Basics

Just starting out? Never Playing a Pen and Paper game before? Or never played a d20 System before? Well here is the place to start!

Definitions! Why so much reading when this is suppose to be a game of the imagination? Well a game needs its rules. And creativity needs borders and a foundation or a starting point if it is to be understood by others. All the rules for Future Path is to help define a starting point for adventure! For you to take your first step into a world of your imagination and to be able to share those steps with others. Without defining a structure to do so means you cannot share your experience and relationship between the Story Teller and the Player is broken.

Below are a few things you will need to know to be able to read the rest of the rules.

DM/GM/Story Teller?

"A Dungeon Master? Uh... Wait maybe I am getting into something I don't want too!" You say to the eager friend across the table who quickly replies "Its... huh.. not what is sounds like... well it kinda is... I mean... just dont say those words to your Mom she will totally freak!".

That was just about how my first introduction to D&D and Pen and Paper gaming in general started. Over time people got less excited about calling the person that tells the story the DM. For many reasons. In order to make it more general and not just about Dungeons and to help avoid parental freak outs. People now use a more game agnostic term. GM. Some people prefer "Story Teller" because the name better relates to the roll.

So that's neat but what is a DM... rrr GM... I mean Story Teller? Well in Future Path we refer this position as the GM. The role of GM is to tell a story and guide the Players through an Adventure! In Future Path that story is in the realm of Science Fiction where anything can be possible through SCIENCE! The GM helps provide a foundation for the Players to start at. Depending on how the GM or Players want to play they can use these rules to explore whole new realms or jump into the busy every expanding universe of the Campaign Setting

Dice Notation

A 'd' what? There are more then 6 sides to dice!? Yes! There are all sorts of dice out there! The most common people are use too is the six sided dice. Usually having numbers represented by dots. In many pen and paper games and especially in the d20 system there are a lot of different types that are used. To quickly say what type of dice is required someone may say: "Roll a d20." Or "Use a d12". They are simply using a notation. 'd' is for dice and the number is the number of sides of the dice. Like so:

d4 = four sided die

d6 = six sided die

d8 = eight sided die

d10 = ten sided die

d12 = twelve sided die

d20 = twenty sided die

Why so many dice!? Well lots of reasons. But the end result is they can represent different weapons or % of chance for an action. Don't worry the majority of the time you will only use two dice. The very common 'd20' which the whole d20 System is named for. And the dice your weapon of choice requires. The d20 is the most common dice and is used to determine almost all outcomes.

There is one other dice notation and it is:

d% = percentile dice (a number between 1 and 100 is generated by rolling two different ten-sided dice. One (designated before rolling) is the tens digit. The other is the ones digit. Two 0s represent 100.)

Die rolls are expressed in the format: [#] die type [+/- modifiers]

Example: 3d6+2 means: "Roll 3 six sided dice. Add the result of the three dice together then add 2 for the total"

Math?

Hate math? Well I would lie if I said I do too... buuuut in gaming it can be a bore. We want gaming to be switch and action packed and not represent homework. So in general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger. A fairly simple rule. And one we hope you never had to use. In short you should almost never deal with a fraction.

Exception: Certain rolls, such as damage and hit points, have a minimum of 1.

Sometimes a special rule makes you multiply a number or a die roll. As long as you’re applying a single multiplier, multiply the number normally. When two or more multipliers apply, however, combine them into a single multiple, with each extra multiple adding 1 less than its value to the first multiple. Thus, a double (x2) and a double (x2) applied to the same number results in a triple (x3, because 2 + 1 = 3). Again we hope to avoid unnecessary extra arithmetic.

Basic Task Resolution System

As you read on you will learn about game play and which revolves around the GM/Story Telling informing Players about there surroundings and the Players acting of that information. In many cases those Player actions require dice rolls which add the element of randomness to the adventure. Combat has the largest and most involved set of rules explaining what to roll and when. But what about the every day to day stuff? Well honestly how much you roll play these events depends greatly on your style and on the GM. However wither or not its a conflict or simply any other choice/task where there is a reasonable possibility for some degree of failure Players should roll. That sounds kinda open to interpretation? And that's because it is. Its designed in such a way to give freedom to GM and Players alike.

There is a standardized system for determining the success or failure of any given task. That system is: d20 + Modifiers vs. Target Number

Modifiers: A modifier is anything you add on top of your dice roll. Usually to boost it which can help your chance of success. In almost all cases this is an Ability Scores modifier. But it there are exceptions and those are explained when you cross them.

Target Number: In combat the Target Number is usually the enemies 'AC' or "Armor Class". It can also be a 'DC' or "Difficulty Check". For example a character is trying to disarm a bomb. The bomb has a "DC" or Difficulty of 20. The Player's Target Number that they must beat when doing the roll is 20.

The Modifiers and Target Number are determined by the type of task. If the result of the d20 roll + the Modifiers equals or exceeds the Target Number, the test is successful. Any other result is a failure. A "natural 20" on the die roll is not an automatic success. A "natural 1" on the die roll is not an automatic failure, unless the rules state otherwise.

A "natural" anything is when you roll a d20 and you get that number as apposed to unnatural which means that the number was only reached after adding modifiers too it. So a "natural 20" would mean you rolled a d20 and got the number 20 before you added your modifiers.