The Old World - Warriors & Heroes - Complete Online Rule Book
Equipment
Players will have 100 Gold Crowns (GC) to equip themselves at level 1. They begin with a free bedroll, clothing, and 1 weapon item. They can refer to the equipment charts in this book for specific information regarding costs and effects.
Weight
Load Limit = Strength Score x 6
(Modified by some race traits and abilities)
Items all weigh something. The player characters must calculate the weight of items to keep their character from being encumbered. If a player exceeds their weight limit they become encumbered and can only move half movement rounded down. They also may only perform free actions. If they exceed max weight by more than half their total capacity, they cannot move or take any actions.
Weight capacity, or load limit equals the player strength score times 6. Certain abilities or racial traits may affect this as well. Equipped items must be included in the load limit.
Shields
S / M / L = Armor Score + 4 / 8 / 12
Shield Bash Damage:
Small-STR+1D6
Medium - STR+1D8
Large -STR+1D10 + Push 1
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Shields can be carried in the characters off hand. These come in three sizes, small, medium, and large. Small shields give +4 Armor Score, Medium +8 Armor Score and Large +12 Armor Score.
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Small shields count as light armor, medium as medium armor and large as heavy armor. They also can be used for the action Shield Bash. Shield bash is an action attack that does damage based on the shield type. For large shields this also can be used as a push action.
Armor Region
Loot & Money
1 Gold Crown (GC) = 20 Shillings (S) = 100 Pennies (p)
Items that are dropped in combat will have varying values. They fall into any one of 4 tiers. Common, uncommon, rare, and legendary. Common and uncommon items will never have a rune attached to them. Rare items will have a chance (50%) and legendary items will have a guaranteed rune attached. This will be expanded upon in the runes section. Item weights will also vary depending on the quality of the item. These will have a fixed range depending on the item. For example, a battle hammer could range from 5-9 pounds. Its weight will be based on a dice roll tied to its drop table.
Armor Types
Light/Medium/Heavy
Each region of a character may have equipment. The regions are divided based on reasonable equipment limitations. For the most part this comes down to common sense. No player would be able to wear two pieces of heavy armor in the same slot. However, historically it has been proved that many knights would wear, for example, a gambeson under chainmail, under plate armor. Stacking up different types of armor therefore has real-world counterparts. It would be reasonable to allow players this advantage. The result would be players being allowed to wear one piece of light, medium, and heavy equipment on their torso, head, and legs.
However, having many layers of armor would come with certain disadvantages. This is where mastery comes into play. Players past level 8 can gain abilities that will give them bonuses for the type of armor they wear.
This peels back the amount of layers for each ability. When a player only wears light armor, they can only have one layer of light armor. When a player is wearing medium armor, they can also wear light armor underneath it, and for heavy armor, they can wear all three. (Again this is only for the head, torso, and legs)
The upside of wearing exclusively light armor will be a significantly improved parry score and bonuses to stealth score and fighting score. The bonus for wearing exclusively medium armor will be a slightly improved parry score and bonuses to fighting score.
The bonus for heavy armor will be a significant bonus to the armor score, plus the already added bonus of wearing many layers of armor. Wearing 3+ pieces of heavy armor will also qualify the player as having heavy armor, reducing damage from light weapons by 10.
Runes
Within the world of Warhammer, runes are a rare but valuable addition to weapons, items, and armor. These are divided into three classes or tiers. Tier 1 runes are uncommon. They are the weakest of all runes though still powerful. Tier 2 runes are rare. They are more powerful than traditional runes and add significant power to the items they are applied to. Tier 3 runes are Legendary runes crafted by the greatest masters of rune crafting. They are the highest value and are exceedingly difficult to find. They have the lowest drop rate of all items.
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Runes are rare enhancements to weapons, armor, and other items. The greatest rune smiths are among the Dwarfs. However, elves are also quite skilled in their smithing. Runes imbue items with a fragment of the warp. Such items are rare, even among Dwarfs.
Runes have limits. A player may only use one of each type of rune. These runes do not stack but will default to the highest-value rune in each category. Weapon runes are counted separately from defense runes. They are not affected by defense rune limits.
