Legend of Zelda RPG

A homebrew produced by the collective efforts of the /tg/ community, aiming to put the characteristic elements of the Legend of Zelda video games into a pen-and-paper RPG format and hopefully do it better than the existing d20 Zelda ruleset.

As a work-in-progress, expect the contents of this page to change fairly frequently until the game nears a more finalized form, and please be understanding if something important is missing.

Please Note: Since this is a joint effort of the /tg/ community and is currently in an unfinished state, changes to this system should be proposed on /tg/ before being added to this wiki. It's always best to get community feedback to assess whether something is unbalanced or unnecessary, and we don't want this system to become a dysfunctional patchwork of rules added by individuals without any community review for quality and coherence with the system as a whole.

This material is a reboot/overhaul of the original version. In its first run, the project produced a system that was functional, but not quite complete. The project fell dormant for about a year, then was revived; however, having had some time to step back and look at the project with a fresh perspective, it was decided that rather than finishing off the original project it would be better to rebuild from the ground up, correcting certain fundamental issues with the core mechanics that made the original system a real hassle to work with in several respects, ultimately contributing to the decline of the original project. You can find the original material here.

The Core Mechanic

D6 dice pool. To make a check, roll a number of 6-sided dice equal to the sum of your ranks in the relevant attribute and skill, plus any additional dice you may receive from racial bonuses or demonstrating a particular Virtue. Each die that comes up 4 or higher is a success; the more successes you get, the more impressive your performance. Particularly difficult tasks may require multiple successes to accomplish.

The Stats

Attributes

Attributes represent your character's general, basic abilities. Each Attribute has a minimum rank of 1 and a maximum rank of 5. A basic starting character has 2 ranks in each of two different attributes of their choice, and 1 rank in the rest.

• Brawn represents your physical strength and might.
• Agility represents your coordination and reflexes.
  • If you have at least 3 points of Agility, your speed increases by 2 meters (1 space). If you have 5 points of Agility, your speed increases by an additional 2 meters, for a total of 4 meters (2 spaces). You lose this benefit if you're encumbered by heavy armor or objects.
• Wits represents innate and intuitive mental faculties, such as creativity, cunning, and perceptiveness.
• Smarts represents learned and rational mental faculties, such as acquired knowledge and logical reasoning.
• Guts represents your determination, passion, and fortitude, both mental and physical.

Skills

Skills represent specific capabilities your character has learned through practice and training. Each skill starts at 0 and can be raised to a maximum rank of 5. A basic starting character has 2 ranks in each of two different skills of their choice, 1 rank in each of three additional skills of their choice, and no ranks in the rest. While each skill will generally be associated with a single attribute, the attribute used can vary depending on the situation, particularly for certain skills more than others. For example, running a race would always use Athletics, but the relevant attribute might be either Guts or Agility depending on whether it's a long-distance run or a shorter sprint. The skills are intended to be fairly broad and general, so that each skill has a fairly wide array of applicable uses.

