jumpers 2012 edition v2.1.0 clean

For Jessica

In hopes that, one day, shell read this.

Love, come back to me.

Also from Pawn & Hex Games

Escape from Hell

Zamboni Wars

Disaster!

Zombie Vacation

This book and the entirety of its contents licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Some rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Pawn & Hex Games, 1983.

First Edition

Introduction 8Introduction ............................. 10Dimensions ............................. 10First Jump ..............................11Fade Out ............................. 12Narrative: Meet the Players ............................. 12Advantages ............................. 14Terms ............................. 17Narrative: Mike Arrives ............................. 18

CORE MECHANIC 20Attributes ............................. 22 Health Pool ............................. 25Damage ............................. 25Healing ............................. 26Will Pool ............................. 27Effects of a Drain ............................. 27Restoring Will ............................. 28Magic Pool ............................. 28Regeneration ............................. 29Narrative: New Character ............................. 29Dice ............................. 30Critical Rolls ............................. 31Expected Value ............................. 32Narrative: Kaboom ............................. 325LC ............................. 34Modifi ers ............................. 35

Skills 38Choosing Skills ............................. 38Narrative: Hack Attack ............................. 39Skills Index ............................. 40Ticks ............................. 46Character Level ............................. 48Proxy Skills ............................. 49Gaining New Skills ............................. 50Building Skills ............................. 51

Combat 54Combat Round ............................. 54Initiative ............................. 55React ............................. 56Delay ............................. 57Defending ............................. 57Dice ............................. 58Criticals ............................. 59Multiple Attackers ............................. 59Combat Fatigue ............................. 60Weapons ............................. 60Combat Options ............................. 61Combat Examples ............................. 62Narrative: ATTACK!!! ............................. 63

Ranged Combat ................................ 64Called Shot ................................ 66Armor ................................ 67Knockdown ................................ 68Death ................................ 68

Equipment 72Carrying Capacity ................................ 72Jump Capacity ................................ 73Monty Haul ................................ 74Armor ................................ 75Repairing Armor ................................ 75Equipment Index ................................ 75Weapons ................................ 77

MAGIC 81Magical Skill ................................ 82Spellcasting ................................ 83Casting Failures ................................ 83Raw Magic ................................ 84Crafting ................................ 85Controlling ................................ 86Narrative: Wizard Assassin ................................ 87Counterspelling ................................ 89Spells ................................ 90

the planes 102Astral .............................. 103Ethereal .............................. 103Adventuring in the Astral .............................. 104Adventuring in the Etheral .............................. 105Narrative: The Other Side .............................. 106

survival 109Equipment ...............................111Currency ...............................113Eating and Sleeping ...............................113Surviving Exposure ...............................115Cold Exposure ...............................115Heat Exposure ...............................115Low Air Pressure ...............................116Narrative: Eat Your Vegetables ..........................117

Charts 118The Power of Charts ........................... 118

Skill Level / Number of Ticks.............. 119What does each LVL mean?.............. 120Magic Rules Flowcharts......................121Dice for LVLs above 10.......................122Tick Rewards......................................122

Table of Contents

5LCs for Attributes................................123Item Strength Chart..............................125Random Magic Effects.........................126Combat Actions....................................128

Creating Characters 130

NPCs and npc groups 132Brothers of Entropy ................... 132Brotherhood of Saint Vincent ................... 133Reality Enforcement Patrol (R.E.P.) ................... 134Jorphin ................... 136Jumper Research Institute (JRI) ................... 137Evil Edison ................... 137Nikola Tesla ................... 139

Character Sheets 141

Adventure Cards 151

For JMs Only 155The Ins and Outs of Jumping ................... 155Introductory Jump ................... 158Narrative: First Jump ................... 158Not Prepared ................... 160To the Next Level... ................... 163Types of Jumps ................... 166The Session ................... 168The Campaign ................... 171Telling the Story ................... 173Responsible JMing ................... 175Player Rewards ................... 176Time Travel and You ................. 177Tips and Tricks ................. 179Starter Jumps ................... 181

The Runaway Train ................................... 184Our American Cousin ................................ 190Happytime Burgers ................................... 202Menlo Park 1878 ....................................... 208

Artwork Credits 216

table of contents

JUMPERSPAGE 8

Chapter 1

Introduction

If you're reading this, you already have my con-dolences. You're one of us now, those unlucky souls who came unglued from the Mbius fl y strip that is our reality.

In other words, you're a Jumper.

What happened exactly? In my Prime, there used to be a commercial that said, "It isn't nice to fool with Mother Nature". Of course, that doesn't stop people from trying. Whether it was those with the noble purpose of attempting to under-stand the nature of the universe, or the cabals of government scientists trying to build the ultimate weapon, someone actually managed to stumble onto the perfect combination of circumstances to royally screw us all.

Take these incidents for example:

March 26, 1983 (DAN 338957330): In an under-ground research facility, scientists working on the the newly-launched Strategic Defense Initia-tive (SDI) readied for the fi rst test of their x-ray laser. Designed to strike down incoming nuclear warheads in space before they could reach their intended targets, the laser at the heart of the system was powered by the very nuclear explo-sions it was designed to prevent. At just past 9 p.m. local time, the blasts were triggered and the

powerful laser was fi red into the sky. Moments later, the atmosphere became supercharged and turned into a translucent fi eld of pulsating energy which surrounded the entire planet. The scientists managed to shut down the laser and the atmosphere returned to normal but, despite assurances from the government that there were no lasting effects from the test, tens of thousands of people around the world were reported miss-ing that night.

April 21, 1991 (DAN 674027589): In a garage in Glendale, California, two Caltech graduate students worked late into the night attempting to develop a gravity wave sensor that would help them prove their theories about the existence of alternate dimensions. During a test of the power-up sequence, their fatigue got the better of them and one knocked an open can of Mountain Dew into a rack full of circuit boards. In a spectacular shower of sparks, the right combination of elec-trical pathways fused together creating a local-ized fi ssure in the dimensional fabric of the uni-verse. Neighbors reported a bright fl ash of light and a scream coming from the garage before the power blew out in a four-block radius. The grad students vanished and were never seen again.

February 10, 1970 (DAN 106789334): In a

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Each of these events (and similar ones in count-less other dimensions) started to weaken the very fabric of the multiverse. Stretch anything enough and it will tear, which in this case means a fi ssure cutting through multidimensional space linking these realities together

By now you're asking, "Why Me?", right? In your reality, it probably started out as just a normal thunderstorm. You didn't even give it a second thought, until the lightning started to look like a strobe light in your window, growing in intensity until the entire sky was a gigantic dome of pul-sating energy. You probably wandered outside in awe, standing with your neighbors pointing and marveling at the sky. It wasn't until the chimney on your neighbor's house was sheared off that you noticed the energy fi eld was actually getting closer to the ground.

How did you handle that moment? Were you frozen in fear? Did you run back into the house to rescue your cat? Did you grab your gun and a month's supply of rations? Yeah you wish. You'll be regretting you didn't think of that for a long time to come.

Once you made contact with the energy, the cosmic umbilical cord that tethered you to your reality was severed and you fell into that big hole in the universe. You're now adrift on the dimen-sional currents, fl oating from one reality to the next.

Fortunately for you, a dimension is only acces-sible to Jumpers if they've managed to rip a hole in their reality adding it to your big cosmic play-list. That means you probably won't Jump into the cold vacuum of space or some other equally inhospitable environment. While it's possible that a natural phenomenon could cause the same ef-fect, reports of Jumpers fi nding themselves on the molten surface of a star are probably just legends shared among Jumpers over a campfi re and a stiff drink.

What exactly are the other dimensions? Each contains a different version of the world you're

nondescript warehouse on the South side of Chicago, a team of researchers working for TechnoDyne were attempting to develop anti-gravity technology using theories published by Nikola Tesla shortly before his death. The cur-rent project had started almost a decade before, but on this Tuesday night the scientists expected to make their big breakthrough. Capacitor coils were charged, equipment was checked and re-checked, and all eyes were on a large block of steel in the center of the room. Should this experiment work, high-energy beams would suspend the several-ton block above the fl oor, disconnecting it from the Earth's pull. The count-down fi nally crept to zero and the system was activated. Immediately, everyone in the facility knew something was wrong. The steel block be-gan to undulate as if it was made of rubber and then started to glow brighter and brighter. With a large boom, a wave was released from the block which passed through the outside walls of the warehouse and out into the sky. As soon as it hit the edge of Earth's atmosphere, it supercharged the air and ozone, creating what appeared to be a ball of lightning that descended onto a now helpless planet. There are no records of the events that followed, but we do know that there were only a few thousand people left on Earth after that catastrophe.

