Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Freels
Version 2.2, May 2011
“BEAN! The D2 Role-Playing Game, Second Edition” by J. Freels
Version 2.2, May 2011
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A lot of people were very generous with their encouragement, and brilliant ideas while I was
working on the BEAN! game. Without them this game would not have been possible. For all
your great work and enthusiasm for my game, Thanks to:
Raquel Salinas for listening to my mad ramblings, contributing editorial ideas, production
logistics, and all manner of really
reall y vital stuff
Mark Aaron Young Babbitt for bringing me into the world of FRPGs way back when
John Stout , for his original musings on the possibility of a game played with beans
Ken St. Andre, who created the Tunnels & Trolls RPG and the abstract combat system
upon which that of BEAN! is based, your words of encouragement are always appreciated
by this fledgling game designer. Thanks, my friend!
Paul (The Mystic Fool) Ingrassia , of TROLL HAMMER PRESS
( http://trollhammerpress.blogspot.com/)
http://trollhammerpress.blogspot.com/) for invaluable contributions, and vision
for just what this silly game might evolve into
Andy James, editorial musings and marketing schemes
Paul Haynie for his statistical wizardry, and insightful editorial comments
Robert S. Lotze for his wacky visions of Beanworld politics, and editorial work
Sid Orpin, editing and insights
Jason Mills , editing and numbers running
Mike Holcomb, writer of BEAN
of BEAN Adventures
Adventures
And to the playtesters who have braved the world of BEAN! as it develops:
Raquel Salinas, Nick Stender, Alyssa Stender,
Paul, Tina, and Paulie Ingrassia;
M. E. Volmar & The DR Crew
“BEAN! The d2 Role-Playing Game” is © J. Freels, 2010, all rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution of this material is
forbidden without author’s express written consent. allowed and encouraged! The Fabled Worlds
consent. Reproduction of Character Cards is allowed Worlds
Role-Playing Game System is © 2008, J. Freels. Combat mechanics adapted from Ken St. Andre's works.
Be sure to visit www.JeffWerx.com to see what else JeffWerx is crankin’ out!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CON TENTS
Introduction
Introduction 4
Character Creation
Creation 5
Game Mechanics 7
Wizards & Magic 15
Magic Spell Lists 17
Appendix 1: Money & Equipment 26
Appendix 2: Bestiary 28
Appendix 3: Magical Artifacts 34
Appendix 4: “River Crossing” , Solo Adventure
Adventure 36
Appendix 5: “The Wizar
Wizard’
d’ss Cauldron”
Cauldron”
GM Adventure 40
Character Sheets 42
How This Came To Be
One day John Stout wrote on Trollhalla.com about his idea that there should be
a quick and easy game that could be played discreetly, for example while one is
on the job “working”. Being employed at a restaurant he thought that using
beans might be a good alternative for dice. After all, if your employer sees you
tossin’ dice in a corner you’ll likely be fired right away, but if you’re tossing a few
beans around…well, you’ll probably still get sacked…
Beans are used here as an alternative to dice, but really any objects that will
always land with one of two sides up will work. You could use coins, poker chips,
buttons, your favorite I-Ching tokens, or anything else that strikes your fancy,
but beans are plentiful, easy to work with, and I think the idea of tossing beans
around is kind of funny, and that’s certainly reason enough to do most of the
things we do.
It’s only required that you be able to easily distinguish the two sides from each
other, and this can be done easily enough by simply marking a “1” and “0“ on
either side of each bean you use. If you use something other than beans you’ll
just need to remember which is your 1 and which is your 0 side so that the rules
make sense. Any standard dice could be used by simply using the conventional
“High or Low” or “Odds or Evens” rule.
It’s also not an absolute necessity to describe your game in terms of beans. The
rules work whether you're playing traditional Fantasy characters, Furry
Anthropormorphs, Magic Granola Farmers, or whatever else floats your gaming
boat. Remember that RPGs are above all else about creativity and fun!
-The Podre
CHARACTER CREATION
All Characters whether Player Characters
(PCs) or NonPlayer Characters (NPCs) use
the same rules of creation.
5
They know a lot about history, different Warriors, Rogues, and Wizards get an
cultures, general science and mechanical extra bean in their Primary Bean Pool.
principals, navigation, nutrition, and For Warriors this is Body, Rogues get
such. They usually have good instincts their extra bean in Mind, and Wizards in
on things of a mystical nature, but are Spirit.
sometimes too “out there” for regular
folks. Heavy armor makes it difficult to If any of the Bean Pools is reduced to
cast spells and few will carry heavy zero then they don’t have the beans to
weapons for the same reason. deal with any kind of challenge for that
Attribute! If the Body Attribute is reduced
ATTRIBUTES to zero beans the Character is uncon-
scious, and at minus three beans they are
Attributes describe the basic building dead!
blocks of a Character. This game uses
three Attributes: Body, Mind, and Spirit. HEALTH POINTS (HPs)
The Body Attribute is a measure of physi- Health Points are the measure of a Char-
cal strength, endurance, dexterity, and acter’s Health. Character’s maximum HPs
overall health. (when they are uninjured) are equal to
the number of beans in their Body Attrib-
The Mind Attribute shows how intelli- ute. Whenever a Character sustains
gent a Character is and determines how physical damage it is subtracted from
quickly they can pick up new ideas, re- their current Health Point total. At zero
member things, notice crucial details, HPs a Character falls unconscious, and at
and figure things out. -3 HPs that Character is stone cold dead!
6
GAME MECHANICS, require a higher score than the number
of beans in the PC’s Bean Pool, but with
or
the Add-A-Bean Rule/Infinity Option (see
The BASIC BEAN COUNTING below) they might still have a chance!
SYSTEM
If the success or failure of an action in the FUMBLES and SUPER DUPERS
story is not clear then the Players and/or
GM must "Roll For It". There are three Sometimes the most heroic Characters
ways to do this: Contests, Challenges, will fumble, and the most unlikely Char-
and Combat. acters will triumph when faced with
overwhelming odds to perform some
CONTESTS kind of super duper feat. This kind of
thing makes life and gaming more inter-
A Contest pits Characters against each esting; here's how it works in this game:
other. The GM will announce a contest
by saying something like, “Roll For Body”, Fumbles: If a Player spills the beans and
or “RollMind”. The contestants will Roll rolls all 0's, then whatever they were at-
their Bean Pools for the Attribute, and tempting to do is an Automatic Failure, a
add up all the 1’s. The highest score wins Fumble. Maybe the sun was in their eyes,
the contest. If both contestants tie, each their equipment slipped, perhaps the op-
adds an extra bean to their roll until the ponent was just really lucky, it's up to the
tie is broken thus declaring the winner. GM to be creative in describing what
happened.
CHALLENGES
Super Duper Success:
Success If the Player seems
Sometimes Characters must roll a Bean to have magic beans and rolls all 1’s, they
Pool against a particular Difficulty Rating. earn an extra bean, This is called the
The GM will tell them which Attribute is Add-A-Bean Rule, or the Infinity Option.
being tested, as well as the target num- If this bean turns up 1 they may continue
ber for them to meet or beat. Difficulty adding an extra bean until they roll a 0.
challenges are written like: “RollBody3”, With luck they might keep rolling forever
or “TossSpirit2”. and could make any required Target
Number with a Super Duper success! It’s
Difficulty Rating (DR) Score Needed
a long shot, but there’s always a chance.