• Melee: Most all melee weapons, except those that fall under Heavy. Swords, axes, maces, spears, unarmed combat, etc. Brawn is typically the associated attribute for Melee skill checks.
• Heavy: Big, heavy weapons that are slow and unwieldy, but pack a tremendous punch. Not only do Heavy weapons deal considerably more damage than other types, the force of their blows tends to make the enemy flinch. The Biggoron's sword and megaton hammer are examples of Heavy weapons. Brawn is pretty much always the associated attribute for Heavy skill checks.
• Ranged: Ranged weapons, such as the bow, boomerang, and slingshot. Agility is usually the associated attribute for Ranged skill checks.
• Shields: Exactly as the name suggests -- use of shields, for both defensive and offensive purposes. Brawn is typically the associated attribute for Shields skill checks.
• Spellcraft: Use of magic, whether spells in the conventional sense of powers inherent to your character through study or innate talent, or to invoke magical items like the Fire Rod or Bombos Medallion. Things that use this skill require MP. Smarts is always the associated attribute for Spellcraft skill checks.
• Instruments: Making music, often to produce mystical effects (eg, playing the Song of Storms on the Ocarina of Time to make it rain). Wits is always the associated attribute for Instruments skill checks.
• Tools: A catch-all skill for all the miscellaneous items that don't quite fit any of the above categories, such as the spinner or beetle. The associated attribute for Tools skill checks varies widely depending on what kind of tool you're using.
• Acrobatics: For feats of extraordinary reflexes and coordination, nimbly jumping about like a [s]ninja[/s] Sheikah. Agility is typically the associated attribute for Acrobatics skill checks.
• Athletics: For more conventional feats of physical prowess, such as swimming, more straightforward leaps, running races, etc. Brawn, Agility, and Guts are all possible associated attributes for Athletics skill checks.
• Riding: Handling a mount, such as a horse or Loftwing.
• Stealth: For when you don't want to be noticed.
• Perception: For when you want to notice something. Wits is always the associated attribute for Perception skill checks.
• Presence: The catch-all skill for influencing people in social situations. It is also used for resisting attempts by others to influence you (though sometimes another skill may be more appropriate, such as using Perception to see through an NPC's bluff). Social interaction isn't a significant part of the video games, so this system should be fine without particularly detailed or robust rules for social encounters, but we do think it'd be a good idea to have some kind of social skill. The associated attribute for Perception skill checks depends on what you're trying to accomplish: a clever bluff might use Wits, relying on quick, on-the-spot thinking and a knack for putting on a convincing act; a diplomatic negotiation might use Smarts, employing well-reasoned arguments to make your case; a rousing speech might use Guts, drawing on your passion and resolve to inspire the crowd. If you're trying to intimidate someone, you might even use Brawn!
• Survival: For gathering resources (such as cutting grass for hearts and rupees) and various other tasks, like fishing. Wits and Smarts are typically the associated attributes for Survival skill checks, depending on what's more appropriate for the task at hand.
• Lore: Knowing about things. Smarts is always the associated attribute for Lore skill checks.

Virtues

Virtues are a special stat, representing the three aspects of the Triforce. These aren't so much about what you do as how you do it. In order to add your rank in a Virtue to your dice pool, you have to do something in a way that demonstrates that Virtue. Virtues start at 0 and can be raised to a maximum of 3, but raising a Virtue is extremely difficult. A basic starting character has 1 rank in a single Virtue of their choice, and no ranks in the rest.

• Power is associated with pure force. It is blunt and straightforward, not bothering with finicky matters of subtlety and finesse. It is aggressive and imposing. You'd add Power when your character has had enough of subtlety and goes to brute force a solution. When they get angry and decide the time has come to Rip And Tear. When they think a swift kick to the locked chest'll do the job faster than the delicacy of a lockpick. To everyone else you're brutish and grisly. To those who see it you have Power.
• Wisdom is associated with contemplation and manipulation. It is refined and precise, preferring to take the time to analyze a situation rather than forcing its way through. It is cautious and discerning. You add Wisdom when you decide to act with clear planning. When you try to play smart and subtle. When rather than volleying arrows, you wait for the opportune moment to shoot. To everyone else you're overly cautious and slow. To those who see it you have Wisdom.
• Courage is associated with heroism and a balanced approach with respect to the other two Virtues. It bridges the gap between Power and Wisdom -- not as brutally aggressive as Power, but much more straightforward and action-oriented than Wisdom. It is persevering and straightforward. You add Courage when you're being daring and bold. When you take big risks, deal with your fears, or put yourself in harm's way for an ally. When the Deku bravely charges the Dodongo or the Kokiri challenges the Iron Knuckle to a duel. To everyone else you're crazy and reckless. To those who see it you have Courage.

