Cogent RPG

Part 2 – Character Statistics

Attributes

Skills (Overview)

Skills (Breakdown)

Disabling Characteristics

Part 1 – Combat Fundamentals

Combat Rolls

Victory Levels

Fighting Groups

Defense Rolls

Combat Actions

Round Order

Melee VS. Ranged

Armor

Weapon Modifiers

Part 2 – Circumstantial Variants

Combat Modifiers

Ranged VS. Melee

Fighting Groups

Defense Rolls

Part 1 – Challenge Levels

Cogent Roleplay revolves around a simple mechanic called the ‘Challenge Level’, or ‘CL’. When a player character chooses to make an action within the game, the Narrator can assign them a CL based on the difficulty of what they will attempt to perform – the more difficult the task, the higher the CL, ranging from 1 (a common task) to 8 (inconceivable!).

The characters’ statistics (see Character Creation’ – page 9) will determine the amount of dice that can be rolled against the CL. Each dice represents a 50/50 chance to gain a win or loss towards the CL.

On a traditional 6-sided dice (or ‘D6’) any dice roll that shows a 1-3 is considered a loss, While any dice that shows a 4-6 is a win

To pass the Challenge Level you must roll enough wins equivalent to, or greater than, the set CL.
For example:
Your character wants to climb a wall and the Narrator assigns this task a CL of 3. You have five dice to roll which means at least three dice must achieve a win to succeed against the CL.

The more dice a player has to roll against a CL, the higher the chance they will succeed.

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.1

Challenge Level (CL) Difficulty Scale

Challenge levels are assigned to any task that has a reasonable chance of failure. The more difficult the task, the higher the CL. These CL ratings are classified as follows:

Task	Challenge level
Common Task	CL 1
Uncommon Task	CL 2
Specialized Task	CL 3
Difficult	CL 4
Extremely difficult	CL 5
Unrealistic	CL 6
Virtually Impossible	CL 7
Inconceivable	CL 8

For every action the players wish to perform, it’s the Narrator’s job to assess each request and judge how difficult such a task would be. Using these classifications, they then assign the CL. Below are some examples of CL’s a Narrator might choose to assign to various tasks. Each Narrator is entitled to make their own judgements on how difficult a task is, and CL’s will often vary between Narrators, campaigns, task circumstances and game sessions.

EXAMPLE ACTION	EXAMPLE CL
Climb a rope 20 meters in the rain	4
Do a triple back-flip	5
Ride a horse without a saddle	3
Override the console of a basic space craft	4
Catch a flying arrow	6
Lift a car	7

A narrator may be tempted to assign a higher or lower CL to a more capable character because such tasks would be easier to them based on their skills. DO NOT DO THIS. CL’s should be always be assigned based on how difficult the task would be to a regular person in that setting. It is a character's skills (or lack thereof) that will affect their potential to succeed in an action – not an altered CL.

Every character begins with a base of three dice (or 3 D6), called the ‘base roll’. The player then adds additional dice to their base roll for every point their character has in any attribute and skill that is applicable to the task.

Example: A character attempts to pick a lock – the Narrator assigns a CL of 3 (a specialized task).

1. The player begins with their base roll (3D6).
2. The player has two points in the skill ‘infiltration’, which can be applied logically to complete the task (+2 D6).
3. The player has 1 point in the attribute ‘intelligence’, which is the core attribute of ‘infiltration’, and will receive an additional die for this (+1 D6).
4. The player rolls the total of 6 D6 against the CL.

As previously mentioned, the players’ roll is successful if the number of wins is equivalent to or greater than the CL assigned to the task.

Part 2 – Actions and Conflicts

Challenge Levels come in two forms; Actions or Conflicts.

An Action is any task a player makes against something that cannot intentionally resist

A Conflict occurs when the player makes an action against something that can resist

Actions: Success and Failure

Something that is absolutely crucial in Cogent Roleplay is how success and failure can be treated. For example, most often people think of failure as Literal Failure of the task - Failing to pick a lock means… well, you failed to pick a lock. Dice rolls are most often interpreted this way, and is standard practice in many PnP RPGs.

In addition to Literal Failure, Cogent Roleplay encourages the use of something called Narrative Failure. Narrative Failure doesn’t mean that the action itself failed, rather the desired outcome.

For Example:

If a player is trying to sneak into a walled city and fails the assigned CL, a Narrative Failure might mean that they still climbed the wall (as intended), but are greeted by a guardsman at the top of the wall (… clearly not the desired outcome!). It might also mean when they crest the wall they knock off a loose stone which crashes to the ground below, making a VERY loud noise.

If the player’s roll produces only losses and no wins, this can be considered a critical fail. The narrator might have the wall fall over while the character is clinging to it, crushing the king who just so happened to be walking by on the other side in front of countless witnesses.

Narrative Failure may provide interesting avenues of storytelling, and add loads of fun. Of course sometimes Narrative Failure just doesn’t fit or a Literal Failure makes more sense. It’s the Narrator’s job to decide when to use either method.

Reflexive Actions

Situations may arise in which a player must respond reflexively to a threat, which may have the potential to harm or injure them. In these situations the Narrator will tell the player to respond in a specific way, which will vary based on the threat.

Threatening challenges like this will ascribe injury to a character based on the amount of failed dice required to succeed the CL (within context of the level of danger the task entails).

For Example:

Response to Threats:	Roll:	Result:
An ‘acrobatics’ check while falling from a dangerous height	CL of 4, the character rolls with 6 dice receiving three wins	The character missed the CL by 1 and receives a level 1 injury (see injury under combat)
A ‘survival’ roll to find food in the wilderness	CL of 3, the character rolls with 7 dice receiving 4 wins	The character successfully finds food
A ‘strength’ check to resist the effects of an ingested poison	CL of 6, the Character rolls with 7 dice and receives only 3 wins	The character missed the CL by 3 and receives a level three injury, meaning they will die unless treated in the near future

(For more on Levels of Injury, see page 31)

Conflicts

A conflict occurs when an action is taken against another character that can actively oppose it. Conflicts may arise in various forms, such as combat, arm wrestling, seduction, or sneaking up on someone. Both parties involved will be required to make a roll, applying the appropriate attribute and/or skill points (determined by the situation).

Within conflicts where all characters are considered aware and active, rolls that are tied/equal are simply re-rolled. If one of the characters within the conflict is using the perception skill (most often due to being unaware of the opponent’s actions), they are considered passive and will win in the case of a tie.

Examples of conflicts that involve multiple active opponents: Arm wrestle, combat, foot race, battle of wits, bartering with a shopkeeper etc. Examples of conflicts that involve a passive opponent: Lying to someone, sneaking up on someone, seducing, pick-pocketing etc. Most Conflicts are simple and require each character to make one roll. When conflicts take several rolls to resolve (such as in combat) the conflict is conducted in a Round by Round format (see Combat, page 30).

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.2

Active/Passive Notes

Part 1 – Identity

Tabletop Role-playing really begins for the players with Character creation. Here you must think of a character you wish to play. This could be an alternate version of yourself or someone completely different. The possibilities are endless and you’ll always be able to find a character you want to play

A real and well-rounded character can’t just be summarized into a morality archetype. A real person generally does both good things and bad things, motivated by core characteristics. This doesn’t mean that your character can’t be wholly good or wholly evil, just that a character’s actions shouldn’t be structured by the player character or Narrator around a pre-set archetype, as this will most likely produce a boring character. A wholly good character is still capable of bad things if they have a powerful enough reason or motivation to do so.

They key is being consistent to who your character is and you determine who they are at the very beginning.

A few words on: Playing as a Group

Something that’s quite important to keep in mind before you dive into making your character is the ‘party’, the other character’s your fellow players will be controlling. The Party needs to have a reason to at least stick together. They don’t necessarily have to get along; though it helps the party achieve their goals, getting along in-game isn’t necessarily more or less fun. A character that doesn’t mesh well with the other characters can actually add a lot of fun and realism in roleplay, though it needs to be handled with maturity so players don’t take offence to things the character does in game when the player is simply being true to their character. It’s only difficult to play a character that doesn’t get along with other characters when they don’t get along so much that it’s unrealistic for the characters to stay together.

As mentioned before the party needs at least a reason to stay together otherwise it defeats the purpose of the game. You can’t play as a group if one of the characters leaves the party for in-game reasons. Still if a player does this out of being true to their character, there is nothing stopping them from making a new character that can join the party soon after.

Remember that in settings with action, swords, magic, guns or lasers, Characters die. Cogent Roleplay is a game with rules - rules that are there to provide an appropriate level of challenge. Sometimes failure will simply lead to your character’s death. This can (belive it or not) be fun. Your character may even opt to go out in a blaze of glory. Of course sometime it’s not particularly fun, but if the dice decide it’s your characters time to die then there’s not much that can be done about it! We suggest you always have a second character concept ready to make a new character in case your current character dies.

When making a character, try to match the seriousness and realism of them to the setting and genre you’re playing in. Make them real, give them goals and a history. Indeed on the Cogent Roleplay Character Sheet there are several Core Characteristic requirements to be filled out:

Character disposition

Are they happy, sad, moody, funny, cautious, untrusting, stupid, smart, tactical, shy or boisterous? The list can go on and on. This doesn’t mean that they can’t be in any other mood, just that generally a person’s standard disposition is quite consistent throughout their lives. It is often wise to base these dispositions on a character's history and beliefs/morality, to build a character with depth and motive.

Character History

A good history can help shape who your character is in great ways. You don’t have to write a novel but generally the more detailed the better - of course there isn’t a lot of room on the character sheet for a detailed character history, but you may choose the write one elsewhere. A good history can make your character feel much more real which will then in turn help your role-play be more convincing, rewarding and fun.

Beliefs / Morality

It’s hard to find a person without a specific world view, with defined things that they see as good or evil. So a realistic character should also have these things. Even having no morals or belief is a morality and a belief. No matter what you chose for your character you should always answer why your characters believes the things they do and why they see things as evil and things as good. This will define your character even more

Goals / Aspirations

Everybody has goal or aspirations. They’re one way people give purpose to their lives, so what purpose does your character see for themselves? This specific characteristic will very much guide what you character will do in game. It’s recommended that you choose several long-term and short-term goals and aspirations. Following these suggestions will guide you to make a very well defined character. The next step is to define them through their statistics.

Part 2 – Character Statistics

Characters statistics in Cogent Roleplay can be broken down into two categories which determine the bonuses (or penalties) you receive when rolling against Challenge Levels encountered in the game, whether Tasks or Conflicts. These categories are:

Attributes & Skills

By default, player characters will be given 2 Attribute points and 8 skill points they may assign to their character during character creation.