Easy 1
Moderate 2
Difficult 3
Challenging 4
Impossible 5
7
Example #1: Challenges & Contests COMBAT
Nilla the Rogue attempts to slip unseen The kinds of combat are: Melee (hand to
through the city gate. The GM directs her hand), Ranged, and Mounted.
to “TossMind2” to see if she can execute
this plan effectively. Because she is a BASIC COMBAT
Rogue, she has 4 beans in her Mind Bean
Pool. She tosses the beans and gets: 1, 0, Combat is based on
1, 1. for a score of 3. She exceeds the re- the Body Attribute.
quired score of 2 and succeeds! When two Characters
fight, each rolls their
Next she wanders through the streets Body Bean Pool, plus
looking for any kind of opportunity that the beans for any
might present itself to a roaming Rogue. weapons they are us-
Soon she sees a small fluffy dog in a jew- ing to come up with a
eled collar looking out of place and Combat Score. The
frightened. She tells the GM that she two Combat Scores
wants to catch the dog because there are compared and the
might be a reward for its safe return. The lowest score loses. The
GM directs her to “RollBody” to see if she loser subtracts as
can catch the dog. The GM decides that many beans from their Health Points as
the little dog really isn’t very tough, nor they lost the roll by, minus any Defense
in the mood to put up much of a fight, so Rating (Def) they have such as from ar-
he rolls 2 beans for its Body score. Nilla mor.
scores 0, 1, 1, to the little dog’s 0, 1. Nilla
has the better score in this contest and
succeeds in scooping up the little beastie. EXAMPLE #2: Basic Melee Combat
Hopefully her luck will continue when It’s later in the day and Nilla has brought
she finds out she has the Princess’ favor- the little dog to the castle courtyard. She
ite pet and has to explain how she hasn’t been making very good rolls and
ended up with the lil’ doggy after it was therefore hasn’t been able to convince
kidnapped the previous night! Will they the Princess that she wasn’t the one who
believe her? kidnapped the pooch. One of the castle
guards draws his sword and lunges at
Nilla, who drops the dog and draws her
dagger – it’s on!
8
COMBAT ROUNDS while being far enough away that they
can’t attack you –unless they also have
A Combat Round is the amount of time it ranged weapons!
takes to do something. Taking more than
a few steps, making an attack, casting an When firing some kind of projectile at an
"instant" spell, all take one round. A opponent you will roll your Body Bean
Combat Round is generally considered to Pool plus the beans for your weapon,
be about 2 minutes, and a Turn is about but first you must figure out how many
10 minutes. of those beans you can use! Add or sub-
tract beans based on the applicable
MULTIPLE FOES or GANGIN’ UP! modifiers shown in the table below.
You’ll notice that the more cover a target
Two or more characters may gang up on has, the harder it is to hit, however The
an opponent, or opponents. The me- Infinity Option might produce some kind
chanics for multiple foe combat is exactly
the same as standard combat except that
TARGET IS: MODIFIER
the allies add their individual Combat
Scores together for one Collective Com- Surprised +2
bat Score. The winner of the combat turn Dodging -1
decides how the damage is distributed to
the losers: either all to a single foe, evenly Partially Covered -1
distributed to all foes, or some other Mostly Covered -2
combination.
Completely Covered -3
EXAMPLE #3: Gangin’ Up!
EXAMPLE #4: Ranged Combat
In the courtyard, the guardsman pre-
pares to attack Nilla again! He rolls for Nilla has been really lucky in her battle
Body4 and +2 Sword, getting 1,1,0,1,0,1 with the well-armed guardsman so far,
for a total Combat Score of 4. Nilla rolls but he's got a scary look of determina-
her Body3 with her +1 Dagger and gets tion on his face as he chops at the
1,0,1,1, for a score of 3, but at the last Rogue! The Princess suspects that Nilla
second that little dog jumps to her de- may have been telling the truth about
fense with its Body2 and rolls a 0,1. With finding the royal dog, but the guard
the dog’s extra 1, Nilla’s side has a Com- doesn't hear the command to halt. The
bat Score of 4 which ties with the Princess grabs a nearby goblet and hurls
Guard’s Combat Score of 4! Little dogs it at the guard's head! The GM decides
can be good for something after all. If that the Guard will be surprised so the
the Princess decides that this is a sign of Princess gets a +2! She RollsBody3 +2
friendship, Nilla might just make it out of and gets: 0,1,1,0,1. This is good enough
this alive! for a moderate challenge, and the GM
rules that the shot is successful! How-
ever, the Guardsman is armored, and the
RANGED COMBAT goblet isn't much of a weapon so it
Using ranged weapons has the advan- won't do any damage to him, but he
tage that you may attack your opponent does stop as the goblet clangs against
his helmet!
9
of Super-Duper Success that could still BASIC MOUNTED COMBAT
result in damage!
Mounted combatants determine their
Ranged weapons are often too cumber- Combat Score by tossing these beans:
some to use at close range, but if they
are used at their proper range they may Mount’s Body Attribute + Mount’s Attack
be fired twice in a combat round. Prepar- + Skills Bonus* + Weapon Rating.
ing a crossbow to fire takes 2 rounds, but
if you had two crossbows already pre- *See the Skills Section for an explanation
pared you could fire both in one round.
Damage done to a mounted combatant
may be divided up between the rider
NON-
NON-LETHAL COMBAT and mount as determined by the winner
Sometimes it’s more useful to temporarily of the Combat Round.
disable an opponent than to inflict last-
ing damage. Players must announce at EXAMPLE #5: Mounted vs Unmounted
the beginning of the Combat Round that
they are inflicting Stun Damage. Their A Character with a spear on horseback
Combat Score is calculated as usual, but who is fighting foes on foot calculates
when they win a round all damage their Combat Score by tossing beans for
counts as “Stun Damage”. Stun Damage the Body Attribute of their horse (it's the
lasts 1 turn per point delivered. Stunned one doing the fancy footwork after all);
Characters may still fight, but only deliver plus any Attack the mount may have
half damage if they win a round. Suffer- such as the bite/trampling damage of a
ing Stun Damage equal to or greater warhorse; plus any Bonus for applicable
than existing HPs renders that Character skills such as Riding, Cavalry, etc; plus the
unconscious 1 round per point of Stun Spear's Weapon Rating. The foes on foot
Damage. roll their Combat Scores normally. The
Combat Scores are compared and the
MOUNTED & SHIP-
SHIP-TO-
TO - SHIP damage is subtracted from the loser's
COMBAT HPs as in any other combat round.
10
maintains the distance as desired. of well-trained mounts is often lower
than one might expect. This is due to the
If the distance has been closed, two fact that their training makes them less
things might happen next. The first is likely to mutiny while working.
that one may attack the other while that
other attempts to flee. The Attacker gets Ramming and collisions require Body3
a free shot at their opponent, and will Challenge to recover control. If the roll
roll their Combat Score minus the target’s fails then control is lost for the number of
Def and any bonus they might have for rounds the roll was lost by.
either speed or evasive maneuvers, (but
not both!) and this damage is delivered Ship-to-Ship combat can become confus-
to the target. After the free shot is re- ing very quickly, especially if ships have a
solved, if one side still wants to flee it will crew to keep track of. Just remember to
require another Contest of Body. work through
each Player’s
The other option for two foes who have turn dealing
just come within fighting distance is that with one as-
they may attack each other. The attacks pect at a time,
will take the form of normal Mounted and things
Combat, or Mounted Ranged Combat, will keep
depending upon the individual circum- moving
stances. smoothly.
MOUNTED RANGED ATTACKS MOUNT Body Mind Spirit Attack Def HPs
Horse 5 1 2 - 1 5
Mounted Combatants often use Ranged
Weapons when attacking their foes. To
Warhorse 6 1 1 2 1 6
resolve these situations, first determine if
the combatants are within range to At- Dinosteed 5 1 2 2 2 5
tack. Use the Body Contest rules de-
Flapposaur 4 1 2 2 1 4
scribed above, and when within range
simply make a Ranged Attack as usual.
Remember that the target gets a bonus
(usually +1 Def) for either taking evasive VEHICLE Body Mind Spirit Attack Def HPs
action, or for trying to flee, but not both.
