NW:Rules
The New World will be played using the True20 Roleplaying system. For a summary of True20 you can read this primer on the rules. Generic True20 clarifications and house rules are listed on the wiki separately. This page lists rules that apply directly to The New World campaign.
The rules used will adapt to how the campaign plays out. Expect (and contribute) revisions to improve the campaign.
Skills
We will be using the Skills fix using a slightly different list of packages and Knowledge specialties:
Packages
| Name | Components |
| Animals | Ride, Handle Animal |
| Acrobatics | Acrobatics |
| Athletics | Climb, Jump, Swim |
| Concentration | Concentration |
| Craft | Craft |
| Deception | Bluff, Disguise |
| Disable Device | Disable Device |
| Influence | Diplomacy, Intimidate |
| Knowledge | Knowledge |
| Language | Language |
| Legerdemain | Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand |
| Medicine | Medicine |
| Notice | Notice |
| Perform | Perform |
| Search | Search |
| Stealth | Stealth |
| Streetwise | Gather Information, Sense Motive |
| Survival | Navigate, Survival |
Knowledge Specialties
- Architecture & Engineering
- Astronomy & Planar Cosmology: Movements of the stars and a theoretical understanding of heaven and hell.
- Art: Fine arts and graphic arts, including art history and artistic techniques. Antiques, modern art, photography, and performance art forms such as music and dance, among others.
- Behavioral Sciences: Psychology, sociology, and criminology.
- Business: Business procedures, investment strategies, and corporate structures. Bureaucratic procedures and how to navigate them.
- Civics: Law, legislation, litigation, and legal rights and obligations. Political and governmental institutions and processes.
- Current Events: Recent happenings in the news, sports, politics, entertainment, and foreign affairs.
- Earth Sciences: Geology, geography, oceanography, and paleontology.
- History: Events, personalities, and cultures of the past. Archaeology and antiquities.
- Life Sciences: Biology, botany, genetics, medicine, and forensics.
- Nobility
- Physical Sciences: Astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and engineering.
- Popular Culture: Popular music and personalities, genre films and books, urban legends, and trivia.
- Streetwise: Street and urban culture, local underworld personalities and events.
- Supernatural: The supernatural, whatever it may encompass in the setting (and regardless of whether it is true or not).
- Tactics: Techniques and strategies for disposing and maneuvering forces in combat.
- Technology: Current developments in cutting-edge devices, as well as the background necessary to identify various technological devices.
- Theology and Philosophy: Liberal arts, ethics, philosophical concepts, and the study of religious faith, practice, and experience.
Languages
See Languages.
Conviction
Whether it’s luck, talent, or sheer determination, heroes have something setting them apart from everyone else, allowing them to perform amazing deeds under the most difficult circumstances. In True20, that something is Conviction. Spending a Conviction point can make the difference between success and failure.
You may spend a point of Conviction for any of the following benefits:
- Re-roll a d20 roll
- Activate Core Ability — Each class grants a Core Ability
- Challenge — Removes the -5 penalty for challenges. This will make more sense when you see skills
- Surge — Extra standard or move action in a turn
- Recover — Gain an immediate recovery check to recover from damage
- Escape Death — Automatically stabilize
- Dodge Bonus — Retain dodge bonus when it would be denied and you are still capable of acting
- Cancel Fatigue — When suffering fatigue, reduce the level of fatigue by one.
Conviction is regained at a rate of one point per day at a predetermined time (morning, midday, etc.). It is also regained by acting in accordance with your Virtue or Vice in a meaningful way.
Two new saving throws—Toughness and Sanity
Below are summaries of Toughness and Sanity. A full explanation will happen during the first gaming session.
Toughness (Replaces Hit Points)
Damage and dying are handled differently in the True20 system. Hit points are replaced with a health track and damage is resisted with a Toughness save. The toughness save does not improve with level.
Toughness Saving Throw = d20 + Constitution + Feats + Armor – Toughness save penalties from injury versus DC15 + Attack’s Damage Bonus
Sanity*
The Sanity save is a mechanic to represent the character’s “fight or flight” reaction to supernatural events. Fear is done using a fear/terror track and is mechanically similar to Toughness above, except that it improves with level.
Sanity Saving Throw = d20 + Sanity Bonus + Charisma + Feats vs. Difficulty 15 + Fear/Terror Level
* Sanity is a loaded word. If you're thinking of the Sanity save in terms of fear/bravery you're on the right track. If you're thinking of it in terms of OH SHIT ELDER GODS you are incorrect. See page 226.
Wealth
Under Wealth there is a conflict as to when and how much wealth you lose when making a purchase. We will be using the rules listed under Losing Wealth. Losing wealth for a DC of 15 or higher stacks with loss of wealth based on how much over your current wealth an item is.
