Gems Of Night: Quickstart Preview

A World Above Fantasy - Roleplaying Beyond Borders

Jasmine waited patiently as her friends carried the casket containing Lord Magnus’ remains to the ritual circle she had prepared in advance. With her wooden hammer in her right hand and a wooden stake and the other all that would take is a moment of courage and her mother’s death would be avenged. The tension built up inside of her like a teapot on the morning fire ready to explode. As the sun set she prepared herself for was about to come.

The seconds turned into minutes and the minutes eventually became an hour without a single sign of activity within the casket. With impatient hands she fiddled with the locks in a vain attempt to open the large wooden box. With no success her impatience got the best of her and soon she found herself tipping her ritual candle over on top of the casket. Soon the finely crafted box was set ablaze and to Jasmine’s surprise still no sign of Lord Magnus. That is, until a low rumbling voice from behind her call her by name.

“Looking for me, Jasmine” the voice said as she swiftly spun around on her knees before the magnificent figure in flowing robes now standing before her, the shining moon at his back.

Before she could warn her two friends of Lord Magnus’ power they were up on him. The swift stroke of an axe relieved Lord Magnus of his right arm. With his left arm Lord Magnus relieved the offending pest of his life. As the blood sprayed from the stump where Lord Magnus’s right arm used to be he laughed and directed the spray toward the second of Jasmine’s friends. The young man was reduce to a quivering mass within seconds as Jasmine leapt toward the chuckling Hematon.

As the flowing blast of blood formed itself into a replacement arm for Lord Magnus it’s soon found its way to Jasmine’s throat. The Hematon now held her in a choke hold suspending her body in midair with the strength of only one arm.

“Did you honestly think you would live to exact your revenge, little girl?” Lord Magnus spit the words through his teeth. “Lord Magnus, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that is exactly what you’ve just done for me” Jasmine said as she dropped the illusion that she had used to blanket the sky. Little did Lord Magnus know that it was barely noon. On this mirror world Hematon’s burst into flames when in direct sunlight.

Introduction

The world is an intermingled mix of societies ruled by either the Archons, who call themselves Knights Of The Shining Cities, and the Veritosians, who call themselves Heralds of God. Representatives of both houses, called Sages, wage war on each other using the Gems Of Night, secret supernatural powers handed down from generations past and cultivated to a perfect art. Like any other gem the Gems Of Night also possess different facets that allow one to travel into Mirror Worlds that surround theirs. It has always been believed that we are not alone in the universe. The truth has been discovered. Each mirror world is a reflection of our own, just at a different time and with different historic outcomes. A few have even progressed beyond our time line. To them we are just a reflection of their past. With powerful Sages present of every mirror world The best of them must be prepared to be dispatched to several worlds, live, and learn how to be a part of every culture. The most advanced Sages are comfortable in just about every environment and live lives far beyond the imagination of even the greatest super spy. This is your new world.

What Is A Roleplaying Game A role-playing game is part improvisational theater, part storytelling, and part game. It is played by a gamemaster who runs the game and a group of players who pretend to be characters. These characters are created by the players, given a history and personality, and then further defined by a set of statistics that represent the character’s skills and attributes—as developed in the character creation process. The gamemaster presents the setting and situation; through their characters, the players interact with the storyline and other characters.

Quick Start RulesWe have specifically designed these quick start rules (QSR) so that you and your friends can begin adventuring in the exciting worlds of “Gems Of Night” quickly! Read through these quick start rules, including the “Sideways” free adventure and before you even know it you’ll be playing in the fast-paced adventure using all of the rules you just learned, making the rules that much easier to understand and use. Additional helpful information can be found in the various links throughout the QSR. Also, handy charts in the back of the QSR will point out useful tips and tricks for both players and gamemasters, as

well as providing numerous examples using the pre-generated characters found in these quick-start rules of how the rules actually work in game play. For ease of reference, important terms, topics, and references will be accompanied by links to their respective bookmarks in order to provide you with quick access to definitions and related material.

Dice and Tokens Gems Of Night uses a set of 6-sided dice to represent the element of chance. These dice can be found in just about any other game you may play. It is always a good idea to keep several such dice at hand at all times while playing Gems Of Night. Characters can, at times, have skills allowing them to roll upward of 10 of these dice. For purposes of the quick start rules we will not be using this many dice. This game also introduces a unique combat system that makes use of special tokens. These tokens can be anything the group can use as long as they can be easily separated into three distinct groups. We recommend using either poker chips or those little glass beads used in collectable card games.

Characters In Gems Of Night each player will be allowed to create a character that will serve as his or her alter ego in the game. For the purposes of the quick start rules pre-generated characters have been provided belonging to the eight Prime Sage Types available in the game ( the Core Rules Guide will include the twelve Mixed-Breed Sage types playable as well for a total of twenty playable Sage Types).

Players will each be issued a Character Sheet for use with the game. The character sheet lists all of the Statistics and other abilities of the character. This information will be referenced whenever the character interacts with the system of the game. If the character must succeed in a Struggle in order to accomplish his or her goal then certain tests must be made in order to determine the degree of success or failure.


Sage Types In the world of Gems Of Night you can be human or you can be much more. Those who are gifted with the Gems Of Night are known as Sages. They represent the next evolution of humankind. Born with supernatural powers embedded into the very fabric of their souls, this new breed holds power over the elements, both physical and metaphysical. Across the world hey have set boundaries for their territories. These are known as Shining Cities for the Archons and Shadowed Cities for the Veritosians. More than just cities, these boundaries represent kingdoms that encompass entire nations in some lands. They represent the dividing line between factions and serve to let everyone know which faction is in power there. There are twenty known playable sage types. For purposes of the Quick Start Rules we will focus on the eight prime Sage Types.