Attributes

Attributes represent the physical abilities of your character. There are three:

Strength
Reflex
Intelligence

On the character sheet they look like this:

When assigning a point to an attribute or skill, simply ‘shade’ a box in with your pencil as shown above.

These three attributes cover all of the actions your player might attempt. Upon first glance it can seem like many physical abilities or qualities a person can possess are missed (most other roleplay systems have a lot more), such as stamina, constitution, speed, knowledge, charisma etc. but in Cogent, these things are incorporated into the three Attributes above. Things like constitution and stamina are covered in strength, speed in reflex, and knowledge and charisma in intelligence. There’s no need to overcomplicate it!

Each of these attributes apply to certain skill checks and to all combat rolls. From a combat perspective, one point in Intelligence and one point in Reflex have the same dice bonus as two points in strength. This is because a fast or clever opponent may very well be just as challenging as a strong one.

In addition to granting bonus dice to appropriate rolls, each attribute also gives a specific advantage unrelated to dice checks. These are:

Strength

For every point in strength the character can reduce a victory level achieved against them in combat once every combat encounter

Reflex

As combat is conducted in a round by round format, the player with the highest reflex gets priority in that round.

Intelligence

For every point in intelligence the player receives two 3 additional skill points to spend.

Think of it like this:

An average person in any setting will have the equivalent of 0 points in each. 1 point in any of these attributes equates to the character being professional or naturally gifted in that area. 2 points in any one attribute would equate to being elite or ‘world-class’ in that aspect.

For Example:

	0 Points	1 Point	2 Points
STRENTH	Average	Professional wrestler or weight lifter	Olympic level weightlifter or world champion fighter
REFLEX	Average	Race car driver or gifted acrobat	Gold-medalist gymnast or master martial artist
INTELLIGENCE	Average	High school science teacher or a con artist	Award-winning particle physicist or ‘Sherlock Holmes’ level detective

Some settings (depending on the narrator) may allow for over 2 points in one attribute. These are mostly justifiable through means of superhuman powers, genetic anomaly, magical enchantment or advanced technology.

Skills - Overview

During character creation, each character receives 8 points to spend on any combination of skills. Players may gain additional points to spend in this phase by either accepting a Disabling Characteristic (See: Disabling Characteristics, Page 16) or by assigning attribute points to Intelligence (+3 skill points per point in Intelligence). Each point represents an additional dice the character receives when making dice checks using the applicable skill.

Just like with Attributes, when assigning a point simply ‘shade’ a box in with your pencil as shown above. The tapered box on the far left is there to ‘cross out’ if you take a negative in a skill.

Although this tapered ‘negative’ box is also present in the Attributes section, players may not choose to have a negative in an attribute – it is only there in case a disabling characteristic demands a negative be applied to an attribute.

Every skill has an attribute (or attributes) it is based on. For example, the skill ‘Persuade’ is based on the Attribute ‘Intelligence’. When rolling a skill check, players must add both the skill points applicable (1D6 per skill point), as well as a dice for each point in the Attribute it is based on.

For Example, your character has 1 point in Strength and 3 points in Athletics. When they perform an athletics check they will begin with their base of 3D6, add 1D6 for their STR Attribute, and 3D6 for their Athletics skill. The result is 7D6 to roll with:

Skills checks may be attempted even if your character has no points spent on that specific skill. In this case players add the normal bonus from an associated attribute being Strength, Reflex, or Intelligence (if any) to their base 3D6 when making any dice check.

There are some actions that are solely Attribute based, such as lifting something heavy (strength) or making a mathematical calculation (Intelligence). These checks are referred to as either a Strength Check, Reflex Check, or Intelligence Check.

Skills are divided down into three categories, each of which have different base Attributes or applications. These categories are:

Core Skills

Perception, or Strength/Reflex/Intelligence Based Skills. Max 4 points per core skill. Players may take 1 ‘negative’ and apply the point to any other skill

Vocations

Skills which define a character’s class, and applies to assists (see: Assists, page 28) Max 4 points per vocation. Players may not take ‘negatives’

Proficiencies

Applicable to combat rolls and can be used to assist (see: Combat, page 30, see: Assists, page 28) Max 2 points per proficiency. Players may not take ‘negatives’

Each skill point represents an additional dice the player may to role with when making corresponding CL dice checks.

Skills - Breakdown

Core Skills

For detailed descriptions of core skills see: part 3 - skills in detail, page 19

Perception:

Unlike the other core skills, Perception rolls receive a bonus D6 for EVERY attribute point.

Whenever anything happens around the players they should get a chance to notice it, this is what the perception skill is used for. Searching, noticing things out of the corner of your eye, this all comes under perception. It is also used to counter stealth, persuasion and deception rolls made against the player.

Strength Based Skills:

Each of these skills, when applied to rolls, receive a bonus D6 per STR.

Athletics
Grapple
Swim
Aim/Throw

Reflex Based Skills:

Each of these skills, when applied to rolls, receive a bonus D6 per REF.

Acrobatics
Ride/pilot
Sleight of hand
Stealth

Intelligence Based Skills:

Each of these skills, when applied to rolls, receive a bonus D6 per INT.

Deception
Persuasion
Infiltration
Survival

Vocations

Vocation skills can only be used to assist other skill checks (see assists page 28). Essentially vocations can be seen as the character class component of Cogent Roleplay. A vocation can be many things like the classic fantasy character classes such as knight, druid, wizard, ninja, soldier or more mundane vocations like blacksmith or baker

Proficiencies

Proficiencies encompasses combat focused skills. The core skills cannot be used to attack (though they can be used to assist attacks). Each point spent on a proficiency grants +1d6, added to the character’s combat roll.

Disabling Characteristics

Playing as an ‘unstoppable fighter’ can be less satisfying than playing an average fighter who struggles to beat a strong challenge. The greater the challenge a player overcomes, the more satisfaction the achievement. This concept also applies with characteristics. Often, disabling characteristics can create a richer and more entertaining character.

Taking on such a disabling characteristic does restrict the way in how you’ll play your character in game, that’s why they are called disabling characteristics. It will make your role-play more challenging and thereby more satisfying. However, because such characteristics are restrictive, it’s only fair that the player who chooses to have one for their character receives an equivalent bonus. This bonus is also in place to encourage players to take on such characteristic who wouldn’t do so normally.

If you choose a Disabling Characteristic from the table below, or create one that the Narrator approves, you will receive one additional Skill point to spend in character creation.

Alternatively you may roll a twenty sided dice, the resulting number corresponding to the table below, and take the Disabling Characteristic associated. This cannot be taken back. If you choose to roll for a Disabling Characteristic you must keep it! It will forever be a part of that character. In doing this you will receive two additional skill points to spend.

A player may apply (or roll for) as many disabling characteristics as they want, unless the Narrator stops them past a certain point.

You don’t need to take a characteristic listed on the table provided, you’re free to make up whatever disabling characteristic you can think of, and your Narrator will decide if the characteristic you have chosen is disabling enough to receive the standard bonus given in the rules.

Disabling Characteristics should always be chosen or rolled before any points are assigned to Skills, otherwise often you may find that a disabling characteristic might utterly disqualify a skill you have chosen. For example, it’s obviously hard to use the skill deception if you have the Disabling Characteristic, ‘Can’t Lie’.

Narrators should also be aware that it is possible for the player characters to overcome many disabling through the narrative of the story. A character whose life was saved by a race which they have an extreme prejudice against might rightly have their prejudice soften or even go away.

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.3

Disabling Characteristics

Following is a list of 20 disabling characteristics a player may roll for, including detail:

*Narrator must define specifics provide definitions and examples and penalties

1. Missing a bodily extremity/limb

The obvious example is that the character could have lost their hand or foot, but this may also include another extremity such as a nose or, you know… penis.

2. Feeble (-1 to all Strength* based skills and Strength Checks)

This may mean the character is malnourished, genetically weak, or may be the result of an injury. The character is far weaker than a normal person.

3. Heavy (-1 to all Reflex* based skills and Reflex Checks)

The character may be big boned, have lots of muscle, or be excessively overweight.

4. Dim-witted (-1 to all Intelligence* based skills and Intelligence Checks)

A result from a bad head injury, or the character may simply be stupid.

5. Phobia

This is a debilitating fear that the character possesses that is to be selected by the narrator and can range from heights, to spiders or little children

6. Extreme prejudice

Race, culture, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religion. The Narrator is free to be creative, for example, making the character want to kill every person that supports a specific sports team, or hold irrational hatred to those who wear anything with ribbons.

7. Compulsive liar

This characteristic needs to be played in the right way - the player shouldn’t lie about everything to the point that it’s impossible to hold a conversation with them. Generally it would be about anything concerning their achievements or anything that would give them an advantage no matter how small, like claiming the gold coin a character found on the ground, or inventing feats of heroism while constantly trying to seduce people.

8. Kleptomaniac

Kleptomania is not necessarily the desire to steal but rather a compulsive need to have most things they see for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. Many of the items a kleptomaniac steals are useless to them and the item’s value does not weigh in on their compulsion at all, thus most items a kleptomaniac steals are worth very little.

9. Paranoia

The extreme belief that every person they meet will eventually betray them, that the government is run by an evil cult or that if they ever urinate on the grass they will become infected with a terminal disease.

10. Over-emotional (specific emotion)

Cannot control their anger, every time they see an old person they burst out into hysterics, whenever they become fearful they utterly freeze up and cannot move or the character breaks down and cries whenever anyone says the slightest thing negative about them.

11. Very Forgetful

This does not mean forgetting everything to the point that the character is an unintelligible drooling oaf. This characteristic can manifest in such ways as a character always forgetting where they are and getting lost all the time, forgetting plans, directions or instructions. They might never be able to remember the names of people, towns or countries, or they may constantly forget where they put their items.

12. Paraphilia

A paraphilia is characterized by an abnormal sexual attraction, typically involving extreme or dangerous activities, such as being sexually attracted to fire, or lamps.

13. Overconfident

(cannot spend points on an applicable skill during character creation) You are extremely overconfident in a specific skill, such as stealth, and will feel that you'll always succeed in any activity using it. You will readily resort to any method that can employ the said skill and volunteer to use it whenever the opportunity arises.

14. Incapable of Lying (specific parameters required)

This is not a blanket restriction, the character will be able to lie, but not in circumstances the narrator specifies - such as not being able to lie to a certain gender. It might also mean a character can't speak any ‘untruths’ but are still able to mislead people (like the Aes Sedai in ‘the Wheel of Time’ novels). It may also mean the character has a very prominent physical tell whenever they lie such as sneezing or farting.

