Legend RPG

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Legen

LEGENDSYSTEM rule of cool


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RULE OF COOL Gaming presents

, Rule o Cool Gaming

Elements o Chapters , , , , and are Open Gaming Content

under the Open Gaming License, Wizards o the Coast

Legend

LEGENDSYSTEM

Jacob KURZERcreative lead

Chris CAMPBELLdesign& testing lead

Pavel SAMSONOV art direction& layout


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Open Game License v . a Copyright , Wizards o the Coast, Inc.System Re erence Document Copyright - , Wizards o theCoast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan weet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, R ichBaker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Tomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original materialby E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.Creature Collection Volume Copyright , Clark Peterson.Modern System Re erence Document Copyright , Wizards othe Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman,Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan weet, Monte Cook, Skip Will iams, Richard Baker,Peter Adkison, Bruce R . Cordell , John ynes, Andy Coll ins, and JD WikerMonster Manual II Copyright , Wizards o the Coast, Inc.Swords o Our Fathers Copyright , Te Game Mechanics.Mutants & Masterminds Copyright , Green Ronin Publishing.Unearthed Arcana Copyright , Wizards o the Coast, Inc.; AndyCollins, Jesse Decker, David Noonan, Rich Redman.Te Hypertext d SRD Copyright , Jans W Carton.Legend Copyright , Rule o Cool Gaming.

Tis sentence and all ollowing text is the property o Rule o CoolGaming.


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CreditsCreative Lead Jake Kurzer

Design and Testing LeadChris Campbell

Development LeadsGordon KaganSamuel Won

Designers

Matthew Barkey Christopher CrinerGlen NelsonKevin Ryan W. Hank West

DevelopersBen HaserSteven Nagy John Watters

Chief Editor yson Monagle

EditorsHeather Campbellimothy Collett

Steven CoyneKieran Easterao Sun

Art DirectionPavel Samsonov

Cover Artist Jessica Muraca

IllustratorsRemy CambridgeCharles Liu Jessica Muraca

Additional IllustrationDan Morison

Graphic DesignPavel Samsonov

Playtesting Coordinator Steven Coyne

Publicity and PromotionLaird Smith

Special Thanks ToBen ChallingsworthBen FordeBucky Caphiimeless Error


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aareth Aaron Brigati

Adam Rajski

Adam Simmons

Ainsley Yeager

Airen

AK

Alessandro Ussia

Alex Higdon

Alex Lapin

Alexandre Cathala

Allen Boston

Amine Hsu

Anders

Andrew

Andrew Bassett

Andrew Riley

Ann Marie Brown Anti nity

APMartinez

Arahoushi

Artair King

Bard Bloom

Ben Barrow

Benabik Benjamin Challingsworth

Billy Barnes

Bradley Osburn

Brian Bergdall

Brian Bess

Brian Gorski

brynna

C- nline

Calvin Chou

Carl Sel

Carlton

Carter Lockhart

Casey Johnson

Charles Myers

Chris Best

Chris Clary

Chris DanielsChris Hildebrand

Chris Koch

Chris Walter

Christian Nord

Christina Lee

Christopher Butson

Christopher Stewart Andrew Harvey

Cody James Christopher

Cole Ferrier

Colt Buhr

cptbumble

Craig Lewin

Curt Meyer

Cyrillus

Dalton indall

Dan

Dan Daniarty Shaffer

Daniel Glass

Daniel Santos Ferreira

Al es

Daniel Siegmann

Darius

David Dunklee David Harriss

David Matt

David Schultz

Dean Ray Johnson

Demian Walendorff

Dennis Baum

Deudanann Devin Ireson

Dinnsdale Piranha

DMo Darkness

DocteurHal

doorknobdeity

drmozh

Ed Kowalczewski

Eevil

Elliott

Eric Jenkins

Eric Phillips

Evan Burkey

Gahrer

Gary Green

Gayle McDermott

George D. Ste anowich

Greg HallenbeckGuillem Cazorla

Gustavo La Fontaine

Herman Duyker

Ian Spaulding

Igni er

Ingo

Te following is a list of Kickstarter backers who contributed to the IllustraLegend Kickstarter. We are grateful to each and every one of you, and hoenjoy playing this game as much as (or, ideally, more than) we enjoyed makin

Contributors


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Jacob Williams

James

James Kinnard

James . King

Jenni er Fuss

Jenny Nilsson

Jeremy Kostiew

JJ

Joo Luiz D. Feij

John B

John Carter

Jon Stump

Jonathan Borzilleri

Jonathan Neal Jonathan Wood

Joseph Ashley

Joseph Le May

Joshua Little

Justice

justi

Justin Lance

Kalik

KarakSindru

Keith Davies

Keith Wygant

KEK go - Obsidian

Order

Kenneth Lozano

Kent Jenkins

Kevin urner

Kieran Easter Kira Carteh

Krasnov

Kyle Jacobs

Kyle McLauchlan

Kyle Schneider

Kyle Willey

Liam Bourret-Nyffeler

lordkowl

Luca Beltrami

luis

Marcin W. Dabrowski

Marcus Rush

Marin Greening

Mark Nau

Mark Schreiber

Mason Parianous

Mathias Exner

Matt Carlson

Matt Collins

Matt Landis Matt Woelk

Matthew

Matthew

Matthew Darling

Matthew Michnik

Matthew Tomas Joseph

Mullen

Matthew Wasiak

Maurice Robinson

Max Giesecke

McIntyre Laurier Watts

mclismoscow

Meagan Sweeney

MEB

Mendel

Michael Branham

Michael Fische Michael Hertling

Michael ango

Michele Bianchi

Miguel R.C. Vargas

Mike McC

Mister Pevner

moo enubi

Morgan

Mrspey

mwchase

Natalie Kartwright

Nathaniel Kosslyn

Nicholas E McKee

Nicholas Larosa

Nick Caldwell

Nick Urruty

Octavio Arango

Patrick Phelan

Paul Glass

Philip Harboe Philomorph

plums

prototype

Pyrolox

Raelik

Ralph Mazza

RecklessPrudence

Robert Ferguson

Roger Sidebotham

Ron Beck

Ron Larcom

Rudy Elizondo

Ryan Jarrell

Ryan Mitchell

Sage

Sam Sager

Sam Wright Samuel Ashton Roberts

Samuel Shipman

Seth Brodbeck

Seth Carpenter

Shane Donnelly

Sharyna

Shawn Moniz

Silvermourn

simon

Ski-Bird

Sparklet

Stephan A. erre

Stephen Brown

Stephen Rodgers

Steve

Steve Cates

Steven Lord

Steven Watkins

Stormy

adanoriTomas Keene

Tomas Off

im roppoli

inox

J

odd Naevestad

om Louis

ony Love

orol - Alchemist o the

Obsidian Order

ravis Lee Cheng

revyn Hey

ristan Robert

Valranoth

Will Vesely

Wingy

Wojciech GebczykWugger

Xphile

Yoder

Zalabar

Zejety


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Adam Caverly AjarKeen

Alex Donoho

Alex Mullenix

Al ed Kelly

Amy B

Aressel

Austin Kavika Nichols

Benjamin Bryan

Bob

Bob

Brandon Cieniewicz

Brett Easterbrook

Bwubbly

Chaoticag

Chris Bower

Christen

Cody MarbachCody Wilson

crackpotTeorist

Dan Conley

Daniel Skiles

David

David Wickham

DeadlyReed Dean Carpenter

Don Schlaich

DrakeRaids

Eric Ullman

Erik Ottosen

Evan Sutter

FreeAgent

Garrett Fitzgerald

Gianluis Ramos

Glen Nelson

glitch

Goggalor

Gordon Kagan

Greg Collins

Greg Hartman

gsugu

Harrison Swif Hedrax

Ian McDougall

Ian Stanton

Ian V

Jack Tomas

Jacob Niese

Te following is a list of Kickstarter backers who contributed $25 or more tIllustrating Legend Kickstarter. We are even more grateful to each and eveof you than we were to the previous guys, and hope you enjoy your backer rew