The Archons

The Archons hold power over the physical elements. They represent the primordial forces of the world. Air, Earth, Fire, and Water answer to them and they wield their power over the world with pride and honor. The Aerons, or Air elementals rule the Archons of the Shining Cities with wisdom and charisma brought forth from the wind itself. The Geons, or Earth elementals govern the wealth of the Shining Cities. They are the craftsmen and financiers of their land. The Pyrons, or Fire elementals wage war on the enemies of the Shining Cities with the fury and grace of the living flame. And the Aquarions, or Water elementals protect the shores of the Shining Cities and explore new lands for their Aeron masters.

The Veritosians

The Veritosians hold power over the metaphysical elements. They believe that true power lies within themselves, not the world. They control the forces of Spirit (Magic), Life (Blood), Death (Darkness), and Purity (Emptiness). These often misunderstood concepts give many the impression that they represent everything evil in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Charons, or Magic elementals are the religious leaders of the Shadowed Cities. They are powerful witches and warlocks and the only natural magicians in the world. The Hematons, or Blood elementals hold the positions of healers and scientists of the Shadowed Cities. Originally slated to rule the Shadowed Cities, they strategically pawned that responsibility off on their children the Daemon (who will be described in depth in the Core Rules Guide). The Sable, or Darkness elementals take up the mantle of Covert agents and assassins for their dark rulers. And the Sunyata, or Emptiness elementals serve their masters as a means of evening the playing field with their unique talent for eliminating the enemies supernatural abilities.

Human Beings The worlds encompassed by Gems Of Night are not solely populated by Sages. As a matter of fact Sages make up roughly five percent of the entire population on any world. The great majority of worlds are still dominated by human beings, who have differing opinions of the sages. The general consensus is that sages represent an evolutionary leap in mankind but not to the extent necessary to warrant envy or hatred. To most humans sages are similar to a test to see how mankind will eventually evolve.

There are those that do harbor a sort of envy of the sages, however. Very similar to racism and bigotry, there are those who see the powers that the sages wield as somehow wrong. Religious fanatics and cults view the Gems Of Night as the work of the devil or whatever other evil entity is represented in their particular beliefs. There are still others who are so jealous of the power of the sages that they seek to prove that sages are either some form of mutation, disease, or even a completely different animal altogether. Powerful human politicians have even gone so far as to publicly discredit the notion that sages are even human and thereby are not sentient and not subject to the governments laws or protections. A popular defense for killing a sage is that since sages are not human they cannot be tried for murder. This defense has never been successful.

The ability to play a character with special powers can be enticing to most gaming groups. A greater challenge presents itself in the ability to play a completely normal human being amidst the superpowers brought to bear by the sages. Players who feel up to the challenge or just wish to add an element of mortality to the game will find that playing a human being comes with rewards all it’s own.

StatisticsOn the Character Sheet for each of the pre-generated characters in this book you will find a section concerning the Statistics for that character. There are a grand total of fifteen base statistics and six derived statistics for each character. The base statistics are split into the three categories: Physical, Mental, and Spiritual an consist of the statistics: Force (Your ability to affect another), Agility (Your raw talent in a certain category), Celerity (Your speed within a certain category), Energy (Your ability to endure damage inflicted to a certain category), and Tolerance (Your natural resistance to damage inflicted in a certain category). The derived statistics are calculated from the base statistics and consist of the three Token Statistics: Offensive Tokens, Defensive Tokens, and Movement Tokens. These statistics are followed by Life Points (Grievous Bodily Harm), Stun Points (Light Bodily and Mental Harm) and Base Potency (Supernatural Power Points)



Statistics DefinedIn this section we will begin to examine each of the 15 statistics in detail. As stated earlier there are 3 categories of the same 5 statistics.

Force

The force statistic is defined as the character’s ability to affect his or her environment by the powers within his or herself. When applied to the physical category this represents the characters strength attribute. A characters strength will determine whether or not he or she can exert enough bodily force to affect the world around him or her physically. When applied to the mental category force represents a character’s psyche. a character’s psyche will determine his or her ability to manipulate both another characters mind and bend it to his or her will and the forces of the supernatural wind force of mind is required. When applied to the spiritual category force represents a character’s raw potency. Not to be confused with base potency or current potency raw potency is the statistic by which the other two statistics spring from. The potency derives statistic will be explained later in this section.

Agility

The agility statistic is defined as the character’s ability to accomplish tasks in the chosen category. When applied to the physical category agility represents the characters dexterity. This is the character’s ability to move about with grace and skill. Physical agility is probably the most important statistic in combat due to the fact that it is the character’s ability to wield weapons, defend themselves physically, and accomplish other physical feats that do not involve strength. When applied to the mental category agility represents the character’s intelligence. It is the characters ability to both understand and process information and apply the information to relevant tasks. Intelligence is not to be confused with knowledge as one can be extremely intelligent yet ignorant in many fields of knowledge. When applied to the character’s spiritual category agility represents the casting attribute. Casting is a characters natural talent with the element of magic and the supernatural. When using the rules for spell casting the casting attribute is similar to the characters dexterity, only in a more metaphysical way.

Celerity

The celerity statistic is defined as the characters speed in a given category. When applied to the characters physical category celebrity represents the characters movement speed. This represents how fast the character can run or how fast the characters body reacts to the commands of his or her mind. Not to be confused

with a character’s reaction time, physical celerity is only the body’s natural response to commands of the mind. For example: having a quick mind does not allow a character to run fast. When applied to the character’s mental category celerity represents speed of mind. This is the characters ability to process information quickly, and respond to stimuli in a timely manner. Unlike physical celerity, mental celerity IS the character’s reaction time. When applied to the spiritual category celebrity represents the characters casting time resistance (CTR). When a spell is created it is given a statistic called casting time. CTR represents a character’s ability to lower the casting time of a spell in order to unleash it faster. Characters with high CTR can cast spells in rapid succession as opposed to those with lower CTR.

