They came from other cosms other realities raiders joined together to stealthe Earths living energy to consume its possibilities. The Possibility Raiders

brought with them their own realities, turning portions of our planet into someplace else.

Led by the Gaunt Man self-proclaimed Torg of the cosmverse the High Lordseach claimed a piece of the Earth for themselves. Baruk Kaah, Pharaoh Mobius,

Lord Uthorion, Pope Jean-Malraux I, Kanawa-sama, and the Gaunt Man; each hasestablished his primitive, pulp, dark fantasy, cyberpapacy, high tech, or horror

realms on our world, setting the conquest in motion.

But the invasion did not go as the Gaunt Man planned. His millennia ofpreparation did not take into account the Storm Knights men and women whoweathered the raging reality storms that transformed the planet, retaining their

own realities when everything around them changed. Through their actions, theseheroes neutralized the Gaunt Man and helped bring the Infiniverse into being. Byreflecting the cosmverse over and over, all possibilities became real in an infiniteinstant. If Earth was destroyed in one cosmverse, there was a chance that it would

survive in another. The conquest had been delayed for now.

Now, throughout the Infiniverse, on a million-million Earths, the remaining HighLords battle to control the awesome possibility energy of Earth to become the

Torg. And if the Storm Knights cannot stop them, then every Earth will die

Later today, early tomorrow, sometime next week, the world began to end.

The Near Now

Roleplaying the Possibility Wars TM

The Lizard andthe Lightning

An Introduction to Roleplaying in

the Possibility Wars

T A B L E O FC O N T E N T S

Introduction 4Mechanics Overview 5Chapter One: Creating a Character 6Chapter Two: The Basics 10Chapter Three: The Lizard and the Lightning 19Soldier of Fortune: Character Template 27Product List 28

3Angar Uthorion, Aysle, Baruk Kaah, Core Earth, Cosm, Cosmverse, Cyberpapacy, Darkness Device, Dr. Mobius, the Gaunt Man, Gospog, Heart of Coyote, High Lord,Infiniverse, Kanawa, the Living Land, Maelstrom, Maelstrom Bridge, Nile Empire, Orrorsh, Pella Ardinay, Possibility Raiders, Possibility Storm, Possibility Wars, Ravagon,Stormers, Storm Knights, Torg, the Torg logo, West End Games, and WEG are trademarks of Humanoids, Inc. , and 2003 Humanoids, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Torg Design Team

Greg GordenMythos and Game Design

Douglas Kaufman, Bill SlavicsekMythos and System Development

Christopher Kubasik,Ray Winninger, Paul Murphy

Additional Mythos and System Work

Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, Michael Stern, Richard Hawran,Daniel Scott Palter, Denise Palter, C.J. Tramontana,Martin Wixted

Concepts and Testing

Dr. Michael A. Fortner, Dr. George ExnerTechnical Assistance

The Starter Set & Introduction

Greg GordenRule Book Design World Book Design

Douglas KaufmanRule Book Development and Editing

Bill SlavicsekAdventure Book Design World Book Developmentand Editing

Paul MurphyAdventure Book Development, Editing and Additional Design Additional World Book Material

Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, Michael SternAdditional World Book Material

Rosaria J. Baldari, Bernadette G. Cahill, Stephen Crane,Richard Hawran, Cathleen Hunter, Sharon Wyckoff

Graphics

Nikola VrtisPDF Version Creator

Daniel HorneCover Illustration

Timothy Bradstreet, Bob Dvorak, Rick Harris, Francis Mao,Alan Jude Summa, Valerie Valusek, Tim Wright

Interior Illustrations

Tom TomitaLogo Design

Eric Aldrich, Paul Balsamo, Jeff Brown, Laura Brown,Tim Brown, Gary Corbin, Troy Faraone, Dr. Michael Fortner,Mike Landsdaal, Letha Owens, Barbara Schlichting, John White

Playtesting and Advice

Note to Our Readers

This PDF version of the introduction to the Torgroleplaying game was created from the original electronicfiles. Images were left out or modified and the page layoutwas modified to reduce file size and production time (theimages do not have electronic counterparts). Typographi-cal errors were not fixed, nor was any attempt made toupdate the information based on any developments in thePossibility Wars since this book was first printed.

If you received a copy of this file from a friend and wouldlike to support the publishing efforts of West End Games,send US$2.00 via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/) tod6lweg@yahoo.com.

This PDF requires only a 20-sided die (numbered 1 to 20)to play. For more information about Torg and other WestEnd Games products, please visit our Web site,www.westendgames.com.

Published by

Honesdale, PA 18431www.westendgames.com

First Printing: May 1990PDF Published: February 2003

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

4

action and make the game play theway we want it to. The trouble withLets Pretend is the I-got-you-no-I-got-you-first arguments becauseLets Pretend has no rules.

Consider roleplaying as Lets Pre-tend with rules. There is a referee, alsocalled a gamemaster, who judges dis-putes. The gamemaster also sets thescenes and creates the story lines thatthe players experience through theircharacters. The characters are really theheart of the roleplaying game.

Each player takes the role of onecharacter, a participant in the greatstory being woven by the gamemas-ter, who plays the roles of all the othercharacters in the story, called game-master characters. The player charac-ters actions will directly affect thatstory, often changing the course ofevents in significant ways. The back-and-forth storytelling aspects, the play-ing of new and unfamiliar roles, andthe freewheeling format of the actionare what make roleplaying games sochallenging and exciting.

Torg: Roleplaying thePossibility Wars

Torg is a multi-genre game systemthat does what no other game before ithas done. It combines the action of thepulps, the heroic adventure of fan-tasy, and the grim situations of futuretechnology into one all-encompassinggame system with one coherent, com-pelling story!

There are a lot of roleplaying gameson the market, and most use similarmechanics to achieve interactive story-telling. In Torg, we introduce two brandnew concepts.

The first is the Torg interactivedrama cards (which are included withthe starter set). These are more thanjust character cards or equipment cards they actually help the gamemaster

and players control the flow of action,and add to the dramatic storytellingby creating plots and subplots thatreally fit into an adventure.

The second innovation concerns thenature of interactive storytelling itself.In other roleplaying games, the play-ers interact with the world created bythe gamemaster and thats it. InTorg, West End Games created a com-puter-moderated Infiniverse InteractiveCampaign Game, a newsletter that al-lowed gaming groups of early playersof this game to interact with othergaming groups across the country, andwith West End itself, influencingprogress of the Possibility Wars!

Getting StartedAfter reading this introduction and

the To the Point section that follows,the next thing to do is play the adven-ture. (You will need a 20-sided die,numbered 1 through 20, to play thegame.) The adventure will help youimagine yourself as a Storm Knight inthe world of Torg, opposed to the HighLords of the invading realms, dedi-cated to freeing Earth and its manyreflections from tyranny.

If you like the adventure, then wehighly recommend getting the starterset, which includes the Rule Book (ofwhich this adventure is a part), theWorld Book, the Adventure Book, theDrama Cards, and three copies of theInfiniverse newsletter. You or your fa-vorite local or Internet retailer canorder the Torg basic set and otherprinted Torg supplements throughWest End Games. You can find moreinformation about ordering directlyfrom West End Games in the Cata-log section of our Web site,www.westendgames.com. You canalso learn more about the world ofTorg and find out what other excitinglands there are to play in on our Website.

ow it is three months afterthe initial invasion ofEarth, and the invadersboundaries have stabi-lized. The Gaunt Mans

land of horror extends across Indone-sia and Malaysia, though he is nolonger there to maintain it. Kanawacontrols Japan and parts of the FarEast; Mobius holds northern Africaand the Middle East under the sway ofthe New Empire of the Nile. France,dark and grim, is united by the God-Net of the Cyberpapacy, and theUnited States and Canada struggleagainst the shamanistic powers ofBaruk Kaahs Living Land. Only inBritain and Scandinavia is there a glim-mer of hope, as the Lady Ardinay hasarisen to replace the evil Lord Uthorion though there are rumors thatUthorion still walks the Earth.

And the High Lords are in turmoil;without the Gaunt Man to lead them,they scrabble for power, for the ulti-mate power of immortality that ac-companies the title of Torg.

The rules and background for Torg,and the campaign you create withthem, describe one of the many Earthsnow reflected throughout the In-finiverse what happens on yourEarth, what direction the PossibilityWars take on your world, will be verydifferent from what happens else-where but what you and your play-ers create can and will effect the entireInfiniverse.

What Is Roleplaying?Roleplaying is simply another way

of playing games. Most familiar boardgames have controlled rules. At theother end of the spectrum are gameslike Cowboys and Indians, otherwiseknown as Lets Pretend. Lets Pre-tend can be fun, because we get to takeon the role of a hero, and we control the

Introduction

5axiom levels, eliminating contradic-tions. The immediate effect of the ax-iom laws is that equipment, spells andcertain creatures foreign to a realmwill not work as well in that realm.

Combat

A combat round represents 10 sec-onds of game time. In each round,one side gets to perform all its actions;then the other side performs its actions.Initiative is determined by flipping thetop card of the drama deck. The sidethat has the initiative goes first.

Damage

Once a character is hit, a secondtotal (the effect total) determines dam-age. The attackers damage value ishis Strength, possibly modified by amelee or missile weapon, or the dam-age value of the weapon itself (forfirearms and other weapons that pro-vide their own energy). The difficultyis the targets Toughness (or armorvalue). The more the difficulty num-ber is exceeded, the more the target isdamaged.