Benefactors


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Jacob Snow

Jason Au

Jason Daugherty

Jason Sperber

JC Sander

Jeff M

Jere Krischel

Jim Diffin

Johannes Lindhart Borresen

Jonathan Dean Jonathan Martin

Jonathan Shaver

Josh Martin

Josh Webb

Joshua Agnew

Joshua Nanke-Mannell

Kalanyr

Kent Falconer

Kevin Ryan

Kyle Pinches

Lagren

Laird Smith

Lauren Voswinkel

linktheoriginal

Magentawol

Matthew Brinker

Matthew Z Max Cariafes

Michael Blanchard

Michael Brewer

Michael Davis

Michael Staib

midgetjacks

N. Cook

Nadav Ben Dov

Piers Excell-Rehm

psythrone

Randall Frechette

Ray

Robert Beaver

Robert Hetherington

Robert Lai

Robert SamehSalda

Sam Billington

Samuel Won

Seth

Shadowmind

Shayan A

SirWiffleston

Skip Clarke

SmileyX

Steven Coyne

Steven Meredith

Tomas Moore

im Prowls

om L

ristan Smith

Udz

UndeadScottsmanV

Weimann

Zach Chrisley

Zachariah Willoh

Zachary Sylvain

Ze ul


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12 I: Introduction13Introduction to Roleplaying

Games14Legends ake on

Roleplaying

18 II: Gameplay Basics18Te Core Mechanic

19Modiers20Ability Scores

25 III: Character Cre-ation and Advancement 25 uick Start Guide27Advanced Character

Creation32Creating a Character above

st level33Leveling Up34Higher-level Characters

and System Expectations35Level Progression

37 IV: Races38Dwar

40El 41Gnome43Haling44Human44Orc46Other Races46Adaptation

48V: Classes48Ability racks50 ypes o Abilities52Barbarian

53Path o War56Path o Destruction57Path o the Ancestors

58Monk

59Discipline o theSerpent

61Discipline o the Crane61Discipline o the

Dragon63Paladin

64Judgment: Te SevenCircles o Knowing

65Bastion: Te SevenCircles o Protection

66Heroica: Te SevenCircles o Endings

67Smiting: Te SevenCircles o War

68Virtue: Te SevenCircles o Renewal

69Ranger

70Pro essional Soldier72Daggers and Bolts75Battles empering

76Rogue78Esoterica Radica78Offensive rack82De ensive rack

86Sage87Sages Wrath90Force O Will91Arcane Secrets

93Shaman94Incantation95Shamans Path95Spellcasting

97 actician98 actical Insight99Bag o ricks100 Spellcasting

101VI: Additional racks101 Extra racks

102 Chirurgic Poet103 Combat Alchemist108 Elementalist111 Elementals115 Knight116 Mechanist Savant118 Necromancer120 Runesong Scholar122 rue Mage126 Vigilante

127 Racial racks130 Celestial132 Demon134 Dragon135 Sentient Construct137 Undead 142 Utter Brute

Table of Contents


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144 VII: Skills144How to Use Skills145Physical Skills152Knowledge Skills157Interaction Skills

159 VIII: Feats160General Feats170[Iconic] Feats173[Combat] Feats176[Weapon] Feats178[Skill] Feats184[Racial] Feats

186 IX: Combat Rules186Te Combat Round 187Actions188Duration190Distance190Range191 actical Movement193Mounted Combat194Attacks o Opportunity 195Combat Maneuvers197Vision and Detection199Injury and Death201Condition Summary 209Descriptor Summary 211 Area Effects212Glossary

213 X: GM ools214What is an Encounter?215Encounter Level217Encounter Design218Level and Power219Cohorts

221Game Balance in Your Group223 Campaign Teme223On the Making o Monsters224 Sample Dire Wol 226 Mooks

231 XI: Non-Combat Encounters231 Social Encounters234 Skill Games236 Interrogation238 Investigation241 Negotiation

243 Parkour245 Environmental Rules and

Hazards249 raps

255 XII: Magic andSpellcasting 255 Magic in Legend 256 Magic in the Game World 256 Classi ying Magic256 Acquiring Magic257 Using Magic257 Spell Lists261 Spell Descriptions

290 XIII : Equipment 290 Items and Characters

291 Mundane Items295 Magic Items297 Mundane Weapons298 Lesser Items302 Lesser Places o Power303 Greater Items306 Greater Places o Power

306 Relic Items309 Relic Places o Power310 Arti act Items311 Arti act Places o Power312 Custom Magic Items314 -Point Enchantments316 -Point Enchantments318 -Point Enchantments319 Sample Custom Items321 Consumables322 Lesser Consumables323 Greater Consumables325 Relic Consumables

325 Arti act Consumables

327 XIV: LegendaryCreatures327 What is Legendary?

334 Appendix 1: Area o Effect emplates334 Wedges336 Lines336 Spreads


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Legend is a fast-paced and nely balanced roleplaying game system, desigoffer tabletop gaming groups rules for playing the games that theyve alwaysed to play. Based on the successful and popular rules available under theGaming License, Legend rebuilds and advances those rules to allow for testbalance, and broad storytelling opportunities for unique and enjoyable characand game worlds.

CHAPTER

I

By de ault, Legend games take place in Hallow,the blasted remnants o what once was a world.In Hallow, humans, elves, and other traditionalhumanoid creatures o high antasy survive andofen prosper in small plots o habitable terrain.Tese plots are maintained only by ancient, su-premely intelligent magical constructs that datepast the reach o mortal memory to the time be-ore the great cataclysms that obliterated the pre-

vious world.Hallow offers many environments or enter-

prising adventurers. Some will gravitate towardsbleak and barren wastelands with the promiseo ancient undiscovered treasures, but hidingdangers that promise a lonely and cruel demise.Others will nd their home in ertile and beauti-ul valleys, ofen scarred by wars between tribes

Introduction


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Chapter I: Introduction

and peoples who want to secure such homes orthemselves. And o course, many adventurersseek out the megacities: centers o learning, highmagic, and technological achievement. Some evenmanage to claw their way up through the under-world to a position o respectability or at leastthe wealth and power to guarantee a relativelycom ortable li e or the time being. O course, i your gaming group has a differ-ent world in mind, eel ree to play in it instead.

Legends mechanics can t a broad range o anta-sy and horror settings, and with some minor ad- justments can t superhero, cyberpunk, and even

space opera settings. For all o these settings, andothers, Legend offers you the tools to tell the story your specic gaming group wants to create.

Introduction to Role-playing GamesTis section is primarily written or people whoare new to tabletop roleplaying games. I you haveprevious experience playing such games, youreprobably amiliar with the in ormation in the nextew paragraphs, and can skip to the next section

without missing too much. I youre new to thegenre, however, or eel like you need a re reshercourse, read on. Roleplaying games, in their broadest sense, are

simply games in which a player assumes an alter-nate persona and directs that persona through aseries o challenges and opportunities, known tomost o us as adventures. Your attachment toand assumption o this persona may or may notbe serious or even particularly well thought out;

those o us who have experience in online RPGshave probably run into a dark el warlock, mas-ter o evil and scary energies, who wears a pinkbathrobe and answers to Holden Magroen or,at least, a similar character. Still, even joke char-acters count as alternate personas, albeit usuallyshallow ones. abletop roleplaying games, such as Legend,have a ew more distinctive traits. Computer role-playing games tend to eature one-size-ts-allquests and storylines that are scripted to allowor relatively low levels o player choice, predict-ed and programmed in by the games creators.

In contrast, tabletop roleplaying games almostalways include a Game Master (or GM) ahuman re eree who describes the world and theresponses o people and monsters to the playerschoices. abletop roleplaying games there oreallow much more space or creativity and playerchoice. O course, tabletop RPGs do not neces-sarily have to take place in person, around a ta-bletop. Many players participate in play-by-postorum games or via instant messaging, voice chat,or specially-designed virtual tabletop sofware. In a tabletop roleplaying game, you are one oat least two (and usually no more than seven oreight) participants. One o them (possibly you) isthe GM, and the rest are players. Te GM, as men-tioned above, gives the players in ormation aboutthe world around them, and the players make de-

cisions about what their characters do with thatin ormation. Beyond this, roleplaying games are just as diverse as the groups o people who enjoythem. Some games ocus on intense tactical de-tail in the tradition o the war games rom whichRPGs developed, while others are essentially


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As Above, So Below Any game in which some creatures are much morepower ul than other creatures needs a metric togure out which weight class a creature best tsinto. Depending on your background in roleplay-ing, you may be amiliar with the terms level,

essence, or perhaps simply XP. In Legend, weuse level to describe a creatures weight class,and circle to describe the relative power o thecreatures abilities. Whatever a games specicterminology, these metrics are the tools or GMsto create adventures that will be challenging butwinnable or the player characters, and or groups

to ensure that all o the player characters are ableto contribute when aced with challenges. Legend has been designed rom the ground upusing a metric we call A = A. What this meansis that i two characters, A and A, are the samelevel, they should be able to contribute equally ithey ally themselves, or be evenly matched i theyace off. Legend has rules or deeply different char-acters, allowing real variety, but at all times ourparadigm is that despite their differences, despitehaving specialties that they excel in, no charactercan be said to be best or worst overall. For example, a th level monk plays very differ-ently rom a th level shaman, but both will con-tribute well should they quest together. And i ath level dragon is be ore them, then the GM canbe assured that the duo is in or a tough ght, but

not one that is completely impossible. As a result, you, as player or GM, can eldany character you like, that i you see a eat or aclass that you think sounds cool or interesting, you can use it without worrying about how well

it compares to other eats or classes. Players areree to get creative without risking being useless,or breaking the game. GMs are ree to eld anyopponent or which the storyline calls as long asit con orms to a level appropriate or the playercharacters. Ultimately, A = A means ewer headaches or allplayers and GMs, means less ddly balancing workor the GM, and more time to ocus on the import-ant parts o roleplaying: the storyline, the charac-ters, and the awesome. A = A is just one o the waysin which Legend endeavors to keep out o way otelling a antastic story: by taking the guesswork

out o balancing encounters, Legend allows GMsand players to move on to the un part.

