Introduction

Concept

Brave Adventures is a Generic Modular Role Playing Game System designed to be easy to pick up, play and adapt. It is not as detail-oriented as some other systems out there, but it should be quick and easy to learn for beginners. Think of it as a role playing gateway drug.

The system is designed for people who have always wanted to role play but were too intimidated by all the rules or complicated character generation to buy a book and teach their friends. The goal of the system is to make role playing as simple as your average board game.

We also wanted to avoid the need to write lots of things down and flip through rule books, so tokens and cards will be used to represent things that change (health, items) and the basic rules will be short enough to fit on a double-sided piece of paper.

Actors

There are four basic traits: Health (H), Mind (M), Body (B) and Power (P). In addition there are trait averages noted as MB, MP, MH, BH, and BP. Trait averages are always rounded down. Health and Power fluctuate during a game session. We suggest keeping track of these traits using coloured tokens or chips.

Here are the basic traits for the average person:

Health: 2
Mind: 5
Body: 5
Power: 1

Generating Actors
Here are the values we suggest for creating new characters based on a point system:

Health: +/-10
Mind: +/-10
Body: +/-10
Power: +/-5
Basic Skill: +/-1 (Basic Skills have a default value equal to the relevant trait)
Learned Skill: +1 (Learned Skills have a default value of the relevant trait minus 3)

Basic Skills

Here are a few examples of Basic Skills:

Trained Skills
Trained Skills include anything that requires formal education or experience. A trained skill adds the skill rank to the relevant trait. The default rank is always zero and if an actor attempts to perform a trained skill without training he rolls at the relevant trait minus 3.

Here are a few examples of Trained Skills:

Parallel Skills

These are skills that effectively do the same thing but may have different names. An example might be Thievery and Lockpicking. Both can be used to open a door but one or the other may be used for other things as well. Because skills and tests are abstracted, the use of parallel skills should make it easier for you to role play and generate the characters you want to play.

Rolling

Skill Tests
Roll 1D6 and add the value of the relevant or most appropriate trait/skill. If this number is higher than the target number, the action succeeds. A target number can be a set difficulty or an opposing roll. Ties are rerolled and averages are always rounded down. If something is simple, assume it is a success. Only roll when it is necessary.

Combat
During combat the characters take turns declaring and reacting to actions. Once in combat there are several basic combat actions you can perform: shoot, fight, disarm, dodge, hold and parry. The actors perform these combat actions as actions and reactions.

At the beginning of combat, each player rolls 1D6 and adds the MB of his character. The player with the highest roll goes first etc. Distribute the order cards accordingly, write the order down or just remember it with your brain.

When an actor targets another character both players roll immediately.

Example: The first actor, let’s call him Eric, declares what he is doing to a target, let’s call him Bill. Bill will then choose an action to react to Eric’s action. Both actors then roll according to the actions they chose. The winner was successful and the loser failed. Ties are rerolled. If the action or reaction affecting the loser causes physical damage the loser loses a health chip and draws an injury card if necessary.

Depending on the nature of the conflict, talking to a target or trying to persuade or calm a target may be an appropriate action. Talking cannot be used as a reaction to a physical threat though. Words do not stop bullets or axes.

Medical: Injuries and Death
If a character loses a combat or skill test that causes physical damage, that character loses a health chip. If a character’s health chips are reduced to 0, he has received a serious injury. If the character receives additional damage he receives another serious injury. This goes on until the character dies or the conflict is over and his wounds are treated. If an enemy is reduced to 0 he is considered defeated.

To treat a wound a character will need to attempt a medical roll on the wounded actor. If the roll is greater than the wound difficulty, the wound is treated and the card removed. Every round that a character has an untreated wound he must roll a willpower or endurance test to stay conscious or alive, depending on the wound. Some wounds may have permanent effects.

Power
Power chips may be used to reroll any roll or add an extra D6 to any roll. Power chips may also be needed to use special abilities, magic, super powers etc.

Conclusion

Character Advancement

In Brave Adventures, actors do not gradually advance in level to become godlike beings. There is no levelling up. A character is as good going into an adventure as they are coming out. Success, if at all, is judged by earning money, getting better items and acquiring skills or special abilities. But in the end, the characters are in it for the adventure and the story more than anything. Besides, isn’t just surviving reward enough?