JUMPERSPAGE 10

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used to, one where certain decisions or events played out to a different conclusion. Who was elected the American President in 1960? Ken-nedy? Nixon? Byrd? Did the folks in your Prime make it to the Moon? What about Mars? I've heard that in one dimension, Dirk Benedict was nothing more than a lowly actor.

The fi ssure you're surfi ng isn't a very clean one, so there's no guarantee you'll stay in the same time period from one dimension to the next. More than one Jumper has been burned at the stake after being mistaken for a witch. (Word to the wise it's in your best interest to blend in if at all possible.)

At this point, you basically have two choices: survive or die. If you've got what it takes to last as a Jumper, maybe I'll see you around...

Introduction

Man has always been a curious little monkey - al-ways tinkering with this and that, trying to build the better mousetrap, or the sleeker spaceship, or the awesomer ice-cream scoop. And, as is prone to happen, man can make a bit of a boo-boo from time to time. Accidents are part of the creative process, and man can do nothing but make his mistakes, pick himself up, and adapt to the new information available post-err. This game is based on those mistakes.

Specifi cally the ones that rip a hole in space time.

Welcome to the exciting world of Jumpers, the multi-dimensional, multi-genre RPG. Anything can happen, anywhere can happen, and, if you play your cards right, anywho can happen. The game revolves around the concept that somewhere in the great big expanse we call the Multiverse, every conceivable thing is happening with everyone in every combination imaginable. And, it just so hap-pens, because of the blind bumbling of mankind, those worlds are now accessible to you as a player of Jumpers.

So, what's the deal anyway? What is this, some kind of Time Tunnel rip-off? Thankfully, no; Jumpers is a roleplaying game of multi-dimensional travel, where players can adventure in any and all possi-ble worlds and genres. The only limitation is... well, honestly, there is no limitation. Jumpers is a very loose RPG system; the rules are very detailed, but that is for those of you who like a detailed system. The game works just as well with almost no dice rolling, and stripped down versions of every rule.

Where Jumpers shines is in the storytelling. We have created a framework for worldbuilding, where your characters can adventure and interact with the entirety of the imagination universe (I know that sounds very Crofft brothers, but it's true.) Jumpers creates the opportunity for Jump Masters (lingo for Game Master) and players to explore every con-ceivable world they have ever wanted to play in, without having to learn a new set of rules to go with each.

From there, let the roleplaying commence. Be-cause, although the combat section is detailed and tremendously realistic, as is the skill system foundation of the mechanic, Jumpers is all about the roleplaying. The Jumpers system cries out for creative players and JMs to engage each other in tremendous storytelling, regale one another with high fantasy fables, or touch each other with tales of love and romance. Well... not literally "touch each other". Unless that's the game you want to play. And, if it is, there is room in the Jumpers mul-tiverse just for you!

Dimensions

The Jumpers universe revolves around the theory that infi nite dimensions exist, each one varying from the next by the decisions made by its resi-dents and the natural phenomenon that occurred there (volcanoes, hurricanes, and so on). There are thousands upon thousands of other dimen-sions that, on the surface, look exactly like your Prime or home dimension. The difference could be something as simple as your neighbor choosing to

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wear his blue Tuesday suit on Thursday.

Of course, some dimensions look nothing like your own: Vampires in Mexico, the Confederated States of America, the Russian/American War of 1984 all of these realities exist somewhere in multi-dimensional space. And, due to the fractured na-ture of the dimensional fi ssure, Jumpers may fi nd themselves in time periods other than their own. From a storytelling perspective, this allows JMs to incorporate any setting or era into the game, making everything from space stations to the Wild West (or Wild West Space Stations) a possibility.

While there are technically dimensions where the Earth never formed or the Big Bang never took place, a dimension is only open to Jumpers if an event occurred which ripped open a hole in their Prime. These rips can be caused by major events (The Philadelphia Experiment, nuclear testing, reverse-engineering alien technology, and so on) or, in extremely rare circumstances, natural phe-nomena (electromagnetic storms on a nearby star, intersecting black holes, supernovas, etc.)

In addition, it seems that oxygen/nitrogen atmo-spheres amplify the affect of dimensional tears. This is good news for Jumpers, because it means they have a really good chance of Jumping into a world that has a breathable atmosphere and survivable environment. In addition, gravity waves can fl ow into the fi ssure from a given reality mean-ing your chances of Jumping into a world at ground level are also almost certain. Since Humans aren't the only ones who like to play with things they don't understand, it's also possible for Jumpers to fi nd themselves on alien planets far from Earth.

Dimensions are labeled by their Dimensional An-notation Number or DAN. Dimensions that are similar will also have DANs that are close together, meaning that DANs that are closely numbered will be almost indistinguishable from each other. These dimensions are considered to be "adjacent" to each other due to their similarity.

Conveniently, people from similar dimensions (those that have similar DANs) usually Jump to-

gether as a group, as their nearly identical home dimensions create some cohesion between each person, letting them travel the fi ssure together. Larger groups might also split into smaller groups during a Jump (with each group Jumping into a different dimension), but their cohesion will most likely bring the group back together during a later Jump. (This lets individual players miss a gaming session but "catch up" with their group during a later Jump.)

First Jump

There are three different circumstances that will typically cause the initial Jumping Event let's call them "Local", "Regional", and "Global".

Local Event: Jumpers affected by a small event are typically involved with the cause of the dimen-sional tear. This includes scientists, researchers, test subjects, or other unlucky souls who happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Typi-cally, no more than 20 to 30 people will be affected, and they are generally just assumed to be "miss-ing". The world moves on without them, the rest of the population unaware that their dimension was affected.

Regional Event: Medium events will affect an entire planet, but only a very small percentage of people will actually begin Jumping as a result. (Typically, this means anywhere from several hun-dred to several hundred thousand people will join the Jumper ranks.) Those that do not Jump notice a shimmer in the atmosphere that looks like an extreme and widespread version of the Northern lights. Those that do Jump have an experience that similar to what is described in the JMs section of this book, which knocks them unconscious. When they come to, they are no longer in their Prime and have started their journey as a Jumper.

Global Event: A large event will devastate an en-tire planet, as nearly everyone will begin to Jump. The vast majority of Jumpers you meet started their journey in this way. This effect is most com-

JUMPERSPAGE 12

CHAPTER 1 - INTRO

monly referred to as The Lightning. The effect begins slowly and looks very much like a normal thunderstorm, but the lighting will build in intensity until the entire sky is fi lled with crackling, pulsating energy.

The energy the players see is actually a sphere that surrounds the entire planet. After it is fully formed, it will start to decrease in size moving closer to the surface. Typically, PCs won't notice that the energy fi eld is getting closer until it makes contact with the tallest nearby object, like a TV antenna, satellite dish, chimney, or telephone pole. Nothing can pass through the energy fi eld, so it has an affect on solid objects like a trash compactor, crushing anything it comes in contact with.

The fi eld usually moves fairly quickly, meaning PCs will have a limited amount of time to deal with the situation once they realize what is going on. Once the fi eld comes in contact with the PCs, they immediately start their journey through time and space, Jumping to their fi rst alternate reality. Not everyone in an affected dimension Jumps, but no one has yet discovered the rhyme or reason to why it affects some and not others.

Fade Out

The time in between dimensions is instantaneous; the Fade is followed immediately by a Pop into a new dimension. Players will remain in this new Prime until they Fade out.

In game, Jumpers have no control of when or where they Jump. They could remain in a particu-lar dimension for a few minutes or a few years. From a story standpoint, JMs should use "fade outs" much like a movie director does to mark the end of a story. Having Jumpers fade out during an adventure can also be useful if PCs are fl ounder-ing in a particular location or are simply not having fun. For more on these techniques and others, look in the JMs section.

In some realities, people will have no knowledge of Jumping or the phenomenon that causes it. In

others, people are well aware of Jumpers, which isn't always a good thing, as Jumpers tend to take what they need to survive, which often puts them at odds with local citizens and law enforcement. While there are dimensions that host conventions of Jumpers or even worship them, they are few and far between.

For the most part, A Jumper's primary goal should be to blend in and be as inconspicuous as possible. This will prevent many problems with the locals, especially when you are in less-sophisticated time periods, where even something as simple as a fl ashlight could brand you as someone who should be burned at the stake just for good measure.

Meet the Players

Tara was early, as always, getting her notes together for one of the Jumps for that night. She liked coming over to Jeff's as early as he would let her mainly because it gave her an opportunity to get ready for the session, but also because he always had great snacks. It was as much to put dibs' on the peanut butter fi lled pret-zels as to guarantee a smooth game.

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At 7 o'clock on the dot, the door buzzer rang. "Scott's here", Tara shouted, still writing in her notes about one of the NPCs she was going to introduce to the party that evening.

