RULES COMPENDIUM

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 RULES COMPENDIUM

Written by

Michele Pavani

Illustrated by

Francesco Accordi
(cover and full-page illustrations)

Michele Pavani

Daniel F. Walthall
(stock images: drivethrurpg.com/product/181517)

Work entirely released under the CC BY 4.0 license

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 INDEX

PAGE CONTENT
3 Introduction
4 Frequently asked questions
6 Character creation
7 Classes and Races
8 Customizations
9 Equipment
12 Game mechanics
13 Movement
14 Combat
17 Opponents
19 Spells
20 Character progression
22 Unit
23 Morale
24 Siege weapons
25 Final Notes

Let the adventure begin!

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 INTRODUCTION

What you have in your hands is a compendium of all the rules

released for Ringmail: the minimal rules that try to reconstruct
some rules of the famous Wargame that preceded the “Most
famous TTRPG in the world”.

The following manual was born with the idea of bringing back
to life the way of playing once, making it partially compatible
with all the rules that have followed (and therefore with the
concept of Features, Levels, Classes, etc ...). In addition, the
entire regulation is released under a CC BY 4.0 International
license, so that anyone can take it and use it as they wish.

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 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is a role-playing game?

It is a game in which the participants, assuming the role of one
or more characters and through conversation and narration,
create an interactive and shared story. A player called the
Referee leads the game session, creates the setting and situations
in which the players' characters find themselves, asking them
what they intend to do. The players declare the actions their
characters perform, describing or reciting them. The referee then
decides the result of these actions, in line with the setting and the
rules of the game.

What are the limits of an arbiter?

The Referee can invent opponents, places, adventures, magic
items, challenges, new rules, etc... The only limits are his
imagination and respect for other players.

What dice are used to play?

The basic manual provides for the use of only 6-sided nuts
(which we will call d6 for short).

Can I build my own game using Ringmail's mechanics?

Of course! However, we recommend that you explicitly write
that your game is based on Ringmail, so that those who consult
the manual can use the Ringmail supplements to customize their
gaming experience.

Is Ringmail compatible with other OSR manuals?

Yes, without much effort: the features used by Ringmail are the
same as in almost all OSR games. The only "big" differences are
the combat system and the magic system: each spell can be
reproduced with the system proposed in this manual, while to

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convert a monster from the bestiary of another regulation, just
use its Hit Die as a Level and assign him a weapon and armor
(as explained later in the chapter dedicated to the Opponents).

Is Ringmail a retroclone?
Not really. Ringmail is a TTRPG that seeks to replicate the
gaming experience of an old wargame (based mainly on the
historical Mass Combat table).

So Ringmail isn't a wargame?

Although the following manual is in all respects minimal
TTRPG, further on you will find mechanics applicable to
wargaming.

Can I create my own Ringmail supplements?

Not only can you, but you are also invited to do it!

And if I don't like some rules, can I ignore them or change them?
Have fun exploring new solutions, consult your friends' ideas,
invent new alternative mechanics.
The game is yours and you can do whatever you want with it.

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 CHARACTER CREATION

Roll 3d6 (3 six-sided dice) for each Ability, in order: Strength,

Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.

ABILITY MODIFIER

3 -2

Da 4 a 8 -1

Da 9 a 12 0

Da 13 a 17 +1

18 +2
Note:
• Strength: it applies to hand-to-hand combat and to all actions that require physical
effort.
• Dexterity: it affects actions that require some agility and attacks with ranged
weapons (as well as applies to all actions that require some agility).
• Constitution: affects their hit points (where 1 is the minimum Hit Points that a
character can have).
• Intelligence: it applies to casting spells and actions that require some reasoning.
• Wisdom: applies to all rolls that require prior knowledge.
• Charisma: it applies to throws of persuasion and charm.

Once you have generated the six Abilities you will have to
proceed with the choice of the Class of your character. The
available Classes are three (Warrior, Ranger, and Mage) and
mainly indicate in which Traits your character excels.

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 CLASS PRIMARY ABILITIES

Warrior Strength and Constitution

Ranger Dexterity and Charisma

Magic User Intelligence and Wisdom

To complete character creation, you will need to choose a Race

from: Human, Elf, Dwarf and Halfling.

