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The
GLOG
The Goblin Laws of Gaming
Version -1.0
by Arnold Kemp
at goblinpunch.blogspot.com
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
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Table of Contents
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Design Philosophy................................................................................................................................................... 3
Base Mechanics........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Level........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
The Base Adventurer ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Leveling Up.............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Class Templates....................................................................................................................................................... 4
The Character Sheet................................................................................................................................................... 5
Ability Scores........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Conviction................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Hit Points................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Recovering Hit Points............................................................................................................................................. 6
Injuries, Insanity, Trauma, and Doubt................................................................................................................ 6
Attack ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Defense...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Stealth........................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Move........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Initiative..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Save .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Inventory Slots and Encumbrance...................................................................................................................... 7
Melee Weapons........................................................................................................................................................ 7
Ranged Weapons..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Armor........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Breakage................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Abilities .................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Skills........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Gameplay...................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Starting Equipment............................................................................................................................................... 10
Starting Skills......................................................................................................................................................... 10
Combat Maneuvers............................................................................................................................................... 10
Hirelings................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Pets........................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Poison....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Drunkenness........................................................................................................................................................... 10
Shields...................................................................................................................................................................... 10
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Overview
Design Philosophy
1. Compatibility with old modules. Simple
enough to perform conversions on the f ly.
2. Low Power Level. Each level gives you
diminishing returns. The power curve
f lattens out drastically after 4th level. No
supermen.
3. Accessible for new players. They should
be able to make a character in 10 minutes,
then learn the rules as they play.
4. Simple. Consolidate ruthlessly. Turn two
rolls into one, turn one roll into none.
Turn tables into formulas, turn formulas
into static numbers.
5. Fast to play. Prioritize f lexibility over
comprehensiveness, rulings over rules,
simplicity over realism.
6. Hackable. No dependencies, no power
expectations. If a player requests it, a DM
should be able to design a custom class in
5 minutes. Player characters are just a
few templates bolted onto a common
chassis.
Base Mechanics
Nearly everything uses a d20 rolled against a
target number. If you roll equal or less, you
succeed. For example, if you have a Strength of
9, you have a 45% chance to succeed on a
Strength check. Bonuses and penalties are
usually +/- 2 or 4.
Contested checks are likewise resolved with a
single roll. The player makes their check with a
bonus or penalty proportionate to how far the
opponent's stat is from 10. Examples:
Shoving: The PC has Str 11, the orc has Str 14.
The PC needs to roll a 7 or less to succeed, since
11 – 4 = 7.
Attacking: The PC has Attack 12, the orc has
Defense 16 (plate). The PC needs to roll a 6 or
less to succeed, since 12 – 6 = 6. If they were
attacking an ooze with Defense 8, they would
need to roll a 14 or less to succeed.
Level
A measure of your character's power. It goes up
as you gain experience. Characters do not roll
their HP, but their HP is based off their
Constitution (which was rolled randomly),
because I think it's fun to sometimes start with 1
HP.
For this reason, characters don't really have hit
dice (HD), but since some spells affect HD, treat
their HD as equal to their level, up to a
maximum of HD 4.
At level 4 a character has access to all of their
abilities, and is considered “fully grown”. Any
other abilities you gain beyond this point are the
result of questing, not merely leveling up. If you
want fireball, you'll have to quest for it. And
adventures should hand out quest abilities pretty
often. Did you survive the ice fairy's
transformation plague? Well now you have the
permanent ability to transform into a rabbit.
Experience Points
You gain 1 XP for every copper (c) you obtain
through adventurous means.
• 1 gold gildrek = 10 silver smoldreks
• 1 silver smoldrek = 10 copper cupreks.