Façade:

Generic Roleplaying System Rules

Version 0.1 (Unpolished First Draft)

 

Part 1: Basic Rules

The heart of the Façade system is a stepped dice system.  Basically, to resolve a dice-based action a player rolls a combination of dice.  The average roll for these dice is the trait that is being tested.  Therefore, a character should succeed at a difficulty equal to his skill half of the time.  To find what type and number of dice are required for each trait level, consult the following chart, which is reprinted for reference on the character sheet:

Trait Rating	Dice Rolled			Trait/Difficulty Description
01			d2	Infantile
02			d4	Pitiful
03			d6	Childish
04			d8	Minimal
05			d10	Poor
06			d12	Below Average
07	1d10	+	d4	Low Average
08	1d10	+	d6	Average
09	1d10	+	d8	High Average
10	1d10	+	d10	Above Average
11	1d10	+	d12	Over Average
12	2d10	+	d4	High
13	2d10	+	d6	Very High
14	2d10	+	d8	Extra High
15	2d10	+	d10	Amazing
16	2d10	+	d12	Masterful
17	3d10	+	d4	Heroic
18	3d10	+	d6	Epic

After rolling the dice, the roll’s level of success or failure can be estimated by using the following chart as a guide (success values are basically determined by subtracting the difficulty from the roll and dividing by 3 and rounding down):

Result	Success Level	Meaning
Under by 3 or more	-	Complete Failure
Under by 1 or 2	-	Near Miss *
Succeeded by 0-2	0	Minimal Success
Succeeded by 3-5	1	Minor Success
Succeeded by 6-8	2	Full Success
Succeeded by 9-11	3	Good Success
Succeeded by 12-14	4	Major Success
Succeeded by 15-17	5	Amazing Success
Succeeded by 18-20	6	Masterful Success
Succeeded by 21-23	7	Heroic Success
Succeeded by 24-26	8	Legendary Success
Succeeded by 27+	9	Epic Success

* (May not have the results of complete failure, at GM option)

Critical Failure or Success

There are no specific rules for critical success or failures.  The GM can consider any roll that fails by a wide margin and consists of 1s and 2s on the dice to be a critical failure.  This should only be applied when rolling with above-average traits or against very low difficulties; otherwise an inordinate number of botches would occur to unskilled individuals.  Likewise, any successful roll that has all of the dice showing their highest number or one less may be treated as a critical success with the GM’s option as to its result.  Either of these should only occur when it forwards the plot or increases the fun of the game.

Automatic Failure / Success

If the stunt rules are not being used (see the Optional Rules section) any roll that has no chance of meeting the difficulty should be considered an automatic failure.  An invalid with no climbing knowledge is incredibly unlikely to make it up even a tree with a large number of handholds.  If the stunt rules are in effect, any player that cannot describe a good enough stunt to add to an inferior dice roll automatically fails.  As for automatic success, most normal actions can be assumed to succeed automatically.  In a non-contested situation a player can take an automatic minimal success if his trait exceeds the difficulty by 3 or more.  If his trait exceeds the difficulty by 7 or more he may take an automatic minor success.  If the GM thinks that there should still be a chance of failure the automatic success rules are not in effect.

Passive Contests

Whenever a character attempts to do something to another character that is not actively opposing him, be it pick his pocket, convince him of something that he’s not arguing against, stab him in the back, etc., there exists a passive contest.  The active player rolls whatever trait or trait combination is appropriate for what he is trying to do against a difficulty equal to whatever trait or trait combination the passive character would use to resist.  Success is determined as normal.  Passive contests are also used for any contest that does not involve animate opposition, from picking a lock to writing a computer program.

Active Contests

Whenever a character attempts to do something to another character that actively opposes him, be it to pick the pocket of a watchful target, out-debate someone, or backstab an alerted individual, etc., there exists an active contest.  Both players roll their appropriate traits or trait combinations.  Whoever rolls higher is the winner, and the loser’s result should be subtracted from the winner’s to find the level of success.

Cooperation

If two or more characters attempt to work together, there exists an attempt at cooperation.  One character should be declared the primary actor, and everyone else trying to help should be considered secondary.  Each secondary character should roll whatever trait or trait combination is being used to help.  After all of the rolls are made take the lowest roll and compare it to the active character’s trait in a passive contest.  If it is successful, temporarily add the Success Level to the active character’s trait.  Proceed to the next-lowest secondary roll and compare it in a passive contest to the temporary trait level of the active character.  If it is successful then add the Success Level to the temporary trait level of the active character as before.  Proceed up the rolls until all secondary rolls are counted, and then roll the primary character’s temporary trait total towards whatever task was being attempted.  Very low secondary rolls may actually reduce the primary character’s temporary total, at GM option.  Obviously, there will be a limit to how many characters can effectively help at once.  The GM may wish to arbitrate contests involving a large number of individuals separately or with each helper having a static minor benefit rather than making a roll.

Extended Contests

Some contests may require more than one roll.  Either the GM requires a certain number of successes to fully complete some project or the player wishes to spend extra time to achieve greater success.  Whether it’s even possible to take extra time on the challenge is up to the GM.  There are three methods of handling an extended contest:

• Decreasing Rewards – Each roll made after the first is reduced by a cumulative 1 point penalty.  The second roll is at –1 to its result, the third is at –2, the fourth is at –3, and so on.  Negative results remove Success Levels.  Eventually, depending on trait level and difficulty, continuing will not be beneficial.  This is best for any situation where taking extra time with something will only be beneficial for so long (e.g. after spending enough time trying to convince someone to do something, one becomes more and more annoying and less likely to do any convincing).
• Frustrating Loss – Each roll made by the character is taken separately and added to the total Success Level.  However, each time the player fails a roll, the difficulty of the task increases by 1 for all subsequent rolls until the extended contest is given up.  This is best for any situation in which the character’s own attention span and sense of frustration are likely to cause a decrease in performance (e.g. fixing a computer system).
• Time Limit – Each roll made takes a certain amount of in-game time.  This time per roll may increase as more and more rolls are made.  The total time should be added up, and the character may have to abandon the project for sleep, work, or adventuring.

Note that these systems may all be combined if the situation warrants it.

Time and Rolls

Outside of combat, each roll takes as long as the GM decides is appropriate, and performing multiple actions within this time period is up to the GM as to whether doing so would make sense.  Combat time is handled in the combat section.  Outside of combat, time should be handled in whatever combination of normal time and storytelling notation (scene, chapter, etc.) that the group is comfortable with.

Part 2: Characters

A character’s statistics in the Façade system can be broadly divided into four categories: attributes, skills, backgrounds, and derived statistics.  Attributes represent a character’s intrinsic capabilities, skills represent capabilities learned through study or experience, backgrounds represent statistical representations of a character’s history, and derived statistics are a catchall for stats based on but separate from the other categories.

Attributes

The attributes of a character are further divided into category, specific, limit pools, and modifiers.

Category and Specific Attributes

There are five attribute categories, each with three specific attributes in each one.  Categories are rated from 0-18 on a normal human scale.  Specific attributes are rated from 0-6 and are added together to produce the category attribute.  A character with 3 in a specific attribute, and, therefore, 9 in a category attribute is the human average.  0 in an attribute represents the minimum possible, denoting terrible illness or other deep-seated problems.  A character with a 0 attribute automatically fails any active contest involving that attribute, even if he has a trait total due to skills.  A 1 attribute is pitiful, and a 2 attribute is still below average.  A 4 attribute represents someone who is considered high or above average.  An attribute at 5 is exceptional, and an attribute at 6 is a phenomenal level of untrained ability.

Body

The Body category represents a character’s general health and muscle mass, noting how well internal systems work and how much physical effort the character can put into something.  Body is used for a rough estimate of character height and weight.  For modern characters add Body in inches to 4’6” for human females and to 5’0” for human males to determine standard height.  Multiply Body by three and add to 90 lbs. for human females, and for human males multiply Body by five and add to 110 lbs.  Body is subdivided into the specific attributes Strength, Stamina, and Health.

• Strength – This attribute represents a character’s muscle mass and tone and his ability to lift heavy loads or exert strong force.  Assume that a character with average strength can lift and carry his own body weight again with some difficulty while higher or lower strength is progressively more or less, with a Strength 6 character being able to lift around three times his own weight.
• Stamina – Stamina represents a character’s body density, muscle hardness, fat cushioning, nerve deadness, and general ability to take physical punishment either from exertion or damage without immediately falling over.  An exceptional character can ignore most of the effects of wounds while a lower Stamina means that the slightest ills cause great pain.
• Health – This represents a character’s functioning internal systems and how good he is at recovering from injuries, poison, or illness with no permanent damage.  An average or better character heals fairly quickly and rarely gets sick while a low health means that the characters life may likely end to an infected cut or a simple cold.

Action

Where the Body category represents the muscles and organs of the character’s body, the Action category represents the movement capabilities of the body.  Measuring speed, coordination, manual dexterity, and raw motive capabilities, it is divided into the specific attributes Finesse, Grace, and Agility.

• Finesse – The Finesse attribute measures small body movements.  It represents the dexterity of fingers and toes, the ability to carefully manipulate fine devices, and the ability to squirm through small spaces.  A high-Finesse character is completely steady when manipulating items while a low-Finesse character is regarded as a “butterfingers.”
• Grace – This attribute details a character’s middle-capacity muscle movements.  It can be used to determine balance, posture, ability to dance, and other fine manipulations of the entire body.  A high-Grace character moves with fluidity and control while a low attribute likely means a klutz or couch potato.
• Agility – The last of the trio, Agility represents broad muscle movements.  It is responsible for speed, jumping, reaction time, most combat abilities, and most other actions where speed is more useful than fine precision.  A high Agility means an excellent athletic ability while low-Agility characters are slow and unable to make full use of their muscles for moving, possibly due to excess weight.

Mind

This category involves a character’s brainpower.  It represents logic and reasoning abilities, self-examination, and attention to detail.  It is divided into Reason, Insight, and Perception.

• Reason – This represents a character’s logic and problem solving abilities.  Similar to what Intelligence Quotient has been designed to test, it is used for puzzles, riddles, and any mental exercises that can be won through a mind that progresses from point A to B to C without missing a step.  Reason 0 indicates brain damage or animal-level intelligence, 1 is IQ 60 or less, 2 is IQ 60-90, 3 is IQ 90-110, 4 is IQ 110-140, 5 is 140-200, and 6 is 200+.
• Insight – Where Reason is logical capability, Insight represents a character’s intuitive mental processes.  It measures one’s ability at self-reflection, common sense, wisdom, and ability to reach conclusions without using rational thought processes.  A high-Insight character can make leaps of thought without clues or precedents to guide him while a low-Insight character is blind to everything but the obvious.
• Perception – Related to Insight, but different, Perception represents how much conscious or unconscious attention is usually paid to the rest of the world.  Perception is used as a basis for all tasks requiring alertness, empathy, and the senses, and involves a constant ability to notice physical and psychological factors in the world.  A high Perception means constant attention to what is around the character while low-Perception characters spend far more time noticing only the self.

