ThreeForged Entry 1522

Introduction : During the Fall of 1812 Napoleon was gripped in a fight for control of Russia. His mages and soldiers were working their way forward and the end was in sight. At the doors of Moscow, the Russian emperor called for his cabinet and asked for any way they could turn back the enemy. A plan was hatched to use the most powerful magics at their disposal. A burst of magic flowed from that camp and city far and wide. It is said that the explosion could be seen from the eastern parts of Scotland and heard in the heart of the Levant.
Moscow became a gateway. Creatures imbued with magical properties are tearing through Capitals and villages. National boundaries meant nothing to them.  Europe, the grand palaces, and the heart of modern civilization are in jeopardy. England, perhaps because of the water of the Channel, is untouched.

What this game is about: the players are specialists who are going to make their way to Moscow.  They have been charged with closing this fount of magical beings.  

GMs should read this to players first:  London 1812: the streets are loud with the sounds on industrialization.  Cities are booming, but the beyond the borders, strange things are happening in the war in Europe.  A bright flash was visible several weeks ago. News travels slow, and you are just now hearing reports of the most bizarre nature.  A gateway to somewhere else has opened in Moscow, and strange things are coming out of it.  The governments of all nations are having a hard time coping with them.  You are being sent to help.  How are you going to stop what is happening?

How it works: There is a GM and Players.  The GM will take on the role of all NPCs and the world in which the players interact. Players will take on the role of a team sent from England to close the fount of magic. The journey they take will be in 7 stages.  Each stage has 2 phases: the city play and the road play.  The Journey will go as follows: 

1.	Stage 1
a.	London city play
b.	10 day road play
2.	Stage 2
a.	Dortmund city play
b.	8 day road play
3.	Stage 3
a.	Berlin city play
b.	9 day road play
4.	Stage 4
a.	Warsaw city play
b.	9 day road play
5.	Stage 5
a.	Minsk city play
b.	5 day road play
6.	Stage 6
a.	Smolensk city play
b.	6 day road play
7.	Stage 7
a.	Moscow final confrontation
City Play: Good ways to start journey play is to remind the players how long/ how far the fount is from this location, and then to ask each player how it is affecting the city.  Use the answers to inform the situation.  Examples of good questions to ask might be: what is the government doing to cope with the creatures that are now in/ around the city? What is surprising to your character about what has happened in this city? Etc. 

In each city the players need to be trying to find allies and form alliances.  This may be tricky as everyone is suspicious of outsiders under constant attack.  Time in cities will also be a chance for players to resupply for the journey.  The success of their politicking many determine how supplied they are for the road ahead.  It will be important to think about how long it has been since the fount opened for each city: the further in the game the players get, the more the cities will be affected by the creatures coming from the fount.  It will crazier and crazier the closer they get to the fount.

Mechanic for negotiation: ??? maybe its just fictional, not mechinical
Mechanic for Supply: ???

Road Play: road play will be when the players have most interactions with the creatures that come from the fount.   These do not necessarily need to be violent, but likely will be.  The GM should consider what kinds of things may come from the fount.  What is the motivation of the creatures? To colonize? Seek food? Enslave? 

Character Creation - - 
Stats – You are going to have to come up with this if you think you need it. I would allow some stat to act as a die for things not covered under class.
Classes -
Soldier 
A soldier gains one extra attack per two levels 2 attacks at 3rd level and 3 Attacks at 5th. In addition after the second level any character fighting at the side of a soldier can act as if they have the dice equivalent of the soldier for combat purposes. 
Level Hit Points Bonus Experience
1 Recruit 8 
2 Sergeant +d8
3 Lieutenant +d8
4 Captain +d8
5 Colonel +d8

Engineer
An Engineer may attempt to Repair an object in the field, or build items from scratch. For every feature an invention has increase the difficulty by 1 difficulty factor. Features include but are not limited to, Efficacy, Durability, Mobility, Offensive/Defensive capabilities, size and number of uses. Manufacture requires 1 week per feature which can be reduced by increasing the difficulty, the material cost, or both. 
Level Hit Points Bonus Experience
1 Tinker 6
2 Surveyor +d6
3 Chemist +d6
4 Mechanic +d6
5 Inventor +d6

Mage
A mage can call up the forces of the universe and bend them to their will. Like an Engineer the mage can develop spells which can do anything imaginable but are limited to how long they last, how deadly they are and what else they do. All Spells start at 6 difficulty and go up for every additional extension of the base imagining. So to throw fire at someone would be 6 difficulty, but to make a 2 die fireball would be up to 10. 
Level Hit Points Bonus Experience
1 Neophyte 4
2 Apprentice +d4
3 Master +d4
4 Grand Master +d4
5 Warlock +d4

Rogue
A rogue has experience lying, cheating, and stealing Which professional gentlemen and ladies do not. A rogue can fight like a Soldier using extra dice when they are the side with superior numbers. 
Level Hit Points Bonus Experience
1 Lookout 6
2 Cut-purse +D6
3 Highwayman +D6
4 Burglar +D6
5 Charlatan +D6

Resolution - - The resolution of conflict is based on rolling as many D6s as the player wants to roll. The player then chooses 2 dice for their effort. Any dice left over go to the GM to use as described in that section. For every level above one, AND when the character is performing an action within their skill set, the player may choose to use more one additional die per level to meet the challenge. If they can meet or exceed the target without going over 12 they succeed, if they do not meet the target they fail and if they exceed 12 they suffer blow through.
Difficulty level – 6 Easy, 8 Normal, 10 Difficult,12 impossible
Blow through- If a player chooses dice which go over 12 they succeed but have to contend with the excess effort. The outcome should only be a positive one if there is no possible way for the outcome to be otherwise.
For example a third level character could roll 6 dice for a difficult challenge. Getting 1,1,2,2,5,6the player can choose up to 4 dice to meet or exceed the target of 10. Not wanting to go over the player 6,2,2,1 for eleven and gives the 5,1 dice to the GM. If for example the player had rolled 2,3,4,4,6,6 the player take a 13 to avoid giving the GM 3 dice or a 6,4,2 to not exceed 12. players will find the comfort level which gets them approximately what they want without feeding the GM too many additional dice.

Combat – Hitting Man sized creatures is easy. Hitting smaller or faster creatures is harder by one or two levels. Hitting larger or slower creatures is easier, but never below easy. Creatures with armor increase their difficulty. Distance increases difficulty.
Weapon Damage
Knife/Bite 1D4
Bow/Claws 1D6
Sword/Horn 1D8
Gun 1D20
For every 2 points over which you need to hit add another of that class die.  

GM section - - 
Start the game with three dice per player (including the GM)
So what do you do with all the extra dice? 
You can announce that something bad is likely to happen. Make a count down clock and advance the coming evil by one per die. Try not to dump on them all at once, but bring it closer while doing other things. You can also make the threat worse somehow. Hold up a die and explain how that thing got worse. They will quickly get the idea.
You can make a foe tougher. Instead of three boar head monsters. Spend a die and make one tougher. As always show them the die while you explain the change you are making.
You can always use one of your dice to add to a roll when you have failed at something. Show them the die and roll it to increase your NPCs roll. 

Opponents come in three types. Men, Animals and Abominations. Men act like characters of lower power unless they have leaders. Animals have bites, hooves, stings, claws and poisons, but flee when things turn against them. For an abomination, roll 2D6 and imagine that many animals and spells and take the worst part of that animal and add it to the abomination. 

Stats: