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NERO Boston
Abbreviated NEROŽ Rules
Important rules:
Hold: When you hear "Hold" called, put
your head down and close your eyes until you
hear the "Lay On" call. When you hear "Lay On"
called, repeat it in a firm voice, so others
farther from the call may hear it.
Physical Contact: The only contact
allowed during battle is by weapon. Grabbing,
hitting, kicking, etc. are forbidden. Intimate
physical contact in non-combat situations should
be kept to what is appropriate in a
family-oriented setting. No sexual contact is
allowed on site.
Drugs & Alcohol: Absolutely no drugs or
alcohol are allowed on site. People under the
influence of drugs or alcohol are not permitted
to play.
Stealing: There are rules for stealing
in-game items. Please see a game Marshal for
details. Failure to abide by the rules will
cause you to have to return the stolen item, and
could possibly cause you to be accused of
real-life theft.
Honor System: The heart of the NEROŽ rules
system is your own conscience. No one can make
you take all your hits and count your body
correctly except you. Fair and honorable play is
assumed and expected.
Terms:
Body Points: The amount of damage you can
take before you fall unconscious or begin to
die. Weapon Damage is subtracted from Body
Points.
Unconscious: When you reach zero body
points, you fall unconscious. If nothing else
happens to you, you will awake in 10 minutes at
1 body point.
Bleeding: When you reach -1 body points
or less, you are bleeding. After one minute of
bleeding you are dead.
Dead: When dead, if you receive a Life
spell within 5 minutes, you will awaken at 1
Body Point. Any protective magics or elixirs
that were in effect on you will be gone. If you
do not receive a life spell within 5 minutes,
you will drop all your in-game possessions and
proceed to the NPC shack to attempt resurrection
(you'll be given further instructions there).
Damage Types: You'll hear types such as
"Normal," "Silver," and "Magic." Don't be
extremely concerned. As a PC, you take damage
from just about everything, just take the damage
listed in the weapon damage call (such as "2
Normal").
Spell Damage: Like weapon damage calls,
the amount of damage is included in the call for
the spell. Simply take the amount of damage in
the call. If it is a non-damage spell and you
don't know what it does and the effect is not
obvious ("sleep"), if there is time you may ask
someone nearby. However, in the confusion of a
battle, there may not be an opportunity. Simply
consider yourself disabled - mistakes can be
rectified later if necessary.
In-Game vs. Out-of-Game: In-Game
conversations and actions are anything that your
character is doing in the game world.
Out-of-Game conversation and actions range from
things like discussing the application of a
rule, to chatting about what you did at work
last week. Superfluous Out-of-Game conversation
is discouraged as it disrupts the atmosphere of
the game.
Combat:
When swinging a weapon, you must call your
damage with your swing for the blow to have an
effect. Blows need only make contact, it is not
necessary to hit with force. Excessively fast
and/or powerful swings are discouraged. The
hands, the head and the groin are not valid
targets for a weapon swing. Hits taken to those
parts of the body should not be counted and you
should avoid aiming at those targets. However,
you may not deliberately interpose your hand (or
head) to block a swing that would otherwise hit
a valid target.
When blocking a strike using a weapon or shield,
the block must absorb at least half the force of
the blow to be considered an effective block.
You may only use a weapon for which you have
bought the game skill. For example, if you have
the skill "One-Handed Edged" you may use a sword
or a dagger, but not a mace. You must have two
hands free to use a two-handed weapon. You may
not carry any other in-game object in a hand
that is wielding a weapon or shield. If you do,
the weapon or shield becomes useless, and you
must take any damage that hits the weapon or
shield. If you are rendered unconscious,
bleeding or otherwise incapacitated, fall to the
ground. Drama is encouraged, but be safe. By all
means if people are stomping all around you in
booted feet, keep your hands in and protect your
head.
Special Combat Abilities:
Back Attack: The Back Attack skill allows
you to do 2 extra points of damage per swing
against one opponent for the duration of a
fight, but only when hitting from behind.
Critical Attack: The Critical Attack
skill allows you to do 1 extra point of damage
per swing against one opponent for the duration
of a fight.
Backstab: Every four Back Attacks may be
traded in for a Backstab, which allows you to do
2 extra points of damage per swing at all times
when attacking from behind.
Weapon Proficiency: Every four Critical
Attacks may be traded in for a Weapon
Proficiency that allows you to do one extra
point of damage per swing at all times.
Assassinate: This is a single powerful
blow from behind that does a large amount of
damage. The ability can be bought after first
purchasing a number of Backstabs.
Slay: a very powerful weapon blow that
does a large amount of damage. The ability can
be bought after first purchasing a number of
Weapon Proficiencies.