Stormers and Storm Knights

As a result of the Possibility Wars,certain people on Earth reach what iscalled a moment of crisis. At that mo-ment, the person gains the ability tomanipulate possibility energy, forgood or for evil.

The Raiders call these beings Storm-ers. Those that oppose the Raiders pre-fer to call themselves Storm Knights.

Your character is a Storm Knight,opposed to the High Lords of the in-vading realms. Your goal is to free theEarth from the varying realities andstop the Raiders before they consumethe living power of the planet. If theysucceed, the world dies.

Those are the basics. Now youreready to get to the details

Generating a Total

Compare the final die roll to thebonus chart printed at the bottom ofyour character template. Beneath eachrange of final die rolls is a correspond-ing bonus number. The sum of yourskill value and the bonus number iscalled the action total.

Some actions require you to obtaintwo totals, the first to determine if yousucceeded at the action, the second totell you how well you did. You get asecond total by adding the same bo-nus (the die is not rolled again) to adifferent value after your action suc-ceeds. The second total is called aneffect total.

Beating a Difficulty Number

Some actions are harder than oth-ers. Whenever the gamemaster callsfor an action total, she also sets a diffi-culty number for the deed. Your char-acter succeeds if your action total isequal to or greater than the difficultynumber. If your total is lower, you fail.

Possibility Energy

Storm Knights (player character he-roes) can store possibility energy, en-ergy which can temporarily alter theworld around them in a variety ofways to allow characters to performamazing feats.

The Axioms

Each of the invading realms has itsown reality. The key to what can andcannot exist, what does and does notwork, are the axioms. The axioms de-scribe the levels of four basic traits of aworld: magical, social, spiritual, andtechnological.

If an axiom is not high enough tosupport an activity, performing thatactivity creates a contradiction in thatrealm. The possibility energy of therealm is organized so as to enforce the

here are a lot of pages inthe Torg Starter Set, butyou dont need to read allof them to have fun. Themechanics of the Torg

game are not very difficult at all.This page explains the essential sys-

tems of Torg; reading it will make learn-ing the game much easier.

Values and Measures

Torg uses a unique system of val-ues and measures to translate backand forth between the game and thereal world. A value is a quantity meas-ured in a way that can be used in thegame (such as a weight value of 11). Ameasure is a measurement from thereal world (such as 160 pounds).Measures can be translated into val-ues and vice versa, but that is a task forthe gamemaster.

Attributes and Skills

All characters have the same attrib-utes, though not in the same quanti-ties. All characters have skills, but typesof skills vary from character to charac-ter. Skills are rated by adds, which isthe number you add to your charactersbase attribute to get the value for thatskill. So, a character with a base attrib-ute of 10 and a running skill add of 3would have a running value of 13.

The Die Roll

The die included with the Torg gameis printed with the numbers from 1 to20. You roll the die each time yourcharacter tries to use a skill value orattribute value to accomplish a task.

Whenever a player rolls a 10 or a 20on the die, he may roll the die again,adding the next roll to the first 10 or 20.The player may keep rolling and add-ing, until a number which isnt a 10 or20 appears. He adds in this final num-ber to obtain the final die roll.

Mechanics Overview

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

6

DEX, STR, TOU, PER, MIN, CHA, andSPI. The first three are broad measuresof physical ability, the next two gaugeyour characters mental prowess, whilethe last two measure his spiritual abil-ity. The number listed next to each isthe attribute value. An attribute of six ispoor, eight is average, an attribute of10 is quite good, and 13 is the normalmaximum for Core Earth humans.

Skills are abilities that not everycharacter has. They are usually abili-ties that can be taught, although somehave to be acquired in peculiar ways in the pulp realm, for example,some skills can be acquired onlythrough a freak scientific accidentwhich altered the character forever.

Your character template lists all ofthe skills initially available to yourcharacter. One of the skills already hasa number (3) filled in on the template.This is your characters best skill, orcharacter tag skill. All characters basedon the same template the Soldier ofFortune, for instance have the sameattribute values and tag skills. But youchoose the rest.

Choosing Skill AddsYou get to choose which of the avail-

able skills your character has, and howgood he is at each skill. You have 13points to distribute among the skills

but driving a Toyota south on I-71may be beyond her. Try to get togetherwith the other players and choose yourcharacters with balance in mind.

Copying TemplatesThe templates are bound in the

books; photocopying them is a goodidea. Each page is divided into twotemplates, and they are printed frontand back. The front of each templatehas all of the numbers and data neces-sary for playing the game, while theback has the characters background.Cut the photocopies apart, making sureyou have both the front and back partsof your template. If you dont haveaccess to a photocopier, write downthe necessary information on a blanksheet of paper. You can refer back tothe book to jog your memory aboutthe background; you dont have tocopy all of it onto your sheet.

Your character template is yourplaying piece for Torg. Youll want tohave your template in front of youwhen you play, penciling in changesas the game progresses.

CustomizingTemplates

Next you customize your template,making the character more like whatyou want him to be. To do this, youllneed to know something about attrib-utes, skills and action values.

Attributes and SkillsAll characters have attributes. An

attribute is defined as an ability thatall living beings have. One charactermay have more of an attribute, such asstrength, than another, but all charac-ters have a Strength attribute.

There are seven attributes in thegame Dexterity, Strength, Toughness,Perception, Mind, Charisma and Spirit.We sometimes abbreviate them as

Creating a Character There may be some people who

are born heroes but the rest are justfolks in a desperate situation who dowhat most folks wouldnt they win.

Colonel Robert Blanchard, Philadelphia Defense Force

org: Roleplaying the Possi-bility Wars is a game thattells of the great strugglesbetween the PossibilityRaiders and the heroes of

Earth. To take part in these storiesyoull need a character. A character is arepresentation, in game terms, of ahero in the world of Torg. Heres howyou create your own character.

Selecting aTemplate

There are 24 character templatesprinted in the Starter Set's World Bookand there are many others in varioussupplements. The templates describethe types of characters central to thestories of the Possibility Wars. Someare from Core Earth, the portion ofEarth not yet conquered by the Possi-bility Raiders. Others are renegadesfrom the realms of the raiders. Eachtemplate has basic game informationfor the character, as well as backgroundmaterial about the characters motives,and what sort of world he comes from.

Choose a template that appeals toyou. You should realize that a charac-ter template is only an outline, a char-acter sketch; you provide the imagi-nation and detail that brings the char-acter to life. Not all Soldiers of For-tune, National Heroes, or DoubtingClerics are alike.

However, a group should be bal-anced. Each character has differentabilities some can fly aircraft, andothers are good at medicine. Somecome from the invading realms, andhave skills not available to charactersfrom Core Earth. Characters from otherrealms are limited, though, when itcomes to Core Earth skills; your Curi-ous Mage may be really hot with magic,

One sample character, the Sol-dier of Fortune, has been pro-vided for you. We filled in a sheetin this chapter, and we've alsoincluded the template at the endof this book, in case you want totry your hand at customizing acharacter.

If you want more templates,you will need to get at least theTorg Starter Set; the cosmsourcebooks and select othersupplements have additionaltemplates.

ample CharacterS

Chapter One

7listed on your template. The points arecalled adds (short for additions), andyou write down the number of addsallocated to each skill in the Addscolumn. Follow these rules when dis-tributing adds:

1. You must distribute all 13 adds(and no more than 13).

2. You may not allocate more thanthree adds to any one skill. The tag skillalready has three adds, so no moremay be allocated.

3. You do not have to allocate addsto every skill on your template. If youdo not allocate at least one add to askill, your character does not have thatskill. Skills printed in boldface cannotbe used at all if you dont allocate atleast one add.

4. All characters must allocate atleast one add to the reality skill.

5. Give adds only to skills, not at-tributes.

Figuring Skill ValuesNext to each skill on your template

is a column labeled attribute. In thiscolumn is an abbreviation for the at-tribute on which the skill is based.

Example: On the Soldier of Fortunetemplate are listed dodge and fire com-bat, both of which have DEX listedin the attribute column next to them.Both skills are based on Dexterity. Thetemplate also lists first aid with PERlisted in the next column. Perception isthe base attribute for first aid.

The rightmost column is labeledValue. Here is where you recordyour characters value for that skill. Askill value is equal to your charactersskill add plus the base attribute value.If your character has not taken an addin a particular skill, do not record avalue for that skill.

Example: Quin has a dodge add of 2and a Dexterity value of 11, for a dodgevalue of 13. Quin has no running skillso he records no value for running.

A Brief Look atAction Values

In the stories you play in Torg, yourcharacter will be confronted with ob-

Suppose you choose to be a Soldier of Fortune. An example of what thecharacter template looks like is on the facing page.

At the top of the template enter your name, your characters name, 10in the Possibilities box, an age, a height, a weight, and a sex. Decide howyou want your character to look, and write a brief description in theAppearance section. Other details, such as clothing, posture, and man-nerisms, are yours to make up. The more detail you put into a character, themore interesting he will be to play.

For the introductory adventure, we've decided to give you a Soldier ofFortune to play, who we've named Quin.

The numbers in the attribute boxes are Quins attribute values, while theskill adds are written next to the skill names. The 3 next to fire combat wasalready printed on the template: fire combat is Quins tag skill. Afterthinking about Quin for a bit, we decided not to take climbing or running asskills. Then we distributed his 13 adds as shown on the sheet.

nter a SoldierE

stacles of all kinds, from primitivetribesmen with shamanistic powers torickety rope-bridges suspended overdizzying chasms, to pulp gangsterswith ruthless henchmen. The outcomeof the story often hinges on how, orwhether or not, your character over-comes such obstacles.