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Ignore Armor
Some runes may ignore armor. Only the rune damage itself ignores the Armor stat. Should the damage roll fail to overcome the armor of an enemy, the rune damage will still be applied. This is the meaning of direct damage. Other effects can also ignore armor. Magic also ignores armor in all cases.
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Rarity
Rare runes are available on rare items. Legendary and Relic runes appear only on legendary items. Players will have a 25% (D4) chance of getting a relic rune on a legendary item. Otherwise, they will have legendary runes.
Some extremely rare runes will exist among unique loot items. These runes will be specific to items designed by the GM. Runes from the lore of vampires, the chaos gods, the lore of the deep, and other unusual lores will fall into this category. All crafted items with runes will be tier 1 by default.
Master rune smiths will be capable of crafting higher-tier items, but these smiths will be rare, and the process is slow. Players should expect serious delays if they wish to have such items created.​
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Weapon Classification Table
Weapon Classification
Blunt = +5 Direct Damage
Piercing = Critical Hits Add Status Bleeding
(Either Die with Heavy Weapons)
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Light = Advantage, -10 Damage vs Heavy Armor
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Standard = Normal Roll
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Heavy = Disadvantage, Double Damage Dice.
(Crit = Double Nat 20 = Quadruple Damage Dice)
Weapon classifications will have unique effects on the way they function in battle. Light weapons have an increased chance of hitting, while heavy weapons have a lower chance. Standard weapons sit somewhere in between.
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While some weapons have sharp edges or points, others are blunt. This too affects the way they behave. Sharp weapons will have a chance to add bleeding status to targets while blunt weapons will inflict damage even against armored targets.
Choosing the best weapon for your character build can have a dramatic effect on your ability in combat. It is important to consider these effects when designing your build. The added effects of Advantage and Disadvantage will stack with other effects. This could mean rolling with a double disadvantage in some worst-case scenarios.
Direct damage will always be applied to targets regardless of armor ratings. This can give you an edge in difficult battles.
When using custom weapons, the GM must approve the values before they can be used. Most custom designs can be calculated off base weapons on the charts below.
Runes & Weapon Classification
Crafting
Crafting Success = Repair Roll (TN 6)
(Failure results in lost materials.)
Many items and weapons can be crafted. Like any career, it will take players time and ability points to reach a higher skill level. For a player to be able to craft anything, they will need to have a minimum of Apprentice blacksmithing skill.
Basic crafting recipes only require the core materials. However, rune smithing will require a specific gemstone or material for the school of arcane mastery. In addition, players with a high enough skill level will be able to add a gold ingot, ivory, or silver ingot to their recipe to gain the Ornate perk. For ornate items add 1D20 x 10 GC for gold or 1D6 x 10 GC for silver or ivory to their final value. These may be stacked by using all three materials or any combination of two.
The statistics for crafted items will be set to match the skill of the crafter. For example, all items made by an Apprentice will have their stats rolled on the common loot table. By comparison, a Rune Grand Master would roll for stats on the legendary loot table. This is explained under each tier of smithing. However, even grandmasters are not guaranteed to have relic-tier runes. With every attempt to craft a rune item roll a D20. Only on a result of Nat20 will the item be relic tier. Otherwise, it will be legendary.
These skill lines follow the standard rules for skill lines from the core rule book and must be approved by the GM as usual. The GM must use their best judgment on custom item stats to avoid any game-breaking items (Unless that’s your goal)
Weapon Crafting Recipes
Silver Weapons
By using additional silver when crafting (+1 Ingot) a weapon may gain the silver weapon perk. This will grant an additional +10
damage vs undead creatures.
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Deconstruction
Deconstructing items can yield valuable crafting materials. To deconstruct an item a player must be at a forge. These can be found in most towns and cities. The forge owner may require a fee for use. Any player with Apprentice or higher smithing skill can deconstruct items. However, there is no guarantee that the deconstruction will yield any value. Items that are being deconstructed will give the player the materials from the base crafting recipe, but only on a successful repair roll TN12. Arcane items may yield the base recipe plus the gemstone or precious metal. However, these items require a successful repair roll TN16 to do so. Failure to roll these target numbers will result in no material being saved and the item being destroyed. Jewelry will yield gold or silver decided by a 50%(D6) roll.