Narrative SpaceTis topic combines both discussion o gamedesign and an exploration o our pre erences asauthors, as we transition to the pre erences thatshape Legend specically. First, well discuss the design principle o sup-porting narrative space. When we talk about nar-rative space, we re er to the possible storylines,campaign settings, and character concepts thatare supported by a given set o game mechanics.In some game systems, the narrative space is rela-tively narrow. For example, a game system mightexclusively model medieval-themed war are, ea-turing only human combatants with ew or no

magical capabilities. Such a narrative space is amatter o pre erence, and will be discussed below. When it comes to right-and-wrong issues ogame design, we present only one principle: All oa games narrative space should be ully supported.


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Tat is, i a game has rules or playing a character,the game should not simultaneously punish youor playing that character.

Dont get us wrong here it is per ectly accept-able to design, release, and play a game in whichwizards right ully rule over all other creatures,or alternatively a game in which practitioners omagic are wizened alchemists who can accom-plish little or nothing on a battleeld. But theauthors o that game should be honest enough toadmit that the game doesnt support honorableknight who prevails through the orce o arms inthe rst case, or ront-line battlemage in the sec-

ond case. And i a game does provide mechanicsor players to choose both warriors and wizards,then the mechanics should support both sets oconcepts and one should not universally overpow-er the other. Now, with these principles in mind, our pre er-ences or narrative space are as ollows. We pre erthat a game system be written to allow or manydifferent character concepts and campaign worlds,allowing each gaming group to play the game thatthey want to and to cut specic mechanical sub-systems out that dont t their specic game world.Tis requires, in turn, that the game system makeit obvious what a given ability or theme actual-ly does in the game world. Weve tried to make itvisible to anyone who might come along what willhappen i you have to cut out teleportation, and

what kind o mechanical implications it has. Inother words, Legend is built to be understandable,to be learnable, and nally, to be something youcan own and change and use without too muchear o making the game go boom.

GM-Player CooperationTis is, again, primarily a pre erence or gameplayand not a reasoned argument or one side or an-other. Some groups may enjoy a relationship be-tween the players and the GM that, on some level,is antagonistic. Some groups may also actually enjoy a game where the GM provides a plot line andthe players largely experience a scripted course oevents that they inuence only in limited ways. We are not condemning groups that honest-ly pre er these dynamics; however, Legend is notdesigned primarily to support these dynamics. Inour pre erred group dynamic, the term Game

Master does not convey lordship over the game;its more o an honoric re erencing the systemmastery that one needs to predict and model aworlds responses to the player characters deci-sions. Similarly, we dont see storytelling as ex-clusively or even primarily the GMs job play-er characters are heroes who change the worldaround them, and the GM provides antagonistsand allies. Fundamentally, we see creating a ungame as everybodys responsibility.

Speed of Play We recognize that some people see roleplayinggame systems as elaborate simulations o anotherreality. In our case, we see a game system more asa construct o general laws or how another real-ity works, with necessary compromises made or

enjoyable gameplay. One o the most importantelements o enjoyable gameplay, in our minds, iskeeping gameplay smooth and relatively quick.Tis means that i theres a way to resolve a spe-cic event with a couple o die rolls instead o veor six, we tend to pre er the option with only acouple o die rolls.


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Tis isnt a hard-and- ast rule, as you will see inthe rules in this book. We pre er combat lastingseveral rounds instead o just one, and we allowor several attack rolls i youre an experienced

warrior trying to stab the Big Bad in the ace. Tebottom line is just this: were big ans o -hourgaming sessions. And i theyre hack-and-slashgames, we want to get through more than vecombat encounters in the process.

Clear RulesIn order to avoid con usion when reading thisbook, we have isolated some words in square

brackets. Tese words, such as [Long] (a range) or[Encounter] (a duration) are reserved game termsthat either have a particular denition in ChapterIX, or else are tags (such as [Death] or [Combat])by which a subtype o abilities and eats can beclearly identied .


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Chapter II: Gameplay Basics

and add (resulting in a number between and). Te rst number tells you how many dice to

roll (adding the results together). Te number im-mediately afer the d tells you the type o dieto use. Any number afer that indicates a quantitythat is added or subtracted rom the result, whichis called the modier.

d%Percentile dice work a little differently. You gener-ate a number between and by rolling two di -erent ten-sided dice. One (designated be ore youroll) is the tens digit. Te other is the ones digit.

wo s represent . I the result o the roll is un-der the required percentage chance ( or example,i there is a chance o something happeningand you roll a ) then the event takes place.

Taking 10 and 20It doesnt always make sense or actions to carry arandom element. When you are not in any dangeror otherwise distracted, you may take treata roll o a d as a (the average) instead o roll-ing, to represent an average result. I you have lotso spare time, and the action you are attemptingcarries no consequences or ailing (such as strain-ing to open a tight jar) you may treat the result oa d roll as a , but doing this means that theaction takes times as long as normal. In effect,its assumed that youve rolled the die times

until an actual came up. Ultimately, the GMdecides when you are permitted to take or .Some tracks and eats grant abilities that may al-low you to take other values.

Modiers A modier is any bonus or penalty applying to a

die roll. A positive modier is a bonus, and a neg-ative modier is a penalty. In most cases, modi-ers to a given check or roll stack (combine ora cumulative effect) i they come rom differentsources and have different types (or no type atall ), but do not stack i they have the same typeor come rom the same source (such as the samespell cast twice in succession). I the modiers toa particular roll do not stack, only the best bonusand worst penalty applies.

Ability Modier Te bonus or penalty associated with a particularability score. Ability modiers apply to die rollsor character actions involving the correspondingabilities.

Circumstance Modier A circumstance bonus (or penalty) arises romspecic conditional actors impacting the successo the task at hand, such as the presence o pre-cisely crafed tools in a workshop. Circumstancebonuses stack with all other bonuses, includingother circumstance bonuses, unless they arise

A Note on Math: Ofen, you may be required to divide

a number to determine the numeric value o an abil-

ity or effect (such as a eat that adds one hal your

character level to damage). Whenever your result or

any division is actional, round down to the nearest

whole number, even i the action was larger than

. For example, i a character added o his level

to damage, and he was level , he would only add

damage (even though hal o his level would be ).


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rom essentially the same source. Circumstancemodiers are, o course, determined entirely bythe GM.

Deection Bonus A deection bonus is an increase to Armor Classcaused by physical or supernatural increases in acharacters ability to block and redirect incom-ing attacks. Deection bonuses are provided byshields and by most track abilities that increase

Armor Class.

Feat Bonus

A bonus granted because o a eat chosen by a par-ticular creature. Feat bonuses do not stack witheach other.

Fury Bonus A bonus granted by track abilities that are mag-nied by emotional or psychological imbalance.Fury bonuses stack with other ury bonuses romthe same track, but never stack with ury bonusesrom other tracks.

Item Modier An item bonus or penalty is derived rom an item(other than a shield) in a creatures possession.Only one item bonus and one item penalty canever be applied to a given d roll.

Racial Bonus A bonus granted because o innate characteristicso that type o creature. I a creatures race chang-es ( or instance, i it dies and is reincarnated), itloses all racial bonuses it had in its previous orm.

Size Modier A size bonus or penalty is derived rom a creaturessize category. Size modiers o different kinds ap-ply to Armor Class, attack rolls, and various otherchecks.

Untyped Modier A bonus or penalty that is not given a specic typestacks with all other bonuses and penalties, includ-ing other untyped modiers, as long as the vari-ous untyped modiers dont come rom the samesource (such as casting a spell on yoursel twice).

Ability ScoresTe six ability scores determine the very basics o your character how strong he is, how ast he is,how smart he is, and so orth.