15. Addiction

This is not simply a preference of a certain thing, it is a disabling addiction, something that the character has withdrawals from if the addiction isn't satisfied often. The addiction itself can include things like sex, drugs, specific foods, or even murder.

16. Delusion

Examples: having an imaginary friend, hearing voices, or honestly believing that pot plants are secretly an invading alien race.

17. Imperceptive

Cannot apply standard base 3D6 to environmental perception* rolls

18. Gullible

Cannot apply standard base 3D6 to perception* rolls VS. deception

19. Impressionable

Cannot apply standard base 3D6 to perception* rolls VS. persuasion

20. People Pleaser

Overly agreeable, ‘yes man’

* Skill point(s) cost double during character creation

Part 3 – Skills in Detail

CORE SKILLS

These are the primary common skills generally used by most people. These skills can have a max of four points spent on each of them, and a player may also take a single ‘negative’ point from one of these skills, and apply the removed point elsewhere. Core Skills cannot be added into combat rolls. The only way Core skills can aid combat rolls is through assists (see Assists, page 28).

PERCEPTION

Perceptions stands apart from other Core Skills, as it is one of the most widely used skills. It is used as the defense against deception, persuasion and stealth, and it will be common for the Narrator to require players make environmental ‘Perception Checks’ to gauge how much the characters notice regarding current happenings or places, whether obvious or subtle.

Every character is going to rely on perception in one way or another and though players can spend skill points on perception like any other skill (max being 4), perception rolls gain an additional +1D6 for any attribute points, where the other core skills each have a base attribute they are tied to (STR, REF or INT).

STRENGTH BASED SKILLS

Athletics

The Athletics skill is to be used for endurance dice checks, running speed dice checks and otherlogically applicable things like jumping

Grapple

Grapple encompasses hand strength and your ability to hold on to things, like dangling from a rope or climbing a wall. Sometimes the definition of the word Grapple can be used to refer to wrestling and martial arts, according to Cogent this definition does not apply. The grapple skill, like all skills, cannot be used in combat rolls, though it can be used to assist. Grappling in the sense of wrestling, judo, submission holds use a different skill set to the grapple skill and can be selected as a proficiency.

Swim

Applicable to feats whereupon a character desires to not sink in liquid. This may be more difficult if a character is wearing heavy clothing or resisting conflicts at the same time.

Aim/Throw

The core throwing ability is different to throwing a weapon. This skill is used to throw an object to another character in the game, throw a grappling hook over a wall successfully or drop an object onto someone else’s head. Of course the Aim/Throw skill can be used to assist thrown based weapons and likewise, thrown based combat rolls can be used to assist Aim/Throw checks.

REFLEX BASED SKILLS

Acrobatics

Dodging, performing aerobatic feats such as flips and handsprings

Ride/pilot

Riding a horse, driving a car/cart, piloting a spaceship. When the ride skill is chosen the player must choose what type of animal or craft it applies to

Sleight of hand

Picking pockets, or doing anything with your hands that you want to remain unnoticed, or which takes more ‘hand skill’ then normal tasks.

Stealth

Sneaking, hiding from others and moving with no noise

INTELLIGENCE BASED SKILLS

Deception

Deception can be used for disguise checks and anything that is meant to mislead others. An important thing to note regarding deception, is that the knowledge of the person you are trying to deceive/persuade should affect the CL of the roll. For instance trying to tell someone that you’re the queen of England, even though you’re a man, to a person who has seen the queen is mostly impossible no matter how convincing you are. In these situations, while the character may attempt such a lie, the Narrator may also apply a severe ‘negative’ to the Skill Roll, such as -4D6. The player may then proceed to roll against the opponents perception skill will the negative applied.

Persuasion

This skill can be used in very similar ways to deception. It can even assist a deception check as a deception check can assist persuasion in most circumstances. If a player attempts to persuade a PC or NPC to do something they would naturally be opposed to, the Narrator may assign negatives to the players dice roll.

Infiltration

Picking locks, hacking a computer, opening a safe, knowing likely security measures of a guarded castle or bank.

Survival

Hunting, finding food when you need it, tending to injuries.

VOCATIONS

The Vocation skill category is unique among the skills. It cannot be used to make Skill Checks, unless it’s directly associated with the skill and is not covered by another skill, such as the baking vocation to cook bread. A Vocation is essentially an ‘assist’ skill, meaning in most situations, it can only be used to make assist rolls to other skill checks or combat rolls, and only if the vocation has logical and obvious association with the skill or combat roll you are trying to assist (and is approved by the Narrator).

For example, you could pick the vocation ‘ninja’, and use this vocation skill to assist sword combat, or stealth, but you CANNOT use ‘vocation, ninja’ to make stealth checks. Vocations do not supersede other skills. Vocation skill points cannot be added into any dice check except when attempting an assist.

Examples of vocations:

• Blacksmith
• Computer Expert
• Carpenter
• Baker
• Artist
• Ninja
• Soldier
• Specific combat discipline (A specific martial art)
• Ranger
• Thief
• Barbarian
• Samurai

The player has the freedom to pick almost any vocation, but can’t pick all-encompassing metagame vocations like, ‘God’, or ‘master of everything’. It has to be a logical and pre-established Vocation fitting within the game world the Narrator has prepared.

Though the player has freedom to choose their Vocation, their choice must be approved by the Narrator, who may also clarify how the chosen Vocation works in the Narrator’s setting – for example, a ranger is quite different in modern military compared to fantasy, and in different fantasies there may be differences in seemingly traditional Classes/Vocations.

A character can have more than one Vocation and can spend a maximum of four points in each Vocation. A player may not assign Vocation ‘negatives’ unless the Narrator says otherwise.

PROFICIENCIES - COMBAT

The proficiency skill category encompasses combat applicable skills. The core skills cannot be used to attack (though they can be used to assist attacks). Each point spent on a proficiency grants +1d6, which is added to the character’s combat roll.

Proficiencies are more specialized and rare than Core Skills. Because of this, and to keep combat balanced, Each proficiency can have a maximum of 2 points (this is in contrast to general skills and vocations which each can have maximum 4).

Proficiencies accommodate things like supernatural abilities (magic or superpowers). If there is to be magic within a campaign setting, a player may need to specify a sub-type of magic as a Proficiency Skill by spending points on it to be able to use it in game (see example magic system, page 52).

Proficiencies are added to the base 3D6 in combat rolls. In non-combat CL Tasks (such as Skill Checks) a character’s proficiency may be used in an ‘assist’ roll if it can logically be justified. A character can have more than one Proficiency, and cannot have Proficiency ‘negatives’.

PROFICIENCIES - WEAPON

Players may assign their character a ‘Weapon Proficiency’, such as ‘Weapon Proficiency, Longbow’. Weapon proficiencies may vary depending on the setting. Please remember that the Narrator has freedom to define how any proficiency works within their setting.

Weapons are divided into sizes and categories. These are further explained in the chapter, ‘Combat’ (see Combat, page 30). Shown below are the various Weapon Proficiency categories accompanied by examples of applicable weapons from various world settings:

Thrown weapon

Throwing dagger, shuriken

Flex ranged

Bows, crossbows

Small handed weapons

Dagger, shorsword.

Small hafted weapons

Small axe, crowbar, pick, kama

Medium long hafted

These are one handed weapons that carry a top heavy implement on the end of a haft or shaft such as a one handed, axe, mace or warhammer

Large long hafted

These are two handed weapons that carry a top heavy implement on the end of a haft or shaft such as a two handed, axe, mace or warhammer

Medium swords

These are the one handed swords such as Arming-sword, sidesword, broadsword, onehanded falchion, messer, one-handed scimitar or wakizashi

Large swords

These are the two-handed sword such as Longsword, katana, two-handed falchion, two handed scimitar or kriegsmesser

Reach Polearms

These are long two handed weapons with reach such as the spear, halberd, poleax or greatsword (historically a Greatsword is more like a polearm than a sword)

Hand ballistic

Handgun or Uzi

Shoulder stocked ballistic

Rifle or Shotgun

Heavy ballistic

Bazooka, heavy machine gun or minigun

Unarmed

Unarmed martial arts or fist like weapons such as brass knuckles and punch daggers.

(Please note that the weapons that are given as examples in each proficiency category are simply examples. Players or Narrators may very well invent variations of these weapon types.)

PROFICIENCIES - METAHUMAN (MAGIC AND SUPERPOWERS)

The proficiency skill category is also to be used for supernatural, or metahuman abilities if the setting you’re playing in has any. (For the sake of simplicity, from this point onward any type of magic, superpower or sci-fi enhancement will simply be referred to as ‘magic’, and when referred to, it applies also to all supernatural abilities that could be added into any setting).

The Narrator will assign a proficiency skill for each specific magic type that exists in the setting.

The following must be considered when a Narrator decides how the magic works in the setting:

• Can anyone attempt to perform a spell even without the specific proficiency skill in the same way anyone can pick up a sword and try to use it? Remember that in both cases with the sword and magic, having no proficiency with them would result in many failed rolls. Can only people with at least 1 proficiency point in the magic use it?
• Do you want magic to be more powerful than normal weapon skills, or have it balanced? *
• How encompassing do you want the magic to be? Is there a single magic proficiency or is it broken down into categories such as earth, air, fire and water, or Sorcery, Wizardry, Witchcraft, druidism, Necromancy and Holy?
• Is there a limit to the magic’s use? Can a player only cast a certain amount of spells a day or per combat encounter?

In the chapter: supplementary Content, we have provided an example magic system that can be used or adapted into various settings - or used as a model on which you may craft your own (see Example Magic System, page 52).

Part 4 – Destiny Points

In Cogent we want you to create a character that feels real, has motives, desires, goals, flaws quirks and opinions. We feel that the more in depth your character is, the more you will be drawn into the game you are playing. As a type of reward system to encourage this, Cogent Roleplay implements what we call Destiny points.

A Destiny Point is an infinitely useful and valuable thing to players. A Destiny point can be spent to add an additional win to any dice roll you make in the game, thereby tipping the balance in your favor. More than one destiny point can be spent at a time to add more than one win to a dice roll.

Every character starts a campaign with three destiny points (unless the Narrator says otherwise).