Chariot 5 1 2 3 2 7
MOUNTED MISCELLANY
MISCELLANY Wagon 8 1 2 3 2 8
11
EXAMPLE #6: Ship Combat SKILLS
Pinto Pete’s crew is sailing around the Archetypes are pre-
Carob Bean Islands, and all is well until sumed to have mastered
they are attacked by pirates! The pirates certain skills as part of
want to overtake the little craft, and Pete their training, or from
wants to outrun them. A Contest will de- inherent abilities. Arche-
termine who is successful. Pete has the types will have 1 skill per
Helmsman Skill so he will add an extra bean in their Primary
bean to his ship’s Body Attribute of 10. Attribute, and gain an-
He rolls a total of 11 beans and gets a other skill every time they earn another
score of 5. The pirates have a skilled bean in that Attribute.
Helmsman and she rolls 10 beans for
their ship plus one bean for her Skill Bo- There are no standard Skill sets for Arche-
nus. The pirates score 7 which beats types as it’s really up to the Players to cre-
Pete, the Pirates overtake their foe! ate their individual Characters, and thus
Players are encouraged to create their
Now that the ships are close enough, the own Skills as they see fit. Here are some
crew must decide what they will do. The sample Skills by Archetype:
pirates will try to toss grappling hooks to
snag Pete’s craft and pull it close enough Warrior: Armed Combat/by weapon
to board. Each pirate with a grappling type; Endurance; Intimidation; Jumping;
hook will roll for a ranged attack with a Outdoor Survival; Running; Stealth; Strat-
Difficulty Rating of 2. egy; Unarmed Combat.
Pete’s crew will do their best to cut the Rogue: Climbing; Disguise; Fast-talking;
lines from the grappling hooks that snag Forgery; Gambling; Locate/Disarm Traps;
onto their ship. Each crewmember will Lockpicking; Pickpockets; Stealth;
RollBody2. If Pete’s crew has more suc- Streetsmarts.
cesses than the pirates they manage to
keep the ships from being pulled to- Wizard: Alchemy; Engineering; Folklore/
gether, but if the pirates have more suc- Customs; Herbalism; Magical Lore.
cesses than the ships are close enough
for boarding! General (not Archetypal specific) Skills:
Artisan; Cooking; Dancing; Healing;
If the ships end up entangled, the pirates Mathematics; Professional Trade; Singing.
will RollBody1 to successfully board
Pete’s ship. When a Character attempts to do some-
thing they are skilled at they will receive
If Pete’s crew kept their ship free, then a bonus. The average bonus is to lower
the helmsman of each ship will roll an- the Difficulty Rating by 1, or in the case
other Contest to see if Pete can outrun of Contests an extra bean is tossed, but
them this time! the GM has ultimate discretion as to
what the bonus will be.
12
pending on just who is playing them. "Body 3+1". In this example the player
This is what good role-playing is all would still roll 3 beans for all Body Con-
about. A Warrior might be more of a tests, Challenges, and Combat Scores,
martial artist who fights with hands and and if the result is not an Automatic Fail-
feet or specialized weaponry. They ure then add an extra 1 to the final score.
would receive a bonus when using these
attacks, but normal Combat rules apply HEALING
when using standard weapons.
Characters heal with rest and medical
A Rogue might be a stealthy Burglar attention, and if they’re lucky with some
who sneaks around stealing things when kind of quick and easy magical assis-
people are asleep or absent, or more of a tance! For every 60 minutes of quality
Brute who robs people in person and rest they will regain 1 bean up to the
therefore relies on Intimidation, Brawl- maximum number of beans in their Body
ing, Fast-talking, and Streetsmarts. Bo- Bean Pool. Quality rest means preferably
nuses would apply if they were in their sitting down and taking it easy. If one is
area of expertise, and be normal rolls walking slowly and not overburdened
otherwise. they will regain 1 bean every 2 hours.
EXAMPLE #7: Skills Bonus The other Attributes are healed in the
same way, unless whatever drained
A Wizard attempts to read a scroll that these Attributes is specified to be of a
has been written in a simple Wizard's more permanent nature. Staying up too
code. The GM decides this is an Easy late studying might leave one with an
Challenge, but if the Wizard has "Wizard effective Mind Bean Pool of 1 the next
Codes" or a similar Skill listed on their morning, but rest will revive that Charac-
Character Record Sheet they'll get a bo- ter. An evil curse that reduces a Charac-
nus and will probably roll just to see if ter to Mind1 needs more than rest to
they get a Fumble or not. heal, it’ll depend on that particular curse!
13
their foe decides to continue beating the Primary Attribute for your new Ar-
them to death, well, that’s how it goes chetype. Then come up with a list of skills
sometimes! May your next Character for your new Archetype. Quick and easy,
have a long, exciting life! If it was easy it eh?
wouldn't be interesting.
If you want to create a highly specialized
EXPERIENCE POINTS (XPs) Rogue Character you might create the
Archetype “Safecracker” with the skills:
Characters earn Experience Points (XPs) Stealth; Climbing; Locate/Disarm Traps;
for their actions and for good role- and Lockpicking.
playing. Characters earn one XP for each
“1” they roll. Every Gold Piece (or what- Perhaps you have a real thing for explo-
ever unit of currency is used in your gam- sions and Barbeque and want to play a
ing world) worth of loot the Character specialized Wizard whose spells are all
has gained is worth 1 XP. If a Player is do- related to fire. This might look much like
ing an exceptional job of role-playing, a standard Wizard (except for the Vegas-
which means playing the role of their style robes), but with the “Fire Mage Skill”
Character in a believable way and mak- will get an extra bean when rolling to
ing the kinds of decisions that Character cast fire related spells and a bonus when
would even if the actual Player knows rolling for fire related Challenges.
better, they may earn extra XPs. Success-
fully overcoming a foe is worth 10 times
their primary Attribute in XPs.
14
Pulp Style Heroes might be skilled at: cal Failure might affect a different target,
Fisticuffs/Brawling; Firearms; Disguise; or perhaps provide some twisted form of
Stealth; and Gadgetry. the intended spell. A Super Duper Suc-
cess might blast more then one foe, ex-
Sleuths might have the skills of: Research; tend extra beneficial powers for a brief
Brawling; Stealth; and Perception; The time, or any other things that the GM
possibilities are wide open! dreams up.
15
bean(s) are subtracted from the DR cast- unheard of for Warriors to learn the art
ing roll, making it more difficult to cast a of magic. It’s not impossible; it’s just rare
successful spell. If the spell affects the tar- and very, very expensive. Because it’s dif-
get indirectly, such as when the spell af- ficult to get the magic flowing without
fects an area, the bean(s) are subtracted the proper years of training, all non-
from the effects upon the target. Wizards learn and then cast spells at one
DR level higher than actual Wizards.
TIPS FOR MAGICAL COMBAT
SPELLBOOK
SPELLBOOK
When two (or more!) Wizards engage
each other in combat, the deciding fac- Here is the collection of basic spells avail-
tor is usually how well they manage their able to those Wizards versed in the magi-
defensive spells. For this reason most cal arts. Spells are listed in sections ac-
Wizards will choose to cast a defensive cording to their casting Difficulty Rating.
spell on their first turn of combat. A suc- Level 1 spells have a Difficulty Rating of
cessful defensive spell will totally negate 1, thus requiring a score of only 1 to cast
or at least reduce the effects of whatever successfully. Level 2 spells require a score
spells they are attacked with. of 2, and so on.
When fighting against a more powerful Spells are listed in the following format:
Wizard it is important to be creative. You SPELL NAME
will suffer penalties from casting a Light- CASTING TIME
ning Bolt at a more powerful wizard, but DURATION
you won’t if you cast your spell at the EFFECT
chandelier over her head!
The Spell Name is of course what you call
MAGIC SPELLS that particular spell.