"You think so?" said Jeff, with a tinge of sarcasm. Scott was never late. In fact, Scott was never early either. He always arrived at exactly 7pm for their Jumpers sessions. It was eerie in a way, but something that had become a bit of a running joke for the group. "You know, it might be some-one else," Jeff commented, looking at his watch, "it is a few seconds after 7." He pushed the but-ton to open the outside door, and remarked, "It's not like Scott to be late. Tara, do you want Diet?"

"No, regular is fi ne. Hey, where were you on your last Jump?"

Jeff thought for a second. "I don't know," he said slowly, thinking about his Jumps while answer-ing, "I think... we were in the future in Mexico. But, I don't think Scott was there. It was just me and Mike."

"Yep, that's right. The thing with the giant vam-pire priest guy, right?"

"What giant vampire priest guy?" The question came from the door, where Scott had just en-tered holding a notebook and a case of Dew. "I

don't remember a giant vampire priest guy?"

"You weren't there, Scott. You were at your Mom's birthday, remember," said Jeff, pouring some cola into a couple of glasses full of ice. "By the way, how is your mom, anyway? She looked tired when I left her house last night."

Scott's eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh, Jeff, hilari-ous. I get it. You had sex with my mother. Origi-nal." Scott followed up his response with a jab into Jeff's right arm, and then moved passed him into the kitchen to open up a can of soda. "Tara," Scott said, moving into the living room of the apartment and plopping down on one of the chairs, "you didn't tell me I missed a giant vam-pire priest guy?"

"Scott, you didn't ask. But, if you had, I would've told you that you missed him. Don't worry, I've got some cool stuff planned for tonight. And, with that," Tara fi nished what she was writing with a faux fl ourish, and tossed her pencil down on the coffee table, "I'm ready to go. Jeff, is Mike com-ing?"

"Yeah, he'll be here in a little bit," Jeff responded as he came in from the kitchen with a bowl of chips and glass of Coke for Tara, "But, he said he is going to have to take off early tonight. Is

JUMPERSPAGE 14

CHAPTER 1 - INTRO

that cool?"

Tara waved her left hand dismissively, as she took the glass with her right, "No, shouldn't be a problem. I have a couple of Jumps lined up for you guys tonight. If he has to leave early, I'll just fade you guys out when he does, and fade you in somewhere else."

"Yeah, but, what if we're somewhere cool," sug-gested Scott, leaning forward to grab a handful of chips, "Why do we have to fade out just cause Mike wants to leave?"

Tara looked at Scott, and got a devilish grin on her face. Then, in a tone that all the players had learned to know was one that normally preceded the fi ery death of their characters, Tara slowly asked, "Scott... are you suggesting that only SOME of my Jumps are cool? I thought you liked all of my Jumps?"

Scott paused with his hand in front of his now full mouth, trying to keep the numerous chips that he had just crammed in from falling all over the fl oor. "Uhh... no," he chewed and swallowed some, to make defending himself at least a bit less awkward, "I did like your Jumps... I mean, I do. I do like your Jumps." Scott smiled, and nod-

ded, but both faded to stillness as he looked into Tara's face.

Jeff put his hand on Scott's shoulder, and gave him a good pat, as he moved over to his chair, "Sorry, Scott. I hope when you die tonight, you don't take the rest of us with you."

"Jeff, if what I have planned for you guys tonight goes like I think it will," Tara started, organizing her notes to prepare for her fi rst Jump of the night, "Scott dying will be the least of your wor-ries. Alright, I'm ready. Let's get a Jump in before Mike gets here."

Advantages

One of the key hallmarks of the Jumpers system is its fl exibility. Let's look at the key mechanic of the game, Jumping, as an example of this fl exibil-ity. The simplest explanation of the game is that it consists of characters based on the players who play them, randomly traveling through space and time. So, let's start with the concept of "characters based on the players", and why anyone would want to play themselves in a roleplaying game.

This character creation concept was done on pur-pose to help expose more players to the world of roleplaying. Consider this: if you wanted to teach someone how to play a roleplaying game, what do you think would be easier for them to accept: "You're going to play an Ork, who lives to smash the skulls of his human oppressors", or "You're go-ing to play yourself. Same clothes, same thoughts, same job." Weve found the latter to be a bit easier for someone to grasp, especially people who are completely new to roleplaying. The ease with which a new player grasps a roleplaying as themselves is best exemplifi ed when a JM fi rst asks a new player what they want to do in a situation. The most com-mon response to the question by the new player is "I don't know. What can I do?" To which the JM can respond "I don't know. What CAN you do?"

In the beginning, new players don't need to know about magic and monsters, swords and guns, or

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CHAPTER 1 - INTRO

what a typical Ork would do in the same situation. New players just need to know what they would do in the same situation, and react accordingly. There is much less anxiety for the new player, because they can rely on their own experience and knowl-edge, rather than needing to have knowledge of the game they are playing, or the fantasy realm within which it is set.

To discuss thoroughly the other advantages of the Jumpers system, we must fi rst talk a little bit about what it is like to play Jumpers. Anytime a group of players gets together to play a roleplaying game, it is typically called a Session. When playing Jump-ers, a Session consists of a number of adventures called Jumps. A Jump is the time that passes be-tween when PCs Pop into a new environment and Fade out of that same environment. In short, the Jump is the adventure that players experience. However, Jumpers allows for a number of differ-ent Jumps in one session, with any combination of players and JMs involved in each.

Take, for example, the group of Mike, Jeff, Scott and Tara. They have gotten together for a session of Jumpers, and Tara is going to be the JM for the fi rst Jump. The party Pops in at the beginning of her Jump, and the game is on. The players navigate their PCs through the JMs (in this case, Tara's) adventure, which ends when the JM tells the play-ers the party Fades. When the PCs Fade, they are thrown into the ether, to be randomly dropped in space and time, representing the beginning of their next Jump.

However, because there is no rule requiring that all PCs that Fade together must Pop together, play-

ers can dictate whether or not they want to play in any particular Jump. Furthermore, there is nothing requiring that the same JM run each Jump. How is this advantageous?

First, it is advantageous to the players because they never have to feel as though they are required to play in any one Jump. Let's say that the group above wants to play Jumpers, but Mike has to leave a bit early. That's fi ne, the game can continue with-out him. When Mike has to leave, the group Fades, and when they Pop, Mike's PC is no longer with the party. The random nature of the Jump mecha-nism has deposited Mike somewhere else in the multiverse. That somewhere else is equivalent to the next time Mike plays Jumpers, whether it is on his own with another group, or again with the group he just left. It's never an issue if someone wants to leave the game.

This fl exibility holds true with beginning a Session as well. If Mike can't come at all the next time the group plays, it doesn't mean Jeff, Scott and Tara can't play. They just play without Mike, assum-ing that he must be either Jumping somewhere else, or he is going to meet up with them on some other Jump in the future. Simply, players and JMs are not dependent on all other members of their gaming group to be present for a game to hap-pen. There are more traditional ways around this situation ("His PC is asleep." "Her Cleric has to spend a week in the Temple." "The Wizard will be researching in the library."), but they always feel a bit contrived.

The Jumpers mechanic simply suggests that Mike's PC may simply be Jumping from point A

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(the initial Jump) to point E (a later Jump), while the other players Jump to all points in between. They will still meet up in the future, the only dif-ference being that Mike would perceive it as an instantaneous trip from A to E, where as the rest of the party may have experienced days, weeks, or even months in between.

So, Jumpers is fl exible enough to accommodate any number of players... but what about Jump Masters? What if the JM can't make it to a session? Again, just like if players can't make the Session, Jumpers is fl exible enough to allow for anyone to run a Jump. So, if Tara can't make it to the next Session, there is no reason that one of the other players couldn't run a Jump.

The most important thing to remember is that every Jump in Jumpers, though they may have recurring characters, villains, places and situations, can be insular - no Jump needs to be connected to any other Jump. Therefore, no player of Jumpers must be connected, either.

Finally, Jumpers adventures are easily converted to other systems which makes it easy to adapt ma-terials written for this game usable in many other RPG systems (Call of Cthulhu, D&D, etc.) Given the fl exible nature of Jumper's multiverse, it's also very easy to adapt other game systems' modules and source books for use with Jumpers.

The most powerful advantages of the Jumpers system is the control the JM has in each and every Jump. Let's say that a group is playing a fantasy RPG, and the storyline that the Gamemaster laid out revolves around this cool, old church in town. And, let's say that no matter what bait the Game-master sets for his players, none of the PCs want to go anywhere near the church. Sure, there are a number of ways to get the players there, but all of them force the players to act in a certain way, removing the ability of the players to make their own choices and actions.

In other words, the Gamemaster is trapped. No story, no interest from the players... no game. The same situation in a Jumpers session is solved by

four simple words: "You all fade out." Because the game is a series of insular adventures, a JM doesn't need to worry about forcing his players into situations, or boring them to tears with uninter-esting adventures. The game isn't going the way the JM wants? "You all fade out." Players don't understand the goal of the Jump, and don't seem interested? "You all fade out." Players accidentally killed the main NPC that was going to give them a bunch of cool stuff, and you don't feel like making up a reason that someone else can give it to them instead. "Sigh... you all fade out."