Persona

The Persona of a character represents his ability to deal with other people in a social situation.  It details likeability, conversational skill, power of persuasion, and all-around ability to get one’s way in society.  It is divided into Poise, Charisma, and Wits.

• Poise – This attribute measures the “I don’t know, something” level of a character.  It’s a spark, a warmness to the eyes, good posture, an inner glow, and a memorable smile.  While Poise doesn’t necessarily represent beauty – which is in the eye of the beholder and changes between societies and eras – it does detail all of the physical factors that involve using the body to best advantage.  It is rolled whenever the character uses body language or wordless communication to try to get his way.  A high-Poise character is generally considered attractive even without matching the society’s standard of beauty while even a conventionally attractive low-poise character tends to turn people off outside of still images.
• Charisma – A charismatic individual is likeable even if he is not poised and attractive.  Charisma represents an ability with social cues, charm, and a variety of factors that lead people to trust and rely on the individual.  Even without a high Wits score, a charismatic individual does well in conversation, even if it’s just because people feel sorry for him.  A high-Charisma character tends to have a lot of friends and be well-thought-of in his social circles while a low-Charisma character is, at most, tolerated by those that he associates with.
• Wits – This is the bridge between mental faculties and social skill.  Wits represents a character’s ability to keep afloat in conversation, notice social cues, tell funny jokes, and make or dodge insults.  A witty character may not be well liked, but he can outmaneuver those who try to crush him socially.  A high-Wits character has comic timing and conversational craftsmanship while a low-Wits character frequently forgets punchlines and winds up with a bored audience.

Soul

The last category of the character represents a variety of different factors.  It sums up all the intangible factors of a person that aren’t exactly part of mental or social ability.  It is divided into Creativity, Luck, and Will.

• Creativity – Some people are born with imagination and the ability to create original works of art, and that is what is reflected in this attribute.  Creativity rates ability to invent new ideas, imagine interesting things, and judge the imagination of others.  A high-Creativity character enjoys works of fiction and tends to have a number of artistic outlets, while a low-Creativity character must have entertainment pre-packaged with as much of the imagining as possible done already, but tends to excel at boring tasks.
• Luck – Whether or not this trait represents the favor of the gods, an unnoticed psychic phenomenon, or just an unconscious ability to react to the barest of stimuli there are, unquestionably, people in the world that seem to constantly have good or bad things happen to them completely separate from all obvious rationales.  This attribute can serve as the basis for any roll that has no other possible base.  Additionally, at GM option, a character may take one or more points of Exhaustion to add Luck to the trait total of any roll where it would make sense.  Lastly, unlucky characters should be prepared to critically fail at any large failure and to serve as the target for any number of bizarre plot hooks.
• Will – This trait measures a character’s strength of determination.  Will is used to resist torture, mental manipulation, and other extreme circumstances, as well as to force oneself to go beyond normal limits.  As with Luck, Exhaustion can be taken to add Will to any roll that could be forced through by perseverance.  Strong-willed characters are hard to deter from their course while low-Will characters are easily manipulated.

Limit Pools

Each category attribute has a corresponding Limit Pool attached to it.  Body has Strain, Action has Fatigue, Mind has Stress, Persona has Passion, and Soul has Exhaustion.  Each of these pools represents the mounting problems that activity causes an individual.  Whenever the Pool of a category reaches that category attribute (e.g. if the character has Body 6 and Strain reaches 6) all rolls based on that category or its specific attributes cannot be at a lower difficulty (e.g. at 8 Strain all rolls involving Body, Strength, Stamina, or Health would be a minimum difficulty of 8).  This difficulty minimum continues until Limit drops back below the category.  When the category pool reaches double the category, all rolls involving that category or its specific attributes automatically fail until the Pool level drops back down below double the level.  The different pools also have different additional results for doubling out.

The primary way to gain Limit is by failing rolls.  Whenever a player fails a roll unless otherwise noted he gains a level of whatever pool was appropriate for the roll.  A failed Strength-based roll gains a point of Strain, a failed Grace-based roll gains a point of Fatigue, a failed Insight-based roll gains a point of Stress, and so on.  Each pool has other ways in which it can be increased, detailed below.

In general, Pool points will begin to dissipate at about the same rate as they were gained, as soon as the character gets out of the situation that caused them.  A character who is building up Passion due to a heated argument will not reduce it until he goes somewhere else for a while, one who is increasing in Stress due to a frustrating riddle will not lose any until he stops thinking about it, and one who is gaining Fatigue will need to stop dancing and rest for a little while.  A special case is made in combat; Strain and Fatigue gained by making attacks begins to bleed off as soon as the character stops making attacks (e.g. starts dodging) even if still involved in the combat.  Some uses of traits or physical items may also reduce pools, and different pools may have different ways they can be reduced in special circumstances.

Strain

This Pool represents the process whereby a person becomes physically tired and unable to move due to expended energy and built-up body acids.  Other causes of Strain are using items too heavy for the character to use effectively (especially weapons in combat), illness, poison, extreme exertion, and wound complications.  A character that reaches double his Body in Strain must immediately sit down and rest (due to body stress and cramps), taking no further physical actions beyond massaging muscles or taking deep breaths, and a character that exceeds double Body passes out until Strain falls to 0 or someone else wakes him up.  A character may take on 1 point of Exhaustion per Body-based roll to add his Will to the number of points of Strain that can be taken while still active.  As soon as he can no longer take Exhaustion he passes out.  (E.g. A character with 10 Body and 4 Will may have up to 24 Strain without passing out as long as the last 4 points are paid for with Exhaustion every roll)  Sleep, a good massage, or a soak in hot water can all increase the speed at which Strain is lost.

Fatigue

When a person becomes more and more Fatigued the joints are locking up with tiredness and the muscles are overstretched and overexerted.  Certain chemicals or illnesses can cause Fatigue, as can being contorted into unusual shapes.  A character that exceeds double Action in Fatigue will be very tired the next day, taking an increase to all Action-based rolls the next day equal to the most that Fatigue exceeded double Action.  A character may use Will to augment Fatigue the same was as it can be used to augment Strain (above).  Sleep, massage, and soaking are also good cures for Fatigue.

Stress

Stress represents a level of preoccupation and mental unfocusing that keeps a character from performing well mentally.  Too many responsibilities and demands on a character’s time can result in Stress, and its major danger is that it is usually quite hard to get rid of as long as any deadlines are near, and the overall Stress will not decrease if there is any source still adding it.  A character that reaches Stress equal to double Mind will tend to drop everything and go play video games or something, having reached the Phuket Point.  A character that continues performing Mind-based activities after reaching double-Stress (due to personal need or an overbearing boss) does not automatically fail Mind-based rolls like the other pools, but all Mind difficulties are at a minimum difficulty of the Stress level.  Further Stress gained goes instead to Passion, which can provoke an outburst.  The best ways to remove Stress faster than normal are sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.

Passion

This Pool is used to determine how emotional a character has gotten.  While the character can often be provoked into an emotional state based on history and the player’s desires, Passion represents a state when the character has lost control on his emotional balance.  A character in the throes of Passion may go into a rage, a sobbing fit, terrible fear, hysterics, or an act of poorly-thought-out romance.  Further causes of Passion may come from any failures in front of an audience, certain drugs and other stimuli, Stress boil-over (see above), or a specific attempt by another character to rouse the character’s Passion.  All levels of Passion should be roleplayed, the character becoming more prone to any emotion the higher Passion climbs.  When Passion reaches double Persona the character should fall into an unthinking bout of whatever emotion is appropriate, or the effects can be narrated by the GM if the player is not doing so effectively.  Deep, soothing breaths, counting down from ten, and other exercises are said to help reduce Passion.

Exhaustion

Exhaustion represents the loss of a character’s fires of the soul.  Other causes of Exhaustion are using Will or Luck to achieve some end or using special powers.  A character that reaches double Soul in Exhaustion has “run out of juice.”  He is easily convinced to do things that he would normally argue against, finds himself not as lucky as usual, and doesn’t have the energy to get up and do anything imaginative.  There are no additional penalties for this state besides not being able to make Soul-based rolls, but it should be roleplayed.  Some people swear by Meditation as a way to refocus and re-center, removing Exhaustion.

Modifiers

Modifiers are specific traits that are tied to attribute categories.  They increase or decrease the total trait for rolls in specific circumstances.  For example, a character that is Good at Puzzles (1) gains +1 Reason to solve a puzzle or +1 Perception to find the right piece.  A character that is an Excellent Dancer (2) gains +2 Grace when dancing and may gain +2 to Persona-based rolls against those that are fascinated by dancers.  A character that Sucks at Relationships (1) gains –1 Wits or Charisma when making rolls to keep a romantic relationship going.  A character that is Easily Strained (1) treats his Body as one lower when comparing it to Strain.  In general, the more points a modifier is worth, the more it costs or gives back for its taking.  Further, a modifier that affects several attributes or takes effect in a lot of situations will have a higher value as well.  Modifiers only very infrequently add or subtract more than 6 to any trait.  More example modifiers follow, and see the character creation section for more information.

Example Modifiers

The cost of a modifier varies depending on how the GM wants to run character creation, but each modifier should be marked with one of the following notations to determine how expensive they are:

• Minor - Benefit to one attribute in rare circumstances
• Simple - Benefit to one attribute in uncommon circumstances, or two in rare circumstances
• Medium - Benefit to one attribute in infrequent circumstances, or two in uncommon circumstances
• Major - Benefit to one attribute in frequent circumstances, or two in infrequent circumstances
• Extreme - Benefit to two attributes in frequent circumstances

The notation will vary from game to game (e.g. in a game which features a running theme of dance competitions, the Dancer modifier will be a Medium or Major modifier, where it might be Minor or Simple in a normal game).

