The war of the Axes: Golden Axe

Golden Axe

The land of Yuria has entered a period of disarray.

As it turns out, Death adder and Dark Guld weren’t kings or even particularly important in their own kingdom, across the Fiend’s path mountains. However, enough repute was gained by their actions that the evil kingdom across the mountains, Muspellor, has decided to go to war with Yuria for the Golden ax.

The war has lasted as long as anyone alive can remember, it is sporadic and fought mainly by mercenaries who change sides as easily as they change armor.

Generally the field is manned by skirmishers who simply roam around looking for their enemies in small groups. On some occasions though large forces have fought against each other, leaving some areas desolated and charred.

It is into this environment that the player arrives.

Stats are as follows, designed for simplicity.
Power – Functions as HP. Half of last + 1/4th of Focus.
Last – Strength, constitution, hitting power, ranges 0 to 100 closer to 100 is better.
Focus – Wisdom, intelligence, charisma, ranges 0 to 100 closer to 100 is better
Flex – Dexterity, dodging, modifies some strength tasks. 0-100 closer to 100 is better.

1d20 and 1d6 are rolled for an initial character, with bonus-bearing scores going up by 1d4 and other scores going up by 1d6 every 1, 2, or 3 levels depending on level, with the higher levels taking 3 levels to increase points. This 1d20 and 1d6 is increased to a 1d20 and a 1d8 for the bonus score. Maximum level is 40.

Classes are not used in this game, but builds are.

Tank – higher last and flex.
Archer – Higher focus and flex.
Elementalist – Higher focus and Last. Choses 2 elements instead of one.
Magician – High focus, mediocre everything else, change magic at camp.
Ninja – Hits twice, high flex.

Things noted as being ‘high’ should be given a bonus not exceeding 10 points initially.

Spells and magic

Elements: Lightning, Ice, Wind, Earth, Fire, Light, Wood, Water, Divine, Devil, Dark, Metal, Cloud.

Lightning – Direct damage spells using electrical energy.
Ice – Direct damage spells using ice.
Wind – Throwing and slamming spells using wind, projectile blocker spells.
Earth – Direct damage spells using rock and laval.
Fire – Direct damage spells using fire, summoning a dragon
Light – Instant death vs. undead, damage using lasers.
Wood – Damaging hamper spells using plants, summoning an Ent.
Water – Damaging hamper spells using water, Healing magic.
Divine – Instant death vs. undead, blessing spells.
Devil – Summoning undead, curse spells.
Dark – Damaging hamper spells using darkness, invisibility.
Cloud – Damaging hamper spells using vapor, cloud-kill.
Metal – Weapon and armor enhancing magic.

Direct damage – Blaster
Throwing and slamming – Throw your enemies all at once, at distance, or etc.
Damaging hamper – spell that slows movement or lowers stats while doing some damage.
Blessing – raise your own scores by 4, 6, or 8 points each.
Curse – lower enemies scores by 4, 6, or 8 points each.
Metal spells – Add magical pluses to your armor and weapons. It can repair armor and weapons outright.

Weapons and mounts
Technology equals about 1300. Horses are unknown here, people ride the following instead, all about warhorse size: Gryphons, Dragons, Hippogryphs, Wyverns, Bears, Giant moles and Giant beetles. There are no guns, but the races are near the point at which gunpowder becomes discoverable. Near enough that the ‘no guns’ rule could be discarded if needed, becoming substituted with early medieval guns.

Geography
There are 4 main areas. The Turtle Islands, The Fiend path mountains, Yuria, and Muspellor. The turtle islands are home to giant island sized turtles, the fiend path mountains are the home to a single family of giant immortal eagles, usually numbering 3, and Yuria in general has a geography like denmark an norway. Muspellor has a geography much like central and eastern europe. Yuria is about 1/10th smaller in area than Muspellor and is surrounded on the other sides by the outer sea.

Humans – Yuria, Turtle Islands, Muspellor.
Dwarves – Fiend Path mountains, Yuria
Centaurs – Yuria, Muspellor
Giants – Fiend Path mountains, Muspellor
Dragon-men – Yuria, Fiend Path mountains
Lion-men – Turtle Islands, Yuria
Sprites – Yuria, Turtle islands

The racial list is not all-inclusive, other races could be used.
Culture
Most races share a common culture, having lived together for that long. Yuria’s culture dates to around 1350 / 1400, while Muspellor’s culture dates to around 1250 / 1300. All dates A.D. Yuria’s kings wield the Golden Axe, Muspellor’s rulers wield the Black Iron Axe, the dark twin of the Golden Axe.

COMBAT
Combat is extremely simple and streamlined. Roll 2 d20 dice against each other to determine if an attack or ability hits, with the higher roll winning. Then roll up to 5d6’s to determine how much damage was done. Note however that generally speaking only magic rolls 5d6s, more usually one might roll 1, 2, or 3d6s. Once an opponents power reaches zero, they have died.

MAGIC
Magic, known in the game’s cultures as Dweomer, is used by using magic potions which are commonly made throughout all known cultures. For a magic attack that is specific to that enemy, the potion is thrown directly at the enemy, for a magic attack that is non-specific and targets the group of enemies, potions are thrown either into the air or against the ground. How many ‘spells’ a character knows determines how many potions they can carry at once. Everything but the Elementalist and the Magician choses one element, the elementalist choses 2, ultimately leveling up to 3, and the magician choses 3 interchangeable elements, learning other elements by discarding something out of the list.

 

MUSIC