Jumpers allows for the JM to end the Jump at any time, making for more exciting games and constantly involved players. And what is the JM to do with the Jump that they spent time and energy preparing? Hold on to it, and try it out when you are playing with different players. Maybe a differ-ent group will like it more.

This ability of the JM to end the game whenever he likes affords a lot of power to new Jump Masters as well, specifi cally those that are new to the art of Gamemastering. Running small Jumpers sessions, with only one or two players (preferably players

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who are also JMs), is ideal for the new JM to get her bearings. A new JM just needs to understand that, if the game feels like it is getting out of control at any time, they have the power to make the party Fade out. Then, once they Fade, the JM can talk to the players about the Jump, what they liked, what they didn't like, and what could be made better. It's like a built in training mode for the Jumpers RPG!

Okay, so that's what Jumpers is, and why you should play. But, what about the mechanic, the rules, the dice... where is the game? The following section will tell you more about the mechanic, at-tributes, and everything else you will need to play. But, fi rst, let's defi ne a few terms for the new role-players out there.

Terms

5LC: A fi ve-level chart. In Jumpers, all bonuses and other charts are defi ned by the fi ve-level chart (5LC). Since all rolls in the game will be based on LVLs between 1 and 10, the degree of modifi er is distributed, by twos, throughout this range. See the Core Mechanic section for an example of what a 5LC looks like, and how it works.

Astral Plane: The plane of magic, and the plane that Jumpers travel to after fading. The Astral Plane acts as a conduit between Reals in the multiverse, shuffl ing Jumpers from one Real to the next when they Jump.

Attribute: Attributes are used to measure, in LVLs, a PCs physical, mental, and metaphysical capabili-ties. A PCs physical strength, intelligence, or abil-ity to perceive things in their environment, among other things, are all represented in either Base or Derived Attributes.

DAN: Dimensional Attenuation Number. Refl ects the relative distance between two dimensions in the multiverse, as well as the dimension from which a PC originated. DAN is pronounced like the proper name "Dan".

Ethereal Plane: The plane of the dead. It is where

souls go after death, before they move on to a Higher (or Lower) Plane. Here, they must shed there negative emotions (fear, pain, anger) to re-lease themselves from the world and move on.

Expected Value: The mean value of LVL dice. The Expected Value (EV) of LVL 5 is 18. Expected Value is used in Passive Rolling. Expected Value is also used as the target number for a roll when no other target is provided.

In-game: A term used to describe events that hap-pen within the construct of the story of the game. Shooting monsters while you travel through time happens in-game. Sitting around a table, eating pizza, and playing Jumpers is out-of-game.

Initiative: The order in which PCs and NPCs per-form actions in a situation where Opposed Rolls will occur. Initiative is determined by rolling your PCs SPD LVL, as Initiative is a measurement of the PCs ability to react. Lowest roll chooses ac-tions fi rst, but highest roll acts fi rst.

JM: The JM is the Jump Master, the player re-sponsible for design and running the game that the other players play. Unlike other RPGs, in which one player typically runs a game, in Jumpers many players typically take on the role of the JM. JM is pronounced like the proper name "Jim".

Jump: There are a number of derivatives of this word that are used in Jumpers:

- Jump: An adventure bound by characters fad-ing in to an environment and, at some point later, fading out.

- Jumping: The act of traveling through space time, as all PCs in Jumpers do. Can also be used among players to describe a game session (e.g. "Let's do some Jumping!")

- Jumper: In-game slang for PCs who travel through time and space.

LVL: The level of a skill or ability. Typically, the level of something is written in the following no-tation: LOCKPICKING (LVL10). LVL determines the number of dice rolled when making a check.

JUMPERSPAGE 18

CHAPTER 1 - INTRO

The notation used for LVL dice is in the form of (NUMBER OF DICE) D (VALUE OF DICE)+(LVL OF ROLL). So, a LVL 5 would roll 3 6-sided dice, and add 5; or, 3D6+5

Modifi er: Any positive or negative number, or LVL, that is applied to a roll. They are used to represent environmental factors, physical hindrances, and special bonuses that could have an effect on the success of a roll.

NPC: Non-player character. A character in-game that is run by the JM rather than by another player. NPCs can be either be transitive characters, which just exist for one game session, or recurring, ap-pearing in more than one session.

Opposed Roll: The construct used to determine success or failure in-game. An Opposed Roll typi-cally consists of a PC rolling LVL dice, a JM rolling LVL dice, and then comparing the totals.

Passive Roll: A roll in which the player or JM chooses to use the Expected Value of LVL dice instead of rolling the dice. Protects against rolling a signifi cantly low roll, specifi cally a critical failure, and is often used in situations of guaranteed suc-cess.

PC: A player character. The in-game representa-tion of a player, the PC is what performs all of the actions dictated by the player.

Pools: Regenerative totals that are used to mea-sure Health (number of Health Points), Magic (number of Magic Points for spells), and Stability (mental well-being).

Prime: Slang used for the Real that your PC origi-nally came from.

Real: A Real is a universe in which life exists, thrives and interacts freely, though it is bound by the laws of that universe. The universe that we know as our home is just one of an infi nite number of Reals in the Multiverse.

Round: A round is a way of measuring the prog-ress of combat, or any other situation that requires Initiative. In each round, players can either perform

actions, or react to actions performed by other PCs or NPCs. A round is exactly one second long.

Skill: A skill is any ability that a PC has that can be measured in LVL. Juggling, basket weaving, fi ring a pistol - if it has a LVL, and it isn't an attribute, then it is a skill. Also, a skill is a behavior or ability that is learned. This helps to differentiate Skills from At-tributes.

Mike Arrives

"Okay, Tara," Scott began, tense from the situa-tion his and Jeff's PCs had been thrust into, "I'm gonna fi re at the guy behind the glass."

Jeff and Scott were in trouble. Tara had Jumped them into a military installation which was clearly set up to fi nd and study Jumpers. The problem was, at least upon their initial estimates, that "study" meant "dissect".

"You're sure you want to fi re at that guy," Tara warned, her tone torturing Scott with her hidden JM knowledge, "The glass could be bulletproof."

"Tara, come on, I hate it when you do that. It just creeps me out, man." Jeff had already decided that his PC was hiding this one out, and was safely behind the metal door and Scott's PC. "Just let him shoot."

Scott concurred, "Yeah, let me shoot, alright." Tara leaned back onto the couch, throwing her hands up in mock defense, "Okay, okay. Go ahead, roll. The glass has a hardness of LVL 2."

Scott looked a bit puzzled, "Wait, so do I have to roll above a LVL 2 roll to break it?" Tara nodded, "Mm hmm. With the damage from your shot. It's reinforced a bit, but not too bad. Roll to hit, and then roll damage." Scott pulled out a couple of dice, and tossed them on the coffee table, "4... 8... 10... 16. Does that hit?"

"Sure does," Tara replied, marking something off of her notes, "Now roll some damage." Scott smiled, "Damage ain't a problem. This gun is like

JUMPERS PAGE 19

CHAPTER 1 - INTRO

fi ring a tank shell at someone." A larger hand-ful of dice hit the table, and Scott's smile turned sour quickly. "You have got to be kidding me."

"What's wrong, Scott?" Jeff inquired, leaning forward from his chair to get a better look at the dice, "Critically fail?"

"No, but pretty close. Uh... looks like... 10?" The question in Scott's voice was matched by his face, as he hoped to God he had done enough damage to break the glass. Tara shook her head slightly, and spoke with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief, "Scott, you only needed to beat a LVL 2. Look... I rolled a 5. The EV is only 6."

"Oh yeah, forgot. So, what happens to the guy in the room?" Scott was already formulating a plan of attack on the rest of their perceived en-emies, when the buzzer for the front door rang. Jeff jumped up, and buzzed in the visitor. "Mike's here."

"Perfect timing, because just as the bullet hits the glass, you guys both fade," said Tara.

"Fade? What?" Scott was upset, huffi ng and puffi ng with a handful of d6's. "I was shooting this guy. Come on! We don't have to Jump just because Mike's here!"

"Sorry, Scotty my boy, but your time is up. This is when you guys were going to fade anyway, so you fade." Tara's tone was playful as well as stern. She liked being in charge, and hav-ing control of the situation. But, part of her just liked screwing with Scott whenever she got the chance. "It's okay, Scott. You'll get to shoot someone in the next Jump."

"Yeah, you say that now," Scott mumbled, as he got up to get another soda from the fridge. As he entered the kitchen, the front door opened and in came Mike, with someone new to the game.