Hearts, Magic, and Stamina

Hearts function like hit points, with each heart being equivalent to 4 HP. Damage and health are measured in hearts or fractions thereof, using the shorthand terminology of #H or #♥ -- eg, 2H, ½♥, 1+1/2H, etc. When you run out of hearts, you are down, but not dead. A character whose hearts are depleted has one "Final Heart"; only if the Final Heart is depleted does the character die, and the vast majority of enemies will leave a downed character alone until more active threats are dealt with. Hearts can be recovered through enemy drops, foraging (cutting grass, breaking pots, etc.), extended rest, and healing items/magic (such as fairies, potions, healing spells, etc.).

Magic is used to power spells and magic items. Each such effect consumes a certain amount of magic power (MP), which is acquired in blocks of 4. A character can have a maximum of 60 MP (15 blocks). Recovering MP requires magic jars (obtained through enemy drops or potions), extended rest, or potions (or a similar effect).

Stamina is mainly used to power special techniques, but is also needed for certain actions that any character can do (such as sprinting). Like MP, stamina is acquired in blocks of 4. Like magic, a character can have a maximum of 60 points of stamina (15 blocks). Stamina can be recovered in combat by giving up actions to rest (the exact mechanics of stamina recovery have yet to be worked out). Outside of combat, you can easily recover all your stamina with a short break of only a minute or so.

Each character starts with 3 hearts. A character's base magic is a number of blocks equal to 1+Wits -- so, for instance, a character with 2 Wits would have 3 blocks of MP (12 points). Similarly, a character's base stamina is a number of blocks equal to 1+Guts.

• Fluff note: Hearts and magic are recovered in essentially the same way they are in the video game -- by picking up items that must be used the moment you get them. Of course, this leads one to wonder why you couldn't just stockpile hearts and magic jars for when you really need them. If you're not content with merely handwaving the issue away, one explanation we've come up with in the course of working on this project is that hearts and magic jars are in fact crystallized deposits of life and magic energy, respectively. These crystalline forms are extremely delicate, and rapidly destabilize when touched. If the energy is not used immediately, it quickly dissipates into the environment.

Character Advancement

We would like to make this system entirely XP-less -- that is, rather than spending some kind of metagame resource to improve your character (as is the case in most every RPG), characters improve through in-game rewards. While this will add a bit more for the Sage to do, it strongly supports our goal of making a system with uniquely Legend-of-Zelda-style gameplay.

Of course, one of the most important means of character advancement is acquiring items. In order to advance to new challenges, you'll need to expand your repertoire of tools for handling them -- just like in the video games. Items are most prominently found in dungeons, and the item found in a dungeon is usually crucial for handling that dungeon's puzzles and boss. They also can be obtained in the overworld from side quests and the like. Note that "items" need not necessarily be physical objects -- they might be spells or songs learned from a mentor or ancient writing. Anything that adds a totally new capability that is vital for characters to handle puzzles and similar obstacles is effectively an "item".

Another important means of advancement is the learning of techniques. Techniques are special abilities and tricks that your character learns through practice. Like items, they typically add entirely new abilities to your repertoire, rather than merely improving your stats; however, unlike items, techniques rarely play a pivotal role in solving puzzles (though this is not to say that they can't play such a role occasionally). Rather, techniques help to personalize and flesh out your character's capabilities, adding variety and style to how you do things. Techniques are often combat-oriented, in contrast to items, which are typically puzzle-oriented. Techniques would typically be learned from mentors (such as the Hero's Spirit in Twilight Princess), but could also be learned from studying written instructions (such as the Tiger Scrolls in Minish Cap) or from other sources entirely -- whatever the Sage feels is appropriate.

Hearts, as you might expect, should be increased in essentially the same fashion as they are in the video games -- from Heart Containers dropped by defeated bosses, and from collecting Pieces of Heart. Each new heart obtained (whether from a defeated boss or Pieces of Heart) should benefit each party member equally.