Ability ModiersEach ability has a modier, usually ranging rom- to + at character generation. Te table below(Ability Modiers and Bonus Spells) shows themodier or each score. It also shows bonus spells,which youll need to know about i your characteris a spellcaster. Te modier is the number you apply to thedie roll when your character tries to do somethingrelated to that ability. You also use the modierwith some numbers that arent die rolls. A pos-

itive modier is called a bonus, and a negativemodier is called a penalty. o calculate an ability score modier, subtract rom the score, then divide the remainder by ,

rounding down.


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Key Ability ModiersEach character class has two Key AbilityModiers a Key Offensive Modier (KOM) andKey De ensive Modier (KDM). KOM is used tocalculate their combat skill in making attacksrolls (attack bonus) and striking down oes (dam-age on weapon attacks). KDM measures theirskill at surviving damage (hit points) and protect-ing against attacks (Armor Class). I a charactersKDM changes, the characters hit points also in-crease or decrease accordingly. Te KOM and KDM can never be the sameability modier.

Spellcasting Ability ModiersEach spellcasting track has its own Spellcasting

Ability Modier (SAM) which is used to calculateDCs or their spells and determine i the charac-ter receives any additional spells besides those al-lotted by de ault. Characters with a spellcastingtrack may receive additional spells per [Scene] itheir Spellcasting Ability Modier or that trackis exceptionally high (see table - ).

The AbilitiesEach ability partially describes your character andaffects some o his or her actions.

Strength (Str) is a physical ability that measures your characters muscle and physical power. You

apply your characters Strength modier to: Fortitude saving throws (i your Strength

modier is higher than your Constitutionmodier).

Skills that have Strength as their key ability. Your attacks gain a bonus to damage equal to

hal your Strength modier (i positive).

Strength is the Key Offensive Modier or barbar-ians and paladins, and the Key De ensive Modieror some sages.

Dexterity (Dex) is a physical ability that measureshand-eye coordination, agility, reexes, and balance.

You apply your characters Dexterity modier to:

Initiative checks to determine who acts rst ina combat encounter.

Re lex saving throws (i your Dexteritymodier is equal to or higher than yourIntelligence modier).

Skills that have Dexterity as their key ability.Dexterity is the Key O ensive Modi ier or

Score Modier Bonus Spells (By Circle)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 -5

Cant cast spells with this ability

2-3 -4

4-5 -3

6-7 -2

8-9 -1

10-11 0

12-13 +1 1

14-15 +2 1 1

16-17 +3 1 1 1

18-19 +4 1 1 1 1

20-21 +5 2 1 1 1 1

22-23 +6 2 2 1 1 1 1

24-25 +7 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

26-27 +8 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

28-29 +9 3 2 2 2 2 1 130-31 +10 3 3 2 2 2 2 1

32-33 +11 3 3 3 2 2 2 2

34-35 +12 3 3 3 3 2 2 2

36-37 +13 4 3 3 3 3 2 2

38-39 +14 4 4 3 3 3 3 2

40-41 +15 4 4 4 3 3 3 3

42-43 +16 4 4 4 4 3 3 3

44-45 +17 5 4 4 4 4 3 3

46-47 +18 5 5 4 4 4 4 3

48-49 +19 5 5 5 4 4 4 4

able

Ability

Modiers

and Bonus

Spells


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rangers and many rogues, and the Key De ensiveModier or some sages.

Constitution (Con) is a physical ability that rep-resents your characters health, stamina, and du-rability. You apply your characters Constitutionmodier to:

Fortitude saving throws (i your Constitutionmodier is equal to or higher than yourStrength modier).

Skills that have Constitution as their keyability.

You gain [Damage reduction] equal to hal

your Constitution modier (i positive).Constitution is the Key De ensive Modier orbarbarians, monks, some rogues, some sages, andtacticians.

Intelligence (Int) is a mental ability that determineshow well your character learns and reasons. Youapply your characters Intelligence modier to:

Re lex saving throws (i your Intelligencemodi ier is higher than your Dexteritymodier).

Skills that have Intelligence as their key ability.Intelligence is the Key Offensive Modier orsome rogues, some sages, and tacticians, and theKey De ensive Modier or rangers.

Wisdom (Wis) is a mental ability that describes a

characters willpower, common sense, percep-tion, and intuition. While Intelligence representsones ability to analyze in ormation, Wisdomrepresents being in tune with and aware o onessurroundings. You apply your characters Wisdommodier to:

Will saving throws (i your Wisdom modi-er is equal to or higher than your Charismamodier).

Skills that have Wisdom as their key ability. Te Awareness de ense.

Wisdom is the Key Offensive Modier or monks,some sages, and shamans, and the Key De ensiveModier or some rogues.

Charisma (Cha) is a mental ability that measures acharacters orce o personality, persuasiveness,personal magnetism, and ability to lead. Tisability represents actual strength o personality,

not merely how one is perceived by others in a so-cial setting. You apply your characters Charismamodier to:

Will saving throws (i your Charisma modieris higher than your Wisdom modier).

Skills that have Charisma as their key ability.Charisma is the Key Offensive Modier or somesages, and the Key De ensive Modier or pala-dins, some rogues, and shamans.

When an ability score changes, all attributes asso-ciated with that score change accordingly.

Secondary Statistics Aside rom ability scores, all creatures have a set ostatistics that represent their basic ability to dealand evade damage. Tese numbers increase as

creatures increase in power through gaining lev-els. Te secondary statistics are Armor Class, HitPoints, Base Attack Bonus, and Fortitude, Reex,and Will base saving throw bonuses. All creaturesalso have some capacity o noticing things othersdont want them to, which is represented by the

Awareness de ense.


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Armor Class (AC), measures a characters skill atevading physical attacks. It is closely linked to theBase Attack Bonus (BAB).

You calculate AC as ollows: + BAB + yourcharacters Key De ense Modier + any other ap-plicable modiers.

You only use the rst number in any BAB entrywhen calculating your Armor Class.

Hit points (HP) measure a characters overall com-bat endurance. Your HP largely depend on yourclass; each class offers , , or hit points, plus your KDM, per level, with twice as many HP at

st level. For example, a st-level barbarian withConstitution would have HP ( class HP,plus a Constitution KDM o , doubled or stlevel). At nd level, that same barbarian wouldhave HP.

Base Attack Bonus (BAB) measures a characters ba-sic skill at combat. IIt increases at one o two di -erent rates, depending on a characters class, asdetailed on table - (Base Attack Bonus). Youuse BAB to calculate an attack roll against an ene-my, as ollows: d + BAB + your characters KeyOffensive Modier + any other applicable mod-iers. Whenever you make an attack roll, i theresult equals or exceeds the targets Armor Class,the attack hits that target. When they take an attack action, characters

with a BAB o + or higher gain one or more ex-tra attacks, albeit made with a lower attack bonus,as shown on table - . Te values given on racialtrack and class tables in this document only listull BAB; the lower bonus or additional attacksis extrapolated using table - .

Level Good Poor

1 +1 +0

2 +2 +1

3 +3 +2

4 +4 +3

5 +5 +3

6 +6/1 +4

7 +7/2 +5

8 +8/3 +6/1

9 +9/4 +6/1

10 +10/5 +7/2

11 +11/6/6 +8/3

12 +12/7/7 +9/4

13 +13/8/8 +9/4

14 +14/9/9 +10/5

15 +15/10/10 +11/6/6

16 +16/11/11/11 +12/7/717 +17/12/12/12 +12/7/7

18 +18/13/13/13 +13/8/8

19 +19/14/14/14 +14/9/9

20 +20/15/15/15 +15/10/10

Awareness is your characters general ability to no-tice when someone else is trying to per orm anaction while remaining unnoticed. You calculate

Awareness as ollows: + your level + your char-acters Wisdom modier + any other applicablemodiers.

Saving throw bonuses are used to calculate savingthrows or saves, which are d rolls made toresist particular types o abilities. Abilities that re-quire a save speci y the type o save required, but

a general guide or what saves resist which typeso effect is given below. You can make a savingthrow against an effect whenever it would speci -ically allow you to, or whenever that effect wouldaffect you differently on a success ul save. Unlessotherwise specied, you can only make a singlesave against each individual effect. Saving throw

able

Base Attac

Bonus


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bonuses are based on a characters level and choiceo class, and are given in the table or a characterschosen class. A save succeeds i its result equalsor exceeds a listed Difficulty Class (DC), which isalways given in the text o the ability or effect thattriggers the save.

Fortitude (Fort) is a characters ability to resist e -ects that eat away at that characters physical bodyor crush it outright, such as poison or a cartoon-ishly impractical anvil. You calculate Fortitude asollows: d + your base Fortitude bonus + thehigher o your Strength and Constitution modi-

ers + any other applicable modiers.