Destiny points are throughout gameplay to players when they do something significantly in character, true to who their character is, and likewise destiny points are to be deducted when a player does something very contrary to the character they are supposed to be playing, as outlined in their character description. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember to a lot these points regularly, therefore we recommend using landmark moments such as the end of a difficult quest or regrouping after a lengthy assault, to assign destiny points to players based on their efforts for playing their characters pro-actively and with integrity

Part 5 – Commerce Points

The commerce point system is optional and the Narrator can choose to use it or resort to a traditional numeric method (Keeping track of the number of dollars or gold coins a player has earned or spent). The Commerce point system provides an easier way to govern the commerce of your games without the need to constantly calculate purchases and total currency amounts.

Below is an item value system that ranges from 1 to 8 that is to be used by the narrator to help calculate the value of any given item in the game.

Item Value (these values are suggestions, as narrative settings and their values will vary)

1. – A meal, simple pants, bottle of rum, night at an inn, a video game, rope/camping gear
2. – An extravagant night out, an adequate weapon, common livestock, shack
3. – A well-crafted weapon, a basic horse/car/vehicle, average armor, a small building
4. – A very fancy horse/vehicle, home, extravagant weapon, full plate armor, bodyguards
5. – A mansion, yacht, jet, estate, small army, established business, patent of nobility, small starship, weapon of mass destruction
6. – A castle/skyscraper, enterprise level company, large army, a town, carrier starship
7. – Metropolis, armada, small country
8. – Kingdom, nation, established planet (sci-fi)

At the beginning of the game the narrator will assign the players a number of commerce points based on their background (a beggar who grew up on the streets would have a lot less money than a knight from a noble family) and then throughout the game the players may receive additional points when they do an action that would gain them more money, or lose commerce points when making purchases.

Commerce points and associated Levels of Affluence

1. – Pauper/Homeless
2. – Commoner
3. – Tradesperson/craftsman
4. – Well off, higher income
5. Wealthy, successful merchant
6. – Rich, CEO
7. – Magnate/Tycoon, Captain of Industry
8. (max) – Owns a powerful nation

Players can purchase any item that has a value score equivalent to, or less than, their total commerce points. Purchasing an item/service with value equivalent to your current level of commerce points will subtract/cost 2 commerce points from your total pool.

Purchasing an item/service with value equivalent to 1 point less than your current level of commerce points will subtract/cost 1 commerce point from your total pool.

Purchasing an item/service with value equivalent to 2 points under or less than your current level of commerce points will not remove any points from your total pool – unless purchased in large quantities or regularly.

This ratio of cost for the specified item values is present because commerce points go up exponentially in value. If item values need to be compared to one another, for a general guide their values can be thought of as 1 of 10 going up, or 10 of 1 going down. EG: 10 cars (each with an item value of ‘4’) might equate to the value of a single house (item value 5). This is an example, but we recommend players use this mechanic as a guide rather than a means of precise valuation.

This means that the third commerce point is essentially worth ten level two commerce points and the fifth commerce point is worth one hundred level three. The narrator needs to take this into account when awarding commerce points as going from 2 to 3 commerce points is infinitely more easy then going from 5 to 6.

Players will gain commerce points throughout gameplay which will be assigned by the narrator as reward for quests (as the narrative dictates) either through the flow of narrative (finding treasure) or roleplay (selling loot to shopkeepers).

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.4

Commerce Scale

SUGGESTION FOR SELLING/BARTERING

The item value when reselling to a vendor should may considered one point below its suggested/original level of affluence value.

To help make the experience of buying/selling dynamic for players, a narrator might consider allowing the cost of a desired item to ‘drop’ by one level of value, if they succeed a ‘persuasion’ or ‘deception’ check vs. a vendor. Likewise, the item may also become more difficult to obtain if such a dice check is failed.

A narrator may also decide to allow the players to use their destiny points in making purchases more attainable, if this can be justified through narrative in a satisfying way. That being said, keep in mind that destiny points scale at a level of 1:1, while commerce points scale at a ratio closer to 1:10, therefore a narrator may decide it may cost a single destiny point for a level 3 item to be lowered to a cost of 2 commerce points to a player, but it might cost 2-3 destiny points to bring down the cost of an item valued at level 5-6.

Part 1 – Roleplay

Player/Narrator Negotiation

Cogent is a flexible system with purposeful provision for interpretation and adaptability. We’re not going to spell every single thing out for you (like specifying each and every circumstance where a specific skill can be used to assists another skill, or spelling out every possible vocation you’re allowed to pick). If we did this we feel it would make the game system restrictive and complex, which would result in a worse game by the end.

You’re smart and we trust you to see ways in which certain aspects of Cogent can benefit your character, in things such as skill interaction, assists and combat modifiers.

However, because every person is an individual, they’ll very likely see different ways certain things in the game can be interpreted and thereby how they feel it should affect the gameplay. This is wonderful and we encourage every player and narrator to do explore their creative ideas as it enriches and enhances the gaming experience.

In these situation it becomes important to familiarize yourself with the process of friendly player/narrator negotiation. If you as a player honestly feel that your character should receive a bonus, such as an additional dice to roll with, because of some kinds of in-game circumstance, you should feel free to suggest this to the narrator. Narrators shouldn’t feel defensive if a player makes such suggestions - this is a great thing and shows how engaged your players are in your game. Try to give fare consideration to every suggestion or request a player puts forward. We’re not saying you have to agree to everything, only to give honest consideration to such suggestions, and explain why you disagree if you do.

Players, if the narrator disagrees with you, once you have presented your argument, it is then your responsibility to accept the Narrators decision and don’t argue further! That’s when the roleplay experience gets much more frustrating, so if you feel the Narrator is giving you ‘lemons’, just try and make ‘lemonade’.

The Narrator shouldn’t hold your hand, be creative to survive Even in the most hopeless situations, clever thinking can achieve a great deal. Don’t just rely on your character statistics to win conflicts in your game. Remember you are creating a story with your friends, so approach everything in the game in a narrative way. Don’t just say “I attack”, describe how you are attacking, think outside the box every once-in-a-while, and a good Narrator will reward clever role-playing.

Roleplay can progress the game as much as combat (negotiation, lying, buying etc) An entire role-play session can be very rewarding even if a single combat dice isn’t rolled. The main element in a role playing game is the role-playing, not the combat, so don’t expect to fight every time you play. There are plenty of other challenges and dice rolls that will need to be done outside of combat and never think that combat is the only way to get out of sticky situations. Remember the key is to do what your character would do, so if your character would resolve most conflicts through combat, then go right ahead, but there are many other character types to play other than battle focused adventurers, and they can be just as enjoyable.

Part 2 – Assists

Core Skills, Proficiencies and Vocations can all be used to perform assist rolls. An assist roll is a role players can make to (potentially) gain additional dice to aid their primary action/objective. Assist rolls are made before the action which the player wishes to receive the assist. Assists may be applied to any logically applicable roll – and the player must first ask the Narrator if the assist roll is appropriate.

If the player is in a position where a skill they possess would logically assist or grant an advantage to another skill or combat roll (whether their own or another player’s) the Narrator can assign a CL based on the difficulty of the assist.

If the assist check was successful, additional wins are added to the result of the skill or combat roll the player has assisted - equivalent to the amount of wins achieved OVER the Assist CL in the assist check

Each player can only attempt 1 assist each round. This means that if a player has 2 skill that could logically assist another skill check or combat roll they must choose between those 2 skills.

The amount of wins or losses gained from an assist can never be greater than the challenge level of the assist. For instance you can only ever receive an additional 3 wins or losses to a skill or attack that you’re trying to assist if the assist check had was CL 3. Likewise an assist check with a CL of 4 will add a cap at max 4 wins or losses depending on the outcome of the assist check.

The CL of assists are never lower than CL 3 and the Narrator will determine if the CL is higher depending on situation and what the player is attempting.

You cannot assist another player when already doing something complex. For example, you cannot assist a friend fight an enemy while you are trying to pick a lock (though you could still assist yourself in picking the lock if you have an applicable skill).

When logically applicable, combat rolls can actually be used to assist general attribute checks or skill checks.

This type of assist from a combat roll can be done with many different combat types (proficiencies) if logically applicable, such as other weapon proficiencies and magic based proficiencies.

Within Cogent Roleplay, we don’t outline every applicable situation where a given skill can be used. It’s up to the players and Narrator to negotiate how these skills can be logically applied to different circumstances.

Having said this, if you are acting as the Narrator you will find that players will try for some very thin connections between a given skill they possess and the situation they are in to attempt a skill check or a possible assist. The players must feel free to express their logic to the Narrator and the Narrator should listen to all requests fairly – cooperative negotiation is something that the players and narrator should engage in as it helps the narrative reach new creative levels – but in the end it will be the narrator’s call and the players must accept what the Narrator decides.

Part 1 – Combat Fundamentals

COMBAT ROLLS

When a character’s life is on the line, every asset they possess is brought to bear in order to win. Thus every attribute; strength reflex and intelligence, can be added to the combat roll.

Combat Rolls are calculated by adding:

• Base 3D6
• + All attribute points (STR/REF/INT)
• +1D6 for each point in any Combat Applicable Proficiency
  (Relevant to what the character is wielding or doing)
• + Any applicable weapon bonus

For Example:

Sir Terrik the knight has challenged another knight to a duel. Terrik’s combat roll is calculated thus:

• base of 3D6, plus +1D6 from STR and +1D6 from INT
• 2D6 from his two skill points invested in a Medium Sword Proficiency (which can be applied as he is wielding a medium sword)
• +1D6 from his arming sword (the bonus for a medium weapon)

His total Combat Roll is 8D6.

VICTORY LEVELS

A successful combat roll results in a level of victory against your opponent(s). Your combat roll stands as both an attack and defense. It represents your character’s overall combative performance for that round, and not necessarily a single ‘swing’ of their weapon.

Each character’s combat roll is compared to that of the charterer(s) or non-player character(s) they oppose. Every win a character has over another’s roll, means a level of victory, from which they may choose an outcome:

Level 1 victory

• Minor Injury, opponent receives – 1D6 to all physical based dice checks but will naturally heal over the next few days, or faster if treated actively. This can be negated by strength or armor.
• Stagger (-2D6 for one round)
• Enter into close combat (not available to ranged combat rolls)

Level 2 victory

• Medium injury – 2D6 to all physical based dice checks and must be treated relatively soon, otherwise further penalties may apply (infection etc). This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
• Disarm
• Any lower outcome

Level 3 victory

• Serious injury – 3d to all physical based dice checks and the character will die in time if the wound is untreated. This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
• Trip
• Any lower outcome

Level 4 victory

• Fatal injury – 4d to all physical based dice checks, incapacitated, and will die very soon if untreated. This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
• Dismember arm or leg, which also gives a serious injury to the opponent. (not available to ranged combat rolls unless magic or explosive projectiles are involved)
• Any lower outcome

Level 5 victory and higher

• Death blow. An instant kill unless the character has a high strength or is wearing armor and uses them to reduce either the level of victory or injury.
• Any lower outcome

Injury levels do not stack in fatality but do stack in dice penalty - meaning two medium injuries do not equate to a fatal injury where the character will die immediately if untreated, but the character does receive -2D6 to all physical dice checks TWICE, meaning they will have -4D6 in total.

