AoA: Chapter 2 - How to Play

This chapter will expand on the gameplay mechanics described in the introduction. Though the basic mechanic of rolling dice against the DC is relatively simple, Players will encounter a variety of ways in which they can use their character’s abilities and skills. 

The Core Mechanic

When required by the GM, Player Characters will need to use their abilities to pass certain challenges, interact with NPCs, compete in events, or combat an enemy. Players will spend Action Points (AP) for their PC to act; PCs may act as many times in a row as they wish until they run out of AP,  or until they are forced to stop by a roll resulting in a Miss (see below). Success or failure performing actions is determined when Players do the following:

1. Roll: Roll a D20 die, and add the result to the appropriate modifier, such as the PC’s relevant ability score, as well as any additional character status or environmental effects which will impact the final Action Score.
   
   

2. Compare: Compare the Action Score to the ‘Defense/ Difficulty Class’ (DC), which represents  how difficult the action is to perform or the strength of an opponent’s defense. If the Action Score is greater than the DC, the action succeeds. If the Action Score is lower than the DC, the action fails.
   
   

3. Resolve: To determine the degree of success or failure of a given action, the same D20 roll will be added to a different modifier which affects the actions effectiveness (this is usually based on the PC’s equipment). A successful action combined with an effectiveness score of ‘10’, ‘15’, ‘20’, or higher may result in greater degrees of success; a failed action with an effectiveness score of a ‘5’ or less will result in greater degree of failure. Certain defensive stats of opponents may be subtracted from the effectiveness score as a way of mitigating damage or other disadvantages. 
   
   

For example;

• Player rolls to determine the result of an Attack against an NPC opponent, the roll equals 10; add the PC’s Attack modifier of +3 for a total of 13
  
  

• The Action Score of 13 compared to the opponent’s Defense Class of 11 results in a successful hit and the opponent will take at least 1 Health Point of damage
  
  

• The roll of 10 added to the character’s Weapon modifier of +2, and subtracting the opponent’s Armor score of +1 results in an effectiveness Score of ‘11’ – the target will receive 2 points of damage.
  
  

This basic system  determines the outcome of nearly all actions. Results greater than the DC are referred to as ‘Hits’, results lower than the DC are referred to as a ‘Miss’, and roll results which are equal to the DC are referred to as a ‘Match’. Generally speaking, a Hit represents success and a Miss represents failure. A Match does not represent success but, unlike a miss, will not end the PC turn; after a Hit or a Match, the PC may attempt the action again if the Player chooses and if the character has enough remaining Action Points (with the Exception of ‘Precision’ attacks – see Chapter 4).

A Hit which is performed with an effectiveness Score totaling 10 or better is considered a ‘Critical Hit’. This may yield a more favorable result for PCs in non-combat situations, and will cause an attacked target to receive 2 points of damage to their HP. A Hit performed with an effectiveness Score totaling 20 or more will yield the most favorable outcomes; in combat, an attacked target will receive 4 points of damage. Conversely, a Miss which is performed with an effectiveness Score totaling 5 or less is considered a ‘Critical Miss’ and will yield the least favorable result; in addition to no damage being dealt, this will allow the target to counter attack during combat. To summarize:

• Critical Miss: Action Score = less than the DC, and the effectiveness Score = 5 or less. During combat, it leaves PCs open to counter attack. Forces the end of PC turn. 

• Miss: Action Score = less than the DC, and the effectiveness Score = 6 or more; forces the end of PC turn.

• Match: Action Score = to the DC; action does not succeed and PC may continue their turn.

• Hit Action Score = more than the DC, and the effectiveness Score = 9 or less; during combat, delivers 1 point of HP damage to target. PCs may continue their turn.

• Critical Hit: Action Score = more than the DC, and the effectiveness Score = 10 or more; during combat, delivers 2 points of HP damage to the target. PCs may continue their turn. Roll + equipment modifiers of 15 will result in 3 damage

• Perfect Hit: Action Score = more than the DC, and the effectiveness Score = 20 (or more); during combat, delivers 4 points of HP damage to the target, PC may continue their turn.