Body

• Disease Resistant / Disease Susceptible (+/-X to Health to resist illness)
• Good Leverage / Poor Leverage (+/-X to Strength when comparing to weapon minimums)
• Poison Resistant / Poison Susceptible (+/-X to Health or Stamina to resist toxins)
• Power Lifter / Poor Lifting Capacity (+/-X to Strength to lift weight)
• Thick Skin / Thin Skin (+/-X to Stamina to resist pain)
• Un-Strainable / Easily Strained (+/-X to Body when determining Strain effects)

Action

• Ambidextrous / Uncoordinated (+/-X to Action traits when using both hands)
• Catlike / Unbalanced (+/-X to Grace when attempting to maintain balance)
• Double-Jointed / Tight Joints (+/-X to Action traits when contorting)
• Excellent Dancer / Two Left Feet (+/-X to Grace when dancing)
• Good Runner / Slow (+/-X to Agility when attempting to move quickly)
• Limber / Stiff Tendons (+/-X to Action to determine Fatigue effects)
• Mechanically Inclined / Breaks Things (+/-X to Finesse when working with small machinery)
• Tall / Short (+/-X to Agility for rolls involving running and jumping)
• Quick / Dull-witted (+/-X to Action when determining initiative)

Mind

• Animal Nose / Stuffed Up (+/-X to Perception for smell-based rolls)
• Good at Puzzles / Puzzled (+/-X to Reason on Perception with puzzles)
• Good Hearing / Malfunctioning Ears (+/-X to Perception for hearing-based rolls)
• Good Judge of Character / Too Trusting (+/-X to Insight or Perception when judging trustworthiness)
• Good Memory / Poor Memory (+/-X to Reason when trying to remember something)
• Keen Eyes / Bad Eyesight (+/-X to Perception for visual-based rolls)
• Light Sleeper / Beauty Sleep (+/-X to Perception to wake to stimuli)
• Refined Palette / Not Picky (+/-X to Perception for taste-based rolls)
• Relaxed / Burnout (+/-X to Mind to determine Stress effects)
• Sensitive Touch / Dead Nerves (+/-X to Perception for touch-based rolls)

Persona

• Advantaged / Disadvantaged (+/-X to Poise for first impressions with people from the same culture)
• Attractive / Unattractive (+/-X to Poise and Charisma where appearance is a factor)
• Confident / Uninspiring (+/-X to Charisma when attempting to take the lead)
• Dead Sexy / Pastel (+/-X to Poise when dealing with goths)
• Eerie / Unintimidating (+/-X to Charisma when attempting to intimidate)
• Good in Bed / Cold Fish (+/-X to Charisma when dealing with former sex partners)
• Interesting / Uninteresting (+/-X to Poise to get visual attention)
• Mr. or Mrs. Right / Sucks at Relationships (+/-X to Charisma when trying to maintain a romantic relationship)
• Outgoing / Shy (+/-X to Wits when dealing with new people)
• Scary / Unimposing (+/-X to Poise when attempting to intimidate)
• Sexy / Undesirable (+/-X to Poise when sex is an issue)
• Stand Up / Sit Down (+/-X to Wits when telling a joke)
• Unbiased / Bigot (+/-X to Charisma for first impressions with minority groups)
• Unemotional / Passionate (+/-X to Persona to determine Passion effects)

Soul

• Concentration / Scatterbrained (+/-X to Will when needing to maintain concentration)
• Honorable / No Morals (+/-X to Will to resist temptation)
• Inexhaustible Font / Frail Soul (+/-X to Soul to determine Exhaustion effects)
• Inspired Writer / Blocked Up (+/-X to Creativity when writing)
• Lucky at Cards / Terrible Gambler (+/-X to Luck when playing cards)
• Lucky at Dice / “Another Botch?!” (+/-X to Luck when playing dice games)
• Lucky at Machines / Slot Feeder (+/-X to Luck when playing machine-based games of chance)
• Self-Controlled / Impulsive (+/-X to Will to resist mind-control)
• Soul / Mediocre (+/-X to Creativity when playing music)
• Straight Edge / Addictive Personality (+/-X to Will to resist addictive substances)

Skills

Where attributes represent a character’s basic abilities, what his mind and body can do due to their level of development, skills represent what a character has learned through study and practice, information that is contained in the mind for how to make use of raw capabilities.  A skill total is added to an appropriate specific attribute to come up with a trait total.  Skill totals range from 0-12 to create the standard 0-18 result when added to 0-6 attributes.  Skills are divided into three levels – Broad, Focus, and Specialty – all ranging from 0 to 4.

• A Broad skill is inclusive of a wide-ranging knowledge of a field.  A character with a Broad skill knows a little about everything in the area, which is usually enough to fake knowledge of anything specific within it.  Broad skills are expensive to learn because they contain such a wide variety of abilities.  Examples of Broad skills include Alertness, Expression, and Science.
• A Focus skill is secondary to a Broad skill.  It includes a more specialized and specific body of knowledge than the Broad skill.  A character with a Focus skill can fake most Specialty skills contained within it, but is helpless to understand any skills related to it in the same Broad category.  Focus skills cost less to learn than Broad skills because they represent a more refined area of study.  Examples of Focus skills include Empathy, Artist, and Astronomy.
• A Specialty skill is tertiary to a Broad skill and secondary to a Focus skill.  It represents a very specialized but very thorough knowledge of a field.  A specialist knows far more about one subject than someone with its primary Broad skill but may not have the Broad or Focus basis to fully understand and utilize that knowledge.  A Specialty skill costs the least of all three types, because it concerns a very small area of knowledge that can be fully explored.  Examples of Specialty skills include Sense Motive, Painting, and Planetary Bodies.

When a character is required to make a skill-based roll, the GM will typically ask for an attribute + Specialty skill roll.  The character then adds that attribute rating to the ratings of the Specialty skill in question and the Focus skill and Broad skill that it is part of.  For example, a character with Perception 3, Alertness 2, Empathy 4, and Sense Motive 1 required to make a Perception + Sense Motive roll would roll a total trait of 10.  If the character had 0 ratings in Alertness and Sense Motive he would only roll a trait total of 7.

For most rolls there is no penalty to having 0 in one or more of the categories of a skill, beyond simply having a lower trait than the maximum.  Even if a character has no skill whatsoever in something, he may still choose to roll his base attribute in most cases.  At any time that it is appropriate a character may default to a category attribute rather than rolling specific attribute + skill, but must add the same amount to the difficulty as was added to the normal trait total by doing this (e.g. a character making a difficulty 10 roll with attribute of 4 and skill total of 2, trait total 6, may choose to instead roll his category attribute of 10 against difficulty 14.  The difficulty increased by four because trait total 10 is four better than trait total 6).

Some rolls may not be attempted without some level of skill, whether it is Broad, Focus, or Specialty, at the GM’s option.  For example, it is very difficult to remember the name of a country’s third dynasty if one has never studied any history.  In general, the less likely a subject is to be taught in a beginner’s course the more likely it is to require a Focus or Specialty skill roll.

Backgrounds

A character’s backgrounds represent aspects of the character that are not part of the character’s mind, body, or soul.  In most cases, if a character is transported to a new location (with no contact with his old one) the traits that are lost will be backgrounds.  In short, backgrounds are ties to the setting of a game, usually developed well before the present.

The cost of backgrounds during character creation, like modifiers, will vary depending on how useful the background will be in the game, and is up to the GM.  Unlike modifiers, backgrounds gained after character creation during the course of the story cost nothing but GM approval, unless the GM has developed some other system for background growth.  Also unlike modifiers, the way of keeping track of backgrounds varies widely.  Some backgrounds, like character wealth, may be rated based on relative level.  Some backgrounds, like special items, may be rated individually with a relative level being inappropriate.  Regardless, there are three types that most backgrounds will fit into: standard, exponential, and individual.

• Standard – A standard background is rated numerically.  Anyone with the background can have 1 level, 2 levels, 3 levels, and so on up to 10 levels or even more.  The character is unlikely to need to further split the background.  Examples of a standard background would be Minor Mafia Favors or Major City Secrets.  Standard backgrounds can usually be easily gained and easily spent, one level at a time.  Standard backgrounds are typically the cheapest, since, for example, having Secrets level 4 is exactly twice as many secrets as at level 2.
• Exponential – Unlike a standard background, with exponential backgrounds the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  The difference between a level 10 and level 8 exponential background is likely to be much different than the difference between level 4 and level 2.  Basically, a character with an exponential background at low levels has a very small piece of all the available background but at high levels a character could conceivably own all of a possible background.  For example, a character with the Savings background at 1 has a very tiny amount of spare cash.  A character with Savings level 10 is likely to have a vast fortune, worth far more than ten times the value of level 1.  In theory the character could, with a high enough background, run out of Savings that are possible to have.  A low-level exponential background may be worth less than a low level standard background, but a high-level exponential background can be worth far more than a similar level of a standard background.  The costs of the backgrounds should reflect this factor.
• Individual – An individual background represents a singular person, place, thing, or idea that the character owns or has been awarded.  Having more than one of these backgrounds of exactly the same type is unlikely if not impossible.  Individual backgrounds may have a rating similar to an exponential background, but this is solely to determine its value in relation to similar items to determine its cost during character creation.  Examples of individual backgrounds are unique items, special titles or positions, unusual licenses, or unique patrons.  Unlike standard or exponential backgrounds, the value of an individual background is unlikely to increase or decrease during gameplay except through extraordinary circumstances (the unique item gets improved or altered, the patron becomes more powerful, etc.)

Separate from background type, most backgrounds will fall under four distinct classifications:  resources, relationships, status, and special circumstances.  Characters may gain extra points by taking the liabilities:  debts, dysfunction, notoriety, and special problems.

Resources

These backgrounds represent anything the character specifically owns, is owed, or leads to other things being owned or owed.  They will run the gamut of background types.  In general, most things that a character could put on a tax return, such as savings, income, and job type, or things that a character can buy and expend, such as favors and secrets, can be considered a Resource.  Specific examples follow:

• Savings – Usually an exponential background, savings represent how much money and other goods that can be made liquid quickly the character has.  The player should detail whether the savings are in a bank, in a vault, or in some other location.  The GM may prefer for this to be a standard background, where each level is a specific monetary amount that can go up and down based on play and the income background.
• Wealth – In opposition to savings, wealth represents non-liquid resources.  Land, houses, cars, stocks, furniture, and other such things are all wealth.  This is, again, usually an exponential background.  In general, a level of wealth will be worth more than the same level of savings since the money is all tied up in objects that take time to turn into ready cash.  A character skilled in finances could turn a small level of the wealth background into a larger level of the savings background.  What most of the character’s wealth is in should be detailed, and the background is unlikely to fluctuate wildly unless large new property is bought or a significant amount is liquidated.
• Income – This background, almost always exponential, details the character’s income from his job.  Level 0 means that at the very most the character volunteers for room and board, and at the very least is unemployed.  Level 1 might be volunteering with some perks or tips.  Level 2 might be below minimum wage, and Level 3 could be minimum wage or below minimum plus tips.  The income can probably be assumed to double with every level, so the above individual at Level 6 in modern America would be making around $40 an hour or $80,000/year.  It is, unsurprisingly, ultimately up to the GM.
• Job – Where income determines how much money a character makes at his job, this background determines how hard he has to work.  It is almost always exponential.  This background is essential to anyone with an income rating that doesn’t wish to get fired for having to go on adventures.  At level 0 a character is likely expected to work over 40 hours a week to meet his income, and level 1 is a standard 9-5 week.  Assume that each level of the background gives a character a week of vacation time and 5-7% less required hours per work week.  The player and GM can balance income against job to figure out exact variations of salary and working time.  If a character has a level of the job background higher than the relevant skill total for doing the job then he should probably have the status to be management level or a very convincing character history.
• License – Taken as an individual background, the character has a license or permit beyond what is normal.  This might be a fake ID, a concealed weapon permit, or even a license to kill in the line of duty.  Assume that such things as drivers or fishing licenses are in the possession of anyone of the requisite age or skill unless the GM postulates a stricter game world.  As normal, the GM should set the value of permits and licenses based on how useful they will be in the game.
• Favors – The character is owed a number of favors of a certain value from a certain source.  This is usually a standard background.  However, it may be considered an individual background if received from an important NPC, or it may be bought as an exponential background if the character is willing to maintain the give and take of favors during downtime.  The source of each favors background should be noted (e.g. Mafia Favors, FBI Favors, etc.) and their level of value (e.g. minor, major, or life-threatening).  Whenever the character does something worthy of a favor he may add a level to the appropriate background, and whenever he calls in a favor he should subtract a level.
• Secrets – The character knows a number of secrets about something.  These might be blackmail material or might be secret codes or supernatural facts or rituals.  The player should specify what group or person each secrets background applies to and its value, just as with favors.  Whenever a character learns a new secret he may add a level to the appropriate background, which is, again, usually simple.  Whenever a secret becomes widely known, made false, or becomes otherwise less than useful a level should be marked off.