"Hey Scott," Mike said, as he removed his coat and shoes,

"You know Peter, right?" Scott nodded, and extended his hand to shake, "Yeah, we met at

Lisa's thing last month. What's up?"

"Not much," Peter responded, taking off his shoes as he presumed he should, "just came with to see if I could play."

Tara and Jeff both looked to the front door and saw Mike along with Peter, and they waved a hello to the both of them.

"Tara, Jeff, this is Peter. Peter, Tara and Jeff," Mike was quick with the introductions, and Peter returned the wave offered by the other players, and looked around for a seat. "Peter was won-dering if he could get in on our game tonight."

Tara shrugged, and looked over at Jeff, "Hey, I can accommodate as many as ten players at a time. It's your place... you don't have a problem, right?" Jeff looked crookedly at Tara, as if the question had come, unexpectedly, from a duck. "No, of course I don't care. Players are players. You've played before, right?"

Peter paused for a second, and looked over at Mike. Mike looked back, and gave a "kinda-sorta" face to Jeff. "No, not exactly," Peter said, fi nding a spot on the fl oor by the couch, "But Mike told me all about it."

Jeff looked over at Tara with a bit of panic, but Tara was a professional. "No, that's totally fi ne. Jeff, you said you had a Jump you could run to-night, right? Well, you do that, while I catch Peter up on making a character and running his fi rst Jump. Sound good?"

"Fine by me," shouted Scott, who was busy raid-ing Jeff's fridge, "But, I want to shoot something when we fade in, Jeff."

Tara rolled her eyes at the remark, "Jeff, run your Jump. Peter, come in the other room with me. It should take about an hour or so. Then, I have one more Jump before the night's over. So, Jeff, don't kill everyone, okay?"

Jeff saluted as Tara and Peter walked out, "Aye aye, captain. Okay, Mike, where were you last?"

JUMPERS PAGE 21

CHAPTER 2

Core Mechanic

Simplicity is key in Jumpers, and the core me-chanic of the game tries to refl ect that simplicity. In Jumpers, all dice rolls, from picking a lock and driving a car, to checking against an attribute and dealing damage, are treated in the same way. In the Jumpers system, the dice that a player rolls are tied to the Level that a character has achieved in each of their skills or attributes. With Attributes, this Level (or LVL for short) tops out at 5; for skills, the maximum is 10. As such, LVL is the basis for all dice rolls in Jumpers.

Before we dive too deep into LVL, we should dis-cuss a bit about character basics. There are two fundamental elements to every PC: their skills and their attributes. Skills are abilities the PC pos-sesses - meaning, since all PCs are based on their associated player, skills the player has out of game. So, if the PC is based on a player who can hunt, than "Hunting" should be taken as a skill for that PC. Even if the player is not an accomplished hunter, but has some basic experience, hunting should be taken as a skill, but assigned a low LVL of ability.

Attributes, on the other hand, are used to defi ne a PC's capabilities outside of the realm of skills. They measure a PC's physical strength, intelligence, or ability to perceive things in their environment,

among other things. Like skills, attributes are used to resolve certain situations that call for a more raw measure of the ability of a PC.

In the case of simple skills, each one of them has a skill LVL, which is measure by a number from 1

JUMPERSPAGE 22

CHAPTER 2 - CORE RULES

to 10. This range represents the human range for any skills or abilities. If a PC has a LVL of 0, the amount of skill possessed in that skill is negligible, and the PC is probably just learning the skill. A LVL 10 in a skill represents the utmost of human achievement; the world's greatest authors, chefs, pilots, etc., may have a LVL 10 in the skill related to their profession. You can read more about skills in the Skills section, or see Appendix A, Sections 1 & 2 for more on LVL progression for skills.

In the case of attributes, they come in two vari-eties: Base and Derived. Base attributes are the fundamental attributes that make up the PC, and are also measured in LVL. For derived attributes, the scale is the same as with skills (0 to 10); how-everr, the range for base attributes for a PC is a bit different.

A LVL of 0 in an attribute suggest some sort of disability in the PC. For instance, a LVL of 0 in Strength may represent someone who was physi-cally paralyzed, while a 0 in Intelligence would represent someone who was brain dead. Typical human range for the base attribute LVLs is from 1 to 5. LVLs above 5 are possible, but they would be examples of humans who have been tweaked, engineered, or drugged to be more than human.

A LVL of 10 for a base attribute, however, is the ultimate any human can hope to achieve. It rep-resents the ultimate level of stress that a human body could possibly withstand in regard to any at-tribute. LVLs of more than 10 are possible in the game, but are reserved for supernatural PCs and other creatures. For all intents and purposes, a PC with a LVL higher than 10 is no longer considered human.

Base attributes are described below. Please note that normal humans will fall in the 2-3 range for ability scores, since the average score would ac-tually be 2.5. Although the below examples seem extreme (specifi cally in the examples of a LVL 1), the difference between each of the LVLs is signifi -cant. A good way to illustrate this difference is by thinking about the distribution of these numbers in relation to the rest of the population. A LVL 5

represents the highest possible achievement in any one attribute. Olympic Athletes, Mathematical Geniuses, and Masters of Magic have their attri-butes represented by a LVL 5. The next step down, at LVL 4, is represented by the masses who are exceptional, but not at a world-class level. College athletes, University professors, or accomplished Wizards fall into the grouping of LVL 4s. LVL 3 and LVL 2 are where the lion share of PC's attributes will fall. LVL 3 is represented by those who are a bit better than average, while LVL 2 are those who are a bit below average. The difference in these LVLs is whether you could have played sports in High School (LVL 3), or you couldn't (LVL 2). Whether you could've captained the Quiz Bowl Team (LVL 3), or you were happy to get by with B's and C's (LVL 2). Whether you should be allowed to cast spells (LVL 3), or, well, you shouldn't (LVL 2).

You'll notice that there isn't an attribute that is pure-ly average'. That is because we don't believe that anyone is really average... you are either slightly above or slightly below. To be honest, though, it isn't that substantial of a difference. Subsequently, it isn't something any player should really get that upset about. Everyone has a few LVL 2 attributes... being honest about your attributes will add just an-other layer of realism to the game.

LVL 1 is a below average score. It isn't necessarily inept, but it does refl ect poorly on your ability to use the associated Base Attribute in any positive manner. PCs with a LVL 1 in an attribute are rarely seen succeeding at any skill that relates to that at-tribute.

Attributes

STAMINA (STA)

Stamina (STA) measures a PCs physical resis-tance to pain, damage, and other stresses. A PC with an STA of 1 is a sickly weakling, constantly in fear of catching a cold or stomach virus. An STA of 5 indicates a PC with an "Iron Stomach", someone who never gets ill, or someone who can withstand

JUMPERS PAGE 23


WILL (WIL)

Will (WIL) measures a PCs mental resistance to negative emotions, stress, and distraction. A PC with a WIL of 1 has trouble focusing on tasks, and cracks under the slightest pressure placed on her. A WIL of 5 indicates a PC who is cold and steely in the face of a challenge, and would hold up to the most brutal of mental torture.

PERCEPTION (PER)

Perception (PER) measures a PCs ability to notice detail and change in their environment. A PC with a PER of 1 is blind to the world around her, unaware of the actions of others or her environment. A PER of 5 indicates a PC who is highly aware of every-thing in her scope of perception, pick up on the most minute detail, noise, or action.

CONTROL (CON)

Control (CON) measures a PCs ability to effec-tively harness and wield magical energies. A PC with a CON of 1 has diffi culty with the most basic of energies, releasing raw magic more often than a recognizable spell. A CON of 5 indicates a PC who can warp the magics of a Real to her will, easily shaping it to any form she desires.

POWER (PWR)

Power (PWR) measures a PCs limits as far as the strength of magic energies that she can wield. A PC with a PWR of 1 feels the burn of magic with the simplest spells at the lowest intensities. A PWR of 5 indicates a PC who can stand like a rock against channeled magics, casting spells that would incinerate a lesser caster.

AWARENESS (AWA)

Awareness (AWA) measures a PCs perception of magic in all of its states, and the ability to recognize magic in use. A PC with an AWA of 1 is nearly blind to the fl ow of magic, and can't distinguish it from the mundane around her. An AWA of 5 indicates a PC who can see magic at all times, ebbing and fl owing through all things, and can recognize it like the face of a long-time friend.

toxic effects with no side effects.

STRENGTH (STR)

Strength (STR) measures a PCs ability to manipu-late weight, whether it is by lifting, pulling, or push-ing. A PC with an STR of 1 is physically inferior, struggling to lift a bowling ball up off the ground. An STR of 5 indicates a PC who can lift signifi cant weights with ease, setting national records while she's doing it.