The Sage should also provide opportunities for characters to acquire additional blocks of magic power and stamina in-game. The form this takes is entirely up to the Sage; you might use very abstract methods as is done for hearts, or the intervention of a powerful magical being (such as a Great Fairy's blessing or the Mad Batter's "curse", which double your magic meters in the video games that use them), or a powerful potion brewed by a witch, or perhaps even intense training under a suitable mentor to increase your reserves of strength. The number of extra blocks of these resources provided to a character should not exceed twice that character's rank in the associated attribute for that resource -- for instance, the Sage shouldn't give a character with 3 Guts more than 6 additional blocks of Stamina through in-game sources. However, Sages should be fairly generous in making extra blocks available, not shying away from allowing players to reach this upper limit. The pace at which these increases are provided is up to the Sage -- some may find it easier to only rarely give out many blocks at once (similar to the one-time doubling of the magic meter in the video games), while others may prefer the smoother progression afforded by providing one block at a time spread out regularly over the course of the campaign. Extra blocks of magic and stamina may be distributed to the party as a whole (in which case the amount of blocks given should be determined by the average relevant attribute value of all party members) or individually (in which case the number of blocks given can be determined on a character-by-character basis). If using individual distribution, characters should not be permitted to give extra blocks they obtain personally to other party members -- in other words, the whole party should not be able to go out and, for instance, each get a potion that boosts MP capacity and all give their potions to the party's mage.

Finally, of course, there's increasing your stats -- your attributes, skills, and Virtues. This too must be accomplished through in-game action. Improving your rank in a skill might require studying under a suitable expert in that field. Improving an attribute might take intensive training under a strict coach, or perhaps a magical infusion of ability from a potion or Great Fairy. Improving a Virtue would almost always require some kind of intervention on the part of a powerful supernatural entity -- perhaps even the Virtue's patron Goddess herself! Increasing stats should typically involve a side quest or "minigame" of sorts, determined by the Sage. A mentor might require you to overcome some trial to prove your worth before training you; finding a reclusive guru may be a challenge in itself; a witch might need you to gather ingredients for her to make you an attribute-boosting potion; a Great Fairy might require you to prove your Virtue by undertaking some grand endeavour before blessing you with greater strength in that area; and so forth. Increasing skills would require relatively easy challenges -- in fact, the Sage may simply require nothing more than the payment of a training fee in rupees at a local guild, if they don't want to spend time on something so trivial. Improving an attribute is a slightly more significant boost, and requires a bit more effort. Improving a Virtue is a momentous task indeed, requiring tremendous effort. While it would be reasonable to expect a character to hit the maximum rank of 5 in their primary attribute and skills by the end of an extended campaign, maxing out a Virtue should be reserved for only the most truly epic campaigns.

Exploration

Lifting and Carrying

Every creature and object has a Weight category, which can also be expressed as a number. The Weight categories, in order from smallest to largest, are Negligible (0), Light (1), Medium (2), Heavy (3), and Massive (4). PC races fall within the range of Light to Heavy (eg, Kokiri are Light, Hylians are Medium, Gorons are Heavy), and items (such as the Iron Boots) or other effects may modify your Weight, potentially taking it outside of this range. Very large or dense monsters or objects may have weights heavier than Massive, which are simply indicated with a "+" after the word Massive for each point of Weight beyond 4. For instance, an exceptionally large statue with Weight 6 would be described as "Massive++".

If your Brawn exceeds the Weight of an object, you can lift and carry it without penalty. If your Brawn is exactly equal to an object's Weight, you can carry it, but lose an action each turn when doing so due to encumbrance. You cannot lift anything with Weight greater than your Brawn, but you can push or drag any object with Weight no more than 1 point greater than your Brawn. Items like the Power Bracelet can increase your effective Brawn score for the purposes of lifting and carrying things.