Reex (Ref) is a characters ability to dodge areaeffects, such as explosions, as well as most traps.

You calculate Reex as ollows: d + your baseReex bonus + the higher o your Dexterity andIntelligence modiers + any other applicablemodiers.

Will is a characters ability to resist assaults on themind, such as scary things or mind control. Youcalculate Will as ollows: d + your base Willbonus + the higher o your Wisdom and Charismamodiers + any other applicable modiers.


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Chapter III: Character Creation and Advancement

Quick Start Guideo create a character quickly, ollow these steps:

Choose a RaceChoose a race rom the options detailed inChapter IV: El , Dwar , Gnome, Haling, Human,or Orc.

Choose a ClassChoose a class rom table - ( Legend Core

Classes). Te tracks associated with each class,along with ull descriptions o each tracks abil-ities, can be ound in Chapter V. I you have tomake choices associated with your tracks (suchas spell selection or choosing between differenttracks or which youre eligible), make them now

Te rst step in playing Legend is creating a character for your Legend game. If youare playing a one-shot or a similar brief game, and only require enough information

to ll out a character sheet, you can use the uick Start Guide to generate a char-acter. If you are playing a longer game, you may wish to devote a little more timand effort to developing a character concept and nding the mechanical abilitiethat best support it.

CHAPTER

IIICharacter Creation and

Advancement


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and write your tracks and track abilities down on your character sheet.

Assign Ability ScoresTe de ault ability scores in Legend are , , ,, , and . Assign them to Strength, Dexterity,

Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, andCharisma, in the order you pre er. In general, it isbest to assign high scores to your characters Key

Abilities, since those are the abilities on which your character most relies in a broad variety osituations. I you are creating a higher-level character,consult table - (Character Advancement)and increase your characters ability scores by theamounts given or a character o the appropriate

level. For example, a th-level barbarian wouldlikely choose to increase Strength by + andConstitution by + , and could increase any otherability score by + as well.

Choose Your SkillsChoose skills rom Chapter VII. Te number oskills available to the class you chose is noted inthe rst table on page . Te skills you chooseare considered trained. You gain a bonus equalto your level on all skill checks using trained skills,as explained in Chapter VII.

Choose Your FeatsChoose eats or your character rom ChapterVIII. A rst-level character has two eat slots, oneo which must be chosen rom the bonus eat or your characters race, as explained in Chapter IV.I you are building a higher-level character, chooseadditional eats at the levels shown on table - .

Choose Your ItemsChoose items or your character rom Chapter XIII.

A st character may have a reasonable number omundane items and a single Lesser item. You gainthe ability to use additional magic items as notedon the Character Advancement table; choose asmany additional magic items as you can use, per

Class HP/lvl BAB Good Saves Bad Save KOM KDM Skills Description

Barbarian 10 Good Fort, Will Ref Str Con 5Terrifying and tough me-

lee ghter

Monk 8 Good Any Two Any One Wis Con 6 Fast, precise martial artist

Paladin 10 Good Fort, Will Ref Str Cha 5Supernaturally powerful

arbiter of justice

Ranger 10 Good Fort, Ref Will Dex Int 6Hunter, scout, and special

operative

Rogue 8 Varies Ref, Any One Any One Varies Varies VariesTrickster that relies on skill

in battle

Sage 8 Poor Any Two Any One Varies Varies 6Master of arcane secrets

and battle magic

Shaman 8 Poor Fort, Will Ref Wis Cha 6Spellcaster with powers that

heal or harm

Tactician 8 Poor Ref, Will Fort Int Con 9*Spellcaster that controls

the battleeld

able -

Legend Core

Classes


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the table. As explained in Chapter XIII, you are notlimited in your choice o mundane items except by your character concept; consult with your group i you are unclear on this point. Unless your character is a spellcaster or oth-erwise has a wide range o offensive options, youshould generally select a broad variety o weapons(including both ranged and melee weapons). I youre a higher-level character ( th level or high-er), it is also generally wise to ensure your charac-ter is able to quickly move around the battleeld,via ight, teleportation, and similar abilities.

Fill in the BlanksI you havent written down or added up anythingon your character sheet (such as your charactersBase Attack Bonus, saving throw bonuses, or oth-er numerical values), put it down now. Youvealready made the important choices in building your character, so you should be able to ll in therest o the numbers without any trouble.

Advanced CharacterCreationI youre playing in a long campaign, or have al-ready selected a character concept that isnt cov-ered by the standard races or classes, you may wishto put a little more effort into your character than

is involved in ollowing the quick start rules. Legend offers a great many character options that dont ap-pear in the de ault races and classes. I you want tolearn to use these options, look no urther. First, though, lets look briey at character con-cepts. Its per ectly all right to esh out your char-acter with a cool eat you just stumbled across or

a couple o items you wanted to try, but its usuallyhelp ul to start character generation with a prettygood idea o what you want your character to do.Some suggestions ollow.

Character ConceptsTe rst step in developing a character conceptis thinking o a tag line. Tis can be a descrip-tion o your characters pro ession (InterstellarSmuggler or perhaps Undersized Burglar)or social position (Long-lost King o a GreatCity*). Other tag lines that have worked prettywell in the past include Wizzard on the Run,

Bearer o Stormbringer, Cheerleader Who KillsVampires, and Wizard Private Eye. Once you have a tag line that you expect tohold your interest or the duration o a Legend campaign, start asking yoursel a ew questionsabout your character. Usually, your tag line willgive you some sense o your characters race andpossibly a ew clues to answering these questions.

What does my character want? Tis proba-bly wont get you much mechanically, but know-ing your characters greatest motivations mightgive you a clue o how your character goes aboutgetting them. A character that is admittedly justin it or the money is going to make different li echoices rom a character that is out to do the rightthing and help the helpless. Even i the answerdoesnt help you at all in picking abilities or your

character, itll pay off in a big way in getting plothooks or your GM and helping you make deci-sions in-character. What does my character ear? Tis question ispretty good or building a backstory, but it also o -ers some really rich options or mechanical choic-es. For example, someone who ears harm coming


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to his or her riends might ocus on learning to pro-tect them, perhaps with the paladins Virtue track. How does my character resolve conicts? Anygood story is centered on a basic conict, andRPGs tend to include a ew dozen extra conictsor good measure. I your character doesnt endup in ghts, chances are youll nd social con-rontations, environmental hazards, or similarlythreatening situations. Ability tracks in Legend o -ers a broad range o abilities or solving or endingcon rontations, and your answers to this questionmight point you to the right ones. How does my character make a living? Most

RPG characters arent conventionally employed,especially i your game world is a medieval an-tasy setting where wage labor doesnt exist. Still, your character probably has some things that heor she is good at maybe even extremely good at.RPG characters tend to be skilled in at least a ewuse ul areas, such as arcane knowledge, investiga-tive and social skills, or physical speed and agility.

Your answers here will tell you a great deal about your characters skill selection. What special tricks does my character keephandy? Tis question will help you select eats,particularly [Iconic] eats. It may also help youselect a specialized track, such as several o therogue tracks in Chapter V.

Race Selection

Usually, youll have some idea o your charactersrace by now. I not, you can nd the de ault races inChapter IV, as well as a number o additional racesin Chapter VI. I your group is using supplementalmaterial as well, you may have even more options.For the most part, picking a race is purely a mat-ter o taste, as most races can t a wide range o

character archetypes. Some races, however, repre-sent unusual creatures, such as power ul undeadcreatures, intelligent constructs, or even dragons.In cases where your race includes dramatic, scal-ing abilities (such as the undead powers o a lich), your race will have a track associated with it. Allmembers o that race have the associated track,and you will have to incorporate that track in yourtrack selection.

Class and Track SelectionSelecting your class and associated tracks is thesingle most critical part o character generation,

mechanically speaking. I you already have ade ault class picked out, then you can move on.However, you may want to customize your classat the very least, and choosing a race with an asso-ciated track makes this section obligatory. Te classes described in Chapter V each con-tain three tracks progressions o abilities thatdene much o your characters mechanical role.Each class also has a set o statistics, such as thenumber o hit points per level that it grants andthe saving throw and attack bonus progressions itoffers (you can nd this in ormation in the classdescriptions, or compiled in the table below).Tere are three options or customizing your char-acters tracks: a racial track, multiclassing, andFull Buy-In.