Wizards begin the game knowing 2 The time it takes to cast a spell is given in
spells for each bean in their Spirit Bean Casting Time . Some spells are quite
Pool (Spirit x 2). There’s no limit to how elaborate and require longer to cast.
many spells they can learn, and if they Most spells take effect in the round they
find any scrolls of magical spells or similar are cast and are denoted here with the
wizardly paraphernalia on their travels word “instant”.
they can dedicate some time to studying
and learning these new spells. It gener- Duration tells you how many turns
ally takes an entire day’s dedicated study (generally considered to be about 10
to learn a new spell. At the end of the minutes), combat rounds (about 2 min-
day they must RollSpirit3 and if successful utes), days, etc a spell lasts. If a spell’s ef-
they learned the spell. If they fail the roll fect is over almost immediately after it is
they will need to start over! If it was easy, cast, for example a Lightning spell that
everyone would be doing it. immediately blasts its target and is gone
in a flash, this will read “Instant”. If the
It is very expensive to find someone to effect of the spell won’t fade away as the
teach Wizards new spells. It is very rare magic disperses, it will say “permanent”.
for Rogues to learn spells, and it is almost A Character who has been completely
16
healed magically may be re-injured, but SPELL NAME: BRING ME DR: 1
they don’t have to worry about their pre- CASTING TIME: instant
vious injuries returning as the spell wears DURATION: 1 minute x Casting Roll
off. EFFECT: Allows the caster to pick up an
object or to manipulate objects from a
The Effect explains what the spell does distance by making gestures with their
and whatever a Player or Player Charac- hand as if they were actually there
ter needs to know about it. touching the objects. The objects must
be within sight, and can not be heavier
A spell's effectiveness is often determined than what the caster could actually lift if
by how well the Player rolls when cast- they were using a single hand.
ing the spell. The duration of spells, and
their effect are often described as “x
rounds + Casting Roll” where x repre-
sents the base effect for that spell, and
then the total casting roll is added to this
base. Once a Wizard has successfully cast
a spell they may diminish the effect of
that spell as they choose.
17
SPELL NAME: GROK SPEAK DR: 1 is still affected by gravity, but very slowly
CASTING TIME: instant and will suffer no damage landing after a
DURATION: 10 min x Casting Roll great fall.
EFFECT: Allows the caster to communi-
cate with those around them even
SPELL NAME: PACK DR: 1
though each continues speaking their
CASTING TIME: instant
own language. This spell is most useful DURATION: permanent until unpacked
for general communication, and any de- EFFECT: Caster’s touch draws out all ex-
tailed or difficult concepts will require tra air in a package causing that package
extra effort for shared comprehension. to shrink to a more manageable size with
an airtight seal for freshness, or whatever
insidious purpose the recipient decides
SPELL NAME: IDENTIFY DR: 1
to apply the spell to.
CASTING TIME: instant
DURATION: instant
EFFECT: Grants general recognition of SPELL NAME: POLISH/TARNISH DR: 1
images, scents, tastes, and usage of ob- CASTING TIME: instant
jects. Even if the caster can’t read the lan- DURATION: permanent
guage on a scroll they will still be able to EFFECT: Polishing causes the molecules
identify the name of that language and of an object to vibrate and dispel all for-
who uses it. eign matter that has accumulated there.
Conversely, Tarnish causes the subject to
SPELL NAME: ILLUSION DR: 1 attract mildew, dust, and assorted grime
CASTING TIME: instant for an aged or derelict appearance.
DURATION: 10 minutes x Casting Roll
EFFECT: The caster creates an illusion of
whatever image they wish. The illusion- SPELL NAME: SHIELD DR: 1
ary image may perform some simple re- CASTING TIME: instant
petitive task, or just sit there looking DURATION: 1 minute x Casting Roll
very real. May also be cast on a creature EFFECT: Reduces damage (of all
to serve as a disguise with somewhat Body, Mind, and Spirit varieties) by
limited expression.
1/2, rounded down.
18
SPELL NAME: SHINE DR: 1 signs of a creature’s passing are visible. If
CASTING TIME: instant the creature flew, or did not touch the
DURATION: 10 minutes x Casting Roll ground in some way, a wispy trail floats
EFFECT: The caster touches an object in the air marking their course. The
and creates a glow as bright as a single recipient of this spell will be able to tell
candle to emit from the recipient. It is the direction of travel, as well as the
generally used as a quick night light, or order in which objects have been
touched.
as a blinding offensive move if cast into
a foe’s eyes. This spell is commonly cast
upon small stones or coins and bound SPELL NAME: UNSEEN DR: 1
with the Lasting spell. These are known CASTING TIME: instant
as “GlowStones” or “GlowCoins” and DURATION: 2 minutes x Casting Roll
can be bought fairly easily for about 5 EFFECT: Causes light to bend around the
recipient leaving them totally invisible if
Gold Pieces from Wizards earning a little
immobile, and quite difficult to see if
extra cash. These little artifacts must be
moving.
kept wrapped in thick cloth when not in
use because they have no on and off
switch. SPELL NAME: WATCH DR: 1
CASTING TIME: instant
DURATION: 1 hour x Casting Roll
SPELL NAME: TINT DR: 1 EFFECT: Creates an invisible sentinel that
CASTING TIME: instant will keep watch over a specified passage,
DURATION: 1 day x Casting Roll
door, or general area. When an intruder,
EFFECT: Allows the recipient to change
physically incarnate or not, comes within
the color of objects as if their finger was
its presence an alarm will be sounded.
painting their chosen color there. The
effects may be covered up, but cannot The caster may choose whether the
be washed off as the actual color of the alarm can be heard by themselves only,
object has been tinted. or by everyone present as well as what
kind of sound the alarm will be.
19
commonly used right after casting a
SPELL NAME: AGILITY
AGILITY DR: 2 defensive spell.
CASTING TIME: instant
DURATION: 1 round x Casting Roll
EFFECT: Temporarily increases the recipi- SPELL NAME: FIREBALL DR: 2
ent’s dexterity by 1 bean x Casting Roll. CASTING TIME: instant
DURATION: instant
EFFECT: Fills the caster’s hand with a
SPELL NAME: BOGGLE DR: 2 ball of sputtering flame that is harmless
CASTING TIME: instant
until it impacts with something. The
DURATION: 10 minutes x Casting Roll caster must make a successful Ranged
EFFECT: This spell reduces the target’s Attack to hit their desired target. Explo-
Mind by 1 bean x Casting Roll. sion reduces the impacted object’s Body
Bean Pool by 2 Beans + Casting Roll.
Automatic failures rolled at casting or
SPELL NAME: CHILL DR: 2 for the toss may result in the fireball
CASTING TIME: instant
bouncing into nearby objects and then
DURATION: 10 minutes x Casting Roll exploding or other such nasty surprises.
EFFECT: Creates a magical snowball in
the caster's hand that will turn into a
sheet of ice (1 square foot x Casting Roll)
over whatever it collides with.
20
SPELL NAME: HEALING DR: 2 +3 damage to whatever target it hits. It
CASTING TIME: 1 min x bean healed disappears in a burst of energy as soon
DURATION: permanent as it does its damage.
EFFECT: The caster uses a laying on of
hands to accelerate the Character’s natu-
ral healing abilities. Depending on the
extent of the damage being repaired, the
recipient may be a bit sore for some time
after the healing, but they will be able to
perform as good as new!
21
twice their normal writing speed. LEVEL THREE SPELLS
SPELL NAME: STRENGTH DR: 2 SPELL NAME: JIG DR: 3
CASTING TIME: instant CASTING TIME: 1 round
DURATION: 1 round x Casting Roll DURATION: 5 minutes x Casting Roll
EFFECT: Temporarily increases the EFFECT: With a touch the caster causes a
recipient’s strength by 1 bean x Casting target creature to dance a vigorous and
Roll. uncontrollable jig. The target is
powerless to resist and won’t be able to
do anything else while dancing. Their
SPELL NAME: SURE SHOT SHOT DR: 2 dancing skills will be +3 beans better
CASTING TIME: instant than they could normally manage.
