Gameplay Basics

To play a game of Legend, you will need a few things in addition to this book. Your character information is recorded on a character sheet. The positions of characters and monsters in combat can be tracked with any grid of squares (even a humble sheet of grid paper can do in a pinch). You will also need a set of dice to determine random outcomes – a four-sided, six-sided, eight-sided, ten-sided, and twenty-sided die. The twenty-sided die is the most commonly used one, followed by the six-sided die, so don’t sweat it if you don’t have the other ones yet.

The Core Mechanic

A Note on Math: Often, you may be required to divide a number to determine the numeric value of an ability or effect (such as a feat that adds one half your character level to damage). Whenever your result for any division is fractional, round down to the nearest whole number, even if the fraction was larger than 1⁄2. For example, if a character added 1⁄2 of his level to damage, and he was level 7, he would only add 3 damage (even though half of his level would be 3 1⁄2).

To determine if your character succeeds at a task, you roll a twenty-sided die, referred to elsewhere in this book as a "d20". A roll of 20 is not an automatic success, nor is a roll of 1 an automatic failure.

Compare your result to a target number ("Difficulty Class", or DC, when making a skill check or saving throw, and "Armor Class", or AC, when making an attack). If the result equals or exceeds the target number, your character succeeds. If the result is lower than the target number, you fail.

Dice

Dice rolls are described with expressions such as “3d4+5,” which means “roll three four-sided dice and add 5” (resulting in a number between 8 and 17). The first number tells you how many dice to roll (adding the results together). The number immediately after the “d” tells you the type of die to use. Any number after that indicates a quantity that is added or subtracted from the result, which is called the modifier.

d%

Percentile dice work a little differently. You generate a number between 1 and 100 by rolling two different ten-sided dice. One (designated before you roll) is the tens digit. The other is the ones digit. Two 0s represent 100. If the result of the roll is under the required percentage chance (for example, if there is a 20% chance of something happening and you roll a 13) then the event takes place.

Taking 10 and 20

It doesn’t always make sense for actions to carry a random element. When you are not in any danger or otherwise distracted, you may “take 10” – treat a roll of a d20 as a 10 (the average) instead of rolling, to represent an average result. If you have lots of spare time and the action you are attempting carries no consequences for failing (such as straining to open a tight jar) you may treat the result of a d20 roll as a 20, but doing this means that the action takes 20 times as long as normal. In effect, it’s assumed that you’ve rolled the die 20 times until an actual 20 came up. Ultimately, the GM decides when you are permitted to take 10 or 20. Some tracks and feats grant abilities that may allow you to “take” other values.

Modifiers

A modifier is any bonus or penalty applying to a die roll or value. A positive modifier is a bonus, and a negative modifier is a penalty. In most cases, modifiers to a given check, roll, or value stack (combine for a cumulative effect) if they come from different sources and have different types (or no type at all), but do not stack if they have the same type or come from the same source (such as the same spell cast twice in succession). If the modifiers to a particular check, roll, or value do not stack, only the best bonus and worst penalty applies.

Ability Modifier: The bonus or penalty associated with a particular ability score. Ability modifiers apply to checks, rolls, and values for character actions involving the corresponding abilities.
Circumstance Modifier: A circumstance bonus (or penalty) arises from specific conditional factors impacting the success of the task at hand, such as the presence of precisely crafted tools in a workshop. Circumstance bonuses stack with all other bonuses, including other circumstance bonuses, unless they arise from essentially the same source. Circumstance modifiers are, of course, determined entirely by the GM.
Deflection Bonus: A deflection bonus is an increase to Armor Class caused by physical or supernatural increases in a character’s ability to block and redirect incoming attacks. Deflection bonuses are typically provided by magical shields and by some track abilities that increase Armor Class.
Feat Bonus: A bonus granted because of a feat chosen by a particular creature. Feat bonuses do not stack with each other.
Fury Bonus: A bonus granted by track abilities that are magnified by emotional or psychological imbalance. Fury bonuses stack with other fury bonuses from the same track, but never stack with fury bonuses from other tracks. At the beginning of your turn, you may choose not to benefit from fury bonuses to attack rolls, damage, and save DCs until the beginning of your next turn. Attacks and abilities that benefit from a fury bonus to attack rolls, damage or save DCs cannot also deal [Precision] damage.
Item Modifier: An item bonus or penalty is typically derived from an item in a creature's possession. Only one item bonus and one item penalty can ever be applied at a time to a given roll, check, or value.
Racial Bonus: A bonus granted because of innate characteristics of that type of creature. If a creature's race changes, it loses all racial bonuses it had in its previous form.
Size Modifier: A size bonus or penalty is derived from a creature's size category. Size modifiers of different kinds apply to Armor Class, attack rolls, and various other checks.