AGILITY (AGL)

Agility (AGL) measures a PCs dexterity and quick-ness, both in movement and in manual tasks. A PC with an AGL of 1 is clumsy and oafi sh, falling over herself while trying to accomplish the simplest of tasks. An AGL of 5 indicates a PC who is deft and quick, moving her hands and feet with the grace of a dancer... or a cat burglar.

INTELLIGENCE (INT)

Intelligence (INT) measures a PCs mental fac-ulties, refl ecting problem solving and memory capabilities. A PC with an INT of 1 has diffi culty with directions and task completion, and is not all together there mentally. An INT of 5 indicates a PC who is extremely bright and witty, thinking on her feet and remembering every step along the way.

JUMPERSPAGE 24


The Base Attributes are grouped into three types: Physical (STA, STR, AGL), Mental (INT, WIL, PER), and Metaphysical (CON, PWR, AWA). These groupings come into play in two circumstances.

First, the groupings are used to generate a PCs Derived attributes. These attributes are simply extensions of the Base Attributes, used to give a more thorough defi nition to the representation of a PC. Derived attributes, because they are an addi-tive of two Base attributes, have a normal human range from 2 to 10. As with Base attributes, lower numbers refl ect weaker attributes, while higher numbers represent stronger attributes. Derived at-tributes are as follows, determined by the associ-ated formulae:

PHYSICAL

Toughness (TGH = STA + STR) An overall as-pect of the PCs fortitude, refl ecting a PCs ability to forge on in the face of physical resistance.

Athleticism (ATH = STA + AGL) The aspect of the PCs general athletic capabilities, refl ecting the PC's abilities in all manner of competitive and leisurely physical activities.

Speed (SPD = AGL + STR) A measure of a PCs physical speed, with a maximum foot speed mea-sured by SPD x 3ft./sec.

MENTAL

Comprehension (CMP = INT + WIL) The PC's ability to learn and adapt to different situations.

Focus (FOC = WIL + PER) The PC's ability to keep on task, and shut out all distractions in the environment that could detract from success.

Intuition (ITI = INT + PER) The PC's ability to gen-erate ideas and postulates from available informa-tion, even if no specifi c knowledge is available.

METAPHYSICAL

Infl uence (INF = CON + PWR) The PC's ability to effect the world around her with magic, and is re-fl ected in the effectiveness of the spells she casts.

Potential (POT = PWR + AWA) The limit of power that a PC can put into a spell; a higher POT in-dicates more damage, longer duration, and larger area of effect.

Mastery (MST = AWA + CON) A measure of the PC's ability to cast a spell, and refl ects the chance of a spells success or failure.

POOLS Secondly, the attribute groupings are used to de-termine the three pools that a PC will use through-out the game: Health, Stability, and Magic. Health is a measure of how much damage a PC can take before falling unconscious and, ultimately, dying. Stability is the mental capacity of a PC, and the amount of stress they can endure before they breakdown, or are affected in other ways. Magic is the measure of magical energy that a PC can channel while casting spells.

The values for the three pools are calculated using the same method, but each uses different Base Attributes. To determine the size of a pool, add the LVL of each of the Base Attributes in the corre-sponding attribute groups (Physical for the Health Pool, Mental for the Will Pool, and Metaphysical for the Magic Pool). Roll the total LVL of dice for each group, applying the total rolled for Physical to the Health Pool, Mental to the Stability Pool, and Metaphysical to the Magic Pool. Level dice are discussed in more detail under the Dice section in this chapter.

The number rolled is the maximum size of each of your pools. Unless your base attributes are in-creased in some way, the total for each of these pools will not change. While in-game, these pools will diminish based on usage, and then replenish with time. As an example, if a PC takes 10 points of damage from combat, those points will be sub-tracted from the Health Pool. Likewise, if a PC casts 10 points worth of spells, the points are sub-tracted from the Magic Pool. These pools will be discussed in more detail while discussing Health Points and Damage, Mental Health, and Magic,

JUMPERS PAGE 25


receives a total amount of damage in any one at-tack equal to or greater than half of her maximum total Health Points. So, a PC that has a Health Pool with a maximum capacity of 40 HP can take up to 20 points of damage from one source without receiving Sustained damage. However, if the PC takes more than that 20 points of damage from any one source in a Round, she will receive sustained damage in addition to any normal damage infl icted.

The amount of Sustained damage that a PC takes is determined by how the PCs wounds are being treated. If the PC that has taken sustained damage is being treated for the wound, the PC loses 1 HP in sustained damage per 30 rounds. However, if the PC is not being treated for the wound, she loses 1 HP in Sustained damage per 10 rounds. This dam-age stacks for each time the PC is attacked in a way that would cause Sustained damage. So, if the aforementioned PC is attacked from a weapon that deals 25 points of damage, she will receive 1 HP of Sustained damage every 10 rounds of combat. If the weapon that dealt the damage was serrated, which automatically deals 2 points of Sustained damage for every successful attack, then the PC would receive 3 HP of Sustained damage every 10 rounds. This level of damage represents seri-ous injuries, and would require immediate medical assistance.

Sustained damage can be healed, but it is not a simple process. Sustained damage is representa-tive of signifi cant physical problems - open wounds, internal bleeding, broken bones - all of which re-quire medical attention. So, while healing Hard or Soft damage is relatively simple, halting sustained damage requires hospitalization, attention from a doctor or other qualifi ed specialist, magic, or some combination of all three. Healing of damage is dis-cussed in more detail later in this chapter.

Damage dealt to a PC can have an effect on how that PC performs certain tasks. The 5LC for Tough-ness details the modifi ers to any rolls the player makes with regard to damage taken by the PC. Additionally, the type of damage dealt to the PC affects how much Sustained damage is taken, which varies if the PC is conscious or unconscious

respectively.

In the event that the level of any of your pools is higher than 10, use the LVL dice described in the chart in Appendix A, Section 4, instead of the stan-dard LVL chart.

HEALTH POOL

The Health Pool tracks the amount of physical damage a PC has received, as well as how quickly a PC can recover from their wounds. The Health Pool is determined by making a one-time roll, add-ing together the PCs scores for STR, STA, and AGL. The Health Pool is the most commonly af-fected pool in the game. In general, the effects that work on the Health Pool, specifi cally those that lower the total of the Health Pool, are called damage.

Damage

Whether it is being dealt from a cast spell, a suc-cessful attack in combat, or a fall from a tall building, all PCs will take damage at some point. All sources of damage have a LVL associated with them, and it is this LVL that is used to determine how much damage a source deals. Damage comes in two varieties: Hard and Soft damage. Hard damage is damage that causes injury that cannot readily be healed simply by rest; broken bones, stab wounds, and burns are all examples of Hard damage. Soft damage is damage that can readily be healed by rest; blunt damage, a twisted knee, and most unarmed damage are examples of Soft damage. Each damage source will detail if it deals Hard or Soft damage.

Both Hard and Soft damage can also lead to Sus-tained damage. Sustained damage is damage that continues to be dealt in subsequent rounds after the initial damage. There are certain sources that deal Sustained damage, but typically, Sustained damage is dealt as an additional effect to Hard and Soft damage. Sustained damage is dealt if the PC

JUMPERSPAGE 26


(above or below 0 HP respectively). Hard, Soft and Sustained damage all have different effects on the PC:

- If more than half of the total damage taken by the PC is Soft damage, and the PC is at or below 0 HP, she receives no Sustained damage, and regains HP at a rate of 1 HP per 10 minutes (600 rounds), until the PC reaches 1 HP.

- If more than half of the total damage taken by the PC is Hard damage, the PC begins to take Sustained damage at 0 HP, and the PC loses HP at the rate of 1 HP per 30 rounds until the damage is treated, or until the PC dies (pre-sumably from bleeding out.)

- If, at any time, the PC takes more than half of her maximum total health pool in dam-age, Sustained damage is dealt immediately as detailed above. Furthermore, if the source of the Sustained damage is not treated, and the PC falls unconscious, the PC loses an ad-ditional 1 HP per 30 rounds.

Healing

If no magic means are available to heal a PCs wounds, then the PC must rely on good old rest and medical treatment to regain Health Points. There are three levels of HP gain for Soft damage, and one for Hard damage.

1) Rest: The PC is at a state of rest. Either sitting or lying down, the PC is inactive physically, and is simply resting her body. No level of physical exer-tion is present while in a state of rest.

2) Active: The PC is in an active state. Any level of activity which is more than rest is considered Ac-tive. However, this state must be persistent; getting up to walk across a room and back again does not constitute a state of activity. Walking to the corner store and back again, however, does.

3) Rigorous: The PC is in a state of rigorous ex-

ertion. Lifting heavy objects, running for long dis-tances, or performing any act which causes signifi -cant strain and distress on the body is considered rigorous.

Each one of these levels of exertion is represented in the 5LC for Health Point Recovery, based on ATH (see below). In the chart, the numbers listed are the total number of soft Health Points regained in 8 hours while at rest, while performing normal activities, and while performing rigorous activities.