DURATION: until dispelled
EFFECT: Temporarily enchants an object
(+2 beans + Casting Roll) so that it is
more likely to hit a target and do
additional damage. Can be cast on hand
or foot, rocks, sticks, traditional weapons,
or the most unlikely things someone
might be attacked with. The
enchantment is dispelled upon hitting its
target.
22
severed digits and limbs, as well as one’s and pliable. At the end of the spell’s
memory or sanity. In the case of physical duration the material returns to its
pieces of the body, the caster must have normal consistency. This is a favored spell
these present with the body to be for people seeking to pass through walls,
or for those manufacturing lots of
rejoined. This spell may be used to
well-formed bricks or stacking rocks.
attach body parts to foreign bodies and
is responsible for a lot of the mismatched
monsters out in the world. This spell only SPELL NAME: SPROUT DR: 3
re-attaches the detached elements, a CASTING TIME: 1 hour
separate Healing spell must be used DURATION: permanent
after Restoration to bring back the Body, EFFECT: This spell causes immediate and
Mind, or Spirit Bean Pools. super growth in objects. It can be used
to re-grow bad haircuts or missing limbs,
get the crops ready to harvest, or cause
SPELL NAME: SCRYE/SPYGLASS DR: 3 yeast to ferment.
CASTING TIME: 10 minutes
DURATION: 1 minute x Casting Roll
EFFECT: Allows the caster to use a SPELL NAME: WEB DR: 3
reflective surface to see what is CASTING TIME: 1 round
currently happening somewhere else. DURATION: instant
For best clarity the place being viewed EFFECT: Allows caster to shoot a sticky,
must be well known to the caster, strong mass of webbing from their hand
otherwise the images will be vague and Caster must make a successful Ranged
often not very useful. Weapon roll to hit targets. 2 cubic feet x
Casting Roll of webbing are created,
which has a rating of Body3 to tear.
Webbing lasts 2 rounds x Casting Roll
before dissolving away, and anyone
caught in the material must win a
Contest of Body for each bean rolled at
casting or be hopelessly trapped.
Webbing is highly flammable.
23
LEVEL FOUR SPELLS
SPELL NAME: CLONE DR: 4
CASTING TIME: 1 hour
DURATION: permanent
EFFECT: Allows the caster to create a du-
plicate of the prepared subject. The sub-
ject must be immobile while the spell is
performed. Even if the casting roll is
made, any distractions during the clon-
ing process will result in a clone gone at
least slightly weird. Normal clones have
none of the subject’s memories or skills,
and aren’t known to be especially intelli-
gent. They are a good source of cheap
labor for those who find zombie armies
distasteful. Beanfolk embroiled in political
problems sometimes have at least one
clone wandering around to throw off
assassins. Clever Wizards might create a
clone to serve as the new vessel for SPELL NAME: PORTAL DR: 4
someone in a severely damaged body of CASTING TIME: 10 minutes
their own. DURATION: 1 minute x Casting Roll
EFFECT: Allows the caster to open a por-
tal to another location. The portal begins
SPELL NAME: DEEP POCKET DR: 4 as a point of swirling mist and grows to
CASTING TIME: 10 minutes the height of the caster. The spell is used
DURATION: 10 minutes x Casting Roll as a means to quickly get from one place
EFFECT: Cast within an ordinary pocket, to another, but once opened anything
bag, or other cubbyhole, this spell cre- on either side may pass freely through
ates a magical space of one cubic foot x until the spell ends and the portal closes.
Casting Roll. The magical pocket space is
tough and rarely ever torn, but at the
SPELL NAME: SHAPESHIFT DR: 4
end of the spell duration the space
CASTING TIME: 2 rounds
shrinks back to normal size, expelling DURATION: 1 hour x Casting Roll
whatever is inside that wouldn’t other- EFFECT: Allows recipient to physically
wise fit into the natural space. transform into another creature of
roughly the same body mass as their true
form. Average sized beanfolk may trans-
SPELL NAME: MIND SWAP DR: 4 form into a butterfly, or elephant, but to
CASTING TIME: 1 hour equal their original body mass it would
DURATION: 1 hour x Casting Roll be a massive butterfly or a very small ele-
EFFECT: Allows the caster to switch the phant. Characters will retain their own
minds of two subjects into each other’s intelligence and memories, but will also
bodies. The Wizard must physically have the basic inherent abilities and
touch each subject to make the switch.
24
language of whatever they’ve CASTING TIME: 1 day per spell level
transformed into. DURATION: permanent
EFFECT: Allows the studious and creative
Wizard to create a new spell, with the
GM’s approval of course. Powerful spells
may need specific artifacts from
challenging quests to complete, and the
GM should carefully consider all the
possible abuses spells could be put to
before allowing them to be created. Very
powerful spells may require a higher
base Difficulty Roll and may even require
more than 1 Wizard’s contribution to roll
enough beans for success.
*DR= Spell level + 3
VARIABLE DR SPELLS
SPELL NAME: BOOST
BOOST DR: *
SPELL NAME: RESSURECTION DR: *
CASTING TIME: special
CASTING TIME: 1 day per Target’s Body
DURATION: permanent
DURATION: permanent
EFFECT: Allows multiple spellcasters to
EFFECT: It is a difficult task, but
team up and put all of their Spirit beans
sometimes a powerful wizard, or group
into the casting of a spell. Each
of wizards may be able to resurrect a
participant must already know both the
departed hero...or someone with
Boost spell, and the spell being boosted.
enough money to tempt the spellcasters.
The participants must also be willing to
Failure casting this spell often results in
suffer the penalties if even one caster
something horrendous taking over the
scores a fumble! This spell is most
deceased body resulting in terrible
popular for casting high level spells, and
mayhem. Freshly deceased bodies have
especially for something as delicate as
a better chance of being resurrected.
the Resurrection spell. Casting time is 3
Anything over 1 week dead increases
rounds + Casting Time of boosted spell.
the DR +1 bean per week dead.
*DR= Target’s Body + 5
SPELL NAME: BRITTLE DR: *
CASTING TIME: 3 rounds
SPELL NAME: SPELLBREAKER DR: *
DURATION: permanent
CASTING TIME: 3 rounds
EFFECT: By touching an object, the
DURATION: permanent
caster causes 1 cubic foot x Casting Roll
EFFECT: Pulls power out of a spell to
of mass to instantly deteriorate as if the
lessen its effects, shorten or even end its
object had instantly aged to a brittle and
effects. Useful in breaking curses, getting
easily breakable consistency.
through wizards’ magical shields, etc. DR
*DR= Target’s Body + 2
is original spell level + 2
25
per Piece. They should have enough for
APPENDIX 1: a decent meal, but not much else –it’s
MONEY & EQUIPMENT time to get to work!!
STANDARD CURRENCY
CURRENCY
Fantasy settings typically use Copper
Pieces (cp), Silver Pieces (sp), and Gold
Pieces (gp) as units of currency. The ba-
sic exchange rate is:
200 cp = 20 sp = 1 gp
26
ARMOR DEFENSE COST BASIC GEAR COST
(Def) Personal Basics (tinderbox, towel, 5
Cloth 0 30 fork, spoon, cup, etc)
Spear +2 40
Staff +1 10
27
XPs: 40
APPENDIX 2:
Attack: by weapon
BESTIARY B'Norks love to fight, and aren't good at
much else. They travel in groups looking
Fantasy gaming is full of fantastic crea- for trouble, and sometimes work as mer-
tures. Some of these are wise and be- cenaries.
nevolent beings that the PCs can learn
much from...but most will probably want
Bombats
to just eat them.