Energy

The energy statistic is defined as the characters power reserve in a given category. When applied to the physical category energy represents the character’s capacity to sustain his or herself. Physical energy is also the base statistic that the derived statistic “life points” are derived from. In order to calculate a character’s life points multiplied his or her physical energy by 10. When applied to the mental category the energy statistic represents the characters “stun points” in order to calculate the character stone points multiplied his or her mental energy by 10. When applied to the spiritual category the energy statistic represents the characters Manna points. When a spell is cast it will cost to the character a certain amount of Manna points. When these points are exhausted the character can no longer cast spells. In order to calculate the characters Manna points multiply his or her spiritual energy by 10.

Tolerance

The tolerance that you stick is defined as the characters resistance to injury and force in a given category. When applied to the physical category tolerance represents the character’s natural resistance to injury. Any time in coming damage penetrates or bypasses a characters armor it is then applied to the character’s natural armor before being applied directly to life or stun points. Unlike other types of armor that characters tolerance statistic does not suffer armor degradation. When applied to the mental category tolerance represents the characters willpower. This is the character’s defense against another’s psyche. It also represents the character’s resistance to mental manipulation by other means such as psychic attack. When applied to the spiritual category tolerance represents a character’s supernatural resistance. Many of the gems of night our spiritual in nature and several spells affect a character on a spiritual level rather than a physical. With this in mind all characters are afforded a chance to defend themselves with the natural statistic of spiritual tolerance. This statistic works exactly like any other form of armor just on a spiritual level.


Derived StatisticsIn this section we will examine the 7 derived statistics in detail.

Action Tokens Gems Of Night introduces a new and innovative combat system called the “Cinematic Action Combat System” or CACS for short. The main element of this new combat system is the Action Tokens. These tokens represent what a character can do in a single combat round and how often. Action tokens are split into 3 categories: Offensive, Defensive, and Movement. Considering that the average character will have 1 or 2 of these on hand during any given encounter this gives them at least 1 offensive, 1 defensive, and 1 movement action in any 5 second combat round. Offensive Tokens can be used to Strike an opponent, fire a weapon, or somehow violently affect another person or object. Defensive Tokens can be used to avoid the effects of someone else’s Offensive Token. Actions using Defensive tokens involve ducking for cover, dodging an attack, or even using a shield. Finally, Movement Tokens can be used to move up to 10 feet per token in a single round (Yes, Movement Tokens may be spent all at the same time should a player choose to do so). Once a character’s Action Tokens are depleted his or her round is over. Those characters who still have tokens left over are free to take advantage of the situation. A character without Defensive Tokens to defend themselves with are considered to be “Flat-Footed”. Characters who are flat-footed will take all defensive actions are that they do not possess the proper skill needed to accomplish the defensive goal.

Life, Stun, And Manna Points Life, Stun, and Manna points all make up the characters finalized reserved of power within each of the three primary categories of physical, mental, and spiritual. in order to represent these three statistics we recommend acquiring a set of 6 10-sided dice. Each pair should be a different color in order to make three different pairs of dice representing these three statistics. Freefall RPG studios will soon release a gems of my players pack that will include these dice for you.

Life points are the statistic that represent the characters ability to remain alive despite his or her injuries. When a character receives damage that exceeds the total of his or her armor and physical tolerance is then applied to the life points. A character can also take damage through Stun point rollover. Stun point rollover occurs when a character takes five or more points of stun damage. each group of five complete points of stun damage will also cause one point life damage. Keep in mind that the damage is first filtered through the character of physical tolerance then applied to the character life points. also note that damage rolled

over from stun point damage does not roll back into stun damage after being applied to life points.

Stun point of the statistic that represent the characters ability to remain conscious after receiving an injury that damages them on a mental or lightly physical level. Damage from kicks and punches as well as mental attacks, psychic damage, or falls against blunt surfaces will first be applied to a character’s stun points. a character can also receive stun point damage from life point rollover. Every point of life point damage that a character receives will also deal him or her five points of stun damage. Keep in mind that life point damage that causes stun damage does not roll back into life damage. Life point rollover can render a character unconscious rather quickly. Having your character fall unconscious in the middle of combat is a sure way to a quick end.

Manna points are the statistic that represent the characters magical energy and ability to cast spells. Manna points are the exception to the trend due to the fact that characters do not take Manna damage and points are only removed from this category voluntarily by the character. Manna points are used to pay the cost required in order to cast a spell. Similar to using a gem of night power with potency, magic spells and sorcery require a different kind of energy. Any character can learn any spell that he or she can imagine (and create using the custom content creation rules in the core rules guide) and cast that spell as if it were another skill. The only negative aspect of depleting your entire stock of Manna points is the sudden inability to cast spells.

Damage recovery is described in the section regarding combat in the quick start rules but for the purposes of completion it will also be explained here as it applies to life, stun, and manna points.

If a character is allowed a full nights sleep he or she will recover a number of life points equal to his or her physical energy. For example: if a character has three points of physical energy he or she can recover three life points with a full nights sleep. Keep in mind that untreated wounds will cause damage over time and therefore the character may not recover his or her entire complement of life points for quite some time if a wound is left untreated. he or she may even suffer more damage during their rest than they can recover. Stun points recover much faster. For every full round (or 5 seconds of time) of dedicated rest a character can recover an amount of stun points equal to his or her mental energy. Unlike life point recovery disk can be accomplished even during combat although it leaves the character flat-footed for that round. Recovering some point is best done when the character is in no danger or is behind cover. Manna points are recovered like stun points. The only difference is that Mena points are recovered every 12 combat rounds (or 60 seconds of time). If a recovery action or full nights sleep yields an amount of points that would take a character over their maximum amount of life, stun, or manna points all access points are lost.