For example, a PC with an ATH of 4 would gain back 1 HP for every 8 hours of rest, HP for every 8 (or 1 HP for every 16) hours of normal activity, and 0 HP if performing rigorous activity. Note that a PC with an ATH of less than 4 actually LOSES HP if performing rigorous activity. If the PC performs mixed types of exertion in a given time (1 hour of rest, 3 hours of normal activity, 4 hours of rigorous activity), divide each time by 8. Then, multiply each of those numbers by the Health Points that would have been gained in a typical 8-hour period of that exertion type (round down any resulting frac-tions.) So, in the case of a PC with a high ATH of 8, she would gain back 0 HP from this time period, because all of the resultant fractions of HP gain would be rounded down to 0.

The last set of numbers, after the vertical bar, is the number of HARD Health Points a PC regains per span of time listed. So, while the above PC is gaining 1 HP per 8 hours of rest in soft damage,

HP Recovery / HourS: Rest / Active / Rigorous H: Rest

Athleticism LVL 2

Athleticism LVL 4

Athleticism LVL 6

Athleticism LVL 8

Athleticism LVL 10

S: 1 / 0 / -1 H: 1 / 72

S: 2 / 1 / 0.5 H: 1 / 48

S: 3 / 2 / 1 H: 1 / 36

S: 4 / 3 / 2 H: 1 / 24

S: 4 / 3 / 2 H: 1 / 12

5lc

JUMPERS PAGE 27


temporarily drains the Will Pool in the same way the Health Pool is drained. However, similarly to Soft Damage and the Health Pool, this drain on the Pool only lasts for a fi nite amount of time, and is recovered over a relatively short period of time. Some examples of when a Temporary drain on the Will Pool should be applied are:

- Prolonged time without sleep

- Prolonged time without food

- Prolonged exertion

Draining the Will Pool, even in a Temporary way, can be extremely detrimental to the activities of the PC. Take caution and care when applying these effects.

The Will Pool can also be drained by Permanent effects. A Permanent drain is something that is so damaging to a PCs psyche that they cannot fully recover from it without some sort of medical or psychological treatment. Typically, this drain is associated with a major trauma, such as killing someone for the fi rst time, having a limb removed or destroyed, or watching a love one severely in-jured. While these sounds similar in severity to Hard Damage, there is one caveat that makes these drains on the Will Pool much more severe; as the name suggests, they have permanent ef-fects.

EFFECTS OF A DRAIN

There are no specifi c rules for how much any Will Pool effect should drain. However, there are some guidelines a JM should follow to make sure a temporary or permanent drain has a lasting effect, without permanently crippling the PC.

1. Not all of the drain dealt in a Permanent effect is actually permanent. While the LVL of the drain could be substantial, most of the effect will melt away in the same way as a Temporary drain. However, a Permanent drain will lower the maximum Will Pool size of the PC by an

she will regain only 1 HP per 48 hours of hard dam-age. This number requires resting or light activity (regaining of hard damage is impossible if the PC is performing rigorous activity), and requires that the PC has been treated, even minimally, for her wounds (the requirement being that the wounds are no longer bleeding openly.) If either of these above conditions is not met, then the PC regains 0 HP in hard damage.

The only note on this damage is in its relation to Sustained damage. If a character is taking Sus-tained damage, too much movement can sig-nifi cantly worsen their condition. Any change from one state of activity to a more rigorous state (rest to active, active to rigorous) will result in an im-mediate 1 point of damage infl icted to the PC for each level changed (from Rest to Active is 1 point, from Rest to Rigorous is 2). This damage is dealt immediately, before any rolls are made or Resolu-tions pass.

will pool

The Will Pool tracks a PCs mental well-being throughout the course of gameplay. The Health Pool is determined by making a one-time roll, add-ing together the PCs scores for INT, WIL, and PER. For most, this pool will remain generally untouched - effects on the Will Pool are much less common than those on the Health Pool, or even the Magic Pool. However, the losses to a PCs Will Pool can be much more dire, and have a permanent and lasting effect.

When at its maximum capacity, the Will Pool re-fl ects a PC who is sound in mind, clear of thought, and stable. There is no level of mental exertion or duress of any kind - mentally, the PC is in tip-top shape. Drains on the Will Pool, so that the mental faculties of a PC begin to wane, comes in two vari-eties: temporary and permanent.

Temporary drains are things that effect the Will Pool, but can easily be recouped. Going without sleep for an extended period of time, for instance,

JUMPERSPAGE 28


amount equal to the LVL of the drain. So, if a PC has a Will Pool of 50, and then suffers a trauma that deals a LVL 4 Permanent drain on the Pool, the PCs new maximum will be 46. This change in Will Pool is applied after the drain has been dealt, so it only serves as a new cap on the maximum for the pool.

2. LVL on a drain should be closely regulated. Much like the Health Pool, a large drain on the pool can have a traumatic effect on the PC. Even if the Temporary portion of a drain will regenerate relatively quickly, taking massive amounts of traumatic drain can be immedi-ately detrimental. Unless you, as a JM, want to make a substantial impact on the PC, try to keep the LVL of these Will drains relatively low.

3. A drain on the Will Pool should be a fairly rare occurrence. Since the effects of Will Pool drains can be much more substantial (and per-manent) than Health loss or Magic loss, these effects should only occur on rare occasion. However, when they do happen, the drain should be momentous - pairing the drain with some memorable event is most appropriate.

4. Typically, a permanent drain is something which direct and substantially affects the men-tal stability of the PC. Watching a loved one die, coming into contact with impossible crea-tures from another dimension, or simply being tortured for an extended period of time... all of these can create a substantial drain which will have long-term affects.

As for the effects of a drain on the Will Pool, a 5LC similar to the Global Modifi er: Damage in Section A would be appropriate. However, instead of using Toughness as the Derived Attribute, Focus should be used instead.

restoring will

Unlike the Health Pool and Magic Pool, the Will Pool does not always restore to its full capacity after time. While this is true for a temporary drain

on the Pool, permanent drains on the Will Pool are just that: permanent. However, even something that is permanent has a bit of fl exibility to it, and that goes for permanent effects on the Will Pool as well.

There are a few ways the permanent effects on a Will Pool can be counteracted. The method that requires no magical intervention, but is the least useful while travelling through space and time, is psychotherapy. In the same way that psychother-apy helps individuals deal with traumatic events in real life, so can it be used for PCs. Unfortunately, psychotherapy is not a quick fi x sort of solution - typically, the process takes years, and isnt neces-sarily a guaranteed solution. This option should be left more as a story element to remove a broken PC from a game, rather than an actual solution for Will Pool losses.

Besides psychotherapy, any other means of heal-ing drains to the Will Pool must be inherently magi-cal or supernatural. A few examples of how this could be achieved include:

1. Magical, restorative spells.

2. Magic items.

3. Being granted a boon from a supernatural power or diety.

4. Merging the drained consciousness with the stable consciousness of an alternate version of the PC.

Like other places in the rules, we shy away from defi ning your experience. But, if you follow the guidelines provided, you should be able to fi nd a place for the Will Pool in your game.

Magic Pool

The limitations on casting are defi ned by a spell-casters Magic Pool. A Magic Pool is a pool of Mag-ic Points that represents the amount of energy the caster can channel while casting spells. This pool functions much like the Health Pool, measuring the

JUMPERS PAGE 29


amount of physical stress the body of the caster can take while casting spells. As spells are cast, the amount of energy to cast the spell is subtracted from the remaining Magic Point pool, based on how many Magic Points each spell takes to cast. As the level of the pool drops lower and lower, global modifi ers are applied to the spellcaster, just like with the loss of Health Points.

The modifi ers dealt to the caster as an effect of spellcasting are the same as the modifi ers dealt as a result of taking physical damage. However, for spellcasting, the chart used to determine these modifi ers is based on Mastery, rather than Tough-ness. Also, these modifi ers for spellcasting STACK with any Health Point modifi ers. So, while casting spells while damaged is diffi cult, casting spells while damaged AND after casting with a depleted Magic Pool is nearly impossible.

A spellcaster can, however, choose to cast a spell that will actually put their Magic Pool below 0. If they choose to do this, they must convert Health Points to Magic Points, at a rate of 1 to 1. These Health Points can be used to fulfi ll the casting cost necessary to cast any spell; however, once the spell has been cast, an amount of damage equal to the number of Health Points converted to Magic Points is dealt to the caster. This damage should be treated as Soft Damage, in regards to uncon-sciousness and the regaining of Health Points. With their MP now at 0, the caster cannot cast an-other spell without converting Health Points, until they regain Magic Points to their Magic Pool.