Relationships

These backgrounds represent individuals and groups that the character is involved with in a positive way.  Any background that involves people willing to help the character in a variety of ways because of a personal relationship (i.e. because of more than just an owed favor or monetary compensation) should be considered a relationship.  Specific examples follow:

• Significant Other – This background is unlikely to be taken as anything but an individual background.  It represents a character’s significant other, whether it be girlfriend, boyfriend, fiancée, or spouse.  A character can have a SO without this background, but unless it is played by another character the GM is likely to play it as quite unhappy with the character’s exciting lifestyle, and prone to getting kidnapped by the antagonists.  By buying this background at higher values the SO becomes more and more able to take care of him or herself, more accepting of the character going off at odd times with his friends, and more likely to have one or more abilities useful to the character besides emotional support and sex.
• Friends – Usually taken individually, this background represents a character’s good friends.  If this background is not taken the character has no good friends apart from player characters that are at all useful to him in a tight situation; either they are not dedicated enough to help out when it’s difficult or they have no useful skills.  Like a significant other, the more valuable the friends the more useful skills they have and the more willing they are to risk their necks to help the character.
• Information – This background should be taken exponentially, and should be focused in a specific area (e.g. the computer industry or the Chinatown Tong).  The more broad the area and the more useful to the game the more this background costs.  Essentially, having this background means that the character knows one or more individuals in an area that can be persuaded to give him useful information, discount equipment, and access to other perks.  They may not be his friends, but they don’t dislike him, and he will probably have to pay them for their time in some manner.  A specific contact should be bought as a friend.
• Allies – Much like information, the allies background gives the character a group of individuals that aren’t exactly his friends but are willing to help him regardless.  The rating in this exponential background could mean the respect of a mercenary company, the backing of a government agency, the interest of a club of occult scholars, or something similar.  Basically, he has a number of skilled, mostly trustworthy individuals who are willing to help him at need for fair compensation.  As with information, specific members of the group that are more than casual associates should be bought as friends.
• Family – A family is a pool of blood relations or adopted siblings that will help the character.  The family can fill the role of information or allies, and are on a similar scope as to how valuable and large information or ally groups are (e.g. a player that specifies that most of his family members are in the computer industry will pay the same as for computer industry contacts).  A family will not likely give as good information as gained from background or prove to be as skilled allies as that background but they are usually completely trustworthy and willing to charge the character little or nothing for their help.  Once again, any really close family members should be bought as friends.
• Followers – In the same vein as allies and family, a character with this background has established a retinue, cult, congregation, or group of students that follow him for some reason.  Their number and value is likely to be similar to that of allies.  Unlike allies they are often completely devoted to the character and rarely charge much or anything for their services.  Instead, they require that the character do for them whatever it is that they follow him for.  A retinue must continue to be shown the noble lifestyle, a cult or congregation must be regularly preached to, a group of students must be taught regularly, and so on.  If the character fails to fulfill his duties then he will begin to lose followers at a rate depending on how lax he is and how charismatic in his attempts to keep them.  For the last time (I promise): any followers of special significance and devotion should be bought as friends.
• Patron – Taking individually, the character has another person or small group that looks out for him.  The patron provides monetary assistance, influence, and occasional useful information.  The value of the patron depends on the level of influence and resources that are likely to be used on behalf of the character, and how little is expected of the character in return.  This may represent a parent, an interested boss, an illuminati-like group of well-wishers, or just someone the character did a big favor for in the past who is trying to balance the scales.  Regardless, the patron is likely to be willing to do a set amount over a certain period of time for the character, and if he requires more the level of the patron may begin to decrease or compensatory demands may be made.
• Mentor – Also taken individually, the character has a teacher that has taken a personal interest in him.  This may be a professor in his field, a local martial arts trainer, a supernatural instructor, or something similar.  The value of the background depends on how useful the mentor’s skills are to the character, how accessible the mentor is to teach, and how little is expected of the character in return.  Unless the mentor is also bought as a patron his or her only role is to teach, and the character will be expected to provide full compensation for any other help given.

Status

These backgrounds represent something a character is known for that tends to give him preferential treatment and other privileges.  In general, a character with these backgrounds will either have earned them through recognized hard work or have obtained them by a fortuitous chance of being in the right place to get noticed while doing something good.

• Respect – While the character may not be widely known (a function of fame and renown), within his sphere of popularity he is accorded respect.  He may be known for fighting prowess, ethical integrity, mental skill, artistic genius, or something similar.  Others tend to treat the character better than if he were simply famous, and few are willing to challenge the character in his bailiwick.  As usual, the value of this respect to the game determines its cost, and it is usually an exponential background.  There is some danger in the background, as others may see defeating the character in his area of supremacy as a way to build their own fame and respect.  A character with nothing in this background is accorded no special respect outside of those who have witnessed his skills in action.
• Title – The character has a title accorded by some religious or monarchical group.  If the character is likely to move up or down in level of title (e.g. he is a courtier in a rapidly changing court) then this should be bought as an exponential background.  If titles are generally awarded independent of former or future place in society (e.g. the modern British knighthood), or come with a special modifiers (e.g. Earl of Wessex) then they should be bought as individual backgrounds.  The title might even be a special duty not usually part of the character’s standing (e.g. CEO’s golf caddy).  The cost of the title depends on what privileges it will gain in the game world.
• Fame – The character, because of a political career, entertainment stardom, or some newsworthy development, is widely known amongst nearly all demographic groups, and in a positive light.  While others might not necessarily have any special respect for the character (a function of respect, above) he is not disliked and will generally be treated well by most people that have heard of him, simply because he is famous.  Some people may treat stars badly, but they’re just jealous right?  The GM decides what amount of fame and what cost each level of fame indicates.
• Renown – Like fame, renown indicates that a character is well known and liked for some reason.  Unlike fame, renown indicates reputation within a less broad group.  Where fame means that virtually everyone within a certain regional limit knows about the character, renown follows ideological lines.  The character may be known within a corporation (e.g. IBM), a club or community (e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous or the scientific elite), a certain mindset (e.g. anime fans), or an organization (e.g. the FBI).  For example, a character with several levels of renown may be known by every comic collector in the free world but be unimportant to his next door neighbor.  Renown costs similarly to fame.
• Standing – This background represents a character’s position within a corporation or organization, and is an exponential background.  Unlike renown, the character may not be well known in the company, and he may not have high levels of the job or income backgrounds.  Instead, a standing above 0 (entry level) gives the character access to privileged information, access to company expense accounts and other resources, ability to set policy for lower standing individuals, and likelihood of being taken seriously in requests to higher-up individuals in the company.  As with everything, the GM decides the cost.

Special Circumstances

Backgrounds in this classification defy being placed in one of the other three areas.  Usually they will reflect unusual but valuable aspects of the character’s history or unique items that do not qualify as simple resources.  In a game that features supernatural or high-tech aspects this background will have more variety.  In such cases the GM will likely have a list of new backgrounds for this classification.  Sample backgrounds follow:

• Unusual History – The character has some aspect of his history that allows him access to information, skills, powers, or other advantages outside of a normal character.  If the GM wants to run a game where strange histories are the norm for players’ characters this background may be given out free or deemed unnecessary.  This background may be considered individual or standard, at GM option, and might even be exponential (because there’s a limit to how much strangeness can be experienced in one lifetime).  As an individual background it will reflect unique facets of the character history (e.g. Unusual History: Raised by Wolves).  As a standard or exponential background it may be a gauge to how weird the character’s past can be (e.g. a character with only 1 or 2 levels might be able to get away with having once met a vampire, while level 8 could allow the character to have lived among vampires for several years, as well as having been captured once by pigmy soldiers).  In general, this background exists to allow characters access to specialized Lores, other unusual skills, special powers, and so on that characters who have led a normal life will have been unable to buy.  It does not give any free points in these abilities unless the GM decides it should (e.g. even with years amongst the vampires the character should buy Vampire Lore to have picked up any useful information).  It is, not unexpectedly, completely up to the GM as to how unusual an unusual history can be.
• Unusual Possession – This background should almost always be taken as individual, though a case for it as exponential could be made by a character that collects curiosities in downtime and often has a new item on hand.  A character with this background owns a unique or at least very rare piece of equipment that would be nearly priceless or of restricted use.  This can be anything from heavy weapons, to a magical artifact, to psychic crystals, and so on.  This background might also indicate unusual powers or blessings that the character has (e.g. Unusual Possession: Increased Strength in the Morning).  This might have been acquired as part of an unusual history, as a gift from a patron or mentor, or as permanent equipment due to standing in an organization.  The value is up to the GM.

Liabilities

In opposition to normal backgrounds, a liability is a hindrance to the character.  Most liabilities will work like backgrounds in reverse, and should usually be of the same value as the same level of a positive background.  Example liabilities follow:

Debts

The opposite of resources, debts are things that the character owes, either to a specific individual or to society at large.

• Loan – The character owes someone a lot of money, and it only increases as it is not paid off.  This runs in opposition to savings and wealth, and will likely prevent having very high levels in those backgrounds, unless the loan was in return for something even harder to pay back (e.g. raw diamonds).  Anything supernatural in nature should instead be considered an unusual liability.
• Criminal Past – Opposing the license background, a character with criminal past may not be still hunted (such would be a function of notoriety) but he is banned from doing something.  This will usually be something like inability to own a gun, drive, drink alcohol, or something else appropriate to the game world.  If the character is caught doing such anyway, the punishment will be severe.
• Blackmail/Extortion – Opposing favors and secrets, the character is being coerced by another individual.  Blackmail involves threatening to reveal the character’s secrets and extortion involves threats of more tangible nature against the character’s life, friends, or property.  Regardless, the character has to regularly give another party favors, secrets, money, or all three, likely for an indefinite period of time.  The only way out is to risk life and reputation by revealing the coercion.

Dysfunction

The opposite of relationships, dysfunctions are people that do not like the character and may actively wish him ill.