Whenever your character is con-fronted by an obstacle, her action valuewill help determine success or failure.Action value is the collective term forboth skill value (when you use a skill)and attribute value (when you use noskill, just your raw attribute). How-ever, as we know, life is very variable,and what you can do easily one timemay be much more difficult the nexttime you try. If this werent true, forexample, bowlers would always bowlperfect games!

So, in Torg, when your characterfaces an obstacle, you roll the 20-sideddie and consult the bonus chart on yourcharacter sheet, adding the bonusnumber there to the action value to getan action total. Obviously, the higheryour characters values are, the betterhe is at performing certain tasks, andthe better his chance for success.

EquipmentYour template lists your characters

starting equipment. All characters be-gin with some tools of the trade, in-cluding weapons. Many begin with

money, although the currency is notalways what Core Earth locals wouldconsider cold hard cash. Your charac-ter is considered to have had time toequip from his home realm as well asfrom Core Earth. If you want to pur-chase equipment for your character,see the equipment section on page 132of the rulebook. Equipment peculiarto each cosm are listed in their cosmbooks.

CharacterConnections

How your character fits in with therest of the characters is important. Whoyou know and how you know themhelps you decide how to act in a givensituation. In heroic fiction, characterswho are friends move mountains tohelp each other or to defeat a commonenemy. Connections are possible waysyou have of knowing the other charac-ters in the group, a way of starting theheroic bond important to adventurefiction.

Try to come up with a reason yourcharacter would feel friendship towardat least one other member of the party.Talk it over with the other players andthe gamemaster to come up with con-nections which make sense. Not allcharacters need to love each other,and you may even want some dra-matic tension between them, but there

Chapter One

Movement Rates Limit Values

Bonus #

DieRoll

WoundLevel

Wound Heavy Wound

Mortal Dead

Social Magic Spiritual Tech

PossibilitiesShock DamageAge

Height

Weight

CharacterName

Home Cosm

Maneuver

Trick

Test

Taunt

Intimidate

Reality 1 Spirit 9

Dodge 2 DEX 13

Fire Combat 3 DEX 14

Heavy Weapons 1 DEX 12

Maneuver DEX

Melee Weapons 1 DEX 12

Running DEX

Unarmed Combat 1 DEX 12

Climbing STR

Air Vehicles 2 PER 11

Find PER

First Aid 1 PER 10

Land Vehicles 1 PER 10

Tracking 1 PER 10

Survival 1 MIN 9

Persuasion 1 CHA 10

Taunt CHA

Faith SPI

Skill Add Attribute Value

Running 100m 10

Swimming 15m 6

Jumping 4m 3

Climbing 1.5m 2

Lifting 60k 9

Bonus Chart

Dexterity 11Strength 10Toughness 11Perception 9Mind 8Charisma 9Spirit 8

Attributes

Drama Card RecordNumber Name

ApprovedActions

Movement Rates Limit Values

Axiom RangeEquipment Value Level S M L

3 5 7 9 11 13 21 26 31 36 41 461 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 +5

, TM & Humanoids, Inc. Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use.

Player NameSOLDIER OF FORTUNE

KO

Armor

Leather +2 (13) 5

Weapons

Uzi 17 22 15 40 100

.357 Desert Eagle 16 22 10 25 50

-12 -10 -8 -5 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 +1

Quin Core Earth 7 21 239

10

9worlds and other realities. Each char-acter has a home cosm, which is wherehe is from, and which describes thesort of reality he is used to living in.Core Earth is the cosm of Earth, theEarth not under the control of a Possi-bility Raider the Earth we are usedto. Each of the other realms on Earth ispart of a cosm under the control of aPossibility Raider, called a High Lord.

Characters not from Core Earth arepresumed to have had good reason toquarrel with the High Lords or theirminions; being a possibility-rated char-acter (having the reality skill on yourtemplate) is reason enough for some-one connected to a High Lord to takenotice of you.

For a brief overview of the cosms,see the World Book.

PossibilitiesAll templates begin with 10 Possi-

bilities (unless noted otherwise). En-ter 10 in the Possibilties box. Possi-bilities help your character succeedagainst terrible odds, just like a hero offiction.

Can I PlaySomething Else?Twenty-four templates plus all of

those in the various supplements isquite a lot, but what if the exact sort ofcharacter you want to play isnt one ofthem? The character templates areprovided to make creating a characterquick and easy, but there are otherways.

The first choice is to tinker with atemplate. Talk the changes over withyour gamemaster to make sure yourcharacter fits into the sort of game sheplans to run.

If none of the templates suit yourtaste, you can create a template fromscratch. The rules on page 141 of therulebook tell you how. We recommendthat you take a template for your firstgame; creating your first characterfrom scratch can take a good deal oftime.

each other, but even when they dontthey usually feel an obligation to eachother. If another character is your rela-tive, think about their relationship withthe rest of the family. Was your familyravaged by the Possibility Raiders? Ifyour family is still intact, do you knowwhere they are?

Reputation

If a character is famous, or has areputation, other characters may seekhim out. In the disorganization andupheaval following the PossibilityRaiders invasion of Earth, charismaticfigures could attract other characters,giving the group a focus. Perhaps aNational Hero fought in a highly pub-licized battle, or a Doubting Clericsparish church became a rallying pointfor opposition to the invasion.

Previous Institution

Characters may have spent time atthe same school or university. Theymay have worked for the same com-pany, or held government posts in thesame agency. Maybe they served inthe military together.

Current Institution

The characters may be attending orworking for the same institution. Thislist is like that above: government agen-cies, the military, private corporationsor foundations. Perhaps they work forthe Red Cross in disaster relief; there iscertainly plenty of disaster to goaround.

The Rest ofthe Sheet

Most of the remaining sections ofthe Torg character sheet are self-ex-planatory. There are two things,though, that bear further explanation.

CosmA cosm is a reality, a dimension

which is physically separate from other

has to be enough chemistry to bondthe group together through all of thetravails and troubles ahead after all,adventuring isnt as much fun if youhave to do it alone.

Here are some ideas of how charac-ters might know each other:

Escaped Together

The characters may be from thesame cosm, in which case they mayhave joined forces while fleeing a HighLords minions. Characters from CoreEarth might meet each other in a citywhile taking refuge from the invaders.

Called

If characters are from differentcosms, perhaps one was called to seekthe other(s). A character who is called(by a deity, a message from anothercosm, or simply by destiny) has agood reason to leave his home cosm.

Same Home Town

The characters may be from thesame home town or region. The at-tachment to their home area gives thecharacters an element upon which toshare a sense of loyalty.

Previous Missions

The characters may have workedtogether before. The players shouldagree on the extent and nature of theirprevious experience. Characters fromthe same cosm could have more of ashared past than characters from dif-ferent cosms.

Employee

One of the characters might haveemployed the other. A character withstatus or wealth, such as the Dis-gruntled Corporate, may have hiredthe Soldier of Fortune to perform adangerous mission, or to act as a body-guard.

Relatives

Any characters from the same cosmcan be relatives. Relatives often like

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

10

Knowledge of the basics may notalways save your life, but it certainlyenhances your probabilities.

Dr. Hachi Mara-Two

his chapter teaches youenough of the rules toplay. The rules are cov-ered in greater detail inthe Gamemaster Section

of the rulebook, but only the game-master really needs to read that.

Values andMeasures

Because Torg uses a unique systemto translate back and forth betweenthe game and the real world, wevecreated terms to distinguish gamenumbers from real numbers. A valuerefers to a quantity measured in a waywhich can be used in the game, such asa Strength of 11. A measure is a meas-urement from the real world, such as150 pounds. Measures can some-times be translated into values, andvice versa, but that is a task for thegamemaster. For instance, the game-master has a way to find out whethera Strength value of 11 is enough to lifta measure of 150 pounds.

Attributes andSkills

All characters have the same attrib-utes, though not in the same quanti-ties. All characters have skills, but typesof skills vary from character to charac-ter. Skills are rated by adds, which isthe number you add to your charactersbase attribute to get the value for thatskill.

Example: Quin has land vehicles addof 1. Perception is the base attribute,with a value of 9. Whenever Quin triesto drive or operate a land vehicle, hisvalue is 9+1 or 10.

What If I Dont Havea Skill?

Sometimes your character is facedwith an obstacle requiring a skill hedoesnt have an add for. In this case,the character acts unskilled.

When performing an unskilled ac-tion, use the base attribute for that skillas the skill value; in addition, a charac-ter performing an unskilled actionloses the roll again on 20 benefit (seeThe Die Roll, below). This limits hischance of gaining great success or per-forming really difficult feats.

Example: Quin needs to pick a lock.He does not have the lockpicking skill,but he has a Dexterity of 11. His lock-picking value is 11, and he does not getto roll again on a 20.

Some actions may not be taken byunskilled characters. The skill descrip-tions in the rulebook specify whichactions may not be attempted un-skilled. For example, Quin would failany attempt at surgery as medicine maynot be used unskilled.

If a skill is printed on yourcharacters template, your charactercan learn the skill. If it is not, yourcharacter may not begin the game withan add in that skill; she may be able tolearn it later, after she has gained someknowledge of the world. For example,a character whose home cosm is theLiving Land cannot start with air ve-hicles skill, but it is possible that thecharacter may later learn the skill.

