-willed enemies to flee at the sight. A character with an average amount of prestige may even be able to convince enemies to retreat through charisma checks.

3. Weapons and Armour

Weapon Types

There are a few different types of weapons, each with a specific range, effect and if ranged, amount of ammo. A character's carrying capacity will depend on their equipment and armour, though starting capacity is always two for the sake of balance. Over the course of the story unique weaponry can be found.

- Melee weaponry:
-- Swords - 1 range, effective at slashing and impaling through weaknesses in armour.
-- Axes - 1 range, effective at slashing and destroying shields and low-tier armour.
-- Maces/hammer - 1 range, blunt weaponry, effective at bashing armour and knocking enemies unconscious.
-- Spears - 2 range, effective at stabbing and long-distance attacks, but is easy to break.
-- Two handed weaponry: There are two-handed varieties of swords, axes and maces/hammers. All three are similar to their one-handed counterparts but are more effective at piercing or damaging armoured opponents and do extra damage. Also does more damage, but requires a minimum amount of predetermined strength-related traits/stats. Cannot dodge with two-handed weaponry and trade away the use of shields.

- Ranged Weaponry:
-- Bows - 5 range, effective at attacking unarmoured enemies and low-tier armoured enemies. Ineffective against shields. 20 arrows take up a single weapon slot.
-- Crossbows - 5 range, shoots with extra power and is able to pierce armoured opponents. Takes a turn to reload. 10 bolts take up a single weapon slot.

Weapon Tiers

Melee weaponry have different tiers, with each climbing tier being able to inflict more damage than the previous and have less risk of breaking/cracking during combat. If a weapon is cracked or broken they can be repaired by any metalworker, woodworker, smithy or arms-master.
Ranged weaponry has different tiers as well, but mostly depend on the type of arrow and bow string. Crossbows depend on the bolt and shooting mechanism.
Unique weaponry may be above tier 3 and be on their own tier entirely.

- Tier 0:
-- Lowest tier weaponry. Composes of everyday items that may be used as weaponry. i.e pitchforks, rakes, wooden clubs etc. Prone to breaking during combat, with little to no chance of being able to do much damage against armour. Base damage of 1.

- Tier 1:
-- Second lowest weaponry. Crafted and/or forged with some measure of care, but with cheap metals and materials. Can actually pass as weapons, albeit weak ones. i.e copper swords, axes, spears, maces etc. Can break during combat but the chances are somewhat low. Able to do damage against armour, depends on weaponry. Base damage of 1.

- Tier 2:
-- Second highest quality weaponry. Crafted and/or forged with a good amount care and skill, with decent metal and materials. Average quality weaponry. i.e iron/bronze swords, axes, spears, maces etc. Has a small amount of crack chances before breaking in combat. Able to do damage against armour, depends on weaponry. Base damage of 2.

- Tier 3:
-- Highest quality weaponry. Crafted and/or forged with considerable skill and care. Uses strong, sharp metals. i.e steel swords, axes, spears, maces etc. Cannot break during combat, but can crack if careless. Has a decent amount of crack chances. Able to do damage against armour, depends on weaponry. Base damage of 3.

Armour and Shields

In Lords of the Realm there are several tiers of both armour and shields. They may soften the blow of certain attacks or negate the blow entirely depending on the weapon. There are three overall tiers, ranging from:

- Tier 1:
-- Lowest tier armour. Nothing fancy -- just basic leather, fur, etc. Shields of this tier are made of weak wood. Cannot negate damage, but softens certain attacks by 1.

- Tier 2:
-- Middle tier armour. Cheap metal, thick leather, cheap layered armour etc. Shields of this tier are made of strong wood. Can negate damage and softens certain attacks by 1.

- Tier 3:
-- Highest tier armour. Thick metal, layered plate over chainmail etc. Shields of this tier are made of strong wood reinforced by metal or are entirely made of metal. Can negate damage entirely and softens certain attacks by 2.

Magi-bled Weaponry and Armour

Magi-bled weaponry and armour are mechanically the same as normal types of those weapons, except with certain buffs that may drastically affect combat. For example, a magi-bled suit of armour may have enchanted shielding and therefore negate damage and soften certain attacks by 3. A magi-bled sword may be able to pierce enemies armour entirely, have elemental enchantments etc.
Magi-bled weaponry have a certain amount of uses and charges. They can only be replenished by certain people in certain areas. The higher the tier of magi-bleeding, the higher the amount of charges.