Combat

When a fight starts, each combatant rolls for initiative with a dice pool of Agility + Wits to determine turn order. Turns go in order from most to least successes on the initiative roll. In the case of a tie, the one with the highest Agility goes first; if that doesn't break the tie, then the highest Wits; if that still doesn't break the tie, each party rolls a d6, with the higher roll going first.

Each turn, you get three actions, which can be used in a variety of ways. On your turn, an action can be spent to do just about anything that could reasonably be done in the span of a few seconds -- making an attack, using an item, moving a distance up to your speed, etc. Any actions not used during your turn can be used later in the round as reactions, in response to something somebody else does. Reactions can only be used in certain specific ways, as described below.

Attacks and Damage

To make an attack, roll the appropriate dice pool for your weapon. For instance, a typical sword would use Strength + Melee, a Biggoron's sword would use Strength + Heavy, and a bow would use Agility + Ranged. If you make at least one success, your attack hits, and you deal an amount of damage defined by your weapon. Each additional success you score beyond the first increases the damage you deal by 1/4H (for now, anyway -- eventually different weapons may have different kinds of effects for extra successes, but that can wait). A target that defends itself may cancel out some or all of your successes, as described below.

If the target is wearing armor, the damage dealt by a successful attack is reduced by a certain number of hearts based on what kind of armor the target is wearing (see below).

Attacking is usually just a single action, but attacking with a Heavy weapon requires two actions, due to their mass and unwieldiness.

Typically, you can only make one attack per round (including prepared-action attacks and counterattacks; see below). The main exception to this rule is if you are wielding two weapons; in this case, you can make a second attack during your turn with your off-hand weapon. Attacks made with an off-hand weapon take a -1 penalty to the attack roll, and weapons suitable for use in the off-hand typically deal less damage than main-hand weapons.

Ranged Weapons

Attacking accurately with a ranged weapon takes 2 actions -- one to aim, and one immediately afterward to fire. You can attempt a quick shot without taking time to aim, using only a single action to attack, but this comes at a great cost in accuracy -- your dice pool for the attack is halved (rounded down, but to a minimum of 1 die).

Crossbows additionally require an action to load, but unlike aiming this can be done well in advance of firing, with various other actions done in between. However, crossbows deal considerably more damage -- much like how Heavy weapons, though they take two actions to use, deal considerably more damage than Melee weapons.

Types of reactions

Defensive reactions: A reaction can be used to defend yourself in one of three ways. Regardless of which option you choose, each success you roll cancels one of the attacker's successes. If you roll at least as many successes for your defense as the attacker rolled for their attack, you've negated the attack completely. If you roll some successes, but not enough to negate the attack, you've managed to avoid some of the attack, mitigating it to an extent, but not quite all of it. If you roll no successes, you've failed utterly. Each defensive option has additional effects, as described below.

Block: If you have a shield, you can roll Guts + Shields to block an enemy attack. In addition to cancelling out the attacker's successes, as long as you roll at least one success you gain an armor bonus (in addition to any you may have from other sources), which further reduces the damage taken if you fail to negate the attack entirely. The magnitude of this bonus depends on what kind of shield you have. Several Heavy weapons can also be used to block (for instance, a large sword with a particularly broad blade). Unlike other kinds of defenses, cancelling successes by blocking does not negate the flinching effect of a Heavy weapon (see below). Even if the shield prevents the damage, the user still takes enough of the force of the blow that it takes a moment to recover.

Dodge: As long as you're not weighed down with a Heavy weapon or other bulky gear, you can attempt to leap, roll, or sidestep out of the way of an attack. To attempt a dodge, there must be an open space adjacent to your current position that isn't affected by the enemy's attack. A regular attack affects only the space you're currently in, but special attacks (like a Jump Attack or a Spin Attack) may affect additional spaces. Since a defensive reaction is used in response to a declared attack, you'll know which spaces are threatened and which (if any) are safe. To attempt to dodge, roll Agility + Acrobatics. In addition to cancelling out the attacker's successes, as long as you roll at least one success you move into an adjacent safe space of your choice. If you roll no successes, you utterly failed to react in time (or you really goofed and zigged when you should have zagged) and you don't move.