Potency Potency represents the characters and natural supernatural spirit. For sages this becomes evident in their use of the gems of night. The use of potency can allow characters to accomplish feats far beyond their skill and sometimes beyond the comprehension of the average person. This is the statistic that turns a normal person into a hero regardless of powers or abilities. With potency a sage can power their gems of night. The gems of night each use potency in different ways. This could lend it to a unique pool of points that the character can use for certain powers or extend the duration of others. It is also the base statistic that determines the effectiveness of the gems of night. Potency has other uses as well. These uses are each described in their respective rules.

(Dis) Advantages In Gems Of Night there are a number of Advantages and Disadvantages a character can have. Disadvantages can range in severity from mild allergies that provoke n itchy sensation (nothing to warrant a modifier) to severe allergies to Water (Causing a character to suffer damage from exposure, not to mention the damage to his or her social life). On the Advantage side they can range in power from a character having a secret identity (allowing him or her to lay low when the heat is on) to being filthy rich (Money has it’s advantages). The pre-generated characters in the quick start rules have already been given their advantages and disadvantages along with a full description for each found on the chart in the back of this book. You will find more advantages and disadvantages listed in the Core Rules Guide

Skills In order to affect anything in Gems Of Night a character must have the skill to do so. There are over 500 skills available. They are fully detailed in the Core Rules Guide. For the quick start rules we will focus on some very basic skills.

Skills are split into 6 categories. In order to accomplish any goal will involve a test of that character’s ability. This test is known as a struggle. There is a big difference between skill and natural talent.

The first category of skills is Weapon Skills. These are usually listed in a specific format ((number of hands) + (size) + (Type)). For example the skill “1 handed medium edged” can be used to describe an ability to wield just about any weapon with a sharp edge that is of medium size and requires only one hand to use. The shape of the weapon does not matter in order to use this skill.

The only thing that matters is the basic function of the weapon. This character can use a longsword, an axe, or even a large bladed disk should he or she choose to.

The second category of skills is Physical Skills. These skills cover the active and combat related skills that do not directly involve the weapon itself. These skills can range from weapon modifications like “Burst-Fire Mode” and “Accuracy” to defensive skills such as “Dodge”. This category also covers skills like “Vehicle Operation (Specific)” and “Climbing”

The third category of skills is Token Efficiency Skills. These skills are important for anyone who finds themselves in combat often. Although this category only includes 5 skills do not overlook the effectiveness of maximizing the effectiveness of your combat tokens.

The fourth category of skills is Mental Skills. This category is packed with skills that assist the character on a more cerebral level. These skills include most of the technical skills such as “Mathematics”, “First Aid” and “Mirror World History”. Do not confuse this category with the “Knowledge Skills” category as that category will be described shortly.

The fifth category of skills is Professional Skills. This category is made up of skills that cover that myriad professions found on each Mirror World. This is also the “WILD CARD” category due to the fact that it includes none of it’s own skills. In order to be qualified as a professional skill a skill or set of skills must be justified as belonging to the character’s profession. In this respect they must all be usable in ONE profession. For example, a Chef might justify the “1 handed small edged”, “Accuracy”, “Chemistry”, “Mathematics”, and “Read (Specific)” skills as professional skills but might not be able to convince anyone that the “Acrobatics” skill is part of his profession.

Finally, the sixth category of skills. This is the category of Knowledge Skills. The largest of the skill categories, this category lists a host of areas of knowledge ending with the terms “ology” or “onomy”. Psychology, Astrology, Archaeology, and Gastronomy are just a few of the skills that make up this massive category.

Using Skills As stated earlier, there is a big difference between skill and talent. In order to achieve a goal each character in Gems Of Night must compete in a Struggle. These can be contested (in which the character rolls his or her skill against another character) or uncontested (in which the character attempts to match or exceed a pre-defined target number for the test). Either way the player will roll a number of dice equal to the character’s skill and count off the highest dice in an


amount equal to his or her most appropriate Statistic. For example:

Marcus, the Pyron is attempting to elbow Fericles, the Sable in the face. Marcus has a Physical Agility (PA) of 4 and a Unarmed Combat (Pankration) skill of 5. Fericles has a Physical Agility (PA) of 3 and a Dodge (Melee) skill of 4. In order to hit Fericles Marcus must roll an amount of dice equal to his skill (5). Let’s say these dice come up 6, 5, 3, 3, and 1. Now Marcus’ player must choose an amount of dice equal to his Statistic (4) to count in the struggle. Marcus’ player will hold on to the 6, the 5, and the two 3s for a total Struggle Value of 17.

Now Fericles’ player on the other hand must roll a number of dice equal to his “Dodge (Melee) skill (4) and choose an amount equal to his Physical Agility (PA) (3). Let’s say these dice come up 6, 3, 2, and 1. Fericles is out of luck as the best he can hope for is choosing the top 3 (6, 3, and 2, for a total of 11) dice.

This same process holds true for uncontested struggles, only the opposing party is a set target number.

Pushing and Pulling with Potency Sometimes a character is left with no choice but to dig deep for that extra bit of something that makes us all better than we ever thought we could be. In Gems Of Night this is represented by a character’s ability to Push Dice with Potency. As referenced above each character is given an amount of Base Potency as one of his or her derived statistics. One of the most often used functions of Potency is to activate the “Exploding 6s” rule. Exploding 6s is defined as the ability to reroll a 6 on a die and add this result to the 6. For example, if the result of the second roll is a 4 the die is counted as a result of 10. This rule only counts for the die roll in which it is used and the player may make the choice AFTER he or she sees the result of the roll.