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.5

Disabling Characteristics Victory Levels

FIGHTING GROUPS

As mentioned, a character’s combat roll stands as both offence defense. If a character is acting offensively against several opponents at once, in one round they are able to engage against the equivalent to half their total combat roll, rounded down. This can mean that larger weapons (which grant a greater bonus to combat rolls) make it easier to defend against, or attack and hit, multiple opponents.

Ranged weapons usually cannot achieve victories against more than one opponent per round (this is dependent on setting and allowances from the Narrator, for example; a fully automatic machine gun can hit multiple opponents in a single round, see Hardcore Ranged Rules, page 49). However, a ranged combat roll still stands as a defense against more than one incoming attack; indeed any character can defend against a number of opponents in a single round.

For Example:

Sir Terrik is fighting two goblins. Terrik has a combat roll of 8D6. This also means that Terrik is capable of defending against, and achieving victories against, a maximum of 4 adjacent opponents in a single round.

The two goblins he has engaged each have combat rolls of 7D6 (base 3D6, +2D6 REF, +1D6 from medium swords proficiency and +1D6 from their medium weapons).

One of the goblins rolls 4 wins and the other rolls 5 wins.

Terrik rolls 4 wins.

This means that he matched one of the goblin’s rolls but was beaten by the other. The Goblin chooses to inflict a minor injury with its level 1 victory against Terrick.

The next round Terrick rolls 6 wins with his recalculated combat roll (a total of 7D6, due to his injury inflicting -1D6), and the goblins each roll 3 wins.

Terrik achieves a level three victory against both goblins and he chooses to inflict a serious injury to each.

As a serious injury will kill a character if not treated in the near future, the goblins retreat leaving a trail of blood.

DEFENSE ROLLS

A Defense Roll is a variant of the Combat Roll. It is used when a character is either in a position where they cannot perform any type of Combat Maneuver to their opponent (E.g. too far away from an opponent using a ranged weapon against them while only armed with a melee weapon), or they want a greater chance to survive as their standard Combat Roll is too low (fleeing after receiving an injury).

A Defense Roll is calculated in the same way as the Combat Roll but adds an additional +2D6 to roll with. No matter the result of the Defense Roll, the character cannot achieve a level of victory because the character was purely focused on protecting themselves, and not on attacking

COMBAT ACTIONS

Combat is run in a Round by Round format. Each character can perform 1 action within a round (usually a combat roll) with liberties in regard to the narrative flow of the game. For instance it doesn’t take an action to shout out something to another character while fighting a monster, though it would take a round to explain something complicated.

Narrator mustn’t time a player’s dialogue to make sure it falls within restrictive timing. Remember narrative flow will make things run far smoother if you are a little relaxed in regard to things like this, while still having limits - you wouldn’t want to let a player pass on huge amounts of information in a single round, in the middle of a battlefield. In those cases you might say something like, “it will take several rounds to explain everything you want”.

Round by Round combat isn’t played using any grids, timers, boards or miniatures, though sometimes a rough map or drawing of a room or location may help. There isn’t a strict distance characters can move within a round, this is left up to Narrator’s and player’s own reasoning. A player with higher agility, strength and athletics skill would be able to run faster and farther than another player with less, and it doesn’t take that much thought to figure out how far a person can run within a round.

Actions in combat rounds are not solely movements and attacks. A combat action can really be anything a person could do within a few seconds, such as turning over a table, swinging from a chandelier, or dropping a boulder onto an enemy. The Narrative flow you develop while playing will guide you in what the players can do in game, and how long it will take to do it.

ROUND ORDER

Every action within Round by Round conflicts happen almost at the same time or in direct succession of one another. This means that one character’s action is NOT explicitly followed by another character’s action. It should be considered as everything happening together.

To make sense of this potential ‘chaos’, there is a declaration phase and a performance phase.

Declaration phase

The Character with lowest reflex declares what they are doing first. That might seem odd as you could think characters with higher reflex should get to move first – but this is the declaration phase - no one is moving yet. If two Characters have the same agility, they each roll 1D6, where the highest resulting roll gets to declare later for the rest of the combat encounter.

Players who declare LATER hold an ADVANTAGE in combat.

Once a player has declared what they are going to perform, they cannot change their mind. They are locked into performing that action in this round. The players who declare after another can chose an action that counters or complements the declared action of another character.

This means that characters with highest Reflex can see or react to what their opponents are going to do.

For Example:

Leon, a player character, is dueling Dartane, a non-player character. It’s a new combat round and Dartain has a lower Reflex than Leon so he must declare his action first.

Dartain declares that he intends to jump on top of a table to get a height advantage against Leon, ready for his attack. Leon, knowing Dartain’s intent declares that he wishes to knock the table over whilst Dartain jumps on top of it.

Performance phase

Once all characters have declared their action, they make their rolls. Though things mostly happen simultaneously within the round, it’s sometimes important to know which blade landed before another, or who managed to perform their action a little bit faster than another. In these situations, the character with higher reflex will always win.

For Example:

The Narrator decides that it will be a standard combat action for Leon to knock over the table but Leon won’t receive his weapon bonus for this action as he is using a rapier which isn’t suited for knocking over tables (if Leon was using something heavy like a greataxe, it could be used to smash down on the side of the table to knock it over and the weapon bonus might be appropriate).

Leon’s roll is a base of 3D6, +2D6 for his points in Reflex, making 5 dice to roll with in total.

The player controlling Leon asks the narrator if he can apply his acrobatics skill. The narrator agrees, giving Leon a further +2D6 (7D6 total).

Leon rolls his 7 dice, resulting in 4 wins. These 4 wins become the CL his opponent, Dartain, must match in order to succeed his declared action and remain on his feet.

The Narrator instructs Dartain to make an acrobatics check to jump on the table. Under normal circumstances (un-opposed) this would have been easy, requiring a CL of 1, but now Dartain must make an acrobatics check against CL 4, quite difficult for a skill check.

If Dartain succeeds his action, he will have an advantage in the next round of combat (higher ground), and If he fails, he will have a disadvantage (staggered, or prone, depending on the roll, see Combat Modifies, Page 38).

Where ‘declaration’ happens in reverse (slowest players declare first), during ‘performance’, the order is reversed, players with the fastest Reflex in that encounter acting out their intentions first.

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.6

Disabling Characteristics Combat Priority Guide

MELEE VS. RANGED

The advantage with melee is that your single offensive combat roll can inflict injury to several opponents that did not match your combat roll.

The advantage with ranged fighting, is that no combat maneuver can be performed against you so long as your opponent it not is adjacent to you. Melee combatants, no matter how high their combat roll, cannot inflict injury unless they are close enough. One common disadvantage with many ranged weapons however, is that no matter how high your combat roll, you can only inflict injury to one opponent each round.

ARMOR

Armor can be used to reduce injury level (not victory level, which only Strength can reduce). Wearing lots of armor will also add weight which negatively affects a player’s combat roll.

Armor levels are set by the type of armor the character is wearing, described below. In the case of shields, the armor rating stacks with worn armor. A character wearing full plate (4 armor) and using a shield (2 armor) will have an armor rating of 6. This is the highest armor rating in the game, but will also remove -3D6 from their combat roll.

PLEASE NOTE: Injury reduction from armor is not applicable while in Close Combat

(See Combat Modifiers, page 38)

Armor level 1

Leather armor Gambeson (padded) Chain shirt (hauberk)

Armor level 2

(-1d to combat roll) Breastplate Full Chainmail Shield

Armor level 4

(-2d to combat roll) Full plate armor

A character can reduce injury levels by the equivalent amount of levels they have in armor, per combat encounter. When another fight begins (another combat encounter) the character’s pre-set injury reduction from their armor level is reset.

For Example:

Victoria is a noble knight and is attacked unawares by a backstabbing rogue.

The rogue achieves a level 3 victory and chooses to inflict a serious injury. Victoria is wearing full plate armor and can reduce up to 4 points of injury throughout this conflict.

Reducing this serious injury by 3 points times will negate it; one to reduce it to a medium injury, a second to reduce it further to a minor injury, and another to remove the injury entirely.

Victoria chooses to do so, which will leave her one last injury reduction from her armor for that combat encounter, but enable to fight without such a disadvantage. She will however, be fighting with -2D6 to her combat roll due to her heavy armor.

When achieving a victory in combat you can choose to inflict an injury - but if your opponent is wearing armor choosing to inflict an injury will be more easily countered through their injury reduction. However, other actions chosen through a victory, such as staggering, disarming or tripping an armored opponent, cannot be negated with armor, see Combat Modifies, Page 38).

For a more sophisticated approach to the armor rules within Cogent Roleplay, please see Chapter 6: Hardcore Combat

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.7

Disabling Characteristics Armor Guide

WEAPON MODIFIERS

Each weapon inherently provides advantages over other weapons. The following is a guide and can be altered as the Narrator sees fit.

Ranged (bows, crossbows etc.)

+2D6 weapon bonus at range -3D6 in melee combat

Unarmed

-1D6 unless wearing some type of hand protection such a bracers or gauntlets, in which case there is no change in dice.

Disarming Bonus

• Can be used in close combat and receives bonus in disarming actions. A player must be in close combat to disarm another player while being unarmed.
• Once in close combat, if declaring to attempt a disarm, the player receives +4D6 to their combat roll, but the roll cannot be used to inflict any other injury victory (this mean they cannot delegate their attack to inflict an injury or execute a trip regardless of how high the attack roll is).

Small weapons (Daggers, Hatchets, Shortsword etc.)

No change in dice, but can be used in close combat

Medium weapons (Arming sword, Battle axe, Warhammer etc.)

+1D6 weapon bonus

Large weapons (Longsword, two-handed axe, short poleaxe etc.)

+2D6 weapon bonus

Reach weapons (spear, Halberd, Greatsword, long poleaxe etc.)

+3D6 weapon bonus

Reach is a significant advantage in combat, and is reflected in the higher weapon bonuses - but the Narrator is free to negate all dice bonuses if they feel the reach weapon would not work as effectively due to narrow confines such as an alleyway or hallway.

• Medium weapons and smaller can be used to enter into close combat against any character using reach weapons (see close combat under combat modifiers).

