Sample Hero

This skill can be used to heal a living character that is Bleeding to Death. The character places two free hands on the target character and calls “First Aid” and begins a 1 minute count. Once a character starts to use this skill the target character’s Death Count stops. After the 1 minute count, the character is Unconscious at 0 Body Points and after 5 minutes will regain consciousness and be at 1 Body Point. Also, this skill can be used to wake up a character that is Unconscious and has more than 1 Body Point. The character should place a free hand on the target character and begin a 1 minute count. No Body Points are restored when using the First Aid Skill in this manner.

A character can only be first aided by one character at a time and a character can only first aid one character at a time. The use of this skill requires the character to concentrate while they are using this skill. The player should look at the character they are using this skill on and can only talk, invoke Latent spells, or use a Dodge skill while first aiding someone. If the use of this skill is interrupted by either taking damage or the character choosing to stop, the target character must resume their Death Count. If the character wishes to try to first aid again, they must start from the beginning.

A character can also use this skill to assess the condition of another character. The character places a free hand on the target character, says “First Aid Assess” and takes a 5 second count. Once the character starts to assess the condition of the target character, and if that character is Bleeding to Death, their Death Count stops. The character using this skill will learn what stage their Death Count is at and how many Body Points the target character is down.

This skill cannot be used to heal characters who are Mortally Wounded or at the Brink of Death.

A character can choose to use a real bandage when using this skill. The bandage is in-game, does not have to be purchased, must be white, and must be larger than 2 feet by 3 inches. The character must either have their hand on the target character or be bandaging to use this skill. If the character uses a bandage, the time it takes for the target character to wake up is cut in half – only taking 2½ minutes. Once the target character wakes up, the bandages are no longer needed and can be removed or returned to the first-aider to re-use.

This skill allows the character to read and write one specific language per purchase of this skill. A separate Literacy skill is needed for each language the character wishes to know. This skill does not give the character the ability to speak the language. Most of the languages a character can learn are given below.

A character can only start with the Literacy skills for their race.

This skill improves the characters ability to wear armor. It lowers the degradation number by one, so for a suit made of normal materials, it will lose 4 Armor Points instead of 5. This effect stacks with all other crafting, enchanting, and skill bonuses with a minimum of 1 point.

Each purchase of this skill allows the character to repair 6 Armor Points of cloth, leather, or metal armor. It takes the character 5 minutes to repair up to 6 Armor Points; so if a character has three purchases of this skill, it will take them 5 minutes to repair 1 to 6 Armor Points, 10 minutes to repair 7 to 12 Armor Points, and 15 minutes to repair 13 to 18 Armor Points. The character may break up their repair points any way they wish up to their maximum number of repair points.

This skill is not used if the character is inside an armory when repairing armor.

This skill will also allow the character to make a new piece of armor. For every purchase of this skill, the character can make a piece of leather or metal armor worth up to 6 Armor Points; so a character with three purchases of this skill can make a piece of leather or metal armor worth up to 18 Armor Points.

Four purchases of the Armor Smith skill is needed for Elven Crafting, Dwarven Crafting, Bone Crafting, and Enchantment Quality. Five purchases of the Armor Crafting skill is needed for Mithril Crafting.

Auras is the magic of Defense. A shield against threats both magical and physical. When cast there is a flash of Green light.

Special Rules for the Auras School:

A character may only have one physical defensive Aura spell – Vigilance or Invulnerability – on them at any one time, not both. Similarly, a character may only have one magical defensive Aura spell – Defense, Negation, Reflection, or Absorption – on them at any one time. If a character has a latent defensive spell and an incompatible spell is cast on them, the spell that uses the most Power Points takes precedence. Aura of Resistance and Purity will not stack with themselves but can be combined with a physical and magical spell defense.

If a character is hit with a Destroy Magic spell then all the spells of the Auras School are lost, excluding the Armor and Stamina spells. Further rules and description of the Destroy Magic spell is listed under the Thaumaturgy School.

The magical spell defenses may or may not work on other forms of magic than just the spells in these rules. For example, they are known to work against spell songs, but they do not work against curses. If you do not know whether some mystical attack on your character can be prevented by a magical defense, you can try invoking it, but even if the defense does not work, it is still used up.

For every purchase of this skill, the character can spend 1 minute to restore Body Points to a character. The character may use this skill any time they wish on any living character, including themselves so long as the character is awake and not restrained. For every purchase of this skill the character can restore 12 Body Points. No matter how many Body Points restored, the character need only take 1 minute to use this skill. The character can restore any amount of Body Points they wish with this skill up to their maximum amount. To use this skill, the character can use any available cloth, like tearing a piece of their costume, to bandage the wound. If a character uses clean white bandages that are at least 2 feet long and 2 inches wide will gain a bonus of 50%, rounded down, to the Body Points restored. One area of the body per use of this skill (or per 12 Body Points restored) is required. The player using this skill is responsible for providing the bandages, which are an in-play item and do not require a tag. The target character must keep the bandages on for at least 1 minute. If the bandages are removed or fall off before the 1 minutes are up, the Body Points healed with this skill are lost and the use of this skill is still expended.