Potency can also be used to “Pull” 1s from the table. In the event that a player rolls a 1 during the Struggle he can spend a point of his character’s Potency and reroll ALL of the 1s that came up on that roll. This rule also applies to the Exploding 6s rule. In the event that a player rerolls a 1 and it turns up a 6 he or she can immediately explode that die without expending any more potency. This concept works in reverse as well. If the die rolls a 6 and the player chooses to explode that die and the subsequent roll is a 1 then the player can reroll it for free. Doubling carries with it it’s own rewards. If a player rolls a 6, explodes the die and rolls another 6 the die can keep exploding for free resulting in some highly entertaining outcomes. Doubling also carries with it a wicked penalty as far as 1s are concerned. If a player rolls a 1 on any struggle then chooses to pull it with potency and the reroll results in another 1 then the character MUST spend another point of potency but will not receive a reroll. ALSO the 1 MUST be used

as one of the struggle dice to determine the Struggle Value. For example:

Let’s say that Marcus from the previous example attempted to reroll the 1 that he rolled in that same struggle. Marcus’ player elects to spend the point of potency thereby allowing him to reroll the 1. Let’s just say that reroll came up another 1. If this situation reared it’s ugly head then Marcus’ player will be forced to spend another point of Potency (Assuming he has any left) and use that 1 as one of the dice he counts toward his Struggle Value. This means that Marcus (Assuming that his player chooses the highest dice results possible) is stuck with the 6, the5, one of the 3s, and the 1 bringing his Struggle Value down to 15.



Encounters Gems Of Night introduces a fresh and unique style of combat called the Cinematic Action Combat System (CACS). The rules presented in this manual are a scaled-down representation of the complete set found in the Core Rules Guide. These rules will allow you to conduct the encounters found in the “Sideways” adventure with ease and allow you to see how quick and exciting encounter and combat system really is. Most of the important parts of the CACS have been reproduced here but in order to have the full experience we recommend you see the full set of CACS rules in the Core Rules Guide. Observant players will realize that many of the Gems Of Night have durations marked “encounter”. In this case the term “encounter” is used as a length of time measurement. It is not necessary to calculate the time that these powers can be used, rather assume that the power will last throughout the current scene. This rule also applies to potency that is sacrificed in any given encounter.

Encounter Structure Using the Talespiner™ system each adventure is made up of a series of interconnected scenes. Each one of these scenes is an encounter unto itself. Once the scene is started the accompanying encounter is also started. Rarely will a single scene encompassed more than one encounter. The exception to this rule is if a scene involves more than one combat encounter. In this case the special scenes will be broken down into individual encounters.

A typical encounter in the Tailspiner™ system will involve the gamemaster describing the visuals of the scene to his or her players. During this time the gamemaster is encouraged to describe in graphic detail the sites smells sounds and feeling of the scene. At any point during the gamemaster’s description of the scene the characters will be allowed to interrupt, ask questions, or otherwise interact with the scene.

Interacting with the scene usually involves the players describing their actions to the gamemaster who will be informed of the general contents of the scene. In the official material presented by FreeFall Studios each scene in an adventure will be stocked with additional information for gamemaster’s eyes only that will describe the various elements of that scene that the gamemaster should know before running the adventure.

The players are also encouraged to role-play conversations with non-player characters in each scene. In this case the gamemaster will play the part of each character not being played by the players. The cinematic action combat system is also designed in a way that does not interrupt the role-playing elements of the scene in order to begin combat. Once a player decides that it is time to initiate

combat all he or she would have to do is place the appropriate action token on the table and declared his or her action. The natural reaction to this action is most often other players placing tokens on the table in order to interrupt or somehow gain their place in the pending melee or firefight.

Talespinner™ Setup

In the official adventures written by FreeFall Studios the following layout is used to script each scene.

Set The Stage this section of the scene is designed to set the mood and atmosphere for the location in which the scene will take place. The text written here is designed to be read to the players either verbatim or interpreted as the gamemaster sees fit.

Why Are We Here: this section of the scene is designed to explain the circumstances that brought the players into this scene. The text written here is for the gamemaster’s eyes only and will more than likely describe certain hooks that make this scene important to the players, or a deeper explanation of their goal in this scene.

Who Else Is Here this section of the scene will describe minor bit players who the characters can interact with along with their goals and reasons for being here.

Finishing Touches: this section of the scene will describe certain tactics that the gamemaster can use to keep the story on track or step up the difficulty.

Each scenes should also include a map of the location in which the scene takes place along with a legend that will describe key points within the scene. Official adventures written by FreeFall Studios will include two color maps of each scene. One of these maps will be provided for the players so that they can keep track of their characters locations. The other will include detailed explanations and descriptions of the key points found within the map so that the gamemaster can accurately describe certain portions of the map to his or her players.

Keep in mind that at at some point during the adventure each character should be granted an opportunity to stand in the spotlight. The Talespinner™ system provides spotlight scenes and four additional scenes for each adventure. The usual setup should include an inciting event that will draw the players into the adventure, a planning scene where they can cook up their ideas on how to handle the inciting event, at least one spotlight scene for each character in the adventure, a climax, and finally a resolution scene in which the characters reap their rewards and walk off into the sunset.

Combat A famous general once said that no good plan survives contact with the enemy. This fact holds true even in role-playing. Rarely is a good story told without tails of great battles and epic combat against insurmountable odds. Gems of night seeks to re-create those epic tales with the combat system that we call the cinematic action combat system. It is named so for the action-packed and exciting style of combat that takes place using the system. With CACS characters can perform any combat maneuver that they can think of with ease. Sure enough combat is broken down into easily manageable rounds similar to other role-playing games. The difference between other games and gems of night is the sheer level of excitement each player is likely to experience when playing.

The Combat Round With the cinematic action combat system combated broken down to 5 second rounds. Each character is given a number of combat tokens in which he or she can use to attempt the appropriate actions during this time. The 5 second combat round ends when either all characters have expended their tokens or no other action can or will be completed by a character. In many cases noncombatants can run into trained fighters and wind up extinguishing all of their combat tokens only to be taken advantage of later by someone with more tokens.