• Psychotic Ex – The opposite of significant other, this liability represents a former romantic relationship gone awry.  Whatever the circumstances of the breakup, the ex feels wronged and would like to get back at the character.  The more valuable the background, the more likely the ex is to regularly attempt to make the character’s life a living hell, and the more likely the ex is to succeed.
• Enemy – The character has an individual that seeks to kill him, or at least defeat him at every opportunity.  This person specifically targets the character, only going after the other player characters if it is the only way to the enemy.  Use the level of friend to determine the power of the enemy.
• Counterintelligence – A group of individuals with access to the character’s information dislike him intensely.  As such, they are incredibly willing to give out information about the character to his enemies: anything that is unlikely to cause a direct confrontation with the character.  This might represent gossips in the character’s organization, a pissed-off fan group, or even an antagonistic intelligence agency.  The value is similar to information.
• Adversaries – Opposing allies, family, and followers, a character with adversaries has managed to gain the enmity of a group of competent opponents.  While they may not routinely attempt to directly confront the character they will oppose him when it is convenient.  They also offer a discounted rate to any enemy or nemesis that wishes to hire them against the character.
• Nemesis – The opposite of mentor and patron, a nemesis is a small group or individual that opposes the character.  In general, the character’s nemesis does not consider him the highest priority, and will not engage in direct confrontation if at all possible.  However, the nemesis does have the knowledge and resources to throw opposition and roadblocks at the character quite frequently.  This treatment is likely to only be potentially lethal to the character if the character begins to fight back.

Notoriety

The opposite of status, a character with notoriety is known, but in a bad light.  Note that some parts of status and notoriety may be combined (e.g. a famous actor nonetheless held in good-natured contempt for his drug habit or a fugitive criminal who is still grudgingly respected for his ability to evade pursuit and for not killing his attackers).

• Contempt – The opposite of respect, the character is known for something embarrassing.  Few are willing to take him seriously or trust him until he proves himself, and maybe not even then: the higher the level, the more high-profile and frequent the character’s contemptible actions.
• Punishment – Opposing title and standing, the character has some special duty that he has to fulfill but gains nothing for doing.  He may be stuck sharing a partnership with a complete screwup, known as “Her Majesty’s Biggest Annoyance,” forced to crossdress, or something similar.  Much like a criminal past, shirking this punishment will result in problems.
• Infamy – The character has gained widespread recognition for something that makes people dislike him, likely as the result of news coverage or an intentional smear campaign.  He may be known as prejudiced, be a known criminal, have had an affair with the country’s leader, or anything else that could lead to recognition in a bad light.  While he may not be held in contempt by those that recognize him, he will still receive poor service, active avoidance, and so forth.
• Fugitive – The opposite of renown, the character is an escaped criminal, probably from a foreign nation or organization.  At lower levels the character’s capture is a low priority but he would be ill-advised to return to the nation or organization that is after him.  At higher levels he is a top priority for extradition or re-education, and may even be wanted dead or alive.

Special Problems

The opposite of special circumstances, a character with special problems has a number of negatively unusual history bits.

• Flawed Past – The character has some deficit in his past that marks him as less than normal.  In general, this will prevent him from buying certain skills or knowing useful information.  The character may have joined the circus instead of going to high school, been raised in a non-technological society, had a portion of his memories erased, or something similar.  If the character eventually gains the ability to learn the banned skills or gain the missing information his player should buy off this liability for its full value.
• Flawed Possession – The character owns something unique that he just can’t seem to get rid of.  It may be a dependent child or invalid, a mystical prohibition, an incurable disease, or a cursed item.  Whatever the case, the possession is a hindrance, but getting rid of it would be worse (due to the punishment of magic, superiors, health risk, or the character’s own conscience).  If the possession has any benefit to the character it should be bought separately as a background.  If the value of the possession as a background outweighs its value as a liability the only problem with getting rid of it might just be losing access to the background.

Derived Statistics

The last part of a character’s traits in the basic Façade system is derived statistics.  This represents pretty much anything else on the character sheet that is based on the other traits in some way.  In a game with standard human characters the only likely derived statistics are health, damage potentials, and other combat-related statistics that are covered in the combat section.

Part 3: Combat

The Façade system is intended to allow simulation of several different types of combat.  Eventually, the system will have methods for resolving fantasy battles, martial arts contests, gritty realism, simple dramatics, tactical combat, and other genres.  Those offered currently will tend to be more generic, intending to come close to real world results while allowing some degree of fictional tropes.  Where possible, advice for making the system as presented work in a different genre will be provided.

Several different systems can be built on a basic platform of ideas, so the first section will include these.  Subsequent sections will include different methods for engaging in combat.  The last sections will include the currently compiled statistics for combat-related equipment.

Combat Basics

A few systems will remain constant in most games.  These are intended to be modular enough to fit into different genres with minimal tweaking.  They are the systems for weapons, armor, and taking damage.

Weapons

Tables for weapons are presented later, but some information on how they are used should be useful beforehand.  Each weapon has a number of statistics that are useful to the game rules, apart from such things as weight.  Martial arts maneuvers will have similar statistics.

• Damage – This is the number of wounds that the weapon does on a successful hit.  It will be a number followed by B, C, or D, and possibly A, representing Bruising, Crushing, Deadly, and Arcane.  Strength does not add to damage in most cases, but instead notes how long and how often the weapon can be used (see below).  Most weapons will not have that much more of a noticeable effect on flesh when used by a stronger person (though some genres may account for Strength making it easier to hack through armor and objects), but will be able to be used longer without Strain.  A scratch does 1B damage (but will still deliver any poisons on the weapon if the damage gets through).   A glancing blow will do ½ damage, minimum 1.  A normal blow will do full damage.  A Strong blow will do double damage.  A Savage blow will do three times the listed damage.  How to determine how much damage is done can be referenced in the more detailed combat sections.  Bruising damage is superficial and heals quickly.  Crushing damage is more serious, but usually safe to take.  Deadly damage causes the character to quickly bleed to death.  Arcane designates any other type of damage, from fire, to acid, to magic, that might have special effects.  This will be covered in the individual weapon notes.  Most martial arts attacks do damage based on Strength in some fashion.
• Strength – All weapons have a Strength rating based on how light and balanced they are.  This is the minimum Strength rating that a user of the weapon can have without quickly tiring out from the weight, pull, or recoil incurred by using the weapon.  For every attack with the weapon a character takes Strain equal to how much this rating exceeds Strength.  For example, a character with 4 strength will incur no special penalty by using a weapon with rated Strength 0-4, will take 1 point of Strain for every attack with a Strength 5 weapon, will take 2 points of Strain for every attack with a Strength 6 weapon, and so on.  Strain taken in this way returns at a rate of 1 point per turn of combat, as long as the character is not making further attacks (e.g. is running away, dodging, etc.).  If the character continues to make physical attacks, even with a different attack method or weapon that incurs no penalty, the Strain will not recover naturally.
• Minimum – Some weapons, usually things like mauls, tree trunks, and Volkswagen Beetles, are too heavy to be used as weapons at all by a certain level of Strength or less.  A Strength 1 character simply cannot wield a greataxe in combat, even with a penalty of Strain.  Without at least the listed number, the weapon cannot be used in combat, save through creative innovation (e.g. dropping the axe on top of someone from a ledge).
• Reach – This will generally fall into four categories: Small, Medium, Large, or NA.  A Small weapon is often no longer than two feet and is useful close up.  A Medium weapon is usually between two and four feet and needs some room to use.  A Large weapon is often longer than four feet and is hard to use against enemies within arm’s reach.  A weapon labeled NA is usually a ranged weapon or is otherwise not especially benefited or penalized by melee distances.  Tactical combat will make use of this, and even in non-tactical combat genres the GM is advised to apply a slight bonus to hit if a character makes a point of fighting at the appropriate Reach against someone with a different Reach (e.g. a greatsword should be used with plenty of room, because its wielder will have a hard time against an attacker up close, whereas a dagger user has the opposite problem.).
• Range – A statistic important to ranged weaponry, obviously, this details how far the weapon can deal full damage.  Each further range increment reduces the damage by half until it is negligible.  Some weapons will be inaccurate enough that range imposes a penalty to actually hitting, but most will just reduce in the kinetic energy necessary to deal damage.  Note that some archaic ranged weapons, such as bows, may deal less damage at lower Strength, in addition to imposing Strain, as a weaker character will just be unable to pull the string back fully.  Ranged weapons use Agility for most attack rolls, but this can be replaced by Grace (if higher) for stationary targets or with Perception (if higher) for having time to aim.

Armor

Wearing protective clothing is often the best way to avoid being killed by weaponry.  Armor is divided into several statistics for the use of the game.

• Protection – This notes the actual value of the armor for reducing damage.  Some armors, such as chainmail, are very good at stopping sharp weapons but not especially useful against blunt trauma.  Others, like a thick overcoat, will reduce blunt damage better than that from sharp weapons.  Armors will be listed with their Bruising, Crushing, and Deadly protection levels.  For example, an armor with 4B, 2C, 1D would subtract 4 levels from Bruising damage dealt, 2 levels from Crushing damage, or 1 level from Deadly damage.  Therefore an attack that did 5B would only do 1B, a 5C attack would only do 3C, and a 5D attack would only do 4D.  This is further augmented by Reduction.
• Reduction – Most armors will also partially deflect damage even if they can’t totally absorb it.  For example, a mighty sword swing may not cleave the rings on a set of chain mail, but it is likely to deal impact damage from the force of the swing.  Sometimes the armor cannot stand up to the blow.  An armor with Reduction deals any damage past Protection to Bruising levels, even if it was Deadly or Crushing damage.  The Reduction number is the amount of damage that an attack can deal and still be reduced in effect.  A strike that deals more damage than this number is still subject to Protection, but is not reduced.  For example, an armor that has 4D 6R is dealt Deadly damage.  If dealt 1-4 points of Deadly damage, the Protection absorbs the damage completely.  If dealt 5-6D damage, 4 levels are absorbed, and then 1-2 levels of Bruising damage are also taken, rather than 1-2 levels of Deadly.  If dealt 7D or more, 4 levels are subtracted, but the rest cuts through the armor and is applied to Deadly wounds.
• Coverage – This is a designation of T, L, A, H, or S.  It represents Torso, Legs, Arms, Head, or Special.  Simply, it shows how much typical armor of the type covers.  This can be important when using rules that specify hit location, whether based on success or called shots.  A jacket would be only T/A, while a full suit of armor might include T/L/A/H.  The Special designation is only for very specific armors, like eye protection, heart shields, cups, or so on, that are useful against very focused called shots.
• Restrictions – These are the penalties that the armor imposes, usually on Action attributes, as well as notes as to its failings.  For instance, Kevlar is less useful against other forms of Deadly damage than it is against bullets and ringmail has reduced protection against piercing weapons such as arrows or stilettos.  Heavier armors will also be noted here, as they can have a Strength rating that will cause Strain much like large weapons.  Unless otherwise noted, assume that Action attribute penalties reduce the listed attribute by the listed amount while the armor is worn, rather than increasing the difficulty of rolls based on that attribute.

Health and Damage

The basic system for health and damage is intended to reflect the real world, where humans can easily be seriously injured and die if they get into fights.  It tries to simulate the fact that an unarmored individual can quickly be stabbed or shot to death, and may even be punched or kicked to death in a reasonable amount of time.  Games intending to make characters more resistant to damage should increase the number of health levels an individual has, or institute additional damage reduction based on Body attributes.

Façade’s character sheet includes space for recording Bruising damage, Crushing damage, Deadly damage, and hits to various locations.  A human without special circumstances or powers will have 1-18 Bruising levels, 1-12 Crushing levels, and 1-6 Deadly levels of damage that can be taken.  The individual descriptions of these are included below.