Limited Activities,Speed and PowerReal human beings are only capable

of so much. Of course so are heroes,trolls, cyberpriests and pulp villains.The rub comes with heroes who arehuman, or close to human. Your play-ers want to be heroic; at the same timethey want the world to make sense, tofeel real. This is a tall order, and itrequires a little bit of complication. Ifyou directly translate attribute valuesinto game measures of time, distanceor weight, you quickly run into prob-lems with humans who can performridiculously powerful feats. For char-acters from Core Earth, use the Char-acter Limit chart on the next page. Forcharacters from other cosms, use thischart unless the appropriate source-book contradicts it.

The limit value is the largest valuewhich may be directly translated onthe attribute chart.

Example: Crowfire has a Dexterityof 9; looking for the measure of 9 wefind that Crowfire can run 60 metersper round. The Yellow Crab, with aDexterity of 10, can run 100 meters perround. Quin, whose Dexterity is 11,cannot exceed the human running limitvalue of 10, so he too runs 100 metersper round.

The rulebook has more informa-tion on "pushing" the limits.

Chapter Two The Basics

ore Earth Character Limit ChartCLimited Activity Limit Based On Limit Value

Running Dexterity 10Swimming Dexterity 6Long Jumping Dexterity 3Climbing Strength 2Lifting Strength 9

11

The Die RollThe die included with the Torg game

is printed with the numbers from 1 to20. You roll the die each time yourcharacter tries to use a skill value orattribute value to accomplish a task.The higher the roll, the better your char-acter does at the action he is trying.

There is a roll-again rule which letssome rolls get really large, allowingcharacters to perform the same spec-tacular feats as heroes in fiction. When-ever a player character rolls a 10 or a 20on the die, the player may roll again,adding the next roll to the first 10 or 20.If the next roll is also a 10 or 20, theplayer may keep rolling and adding,until a number which isnt a 10 or 20appears. He adds in this final numberto obtain the final die roll.

Example: Paul, who is roleplayingQuin, rolls a 10, and being lucky fol-lows it with a roll of 20; his third roll isan 8, for a final die roll of 38 (10+20+8).

Generating a TotalIn Torg, the success of all actions is

determined by an action total. To gen-erate an action total, roll the die asexplained above and compare the fi-nal die roll to the bonus chart printed atthe bottom of your character template.Beneath each range of final die rolls isa corresponding bonus number. Thesum of your skill value and the bo-nus number is called the action total.

Example: The gamemaster asks Paulto generate Quins land vehicles total. IfPaul rolled the 38 from the previousexample, his bonus number would be11. Quins land vehicles value is 10; theland vehicles total is 21 (11 + 10).

A negative bonus number reducesthe value. Adding a negative numberis just like subtracting.

bbreviatedValue ChartA

Value Measure

0 11 1.52 2.53 44 65 106 157 258 409 6010 10011 15012 25013 40014 60015 1,00016 1,50017 2,50018 4,00019 6,00020 10,000

When trying to find the valueof measures that fall in betweenthe cracks on the Value Chart, werecommend you treat the listedmeasure as an upper bound forthat value. For instance, a value of10 has a measure of 100, while avalue of 11 has a measure of 150.All measures greater than 100 andless than or equal to 150 have avalue of 11.

This chart provides only asample of the possible Torg val-ues; the actual chart in the rule-book extends to a value of 100 andgives instructions on how to ex-pand it even further.

Example: The gamemaster calls foranother land vehicles roll from Quin.Paul rolls a 2. The bonus is 10; Paulsubtracts 10 from Quins land vehiclesvalue of 10, to generate a total of zero.

As shown on the bonus chart, ifyou are lucky enough to get a rolllarger than 50, your bonus numberincreases by one for every five points(or part thereof) of the final die rollin excess of 50.

Example: A spectacular series ofrolls yields a final die roll of 73! This is23 points higher than a 50, so dividingby five and rounding up gives a bonusof five more than the maximum shown(13). The bonus number is 18 (13 + 5).

The Effect TotalSome actions require you to obtain

two totals, the first to determine if yousucceeded at the action, the second totell you how well you did. You get asecond total by adding the same bo-nus (the die is not rolled again) to adifferent value after your action suc-ceeds. The second total is called aneffect total.

The most common use of an effecttotal is combat. You generate the firsttotal to hit, and the second to deter-mine the extent of damage. The sec-ond total is usually referred to by itsfunction; damage total for determin-ing damage, speed total for move-ment in a chase, and so on.

Example: The whine and twang ofbullets hitting too close caused Quin togun his Land Rover to top speed along theridge, with the troops of the Nile Empire inhot pursuit. As he careened down a hill, afamiliar outcropping of trees brought alump of hope to his throat; he brought theLand Rover to a screeching halt. With ashout of glee, he pulled aside the camou-flage netting at the side of the road, reveal-ing a cache of serviceable anti-armor mis-

Bonus #

DieRoll

Bonus Chart

3 5 7 9 11 13 21 26 31 36 41 461 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 +5

-12 -10 -8 -5 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 +1

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

12

siles he had previously hidden. Secondslater, as one of the enemy jeeps came overthe hill, Quin opened fire.

Quins heavy weapons value is 12.The missile has a damage value of 27.Paul rolls a 14 (bonus of 1) for a heavyweapons total of 13. The gamemastersays 13 is a hit. Quins player thenchecks for damage. Adding themissiles damage value of 27 to thebonus of 1 yields a damage total of 28.

As the missile struck home, the leadjeep flipped out of control and began toburn. The other jeeps scattered and headedfor cover. Grinning broadly, Quin dashedback to his Rover. That ought to slow themfor awhile.

Beating a DifficultyNumber

Some actions are harder than oth-ers. Whenever the gamemaster callsfor a skill or attribute total, she alsosets a difficulty number for the deed.Your character succeeds if your totalis equal to or greater than the diffi-culty number. If your total is lower,you fail.

Example: With a hairpin turn fol-lowed by a sharp left, Quin found himselfin a narrow defile, safe for the moment. Hisgrin was interrupted by the squeal of theLand Rovers brakes as he brought thevehicle to a stop five feet from the edge of adeep gorge. Quin could hear the sound ofthe remaining pursuit closing in.

Paul decides that Quin is going tojump the Land Rover across the cliff.The gamemaster informs him that asLand Rovers do not fly, the jump isalmost surely fatal; he assigns the taska difficulty of 22. Paul checks Quinsland vehicles value; its a 10.

He rolls a 20, followed by a 10,followed by a 13; a final die roll of 43!The bonus number for this roll is 12.The total is 22, just enough for Quin tomake it!

Grow wings, growled Quin as hebacked up, then gunned her forward. TheLand Rover roared in response, throwingthe soldier back against the seat as thevehicle leaped across the gorge, bouncingroughly on the other side. Quin howled intriumph.

Opposed ActionsIf you are opposed by another char-

acter, his attribute or skill totals areoften your difficulty number. If yourtotal equals or exceeds youropponents attribute or skill total, youraction succeeds.

Sometimes your opponents totalwill not include a bonus (i.e., no dieroll). Then you must exceed his rawattribute or skill value with your total.

Example: Quin has a dodge value of13. An opponent would have to get atotal of 13 or better to hit Quin with apistol shot.

Difficulty NumbersNormally, the difficulty of a task is

the opposing attribute of the characteror thing acted upon (a monsters dodgevalue is the difficulty to hit it in firecombat; the walls height value is thedifficulty to scale the wall). Sometimes,however, you need a difficulty for atask that has no measurable value. TheDifficulty Number scale (page 42)gives you those sorts of numbers. Makeyour best guess as to the difficulty ofthe task, and find the correspondingnumber under the # column. Thenumbers are scaled for a possibility-rated character with an average attrib-ute; therefore heroes with greater-than-average values will succeed more of-ten than the odds suggest, which is asit should be.

Difficulty ModifiersThe Difficulty Number scale is very

handy for judging tasks that have noattribute to set a difficulty by. But whatabout cases where there is both anattribute and unusual circumstances?If Quin is shooting a gospog (a cross-cosm creature grown from seedsplanted in fields of the dead) undernormal circumstances, you would usethe gospogs dodge score. If the fight isoccurring in a textile factory in theEmpire of the Nile, with all kinds ofwhirring machinery as additional ob-struction, the difficulty for hitting thegospog (and Quin) should be higher.

The Difficulty Number scale can helphere, too.

Decide how much more difficultthan normal, or how much easier, youthink the task is: very easy, twice ashard, maybe just a little bit easier thannormal; maybe 10 times as hard asnormal. Find your guess on the Diffi-culty Number scale and locate the re-sult under the Modifier column. Theresult is added to the attribute diffi-culty of the task.

Example: Quin is firing at that peskygospog in the textile factory. Thegamemaster figures that firing throughall that machinery makes it difficult,but not quite 10 times as difficult to hitthe gospog. The Difficulty Scale givesa modifier value of +4. The gospogsdodge is increased by 4 to account forthe machinery.