Action Declaration A combat round usually begins when the first action token hits the table. This is usually as a result of role-playing or snap decisions. Once a player decides to expand the combat token we advise that the player spend the next few moments describing in graphic detail exactly what his or her character is doing. Once the initial character has declared his or her action it is up to the rest of the participants to either wait their turn or spend their own action tokens to interrupt the actions of the first character.

Interrupts An interrupt is an attempt by another character to circumvent the actions of the first character. This can either be an attempt to draw a weapon faster, dive for cover, or willingly accept an attack on behalf of another. In order to successfully interrupt an action declaration the interrupting character must enter into a struggle with the first character and win. In the struggle all parties roll 2D6 and add their Mental Celerity (MA) statistic. The character with the highest result acts first. All other characters have just wasted a token.

Attacking Another Character In order to attack another character be initiating character must enter into a struggle with the defending character. Engaging in melee combat will most likely pit the characters weapon skill against a defender’s dodge skill. The attacking character will be charged one offense of token in order to attempt the attack. Hit or miss this token is expended. Once the token is spent the attacking character declares his or her action as usual then rolls a number of dice equal to his or her weapon skill and selects a number of those dice equal to the most appropriate statistic (in most cases this will be physical agility). Attacking another character is in most cases a contested struggle. An exception to this rule will be made if the target of the attack is not aware of the attack or somehow unable to defend themselves.

Defending Against An Attack If the target of the attack is both aware and willing to defend themselves they will be entitled to a defense. A character wishing to defend themselves against an attack will engage in a struggle with the attacking character. The defending character will be charged a defense of token in order to defend themselves. The most common defense in melee combat involves using the Dodge skill to prevent being hit. Ranged combat uses the evasion skill. In either event the most appropriate statistic to use is physical agility. If the target is unwilling or unable to use a defensive token they will be considered flat-footed. Special rules apply to flat-footed characters. Flat-footed characters will be forced to spend at least one potency point in order to gain a single die to roll in order to defend themselves. They are allowed to purchase additional dice at a cost of one potency per die. Potency expended in this manner is not returned to the character upon starting the next round. It is only recovered in the usual manner for recovering potency (a full nights sleep).

Damage And Injury If a character is unsuccessful in his or her attempt to defend themselves against an attack they will suffer the appropriate amount of damage. Every item in the game in one way or another is given a statistic that it can use to inflict damage on a character. In many cases the statistic will be the weapons damage rating. In many other cases the objects material strength statistic is used in case it collides with a character. Be advised that gems of night presents an extremely dangerous environment for characters who are ill-prepared to face the dangers that come along with adventuring. If a character is injured there is a short procedure that must be followed to determine the severity of the injury. Gamemasters should be advised that consultation of the charts used to determine injury should in no



way stand in the way of good role-playing or the telling of an exciting story.

The first step in determining an injury is determining the location of the strike. In most cases this will be obvious as the location of the strike is where the attacking character was aiming. In more than a few cases however it must be determined randomly where a shot landed or where the offending material struck the character in question. A hit location chart is provided in the back of this book in order for players to fully determine the extent of their character’s injuries.

The next step in determining an injury is determining the strength or power behind the attack. In most cases this will be obvious as each weapon in the game comes equipped with a statistic that will already determine if the damage rating. The damage rating is a member of six sided dice that are rolled and the result is taken either from the defender of life point or stun points. If the damage rating of an item is not readily apparent it can be determined from the material type, material density, and applied a resistance or speed. For example:

Marcus, the Pyron successfully hits Feracles in the face with his elbow. Marcus’s elbow is not an item built using the custom content creation rules present in the core rules guide. In order to determine the damage rating for Marcus’s elbow strike we must first determine the material strength of his body. Marcus has a physical tolerance of 4. We will use this statistic as both his material type and material density. In order to determine the speed that Marcus is elbow was traveling it could be argued that it was traveling as fast as his strength could push it. The most obvious equation would be that his physical force statistic will determine the speed his elbow was traveling. Marcus is physical force is also 4. Averaging all statistics we come up with a 4. So the damage rating of Marcus’s attack is 4. Marcus is player is now entitled to pick up for dice and roll them taking the result and applying it to Ferecles’ Stun points. Let’s say for example that the result of those four dice is 9. Ferecles will take nine points of stun damage (minus the total of any armor in the affected area, in this case none, and his physical tolerance of 2).

Once the damage rating of an attack is determined and damage is applied the defending character will then reduce said damage by an amount equal to any armor worn in the affected area. If there is still any damage left over the armor rating for that piece of armor is lowered by 1 point and the remaining damage is reduced by the character’s physical tolerance. If there is any damage left over after this reduction is applied to the appropriate derived statistic (life points or stun points).

The next step in determining an injury is to cross reference the percentage of either life points or stun points a character has received and the affected area then apply the appropriate result to the character. This could be anything from a minor flesh wound to a sucking chest wound surely to be fatal if not healed in a

proper fashion. Note: when applying damage to a character every 5 points of stun transfers over into 1 point of life damage. Every point of life damage also dishes out 5 points of stun damage. Life damage transfer that deals out stun damage does NOT transfer back to life damage and vice versa. Once a character receives 1/4 of his or her total Life or Stun points in damage he or she must relinquish a quarter of their action tokens (Player’s Choice, round down). At half they will be required to hand over yet another quarter ...etc.. This makes fighting extended battles taxing on the character

Armor The gems of night core rules guide features the custom content creation system. This veritable treasure trove of information can be used to create any item that a player can imagine from a walking stick to a Galactic star ship. For the purposes of the quick start rules many of the items in the sideways adventure have already been given statistics using this system.