Parry: If you're using a Melee or Heavy weapon, you can use it to turn aside an enemy's Melee attack. A Heavy weapon is also capable of parrying an attack from another Heavy weapon, but Melee weapons are too small and flimsy to adequately accomplish this. To attempt a parry, roll Wits + your weapon skill - 1. If you roll more successes than the enemy does, not only do you negate the attack, but you manage to put the enemy in a disadvantageous position, giving you a +1 bonus to your dice pool the next time you attack that enemy, provided you make the attack before the enemy's next turn.

Counterattack: If you completely negate an enemy's attack with a defensive reaction, you can immediately spend another reaction (if you have one available) to immediately attack that enemy with a weapon you have on hand. Since a counterattack takes advantage of the momentary opening created when an enemy fails to land an attack, the target can't use a reaction to defend against it; however, Heavy weapons are too unwieldy to use for such a quick response, and thus cannot be used to counterattack. You also can't counterattack if you used an action on your turn to attack (even if the attack failed). Attempting a counterattack costs 1 Stamina.

Prepare: If you suspect an enemy might try to do something in particular, and you want to respond to that in a certain way, you can prepare a response to such an eventuality. To prepare a reaction, you must spend a reaction in advance and declare that you will do a certain thing when a given condition is met. For example, your prepared reaction might be, "if the Dodongo tries to breathe fire, I'll throw a bomb in its mouth". When the condition you prepared for is met, you can immediately take the action you prepared without spending a reaction (since your reaction was spent in advance when you declared the prepared reaction). If the condition isn't met before your next turn starts, your preparation is wasted. If you don't trust your Sage not to change what the enemies do to avoid triggering your prepared reaction, you can make a secret declaration by writing down the condition and what you plan to do, revealing it when the condition is met. You still have to declare that you are preparing an action, though; you just don't need to announce what exactly you're planning. You can prepare a reaction any time before the event triggering it happens, as long as you have a reaction available to spend for it. Prepared reactions take place immediately before the triggering action, and may prevent the target from carrying out the triggering action -- but this is not always the case! Generally speaking, a reaction prepared to thwart a particular special attack (such as the aforementioned Dodongo example) is hard for the enemy to defend against or recover from, since such actions exploit openings inherent in those attacks; however, such openings may not always be present. For example, you could prepare a reaction to attack an enemy if it tries to attack you (simply with a standard attack). In this case, while you could certainly make your attack, the enemy could still use a reaction to defend itself, and assuming it survives your prepared attack it may still be able to continue with its intended attack against you.

Movement and Positioning

Distances in this system are measured in meters, with combat spaces measured in squares 2 meters to a side. Each race will have a stated movement speed, which indicates how far an individual of that race can move in a single action (without additional modifiers, such as sprinting). The typical baseline speed is 6 m (3 spaces). A character can sprint by spending 1 stamina, doubling their movement speed for a single action.

Two allies can share a space together, but fighting in such close quarters imposes a penalty (undetermined as of yet). Certain techniques may mitigate this penalty, or even turn it into an advantage!

Grappling

Anyone can grab onto and wrestle with a foe; it doesn't take any sort of special technique. Here's how you handle the various actions involved in grappling:

• Initiate a grapple (1 action): Make an unarmed Melee attack. If you hit, instead of dealing damage, you successfully grab hold of the opponent and move into their space. Both you and your opponent are now Grappling each other.
• Release a grapple (free action): If you initiated the grapple, you can release your opponent on your turn as a free action, ending the grapple. You and your opponent are now no longer Grappling each other, and you move out of the opponent's space into an available adjacent space of your choice.
• Escape a grapple (1 action): If you did not initiate the grapple, you must somehow get free of your opponent's grip. You can attempt to do this by either overpowering your opponent to break out (a Brawn check) or by wriggling free (an Agility check). In either case, your check is opposed by your opponent's Brawn check; if you win, you end the grapple. You and your opponent are now no longer Grappling each other, and you move out of the opponent's space into an available adjacent space of your choice.
• Move while grappling (2 actions): Whether you initiated the grapple or not, as long as your opponent is at least light enough for you to push or drag (Weight no greater than 1 + your Brawn), you can attempt to move both yourself and your opponent by making a Brawn check opposed by your opponent's own Brawn check. If you and your opponent have different Weights, the heavier individual gets +1 to their dice pool for each point of Weight they have over the lighter one. If you win the check, you and the opponent each move 1 space for each success you scored over the opponent's number of successes. You may not move more than half your Movement in this way.

While Grappling:

• You cannot use reactions, songs, magic, or any item or weapon requiring the use of both hands.
• You have access only to those items you were wielding when you became grappled, and can't store or retrieve items from your inventory.
• You can't attack any creatures other than the one you're grappling, and can only use unarmed attacks or certain weapons (not yet defined) for this purpose.
• You can't move normally, but you can attempt to move both yourself and your opponent using an opposed Brawn check as described above.

A creature that is significantly larger than the creature it's grappling is exempt from the above restrictions, but instead simply adds its opponent's Weight to its own and reduces its Speed by the same number of spaces. However, it can't attack any such creature grappling it unless it initiated the grapple against that creature (though special circumstances may still allow the large grappled creature to damage the grappling enemy). For instance, Gels and Morths are small enough that they do not prevent a Hylian or even a Kokiri from acting more or less normally when grappled; however, they still impede movement, and because they are so small, they can't properly be attacked when latched onto an enemy's body.

Knockback

Many effects may knock their target back. Any such effect has a Knockback rating; if the Knockback rating of the effect exceeds the target's Knockback Resistance, the target is knocked back the distance indicated by the effect. If the effect's Knockback rating exceeds the target's Knockback Resistance by a wide enough margin (as yet undetermined; perhaps double?), the target is knocked back even farther than normal. (Right now, there's nothing really solidly decided for how to determine Knockback and Knockback Resistance, but at the very least they should each take into account Weight. Brawn would also make sense for factoring into Knockback rating for melee techniques.)

Status Conditions

Various effects might impose negative conditions on a combatant. The following are status effects that have been defined so far:

• Flinch: An creature that flinches (such as when hit by a Heavy weapon) loses 1 action on its next turn.

Combat equipment stats

Weapons can be classified according to size, with larger weapons dealing more baseline damage. The weapon categories and the damage they deal are, from smallest to largest:

• Miniscule (1/4H) -- eg, small knife
• Light (1/2H) -- eg, dagger
• Medium (1H) -- eg, sword
• Hefty(1+1/2H) -- eg, pike
• Massive(2H) -- eg, Biggoron sword
• Huge(3H)
• Colossal(5H)

The effort necessary to use a given weapon depends on your size relative to it. The largest weapon that a Hylian can use one-handed is a Medium weapon; a Kokiri or Deku, being smaller, can only use Light weapons or smaller one-handed; Gorons, being larger, can use Hefty weapons comfortably in one hand. Weapons one size larger than your one-handed weapon size (for a Hylian, hefty weapons) can be wielded two-handed as Melee weapons, and weapons two sizes larger than your one-handed weapon size are considered Heavy weapons. You can't wield any weapon that is more than two sizes larger than your maximum one-handed weapon size.

Note that the damage values listed for each weapon size are merely baseline values for a typical, average-quality weapon of that size. Particularly high- or low-quality weapons may deal more or less damage than others of their size. For example, the Master Sword would likely deal 1+1/2H, despite being a Medium weapon, whereas a wooden sword (also a Medium weapon) might deal only 1/2H.