Body: 1
If there's a wide discrepancy between a Mind: 0
creature's speed or coordination, and Spirit: 0
general toughness they might have a HP: 1
Def: 0
different number of HPs than their Body
Attack: explosion 1
Attribute bean pool. XPs: 10
In addition to the basic stats, each crea- As near as anyone can tell, these creepy
ture is given an XP# (equal to their pri- fungi are not intelligent in any way, but
mary Attribute x 10) which shows how this doesn’t stop them from being ex-
many Experience Points the Characters tremely dangerous. Their spores grow
earn for vanquishing the creature. into buoyant, highly flammable gas-filled
clumps. The slightest noise causes them
B’Nelf
B’Nelf to flap furiously until they break free and
seem to fly around aimlessly until they
Body: 3 smash into something and explode. Strik-
Mind: 3 ing them has the same effect. (toss 5
Spirit: 4
beans +2 to see how many take flight.
HP: 3
Characters roll a Body contest to see if
Def: by armor
Attack: by weapon they can dodge the exploding fungi, or
XPs: 40 how many explode near them). They are
usually found in lonely underground cav-
B'Nelves are typically found in small wil- erns, and are believed to be related to
derness communities where they com- the Moonbats that flock to Beanworld
mune with nature, create fabulous arti- from Shinche, the orange moon, when it
facts, and contemplate the deeper as- passes close enough for the two atmos-
pects of life. While generally aloof with pheres to mingle.
strangers, they are the most loyal allies
once won over. Bristle Bear
B’Nork Body: 5
Mind: 2
Body: 4
Spirit: 2
Mind: 2
Spirit: 2 HP: 5
HP: 4 Def: 3
Def: 1 XPs: 50
28
Attack: bite/claw : 5 and slashing talons are truly frightful.
These creatures resemble a bear with the They are found only in warmer climates,
thick prickly spines of a porcupine cover- and even there are not common.
ing their backs. They are very strong and
have mighty teeth and claws which are Dragon
their primary means of attack, although
they generally prefer not to fight. If the Body: 4+
Bristle Bear earns a Super Duper success Mind: 3+
in battle, it inflicts an extra point of dam- Spirit: 3+
age to its opponent in the form of quill HP: 4+
damage! It is quite painful to remove the Def: 3
Attack:3
quills and if not done by someone
XPs: variable
trained in the medical arts it will do an
additional point of damage taking them There are several varieties of dragon. All
out! have the look of large reptiles, most ca-
pable of flight. Some are benign and
Clod even chatty, most however are disinter-
Body: 2+ ested in the affairs of Beanfolk and
Mind: 1 would rather eat anyone they encoun-
Spirit: 2 ter. Most have a fondness for treasure
HP: 2+
Def: 3 which they hoard. Dragons attack using
Attack: 2 tooth and claw, and some are equipped
XPs: variable with breath weapons such as firebreath.
Clods are simple elementals of animated A dragon’s Attributes raise by 1 every
earth capable of basic tasks like mining, year of their life, and many pick up spell-
guarding, or carrying heavy things. The casting abilities as part of their magical
smallest (Body 2, HP 2; XPs 20) are half nature.
the height of Beanfolk, but by expending
greater magics larger Clods may be cre-
ated.
Dinosteed
Body: 5
Mind: 1
Spirit: 2 Dust Bunnies
HP: 5
Def: 2 Body: 1
Attack: 3 Mind: 1
XPs: 50 Spirit: 2
HP: 1
Dinosteeds are marginally domesticated
Def: 1
lizards prized for their speed and ferocity
XPs: 20
in battle. Their powerful hind legs make
them very fast and agile, and their bite
29
Dust Bunnies usually form in the forgot- pear in flocks of 10-30 (Toss 2 beans, add
ten spaces of Wizards’ workshops where 1 and multiply by 10) and will instantly
stray elements of magic mix with dust attack any warm-blooded creatures that
and other odds and ends until an odd come near them. For every round of
little life form is created. To determine combat the FlutterSucks win, a number
the number of Dust Bunnies encoun- of the creatures equal to the number
tered, toss 5 Beans and add 3. These they won the round by have latched on
creatures are quite friendly, but very
to a victim. The next round they will be-
deadly. They become quite excited at
gin to drive their pointy beaks into their
seeing new “friends” and will swarm
prey. The following round they will drain
over the newcomers in a massive group
hug. Because the creatures are com- 1/4 HPs each round. It ’s a good idea to
posed mostly of dust they cause most get these things off you quickly, a better
people to break into fits of coughing idea to not let them get on you, and best
which are often fatal! For every Combat of all to just not go into the creepy old
Round that is won by the DBs their dark places they inhabit!
“friend” is trapped in a hug. For every
Combat Round that they best their op-
ponent by 2 or more, that opponent Froglodyte
must TossSpirit3 or fall prey to a violent Body: 4
coughing fit which reduces all their Mind: 2
other rolls by 1. Dust Bunnies take no Spirit: 3
damage from blunt instruments or pro- HP: 4
jectiles, and only half damage from Def: 1
bladed weapons. They are extremely Attack: by weapon
vulnerable to fire and disappear in a XPs: 40
screaming burst of flame almost in-
stantly, but are likely to catch fire to any- Froglodytes are slightly smaller than nor-
thing flammable that is nearby. mal beanfolk, stooped and fond of
marshy places. They spend much of their
time fishing and hunting large insects
Fluttersucks
for food. They make excellent guides
Body: 2
through the swamplands if you can talk
Mind: 2
Spirit: 2 them into it. They are generally good
HP: 2 humored, but if you’re small enough to
Def: 1 look like a meal to them you probably
Attack: 1 will be.
XPs: 20
These horrid swarming creatures appear
as a wildly fluttering set of leathery
wings and a large proboscis. They ap-
30
Goblean sweet sugary Jellybean Golems has
been on the rise. These monstrosities are
Body: 2 created by secret means to become un-
Mind: 2
thinking soldiers for evil. They cannot be
Spirit: 2
HP: 2 reasoned with, and obey whatever sim-
Def:by armor ple commands their masters give them.
Attack: by weapon They are particularly vulnerable to fire
XPs: 20 and water based attacks.
Small, mean, and feisty, Gobleans are
only brave when outnumbering their Muckyuck
foes, and would rather flee than risk any Body: 6
harm to themselves. Mind: 0
Spirit: 2
HP: 6
Hobbean Def: 3
XPs: 60
Body: 2
Mind: 3 Sometimes residual magic pools into
Spirit: 4 stagnant water or other dismal places
HP: 3 and gradually gains a kind of non-
Def: by armor
intelligent consciousness. It then draws
Attack: by weapon
together a kind of body from the sur-
XPs: 40
rounding decaying leaves, twigs, and
These diminutive creatures stand at other nasty things laying around, and
roughly half the height of average Bean-
then crawls off to look for things to en-
folk, and seldom move with any speed
unless there is a meal in sight. While pre- gulf and absorb. These sludge creatures
ferring to stay at home, they can be will rise up in a form vaguely similar to
clever adventurers if motivated. They are any creatures they encounter and seek
studious and good with their hands and to attack them with wet, disgusting,
very attuned to the land. They have bear hugs. For each combat round they
tough fur-topped feet and never wear
win, their foe is embraced and will take
shoes.
that amount of damage from both HPs
and Spirit as the beast crushes their
Jellybean Golem body and drains their life essence. These
Body: 4 creatures can be hacked apart, but the
Mind: 1 bits will seek to crawl back together.
Spirit: 1 Fleeing or burning, or freezing the crea-
HP: 4 tures is the only way to defeat them. If
Def: 1
defeated there is a good chance that
Attack: by weapon, or fists for 2
XPs: 40 some random amount of treasure may
have been absorbed by them. Toss 10
While true golems are constructed for beans, and for every 1 rolled, they were
noble purposes, the creation of sickly
31
carrying that many Silver Coins. items of interest. Their appreciation for
shiny trinkets outweighs their interest in
the items they lug around for trading.
Oozoids PPBs are said to avoid predators using an
Body: 2+ innate ability to become invisible, but it is
Mind: 0 just as likely that they’re just slipping into
Spirit: 2 the subterranean passages of The For-
HP: 2+ gotten City resting beneath the plains
Def: special that nobody else seems to know about.
