It has been several months since I have last updated Phantasm Adventures. It is has been a rather mild winter but a hectic one for me. Beyond multiple incursions of real world headaches, I have not been very creative lately.

I am trying to change that and am looking forward to venturing back into the game. I have so much hope and dreams for Phantasm Adventures, it is a game that I have played for 30 years — and it never gets old.

I am still waiting in the hopes of hearing from some Japanese friends who were interested in translating this latest version into a printed game book in Japan. I also have hopes that some new friends in Santos, Brazil will want to begin play testing the game.

This year can still be big for Phantasm Adventures, as I am simply waiting for that spark of creativity to return and the rush of excitement to get back to the game.

Pushing forward at rather alarming and amazing speed, I have just finished cataloging all of the skills the can be used in Phantasm Adventures. I have included the excel sheet below, if you would like to download and examine the plethora of abilities, talents, and unique skill sets available in the game.

Each skill is defined with a Basic Score from which the skill is learned and developed. Each skill is often granted a first and second default that the player can reference in the situation that the character does not specifically know the skill, he can default at a penalty. Each skill also has a Skill Class which defines what category the player refers via his Profession to learn how many experience points is required to increase the skill by one level.

Thus, a skill with a Base Score of Endurance gains at first level the racial statistic and 1/10th the personal statistic from Endurance as the basic chance to succeed on a d20. To further this example, a Thras (intelligent insects) has a 6 Racial Endurance and the player generates a 7 personal score. With purchasing 1 level in the skill Shock, he has a basic chance of 6.7 to succeed on a d20. If during play, the die roll is a 7 the player may attempt what is called a “Slim Chance” equal to the decimal value of the skill (.7 in this case) on a die 10.

All skills in the game work in this very manner allowing for a robust and rich character development. No two characters will ever be the same with so many choices and so many aspects to each character.

Skills of Phantasm Adventures: skill table

In this week’s discussion we will learn how the generation of attributes in the game of Phantasm Adventures: 4th edition have changed. We make some rather big moves in generation of the scores in the game.

STATISTICS
There are two sets of numbers that outline the character’s physical and mental capabilities. The numbers in general are referred to as statistics, but individually are called Racial and Personal scores. There are nine statistics as follows:

Attribute Abbreviations

• Strength: Str
• Endurance: End
• Coordination: Cor
• Courage: Cur
• Intelligence: Int
• Ego: Ego
• Visual: Vis
• Olfactory: Olf
• Auditory: Aud

Racial Statistics
The first set of attributes that define a character in Phantasm Adventures is called racial statistics. This number correlates directly with personal statistics that will be discussed later. The combination of racial and personal values will generate most the scores in the game such as for hit points, skill success chance, combat effectivness, and spell power. Racial statistics have a range value of 1 through 10. Racial scores outline the creature’s genetic quality in each stat. A statistic of 1 represent a minor capability, while a 10 is the highest and most robust value a player character can achieve. Refer to the Race Section of this booklet to learn the values of all the creatures that players can play.

For example, an orc has a 5 Strength, 7 Endurance, 2 Courage, 4 Coordination, 1 Intelligence, 5 Ego, 3 Visual, 3 Auditory, and an 8 Olfactory score.

A character has nine racial statistics as follows Strength, Endurance, Courage, Coordination, intelligence, Ego, Visual, Auditory, and Olfactory.  The following table outlines the basic ranking of racial statistics.

Racial Statistic Values

• 1 Pathetic
• 2 Weak
• 3 Poor
• 4 Below Average
• 5 Average
• 6 Above Average
• 7 Considerable
• 8 Excellent
• 9 Incredible
• 10 Extraordinary

A 1 represents a considerable deficiency in that statistic; A 10 represents superior ability.

For example a racial intelligence for an elf shows great prowess, while the elven character’s racial strength statistic is ghastly puny!

Basic Skill Chance
All skills have a basic success chance equal to the appropriate racial score rolled on a twenty-sided die. further modification of the skill by the GM may increase or decrease the chance of success for the specific attempt. A player can spend experience points (XP) to develop additional proficiency in the skill. By referring to the Profession chapter, the player can determine the cost of each level for the skill and by paying that, may learn additional levels of proficiency.

For example: A ratman has a racial intelligence of 2 and therefore will have a basic chance to succeed in any Intelligence categorized skill on 2 or less on a roll of a d20. The ratman is also of the paladin profession and pays 3 XP for academic skills. Thus, he could increase any skill in Academics by 1 level for each 3XP spent.

Base Skill Score = Racial Statistic

Personal Statistics
The second set of numbers are called personal statistics, which are derived from rolling a series three six-sided dice for each value. Personal statistics have a direct correlation to racial statistics.  A character is comprised of nine personal statistics, each in direct correlation with it’s racial counterpart: Strength, Endurance, Courage, Coordination, Intelligence, Ego, Visual, Auditory, and Olfactory. Notice that a character has both a Racial and Personal Statistic for each of the nine attributes. Statistics have a significant role in developing one or more of the following character aspects: hit points [HP], shock, skill success, power points [PP], spell success, weapon damage bonus [WDB], and initiative [PSN], to name just a few.

Skill Development
Each time a character trains in a skill, he attains a skill level and a bonus to success equal to 1/10th the character’s personal statistic that is associated with the skill, to succeed.  When a character gains a skill for the first time, the skill starts at level 1 and has a basic chance equal to his racial statistic as outlined in the skill’s description.
Each time the skill is increased, either through experience, magic, or special abilities, the level is increased by 1 and the skill gains 1/10th the personal statistic of the governing stat.

For example: A pesky ratman has a personal intelligence of 8. Each time he develops an Intelligence skill he adds +.8 to the skill.

Skill Bonus = Personal Statistic

Rolling Personal Statistics
To determine a character’s starting score for each Personal Statistic, a player rolls 3d6 for each statistic using two of the dice for the starting score, and the third for the total potential of the statistic.

For example: Wade rolls 3d6 for Strength, getting a 4, 3, and a 6. He selects the 4 and 6, for a total of 10 for the character’s strength, noting that he could later increase the strength to a total of 13 with the 3 die roll.

A character can never have less than 2 for a starting Personal Statistic after all modifications, including adjustments, background picks, and modifiers.
While in play, a character score can be reduced to no less than -10.  For each point over the potential of an attribute, the player gains 1 experience point to spend on talents, skills, and specials.

Continued example: Wade’s character has a potential of 3 points in his Strength. He selects Chak Pak as his kingdom of orgin [+2], Country [+2], and Military faction [+2] for a total of +6, but can only use +3 because of his potential. The other three points are converted to Experience Points [EP].

Visual, Auditory, and Olfactory statistics are not modified via Origin, Early Development, or Faction.

In this week’s installment of information and updates, I have provided an XLS sheet of all the pertinent and detailed information for all sixty-one playable races in the game. There may be some later additions or perhaps even some deletion as we proceed into additional playtesting.

If you are at all interested, please take a look at the table and see if you notice anything unusual or something that may need to be addressed.

The data should be accurate, but always having extra set of eyes looking at it is very helpful. I think you will the offering of various races to be unique to this game, unlike the standard mix found in most fantasy games. If you have questions on what a race is, I implore you to post a question — as I love to read them and it also helps me refine the rules.

Race Data