One of the key items that must be explained further however is the functionality of armor. As a rule armor is given a defensive value based on its material strength. This armor value must be exceeded in order to damage anything underneath. If the armor value of the armor in question is not exceeded by the incoming damage the armor remains unaffected. If the armor value is exceeded by incoming damage the armor value is immediately reduced by 1 point and any excess damage is applied to the item beneath. If the item beneath is a character then said character is damaged as usual. The reduced armor value will be used from this point forward until the armor is repaired.

A second statistic given to heart armors is called backlash. If a hard object is struck it will inflict this rating upon the object striking. For example:

After being struck by Marcus is elbow Feracles stumbled backward over the side of a cliff. Although the drop is only 10 feet Ferecles is now in danger of suffering additional damage from the rocks below. In order to determine the power of the strike Ferecles divides his weight by 50 for every 10 feet he falls. Weighing in at 200 pounds the strike produces 4D6 points of damage. The materials stone is given a backlash rating of 2. This means that very pleased will take a grand total of 8D6 stun damage upon colliding with the stone.


Spell Casting Spell casting and gems of night is an art form not unlike a finely tuned talent nurtured over many years. In order to cast a spell that character would need to first develop the spell. For the purposes of the quick start rules the pre-generated characters in the back of this book have already been given a small list of spells that they can cast. Normally the development of a spell is a process all its own. The process has been detailed in the rules for custom content creation. These rules can be found in the core rules guide. As far as the quick start rules are concerned we will focus on two statistics generally used in spell casting.

Spell Casting Power When the spell is crafted using the custom content creation rules in the core rules guide the finished product is given a power rating that will determine the spell’s effectiveness when used for its designed purpose. Each of the pre-generated sample characters in the back of this book have been given their list of spells already. These spells come along with two statistics. The first of the statistics is the spell casting power. This statistic will determine everything from the cells damage, duration, armor penetration, area of affect, or even healing power. This number will be called upon when ever the spell is required to have a statistic. For example:

Alexander the Charon and decides that he would like to cast a bolt of pure magic at Michael the Aeron. The spell casting power of Alexander’s spell is a 4. If Alexander should succeed in the struggle and hit his target he will be allowed to roll 4D6 for damage against Michael armor. The usual rules for armor penetration apply. Even though this is a magical effect the end result was designed to be a physical manifestation of the spell. If Alexander had designed the spell with extras such as the armor piercing trait for them Michael armor rating would be reduced by Alexander’s role of 4D6 before calculating its effectiveness against the spell.

Manna Cost Unlike use of the gems of night each spell when cast will cost the caster a number of manna points equal to the manna cost listed in the spell description. When a sage uses the gems of night the potency cost once paid will last the entire encounter. However, a spell requires manna in order to operate. This manna cost is paid each and every time the spell is cast. If the caster cannot pay the manna cost the spell will not even manifest. A character’s manna points are determined exactly how their life and stun points are determined. Calculate Manna points by taking the characters spiritual energy statistic and multiplying it by 10. Manna points can only be recovered with a full nights rest.

The Gems Of Night The gems of night our special powers given to each of the Sages. Each of the Sages are granted a different set of the gems of night. For the archons be the gems of light are mostly elemental in nature. The Aerons control air. Geons control earth. Aquarions control water. And Pyrons control fire. The Veritosians are given a set of gems of night that are more organic in nature. The Charon’s control mystical forces. The Hematon’s control biological forces. The stable control darkness. And the Sunyata even the playing field by nullifying the supernatural.

The following is a list of the different gems of my powers possessed by the initial eight playable stage types.

Above The Influence An Aeron does not think of human motion in two dimensions. Rather everything is three-dimensional to them. With that in mind the Aeron is capable of altering gravity’s pull on them. If the Aeron should take a deep breath and hold it there body becomes lighter than air. This effect combined with a limited form of air control will allow the Aeron to achieve flight. In order to have true control of this like the Aeron must have a skill directed toward using this power. In order to use that skill the Aeron must constantly make struggles against nature itself. With practice this becomes easy. Flight speed and maneuverability are considered as if the Aeron has a physical agility and physical celerity equal to the amount of potency used when activating this power. When airborne replace the Aeron’s PA and PC with this amount.

Fluidity The Aquarion power of fluidity is both a great power and a great responsibility. With this power the Aquarion can allow his or her body to take on the consistency and flexibility of water. This will allow the Aquarion to achieve feats such as entering places that are not sealed against the intrusion of water. For example the Aquarion can activate this power then slip underneath the door of a locked room and unlock it from the other side. As an additional affect the Aquarion will also gain an amount of natural armor equal to the amount of potency spent to activate this power times 5. Keep in mind that this armor is only effective against insubstantial or intangible threats. Against a more physical threat the Aquarion in this state gains total immunity. Physical objects such as bullets, oncoming vehicles, and melee weapons will pass through the Aquarion harmlessly. The drawback to this power is that the Aquarion must remain in one piece or lose the ability to deactivate this power until such condition is met. If the Aquarion is in his or her fluid state at the end of an encounter he or she must pay the potency


to remain in that form throughout the next encounter or die. The cost to remain in the same form throughout the next encounter must be equal to the last cost spent to achieve that form. Also keep in mind that some tangible objects and physical weapons possess flat surfaces that will cause the Aquarion to splash. The Aquarion must then recover all parts of his or her splashed form in order to deactivate his power.

Mystic Essence The Charon is a natural spellcaster. Their power over the forces of magic allow them to cast spells in a different fashion than any other spellcaster. First of all they are not required to actually learn a spell like everyone else. The Charon is able to design a spell on the fly using the custom content creation rules in the core rules guide and paying the construction point cost from their reserve of potency. When a Charon activates their gem of the night they are instantly given an amount of construction points to purchase spells equal to the amount of potency spent to activate the power in dice. For example: if a Charon should spend three points of potency to activate Mystic essence he or she will then roll three dice. The result of these three guys will be the construction point bonus that the Charon can use to build a spell that they can use instantly. The Charon is not limited to only one spell. If the construction points allow it they can actually split these points among multiple spells. For the player playing a Charon character it would be wise to become familiar with the custom content creation rules in the core rules guide so that constructing spells will be that much faster and easier.