Attack: acid touch 2
XPs: 2+
Ratfolk
These living oozes slowly creep around
Body: 2
dark and dank places ingesting organic
Mind: 3
matter, and growing. That’s really about Spirit: 3
all they do. A surprising number of ad- HP: 2
venturers wake from naps to find them- Def: by armor
selves being digested in these acidic Attack: by weapon
blobs. Oozoids are impervious to cutting XPs: 30
or piercing damage, but are particularly
Ratfolk are clever, resourceful creatures
susceptible to fire. Toss 6 beans +2 for
the Body Attribute and HPs of the crea- who live in packs often beneath cities.
ture. Up to 10 x 5 beans worth of indi- They prefer their own company, but can
gestible treasure may be found within be powerful allies if their trust is gained.
them. They are a great source of information
as they have a knack for hearing all
kinds of things.
Purple Plains Babboon
Body: 4 Troll
Mind: 3 Body: 8
Spirit: 2
Mind: 1
HP: 4
Def: 1 Spirit: 2
Attack: Bite 1 HP: 10
XPs: 40 Def: 2
Attack: 2
Appearing like any other baboon except XPs:100
for their bright purple color and procliv-
ity for hats, these creatures live on the Strong and twice the size of Beanfolk,
plains of the Great Grass Sea in small no- The solitary Trolls dwell in dark lonely
madic troops. They take little interest in places waiting to bludgeon the unwary
outsiders except sometimes to trade their into snacks. Their lairs are littered with
own handicrafts (useful items woven old bones and sparkly treasure. Toss 5
from grasses) and odds and ends they’ve beans, +3, multiply x 100 for SP value of
picked up (toss 4 beans, a score of 2 or
treasure.
more indicates they have something
magical or at least very useful to offer) for
32
XPs: 40
S’Lad Ferociously cunning and merciless, these
lycanthropes can make nights of the full
Body: 3
moons a real bummer. They suffer dam-
Mind: 1
age only from magical or silver weapons,
Spirit: 2
and if they win a combat round by 3 or
HP: 2
more the victim has been infected and
Def: 0
will become a lycanthrope by the next
Attack: 2
full moon unless the curse is removed
XPs: 30 (treat as a DR 4 spell if using Spell-
S’Lads are animate plant creatures, most Breaker). Those infected should create a
often encountered as drones seeking new Attribute called "lycanthrope: Were-
new sporing grounds, or as defenders of wolf" with 1 bean. If they can win a DR3
Challenge in this Attribute they will gain
endangered plant habitats. S’Lads attack
some control and memory of their ac-
with sharp claw-like roots. They have no tions while transformed. XPs earned in
fear of being killed as returning to the the wolf form can be used to buy more
earth suits them just fine. beans in that Attribute, and some have
been known to embrace this condition
and even to form close-knit packs..
Throwback Faeries
Body: 1
Zombean
Mind: 2 Body: 3
Spirit: 4 Mind: 0
HP: 1 Spirit: 0
Def: 1 HP: 3
Attack: by weapon Def: 1
XPs: 40 Attack: Bite/claw 2
XPs: 20
These primitive Faeries resemble some-
thing from the stone age. They spend When the dead get up and walk
much of their time hunting and dancing around you know something is wrong.
wildly. Woe be to those who stumble If PCs lose a Combat Round by 3 or
upon these creatures for they are fierce! more beans it means the zombeans
They attack with stone weapons and have scored a bite! PCs must RollBody3
sputtering Fireballs (DR: 2). or be infected as a fresh zombie!
Werewolf
Werewolf
Body: 4
Mind: 3
Spirit: 3
HP: 4
Def: Special
Attack: Claw/Bite 2
33
that there is far more space than could
APPENDIX 3: naturally be there. To determine how
MAGICAL ARTIFACTS much space is in your Deep Pocket, toss
5 beans and multiply your score by 3.
Fantasy gaming takes much of its flavor This is how many square feet in addition
from the weird and wonderful magical to the item’s normal carrying capacity is
artifacts found within its stories. Here available.
are some examples of such artifacts
that PCs might find on their adven-
tures.
Remember that too many magical items
in a game will upset the balance. Use a
bit of discretion when placing such pow-
erful treasures so that players will still
feel challenged to do their best without
relying on some special tool all the time.
GOLD CARD
DEEP POCKET
POCKET These cards are rare and mysterious in
The name refers to any of a variety of origin, although the common consensus
pouches, bags, backpacks, etc that have is that they were created long ago by a
been permanently enchanted with the lazy dragon or other treasure hoarding
Deep Pocket spell. The item seems quite creature who wanted to sit back and let
mundane until one looks inside and finds the riches come to them without doing
34
any extra work. The cards are of a
smooth and slightly pliable material, rec-
tangular and just big enough to fit in
the palm of the hand. When tapped on
treasure, some valuable item, coins, or a
stack of loot, the treasure will vanish.
While focusing on the desired loot, the
bearer may tap the card thrice on a hard
surface to make that treasure reappear. cal energy used, and can not charge up
It is quite convenient for treasure hunt- more than their original capacity. To de-
ers who don’t want to be burdened termine the bean charge capacity of the
with heavy stacks of loot, but 10% of Power Stone toss 10 beans and multiply
whatever is stored with the card will not the result by 2.
come back, presumably this is the fee for
using this service. WAY FINDER
Adventurers are often getting lost on
their explorations and quests, and the
WayFinder was designed to help put
them back on their path. This artifact ap-
pears as a dagger (+2) with a large
smooth stone set at the base of the
blade. The bearer must focus on a per-
son, destination, or even something as
generic as a door, and then place the
dagger on a smooth hard surface balanc-
ing it on the stone, and give it a good
POWER STONES spin. The Player rolls their Spirit Bean
These stones (usually some kind of crys- Pool, and if they do not get an automatic
tal) have been enchanted to store magi- failure the dagger will point to their de-
sired target. The GM might want to roll
cal energy and are most commonly used
the Player’s Spirit Pool so that the Player
by Wizards to add extra punch to their
won’t know if the results are accurate or
spell casting. The Wizard declares how
not, just to make things more interesting.
many extra beans they wish to use from
the stone, and then rolls as usual to see
if they can cast their spell successfully, If
they do not roll an automatic failure,
they then add the extra beans to their
roll. If their spell fails, the stone still loses
as many bean charges as they declared
would be used. Power Stones require 24
hours to regenerate each bean of magi-
35
seems like a good destination, now
APPENDIX 4: how do you get in on this?
SOLO ADVENTURE If you approach the people to see
about buying passage across the river,
turn to 6
RIVER CROSSING
If you try to sneak onto the little boat as a
A Quick Little Solo Adventure stowaway, turn to 11
Solo adventures can be a lot of fun if you 2. You’ve been as charming as you
don’t have a gaming group available. know how, but have somehow failed to
The book takes the place of the GM and convince the ferryman to give you any
will describe what your PC experiences. kind of discount passage. He scowls at
All you need is a Character, your beans, a you disapprovingly and holds out his
pencil, and scratch paper. hand for payment.
Turn to 5
This is a very short little adventure de-
signed to give you a taste of how the 3. Suddenly there’s a commotion from
game works and some experience using the edge of the forest, a band of
the game mechanics. Begin by reading gobleans rushes toward the ferry with
Turn #1and follow the directions. At the weapons slicing the air!
end of each turn it will give you a set of
If you help defend the ferry, turn to 16
instructions or directions where to turn
next. Do NOT read the turns in numeri- If you join the gobleans in attacking
the ferry, turn to 10
cal order, that’s not how these things
work.