Possibility Energyand Storm Knights

Storm Knights can store possibilityenergy, energy which can temporarilyalter the world around them. This isthe energy the Possibility Raiders seek,and is perhaps the heroes most pow-erful tool for defeating the schemes ofthe High Lords. It can be used in avariety of ways to allow characters toperform amazing feats.

ifficulty NumbersDDescription # Modifier

Very Easy 3 -5Easy 5 -3Average 8 02:1 Against 10 +2Difficult 12 +410:1 13 +5Heroic 15 +7100:1 18 +101000:1 22 +14Never Tell Me the Odds 25 +17

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Possibilities and theDie Roll

When attempting an action, youmay spend one Possibility and roll thedie again, adding the number rolledto the final die roll. No more than onePossibility may be spent on any oneaction. You may spend a Possibilityafter seeing your first roll. As possi-bility energy is so potent, any extraroll that is less than 10 counts as a 10(but, of course, does not grant furtherrolls unless the extra roll is actually a10 or 20).

Example: In the gorge-jumping ex-ample above, Quin got very lucky.What if he had been a little less lucky,rolling a 20 followed by a 9 (die roll of29, giving a bonus of 9) for an actiontotal of 19? Since the difficulty was 22,the first answer is that the Land Rovercrashes in flames at the bottom of thegorge, as the jump fails. For Quinsplayer the better answer is to spend aPossibility and roll the die a third time,adding the number to his final die roll;if Paul gets a 12 on the third roll, thefinal die roll is 41, giving him a bonusnumber of 12 for a total of 22. Quinsafely makes the jump.

CounteringPossibilities

Whenever an enemy spends a Pos-sibility to alter a die roll, your charac-ter may cancel the extra die roll byspending a Possibility himself. Youmust counter at the moment the en-emy spends a Possibility, before thedie is rolled. Both points are spent, andthere is no extra roll. This works bothways the gamemaster characterscan spend Possibilities to counter yourextra rolls as well.

Example: Count Von Starker is fir-ing a pistol at Quin with a skill of 13.He needs a total of 13 to hit Quin.

The gamemaster rolls a 7, for a bo-nus of 2; the shot will miss. The game-master announces that Von Starker isspending a Possibility on the shot; Paulsays he will counter. Both Quin and

Starker cross off one Possibility, andthe roll stands.

Countering EffectsCharacters may spend a Possibility

to rid themselves of the effects of dam-age. No more than one Possibility maybe spent to rid your character of dam-age (see Combat later in this chapter)from a single blow. Possibilities spentto avoid damage may not be countered.

Example: Quin is hit by a shot froma .38! The gamemaster tells Paul thatQuin has suffered a wound, and aknockout. Paul grimly spends a Possi-bility; Quin is only shaken by the shot.

The crack of the pistol was followed by asearing pain as the bullet struck Quin in theshoulder. Just a flesh wound, he mut-tered, as his Uzi spat death into the night.

Possibilities andReality

Reality works differently betweenone cosm and another (see The Axi-oms later in this chapter), and possi-bility energy constantly flows to main-tain the reality meaning that equip-ment, magic, and even skills from yourhome cosm might not work so well inan alien cosm.

A character in a foreign cosm mayspend a Possibility and cocoon him-self in a reality bubble for 15 min-utes. During that time, everything technology, magic, etc. works forthat character as it would work in hishome cosm. There are restrictions, butleave those to the gamemaster.

Example: Quin is in a pure zoneof the New Empire of the Nile. In thepure zone of a lower tech level, his Uzisimply does not work. If he wished,Quin could spend a Possibility to makethe automatic weapon work for 15minutes. During this time, Quins otherequipment (his night scope, his anti-septic spray, his tear gas grenades)would also work.

Possibilities are a powerful tool forgetting your character out of a jam.But once you spend them they aregone, so spend them wisely.

Non-Combat Interaction

In Torg, interaction between char-acters is very important. Your abilitieswith these skills can be as useful, if notmore so, than your ability in combat.The interaction skills are: charm, per-suasion, intimidation, taunt, trick andtest of wills.

CharmCharm is used to change the atti-

tudes of characters you meet. The basedifficulty for charm is the targetcharacters willpower; if the target hasno willpower skill, use his Mind in-stead. A successful charm improvesthe target characters attitude towardyour character. There are five possibleattitudes: enemy, hostile, neutral,friendly, and loyal. To make a charmattempt you must tell the gamemasterwhat you are saying or doing thatwould improve the targets attitudetoward you.

Each successful charm temporarilyimproves the target characters atti-tude by one step from hostile toneutral, for example. After a time (atthe gamemasters discretion), charmedcharacters return to their base attitude,which was the characters attitude to-ward you before the charm attemptbegan.

Charming characters who like youis easier than charming characters whohate you. The gamemaster will let youknow how well youve done in a charmattempt.

An unsuccessful or minimally suc-cessful charm prohibits your characterfrom any further charm attempts onhis target (for a while, anyway), al-though you may press the issue. Ifyou roll better than you need to charma character, you can continue to charm.

Pressing the Issue

If you fail a charm, or if your charmis only minimally successful, you muststop the charm attempt, unless youwant to risk pressing the issue. Thissimply means that you ignore yourfirst failure and try again.

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

14

If you press the issue, you are al-lowed one more attempt, regardlessof how successful you are. As usual, asuccessful result improves the targetstemporary attitude one step.

However, if you press the issue andfail, the target characters attitude isimmediately worsened, as he is nowaware that you have been putting onthe charm.

Example: Crowfire sat herself downby the campfire. She had long ago noticedthe tension in the other seated warriors,but chose to ignore it. The shaman, Iwesaka,emerged from the Stone Meeting.

We have disturbing news, my people,the shaman intoned. He whirled to stare atCrowfire. We have a traitor among us, atraitor who has betrayed us to the WalkingDead!

Crowfire stood up to face the shaman.It saddens me to see that you misunder-stand me and my actions. I thought wewere friends, Iwesaka. Do you not remem-ber the times that we hunted together?Was I not honorable, always?

Crowfire has a charm value of 14. Herplayer tries to charm, rolling a 10 fol-lowed by a 14 for a final roll of 24 (bonusof 8). Crowfires charm total is 22. Thegamemaster says that is enough to tem-porarily bump the shaman from hostile(his base attitude) to neutral, and thatCrowfire may continue to charm.

Crowfire tries again, getting a charmtotal of 18. The gamemaster announcesanother, minimal success, saying theshaman seems to have undergone areal change of heart and is now friendlytoward Crowfire. Does she want topress the issue? The player stops rightthere; she doesnt want to take a chanceon losing what shes already gained.

The shaman looked down, shameand memory playing across his face.Perhaps you have been misjudged,he said with relief,but the time todecide right and wrong is during thelight hours. We shall talk on this in themorning.

After a successful charm, acharacters base attitude toward yourcharacter might improve by one step.Your gamemaster will let you know.

PersuasionThe base difficulty for persuasion is

the targets willpower value; if the tar-get does not have the willpower skill,use his Mind.

Persuasion is used to persuade acharacter to take a suggested course ofaction. You can persuade a character tosee things your way even if you do notcharm him (but its usually easier ifyou do). When you persuade a charac-ter, you have to tell the gamemasterexactly what you are trying to get himto agree to, such as Crowfire wantsthe MP to agree to let her past thecheckpoint. If you fail your persua-sion attempt, you may not try to per-suade the target character any furtheron any subject. Persuasion is madeagainst the current attitude of the tar-get, including any improvement dueto charm (obviously, the persuasion at-tempt must be made soon after thecharm, or the target will return to hisbase attitude).

The extent to which a characteragrees to your suggestion depends onhis current attitude toward your char-acter. Even if you successfully persuadea hostile character, he is unlikely to doas much for you as would a friendlycharacter.

Example: Hold on a minute, Starker,Quin said boldly as he desperately castabout for a way to stay his execution. Ihave information you might wish to hear.I suggest you put down the gun.

Paul is trying a desperate persuasionon an enemy character. In typical fash-ion he gets a huge roll and actuallysucceeds at persuading Starker. Thisdoes not mean he can have Quin orderhis deadly enemy to jump out a win-dow but Starker will stop and listento what Quin has to say.

The villain considered for a moment,then smiled. Certainly, he said. But notricks, now, or Ill gun you down like adog.

IntimidationIntimidation is used to prevent an-

other character from taking action

against your character, or at least toreduce his bonus against you. It canalso be used to gain information froma character. The target of an intimida-tion is the other characters intimida-tion or Spirit.

If your intimidation is successfulenough, the intimidated charactersactions are reduced in effectiveness. Areally successful use of intimidation(called an attempt to awe a character)prevents the character from actingagainst you as long as you do notattack him. He might even give up, orgive in.

Example: Quin arched his head overthe hedgerow, taking in the sight of fiveguards near the factory fence. He and TheYellow Crab, a pulp-inspired hero fromthe New Empire of the Nile, were here toinvestigate rumors that Kanawa Ltd. waslinked to the Possibility Raiders. They hadto get inside.

The Crab grabbed Quins arm. Let metake care of them, Quin.

The Crab tries to intimidate theguards. His intimidate value is 12. TheSpirit of the guards is 8. Chris, theCrabs player, generates a total of 14.The result is good, but not great.

I suggest you do nothing foolish, for I I am the Yellow Crab! The guardshesitated for a second, then drew theirweapons and blazed away wildly. The Crabdove for cover as the frightened guardsshots went wide.

Intimidation can also be used to in-terrogate a captive. In this case, thetargets attitude toward the person orthing you want information abouthelps determine your chance for suc-cess.

Example: So tell me, Quin said,smacking the club into his hand with asteady, dangerous sound. When is theraid planned?

