Game Rules

Character Setup

Students and faculty at GAEE are defined by six stats, each of which is assign a die size.  The starts are as follows:

 

Stats

Brains: Book smarts, problem solving, thinking things

Brawn: Brute strength, sports capability, strength and other physical challenges
Fight: Skills in combat, both magical and mundane, unarmed and armed

Flight: Speed and Broom skills, evasion and dodging

Charm: Social interactions, persuading others, smooth talking

Grit: Emotional, physical and intellectual integrity, ability to resist panic or disgust

 

The die size dictates your facility at that stat.  A D20 is a strength so strong as to be instantly noticeable by anyone that looks at you, while a d4 is so weak that people will immediately notice how bad you are at it.

 

Grade

Characters can be one of three Grades: Underclassmen, Upperclassmen, and Faculty.

Underclassmen are typically ages 14 and under.  Anyone in this Grade automatically received the Innocence Strength as well as a +1 to Flight and Charm checks. 

Upperclassmen are typically between 15 and 20.  They also automatically receive the "Trained in..." Strength for casting magic using a trait of their choice and a +1 to Fight and Brawn.

Faculty are over 21. They receive the "Studied in..." Strength for a trait of their choice and add +1 to Brains and Grit checks.

 

Strength & Flaws

Select two strengths and two flaws from the lists below.  Strengths have set in-game effects.  Flaws do not have specific effects, but should be demonstrated in play and will likely result in in-game social impacts.

Strength	Effect	Flaw
Cool Under Pressure	Spend AT for 1/2 die value instead of rolling on Snap Decision	Blunt
Easygoing	Gain 2 ATs when you fail	Clumsy
Gifted	Reroll Magic Die for 1AT on a fail	Cocky
Gross	Gross trick you can do on command	Competitive
Guardian	When defending another, always roll both stat & magic die, even if not using magic. Reroll magic on fail	Conspicuous
Handy	Wielding wand is not required for benefit	Cursed
Heroic	Spend AT to ignore Fears	Dishonest
Innocence	Once per session, spend 2 AT to not get in trouble for minor transgression	Greedy
Intuitive	Spend 1AT for honest answer to a question	Haughty
Loyal	Spending AT to help others gives them +2 instead of +1	Hotheaded
Lucky	Spend 2 AT to reroll a stat die	Irrational
Prepared	Spend 2 AT to have a commonplace item on you	Judgmental
Psychic Link	2-way psychic communication with your familiar	Loudmouth
Resilient	AT spend to resist a spell targeting you, each AT is worth +2 instead of +1	Naive
Skilled at...	Auto-succeed even moderately difficult checks with one type of magic, +3 to any roll on this type	Narcissistic
Spell slinger	On failed spell check, add +3. You still lose the roll, but can lessen loss to -1	Rash
Trained in...	+1 to all spells of one type of magic	Reckless
Studied in...	Gain +3 to all spells of one type, requires Trained in..., does not stack with Trained in...	Spoiled
Master of...	Gain +5 to all spells of one type, requires Studied in, does not stack with Trained in or Studied in	Tempted
Tough	On failed combat check, add +3. You still lose the roll, but can lessen loss to -1	Timid
Treasure Hunter	Spend 1 AT to find mundane but useful item
Unassuming	Spend 2 AT to be ignored, within reason
Wealthy	Money is not a significant concern for you
Wild Speak	Can communicate with any animal whose species you have knowledge of

 

Finishing Touches

Motivation - Determine what drives your character.  This can be as specific or general as you feel appropriate and may change over time.

Fears - Determine one or more fears for your character.  Younger characters often have more and less rational fears that older characters.

Schoolbag - What are the kind of things your character often carries with them.  This can include social and other advantages you "hold" over other people.

Wand - Your wand is made of two elements: wood and core.  Each kind of wood is matched up with a stat and gives +1 to that type of magic.  Cores do the same thing, but always with a different stat than the wood.  Examples of wood pairings:  Wisteria/Hawthorn - Brains, Pine/Oak - Brawn, Crabapple/Dogwood - Fight, Birch/Bamboo - Flight, Ironwood/Maple - Grit, Lilac/Cherry - Charm.  Examples of core pairings: Parchment/Phoenix feather/Owl feather - Brains, Gorilla fur/Ogre fingernail/Hippo tooth - Brawn, Dragon heartstring/Wolf tooth/Elk antler - Fight, Hawk feather/Air/Bat Bone - Flight, Changeling hair/Gold/Mirror - Charm, Steel/Diamond/Lion Mane - Grit

Broom - There are numerous kinds of brooms and grants your character a bonus while you are using it.

 

Common Name	Type of Rider	Effect
Blocker Broom	Defensive	Gain Guardian Strength
Lightning Flash	Fast	+1 to Flight checks
Bruiser	Intense	+1 to Fight checks
Captain's Cruiser	Natural Leader	Snap Decision are treated as Planned unless facing fear
Daredevil's Duster	Flashy	+3 to charm against any who witness your stunt
Daring Dodger	Ambitious	Spending AT adds +2 to roll instead of +1
Heartwood Helper	Outgoing	When you succeed a check, an alley gains 1 AT
Mapmaker's Mount	Level-Headed	If you know the area, you cannot get lost
Mastermind	Confident	+1 to Brains checks
Bulky Broom	Strong	+1 to Brawn checks
Suave Sweeper	Trustworthy	+1 to Charm checks
Tough Break	Tough	+1 to Grit checks
Brave Broom	Brave	You may ignore your fears
Weasel's Whisk	Sneaky	Gain the Unassuming Strength

 

Familiar - You are not required to have a familiar, although many do.  A familiar can be any animal, although they are usually small enough to be carried with you. Caster's have a limited, one-way psychic connection to their familiars.