Blood Dominion For the Hematon the organic body is a virtual playground. Blood Dominion allows the Hematon to alter the body in many cruel and unusual ways. If a Hematon should touch another living being with his or her bare flesh they will instantly gain insight to the general health of the subject. A Hematon knowledgeable in chemistry can then alter the reaction and flow of the subjects blood as if a chemical has been introduced into the bloodstream. The chemical introduced will have a power equal to the potency spent to activate this power. For example: a Hematon who introduces a power 4 chemical into the subject bloodstream will cause the subject to experience the effects of the chemical as if it were truly in the subject bloodstream. If this chemical is dangerous or harmful to the subject it will cause damage to the subject equal to 4D6 points of consistent damage. This damage can not be reduced by the subject armor and once it takes effect it no longer requires a struggle in order to cause damage. If the subject is not instantly treated with an antidote or a total blood transfusion he or she will continue to take damage until either the Hematon deactivate the power, or dies. The Hematon is not limited to only detrimental effects. One of their primary tactics

involves hooking a subject on a narcotic of their creation and waiting for them to return requesting more.

Gargoyle The Geon’s are natural born defenders. Their gems of might reflect this nature greatly. When this power is activated the Geon can encase themselves in stone similar to a gargoyle. Use of this power does not limit the Geon’s agility in any way. Although there are no joints in the stone the Geon can move as if there were. The amount of armor conferred by the gargoyle power is equal to the amount of potency spent on this power in dice. For example: if a Geon spends three points of potency to activate this power they may then rolled those three dice and add the result to their physical tolerance statistic. Unlike traditional armor the gargoyle armor never suffers penetration degradation. If the damage from an attack exceeds the amount of armor present on the Geon it will damage the Geon as normal but will not reduce the amount of armor granted from this power. Keep in mind that the Geon is still able to weigh her normal armor layered over his or her flesh. As an added bonus the Geon can fashion enhancements to the armor that can take on a more offense of nature such as spikes, hooks, or blades. All of these enhancements will have a power rating equal to the armor rating granted by this power.

The Fire Within For the Pyron fire has a dual meaning. They considered the fire within oneself to be just as potent and destructive as mankind’s first nemesis. With this in mind the Pyron’s have taken the duel nature of fire to heart. When this power is activated the Pyron is filled with excitement and power. He or she will gain a form of combat prowess unheard of in any other being. For every point of potencies spent on activating this power the Pyron can add one token of each type (offensive, defensive, and movement) to his or her combat pool. For example: if a Pyron should spend three potency points to activate this power he or she will be rewarded with three offensive, three defensive, and three movement tokens to add to their combat pool. These action tokens are not lost once spent. Each time the Pyron refocuses these tokens they are returned to him or her along with their naturally acquired tokens. As an added bonus (or side effect if you will) the Pyron’s flesh becomes hot to the touch. Any object coming in contact with the Pyron’s flesh will be affected as if it had come in contact with an object that with a power rating equal to twice the potency spent to activate this power. This power automatically accounts for any clothing and equipment that the Pyron is wearing or has attached to them at the time of activation. Other objects that are not possessions of the Pyron which happen to be in contact with the Pyron skin at the time that this power is activated will instantly be affected accordingly.


The Unseen Hand The Veritosians rely on highly skilled sable in order to not only keep watch on the residence of the shadow cities but to conduct covert operations against the archons. With this duty tasked to them disable have cultivated the ability to remain unseen even in broad daylight and in plain sight. This ability’s power is twofold. First off, when this power is activated the stable gains a form of supernatural invisibility that causes anyone wishing to track or even see him or her to be required to enter a struggle against the sables stealth skill. What makes this power deadly is the fact that all dice in the notice skill struggle that roll lower then the amount of potency used to activate this power are immediately discarded. This rule takes effect before the subject of this power is allowed to choose dice to keep. This rule supersedes any other rule regarding dice pools unless specifically noted. As a bonus disable have an ability to cause all who have been in their presence to be required to make the same struggle in order to remember details about the stable. Failure in this struggle by the subject results in an inability to make out details or remember certain defining characteristics of the stable.

Fool’s Gold Quite possibly the most dangerous power listed among the gems of night belongs to the Sunyata. They are defined as bureaucracy’s nightmare due to the fact that a Sunyata has no defining characteristics that differentiate them from an average human. Even the activation of their power leaves no trace and no visible or tangible effect that can define it as coming from or originating from anyone. Once activated the amount of potency spent to activate the power is counted in two ways. First of all the amount of potency gives this power a power rating equal to the amount of potency spent to activate it. Secondly it gives the powers area of affect in increments of 11 feet. Anyone wishing to activate a supernatural power within the area of affect of this power will have its effectiveness (power rating and potency cost) decreased or increased accordingly in an amount equal to the power rating of this power. For example: if the Sunyata should happen to spend three potency points to activate this power any other power activated within 33 feet of the Sunyata will have to first be activated by spending 3 extra potency points. Once this cost is paid the power will activate as normal but will have its effectiveness reduced by three. Any affect already in existence that enters this area of effect will instantly be reduced by three but were require no additional potency expenditure to activate. As an added bonus any supernatural effect that will directly affect the Sunyata will grant the Sunyata an opportunity to activate this power as an interrupt action even if the Sunyata is unaware of the powers use. Once a supernatural power is used on a Sunyata the Sunyata instantly becomes aware of not only the power but the source of said power as well. Note: this power will allow the Sunyata to perceive a Sable.

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Gems Of Night: Quickstart Preview

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