One complete (12 Body Points) use of this skill can be used to indefinitely stabilize a living character who is Mortally Wounded or at the Brink of Death. The character should place their hand on the target character’s torso and call “Battle Surgery”. As long as the character maintains contact, the target character’s Death Count stops.

Thirdly, if a character wishes, they can restore Body Points when using their First Aid skill. When using First Aid on a target character, the character can opt to use points of their Battle Surgery Body Point Tags to heal the target character. Combining the use of these skills takes 1 minute and the target character will wake up at the end of the minute, bypassing the 5 (or 21⁄2 with bandages) minutes of wake up time normally required with the First Aid skill.

Lastly, the character can use 6 points from their Battle Surgery Body Points to splint a leg that is broken – NOT SEVERED!!! – and allow the injured character to slowly walk on the leg moving no faster than one step per second.

A character may not walk on two broken legs, without help, even if both are splinted. A character can only be battle surgeried by one character at a time and a character can only battle surgery one character at a time. The use of this skill requires the character to concentrate while they are using this skill. The player should look at the character they are using this skill on and can only talk and invoke Latent spells while battle surgering someone.

The bandage is in-game, does not have to be purchased, must be white, and must be larger than 2 feet by 2 inches. The character must either have their hand on the target character or be bandaging to use this skill.

Bonds is the magic of restraint, holding objects or characters in place. The flash of magic associated with bonds is a deep blue color.

Special Rules for the Bond School:

Any Bond School spell can be removed by its caster. The caster must touch the target player of the spell and say, “I Release You From (name of spell)”. This also applies to the Imprisonment spell, as the act of touching the target player refers to the ability of the caster to make physical contact with the target, not the caster’s character and the target character.

Almost all the Bond spells can be removed by a Dispel Magic; Imprisonment and Impenetrable Portal are the only two listed here that cannot. The Pin, Bind, Paralysis, and Imprisonment spells are not mutually exclusive and therefore, a character can be effected by all four at once.

Characters with an exceptional Strength Bonus are immune to the effects of certain Bonds School spells. Only a Strength Bonus that is combinable counts at all towards determining if a character is immune to a Bonds School spell. Skills, spells and alchemical items that grant a non-combinable Strength Bonus are never considered in the calculations, but skills and spells that grant even a temporary combinable Strength Bonus do count. The table below outlines the required Strength Bonus needed and what spell immunities are gained.

Spell Name
Strength Bonus

Some characters are immune to the effects of Bond School spells. The commonly encountered ones are ethereal or incorporeal undead. Others to be sure exist, but the player must learn of these during game play.

Charms is the magic of interfering with your opponents mind. From dazzling them with lights, to convincing them you're a trusted ally. The flash of magic when charms are cast is Yellow.

Special Rules for the Charms School:

Any Charm spell can be removed by its caster. The caster must touch the target of the spell and say, “I Release You From (name of spell).” Charm spells do not cease their effects if the caster falls unconscious or is in any stage of their Death Count.

The Enslave and Dominate spells are incompatible spells. If a character already has one of these spells cast on them and another spell is cast, the spell that uses the greater number of Power Points takes precedence. If a character has one of these spells cast on them and the same spell is cast on them again, the more recently cast spell takes precedence. Also, you cannot command someone to do something they cannot do; for example, you cannot order a character to resist a Speak the Truth spell if they could not normally resist it; you can cast a Resist Suggestion and order the character to use it. Similarly, you cannot order a person to use a Slay skill on someone if they do not have the skill or have already used it during that Tag Cycle.

Remember, a character can never be forced through the use of these spells to lose permanent pool points, Body Points or skills.

This skill grants the character a limited immunity to necromancy. The character is immune to any undead creation spell in the Necromancy School. Damaging spells from that school still effect the character normally and a Death Slave spell brings the character to the Brink of Death. Undead creating sorcery rituals affect the character, but they are at half power, in other words, half the normal Body Points, Power Points, Strength Bonus, Skills, etc. and is wracked with constant pain and agony. After the end of the current Event in which the undead was created, the player can choose to end their character’s undead torment whenever they want, even if the character is on their last death.

A player may only have the Cleric or Paladin skill at one time. It is possible, with Plot approval and appropriate in-game roleplay, for a character to change from a Cleric to a Paladin by swapping this skill for Paladin, with the appropriate Build Point change.