Hand ballistic (Handguns, hand SMGs etc.)

+2D6 weapon bonus at range -3D6 in melee combat

Shoulder stocked ballistic (Rifles, shoulder stocked SMGs, fully automatic rifles etc.)

+4D6 weapon bonus at medium range -4D6 in melee combat

Heavy ballistic (Bazookas, heavy machine guns, miniguns etc.)

+6D6 weapon bonus at range Cannot be used in melee combat

For a more sophisticated approach to the weapon modifiers and ranged combat rules within Cogent Roleplay, please see chapter six: Hardcore rules

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.8

Disabling Characteristics Weapon Modifiers

Part 2 – Circumstantial Variants

COMBAT MODIFIERS

There are many circumstances in combat where a player would logically receive either a bonus or penalty to their combat roll. Below are some examples of standard combat modifiers and if a player feels they should receive a bonus that is not covered by the following suggestions they are free to request the bonus from Narrator and the Narrator will make the final choice. Likewise the Narrator is free to impose a penalty not covered in the following examples if they feel it is applicable.

Dual wielding

Dual wielding does not give an additional combat roll in a round. What it does is grant an additional dice bonus depending on the weight of the second weapon being used. To duel wield the character must have at least one proficiency point in both of the weapons being used to receive any bonus.

Small secondary weapon

+2D6 to all combat rolls

Medium secondary weapon

+1D6 to all combat rolls

PLEASE NOTE: If you are dual wielding, your combat roll is made up using the proficiency and/or weapon bonus of your primary weapon, NOT any proficiencies or weapon bonuses for BOTH weapons.

For Example:

Kelvin wields a Rapier and a Dagger. His attack role is made up as such:

• base of 3D6, plus +1D6 from INT and +1D6 from REF
• 2D6 from his two skill points invested in a Medium Sword Proficiency
• +1D6 from his rapier weapon bonus (the bonus for a medium weapon)
• +2D6 for the dagger he is also wielding (this bonus can ONLY be added because Kelvin has at least one point in the Small Weapon proficiency)

If Kelvin were to be disarmed from his primary weapon in combat, he will lose any dual wielding bonus, and must revert to the dagger as his primary weapon until his rapier is recovered.

Close Combat

‘Close combat’ means the fight is so close in physical proximity that the character’s bodies are pressed up against each other in a grapple or wrestle. Being in close combat negates the use of larger weapons and thus the weapon bonuses of any weapon, medium and larger, are lost when in close combat.

In this scenario, a character using a medium (or larger) weapon is considered ‘unarmed’ and as such will receive any applicable penalties.

Entering into close combat is a maneuver which minimally requires victory level 1.

Injury reduction from armor is not applicable while in close combat.

Additionally, you can use a medium weapon in close combat if your opponent is using a reach weapon.

Circumstantial modifiers

High ground = +2D6

Bonus received through achieving a height advantage against an opponent, IE standing on a table, riding on a mount etc.

Flank = +2D6

Bonus received when attacking an opponent actively engaged in something else, IE attacking another character, picking a lock, etc.

Staggered = -2D6 (one round)

Penalty received if the opponent selects to stagger through a victory level, or if the Narrator applies it, IE sand is thrown in a character face, or they slip on oil, etc.

Off guard = CL in lieu of defense roll, CL determined by Narrator

IE, attacking a soldier from behind may require a successful ‘Stealth’ check, then the attack (which they cannot defend against) will be a CL assigned by the Narrator, which the player will roll against with a normal combat roll (without a flanking bonus). Any wins achieved over the CL counts towards the level of victory. Failing the CL commences the next round of combat, where the opponent is then engaged.

Lying down / Prone = -4D6

Penalty lasts for one round or until the character readies themselves, unless they are incapacitated/sleeping. In combat, the penalty counts as taking place during the action of getting up while defending.

Unequal equipment = how unequal the difference

In combat or out of combat, the task will be much more difficult if the character is not equipped to do so. Picking a lock is much more difficult without lock picks but not impossible. A master lock picker might be able to improvise. Killing a person with a stick is much harder than with a sword. If a character is attempting to perform a task without the appropriate tool, the Narrator assigns an appropriate bonus or penalty to the player, which they must apply when rolling against the CL or when in combat.

Distance = -dice based on excessive distance according to the weapon being used

A thrown axe will receive greater penalties at distance then a longbow

Charge = +1D6

If there is enough distance between the character and opponent, they may ‘charge’, adding momentum to their attack.

Brace = +2 wins to a combat roll against a Charge

A brace is a move purely to counter a charge and can only be done if they have fast enough reflex, or a full round before the charge to prepare. A character with a higher reflex will be able to declare their action after a player who declares their charge. Bracing uses the opponent’s charge momentum against them, enabling a prepared defender to more easily stagger, trip or injure the charging opponent.

For Example:

A troll charged Marcus with a combat roll of 6D6, +1D6 for the charge. Marcus, being aware of this due to his higher Reflex, will brace against the attack with his combat roll of 7D6.

The troll rolls a total of 4 wins, and Marcus rolls a total of 3 wins, +2 additional wins due to his high reflex allowing him to brace against the charge. If he were slower to react, Marcus may have been injured in the charge, but due to bracing he is now able to either stagger or injure his opponent.

PLEASE NOTE: You may further reinforce your ‘brace’ by making the entire action ‘defense’, gaining a further +2D6, however no victory levels can be achieved in doing so

Incapacitated

If a character is incapacitated, they are held in place, tied up, or unconscious and therefore cannot fight back or defend themselves. Armor levels are disregarded and the CL a character must exceed to obtain ANY victory level against them is 1.

SEE CHEAT SHEET REFERENCE: CHSH.9

Disabling Characteristics Combat Modifiers

Ranged weapons vs melee

Guns and bows are meant to be used at range and don’t perform well in melee combat. If a character using melee weapons wants to engage in combat against an opponent using ranged, the character with the ranged weapon will incur the standard penalty as described in weapon modifiers, but not right away. The character using the melee weapon must close the distance and the narrator will determine how many rounds this will take (it might not take any rounds if the character is close enough).

In the first round where the Melee combatant gets to attack, the ranged combatant might still not receive the ascribed penalty, if they have higher reflex.

If the melee combatant has higher reflex and is close enough they can close the distance to a combatant using a ranged weapon before they can fire. In this instance the ranged combatant received the appropriate penalty for using ranged weapons in melee combat. Also the combatant using the ranged weapon can only injure the melee combatant attacking them if they declared that they were aiming for that combatant in the declaration phase (they might have been aiming for another person), for ranged weapons can only achieve victories against one opponent in a round.

If ranged combatant was aiming for someone else, their attack can still hit whoever they were aiming for with no reduction to their roll, but when comparing their roll against anyone attacking them in melee combat, their combat roll is reduced by the weapon type.

Fighting Groups

Defense Rolls

Part 3 – Chases

Chases are far more common than you might think. Just watch any action movie and see if there’s a chase scene (there usually is).

In Cogent, chases begin by the Narrator setting a distance level out of 3 categories to the characters in the chase, those being a close distance, medium distance, or long distance.

At a Close Distance, the characters engaged in the chase are relatively near each other, but not near enough to engage in combat without ranged weapons. Narrators must keep ‘relativity’ in mind when deciding on a level of distance - a Close Distance in a car chase might be considered far away for a chase on foot.

When on foot, the characters use the athletics skill to make chase rolls.

When using a vehicle (including mounts) the characters use their ride/pilot skill.

From the initial distance set by the narrator, the players roll against each other using the applicable skill (athletics or ride/pilot). Please note that other skills, vocations and proficiencies can be used to assist the chase role, such as using acrobatics to jump and weave through obstacles to lose your pursuer.

If the pursuer wins the chase roll, the distance between the characters is reduced. If a pursuer wins the chase roll against the target in a close distance, the pursuer ‘catches’ those trying to flee.

If the characters trying to flee win the chase roll, the distance between them and their pursuers increases until a successful roll at a long distance, whereupon the characters have successfully fled.

When the distance is closed, the target trying to flee were literally stopped, IE their horse can be tripped over, dismounting the target, or their car was run into a tree or wall, damaged so it no longer functions – or they ran into a corner with no easy escape or they were tripped up and are now prone.

The level or severity in how the characters were stopped will depend on how severely they failed the final chase roll. The narrator might even use a destiny roll to determine how bad.

Narrators should use chase scenes as an opportunity to bring excitement to the narrative. Be careful not to let chase scenes become a simple turn-by-turn scenario of “you get closer” or “you get farther away”. Instead, describe the obstacles, and make it difficult and exciting.

Part 1 – Example Magic System

Please note that even though this system is, as of yet, unfinished, it can still be used as the system works off a CL basis. All the player has to do is describe what they wish to do with their spell and the narrator will decide if the spell applies to the action the player is requesting to perform, and then set the CL they must match in order to cast it.

This simple pre-built magic system is meant to demonstrate how magic can be incorporated into the Cogent System. It is made to reflect classic fantasy and can be used in you settings or used as an example for one that you make for yourself.

We do recommend that you at least use the individual spells as models for other superpowers or magic systems that you might want to incorporate. For instance the rules and CLs for the Telepathy spell as outlined below works perfectly for a superheroes’ telepathy superpower. Feel free to take and rename what you wish.

Example Classic Fantasy Magic system

Each spell is an individual proficiency that a player can spend up to two skill points in. They are decently versatile and there’s no limit to the amount of times they can be used.

Each spell falls into one or more of the schools or disciplines of magic (wizardry, sorcery, etc) and a player must select a school before they choose any spells to know. It does not cost anything to choose a school of magic but once a school is chosen the player can only select spells from that specific school. This is because each school of magic draws its power from different sources (really it’s for additional game balance and to remain true to the classic fantasy tropes).

Of course if the narrator feels that a specific skill fits more with a different school of magic they are more than free to mix and match as they see fit.

The player can choose how to use the spell so long as it falls within the spells guidelines and the Narrator will assign a CL (based on the standard Challenge Level difficulties, 1 common task, 2 uncommon, 3 specialized, etc.) that must be matched for the spell to be cast. This means there’s an element of failure in using magic. Failure according to this magic system never means the spell was not cast, it means the spell was miscast, meaning something other than what the player wanted to happen occurred. The level of failure from the CL will ascribe how great a miscast it was and the narrator will fill in the rest.

Sorcery spells (proficiencies)

Pyromancy

This spell creates and controls fire. It can be used in all the varied and versatile ways that fire can.

This spell can also be used offensively as a base combat roll. The amount of fire that the sorcerer wants to create will determine the CL, set by the Narrator.