Relationship Questions - select at least two of the questions listed below to answer about your character and their relationships.

 

1. This character once protected you from something dangerous. What happened?
2. Why did you spend the summer at this character’s home instead of your own?
3. What amazing secret have you learned about this person that they haven’t told anyone else?
4. You and this character once cut class together. Why?
5. What spell did this character teach you that you’ve never forgotten?
6. This character has seen you at your worst. How did they help you overcome it?
7. How did this character stop a bad rumor about you from spreading?
8. How did this character cover for you when you made a big mistake?
9. How did this character stand up for you in your time of need?
10. This character reminds you of someone that you’ve recently lost or left behind. Who is it?
11. What wonderful, unforgettable experience did you and this character have together?
12. Why do you feel safest when this character is around?
13. What magical event did the two of you experience that nobody else believes happened?
14. You and this character first experienced something profoundly emotional together. What was it?
15. You share a common interest in something weird and non-magical. What is it?
16. What about this character do you admire that they don’t see in themselves?
17. You saw this character do something nice for someone without making it about them. What was it?
18. When did you realize you loved this character, either romantically or platonically?
19. You and this character have somewhere secret in the school you go to that you think only the two of you know about. Where is it?
20. What meaningful or important object did this character give you?

21. What spell did this character cast on you, intentionally or accidentally, that embarrassed you?
22. What secret do you need to keep from this character to protect yourself?
23. What magical object does this character have that you want to take from them?
24. When was the last time you betrayed this character?
25. What bad rumor have you heard about this character that you don’t think could possibly be true?
26. What rumor, either true or untrue, did this character start about you?
27. What ambition does this character have that scares you?
28. What part of this character’s personality scares you?
29. What is this character planning that you need to stop them from carrying out?
30. How is this character putting you both at risk of being kicked out?
31. What do both of you hate about the school?
32. What forbidden spell do you know this character has been researching?
33. What forbidden spell does this character know you’ve been researching?
34. Why won’t you be alone in a classroom with this character?
35. What curse has this character not fully recovered from yet?
36. During classes, what do you do to intentionally distract this character?
37. What aspect of your academic life is this character making more difficult?
38. You hurt this character years ago. Why can’t you apologize?
39. How far along are you in your plan to get this character removed from the school?
40. What’s the last thing you stole from this character?

 

Class Schedule

Gwimmermort offers a huge number of classes at various times to accommodate students as much as possible.  Each student should select at least three classes they have an above-average interest in.  Each student typically has 6-7 classes each trimester, but many of these classes will be dealt with in reference only.  At certain times you will be awarded a mark in one of these classes for applying the lessons you learned there to in-game situations.  Once you have 2 marks in a class, you gain the "Trained In..." strength for the type of magic taught in that class. Once you have 6 marks, you can replace that with "Studied In...".  At 10 marks, you can replace that with "Master of..."

Once you have determined your classes, you should determine the day of the week and rough time (morning, afternoon, evening, night) that the class takes place.  All characters that have a class that shares a day and time are considered to be in the same class group.

 

Adversity Tokens

All characters start with 3 Adversity Tokens (AT).  When you fail a roll you gain an AT.  When you make a roll, you may spend AT for a +1 bonus per AT spent.  There are strengths that allow you to spend AT for other benefits or with a larger bonus.  Unless a roll has been declared a "Snap Decision", you can spend AT on another character's roll for the same +1 bonus provided you can describe how you are assisting the character in whatever they are trying to do.

 

Making Rolls

When doing something with a chance of failure, you may be called on to make a roll.  It may be apparent which stat is most fitting for the situation, or the GM may request you make a specific roll.  If this is a non-magical roll (throwing a punch, running a race, remembering something specific (or as yet undetermined), eating something gross, etc.) then you simply roll the die assigned to that stat and add any bonuses that you get due to Age or Strength or anything else the GM agrees too. If this is a magic roll, in addition to adding any bonuses you get from using your wand (and broom if appropriate) you also roll and additional d4 to be added in with the die.  It should be noted that it is usually a requirement to use either a wand or broom to produce a controlled magical effect, although if you have a Strength such as Handy that lets you forgo the use of a wand you also forgo the bonuses from including the tool.

 

The GM will determine a target number that may or may not be provided to you before the roll, and all dice roll explode if you roll the highest value (this is called a "Lucky Break" and means that you should roll the die again and add the rolls together) until you roll less than the maximum value.  Before the GM declares success or failure you may choose to spend any number of Adversity Tokens 1 for 1 to add a bonus to the roll.  If you meet or beat the target number you succeed, and if you beat the target number by more than 5, it is considered an extraordinary success.  Likewise if you roll under the target number you fail, and if you roll less than 5 under the target number you fail in a spectacular fashion.

 

The player may choose to "take half" and proceed as if they had rolled the median value of the die, instead of rolling a die.

 

Remember that failures can often advance the story in dramatic and interesting ways, so should not be feared or treated with major concern.