Quin is using intimidation to gaininformation from a captured Nile Em-pire shocktrooper with a Spirit of 9.The shocktrooper is loyal to his mas-ter, and will not reveal any informa-tion unless Quin gets a very high levelof success. If the subject was a NileEmpire stoolie who was neutral about

15

Dr. Mobius (High Lord of the NileEmpire), a smaller roll would suffice.

A failed interrogation roll meansthat no further information may begained by that questioner from thattarget.

Test of WillsTest of Wills (short form: test) is used

to slow your opponents reactions.With spectacular success, you can ac-tually get an opponent to flee or sur-render with a test. The target of a test isthe other characters test skill or Mind.

TauntTaunt is used in a manner similar to

persuasion, but is most often used toforce a character to act rather thanpreventing her from acting. The tar-get of a taunt is the other characterstaunt or Charisma.

When you taunt an opponent, youshould tell the gamemaster what ef-fect youd like the taunt to have. Ifyour total is high enough and the game-master allows the effect, the opposingcharacter will do what you want.

Example: The Crab stared at the shop-keeper in mock disbelief. You want me topay what for the horse? Have you forgot-ten all the teachings of your parents, justbecause youre too fat to go to worship onHoly Days? That price is usury!

As you can see, the Yellow Crab istaunting his opponent. Chris says hewould like the taunt to make the shop-keeper ashamed so that she will givethe Crab the horse. Chris then gener-ates a taunt total of 18. Theshopkeepers taunt value is just a littletoo high for Chris to get full effect;however, the gamemaster rules thatthe taunt has caused the shopkeeper tolower her price by 20 percent.

TrickTrick is also similar to persuasion, in

that it can be used to force an oppo-nent to act in a specific way.

The use of a trick allows a checkagainst the targets trick or Percep-

tion with the object of slowing himdown or negating his action. Youshould announce a desired effectbefore rolling for the trick. If yourtotal is high enough, the opponentacts as you desire.

CombatThe object of life is the death of

your enemies. Kurst of Orrorsh

In a roleplaying game, combat isntoften fought on a board. Usually, thecombat situation is described to youby the gamemaster; she describes yoursurroundings, your opponents andwhat actions your enemies are taking.Then she goes around the table askingeach player what his character is do-ing this round. When she comes toyou, tell her what your character isdoing, and what skills he is using. Ifyou have a defensive skill, you arealways assumed to be using that skillpassively unless you state you aretaking an active defense (see Defen-sive Skills on this page ).

How Long Does ItTake?

A combat round represents 10 sec-onds of game time. Resolving a com-bat round takes longer than 10 sec-onds of real time, but for your charac-ter only 10 seconds have passed.

Who Goes First?In each round, one side gets to per-

form all its actions; then the other sideperforms all its actions. Actions are notsimultaneous. Initiative is determinedby flipping the top card of the dramadeck (see Player Chapter Three in therulebook for how to use the dramadeck).

The side that has the initiative goesfirst. Of the characters on a side, theone with the highest Dexterity valuegoes first; the other characters act indescending order of Dexterity.

How Many ThingsCan I Do?

While there are many different typesof action your character can take, youmay only roll the die for one of them inany round.

The possible actions are: attack, de-fend, maneuver, movement, simple ac-tion, intimidation, taunt, test of will, andtrick.

Action Descriptions

An attack action is the action yourcharacter takes to damage a target. Anattack action always requires a dieroll.

A defend action is the use of a defen-sive skill such as dodge or melee defense(see below). You do not have to roll adie, but if you do your defense will beincreased.

Maneuver gets your character to abetter position than before.

A movement action allows your char-acter to move faster than his base move-ment rate. You may roll for a move-ment total to try to increase yourcharacters speed.

A simple action is one such as shout-ing commands, flipping a switch, orsimilar easy tasks which require nodie roll to perform.

An intimidation is a check againstyour opponents intimidation or Spiritvalue. A successful intimidation givesyou a tactical advantage.

A taunt is a check against youropponents taunt or Charisma value.

A test of will is a check against youropponents test or Mind.

A trick is a a check against youropponents trick or Perception. A suc-cessful result on taunt, test, or trickwins you a tactical advantage.

Note: A simple action and/or apassive defense may be combined withany other action.

Defensive SkillsSome skills can make your charac-

ter harder to hit. If your character hasthe dodge skill, his dodge value is thedifficulty number for an opponentsfire combat or missile attack. This is

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

16

called a passive use of the skill becauseno die roll is involved.

Your melee skill may also be used asa defensive skill, if you have a meleeweapon; your melee value is the diffi-culty number for an opponents un-armed or melee attack. Your unarmedcombat skill value is the difficulty num-ber for an opponents unarmed attackif you do not have the melee skill or amelee weapon.

Active Use

A defensive skill may be used ac-tively, if you announce your action asthe use of a defensive skill (such asdodge). You may generate a defensiveskill total for all attacks against yourcharacter in the round in which youannounce active defense.

When rolling a bonus for an activedefense, treat all bonus numbers ofless than one as one. This makes sureyour character does better by takingan active defense instead of passive.

Example: Quin decides to evade P-slug fire from the Karawa guards (hetakes an active dodge). His dodge valueis 13. The guards open fire, generatingattack totals of 13 and 16. Pauls dodgetotal cannot be lower than 14 againstthe first attack, so the first guard misses.Against the second guard, Paul rollsand generates a total of 17. Quin justbarely evades the second shot.

Declare whether or not you are roll-ing for your defensive skill prior to therolls of your attackers. If you use anactive defense, you may not roll forany other action that round. This istrue even if the attackers roll so poorlythat an active defense is not needed;your character is still focused on avoid-ing attack that round.

Attack SkillsAttack skills include energy weap-

ons, fire combat, heavy weapons, unarmed,melee, and missile. Magic and spiritualskills can sometimes be used as attackskills. When using an attack skill, ifyour skill total is equal to or higherthan the difficulty number of the at-tack, your character hits his opponent.The difficulty number is either anopponents defensive skill, or his Dex-terity if he has no skill.

DamageHitting an adversary is necessary

but not sufficient. Dr. Hachi Mara-Two

Once a character is hit, a secondtotal (the effect total) determines dam-age. The attackers damage value ishis Strength, possibly modified by amelee or missile weapon, or the dam-age value of the weapon itself (forfirearms and other weapons that pro-vide their own energy). The difficultyis the targets Toughness (or armorvalue). The more the difficulty num-ber is exceeded, the more the target isdamaged. Your gamemaster will tellyou the specific effects.

Remember that to get an effect to-tal, you use the same bonus numberthat generated the first total.

Example: Quins Uzi has a damagevalue of 17. His roll to hit was 15 for abonus of 2; this gives a second total of19 (17+2). The guard has a lined vestwith an armor value of only 12, soQuin did damage.

Types of DamageA character can suffer up to three

types of damage when he takes a blow:shock, knockout condition and wounds.An additional, temporary effect calleda knockdown is also possible. Whenyour character is hit, the gamemasterwill tell you what kind or kinds ofdamage the character takes.

Shock damage is expressed as anumber. Record shock damage in theDamage section of your charactertemplate. When the total number ofshock points taken equals or exceedsyour characters Toughness, he fallsunconscious.

Knockout conditions representblows to vulnerable areas. Knockoutconditions are marked by the lettersK and O. The gamemaster will tellyou if you take a K blow; record this onyour template. If a character with a K-condition takes another K blow, twoadditional shock points are taken. If acharacter with a K later gets an O, he isknocked unconscious.

Wound damage is damage that lin-gers. There are four levels of wound

severity: wounded, heavily wounded,mortally wounded, and dead. When yourcharacter takes a wound, record thison your template. Wounds are cumu-lative: a heavily wounded character whotakes another wound is now mortallywounded, and so forth. When a charac-ter reaches the mortally wounded level,he will soon die unless he receivesmedical attention.

Another possible result is a knock-down. This represents the force of theblow physically knocking a characteroff his feet. A character who has beenknocked down may only defend forhis next action.

Possibilities andDamage ReductionA player may spend a Possibility to

reduce the damage his character takesfrom the current blow. Each Possibil-ity may do three of the following:

1. Remove three points of shockdamage from the blow.

2. Remove a knockout conditionfrom the blow.

3. Remove a knockdown result.4. Remove one level of wound.A player may spend one Possibility

to reduce damage from a single blow.The Possibility is spent after the blowis taken. Cards (which are explainedin the rulebook) that act as Possibili-ties may be spent in excess of one.

Example: A guard gets off a goodshot at the Yellow Crab, resulting in awound, a K, and four shock points.Chris spends a Possibility to rid theCrab of the wound, the K-condition,and three shock. The Crab takes oneshock point.

Example: In a hail of gunfire, Quintakes a mortal wound, a KO andfive points of shock. Quin needs tostay conscious, but he has alreadytaken some shock damage. One Pos-sibility gets rid of three points of theshock damage, and the K, leavingQuin with the ability to remove onlyone wound level; he ends up with aheavy wound. If he had a hero ordrama card, he could eliminate allthe remaining damage.

17

HealingEach type of damage takes a differ-

ent amount of time from which torecover.

Shock damage is removed at a rateof one point per minute. The O portionof a KO is removed in one minute. Acharacter regains consciousness whenher total shock damage taken is lessthan her Toughness, and she is notKOed. A K requires a half an hour togo away.