Racial Tracks As described above, racial tracks model the abili-ties o certain power ul creatures, such as dragons,vampires, and angels. Tese are creatures whosepowers are at least partly a acet o their nature;some dragons breathe re and others rely onclawing your ace off, but all o them are ying


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reptilian creatures who can take a lot o punish-ment, live a long time, and collect anything valu-able they can get their claws on. Tese are suffi-ciently iconic and important to justi y attachingthem automatically to anything calling itsel adragon (unless youre a Chinese dragon, in whichcase you would choose a different track). Since ra-cial tracks are a undamental aspect o how yourcharacter interacts with the world, they include aull set o class statistics, including hit points, sav-ing throw and attack bonus progressions, and keyability modiers. I you have a racial track, pickany two tracks rom a standard class. reat this

combination o tracks and class statistics as yourcharacters class. You can multiclass rom thatclass just as i you had a standard class, except that you cant trade out your racial track.

Multiclassing As explained above, tracks are the building blockso characters. So i you want to create a hybridcharacter like the ranger/rogue o times past, yousimply trade a track o ranger abilities you eelare less important or a track o rogue abilities.

You can always trade one such track or ree, and you can trade another track out with the GuildInitiation eat (more on that in a moment). When you multiclass, you select a single trackrom another class (or rom the list o addition-al tracks in Chapter VI) and replace one o your

de ault tracks with it. You gain the eatures o your new track at the same levels you would havegained the eatures o the track that was replaced.

You cannot gain any track more than once. Sometracks are part o the same overall track, andthere ore you cannot have more than one o themor any reason. For example, the three options or

the rogues Offensive rack are mutually exclu-sive, as are the rogues De ensive rack options,the rangers Daggers and Bolts options, and theSages Wrath options. When nding a multiclassing track, note thatsome tracks represent different ways o doing thesame thing and there ore arent meant to workwell together. For example, the Rage, Assassin, andDiscipline o the Serpent tracks are all meant toprovide characters with a way to do a great deal odamage while ghting, but each models a differentstyle o ghting (a barbarians berserk destruction,a hit mans surprise attacks rom the shadows, and

a martial artists ast and precise striking com-binations). In general, i you see that one trackseatures are tagged as not stacking with anothertracks eatures, avoid combining them. Some tracks are associated with a particularability score and unction based on that ability.For example, spellcasting tracks are associatedwith a particular mental ability, while the e -ectiveness o the Demo Man track will dependon the characters Intelligence. Te MulticlassFlexibility eat allows you to adapt the DCs o asingle tracks eatures to be based on a differentability (with certain limitations) in order to makethat track work better or your character. In somecases, you should simply consider whether yourcharacter is best off with a track that doesnt twith the key abilities you had in mind, or whether

it makes more sense or your character to pursuethe same basic goal in a different way. Legend classes are typically built to have onetrack that is largely offensive in nature, one thatoffers some de ense or utility, and one that canbe either offensive or de ensive but tends to makethe class somewhat unique in its playstyle and


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archetype. When deciding which original track toreplace, its ofen wise to consider the kind o rolethat your new track will play. Its not necessarily

wrong to end up with three offensively-orientedtracks, but it does mean that your character willbe ocused almost exclusively on offense and willlargely lack de ensive abilities. I you think youmay be in this situation, take a moment to con-sider whether your character concept supportssuch a hell- or-leather approach to combat andcon rontation. I so, go or it! I not, you may betrying to do one thing several different ways, and you might want to reconsider your track choices.

As mentioned above, you can multiclass onceor ree at character creation. Tis simply rep-resents having somewhat different abilities roma normal character with this class. Tere is oneother way to multiclass, but it isnt ree. Te GuildInitiation eat models a character who is particu-larly committed to an organization, ideal, or pa-tron, and at some point goes through a process oundamental change. At the level your charactertakes this eat, your character loses a track andgains a new track, rewriting the previously ac-quired eatures o the sacriced track with the ea-tures o the new track. Tis process can be used toeven gain the eatures o a racial track, but grantsonly the track eatures and does not change over-all class statistics or racial traits.

Full Buy-InTe Full Buy-In option involves sacricing thevast majority o your characters item progressionin exchange or gaining a ourth track. Tis trackcan be any multiclassing-eligible track or a racialtrack, but offers only track abilities and neverrewrites class statistics. Te revised schedule or

item progression, along with the levels at which you gain track eatures rom the ourth track, canbe ound in Chapter XIII.

Ability Score SelectionBy this time, you should know your Key AbilityModiers and have a very good sense o any oth-er abilit ies that your character would most valueand emphasize. So, it shouldnt be difficult to as-sign your ability scores. Tis is, however, a airlygood time to discuss the different methods ogenerating ability scores in Legend. Your groupwill decide on one o the ollowing methods, to

be used or all player characters in your game(NPCs and monsters generally are designedbased on the ability array).

Ability Array: Te de ault ability scores in Legend are , , , , , and , assigned to whicheverabilities you pre er. Legends game math is basedon this ability array, because it provides a predict-able common basis or ability scores.Te array above reects an exceptionally gifedcreature, who is good at most things and has onlyone real weak spot. An array that would reect amore normal (i still a bit above average) creaturemight be , , , , , . We believe that mostRPG characters are expected to be a bit largerthan li e, but some groups might want a grittiergame in which the player characters are just nor-

mal people. Using a lower array like this one couldhelp create such a game; o course, we must em-phasize that this kind o decision should only bemade by an entire group, not unilaterally.Note that an increase or decrease in the de aultability array will tend to make player charactersinherently more or less power ul respectively


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compared to standard monsters and pre-generat-ed NPCs o the same level, and that this shif inpower will affect gameplay.

Point Buy: In this version o ability score genera-tion, all scores start at . You have a pool o points that you can apply to your scores as youwish, points at a time. You cannot increase asingle ability score above . Using point buygives players some exibility in choosing theability scores that best suit their character. It ispossible to achieve somewhat unusual resultswith this method, such as creatures with a couple

o extremely high ability scores and several verylow ability scores, so this method is best used ingroups where all the players understand the gamemechanics well enough to avoid serious mistakesin allocating ability scores.

Random Ability Generation: Roll d six times. akethe highest dice rom each ve and add thosethree together ( or example, i you rolled two s,a , a and a , you would add + + or a resulto ). Once you have six numbers, apply thoseto whichever abilities you wish. I you have oddnumbers, you should spend rom one score andadd it to another until you have even numbers or your ability scores. I you have only one odd num-ber lef, keep it.

his method is best reserved or one-shot

games or games that arent meant to be taken se-riously, so that characters with truly aw ul scorescan be killed off in an entertaining ashion.

Skill SelectionSkill selection should be pretty easy at this point.I you have a strong character concept and know

what ability scores you wish to prioritize, pickingskills that correspond with those should be easy.Be sure to pick up any skills that you will need touse your track eatures effectively.

Feat Selection When selecting eats, always check or eattrees series o two or three eats that each re-quire the previous one that you want. I youdecide that you want a eat tree, make sure youhave the eat slots you need to get it rst, be ore you look or individual eats. Other than that,select eats that give your character something

cool to do, offer a new application o a skill youalready have, or make your character better at your main character goal. Iconic eats are special eats that grant a par-ticularly unique power. Your character can onlyhave one, so you will generally want to pick onethat really embodies your character concept. Itsparticularly important to avoid picking a eat that your character cant support, such as one with aDC based on an ability modier your characterhasnt invested in.

Item SelectionIts hard to go wrong on items. In general, youshould have a weapon or some other item that al-lows you to win ghts, armor or some other itemthat helps you not be stabbed, and items that

make you happy. Some o these dont even needto be magical; until youre a mid-level character,it actually isnt all that important to pick up magi-cal protective gear because you get nearly as much

Armor Class bonus rom mundane equipment.


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Polishing Your Character Congratulations! You should have a reasonablycompetent character now, built on an enjoyableand interesting character concept. Youre donenowright? Wrong! Being the smart person you are, youveundoubtedly gured out all o this and built acharacter with a minimum o hassle and reworks.Now, while the other clowns at your gaming ta-ble are working out their character missteps andkinks, you have a chance to make your characterreally shine. Tis is where you start coming upwith your characters backstory, expanding on the

motivations you gured out back when you cameup with your character concept to begin with. Youcan sketch your character, i youre artisticallygifed. You can gure out how your character gotto know all the other players characters.Te bottom line is, this guide tells you how to llout your character sheet in a way that wont cause you any serious embarrassments. Once your char-acter sheet is ull, theres always more you can doto build your character.

Creating a Characterabove 1st levelMany games eature characters higher than stlevel, and eature characters who are much moresignicant in terms o power and capability. ostart play with a character higher than st level,ollow the steps below.