• Bruising damage is the least harmful type of damage.  It is relatively easy to prevent and heals quickly.  Bruising wounds can be welts, splotches, or bumps.  A character has Bruising levels equal to Body.  When a character runs out of Bruising levels, further Bruising wounds are divided in half and applied to Crushing levels, as the body is just a walking bruise by then.  For example, a character with 9 Body has taken 8B damage already.  The next attack deals 3B.  One point of this fills up the Bruising track, and then the remaining 2B becomes 1C.  If the total divides with a remaining ½, ignore it (in the above example, if 3B was 4B it would have had the same effect, because 1.5 points should have been applied to Crushing, and the .5 would have been ignored).  A character with no remaining Bruising levels takes 1 level of Fatigue for every turn of action, in addition to normal Fatigue gains.  These only disappear once the character is able to stop and rest for over a minute.
• Crushing damage is worse than Bruising damage.  It represents sprained muscles, internal bruising, splintered bones, and any other type of damage that takes a while to heal but does not inspire fear of immediate death.  A character has Crushing levels equal to Health + Stamina.  After the Crushing track is filled up, further Crushing wounds are halved as in Bruising and applied to Deadly to represent internal bleeding.  Again, ignore half points of damage.  A character with no remaining Crushing levels takes 2 levels of Fatigue for every turn of action, in addition to normal Fatigue gains and Fatigue gains for being out of Bruising levels.
• Deadly damage is the worst type of damage.  It represents wounds that are not only painful, but are also prone to bleeding.  A character has Deadly levels equal to Health.  A character that runs out of Deadly levels is dying.  A character without Deadly levels left takes 1B every turn, due to blood loss.  Once that character is out of Bruising levels, he takes 1C every minute.  When he has no health left, he is dead.  In addition, every turn of action imposes 3 additional Fatigue, which stacks with the penalties for being out of Bruising or Crushing levels, likely forcing a character unconscious quickly unless he just lies there.  Further Deadly damage is applied directly to Bruising levels and then to Crushing levels when those are exhausted.  At the GM’s option, Deadly damage done to the head or heart may cause instant death, and a character may begin bleeding more quickly if damage is done to a major vein or artery.

Some wounds inflict penalties.  For the normal damage system, keep track of how many times the character has been hit in various locations in the areas provided.  Damage is unimportant, just that it hit and what type of damage was done.  For example, a character that takes 4B to the Torso, 2C to the Torso, 1B to the Arms, and 2C to the Legs would note Torso Hits: B, C; Leg Hits: C; Arm Hits: B.  These hit notations disappear when the total damage of the area is healed, or the GM may wish to track the wounds individually with their values and keep track of their healing.

In the normal system, all hits to the head and Crushing and Deadly hits to the torso each reduce the Skill Total for all physical actions.  Hits to arms and legs reduce physical actions with those appendages.  For example, the character in the above example would be at –1 to all physical actions due to the one Crushing torso hit, and would be at an additional –1 to actions involving using the arms or the legs due to the hits to those locations.

Genre Systems

The following sections illustrate how to do combat in several different ways, suited to the genre of the game.  In time, there should be a version of the system to suit most styles of play.

Simple Combat

This combat system is minimal and left vague for dramatic descriptions of combat without any heavy rules.  It is intended for games where combat should be quick and depend more on description rather than tactical know-how.  Combat turns in this system are from 1 to 6 seconds long, whatever is appropriate.  In this system all damage and effects happen at the end of the turn, effectively at the same time or very close to it.

Step 1:  Initiative

Characters in direct competition compare Action scores.  The lowest score declares his action first, and then the next lowest, and so on.  This gives faster characters time to react to slower characters.  If characters have the same Action then they should declare privately to a third party if there is any debate as to what they will do.

Step 2:  Actions

Characters roll the appropriate Skill Total for their actions in an order decided by the GM.  For any unopposed actions, use a Passive contest with a difficulty set by the GM.  For opposed actions use an Active contest.  Remember to impose the correct Limit Pool for a failed roll (probably Fatigue) and to impose Strain for using too-heavy weapons (This is necessary to make dodging or otherwise not attacking a reasonable action, as it may tire out the opponent).  For example, Richard and Conner are both trying to hit one another with swords.  Both roll their Agility + Swords and compare their rolls.  Richard rolls 10 and Conner rolls 6.  Richard wins and Conner takes a point of Fatigue.

Step 3:  Results

Compare results.  In non-damaging cases, a successful character notes success normally by the success level chart.  For dealing damage, compare the winner’s roll to the loser’s.  If there is a tie or it only exceeds the other by 1, then a Glancing Blow is scored (dealing ½ damage, and possibly poison if the weapon is envenomed).  If the winner wins by 2 or more, full damage is scored.  If the winner scores double the opponent’s roll a Strong blow is scored.  If the winner wins by triple the opponent’s roll a Savage blow is scored.  At the GM and player option, a character may trade a better level of damage for hitting a specific location.  Use the normal rules for weapons, armor, and damage.  Extending the previous example, Richard deals 3 Deadly levels (3D) with his broadsword to Conner.  If he had rolled 12 or better, he would have had double Conner’s success and so dealt double damage with a Strong blow.  Conner is wearing leather armor that Protects against 2D and Reduces the last point, so Conner takes 1B.  Had Conner not been wearing armor, he would be in a sad, sorry situation right now.

Step 4:  End of Turn

Apply damage and results to the character and note any new conditions.  Repeat until combat is ended.

Dramatic Combat

This type of combat is more detailed than Simple Combat.  It is intended to have enough complexity to represent most combat actions in a game without a very specific genre while remaining simple enough to go by at a reasonable speed.  This is the default combat system for the Façade system.  Turns in Dramatic Combat are about 2 seconds long unless the GM rules otherwise.

Step 1:  Initiative

Everyone in the combat compares Action.  If those with the same Action have reason to want to get a better initiative, they should make an Active Contest of Action, with that Initiative being striated by the results.  Lowest Initiative goes first, then second lowest, and so on.  However, anyone with a better Initiative may interrupt the action of someone with a lower Initiative if they still have an action.  For example, Richard, Conner, and Jamis all have Action 11.  They roll Action, and wind up with respective totals of 9, 4, and 14.  On Initiative 11 Conner will be slightly below Richard who will be slightly below Jamis.  Conner acts first and declares that he is attacking Richard, who, since he has the better Initiative, decides to preempt Conner’s action and use a Full Dodge for that turn.

Essentially, this means that a character may choose to take an action at any Initiative Click lower than his Initiative total.  After this is passed, he may only take defensive actions against directed attacks, and then only if he has a Passive or Active action left to use (see below).  If multiple characters want to interrupt the same action the one with the higher Initiative interrupts first.  If they have the same Initiative totals, then they should roll dice or play rock-paper-scissors to determine who goes first.

Step 2: Actions

The Dramatic Combat system uses the labels Active and Passive to register actions in combat.  Active refers to attacks and other highly-charged actions in combat, such as attempting to break down a wall or activating most special abilities or powers, usually anything that could make a change to another character or the environment.  Passive actions are usually defense or movement of greater than a few feet (small movements in combat are not penalized), or just about anything that is unlikely to affect another character or the environment, including personal healing.

In a normal turn, without any events or effects that alter the normal rules, a character may choose to take a fully Active action, a fully Passive action, or an Active and Passive action.  A fully Active action involves forgoing movement or defense to gain a bonus to an action or to make multiple Active actions at penalty.  A fully Passive action involves spending the entire turn avoiding or blocking attacks or attempting to move a great distance.  A turn spent with both an Active and a Passive action usually means one attack and one parry or dodge.

Expanded rules for the various actions are below.  Unless otherwise modified, an attack consists of rolling a Passive Contest of an appropriate attribute (usually Agility) added to a Martial skill against a difficulty of the opponent’s Action score.  If the target has a Passive action left he may attempt to block or dodge, or if he has an Active action left he may choose to go Fully Defensive.  This is acceptable even if the attacker has a better Initiative score, and occurs after it is determined that the attacker would be successful without the Defense.  Level of success ([roll total – Action score]/3) is compared to the following chart to determine how effective the strike was, after finding the results of the Defense:

Extra #	S.	Torso	Legs	Arms	Head	Specific
-3	-	-	-	-	-	-
-1-2	-	Scratch	-	-	-	-
0-2	0	Glancing	Scratch	-	-	-
3-5	1	Glancing	Glancing	Scratch	-	-
6-8	2	Full	Glancing	Glancing	Scratch	-
9-11	3	Full	Full	Glancing	Glancing	Scratch
12-14	4	Strong	Full	Full	Glancing	Glancing
15-17	5	Strong	Strong	Full	Full	Glancing
18-20	6	Savage	Strong	Strong	Full	Full
21-23	7	Savage	Savage	Strong	Strong	Full
24-26	8	Savage	Savage	Savage	Strong	Strong
27+	9	Savage	Savage	Savage	Savage	Strong

Thus, a character who succeeded by 9, gaining a level 3 success, may choose to have made a Full (normal damage) blow to the torso, have made a Full blow to the legs, a Glancing (half damage) blow to the arms or head, or a Scratch (1B damage) to any location.  A similar strike will do less damage to harder-to-hit locations, but can be used to target less-armored locations or to make it harder to move.  The only way to “pull a punch” is assumed to be taking the less-damaging effect, and a blow to a specific location can include a smaller spot on any existing location.  For example, an attack with a level 2 success can be taken as a Full blow to the torso or can be used to Scratch the opponent on the head.  If the success had been level 3 the blow could have been an insulting Scratch to the opponent’s cheek.  This does mean that a character with a level 6 or better success cannot do less than Full damage even if he wants to, and should have chosen to act as if his attack total was lower rather than rolling the full total against an easy-to-hit opponent.

Remember to impose Limit Pool for failed rolls or too-heavy weapons.

Step 3: Results

Compare damage to armor and record health lost.  This takes effect immediately, not at the end of the turn, so all Limit and penalties associated with acting while wounded apply to actions after taking damage.  Few player characters are likely to choose to drop after taking their quota of Deadly damage, but unimportant GM characters probably should fall down unconscious or attempt to crawl off once they are out of Deadly levels.

Step 4: End of Turn

Note any effects that should be noted and then return to step 2.  Repeat until the combat ends.

Actions in Dramatic Combat

Active

• Normal Attack – The character takes a normal attack with a weapon or martial arts maneuver.  Roll Attribute + Appropriate Skill Total against opponent’s Action.
• Riposte – A special attack, this follows a successful Defense.  A character that Defends against an opponent’s attack and takes no damage from it may make an immediate attack on that opponent if he has an Active action left.  This riposte can even be made if he should not be able to act at the current time (either there are others trying to preempt his action or he chose to not act and it is now at a higher Initiative Click than his Initiative).
• Run – A character may choose to move as an Active action, in order to save a Passive action for defense.  A Run allows the character to move 3 x Agility feet in a turn and still make a Passive action.  A character that ends a turn running is assumed to have gotten up speed, and may make Full Movement actions in subsequent turns as if at full speed (see Full Movement).  The character’s Passive action cannot be to Move.
• Other Action – Any other action that could be completed quickly that has some kind of effect on the environment.
• Special Action – Any special action, whether it be a power, magic, etc., that can be used as an Active action.