Once a day, beginning with the dayafter the wound was taken, a woundedcharacter is entitled to a healing roll.The skill value is the charactersToughness (a measure of his or hervitality as well as resistance to dam-age) and the difficulty number is thecharacters Toughness as modified bythe wound level. If the healing check issuccessful, the wound improves onelevel. An attending physician can helpyour character make a healing check(your gamemaster will explain how).

Example: Quin has taken a heavywound in combat. The next day Quinmakes a healing roll. The skill value ishis Toughness, an 11. The difficultynumber is his Toughness plus 3, a 14.He rolls a total of 12. The wound doesnot improve. Quin should probablyseek medical attention, a fact that theYellow Crab helpfully points out.

First Aid

A successful first aid check stabi-lizes a mortally wounded character,preventing him from dying. In addi-tion, first aid removes all shock andknockout conditions, and lets thetreated character regain consciousness.A character cannot be permanentlyhealed by first aid.

Movement in CombatOn your template, to the right of

the skill section, is a section for yourmovement rates and values; the move-ment rate given is in meters per round.The rate assumes you are running (orotherwise moving) full tilt.

You may announce a movementaction and generate a movement total

to try to go faster than your movementrate. Movement is like a defensive skillin that any bonus less than one istreated as one when you make an ac-tive movement roll. Ask your game-master for advice.

If you are walking, you can walk 10meters per round. Any movement at arate greater than 10 meters per roundis considered running.

The AxiomsEach cosm has its own reality; drag-

ons which are real in fantasy are notphysically possible in the Living Landof the primitives, and would have amiserable existence in Core Earth. Thekey to what can and cannot exist, whatdoes and does not work, are the axi-oms. The axioms describe the levels offour basic traits of a world: magic,social, spiritual, and technological.

Example: Quin comes from CoreEarth. Core Earths magic axiom israted at 7, the social at 21, the spiritualat 9 and the tech at 23. Core Earth is alot more advanced technologicallythan spiritually or magically.

If an axiom is not high enough tosupport an activity, performing thatactivity creates a contradiction in thatcosm. For example, using an automaticpistol in the fantasy realm of Ayslewould cause a contradiction.

The possibility energy of the cosmis organized so as to enforce the axiomlevels, eliminating contradictions. If acreature needs a certain level of magicto survive, and a cosm does not pro-vide that level, the creature will soondie. If a piece of equipment needs acertain tech level to function, it can failif used in a cosm of lower tech. Certainsocial inventions, such as credit, de-mocracy, or even money, are not pos-sible at very low social levels, andwould not be understood by denizensof those cosms.

The immediate effect of the axiomlaws is that equipment, spells and cer-tain creatures foreign to a cosm willnot work as well in that cosm. Yourgamemaster has more details.

The Reality SkillCharacters with the reality skill are

called possibility-rated characters, be-cause they can store possibility energyusing this skill. Possibility-rated char-acters are better connected to the pos-sibility energy of their cosm, givingthem several advantages over non-rated characters. For example, non-rated characters, or Ords, roll the dieagain only on a 10, giving them far lessof a chance of performing a spectacu-lar feat.

Uses of the SkillIf your equipment or abilities fail

because of the difference in realities,your reality skill may get them to func-tion once again. You may try once perround to get your equipment or abili-ties working.

The reality skill may be used toinvoke a reality storm, a contest be-tween two possibility-rated charac-ters from different cosms. The con-test is fierce and quite dangerous,ending with one opponent stripped ofall his Possibilities. A storm can drainyou of Possibilities, cause increasingphysical damage to the area, trans-form you over to the reality of yourattacker, even lock you into a swirlingmaelstrom of primal possibility en-ergy, a cycle of creation and destruc-tion which may never end. Realitystorms are therefore to be used onlywith extreme caution. They can de-stroy your character.

OrdsThe Possibility Raiders coined the

term Ords as a derogatory contrac-tion of ordinaries when referring tobeings without the reality skill. Theusage has become common in all thecosms. While Ords are more restrictedthan possibility-rated characters, theycan be quite powerful, as the onlycriterion for being an Ord is the lack ofa reality skill. The largest giant in thefantasy realm, with strength enoughto lift buildings, would still be consid-ered an Ord if he did not have thereality skill.

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

18

Stormers andStorm Knights

When the Possibility Raiders in-vade a cosm, one consequence is thehuge reality storms caused by the inter-mixing of two separate axiom sets.These storms, filled with possibilityenergy that wrack and warp reality,often create the conditions by whichheroes reach their potential and be-come possibility-rated characters. Asthe Raiders observed that these heroeswere found most frequently in thewake of a storm, they called themstormers.

One hero, a Tolwyn Tancred of theAysle cosm, decided to use the truth inthe Possibility Raiders name, but tocoin a more noble title. She created theterm Storm Knights to refer to thoseheroes who oppose the High Lordsand the other Possibility Raiders.

Story Structure in the Game

The game of Torg consists of plac-ing your character in stories which thegamemaster has plotted. Your choicesfor your character, combined with therules of the game, determine the out-come of the story. You win the gameby achieving a favorable outcome foryour character. Since Torg is a gamestructured around storytelling, therules reflect the structure of stories.The following definitions are referredto throughout the rules.

An adventure is a complete story.The player characters confront themain problem or conflict in the story,and achieve a final success or failure.

An act is a large portion of the storyin which the characters solve a prob-lem or obtain a goal necessary to go onto the next step in the story. A Torgadventure usually has from two tofive acts.

A scene is a portion of an act. Theaction in a scene is continuous. If thestory makes a jump in time or place,then the scene has changed. If the char-acters are still dealing with a characteror situation introduced in a scene, thenthat scene has not yet ended.

An event is an action or situationconfronting the characters in a scene.A scene may have more than one event.Events introduced in a scene are re-solved in a scene, but may trigger otherevents in other scenes.

AwardsGuys who do a tough job are good;

guys who do a tough job and learnsomething from it are heroes.

Rick Alder, NYPD

Your character can be awardedfrom zero to three Possibilities per act.The more heroic your character is, themore great deeds performed and op-ponents defeated, the greater the num-ber of Possibilities awarded at the endof the act. To be awarded three wouldrequire an exceptional effort on thepart of your character.

At the end of a successful adven-ture, the gamemaster may reward yourcharacter by giving him additionalPossibilities, usually from six to 12.

You can save these points and usethem to alter die rolls and lessen dam-age in the next adventure, or spendthem to improve your characters at-tributes and skills.

Improving Attributesand Skills

Improving a skill costs a variablenumber of Possibilities depending onhow skilled you already are. The bet-ter you are, the more difficult it is toimprove your skills. You improve a

skill one add at a time, i.e. if you wantto improve a skill from four to sevenyou would have to buy skill five, thensix, and finally seven. You may notskip steps, although you may improvemore than one level at a time if youhave enough Possibilities.

To increase a skill costs a number ofPossibilities equal to the skill add pur-chased. Increasing a skill add fromthree to four would cost four Possibili-ties. To gain the first add of a new skillcosts two Possibilities if your charac-ter can find a teacher, five Possibilitiesif self-taught. Gaining a skill that can-not be used unskilled costs five Possi-bilities if taught, 10 if untaught. If askill requires knowledge not native toyour characters cosm the cost of learn-ing the skill is doubled.

Example: Yellow Crab picks up testof wills for two Possibilities, and upshis science add to three for three Possi-bilities. Hes interested in learning divi-nation magic, but that would cost him10 Possibilities, since he cannot find ateacher and the skill cannot be usedunskilled.

Improving Attributes

Attributes may also be improved,but at a far greater cost. An attributemay never be improved beyond theracial maximum.

Improving an attribute costs Possi-bilities in the same manner as improv-ing a skill, but the cost is tripled.

Example: If the Crab wanted to im-prove his Dexterity attribute from 10 to11, it would cost him 33 Possibilities.

19

y now you should under-stand enough about therules to begin playing but there are importantnon-rules elements of the

Torg game that you have yet to en-counter.

What makes a good play session isreally the story. The players each takethe role of a single character in thisstory, while the gamemaster acts asthe storyteller by crafting the basic plot,keeping the events flowing smoothly,and acting the parts of the minor char-acters in the tale.

As a player, you will be called uponto speak, act, and make decisions foryour character. In short, you become thecharacter. We recommend that you playthrough the following short solitaireadventure in order to familiarize your-self with the concept of playing acharacter. What distinguishes solitaireadventures from ordinary Torg adven-tures is the fact that no gamemaster isnecessary for play. All of thegamemasters functions are handled bythe paragraphs below, as you will see.

The Lizard and theLightning

Mission Accomplished! You pat your-self on the back for a job well done as youswing your twin-engine aircraft throughthe cloudy skies over Minneapolis, Min-nesota, just on the fringe of the realmknown as the Living Land. Youve suc-cessfully delivered a planeload of perish-able drugs to the resistance fighters basedin the Twin Cities, and now youre head-ing back to your home base near Spring-field

Ahead, the blue skies are slowly melt-ing into an ugly shade of gray as a thickmist begins to swell over the ground, ob-scuring your view of the plains below.Something definitely seems wrong. Per-haps this adventure isnt over after all.

To play this solo adventure, youllneed a pencil, paper, a 20-sided die,and a copy of the sample characterfound on page 8 of this book.

Begin the adventure by reading thesection labeled 1. Each section de-scribes a situation and asks you to makea choice or test your characters abili-ties. The results of these choices andtests will then lead you to another sec-tion (go to section 12). The adventurewill tell you when youre finished.