Modifiers

To clarify how to utilize roll modifiers, the two types of modifiers and their function are described below:

Action Modifiers

This type of modifier will be added to the roll result to determine whether or not a given action succeeds or fails (Hit or Miss). Action Modifiers include Ability Scores, Proficiency Scores, and Specialty Scores

Abilities …

Proficiencies

Proficiencies represent an increased effectiveness in a particular aspect of an Ability. Proficiencies can make a PC effective in very specific categories and are determined by the character’s class. There are two categories of Proficiency per Ability (excluding Hit Points & Kinetics) for a total of  24 proficiencies.  

Specialties 

Although many Checks in the game can be resolved with basic Ability scores, others will only be possible to resolve by the PC’s access to specific skills, also known as ‘Specialties’. Specialty scores represent a character’s training in specific tasks and occupations and is measured by the ‘Skill’ and ‘Potential’ Scores. Skill grants the Player additional dice to roll when acting within the Specialty category, regardless of the base Ability used. Potential allows the PC to act without penalty when the Potential score is equal to or greater than the DC of the action that requires such specific knowledge

Effectiveness Modifiers

Effectiveness Modifiers do not add to the initial Check to determine success, but instead adds to the degree of success. Equipment is the most common type of Effectiveness Modifier. Equipped Weapons, Armor, Devices, and Accessories will apply when the equipment is utilized from or to the indicated range, 1 space, 2 spaces, or 3 or more spaces, with the exception of the ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Reason’ abilities where ‘range’ is based on the number of targets involved in the Check –either 1, 2, or 3 or more.

Checks

In order for a character to act, the player may be required to make a die roll using the Core Mechanic outlined above – also known as making a Check. Checks refer to any action that is required by Characters or which Characters choose to take.

Ability Checks

When a PC takes any action which has at least some chance of success or failure, the Player will need to make an Ability Check. Ability Checks are made against a DC, the static number which represents the difficulty of the action. 

Speciality Checks
When a PC takes any action which has at least some chance of success or failure, and the action requires special knowledge (known as a Speciality’) the Player will need to make a Speciality Check. Speciality Checks are also made against a DC, but the difficulty will increase if the PC lacks sufficient Potential Score in the Speciality, and the difficulty will decrease if the PC’s Potential Score exceeds the DC.

Opposed Checks

An Opposed Check occurs when the DC is determined  by the defensive Ability Score of another PC or an NPC, plus a default score of 10. 

Different in-game conditions will increase or decrease the difficulty involved in performing an action or increase the character’s aptitude for performing a given task. The GM may also decide that PCs can make multiple attempts or even automatically succeed if there is no specific pressure or time limit needed to accomplish the action (or forgo certain checks entirely, so long as the action does not require special skills or knowledge). 

Encounters

Encounters occur when PCs come into a high-pressure situation that requires a lot of physical movement and/or quick-decision making, and consist of many Checks. This is usually a combat situation, physical competition, or any type of scenario where the PCs are acting against antagonists. A basic Encounter sequence works as follows:

Step One –Determine Initiative: PCs roll a D20 and add their natural Speed Ability along with any added status or environmental modifiers, the GM does the same for all enemies or NPCs; the highest scoring character goes first, next highest goes next, and so on.

Step Two – Actions: On their turn, PCs can take Major and/or Minor actions. Taking Major Actions consumes Action Points, which represents the character’s stamina. On their turn, Players will narrate their character’s actions and attempt to overtake their opponents or otherwise successfully resolve the encounter. 

Major Actions: Major Actions are broken down into Standard and Move Actions, and the first move action taken in a turn is free (0 AP cost). Player’s may end their turn at any point, or can take Major Actions indefinitely until their AP pool is reduced to 0, or until their first Miss.

Standard Actions - A Standard Action is any action the player takes while remaining in position, such as attacking with a sword, or drawing a bow, and requires a Check against the Defense Class of the target, or the Difficulty Class of another type of action.

Move Actions - A Move Action is one which allows the PC to move from one location to another, such as backing away from an enemy, or running towards a target. A PC can move up to the number of spaces defined by their Speed Ability.

Minor Actions: These are free (non-AP consuming) actions which take approximately 3-5 seconds or less but have limited impact on the outcome of encounters; the most common example is talking. Players can make two Minor Actions at any point before or after taking a Major Action. Additional Minor Actions can be taken by spending 1 AP, if desired, or if done simultaneously with Major Actions; however, this is considered to ‘split’ the PC’s attention and will result in a penalty of -2 towards the roll of the Major Action.