Passive

• Defense Parry – The character uses a melee weapon or shield to intercept an incoming attack.  Roll Agility + Appropriate Skill Total (Either Shield or Parry) against the opponent’s Action.  A successful parry does not impede the attack’s success, but uses the weapon’s damage + Success Level as additional armor.  For example, a character that gets a level 3 Success on a parry with a Broadsword (3D damage) has an additional 6B/6C/6D, 0 Reduction armor total against the incoming attack.  Unless specially designed for it (such as a parrying dagger) a weapon may not be used to effectively Parry an attack by a weapon more than twice as large.  Only shields may usually be used to Parry ranged attacks.  A shield has an Armor rating that is used to Parry rather than a damage rating.  A character that makes a Parry with a weapon that deals Deadly damage against an unarmed attack, if successful, deals a Glancing blow to the attacker’s Arms or Legs (whichever was used in the attack).
• Defense Block – Blocking involves using arms or legs to impede an incoming attack.  This works like a Parry, with a few differences.  The roll is Agility + Blocking.  The amount of armor added by a successful Block is Stamina + Successes Bruising, Successes Crushing, and 0 Deadly.  A character with 3 Stamina who gets a level 2 Success will have additional armor of 5B/2C/0D, 0 Reduction for that attack.  Doing this enables the attacker, if desired, to choose to deal damage to the Blocking appendage (Arms or Legs) at the same damage as the Torso (e.g. a level 2 Success can deal full damage to the Arms or Legs instead of a Glancing blow).  Some special powers or martial arts styles may give the ability to block Deadly damage, but most people would be stupid to try to block a sword with their arm.
• Defense Dodge – Dodging is generally the best defense when unarmed or facing ranged weaponry.  Unlike Block or Parry, Dodging makes the character harder to hit rather than absorbing damage.  Dodge Sidestep involves stepping about a foot backwards or to the side, and is useful against bullets and attacks that are not likely to reach a long way, but is usually useless against area attacks or weapons with a lot of reach.  Dodge Duck is useful against most attacks, especially with something to duck behind, but gives a +2 bonus to any further attacks in that turn against the character due to being prone.  Dodge Roll gets the character completely out of the way, which imposes a –2 penalty to the character’s further attacks for the rest of the turn due to disorientation.  To dodge a character rolls Agility + the Appropriate Dodge Total against the opponent’s Action.  If successful, add the amount that the Dodge roll exceeded the opponent’s Action to the character’s Action.  For example, Richard attacks Conner and would have succeeded by 3 (or 1 Success level), but Conner dodges and exceeds Richard’s Action by 3, reducing Richard’s success to 0.  If Conner had rolled one higher he would have dodged the attack completely.
• Move – A character can move up to Action in feet as a Passive Action.  Obviously this will be very similar to the distance moved as an Active Run, but does not allow the character to pick up speed in subsequent turns.
• Off-Hand Attack – A character using two weapons may attack using the off hand weapon at a –2 penalty to the Trait total for the attack.
• Other Passive – Any other action that can be taken in less than a turn that does not affect the environment.
• Special Passive – Any special ability that affects only the character.

Fully Active

• Full Attack – The character foregoes defense to put more effort into an attack, adding +4 to the Trait total for the attack.
• Multiple Attack – The character attacks multiple times with the same attack.  Treat it as a Full Attack (with the +4 bonus) and divide by the total # of attacks taken.
• Other Full Action – Any other Active action that would take a full turn.
• Special Full Action – Any Active special ability that takes a full turn.

Fully Passive

• Full Defense – The character may Defend against any number of attacks this turn, using whatever method of defense is appropriate.  Remember to impose Fatigue for failures.
• Full Movement – The character starts to run abandoning all else.  He moves Agility x 5 in feet this turn, and is considered to have gotten a start if he continues to run in subsequent rounds.  Find the movement rate in the Systems section.
• Other Full Passive – Any other action that affects the character and takes a full turn.
• Special Full Passive – Any special ability that affects the character that takes a full turn.

Combat Equipment

Melee Weapons

Weapon	Dam.	Str.	Min.	Reach
Bastard Sword	4D	5	3	Large
Battleaxe	3D	4	2	Med.
Broadsword	3D	4	2	Med.
Greatsword	5D	7	4	Large
Halberd	5D	6	3	Large
Hatchet	2D	2	-	Small
Knife/Dagger	1D	1	-	Small
Large Chain	4C	5	2	Large
Mace	4C	4	2	Med.
Maul	6C	7	4	Large
Nunchuku	2C	2	-	Med.
Rapier	2D	2	-	Med.
Shortsword	2D	2	1	Small
Spear	3D	4	2	Large
Staff	3C	2	-	Large
Warhammer	3C	4	2	Med.

Martial Arts

Attack	Damage	Other
Headbutt	Strength B	Can’t Parry/Block it
Judo Throw	Target’s Str B	Goes Suc. Lev. in yards
Kick	Strength B	Must have space to use
Knee	Strength –1 B	Can’t target Head
Leaping Kick	Strength +3 B	Must have space
Martial Kick	Strength +1 B	Must have space to use
Martial Strike	Strength/2 B	No extra Strain
Punch	Strength/2 B	+1 Strain when hitting
Tackle/Grapple	Strength/2 B	Athletics to keep hold1

1 – Bypasses Armor on second and further rounds.

Ranged Weapons

Weapon	Dam.	Str.2	Min.	Range
Shortbow	2L	2	-	60’
Longbow3	4L	4	2	100’
Comp. Bow	3L	2	-	100’
Crossbow3	3L	-	-	100’
Knife	1L	1	-	15’
Big Rock	3C	3	-	10’
Small Handgun3	2L	1	-	60’
Big Handgun3	3L	2	-	90’
Small SMG3,4	3L	2	-	70’
Large SMG3,4	4L	3	-	150’
Rifle3	3L	3	-	600’
Shotgun	4L	4	2	60’
Assault Rifle3,4	4L	5	2	450’

2 – Reduce bow damage by amount of extra Strain taken.

3 – Treat bullets (not shotgun shells), crossbow quarrels, and longbow arrows as twice as damaging for purposes of bypassing the Reduction on armors.

4 – Capable of auto fire.  When firing auto, add +1 (three round burst) or +3 (empty clip) to both the Success Level of a successful attack and to the Strength rating.

Armor

Basic Armor Values

Armor	Protection			Reduction
	B	C	D
Thick Cloth (Sweater)	1	-	-	-
Thin Leather (Leather pants)	2	-	-	1
Thick Leather (Leather Jacket)	3	1	1	2
Kevlar (Bulletproof Vest)	2	1	1	2*
Boiled Leather (Leather Armor)	2	1	2	3
Boiled Hide (Thick Armor)	4	2	2	4
Thin Wood (Wood banding)	1	-	1	1
Thick Wood (Shield)	3	3	3	4
Thin Plastic (Reinforcing)	2	1	2	3
Thick Plastic (PVC Plate)	5	3	3	5
Light Chain (Chainmail)	3	1	3	6
Heavy Chain (Ringmail)	4	2	4	6
Thin Metal (Light Plate)	3	2	3	5
Thick Metal (Full Plate)	6	3	5	7
Plasti/Ceramsteel	7	4	6	8

* 16 vs. Bullets

Armor	Protect.	Red	Cover.	Restrictions
Leather Jacket	3B/1C/1D	2	T,A	None
Leather Pants	2B/0C/0D	1	L	None
Leather Armor	2B/1C/2D	3	T,A	None
Chain Shirt	3B/1C/3D	6	T,A	-1 Dex
Flak Vest	6B/3C/5D	7	T	+1 Str. to used weapons
Kevlar Vest	2B/1C/1D	2	T	16 red. vs. guns
Shield, Small	3 to all	NA	Parry	Str. 3
Shield, Large	4 to all	NA	Parry	Str. 4
Tech Clothes	2B/1C/2D	3	T,L,A	Concealable
Footb. Helmet	5B/3C/3D	5	H	-1 Per.
Full Plate	6B/3C/4D	7	T,L,A,H	+2 Str. To used weapons, -1 Per, -2 Agi

Part 4 : Systems

This section details the various actions in the game other than combat that could benefit from a more detailed system of how they work.  The systems are divided by which attribute category they use most, or are similar to in the case of stunts.  This section will grow as more systems are developed for sticky situations in the game.

Body Systems

First Aid

If a character is bleeding, an Insight + Appropriate First Aid roll (difficulty is the Total Damage the character has taken, minus that character’s Health attribute) will be sufficient to keep the character stable, though further medical attention may be required soon.  This can be re-attempted every minute if failed, but a very low roll may make the problem worse, at GM option.

Healing

This is probably an unrealistic system, and a GM for a game focusing more on the dangers of combat and realistic wounds is advised to alter it to fit.  A character without serious medical treatment (nothing more than cursory care or over-the-counter medicine) heals Health in Bruising levels every day, Health in Deadly levels every month, and Health in Crushing levels every 6 months.  These healing times overlap, and heal one at a time rather than all levels at once at the end of the period.  Crushing damage that heals on its own may leave poorly-set bones and Deadly damage may leave disfiguring scars, at GM option.  If the character has a lot of bed rest during the healing period then treat his Health as +2, but if he undertakes action more strenuous than a normal day-to-day existence (such as getting into combats) then treat Health as –2.

A character with skilled medical treatment heals faster.  If treated by a doctor (who makes a Medicine roll appropriate to the damage and time spent) and prescribed drugs or healthy activities then the character’s Health is increased by the doctor’s success level for healing the treated wounds.  If the character also has complete medical care (e.g. a hospital stay or a dedicated home nurse) then the doctor’s success level is doubled.  This stacks with the bonus for complete bed rest, so that an average-Health character (Health 3) with a doctor’s complete attention and a good treatment (3 success levels) and bed rest will have a Health 11 for healing the treated damage (Health 3 + 3 successes x2 + 2 for bed rest = 11).

Arcane Damage

Damage comes in many ways other than by being smacked around in combat.  These are a few of the other ways that a character can be hurt, and special rules for them.