Can summon elementals according to the summoning CL table below. Please note that the amount of wins exceeding the CL will determine how long the elemental will remain in the physical plane.

• Matching the CL= three rounds
• +1 over the CL= ten rounds
• +2 over the CL = One hour
• +3 over the CL = six hours
• +4 over the CL = a day
• +5 over the CL = Will say with the Sorcerer until dismissed

Rolling under the CL will cause the elemental to attack the sorcerer and it will remain in the world for the equivalent amount of losses under the CL as wins over the CL determines.

Challenge Level	Elemental Strength	Combat Roll
CL 1	Little sprite	3d6 combat roll
CL 2	Sprite	4d6 combat roll
CL 3	Greater sprite	5d6 combat roll
CL 4	Lesser Elemental	7d6 combat roll
CL 5	True Elemental	8d6 combat roll
CL 6	Greater Elemental	9d6 combat roll
CL 7	Lord Elemental	10d6 combat roll
CL 8	Elder Elemental	11d6 combat roll

Please note that elemental combat rolls can strike multiple opponents

Elementals can only be damaged by other elemental based attacks (they are immune to their own element), magic attacks and receive double damage from attacks by their opposing element. When elementals are struck by a damage type that can harm them, they receive damaged in the same way as any other creature and character, meaning in injury severity from combat maneuvers.

Hydromancy

Creates and controls water, the amount and level of control will set the CL determined by the narrator.

Can summon elementals according to the summoning CL table below Please note that the amount of wins exceeding the CL will determine how long the elemental will remain in the physical plane.

• Matching the CL= three rounds
• +1 over the CL= ten rounds
• +2 over the CL = One hour
• +3 over the CL = six hours
• +4 over the CL = a day
• +5 over the CL = Will say with the Sorcerer until dismissed

Rolling under the CL will cause the elemental to attack the sorcerer and it will remain in the world for the equivalent amount of losses under the CL as wins over the CL determines.

Challenge Level	Elemental Strength	Combat Roll
CL 1	Little sprite	3d6 combat roll
CL 2	Sprite	4d6 combat roll
CL 3	Greater sprite	5d6 combat roll
CL 4	Lesser Elemental	7d6 combat roll
CL 5	True Elemental	8d6 combat roll
CL 6	Greater Elemental	9d6 combat roll
CL 7	Lord Elemental	10d6 combat roll
CL 8	Elder Elemental	11d6 combat roll

Please note that elemental combat rolls can strike multiple opponents

Elementals can only be damaged by other elemental based attacks (they are immune to their own element), magic attacks and receive double damage from attacks by their opposing element. When elementals are struck by a damage type that can harm them, they receive damaged in the same way as any other creature and character, meaning in injury severity from combat maneuvers.

Aeromancy

Control air, fly, and created gusts of wind. Aeromancy cannot be used as a base combat proficiency though it can be used to push on people and blow them over. Aeromancy cannot be used to levitate things, it is to wild and strong for such delicate and controlled movement. Flying through Aeromancy is achieved by thickening the air under the magic user and pushing it past in the direction you want to fly, thus the magic user looks to be in the midst of a windstorm that is solely localized around themselves. This cannot be done to another person or object as thickening the air like this is exponentially harder the farther away from the caster.

Challenge Level	Fly Speed
CL 2	Fly at standard sprinting speed. Failure does not mean you fall from the sky, but that you lose control and fly in an undesired direction.
CL 4	Fly at speeds up to 100 km. Failure does not mean you fall from the sky, but that you lose control and fly in an undesired direction.
CL 6	Fly at speeds up to 500 km. Failure does not mean you fall from the sky, but that you losecontrol and fly in an undesired direction.

If using this spell to create a strong gust of wind to knock another player or NPC off their feet, the caster makes a conflict dice roll with their Aeromancy proficiency vs another player/NPC defense roll. Weapon bonuses cannot be used in the defense roll against this type of attack

Aeromancy can summon elementals according to the summoning CL table below

Please note that the amount of wins exceeding the CL will determine how long the elemental will remain in the physical plane.

• Matching the CL= three rounds
• +1 over the CL= ten rounds
• +2 over the CL = One hour
• +3 over the CL = six hours
• +4 over the CL = a day
• +5 over the CL = Will say with the Sorcerer until dismissed

Rolling under the CL will cause the elemental to attack the sorcerer and it will remain in the world for the equivalent amount of losses under the CL as wins over the CL determines.

Challenge Level	Elemental Strength	Combat Roll
CL 1	Little sprite	3d6 combat roll
CL 2	Sprite	4d6 combat roll
CL 3	Greater sprite	5d6 combat roll
CL 4	Lesser Elemental	7d6 combat roll
CL 5	True Elemental	8d6 combat roll
CL 6	Greater Elemental	9d6 combat roll
CL 7	Lord Elemental	10d6 combat roll
CL 8	Elder Elemental	11d6 combat roll

Please note that elemental combat rolls can strike multiple opponents

Elementals can only be damaged by other elemental based attacks (they are immune to their own element), magic attacks and receive double damage from attacks by their opposing element. When elementals are struck by a damage type that can harm them, they receive damaged in the same way as any other creature and character, meaning in injury severity from combat maneuvers.

Terramancy

Control and manipulate the earth from shaping it and creating earthquakes. The Narrator will determine the CL based on what the character wishes to attempt

Can summon elementals according to the summoning CL table below Please note that the amount of wins exceeding the CL will determine how long the elemental will remain in the physical plane.

• Matching the CL = One round
• +1 over the CL= three rounds
• +2 over the CL= ten rounds
• +3 over the CL = One hour
• +4 over the CL = six hours
• +5 over the CL = a day
• +6 over the CL = Will say with the Sorcerer until dismissed

Rolling under the CL will cause the elemental to attack the sorcerer and it will remain in the world for the equivalent amount of losses under the CL as wins over the CL determines.

Challenge Level	Elemental Strength	Combat Roll
CL 1	Little sprite	3d6 combat roll
CL 2	Sprite	4d6 combat roll
CL 3	Greater sprite	5d6 combat roll
CL 4	Lesser Elemental	7d6 combat roll
CL 5	True Elemental	8d6 combat roll
CL 6	Greater Elemental	9d6 combat roll
CL 7	Lord Elemental	10d6 combat roll
CL 8	Elder Elemental	11d6 combat roll

Please note that elemental combat rolls can strike multiple opponents

Elementals can only be damaged by other elemental based attacks (they are immune to their own element), magic attacks and receive double damage from attacks by their opposing element. When elementals are struck by a damage type that can harm them, they receive damaged in the same way as any other creature and character, meaning in injury severity from combat maneuvers.

Wizardry spells (proficiencies)

Divination

Read someone’s future, see through a focusing object (like a crystal ball or calm pool of water) to spy on people or places far away. Communicate over long distances. Prophesy, be warned of danger or traps that lay in wait ahead. Basically divination can be used to assist, perception checks, or supplant perception checks if higher, and not be limited by things that are hidden. Of course the farther away things are the higher CL the Narrator will apply.

Levitation

Any object of human size and lower doesn’t take a dice check to control unless you are trying to do one of two things:

• Hold another person still who is actively trying to resist. In that case it is a Conflict CL .
• Manipulate something at a distance or something heavier than normal human size and weight. You can manipulate weapons and attack with them as if you were holding them but you do not use your Telekinesis Proficiency in the attack roll. Instead you use whatever proficiency that weapon requires. Using levitation to thrown things as projectiles uses your levitation proficiency

The following CLs are to be used for the specified actions

Challenge Level	Area of Effect
CL 1	Manipulate something within 10 meters under human size and weight
CL 3	Manipulate something within 10 meters and up to car size and weight Manipulate something from 10 – 20 meters away under human size and weight
CL 5	Manipulate something within 10 meters and up to bus size and weight Manipulate something from 10 – 20 meters away up to car size and weight Manipulate something from 20 - 50 meters away under human size and weight
CL 7	Manipulate something within 10 meters and up to airplane size and weight Manipulate something from 10 – 20 meters away up to bus size and weight Manipulate something from 20 - 50 meters away up to car size and weight Manipulate something from 50 - 100 meters away under human size and weight

Telepathy

No dice checks are required when trying to read or communicate to a nonresisting person’s mind. A player or NPC can try and resist telepathy with an intelligence roll or even their own Telepathy proficiency. If a person is resisting you must exceed their roll to read what they are thinking, exceed their roll by 2 to probe their mind and look for specific thoughts or memories and exceed their role by 4 to inflict an injury level. Each dice beyond the four is an additional injury level inflicted.

Counter-Spell

With this spell the wizard can counter any other spell from any other type of magic. Countering a spell can do one of two things: If the Counter Spell roll was equal to the roll of the spell it’s trying to counter it can prevent the spell from being cast. If the Counter Spell roll is greater than the spell it is trying to counter the wizard casting the Counter Spell can choose for the spell they are countering to be miscast (see miscast above). The level of miscast depends on how much the wizard exceeded the spell roll of the spell they are countering.

Teleportation

Self-teleportation - This is the ability to teleport yourself (no other objects) to desired locations. Please note that all CLs are doubled if trying to teleport to an unseen location

Challenge Level	Area Of Effect
CL 2	Teleport yourself within 10 meters to seen location
CL 4	Teleport yourself within 10 meters and up to car size and weight to seen location Teleport yourself from 10 – 20 meters away under human size and weight to seen location
CL 6	Teleport yourself within 10 meters and up to bus size and weight to seen location Teleport yourself from 10 – 20 meters away up to car size and weight to seen location Teleport yourself from 20 - 50 meters away under human size and weight to seen location
CL 9	Teleport yourself within 10 meters and up to airplane size and weight to seen location Teleport yourself from 10 – 20 meters away up to bus size and weight to seen location Teleport yourself from 20 - 50 meters away up to car size and weight to seen location Teleport yourself from 50 - 100 meters away under human size and weight to seen location

Other teleportation - This is the ability to teleport other objects, not oneself to desired locations. You must be able to see the object to teleport it. If you are teleporting something close to you to a distant location, always use the farthest distance to determine the CL. Please note that all CLs are doubled if trying to teleport something to an unseen location

Challenge Level	Area Of Effect
CL 5	Teleport something 10 meters away from its location under human size and weight
CL 7	Teleport something 10 meters away from its location up to car size and weight Teleport something from 10 – 20 meters away from its location under human size and weight
CL 9	Teleport something within 10 meters away from its location and up to bus size and weight Teleport something from 10 – 20 meters away from its location up to car size and weight Teleport something from 20 - 50 meters away from its location under human size and weight
CL 12	Teleport something within 10 meters away from its location and up to airplane size and weight Teleport something from 10 – 20 meters away from its location up to bus size and weight Teleport something from 20 - 50 meters away from its location up to car size and weight Teleport something from 50 - 100 meters away from its location under human size and weight to seen location

Prestidigitation

• Create soft light
• Reduce soft heat/cold
• Tiny illusion
• Create fog
• Create a protective shield of magic
• Small magical tricks

Illusion

• Invisibility is included in illusion

Witchcraft spells (proficiencies)

Alteration

Can change the composition of an element or change it into a lighter element. Making something into a lighter element will increase it’s size. It is possible to change something into a heavier element but requires much more power and exhausts the witch more. The heavier the change the harder it is.