RACE BONUSES

Always earn double the

experience points
Human
compared to other
races.

Infravision. +1 to
Elf
Intelligence.

Infravision. +1 to
Dwarf
Strength.

+1 to Dexterity and
Halfling
Charisma

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 CUSTOMIZATIONS

The Referee can therefore adversaries of all kinds, as well as he

can also devise dangerous adventures or powerful magical
objects (assigning them bonuses to rolls or describing purely
narrative powers, such as the ability to light up in the presence
of enemies).

Despite this, the Referee is not the only one who can create and
modify the game: during the creation of the character, the
Players can invent their own Race and / or their Class.

The Races invented by the Players will not provide any bonus or
malus, they will only be a narrative element.

Classes invented by Players will have one Primary Ability

(instead of two) and one Secondary Ability. The Secondary
Ability allows you to solve actions by rolling as many dice as
half (rounded down) of your Level (where the minimum of dice
that can be rolled will always be 1).
Note: the Referee always has the last word on what his Players have invented, but keeping in
mind that everyone must have fun (since fun is the ultimate goal of this game).

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 EQUIPMENT

For his newly created character, a player can choose any weapon
and armor (excluding plate armor).

WEAPON MODIFIER RESTRICTIONS

Bare hands, No restrictions

improvised
-2
weapons, and
small arms

Light weapons Only for Warriors

(hand-to-hand) and and Rangers
-1
medium range
weapons

Medium Weapons Only for Warriors

0
(Melee) and Rangers

Two-handed Only for Warriors

+1
weapons (melee)

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 ARMOR RESTRICTIONS

No armor No restrictions

Wearable by
Leather armor Warriors and
Rangers

Chain mail For Warriors only

Plate armor For Warriors only

Wearable by
Shield Warriors and
Rangers
Note: the characters also have other objects (such as a torch, a bed, a water bottle, etc...) at
the discretion of the game referee.

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11
 GAME MECHANICS

Any action whose outcome is uncertain requires a roll of the

dice. If the action is linked to one of the two Primary Abilities
of your Class, then you will roll as many six-sided dice as your
character's Level, otherwise you will roll only one die. Its
modifiers will be added (or subtracted) to the result of each
single die and if the total is equal to or greater than the Difficulty
Class (set by the Arbiter) then a success will be obtained.
Note: the results of the dice do not add up to each other, but it is enough that even just one die
exceeds the Difficulty Class for the action to be successful.

DIFFICULTY
ACTION
CLASS

Very easy 3

Easy 4

Moderate 5

Hard 6

Very difficult 7

Almost
8
impossible

For each die that rolls a natural 6 (that is: not counting modifiers) you can
decide to roll the die again with an additional modifier of +1.

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 MOVEMENT

The game is divided into Rounds (which represent 6 seconds in

play) and Rounds (the sum of the Rounds of all characters).
The characters, during their Round, can perform an action (such
as, for example, an attack) and a movement, or give up their
action to move twice as much.

The normal movement, on open ground, of an anthropomorphic

being is about 10 meters (8 for Dwarves, Halflings, and other
short creatures; 14 for giants; 20 for characters on horseback or
four-legged creatures; 24 for creatures capable of to fly).
In confined spaces the movement will be divided by two.

We recommend using 28 mm miniatures to represent the

characters. In this case the anthropomorphic beings will move
14 centimeters, the shorter creatures 12, the characters on
horseback and the four-legged creatures will move 24, while the
winged creatures will have a movement of 28 centimeters.

Movement conversion table

Centimeters Inches
12 5
14 6
24 10
28 12

Note: If you decide to play using miniatures, the range of small

missile weapons and spells is 42 centimeters (18 inches), while
medium ranged weapons are 56 centimeters (24 inches).

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 COMBAT

First you need to calculate the Initiative (i.e., the order in which
the turns of the Characters will take place). Initiative is
determined by rolling as many dice as your Level and adding
your Dexterity modifier. Whoever gets the highest result goes
first, then the others follow in order of result (from highest to
lowest).
If several characters get the same result, then they will take their
turn at the same time.

Each weapon has its own table that determines which difficulty
you need to overcome to be successful. Each success involves
a wound inflicted (where each character has as many Hit Points
as his Level plus his Constitution modifier). Reach 0 Hit
Points a character is dead.