Heavy weapons (those that are two sizes larger than the biggest size you can wield one-handed) always use the Heavy skill rather than the Melee skill. As noted above, it takes 2 actions to attack with a Heavy weapon, and you can't dodge or counterattack when using a Heavy weapon. The sweeping, two-handed overhand swings used to attack with such a large, unwieldy weapon carry considerable force -- enough force, in fact, that it can momentarily disrupt the enemy's movement. If an attacker scores at least one success with a Heavy weapon attack, the target flinches (loses 1 action on their next turn). Cancellation of successes from a Heavy attack by dodging or parrying can prevent this effect if all successes are cancelled, but successes in a Heavy attack roll cancelled by blocking only prevent damage, and do not negate the flinching effect of the attack. This effect is more a product of the way the weapon is swung rather than any properties of the weapon itself, so a given weapon may cause flinching when used by a smaller wielder (as a Heavy weapon) but not when used by a larger wielder (as a Melee weapon).

Armor and shields provide a flat reduction in damage taken from each attack, as indicated below. Additionally, each suit of armor has an Encumbrance rating. If the armor's Encumbrance is less than your Brawn score, it's considered light armor for you, and you can move about in it freely; however, if the armor's Encumbrance is greater than or equal to your Brawn, it's considered heavy armor and you lose an action each turn due to encumbrance.

• Cloth Armor: -1/4H; Encumbrance 0
• Leather Armor: -1/2H
• Chain Mail: -1H
• Plated Mail: -1+1/2H
• Full Plate: -2H; Encumbrance 5

• Small Shield: -1/4H
• Medium Shield: -1/2H
• Large Shield: -1H
• Tower Shield: -1+1/2H

Magic

Magic in this system may be either inherent (spells learned through study or drawing on innate power) or evoked from items. There is no functional difference between the two form -- in fact, any magic effect may be had as either an item or an inherent spell interchangeably, according to whatever the Sage and/or players prefer. Regardless of whether it's inherent or item-based, the spell consumes MP, involves a Spellcraft skill check, and must be obtained in-game in the same fashion that one obtains items. Spells are to be handled in much the same way as items such as a boomerang or hookshot -- they are significant acquisitions that give the character entirely new abilities that are vital for overcoming the challenges that bar one's advancement. Inherent spells may be obtained in the form of a physical item (such as a scroll that can be studied to learn how to use the spell, or a magic crystal that imparts the ability to use the spell), but might also be obtained through other means as well, according to Sage and/or player preference.

In order to make inherent magic and item-based magic as functionally identical as possible, inherent spells requires the use of a focus item. You focus might be a spellbook, a staff, a wand, a crystal ball, a tribal talisman -- anything you want that fits your character's concept, as long as it can be held in one hand. However, it should be something with minimal usefulness apart from allowing you to use your magic. Just as an item-focused mage must dedicate a hand to wielding, say, a Fire Rod rather than a sword, so must a wielder of inherent magic use a hand for their focus rather than an item with some other use. Because your focus is relatively useless on its own (apart from perhaps being a low-quality improvised weapon), it should be handled as a "freebie" included with the first inherent spell you acquire (whether in your starting equipment choices or obtained later in the game).

Each spell can be classified as either simple or advanced. Simple spells can be used as an off-hand attack, just as a second weapon in the off-hand can be used for a second attack in the turn; using a spell in this way imposes a -1 penalty to your Spellcraft check for that spell (just like an off-hand attack imposes a -1 penalty to your attack roll). Simple spells can also be used to make counterattacks (though this is of course still subject to the usual limit on attacks per turn). Advanced spells cannot be used to make off-hand attacks or counterattacks, because their use requires too much concentration to allow for such quick application. (No specifics have been set thus far for defining the classification of a spell, but it could be based on MP cost or some quality detailed in the spell's description. It would be nice for the classification of a spell to be based on the caster's Smarts and/or Spellcraft, with spells that novices find advanced being treated as simple for more capable casters.)

External Links

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