• Acid/Fire/Electricity – These damage types deal damage to the Bruising track, but the wounds dealt are considered Deadly for purposes of wound penalties and healing.  The immediate danger of these types of damage is that they are incredibly painful and tend to overload a character’s nervous system.  Every turn that a character takes new damage of this type he must roll either Body or an appropriate Stamina + Endurance total (if higher than Body), against a difficulty of the total damage dealt.  Failure means that the character passes out from the pain.  The damage wraps from Bruising to Crushing to Deadly normally, so a character taking only 1-3 damage per turn is unlikely to die, but may still have appendages ruined or destroyed, or permanent nerve damage, at GM option.  Typical levels of damage are as follow: Candle/Weak Acid/Car Battery – 1 AB(Arcane Bruising)/Turn; Paper fire/Moderate Acid/Generator – 2 AB/Turn; Clothing on fire/Strong Acid/Wall Socket – 4 AB/Turn; Bonfire/Nasty Acid/Lightning (conducted through other medium) – 8 AB/Turn; Chemical Fire/Horrible Acid/Lightning (direct) – 16 AB/Turn.
• Falling – A character takes 1 Bruising damage for every foot fallen onto a reasonably hard surface.  Falling 100 feet is considered reaching Terminal Velocity, and so 100 Bruising is the maximum damage for a typical human (being extremely heavy or aerodynamic may change this).  A roll of Agility + Acrobatics (Falling) can be made to reduce or negate the damage.  If the skill roll result exceeds the feet fallen (e.g. a roll of 14 against a 9 foot fall) then the damage is negated completely, as the character manages to land gracefully.  Even if this is not successful, compare the roll to a difficulty 5 and then divide the damage by the success level (e.g. a roll of 14 against an 18 foot fall is not enough to negate the damage, but is a level 3 success, so only 6 damage would be dealt).  After reaching Terminal Velocity an acrobatic recovery is not possible.
• Heat/Cold – A character in extreme heat or cold without appropriate protections gains extra Fatigue and possibly Bruising damage (due to frostbite or heatstroke) at a rate up to the GM.  The variations of temperature vs. protection are too many to list, and the GM should come up with a rate appropriate to the goals of the story.
• Internal Bleeding/Medical Complications – If a character takes an extremely bad wound or has a nasty illness, the typical healing rules may not be sufficient, at GM option.  This is to introduce an element of risk so that characters do not rush into danger after calculating their healing times, and should be used sparingly.
• Illness/Poison – The typical roll to avoid an illness is Health plus any bonuses for protecting against exposure (from healthy living to a bio-suit), the difficulty depending on the level of exposure and the virulence of the illness.  Illnesses typically deal Fatigue and Strain at a rate dependant on their type, which will only reduce with bed rest and time.  Recovery varies by the illness, but is helped by medical treatment.  A character that runs out of Fatigue or Strain levels may be in danger of dying, at GM option.  Poison works much like an illness, but the resistance roll is based on Stamina and the effects of the poison are usually much faster.
• Suffocation – A character can hold his breath without penalty for [Stamina x20] seconds.  This period is reduced by ½ for every turn spent in serious movement (e.g. struggling against an attacker, not swimming underwater).  Special skills that involve breath control can improve this period, on a successful roll.  After the initial period, the character takes 1 Fatigue per Second until passing out.  At this point, if the character was voluntarily holding his breath, his body attempts to begin breathing.  If there is no breathable air (e.g. due to being underwater or being strangled) then the character dies [Health] seconds later.

Enduring Pain

Roll Stamina + Endurance (Torture) skill.  The difficulty is the total number of damage levels taken.  Each success level is a Wound that can be ignored (starting with Wounds to the torso).

Strength and Carrying Capacity

The table below indicates load weights and character Strength.  The percentage modifies character bodyweight.  A Light load is hardly noticeable by the character.  A Comfortable load is easily borne, but may slightly increase Fatigue or Strain from strenuous activities.  A Heavy load doubles all Strain and Fatigue gained while burdened with it.  An Unbearable load is like a Heavy load, but may also only be taken [Body] feet at a time before resting.  If a player makes an overweight character (compared to the rates under Body) for the purposes of being able to lift more, the GM is advised to consider the extra weight as a constant load on the character, but allow the increased weight-based lifting capacity.  A character carrying dead weight or a very bulky item may be able to carry slightly less, and a character with a properly-distributed load might be able to carry slightly more.

Str	Light	Comfortable	Heavy	Unbearable
0	3%	5%	10%	20%
1	8%	15%	30%	60%
2	10%	20%	40%	80%
3	12%	25%	50%	100%
4	20%	40%	80%	160%
5	30%	60%	120%	240%
6	40%	75%	150%	300%

Feats of Strength

A character may temporarily add a bonus of up to Will to Strength to move heavy objects.  This is not a direct addition, but an additive one.  For example, A character adding 3 Will to 3 Strength uses double the values of the Strength 3 line of the chart, not the Strength 6 line.  The character takes Exhaustion equal to amount of Will added for every two seconds of lifting.  The GM is advised to impose a penalty to all of the character’s physical actions equal to the amount of Will used for a day or more, representing pulled muscles and adrenaline low.  This penalty can be waived if the feat of strength was incredibly appropriate to the storyline.

Action Systems

Running

A character’s basic sprinting speed, after a good start, is as follows:

Agi	Feet/Second	Miles/Minute
0	1	0.01
1	3	0.04
2	6	0.07
3	12	0.10
4	18	0.15
5	24	0.20
6	32	0.25

For every [Stamina] seconds roll Agility + Running (Sprinting), difficulty 9.  Each failed roll adds Fatigue as normal.  Subtract a character’s Fatigue from Feet/Second.  A character may opt to move at a run instead of a sprint and use the Miles/Minute chart.  For this chart roll Agility + Running (Distance) every [Stamina] minutes, difficulty 9.  Each point of Fatigue reduces Miles/Minute by 0.01.  A character that runs slower than this can run at [Agility+1] miles per hour, making an Agility + Running (Distance) roll against diff. 9 every [Stamina x 10] minutes.  Fatigue has no real effect on this level of distance running, save for its normal effects on Action rolls and having to stop moving.  For the record, a character taking a non-Fatiguing stroll moves at [Agility/2] miles per hour.

Stunts

The GM may award up to 5 extra d4s for any roll, of any type, before or after the initial roll.  These should be awarded for especially well-described actions or whenever an action is especially dramatically appropriate.

Persona Systems

Inspiring Passion

To Inspire Passion in another character, roll Wit + Appropriate Skill (Seduction, Debate, Intimidation, etc.) + any appropriate Modifiers (e.g. Attractive can add to Seduction, even though it is not usually a Wit modifier).  The difficulty is the target’s Persona as a Passive Contest, though two characters attempting to Inspire Passion in one another may make an Active Contest.  The level of success is the number of Passion that can be added to the target’s total.  Taking longer between Inspire Passion rolls makes the Passion bleed off more slowly, as usual (a quick insult is easier to shrug off than an hour-long berating).  The character that is being made more Passionate should roleplay the appropriate emotion, especially if Passion is maxed out.

Part 5 : Character Creation and Advancement

The method of character creation is entirely up to the GM and the power level and type of game that is being run.  What follows are several different methods of creating a character in the Façade system, and more will inevitably be added.

Weighted Point Buy (Basic System)

In this creation method characters are given a number of points to spend on the three non-derived categories of character traits.  Afterwards, bonus points are awarded to round out the character.  Negative Modifiers and Liabilities are either converted to Bonus Points, or only usable in the areas in which they were gained (e.g. Modifier points gained can only be spent on Attributes or more Modifiers), at GM option.  The character points listed reflect characters in their late teens or twenties that have not really done anything amazingly adventurous before, but who are slightly above average in statistics, and the GM may wish to award more points for more experienced characters or less for characters that should be weaker.

Attributes

Characters receive 100 AP (Attribute Points) to buy Attribute Levels.

Att/Mod Level	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Cost for Att Level	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Total Cost (from 0)	0	1	3	6	10	15	21
Minor Mod/total	0/0	1/1	0/1	1/2	0/2	1/3	0/3
Simple Mod/total	0/0	1/1	1/2	1/3	1/4	1/5	1/6
Medium Mod/total	0/0	2/2	1/3	2/5	1/6	2/8	1/9
Major Mod/total	0/0	2/2	2/4	2/6	2/8	2/10	2/12
Extreme Mod/total	0/0	3/3	2/5	3/8	2/10	3/13	2/15

For Example, it costs 6 AP to buy a level 3 Attribute, and then would cost 4 more AP to raise it to level 4.  Level 3 of a Medium Modifier costs 5 total AP, but only 1 more AP to raise it to level 4.

Skills

Characters receive 200 SP (Skill Points) to buy Skill Levels.

The GM should decide whether Skills are bought Standard (raising Broad, Focus, or Specific Skills are unrelated) or Cascade (SP are spent into Specific skills, and that raises Focus and Broad Skills that include the Specific Skill).

If using the Cascade method, apply the total SP spent into Specific Skills to the Focus Skill that it falls under, and then apply the value of the Focus Skill to the Broad Skill that it falls under (e.g. spending 5 SP on Roll will also result in 5 SP being spent on Dodge, which results in 5 AP into Athletics).  This results in requiring mastery of 3 Specific Skills to master a Focus Skills, and 3 mastered Focus Skills to master a Broad Skill, and the costs are equivalent to the Standard method in this way.  If a Focus Skill reaches 4, all Specific Skills under it have a progression of (0/.5/.5/1/1) replacing (0/1/1/1/2).  If a Broad Skill reaches 4, all Focus Skills under it have a progression of (0/2/2/3/3) instead of (0/2/3/5/5).

Skill (Standard)	0	1	2	3	4
Broad	0	2	3	3	4
Total Broad	0	2	5	8	12
Focus	0	1	1	2	2
Total Focus	0	1	2	4	6
Specific	0	.5	.5	.5	.5
Total Specific	0	.5	1	1.5	2
Skill (Cascade)	0	1	2	3	4
Broad	0	5	10	15	15
Total Broad	0	5	15	30	35
Focus	0	2	3	5	5
Total Focus	0	2	5	10	15
Specific	0	1	1	1	2
Total Specific	0	1	2	3	5

Backgrounds

Characters received 50 BP (Background Points) to buy Background Levels.  GMs may instead wish to award points based on character age.  A suggestion for this change is to award [square root of Age x10] or [age x2] in BP.

Standard Backgrounds	Minor	Simple	Medium	Major	Extreme
Cost per Level	1 BP for 2	1 BP for 1	3 BP for 2	2 BP for 1	5 BP for 2

 

Exponential Backgrounds	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Minor	1	0	1	1	1	2	1	3	1	4	1	5
Total	1	1	2	3	4	6	7	10	11	15	16	21
Simple	1	1	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6
Total	1	2	4	6	9	12	16	20	25	30	36	42
Medium	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Total	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36	45	35	66	88
Major	1	3	4	6	7	9	10	12	13	15	16	18
Total	1	4	8	14	21	30	40	52	65	80	96	114
Extreme	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24
Total	2	6	12	20	30	42	56	72	90	110	132	156

Extra Points

Characters receive 50 EP (Extra Points) to round out their characters.  Each EP can be traded for 1 AP, 2 SP, or 1 BP.

Advancement

As the character creation system is weighted, the GM can simply award EP for experience.  No advice is available yet for rate of advancement, but 3-10 EP per game is probably fair.

Weighted Pool Buy

The second method for character creation is much like the Weighted Point Buy method, using the same cost tables, save that characters receive one large pool of points to spend, rather than splitting them amongst the three areas.  In this system every character receives 90 AP and 20 SP.  Then the GM awards a pool of other points, that can be referred to as WP (Weighted Points).  The typical award for a character is 100 WP.  Each WP is basically equivalent to 2 EP, and can be spent to gain 2 AP, 4 SP, or 2 BP.  This results in a character in this method being about as valuable as from the previous method, but with more flexibility.  Advancement in this system consists of simply handing out more WP for experience.