You roll your own dice (one per level if the ability used is a
Primary Ability of your character, one every two levels if you
are fighting with a Secondary Ability, only one die if you are
using a Skill where you have no proficiency. particular). You
take each result into consideration individually, apply your
Ability modifier to it, and then compare it with the following
tables:

Bare hands or with improvised weapons

Armor of the opponent Difficulty
Without armor 5+
Light (example: leather) 6+
Medium (example: chain mail) 6+
Heavy (example: plate armor) 6+

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 With one-handed weapons, slings, and short bows
Armor of the opponent Difficulty Difficulty
(hand-to-hand) (missile weapons)
Without armor 4+ 5+
Light (example: leather) 5+ 6+
Medium (example: chain mail) 6+ 6+
Pesante (esempio: armatura piastre) 6+ 6+

Two-handed weapons, javelins, crossbows, and longbows

Armor of the opponent Difficulty Difficulty
(hand-to-hand) (missile weapons)
Without armor 3+ 4+
Light (example: leather) 4+ 5+
Medium (example: chain mail) 5+ 6+
Heavy (example: plate armor) 6+ 6+

Note: the author is aware that the shooting weapon system is different from that of the wargame
of the 1970s. Ringmail is a simplification of the original system, for those who wish it is possible
to apply the original rules and / or (with the same principle) also the tables for the mounted
troops. Below you will find other optional rules as a quick alternative to dealing with otherwise
unnecessarily complex mechanics.

Additional rules:

• Characters with stuck weapons roll one more die and can
only be attacked from the front by mounted soldiers or
others with stuck weapons.
• Fighting on horseback against a footed character grants
an extra die on the attack roll.
• Ranged weapons cannot be used for hand-to-hand
combat unless they are automatic or semi-automatic
firearms.
• Firearms do 2 damage for each die they hit.

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 • You can distribute the dice before hitting (example: if
you have 5 dice you can decide to assign 3 to an enemy
and 2 to another).
• It is possible to prepare an action in one's turn,
specifying that it will be carried out only if a particular
circumstance occurs. This allows you to act using in a
timely manner (even during another character's turn).

Referee's tip:

Do not focus on making fair fights, but always give the players
the opportunity to analyze the situation (and to understand, at
least in part, the magnitude of the threat they are about to face).

The characters are not heroes, but mere adventurers (often with
ridiculous odds of victory) in search of fame and wealth. When
thinking about a fight, consider that your players will need to be
able to formulate a plan to avoid it., So be ruthless: create real
threats, don't think too much about balancing.

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 OPPONENTS

To complete the discussion started in the Referee's Suggestions,

when you make a challenge consider that each opponent only
needs to:

• Level (which will determine both how many dice the

creature rolls and its hit points).
• Type of weapon (example: even if a Dragon does not
wield any weapon, its powerful claws could be
considered equal to a two-handed weapon).
• Type of armor (the same is true for the weapon: a
monster does not necessarily need to wear armor, it is
also enough that it has such leathery skin as to justify
protection similar to that of an armor).

Example:
Red Dragon
Level: 8
Weapon: Claws (two-handed weapon) and Flames (attack
spell).
Armor: Heavy.

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18
 SPELLS

Only Magic Users can cast Spells, and to do so they require an

Intelligence roll. The effect of the spell is at the complete
discretion of the Player who plays the Magic User, on the other
hand the difficulty is established by the Arbiter based on how
difficult he deems the spell (it follows that the Arbiter can decide
if a spell is impossible or if instead it is achievable).

TYPE OF DIFFICULTY
SPELL CLASS

Very easy 3

Easy 4

Moderate 5

Hard 6

Very difficult 7

Almost
8
impossible

Each attack spell will always inflict as many hit points as the
number of dice that (adding the modifier) has obtained a result
equal to or greater than 7. While healing spells will always
regenerate one hit point for every 6+ obtained from the dice.

A wizard will be able to cast as many spells as double his level,

after which (if he wants to cast more) he will have to rest for at
least 4 hours.

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 PROGRESSION OF THE CHARACTERS

A character advances to Level 2 when he gains 2000 Experience

Points; each subsequent Level requires as many Experience
Points as the double required by the previous Level (4000 for
Level 3, 8000 for 4, etc…).