The drama deck is not used whileplaying this adventure.

After you finish, try the adventureagain. This time, make different choicesand notice how they affect the out-come.

In this adventure, you will take onthe role of Quin, a fearless member ofthe resistance movement that is tryingto prevent Baruk Kaah (the High Lordof the Living Land) and his minionsfrom overrunning the sector of CoreEarth that borders the Living Land.For a greater challenge, Quin only hasthree Possibility points available forthis adventure.

1

You fly on for another half hourbefore you find whats causing thedarkening skies: a fierce reality stormis brewing up ahead. As you approach,you hear a deafening roar and catchsight of fickle lightning bolts dancingnear the storms heart.

Its decision time. You can eithercontinue on your present course, whichwill take you right into the heart of thestorm, or you can turn back to avoidthe storm completely.

You figure the odds are about athousand to one of making it throughthe storm unscathed. One small bene-fit, though: if you do have to land, itsunlikely any hostiles on the groundwill see you.

On the other hand, if you turn backover the Living Land, the alien axiomsmight prevent your plane from func-tioning. Even if you keep it working,you have limited fuel if you flyaround for too long, you will certainlyhave to land before you reach Spring-field.

If you want to head into the storm, goto section 45.

If you want to try to avoid the storm,go to section 51.

2

DO NOT MAKE A TICK MARKFOR THIS PARAGRAPH. The Edei-nos warrior attacks you with his warstick. His melee weapons value is 13.

Roll the die for a bonus, and add itto the warriors melee weapons value asdiscussed on pages12-14 (dont forget,the warrior rolls again on 10s). If thetotal exceeds 12 (your melee weaponsvalue, used defensively), you havebeen hit. (This means that you are hiton a roll of nine or higher check tosee for yourself).

If he misses you, go to section 19. If you are hit, the stick strikes a

painful blow! Add the same bonus to11 (this is the warriors damage valuewith his club). Since you dont knowall the rules for assessing damage, usethe following:

Effect total = 10 or less: no damage.Effect total = 11-14: one shock point.Effect total = 15-17: two shock.Effect total = 18+: three shock.Record your shock damage on your

scrap paper. If the total shock damageyouve taken so far equals or exceedsyour Toughness (11), you are knockedout. After each blow, you can spendone Possibility to avoid taking theshock damage from that blow.

If youre still up, go to section 19. If youre knocked unconscious, go to

section 13.

The Lizard andthe Lightning

Chapter Three

TORG: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars

20

3

The engine sputters once, then re-sumes its steady roar. Unfortunately,all this flying around has depletedyour fuel to the point where its nolonger safe to stay aloft. With no otherchoice available, you quickly bring theplane in for a gentle landing at thevery edge of an open field. Hoppingout quickly, you take a look at yoursurroundings.

Go to section 46.

4

The first order of business is to getaway from the plane: someone mighthave seen you come down. You gatherthe necessary items from your vehicleand set off into the nearby forest, won-dering which way to go from here.Your musings are interrupted by alow, menacing hiss.

An Edeinos warrior, bearing anoddly shaped war club, stands beforeyou on the forest path. Moving withamazing speed, the lizard man rushesat you!

Go to section 2.

5

The storm is fierce and your planeis badly damaged, but youre an experi-enced pilot. Skillfully avoiding theworst of the turbulence, you manageto glide in amid rain and lightning fora semi-powered landing at the veryedge of an open field. At least youresure that no one could have seen youcome down! The plane lurches to astop as the sky begins to clear aboveyou.

Go to section 38.

6

The forest trail ends ahead of you.Time to backtrack.

Go to section 37.

7

Having made it across the gorge,you continue on your way. After atime, you emerge from the forest pathinto a clearing, only to find yourselfface-to-face with six Edeinos warriors,each armed with a spear and amenacing stare.

Thinking furiously, you rememberthat there are two Edeinos tribes inthis area; unfortunately, they are quitedifferent.

If these Edeinos are of the Furrek-Dah tribe, then they are fanatic follow-ers of Baruk Kaah and will slay youout of hand. Your only chance is totake advantage of the Furrek traditionof single combat: if you quickly issue achallenge, youll only have to fightone of them for your freedom. Theylook big and strong, but its better thanfighting all six.

On the other hand, if these are mem-bers of the Ahh-Keht, then they areone of the renegade Edeinos tribesworking against Baruk Kaah. Chal-lenging them would be a mistake, buta quiet parley might get you throughalive. Just as you come to a decision,you notice an X pattern painted on thebacks of the warriors hands.

If you want to issue a challenge, go tosection 41.

If you want to persuade them to letyou pass, go to section 25.

8

You fight the controls as you de-scend, but the plane is too badly dam-aged. The pounding rain and the des-perately rough air dont make thingsany easier, and with a gut-wrenchingsensation the plane skips off a stand oftrees and plunges nose-first to theground!

As you pull yourself, groaning, fromthe wreckage of the plane, the stormbegins to clear around you. Youvetaken a heavy wound (see page 18) inthe crash. If you spend one Possibility,you are only wounded. If you spendtwo Possibilities, you are not woundedat all. Mark your wound status onyour character template now.

Go to section 38.

9

Quietly, calling upon every ounceof woodscraft you possess, you ad-vance into the forest. Because of youramazing stealth, the Edeinos warriordoesnt seem to be aware of your pres-ence. Of course, the distant rumbles ofthunder covering the sounds of yourpassage didnt hurt your cause.

You peer cautiously through thebrush at the lizard man. The warriorlooks nervous, as though waiting forsomething. You wonder if it would bebetter to wait and observe, or simplyto attack.

If you continue to wait and watch, goto section 31.

If you attack, go to section 19.

10

The warrior you are examining hassomething painted on his hand thatcatches your eye, and you rememberthat the Edeinos use such markings todistinguish between tribes. The faintspiral-shaped markings place thiswarrior as a member of the Furrek-Dah, a malevolent band of BarukKaahs followers. The Furrek are badnews; they are numerous, fanatical,and powerful. You definitely want toavoid them.

In fact, the odds are that there aremore of them nearby time to ske-daddle!

Go to section 14.

11

An examination of the animal trailsand types of foliage in the area leadsyou to believe that you can best escapethe Living Land by heading north-west. You could be wrong, though.

If you want to head northwest, go tosection 21.

If you want to head southeast, go tosection 37.

If you want to go through the hills, goto section 36.

21

12

You finally emerge from the forestand cross over the border, out of theLiving Land. You immediately spot aband of Core Earth resistance fightersfrom the Twin Cities area who weresent out to look for you after the localcommand realized that your planewent down. You should be in Spring-field in less than a day!

Congratulations! You have success-fully completed the adventure.

Turn to section 54.

13

The Edeinos mammoth blow sendsyou crashing to the ground. Unfortu-nately, the Edeinos dont usually takeprisoners.

Things look pretty bad for Quin perhaps if you were playing a regularadventure you could think of some way tosave him. For now, the adventure is over.Turn to section 54.

14

Okay, youre out of danger for themoment: time to begin your journeyout of the Living Land. To the west isthe forest, to the south are the hills. Italso occurs to you that it might be usefulto know where the Edeinos warriorcame from, but searching around fortracks will use up more of your time.

If you head west, go to section 39. If you head south, go to section 36. If you want to track down the Edei-

nos point of origin, go to section 42.

15

The reality storm begins to flare upoverhead! Booming thunder shakesthe trees, fierce winds whip across thelandscape, and powerful lightningbolts arc groundward.

You have too little protection toweather this storm in the open! A boltof lightning smashes the ground

nearby, and an electric tingle suffusesyour body. With a sigh of regret, yousink to the ground, unconscious.

We dont know if Quin will survivethis terrible ordeal, but now its time foryou to get back to the rules. First, go tosection 54.

16

You hear footsteps approachingyour downed plane! Thinking quickly,you duck into the cargo compartmentand look out a small window into theclearing outside.

Suddenly a fierce Edeinos warrior,one of the shamanistic lizard men in-habiting the Living Land, steps out ofthe underbrush and begins stalkingaround the wreckage. He is quite ob-viously an enemy (his strange warclubis held at the ready) and looks asthough he is about to enter the plane tosearch. Your only chance is to ambushhim before he spots you and attacks.You spring into battle as the Edeinosapproaches.

Go to section 19.

17

You plummet into the gorge andstrike rock after a short fall. Youreinjured, taking a heavy wound in thefall. You can spend a Possibility totake no damage. If you are alreadywounded, remember the wound ac-cumulation rules on page 18.

If you now have three or more wounds,the adventure is over for you. Perhaps ifyou were playing Quin in a real adven-ture, youd be able to continue somehow.For now, go to section 54.

If you are now heavily wounded orunwounded, go to section 7.

18

You fight the controls as best youcan, but the plane is all but dead inyour hands: the primitive axioms ofthe Living Land cant sustain sophisti-cated machinery for long.

One last heave on the stick, andwith a gut-wrenching sensation, theplane skips off a stand of trees andplunges nose-first to the ground!

You pull yourself from the wreck-age of the plane, checking for brokenbones. Youre woozy: youve taken awound (see page 18) in the crash. If youwish, you may spend one Possibilityto avoid taking the wound. Mark yourwound status on your character tem-plate now.

Go to section 46.

19

DO NOT MAKE A TICK MARKFOR THIS PARAGRAPH. You stri