36
out a place for you to perch on the 8. The cargo is secured to the ferry, you
boat. and the Old Man have each found your-
Turn to 8 selves a snug little space to squeeze into,
and the Ferryman has just a few last
6. You approach the ferry and see that minute adjustments to make. Suddenly
there’s a burly bearded man loading there’s a loud shriek from the edge of
large boxes onto the boat, and a the woods!
stooped and very old man at the wagon Turn to 3
watching disinterestedly. Both look up as
you approach. When you ask about pas-
9. The Ferryman and the Old Man have
sage across the river the bearded man
been defeated. You’ve got a ferry to loot!
wipes his brow and answers, “Five cop-
The crates are full of pottery and some
pers’ll get you safely to the other side of
thick wool blankets, and articles of cloth-
the river”.
ing. It seems likely that the Old Man
If you pay the man his 5 coppers, turn to must have been on his way to market
5 somewhere. Unfortunately most of this
If you try to negotiate a lower fee, turn to stuff isn’t going to be of much use to
12 you. You can put together a good set of
clothing, and take a blanket or two, but
that’s about it. (Be sure to write down on
7. There wasn’t quite as much cover as
your Character Sheet any loot you take).
you’d thought and you’re caught before
you can slip onto the boat! The Ferryman It seems this adventure is at an end, and
grips a long pole and it’s very clear he you’re back basically where you started
means to give you a good whack…at from, out in the woods hoping for some-
least! The Old Man produces a shorts thing exciting to come along. Best of
sword from the folds of his cloak but luck on your next adventure!
seems hesitant about just cutting you Game Over.
down. Suddenly there’s a shriek from the
edge of the forest! 10. There’s a fight brewing, and you
Turn to 3 choose to join the 3 goblean raiders! To
get the Combat Score for your side, roll
9 beans (each goblean has Body2 and a
+1 weapon) in addition to your Body
Bean Pool + your weapon. To get the
Combat Score for the Ferry Defenders
roll for the Ferryman (Body4 +1 Pole)
and the Old Man (Body2 +1 short-
sword) for a total of 8 beans.
37
damage will be distributed equally 13. The ferryman wields his pole like a
among you and the gobleans. mighty warrior, and that old man is hack-
ing and slashing up a storm with his
If the battle takes more than three turns,
shortsword! Just as you think you may
the losing side will simply flee into the
have chosen the wrong side to ally your-
woods, leaving the ferry and its cargo self with, a final simultaneous blow from
behind. the pole and a deep slash of the short-
sword cause you to see a flash of red,
If the raiding party loses, turn to 18
then black, and then nothing…
If you defeat the ferry defenders, turn to
9 Your days of adventure are at an end.
Game over, Chum!
If your HPs are reduced to zero or less,
turn to 13
14. You succeed in sneaking along the
edge of the woods and down onto the
11. The Ferryman and the Old Man are boat. Just as you slip under a tarp and
busy with their tasks, which should prepare to settle in, there’s a shriek from
the woods!
make it pretty easy for you to sneak onto
the ferry. RollMind2 to see if you are up Turn to 3
to the challenge!
If you succeed, turn to 14 15. Your charm has worked! The origi-
If you fail, turn to 7 nal fee for passage was 5 copper coins.
Subtract 1 coin for each bean you bested
the Ferryman by to calculate your dis-
12. You smile broadly and begin to count.
explain why it would be great if the fer-
Turn to 8
ryman would give you a discounted
rate to cross the river. This calls for a 16. There’s a fight brewing, and you
contest of Spirit! Roll your own Spirit choose to defend the ferry! To get the
Bean Pool, and then roll 3 beans for Combat Score for your side, roll for the
the Ferryman’s Spirit Bean Pool. Ferryman (Body4 +1 Pole) and the Old
If you win, turn to 15 Man (Body2 +1 shortsword). This means
If you lose, turn to 2 that in addition to your Body Bean Pool
+ your weapon you’ll roll an additional 8
beans. To get the goblean’s Combat
Score roll 9 beans (there are three of
them, each goblean has Body2 and a +1
weapon).
If you win the round, you may decide
how to distribute the damage done to
the gobleans. If the gobleans win, the
damage will be distributed equally
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among you, the Ferryman, and the Old and your comrades! It seems better to
Man. flee than to die for whatever might be in
If the battle takes more than three turns, the crates on the ferry, so you all take off
the losing side will simply flee into the into the woods. Your foes pursue you for
woods, leaving the ferry and its cargo only a short while before giving up the
behind. chase. You’ve lost your comrades, and
seem to be back where you started, wan-
If you win, turn to 4
dering aimlessly in the great woods! Bet-
If your HPs drop to zero or below, turn to ter luck on your future adventures.
13
Game over.
If you lose and run off into the woods,
turn to 18
19. The Snorkling Sneeds may have suc-
17. The trip across the river doesn’t last ceeded in stringing along certain silly sil-
very long, and soon you’re all hopping ver-smiths, but the true path to salvation
onto the far shore. The Ferryman offers lay along the saltwater marsh trail which
you a few coins to help unload the boat could only be seen on special nights slip-
onto the wagon there, and the Old Man ping in and around the shadowy sylvan
says that he could use some company on glen. Oh, those were wild times indeed,
his way to the nearest town to sell his and the people did rave about their silver
wares. You could also set off into the wil-
coinage and its slippery nature. Yes, here
derness on your own. With your first ad-
venture won, it seems you could do any- one day and gone the next as if the
thing! metal had a mind of its own and the
spenders were merely observers with no
Game over -Way to go, Champ!
true part in its coming and going. If
you’ve come to this passage you’ve obvi-
18. The battle isn’t going so well for you ously taken a wrong turn somewhere
and should subtract 100 XPs.
39
APPENDIX 5:
GM ADVENTURE
THE WIZARD’S CAULDRON
A Short GM Adventure for a Few new PCs
The GM Adventure will give you the basic in- When the PCs arrive at the site of the
formation and stats for the encounters, but wizard’s home, they find that it has been
it’s the GM’s duty to fill-in the details to make destroyed! All that stands now is the
this a great game. Don’t just say things like rubble of a small tower. Beyond the
“You see stairs”. We see stairs everyday in front door is a charred rug, shattered
real life. So what? Are the stairs in the game furniture, and lots and lots of broken
worn smooth with the passing of countless bricks. If the PC’s don’t look under the
feet, are they chipped from living stone or rug, have them RollMind2 to see if they
made from well fitting brick? Are they cov- notice the trapdoor that’s barely visible
ered with the dust of years of neglect, or is there. The trap-door is heavy, but a few
there perhaps a fresh set of footprints people can easily lift it open to reveal
through the dust? A few basic descriptions the stairs below, which are #1 on the
will make the scenes come alive to the Play- map.
ers and get their imaginations going, which
will give everyone at the gaming table some-
thing else to build an exciting game from!
Remember that Adjectives are your friends!
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1. The stairs are worn smooth and free of dust. 6. The Crystal Chamber! This large cave is per-
They descend 20 feet into the earth. The haps 30 feet across and is lined with bright
stairs and the surrounding walls are of close crystals along all the walls, ceiling, and most
fitting mortared stone. The stairs end at an of the floor. Anyone stepping into this area
intersection. must RollMind3 or be transfixed with visions
2. A faint rustling can be heard from the of far off places for as many minutes as they
debris of a cave-in in this direction. If the PCs failed their roll by.
explore here they will find a ravenous seg-
7. This is a creepy lab with lots of cutting instru-
mented purple worm almost as big around
ments along the tables and bottles full of
as a child’s torso. It is burrowing out of the
rubble and has many sharp teeth dripping assorted preserved body parts. Players must
goo. If the PCs approach it will fight them to RollSpirit3 or be sick! Approaching the oper-
the death! The Worm’s stats are: Body 2 +1 ating table in the corner causes the pile of
Teeth. HP: 4 Def: 1. XPs 30. There is nothing stitched up intestines there to come to life
else of interest here. and attack! Body: 5, HP: 8 Def: 2 XPs 50..
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