Ability Selection Ability scores are generated in the same way whenmaking a st level character. Ten, consult table- (Character Advancement) and increase your

ability scores by the amounts given or a charactero your level. For example, a th-level barbarianwould likely choose to increase Strength by +and Constitution by + , and could increase anyother score by + as well (depending on the spe-cic character).

Race, Class, and Skill Selection All o these are done exactly as i making a st levelcharacter. Your class choice, as well as any tracksacquired through multiclassing, is the same as ast-level character; however, you gain all the abil-ities possessed by a character o your level, perChapter V and Chapter XIII. You have ranks in your chosen skills equal to your level, as explainedin Chapter VII.

Feat SelectionChoose a number o eats equal to the numbero eat slots given or your level in table - . Youmust meet all prerequisites or a eat at the level you acquire the slot or that eat (so you cant puta eat in the level slot i it has a prerequisite ocharacter level ).


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Spell SelectionChoose the abilities you want your character topossess at every level where you have a choice be-tween different spells, powers, or abilities.

Item SelectionChoose a set o items, consumables, and othercommodities rom the list given in Chapter XIII.Consult table - to determine what kinds o

items you are entitled to, and how many o eachkind you can use. Characters who have chosenthe Full Buy-In option (see Chapter XIII) receivemany ewer items than normal.

Leveling Up

Leveling up is the process your character goesthrough every time you gain a level. An increase inlevel is a big deal your character gains a power-ul new ability, as well as becoming more resilientand skilled. Tere are a ew steps to leveling upa character. You can take these steps in whateverorder is most benecial i there is a prerequisite

you would meet with one step o the leveling pro-cess, you meet that prerequisite at another step othe leveling process even i those steps are out oorder as listed here.

Level Feat Movement Speed Ability 1 Ability 2 Ability 3 Ability 4 Items

1 +0 ft Lesser

2 +5 ft +2

3 +5 ft

4 +5 ft Lesser

5 +10 ft +2 Greater

6 +10 ft

7 +10 ft +4 +2 Lesser

8 +15 ft Greater

9 +15 ft +4

10 +15 ft +2 Relic

11 +20 ft Lesser

12 +20 ft +6

13 +20 ft +4 Greater

14 +25 ft +6 Relic

15 +25 ft +4

16 +25 ft Greater

17 +30 ft +8 Artifact

18 +30 ft +8

19 +30 ft +6 Lesser

20 +35 ft +6

able -

Characte

Advance


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Increase Hit Points and SavingThrow Bonuses Whenever you level up, your maximum hit pointsincrease by the number given in your characterclass entry plus your KDM. For example, a bar-barian gains hit points plus the barbariansConstitution modier at every new level. Whenever you level up, set your base savingthrow bonuses to the values listed on the table or your character class or your new level.

Increase Ability Scores At some levels, as marked out by table - , your

character gains an ability score increase. Increase your chosen ability score now. Te our abilityscore increase progressions must apply to differ-ent ability scores, and your choice o assigninga given ability to a given increase progression ispermanent. Te increases in ability scores are notcumulative. For example, at level , your primaryability is + higher than it was at level , not + .

Choose New Track FeatureMany tracks offer a choice between different abili-ties. I any o your ability tracks or this level offera choice, pick an ability now. Otherwise, simplymake a note o your new track ability. Any ben-ets that you gain at a certain circle or level areavailable to characters rom that level onward.

Increase SkillsIncrease your chosen skills by rank each.

Choose New Feat At some levels (as shown on table - ), your char-acter gains a new eat. I your new level grants aeat, select that eat now.

Select Item At some levels (as shown on table - ), your char-acter gains a new magic item slot (you can possessmore magic items than you have slots, but canonly attune to as many magic items as you haveslots see Chapter XIII). Tis may happen at lev-el-up, as part o quest rewards, or you may haveearned or ound the item prior to leveling up.

Increase Movement SpeedHigher-level characters become quicker and moremobile. At nd level, and at every three levels a -terward, your characters movement speed in-

creases by f.

Higher-level Charac-ters and System Ex-pectations

As characters gain levels in Legend, they gainpower. Every time a character gains a level, thelevel offers a new track eature: a unique capabil-ity that can dramatically alter the outcome o anencounter. In Legend, we expect characters at di -erent levels to interact with and affect the worldaround them in different ways. st through thlevel characters generally have capabilities thatare airly reasonable or ordinary humans (asiderom magic abilities, o course). But characters at

higher levels are legendary heroes or demigods. When designing your character, you should con-sider your characters starting level and prepare toace enemies o appropriate power and capability.

Some o the relevant considerations ollow:Between th and th level, abilities like me-dium-range teleportation and light become


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extremely common. As characters reach thehigher end o that level range, you need to eitherhave special movement abilities or the ability toattack creatures who use them (usually by havinga ranged weapon or offensive magic). Around thissame level, many characters also gain innate heal-ing and abil ities that can affect many opponents atonce. Characters in this level range cant take onan army o ordinary humans, but they can breakthat army with care ul tactics and piecemealengagements.

Between th level and th level, creaturescan access [Death] abilities attacks that do

massive damage and can cripple or kill a charac-ter outright. Long-range teleportation and other

ast travel abilities appear, and many creaturesgain immunities to certain attacks and abilities.Knowledge checks and divinatory abilities be-come quite important to reveal what an opponentcan do and how an opponent can be effectivelyharmed. Creatures in this level range can attackan entire army o ordinary humans without beingseriously harmed, and ofen a single survivor oan adventuring party can nd a way to resurrectallen comrades with a little effort.

From th level on, many creatures become ex-tremely difficult to kill. At this level, charactersapproach deic power. Creatures can ofen ignorea rounds worth o attacks outright, or surviveotherwise-deadly attacks, or even spontaneously

revive i killed once. Many characters also dramat-ically improve their offensive abilities. Charactersin this level range are not even threatened by anarmy o ordinary humans.

Level Progression

Within the core canon o Legend, we expect lev-el increases to be handed out at thematically ap-propriate points by GMs. Tis is because we dontknow when or how you expect characters to in-crease in power. Do you want them to grow mean-ing ully in the course o a quest? As the result oa great revelation? As part o a soul-searchingmoment be ore the big ght? In general, we cer-tainly recommend that players level up once per[ uest] or per plot arc, but this might not meshwell with the ow o your story, and you may

have trouble with the ow o the campaign ver-sus the ow o time in real li e. A set experienceprogression leaves you with relatively ewer goodmechanisms o recourse, which was the core mo-tivation behind our decision that experience wasa meta-game construct that didnt serve us well. It bears mention, however, that we do thinkparties should be comprised o characters whoare the same level, and much o the math behind

Legend is written with this in mind. Its a view wehold due to the elegance o that situation, andthe act that it decreases player conict. No onewants to be the runt o the litter, and we have bet-ter ways to portray interdependency among char-acters than to orce someone into the li e o theside-kick or mascot.

Optional Rules for Power IncreasesTere are a couple o advantages to using a xedprogression, however, and we provide one as anoptional ramework or running certain kinds ocampaigns. One o the big advantages is that itsvisibly and completely impartial. It measures suc-cess along a clean and visible metric, which is just


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a good eeling and a good thing. It also ts prettywell with the Dungeon Crawl, where youre slic-ing your way through the legions o evil in pursuito power and loot. In such a situation, you mightwant players to be able to choose what parts oa dungeon they work through, in the interest oproviding a more open and ree roaming experi-ence. Another advantage is being able to portraypower as less o a narrative progression. Te ol-lowing is a suggested progression that provides acomparatively ast trip through low levels, a air-ly smooth progression through mid-game, and aslower progression through end-game.

For this type o progression, encounters o EL-(see Chapter X) are worth one experience point;encounters o EL- are worth two; encounters oEL+ are worth three; and encounters o EL+are worth ve. An EL+ encounter is worth sevenpoints, but is rarely survivable. Encounters outsidethis range are generally not appropriate challeng-es. A party gains points or any combat encounterthey win, or any combat encounter they obviatethrough non-combat means. Tis can includeclever escapes at the GMs discretion. However, ithe party resolves an encounter without ghting,they only gain experience or the creatures theyinteracted with and not or any rein orcements inthe background.

-

ence

oints

Experience Leveled To...

6 2

13 3

22 4

33 5

46 6

63 7

78 8

98 9

122 10

150 11

180 12

210 13

240 1

270 15

300 16

340 17380 18

420 19

465 20


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Chapter IV: Races

Your characters race largely determines his mechanical bonuses and penalties, butcan also have a signicant effect on his appearance and personality. All of the races

in this chapter are basically humanoid, which means that they have an anatomygenerally similar to humans, and thus have the [Humanoid] type. In Legend, raceis roughly synonymous with species and should not be confused with groups ofhumans divided by skin color.