4. Travelling and Supplies

Map of Wessenden: imgur.com/a/YNDCR - Each hexagon = roughly a day and a half of travel on foot.

Travelling as a party is a rather important function in Lords of the Realm. During travel, several events can take place based on GM rolls and other factors. These events can be both negative and positive. Items, precautions and other things may result in a higher or lower percentage of attack.

Possible Example Events

- Bandit attack
- Random injury
- Supply loss
- Supply gain
- Quests

Furthermore, due to the fact that travelling takes so long, supplies must be purchased beforehand to serve as rations for the people within the party. If commanding an army, low rations can result in low morale. If rations are running low, GM will notify the players. If rations are completely run out, players will be penalised by losing health every few days without food. Each player consumes 2 rations a day, so make sure to stock up!
Medical supplies, entertainment and so on should also be kept in the event that armies gain low morale. Medical supplies are rather expensive but can have some dire consequences if not held. If a character is given no medical attention after a negative event or further medical attention after they recover from 0 health, there is a chance of infection, sickness and death. If untreated for a long amount of time, there is a chance it may have some permanent effects (blindness, amputation etc.).

5. Currency

The United Kingdom of Wessenden uses four primary forms of currency. Crowns, circlets, bands and rings. They each amount to certain values except for crowns, which are the highest and most expensive form of currency within Wessenden. Rings are the lowest form of currency.

- 1 Crown = 10 Circlets/100 Bands/1000 Rings.
- 1 Circlet = 10 Bands/100 Rings.
- 1 Band = 10 Rings.
- Rings = Base currency.

6. Horses and Combat

Horses can be purchased from certain stables at extremely high prices. There are several types of horses, each with different stats. Every horse is unique, with their own appearances, stats and personalities.
Horses can serve the same role as asses, wagons or other similar supply-carrying objects. Unlike those objects however, horses can gain long-lasting penalties from carrying certain objects if supplies are not correctly distributed between animals. Horses can also potentially hurry travel time, but for a noticeable difference the whole party must be riding animals themselves.

In combat horses have several uses. They provide extra movement speed, extra damage based on momentum (certain percentage of distance travelled + attack roll) and pierce or damage armour that would normally be unable to be done on foot.

Personalities can affect a horses behaviour, determining whether or not they're willing to carry certain items, run towards certain things (enemies, environments), and willingness to keep on going after being significantly hurt. A stubborn horse may not be willing to carry items, instead dumping them on the ground or standing in place to avoid carrying objects, a craven horse may be more inclined to running away rather than running towards things and so on. Personalities can be changed, but must be reinforced through positive interaction (feeding, petting, training etc.) or negative interaction (whipping etc.). Both interactions can cause certain traits to grow, such as gluttony (eats more supplies) or laziness (self explanatory).

While each horse has different individual stats, the breeds of horse do have certain advantages over others and varying costs. They are listed below in order of cost:

- Destrier: Fast and strong, typically trained and hardened for combat. The most well-rounded in terms of high stats. Expensive but well worth the potential price.
- Palfrey: Extremely fast and agile. Typically used by wealthy lords, knights and so on. More inclined towards speed, being faster than most other breeds. Typically used in tournaments and are usually cheaper than destriers.
- Courser: Similar to the destrier, except with lower stats. Trained for combat, but not as strict as destriers are. Well-rounded stats, though nothing too remarkable. A good horse for those with decently-sized coin pouches.
- Rouncey: Strong, though not very fast. Trained for riding and supply-carrying more than heavy combat. Well-rounded stats with strength being higher than it's other stats, though everything is somewhat low in comparison to the other breeds. Cheaper than a courser, but still higher than most commoners can afford.

Horse stats affect the following things:
Speed: The amount of momentum a horse can gain during movement. Momentum is determined by timing the squares moved by a certain percentage based on the horses speed stat (10% per speed stat). For example, if a horse with 10 speed were to move 5 squares, the base damage would be 5 just from momentum.
Agility: The amount of squares a horse can move. 2 squares per agi stat.
Strength: The amount of damage a horse can do from charging an enemy head-on and the amount of health the horse has. 2 damage per strength stat and 1 health per strength stat.