Items not listed with basic recipes can also be deconstructed of course. However, these will also be subject to GM approval. Yielded resources will be decided by the GM. Players should remember to be careful when deconstructing very rare or legendary items. The cost could be dramatic.
Crafting
​Apprentice
Ability Points: 1
Requirements: Level 1+, Any Race, Knowledge 12+, Repair 12+
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You have sought the knowledge required to become a blacksmith. You could do this by way of study or learning from a master smith.
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Effect: You may now craft common items, weapons, and Armor. Roll all stats on the common table. (Active)
Journeyman
Ability Points: 2
Requirements: Level 6+, Any Race, Knowledge 16+, Repair 16+
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You have some limited experience learning the art of metalworking. You are on your way to mastering blacksmithing.
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Effect: Repair gear for free in the field. Can craft Uncommon Items, weapons, and Armor. Roll all stats on the uncommon table. (Active)
Master
Ability Points: 2
Requirements: Level 14+, Any Race, Knowledge 20+, Repair 24+
You are skilled in crafting items and equipment. You are capable of repairing any metal items you come across.
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Effect: Repair any non-arcane gear for free in any location. Can craft Rare Items, weapons, and Armor. Roll all stats on the rare table. (Active)
Rune Master
Ability Points: 3
Requirements: Level 18+, Dwarf or Elf, Knowledge 22+, Repair 26+, Arcane Knowledge
In addition to being a skilled blacksmith, you have gained the ability to weave magical effects into your designs. You now possess the ability to craft basic rune items.
Effect: Repair any arcane gear for free in any location. Can craft Rare Items, weapons, and Armor. May add tier 1 runes to crafting recipes. Roll all stats on the rare table. (Active)
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Rune Grand Master
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Ability Points: 4
Requirements: Level 22+, Dwarf or Elf, Knowledge 30+, Repair 30+ Arcane Knowledge, Rune Master
You have learned the greater skills of rune mastery. You can now craft items that will be cherished and guarded by those blessed enough to receive them. Unique items are often called relics.
Effect: Repair or craft anything. Can craft Legendary Items, weapons, and Armor. . May add tier 2 runes to crafting recipes. Roll all stats on the legendary table. 5% chance to add Relic Tier Runes (Active)
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Black Smithing
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Players who wish to dabble in crafting are welcome to do so. If they can design a weapon or armor that is approved by the GM, they can craft that item. The recipe and cost will be decided by the GM once the item is sufficiently described. Its stats will be decided by the loot drop tables. If incompatible with the list, the GM will assign stats.
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The designing of items and crafting of any equipment will always be subject to the approval of the GM. However, creativity is very much encouraged.
These abilities follow the standard rules for abilities and must be approved by the GM as usual. The GM must use their best judgment on custom item stats to avoid any game-breaking items (Unless that’s your goal).
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Rune Tier System
The following pages will contain information on the various runes and their effects. They are split into three categories Ranged, Melee, and Armor & Jewelry. Runes are limited to these specific categories. Any crafted rune will have the same limitations.
Effects that list critical hits as conditions for status change refer to natural max dice values for the damage dice, not the hit dice. For example, a weapon that includes bleeding damage on a critical hit that causes a D10 damage would add bleed damage on a Nat10 on the damage die. Rune damage dice are not doubled on critical hits.
Rune Smiths
Rune Smiths are masters of arcane forging. They are exceedingly rare in the Old World. Even in the Dwarf holds they are uncommon. Among Dwarfs they are highly respected.
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Outside of the most legendary rune smiths, they are only capable of smithing rare runes. The more challenging art of forging legendary and relic tier runes is an art form known only to the oldest and wisest of rune smiths.
Forging runes takes time. Any hero looking to get an item forged should expect a least a week of forge time. The GM should remember this when allowing players to have items forged.
Smithing Skills & Runes