By de ault, the Legend core rules do not includehal -human races or other hybrid races. Te hu-manoid populations o Hallow are each descend-ed rom the remnants o corresponding humanoidspecies that were preserved in Hallow during theend o the old worlds, and these species are di -erent enough rom each other that interbreeding

would be impossible or extremely unusual. Vision modes can be ound in Chapter IX.

Size Categories

Creatures o different sizes in Legend are treatedas being one o ve size categories, depending onhow big they are. Your size category affects howhard you are to hit, how accurate your attacks are,how quickly you can move, and how easy you areto physically push.

CHAPTER

IV Races


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[Tiny] creatures are so small that they are ineffectu-al combatants. Even i their position on a eld obattle is relevant, they do not take up the squarethey occupy, and cannot meaning ully affect abattle with their own abilities alone. At the discre-tion o the GM, they may be able to manipulateropes, small levers or similar devices o appropri-ate size. iny creatures are always [Concealed].

[Small] creatures are about hal as tall as a[Average] creature would be, though they may beproportionally thicker than bigger creatures withthe same body structure. Tey have the ollowing

statistics: f base movement speed + to Armor Class + to attack rolls - on saves against combat maneuvers

[Average] is the de ault size o creatures in Legend,roughly the same size as a regular human. Mostcreatures, as the name suggests, all into this sizecategory. Tey have the ollowing statistics:

f base movement speed

[Large] creatures are about twice as tall as an[Average] creature, and run the gamut rom thinand spindly to broad and stocky. Tey have theollowing statistics: base f movement speed

- to Armor Class- to attack rolls+ on saves against combat maneuvers

[Huge] creatures are ar larger than even a [Large]creature, though not so large that a normal-sizedenemy couldnt hurt it. Each huge creature has an

individual set o rules or determining how big itis, and the consequences o its size, but they typ-ically occupy more than one square on the battlemap. In addition to any other effects o its size, ahuge creature gains all the benets and penaltieso being [Large].

Dwarf+2CON

+2IN

-2CHA

[Average] s ize

[Humanoid ] type

+ (+ / levels) racial bonus to Engineering[Darkvis ion]

BONUS FEA S(choose one)

Livers Need Not Apply

Slow and Steady

Rune Magic

Dwarves are ofen re erred to as children ostone, and despite their humanoid bodies, thisdescription is largely accurate. Since their arrivalin Hallow, dwarves have lived in deep mines andortresses known as stoneholds. It is o coursetrue that dwarves live in other places as well cit-ies, above-ground ortresses, and in nearly anyplace that contains a unctioning orge but allsuch places o residence are considered temporaryby dwarves, no matter how long they actually livein them. I conditions get bad outside (and as ar asdwarves are concerned, things arent bad untilthey involve a horri ying natural disaster, total

war, or all-consuming social unrest), dwarves tendto pack up and all back to a stonehold, ofen trig-gering a mass exodus when they do. Dwarves willgo to nearly any length to either die in a stoneholdor ensure that their remains are taken there. According to most people, this tendency simplyreects the undamental insularity and arrogance


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Chapter IV: Races

o Hallows master crafsmen. Its certainly truethat dwarves, taken as a whole, tend to be arro-gant and insular, but theres actually a good reasonor their behavior.

Dwarf SocietyDwar society is rooted in the stone ar more thanmost non-dwarves realize. Te rst dwarves inHallow brought with them a ew slabs o magi-cally-preserved stone called dataliths, along withthe lore o how to craf them. On the sur ace othese dataliths, one can nd tiny runes contain-ing the history o the dwarves who were brought

to Hallow and those who have lived there since.Te keepers o dataliths are the most respectedmembers o dwarven society, and virtually everydwar would die to preserve the datalith o thedwar s home stonehold, as well as that o anoth-er stonehold. Smaller personal dataliths are commonly usedby dwarves to records observations, experiences,and transactions. Each year, a stonehold celebratesa ritual in which all the dataliths o dwarves whodied in the past year are copied to the stoneholdsmain datalith. Te greatest honor any dwar can re-ceive is or the in ormation on his or her datalith tobe considered so important that it is trans erred tothe stoneholds datalith immediately on death in-stead o at the annual ritual; the worst punishmentany dwar can suffer is or his or her datalith to be

rejected as unreliable or unworthy. Dwarves strive towards rationality and objec-tivity in all o their interactions, since the reliabil-ity o their statements and actions is the primarymetric on which they are judged by their peersand their stonehold. Dwarves prize intellect andendurance above all other traits, and indeed seem

naturally gifed in those areas. Un ortunately,dwarves generally do not value strength o per-sonality, and distrust appeals to emotion or intu-ition. When dealing with less rational creatures(such as nearly all non-dwarves), dwarves arethere ore brusque and ofen harsh in their interac-tions. Tey can react violently to a broken agree-ment or other breach o trust. Dwar political organization varies rom stone-hold to stonehold, but most are ruled by oligarchswho can be removed in cases o abuse o power. Ingeneral, oligarchs are selected rom past keeperso the dataliths, and have such a long record o

trustworthiness that none dare challenge themwithout proo o truly aw ul behavior. A ewstoneholds with ancient ties to gnome commu-nities are ruled by hereditary monarchies, but allcontain exceptionally stringent tests designed toweed out unreliable heirs. Te most notable exception to the dwarvennorms o rationality in all things is a group whohave developed a strange martial art based on con-suming huge amounts o alcohol. Tese dwarvesimbibe extensively prior to any con rontation orbattle, and display unbelievable eats o strength,healing, and, on occasion, waves o sheer destruc-tive orce. Most strongholds ban these brawlers,while those that welcome them generally implantthem with crystal orbs that magically record theiractions and sensations or inclusion in the drunk-

en masters dataliths, since the recollections ochronic alcoholics are not always precise or trust-worthy. Recently, the drunken masters lore havespread to the outside world, with members oother races learning and using the secrets o theirmartial art.


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Dwarves place a great importance on their clanname, which is ofen the rst thing exchangedwhen two un amiliar dwarves greet each oth-er. ypical dwar names will include highlightthe honor, bravery, ghting style, heirloom, orsome other notable and impressive aspect othe dwar or his clan. Examples o such namesare: Farir Axebearer, Fistbeard Beardst, SigurdBlackhammer, Ebenezer Clutchpurse, VarinFirewalker, Rhes Goldcutter, Khandar Magehand, Janus Invictus Malleolus, Mangus von Mangusson,and Valhim Rockbeard.

Dwarven Technology and MagicMagical and technological items o dwar man-u acture are among the most desired in all oHallow, as practically all such items have been de-veloped, tested, and crafed to exceptionally highstandards. Te ull extent o dwarven technicalachievements is still largely a secret, but there isno doubt that many strange and terrible devic-es exist deep in the stoneholds. Dwar engineersdevised Hallows rst explosives some centuriesago, and there is little doubt that the primitiverearms that have spread throughout much oHallow have much more advanced counterpartsin dwar orges and armories. Even now, magical-ly-augmented casings containing both propellantand projectile are being used in a ew deadly re-arms on Hallows battleelds and darkest alleys.

Aside rom weapons, dwarves can design (orreverse-engineer) and build almost anything theyconsider use ul. Dwarves claim to have developedthe rst timepieces in Hallow; while this state-ment may or may not be true, there is no doubtthat dwar -built timepieces are compact, sturdy,and extremely accurate. O course, technology

and magical items that record and preserve in-ormation are another dwar specialty, and someo the most amazing such devices are care ullyguarded in their vaults.

Elf

+2DE X

+2 ANY MEN AL

-2CON

[Average] s ize

[Humanoid] type

+ (+ / levels) racial bonus to Nature

[Ghostwise s ight] t

BONUS FEA S(choose one)

By Wil l Sustained

Arc ant ric Ac cu ra cy

Summon Mote

Elves are most ofen ound either in particularlylush corners o Hallow or in deserted areas thatthe elves intend to improve. In most cases, this isone o the most welcome events in Hallow. Aferall, the process o improving wastelands increas-es the resources available to everyone, and thereis time enough to ght over ownership afer theelves have completed their work. Te only realcomplication arises i the landscape being im-proved is owned by people who like it the way itis, though this scenario is less common than onemight think. As individuals, elves are tall (ranging romslightly below average human height to well aboveit) and thin, physically notable or agility unusu-al in creatures o that size and or some level o

physical ragility. At any rate, engaging an el inconversation can be either ascinating or unset-tling, as elves tend to display an oddly specic in-sight into the growth and development o livingthings. While many elves exercise a certain levelo tact when discussing such things, others tendto point out deeply unsettling acts about li e and

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