Step Three – Ending the Turn: The turn will end when one of the following criteria are met:

• The player voluntarily ends their turn

• PC Action points are reduced to 0; this will have the additional consequence of the PC’s AP Capacity being temporarily reduced by half

• A Miss (a failed check), will end the PC’s turn

• Critical Misses (a Miss accompanied by a roll + Success Modifier equaling 5 or less) ends the PC turn and creates an opportunity for an opponent to counter strike.
  
  

Step Four - Resting: PCs restore 1 AP between turns. If a Player wishes to restore additional AP, they may use their next turn to restore a total of 2 AP. Taking such an ‘extended’ rest ends the turn and Major Actions may not be taken until the next turn cycle.

Counterattacks

Failed Checks resulting in a Critical Miss will create an opportunity for the opponent, who is aware of their attackers, to counter strike if they are within range of the PC. Attacking an opponent who is unaware, also known as ‘flat-footed’, will not result in a counter attack, though it may alert them to the PC’s presence. 

Using the above rules, a character’s turn might look something like this: 

• Mid-combat, an Aware PC sprints to hide behind a nearby tree, outside the range of opponents (-0AP ‘Move’ Action), 

• The PC emerges from behind the tree and takes aim with their bow & arrow at the closest opponent ( -1AP ‘Standard’ Action).

• The attack fails, ending the PC’s turn.

Dealing and Receiving Damage

In order to inflict 1HP damage, the Action Score  must be equal to or higher than the defending Ability DC. As described, effectiveness rolls which are high enough can deal 2, 3 or up to 4 points of damage. 

PCs may pick their style of attack from the following three Abilities (Although Kinetic Abilities and other actions may also cause HP damage or have similar effects as these fundamental Abilities):

Striking Attacks: This is the standard attack method which, when successful, deals damage to the opponents available HP. Use the ‘Attack’ ability to strike an opponent at close range, or use weapons which enable attack from a distance.

Grappling Attacks: Rather than damaging opponents directly, a grappling attack uses the ‘Agility’ Ability in order to physically restrain opponents. While this won’t damage your opponent, it may allow the PC or an ally to disarm them, or create another kind of strategic advantage.

Piercing Attacks: The most effective, but riskiest, type of attack. A piercing attack is a precision strike, usually aided by a sharpened weapon. When the action ‘hits’, damage is calculated as though the roll was at least a ‘10’; this drastically increases the chances of dealing a high amount of damage. However, a roll resulting in a Match will automatically be considered a Miss and will end the PC turn. 

Status

Attacking an unsuspecting target or sneaking up on an opponent can yield the best results during encounters. PCs and NPCs will be in one of four states of awareness at any given time:

Aware: ‘Aware’ characters are aware of the presence of others and have a basic awareness of their intentions. They cannot be surprised unless they lose sight of their opponents. Aware opponents receive all normal Ability and effectiveness  Modifiers. Attacking ‘Aware’ characters and failing may allow a counter strike. 

Alert: ‘Alert’ characters can not directly see their opponents, but they are either aware of their presence or are prepared to defend themselves. Alert PCs or NPCs must perform a Perception Check prior to being attacked – if the Perception Check fails, the attacker will be able to strike first before rolling for initiative. 

Flat-footed: Flat-footed characters are not prepared for any attack whatsoever. Flat-Footed characters have an effective Defense of only 10, and will be unable to perform a Perception check prior to being attacked. Failing a check against a ‘flat-footed’ character will not allow the character to counter attack, though it will graduate them to an ‘Alert’ or ‘Aware’ status.

Unconscious: Unconscious characters cannot do anything at all until awoken, and have an effective Defense of 5; however, the GM may introduce other elements which could increase the difficulty in such situations, such as alarms and traps. 

Outside of Encounters

During normal, low stress events, Encounter rules do not necessarily need to apply. During such events, Players may freely discuss

which PC will attempt an action in no particular order. If there is disagreement between PCs (or the Players), the GM may require the

Players can perform initiative (or other) types of checks to keep things moving – Otherwise, there is no strict structure to turn orders, or specific limits on how many times the PC can attempt any given action, unless the outcome of any specific scenario demands that PCs take a different course of action (if the failure of an action changes the circumstances, and requires the character(s) to try something else, for example).

Updated 8/4/2023