Transform objects. This is complex and requires a lot of power. Using this spell will usually drain the witch for a day

Chemical effects in substances can be completely reversed through alteration, such as altering a poison into a life saving, injury healing potion.

Polymorph

Transform people and themselves into other creatures. The greater the difference from the original form, the greater the CL

Domination

To work this spell the Witch needs a physical thing representing their target, a doll that has a fingernail or lock of hair from the person they wish to dominate. This spell begins with manipulating the emotions in their target, then being able to plant thoughts and ideas into their minds and ultimately taking over their body for a few rounds. The Narrator will set the CL for each different application of this spell.

Sympathy

This magic bonds two things and then can switch properties between the two, such as passing on the properties of one thing to the other making the other, weaker, stronger, lighter or heavier.

When two things are linked or bonded through sympathy, with a high enough CL their physical locations can be switched, no matter their location. And ultimately through sympathy, two bonded creatures can have their consciousness switched either temporarily, or permanently.

Druidism spells

Naturmancy

Can control non intelligent living things, cause trees to move and vines to snare, or wood to warp.

Cause a natural element to harden or soften, wood stronger then steel, steel softer then butter) (causes thing to decay including people, or cause weapons to rust extremely fast.)

Can summon forest elementals Please note that the amount of wins exceeding the CL will determine how long the elemental will remain in the physical plane.

• Matching the CL = One round
• +1 over the CL= three rounds
• +2 over the CL= ten rounds
• +3 over the CL = One hour
• +4 over the CL = six hours
• +5 over the CL = a day
• +6 over the CL = Will say with the Sorcerer until dismissed

Rolling under the CL will cause the elemental to attack the sorcerer and it will remain in the world for the equivalent amount of losses under the CL as wins over the CL determines.

Challenge Level	Elemental Strength	Combat Roll
CL 1	Little sprite	3d6 combat roll
CL 2	Sprite	4d6 combat roll
CL 3	Greater sprite	5d6 combat roll
CL 4	Lesser Elemental	7d6 combat roll
CL 5	True Elemental	8d6 combat roll
CL 6	Greater Elemental	9d6 combat roll
CL 7	Lord Elemental	10d6 combat roll
CL 8	Elder Elemental	11d6 combat roll

Please note that elemental combat rolls can strike multiple opponents

Natural Elementals can be damaged by regular attacks as well as other elemental based attacks, magic attacks and receive double damage from attacks by fire. When elementals are struck by a damage type that can harm them, they receive damaged in the same way as any other creature and character, meaning in injury severity from combat maneuvers.

Reflection

Can pass on properties such as injury, poison or strength to another person Heal (not nearly as potent as holy magic but does work to an extent.) Rotten food will become good again, old weathered wood renewed. It essentially turns back time for a specific object. This can also make a person more youthful)

Cause to sleep, make sick, feel healthy. Never permanent and cannot kill.

Communion

Can speak with any living thing and ask for their help. The CL will reflect the level of help being requested.

Necromancy (proficiency)

Necromancy is a spell and school unto itself

• Raise undead
• Harm and Kill with a command
• When killed can raise themselves as an undead

Holy miracles (proficiencies)

Restoration

Heal (Harms undead and any demon possessed person or creature)

• Injury
• Disease
• Disability
• Death
• Cleanse bad food or water

Sanctification

• Increase the abilities or skills in others
• Protection wards
• Cast out evil
• Burn corruptions with a touch

Creation

• Create food and water
• Create object, the more complex and larger in size, the greater the CL

Revelation

• Works very much like the wizard’s Divination
• Prophesy and foretelling (comes randomly)
• Tongues (communicate with any person)
• Be warned of danger ahead
• Speaking with spirits, communication with the dead

Exultation

• Walk through walls or on water or air

Part 2 – Random Encounters

These charts are mainly for use by the narrator of the Campaign and can be adapted to other genres, but are in this case based around the classic Medieval Fantast genre.

With any encounter there is still room to move. They can be small or severe in their fulfillment. With each encounter a severity roll must accompany it to determine how extreme or mild it is. This applies to weather and monsters and is done with a D6

Severity roll

• 1-2 Mild
• 3-4 Average
• 5-6 heavy

Weather

There are two rolls for a weather check. The first is according to the following weather charts on a 1d100 (two d10 dice). The second is a severity check, is it drizzling or heavy rain?

The weather check should last for about two days but you can have them last for one day or a week, it’s your choice but two days represents the most realistic weather conditions. A new weather roll every day could represent turbulent weather conditions at that time in the game.

The severity check determines the severity of the weather for that day. The severity check should be done every day in the game.

The following charts represent a mild climate. If the players are based in or travel to a different climate such as a desert or a mountain peak, add 10 to 20 on the 1d100 weather roll if the climate is hotter (10 to 20 because a desert is different to the tropics, both hotter but different to each other) and subtract 10 to 20 if the climate is colder. The natural disaster result only applies if it is a natural 100 roll. If the characters are in a hotter climate and 10 is added to the weather roll, the natural disaster result only applies if a natural 100 was rolled, if 100 was achieved by adding to the roll, it is effectively 99, not 100. Likewise if the characters are in a colder climate and a 100 was rolled, the subtraction doesn’t count and the result is natural disaster regardless.

Note: snow lasts much longer than any other weather condition, especially if the weather is cold. If snow was a result of a weather roll, and the following roll is cold, the snow remains on the ground.

Spring

• 1 Blizzard 1%
• 2-4 Snow 3%
• 5-9 Cold 5%
• 10-19 Storm 10%
• 20-29 Rain 10%
• 30-49 Overcast 20%
• 50-69 Mildly cloudy 20%
• 70-89 Sunshine 20%
• 90-99 Hot 10%
• 100 Natural disaster 1%

Summer

• 1 Blizzard 1%
• 2 Snow 1%
• 3-7 Cold 5%
• 8-12 Storm 5%
• 13-22 Rain 10%
• 23-32 Overcast 10%
• 33-52 Mildly cloudy 20%
• 53-72 Sunshine 20%
• 73-99 Hot 27%
• 100 Natural disaster 1%

Autumn

• 1-2 Blizzard 2%
• 3-7 Snow 5%
• 8-17 Cold 10%
• 18-27 Storm 10%
• 28-47 Rain 20%
• 48-67 Overcast 20%
• 68-84 Mildly cloudy 17%
• 85-94 Sunshine 10%
• 95-99 Hot 5%
• 100 Natural disaster 1%

Winter

• 1-5 Blizzard 5%
• 6-34 Snow 29%
• 35-74 Cold 40%
• 75-76 Storm 2%
• 77-81 Rain 5%
• 82-86 Overcast 5%
• 87-91 Mildly cloudy 5%
• 92-97 Sunshine 6%
• 98-99 Hot 2%
• 100 Natural disaster 1%

Natural disaster

This will always depend on the climate and season. You may select the appropriate natural disaster and then roll how severe it is

• Hurricane
• tsunami
• Tornado
• Fire
• Earthquake
• Volcano
• Dust storm

Open land encounters

This random encounter rolls should be made every 1 to 10 kilometers

Daytime Country random encounters

• 1-16 Nothing 16%
• 17-26 Patrol 10%
• 27-38 Peasant/farmer 12%
• 39-45 Trade caravan 7%
• 46-52 Noble Lord 7%
• 53-61 Traveler 9%
• 62-67 Adventurer 6%
• 68-73 Wolf attack 6%
• 74-76 Dire wolf attack 3%
• 77-85 Bandit attack 9%
• 86-88 Goblin attack 3%
• 89-90 Ogre 2%
• 91-92 Troll (if near water) 2%
• 93-94 Orc raiding party 2%
• 95 Giant 1%
• 96-97 Harpy attack 2%
• 98 Witch ritual 1%
• 99 Griffon 1%
• 100 Dragon 1%

Night time Country random encounters

• 1-3 Nothing 3%
• 4-6 Patrol 3%
• 7 Peasant 1%
• 8-9 Trade caravan 2%
• 10 Noble Lord 1%
• 11 Traveler 1%
• 12-13 Adventurer 2%
• 14-22 Wolf Attack 9%
• 23-26 Dire Wolfe attack 4%
• 27 Bandit attack 1%
• 28-41 Goblin attack 14%
• 42-47 Ogre 6%
• 48-52 Troll (if near water 5%
• 53-66 Orc raiding party 14%
• 67-80 Undead 14% (Zombie, Skeleton, Wight, Wraith)
• 81-84 Giant 4%
• 85-88 Harpy attack 4%
• 89-93 Witch ritual 5%
• 94-98 Werewolf 5%
• 99 Griffon 1%
• 100 Dragon 1%

City Encounters

This random encounter roll should be done once every city block

Daytime random encounters

• 1-12 Nothing of interest 12%
• 13-20 City guard 8%
• 21-27 Noble 7%
• 28-34 Traveler 7%
• 35-40 Adventurer 6%
• 41-47 Performer (acrobat, juggler, etc) 7%
• 48-54 Preacher 7%
• 55-63 Trader selling goods 9%
• 64-68 Open argument 5%
• 69-74 Public execution 6%
• 75-79 Festival 5%
• 80-84 Wedding 5%
• 85-89 See a Mugging 5%
• 90-94 Someone tries to steal from a party member 5%
• 95-98 Robbery at knife point 4%
• 99-100 Fire 2%

Nighttime random encounters

• 1-15 Nothing 15%
• 16-30 City patrol 15%
• 31-34 Noble 4%
• 35-40 Traveler 6%
• 41-46 Adventurer 6%
• 47-50 Trader 4%
• 51-70 Someone getting attacked 20%
• 71-85 Thieves attack party 15%
• 86-95 Gargoyle attack 10%
• 96-100 Vampire 5%

THIS IS THE END OF THE COGENT ROLEPLAY CORE MANUAL – SO FAR
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY OUR SYSTEM!