Waylay: A sneaky knockout blow from
behind. You may use a soft foam physical
representation of a rock, beer mug, etc., or the
butt end of a NEROŽ-safe weapon. You strike the
person from behind on the shoulder blade (not
the head, neck or spine!) and call out X Waylay,
where X is the amount of damage you do. "1
Waylay" is the default. Waylay damage increases
as you buy Backstabs.. Each Backstab adds one to
your Waylay. If the waylay takes effect -- the
person or monster does not have a Magic Armor
spell on and does not have a damage threshold or
other protection or immunity, the person falls
unconscious and will awaken in 10 minutes. you
can only Waylay a person who is unaware of what
you are about to do. If a person gives an
indication such as saying "I know you're back
there," or "Expecting Waylay" the Waylay will
fail. Note, the target takes the amount of
damage you specify in your Waylay call; it is
possible to kill someone by hitting them too
hard with a Waylay. "0 Waylay" is a valid call
that can be used to knock out a target without
injuring them.
Spell Casting and Throwing Gas Globes:
The most important rule of spell casting or
throwing gas globes is this: you must finish
your incantation completely before releasing the
packet. Failure to do so results in a "miscant"
and the spell takes no effect, but is still
lost. It often helps to have an additional
personal "trigger" word at the end of the
incantation that is said either silently or
aloud when throwing. For example, if the
incantation is "I call forth a magic missile 5"
it is helpful to say something like "I call
forth a magic missile 5, throw" and train
yourself to release on "throw."
You must have one hand free when casting a spell
or throwing a gas globe - even if you are
dexterous enough to be able to throw a packet
while holding a dagger in the same hand, you are
not allowed to do so.
Gas globes are in-game items. They can be
stolen, and cannot be held in the hand with
another in-game item in use, such as a sword or
shield.
Spell incantations are actual words in-game, so
you cannot cast spells if you are unable to
speak. The verbal call for an alchemical gas
globe is an Out Of Game statement, thus, even if
your character cannot speak in-game, she can
still activate and throw the gas globe.
Spells are purchased in a pyramid fashion. For
example you might have four first level spells,
three second level spells, two third level
spells and one fourth level spell. The rules for
spell purchase are too complex for the scope of
this document. Please ask a rules Marshal for
details, or consult the Player's Handbook. Each
spell slot entitles you to cast one spell of
that level once per day.
You must have a spell book of the appropriate
school of magic on your person in order to be
able to cast spells of that school. Even if you
have unused spell slots, you cannot cast those
spells without a spell book (Some chapters use a
Playtest on this rule. Please check the
Playtests in use for further information.).
You cannot cast a spell while taking body
damage. You must flee and avoid damage for two
seconds before being able to cast.
If you take body damage while throwing a gas
globe, the globe is destroyed with no effect on
either caster or target.
Protective Spells and Effects:
These are some common protective effects you may
encounter in the game. Some of them you may have
cast upon yourself, others you will normally see
only on monsters. Most protective effects
require you to call out the name of the effect
when it is used. This does not apply to Bless,
Greater Bless, Shield and Greater Shield.
Bless: Adds 2 Body Points to your total.
These are the first lost when you take Body
damage
Shield: Adds 2 Armor Points to your
total. These are the first lost when you take
damage to your Armor.
Magic Armor: Absorbs the full effect of
the next weapon blow or other physical damage
that hits you. You take no damage. This effect
works once, then it is gone.
Greater Bless: Same as Bless, but adds 4
Body Points. These spells can be stacked for a
total of 6 extra Body.
Greater Shield: Same as Shield, but adds
4 Armor Points. These spells can be stacked for
a total of 6 extra Armor.
Shield Magic: Absorbs the full effect of
the next spell that hits you. You take no effect
from the spell. This effect works once, then it
is gone.
Elemental Shield: Absorbs the full effect
of the next type of elemental attack that hits
you. You take no effect. This effect works once,
then it is gone.
Reflect Magic: Reflects the next spell
that hits you back on the caster. The spell
takes effect on the caster.
Parry: This is a special fighter ability
that allows the player to completely block any
weapon attack that normally would have hit,
except a Waylay. This is an advanced ability
available for purchase with character build
points. Each purchase of the skill allows its
use once per day.
Dodge: This is a special rogue ability
that allows the player to completely block any
weapon or packet-delivered attack that normally
would have hit, except a Waylay. This is an
advanced ability available for purchase with
character build points. Each purchase of the
skill allows its use once per day.
Resist: Some non-human races and some
monsters have the ability to resist certain
effects, such as poison or sleep effects.
Battle Magic Return: Some monsters have
the ability to "Return" magic back to the
caster. This does not harm the caster, but the
spell takes no effect on the monster, and the
caster regains the energy for the spell after
one minute of meditation (in other words, the
spell slot is not used up).
Phase: Some monsters can make themselves
partially or completely non-corporeal to avoid
attacks. A spell cast at a monster that phases
it may be rememorized.
Reduced: A monster that calls "Reduced"
when you hit it is taking less damage from your
swings than normal. The monster will always take
at least 1 point of damage from your hit. Damage
cannot be Reduced to 0.
Cap X: A monster that calls Cap X (where
X is a number, such as Cap 5), takes no more
than that amount of damage per hit, no matter
how large your damage call is. The abilities
Slay and Assassinate bypass damage caps. See the
core rules or a Marshal for details about Slay
and Assassinate.
No Effect: There are a variety of reasons
why a monster might call "No Effect" to your
attack. The most likely reason is that it is
immune to that type of damage or effect.
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