The main method of obtaining Experience Points is to obtain

gold coins, with a ratio of 1 Experience Point for each coin.

Defeating enemies is worth as many Experience Points as

indicated in their description, but usually the risk is not worth
the candle. Note: The Experience Points obtained from defeating a monster are divided
equally among all the Rogues in the group.

Leveling up involves increasing the value of two Skills of the

Player's choice by +1. There is no maximum level, but despite
this the maximum a skill can reach is 18.

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21
 UNIT

Two or more soldiers (whether they are player characters or

creatures moved by the referee) can group into a Unit.

The Units are made up of a Row of up to 10 soldiers, and each

Unit can count up to 4 Row (for a total of 40 men).

In combat, the Units behave as one, rolling as many dice as the

soldiers belonging to the Row involved in the fight (the Level of
the individual soldiers is irrelevant). In addition, the type of
weapon and armor of the Unit is equal to those of the weakest
soldier in the Row who is involved in combat.
Note: in a turn, a Unit can carry out only one attack using only one Row.

Each wound received by a Unit corresponds to one dead. The

weakest members of the Row involved in combat will die first
(therefore the soldiers of the lowest level or, at the same level,
those with the lowest skills), who will be immediately replaced
by soldiers from the other rows (always that there are).

Units have the "slowest" movement of their soldier (that is, the
one who moves fewer meters in a turn) and the members of Units
individually perform all non-combat actions (such as, for
example, casting spells or passing stunt). This means that the
only things the Units do as a single entity are movement and
combat actions.

A character alone cannot fight against a Unit, but will have to

challenge only one soldier at a time (exposing himself to the
risk of being attacked by his comrades in a Row).

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 MORALE

Soldiers who are part of a Unit must take a Morale test when:
• They disengage from a fight.
• They are attacked from behind.
• Unity has lost more than half of the men who were part
of it.
• The army commander is dead (if there was one).

Carrying out a Morale test consists in rolling as many dice as the

number of soldiers present in the Unit. Any result equal to or
greater than 5 will be a success, while the other results will be a
failure. For each failure there will be a soldier who will abandon
the ranks and try to escape the battlefield.

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 SIEGE WEAPONS

Siege weapons have their own hit points, modifiers, and Level,
and can attack Units directly (and can be attacked in turn but
only in close combat, as they are immune to spells and ranged
attacks. unless these come from another siege weapon). On the
other hand, to function, a war machine needs at least two people
engaged in its use.

Rams are the only siege weapons that cannot attack Units or
characters, but only buildings or other siege weapons.

Siege weapons can be upgraded (for example: making them

launch fire bullets), in which case they gain +1 on attack rolls.
In addition, siege weapons can be mobile or stationary: mobile
weapons can be moved up to 5 meters in one turn (using 28mm
miniatures the displacement will be approximately 7 centimeters
or 4 inches). Each siege weapon needs a turn to be reloaded,
during that turn it cannot be moved.

War machines are considered as opponents with the highest

possible protection and the most powerful attack (therefore as if
they were wearing heavy armor and using a two-handed
weapon).
• Mobile siege weapons are Level 5 opponents.
• Fixed siege weapons are Level 7 opponents.
• Rams are Level 4 opponents.

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 FINAL NOTES

This is a simplified manual that is inspired by how some of the

rules of the wargame that preceded it were applied to the “Most
Famous Role-Playing Game in the World”. Here you will not
find three different combat systems, but only one that refers to
the mechanics behind what was the skirmish table (this brings a
completely different abstraction of combat, the characters are no
longer heroic adventurers but simple "pawns" like many others).

If you intend to use this manual for wargaming, we recommend

that you do not apply the initiative rules (and instead determine
who goes first by simply rolling a die). Also, again about
wargaming, we recommend that you only move one Unit (or
character) per turn.

The author has created this manual completely free of charge, as

a gift to lovers of Old School Role Play. If the work is to your
liking and you want to partially show your recognition, you can
do so by purchasing a paper copy of this game or by offering the
author a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/ringmail

Use this manual however you like, make it your own, play
with it, or use it as the basis for your own rules.

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