Regeneration

Much like the Health Pool does for healing HP, the Magic Pool needs to regenerate so PCs can regain lost MP after casting spells. This process is considerably faster than the regaining of HP, and has signifi cantly fewer limitations. First off, all MP lost are treated equally; there is no concept of Hard and Soft when it comes to your PCs Magic Pool. Second, MP are regained in parallel to your PCs Health points. So, even if your PC spends HP

to cast a spell, he doesnt need to wait for those HP to regenerate before regaining MP. Third, unlike your PCs Health Pool, there are no modifi ers for actions taken when your PCs Magic Pool is low. Magic fl ows in and out of the PC like water, only damaging him when things go awry.

As you can see from the MP Recovery 5LC, the rate of recovery is directly related to a PCs POT: the higher the POT, the faster MP are recovered. This makes spellcasters with a POT of 10 magical powerhouses, and spellcasters with a POT of 2 one-shot wonders.

New Character

Tara plopped down on the couch in the back room, and pulled out some paper and a pen. "So, Peter, fi rst of all, it's nice to meet you. Sec-ond, have you ever played a roleplaying game before?"

Peter nodded excitedly, "Oh yeah, I used to play D&D with my older brother before he moved out. I have a good couple years experience."

Tara let out a pleased sigh, "Thank god. I hate the What is a Roleplaying Game?' speech. And, Mike fi lled you in on the basic of Jumpers, right?" Again, Peter nodded, "Okay, so all I need to do

JUMPERSPAGE 30


is tell you how to make a character. Cool... grab a pencil, and let's start."

Peter got himself ready with a pad of paper in hand, and then followed Tara's directions. "Okay, fi rst things fi rst, you need to get your attributes. There are a bunch in this game, but they all have a purpose. So, write these down." Tara went through the list of attributes, explaining the dif-ferences between Base and Derived attributes, and what relevance each one has on the game.

"Now, there are two ways to generate these at-tributes: I prefer the second one, since the char-acter is gonna be based on you, but you can do whatever." Tara had given this speech a number of times to countless players. It came as natu-rally to her as driving or killing off PCs. "The fi rst method is to do it randomly. For each of the Base attributes, roll two three-sided dice, and subtract one. That will give you LVLs for each of them.

"The second way, however, is much more fun. The LVLs are in a scale, from 1 to 5. So, set your own LVLs. Most people fall in the range of 2 to 3, with some having a LVL of 4. But, if you're going to take a 4 or, god forbid, a 5 in any Base Attribute, talk to me fi rst. Those are pretty power-ful LVLs."

"Gotcha," Peter affi rmed, scribbling down some numbers on his makeshift character sheet, "I don't think we need to worry about that. I'm a pretty normal guy."

"Cool, so 2's and 3's for your character should be fi ne." Tara waited for Peter to fi nish up with entering his attributes, and then tabulating his derived LVLs. Once he was done, she ventured on to the next step, "... which is, of course, your skills. Basically, the skills that your PC has in-game should be representative of the skills you have out of game. For instance, what do you do for a living?"

Peter responded with an air of pride, "I have two jobs, actually... I work at a music store during the day, but I also have a bartending gig on the weekends."

"Perfect," Tara replied, genuinely excited about the opportunity to add unique skills to her party's already eclectic lists, "So, you have a bunch of skills that would be great for Jumpers... you can mix drinks, work a register, you have good interpersonal skills..." Tara was cut off by Peter waving his hand slightly and saying, "Working a cash register? That's not a skill."

"Why? I don't know how to do it. The way I look at it, if you know how to do something that not necessarily everyone knows how to do, that's a skill." This was an argument that Tara had had with a number of players. From her perspective, everything was a skill. Some of them are just more mundane than others. But, just because something is basic doesn't mean that it is use-less. After years of playing a survival RPG, Tara had come to learn that every skill has its place.

Peter paused, and then beamed with the arrival of his next thought, "I can play the harmonica."

"Oh, Peter," Tara exclaimed, her smile matching her player's, "You are gonna fi t in just fi ne."

Dice

Whether it is for skills, attributes, or anything else in the game, success and failure is determined by rolling dice. In Jumpers, the number of dice a player rolls in a given situation is calculated using LVL. As discussed earlier in this chapter, LVL can range from 1 to 5 when related to Base Attributes, from 1 to 10 when related to skills, from 2 to 10 when related to Derived Attributes, and 3 to 15 when related to pools. Each one of these LVLs is associated with a certain number and type of dice. The dice for LVLs 0-10 are listed in the table be-low. Dice for LVLs above 10 are listed in Appendix A, Section 4. JMs please note: LVLs above 10 for Base and Derived Attributes are to be treated as supernatural ability, and should not be available to the PCs who do not possess supernatural powers.

When a player needs to make a check for their PC, she rolls the appropriate LVL dice for the given

JUMPERS PAGE 31


situation. In the case of a skill, the LVL dice related to the skill in question are used. In the case of an attribute check, the player should use the LVL dice of the attribute. The player rolls these dice, and then compares their total to the Opposed Roll.

An Opposed Roll is the roll the JM makes for what-ever may oppose the success of a PC. In a com-bat situation, an Opposed Roll represents an NPC attempting to defend themselves from an attack. However, an Opposed Roll could represent some-thing more abstract, like the chance an NPC has to spot a hidden PC. Additionally, an Opposed Roll is used to represent the level of complexity of certain tasks, like the complexity of a mechanical lock that the PC is attempting to pick, or the diffi culty of a challenging riddle.

In addition to skill checks, players will often have to make an Attribute check for their PC. These checks are a way to test if the PC has the physical or mental capability to succeed in a given situation. For instance, if the JM would like to test if a PC has the ability to see something in their environment, he would ask the PC's player to make a Percep-tion check. Checks can be made for any of a PC's attributes - some common Attribute checks include Perception, Strength, and Will.

To succeed when rolling dice, the total of the play-er's dice roll is compared to that of the Opposed Roll; the higher total is successful. If there is a tie between the two rolls, the dice should be rerolled. Unlike skill checks, however, Attribute checks do

not have to roll against an Opposed Roll. Success for an attribute check is determined by comparing the player roll against the Expected Value of the target LVL. For instance, if a player is asked to make a PER check against a LVL 3, the player would roll her PC's PER LVL dice, and compare the result to the Expected Value of LVL 3 which is 8. If no target LVL is given, the player is as-sumed to be rolling against the Expected Value of the Attribute LVL being rolled. For instance, if the JM declares Make a Perception check, a player would check the PER of their PC (LVL 3), and then roll the appropriate dice (1D10+3). Since no target was stated, the assumed target number is the ex-pected value of LVL 3 - namely, 8. This is a good way to give an average chance of success.

Critical Rolls

If a player succeeds while also rolling either the maximum possible roll or twice the necessary amount, that player has achieved a critical suc-cess. Critical successes are successes that are so exceptional, some additional bonus is achieved in the success. Besides in a combat situation, any additional benefi ts should be determined by the JM, and they should be relevant to the task at hand and the diffi culty of the attempt. Some examples of benefi ts include shortening of required time to achieve a task (takes 5 minutes instead of 10), additional benefi ts of success (glean an important piece of information you weren't looking for), or unexpected positive results (maximum healing is achieved from a spell.)

However, as a player can critically succeed, one can critically fail as well. A critical failure occurs when a player rolls all 1's on their dice, or if the total value of a roll is equal to or less than 0 once any applicable negative modifi ers are applied. Like critical successes, the results of a critical failure should be determined by the JM, and should be relevant to the skill at hand.

This must be stressed: critical successes and failures must be determined with the PC and the

JUMPERSPAGE 32


LVL of skill check in mind. This must be adhered to because, because so much of the dice rolling in Jumpers involves small dice, criticals can occur quite frequently, especially in the earlier levels. For instance, take a PC with a LVL 1 skill; he will roll a critical, for better or worse, 33% of the time. This high rate is refl ective of the constant process of discovery and failure that occurs while learning a skill. So, her critical successes shouldn't be earth shattering events. Successes should grant small bonuses in completion time, while failures should just result in broken tools or misinformation. How-ever, once a PC starts rolling criticals with LVL 5 and LVL 6 rolls, where criticals occur much more infrequently, they should have more of an impact on the game. As for LVL 9 and LVL 10 criticals... well, for the sake of all mankind, let's hope the PCs don't critically fail while attempting anything important.

A few notes about criticaling. First, a player cannot critically succeed if success is impossible. So, even though the PC with LVL 1 combat skills rolled a 6 on her attack attempt, this does not guarantee her success against the LVL 9 combat specialist. In the opposite circumstance, a PC cannot critically suc-ceed if failure was impossible. So, the PC in the previous example doesn't need to worry about the combat specialist liquefying her with mounds upon mounds of damage because he keeps rolling twice the amount he needs to succeed (or more). Criti-cal failure, however, is always possible, no matter the LVL of the PC skill, or the LVL of the Opposed Roll. Finally, a PC cann

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