This skill has only one use, to overcome obstacles encountered during game play which do not physically exist. It cannot be used to climb over a stone wall if the stone wall is there out-of-game, but if the Marshal only describes the wall or if the wall is only represented by a tarp, string or other such out-of-game item, then the character can use this skill. The Marshal will have final say as to whether the character successfully uses this skill. It typically takes the character 10 seconds to climb 20 feet, although the character can climb any height with this skill.

This skill can never be used to enter or exit combat, nor can it be used to attack from trees, roofs or other out of reach locations. A character absolutely cannot stand next to a tree and say they have climbed the tree and attack other characters. Ever.

When a character purchases this skill they permanently change their Death Count, effectively doubling the amount of time the character has at each stage. Therefore, it takes them 2 minutes to Bleed to Death, are Mortally Wounded for 2 minutes, and will be at the Brink of Death for 10 minutes. This skill does not affect how long they are Unconscious, when they are at 0 Body Points, or Waylaid; it is still 5 minutes.

If another character uses the First Aid skill or a Detect Life spell, in addition to receiving their Death Count status, they will know the character has the Coma skill.

When a character learns this skill, they may resist the effects of any and all fear abilities, spells or effects for 5 minutes. This skill will also resist the use of the Interrogate skill. The player should call “Courage” when they invoke this skill and when affected by any additional fear effects during the skill’s duration.

This set of skills allows a character to create in-game commodities not covered elsewhere in these rules. The character needs to pay 100% of the production cost only, not the 110% non-craftsman must pay to the Treasure Manager obtain the item. The Treasure Manager will then give the character a tag for their product.

A player may never charge in-game money for an out-of-game physical representation of the commodity, but may charge out-ofgame money for it.

The list of approved craftsman skills is listed below. If a character wishes to have a skill not listed below the new skill must be approved by the normal process of adding a new skill to the game.

This skill grants the character a limited immunity to necromancy. The character is immune to any undead creation spell in the Necromancy School. Damaging spells from that school still effect the character normally and a Death Slave spell will bring the character to the Brink of Death. Undead creating sorcery rituals affect the character normally.

A player may only have the Dark Cleric or Dark Paladin skill at one time. It is possible, with Plot approval and appropriate in-game roleplay, for a character to change from a Dark Cleric to a Dark Paladin by swapping this skill for Dark Paladin, with the appropriate Build Point change.

This skill grants the character a limited immunity to necromancy. The character is immune to any undead creation spell in the Necromancy School. Damaging spells from that school still effect the character normally and a Death Slave spell will bring the character to the Brink of Death. Undead creating sorcery rituals affect the character normally.

This skill makes the character permanently immune to all fear effects.

A player may only have the Dark Cleric or Dark Paladin skill at one time. It is possible, with Plot approval and appropriate in-game roleplay, for a character to change from a Dark Paladin to a Dark Cleric by swapping this skill for Dark Cleric, with the appropriate Build Point change

Death magic tampers with the body. Removing senses and injuring it directly. Death magic has a Gray flash of light when cast.

Special Rules for the Death school:

If a Death spell does damage, it does so directly to a character’s Body Points. Death spells do not affect armor. Death spells that cause damage will heal undead; the undead adds to its Body Points the amount of damage that would normally be done by the spell, up to the character’s starting total. The Kill spell has a special effect on undead and is described below, but note that lesser undead dissolve into dust when they are slain and cannot be restored by these spells. The rest of the non-damaging spells will have no effect on undead.

In order to learn Demonology, the character must be taught by a demon capable of teaching this magic. This demon will extract a price for this knowledge, nothing less than their immortal soul. This demonic pact marks the characters soul forever and when the character dies they are guaranteed to spend the rest of eternity in Hell.

Should this contract with Hell ever be broken, the character is unable to cast Demonology spells until a new pact is made.

Making the initial pact can be a tricky matter. The character must find a teacher in-game. Demons guard their knowledge most jealously and do not normally allow tomes to be made.

At the time the pact is signed, the character must choose which aspect of Hell they will follow: fire, ice, undeath, and shadow. This will directly affect how the character’s spells work. For example, should the character choose fire, then the type of demon they summon is fire and the spells will deal fire damage. Their aspect never changes unless their contract is passed to another and they change the aspect.

The four <Aspect> verbals would be:

• From the Unending and Fiery Pits of Hell I...

• From the Unending and Icy Pits of Hell I...

• From the Unending and Undying Pits of Hell I...

• From the Unending and Shadowy Pits of Hell I...

With this skill, a character may attempt to disarm traps the character comes across while playing the game. This skill does not allow the character to automatically disarm a trap, the player must actually disarm the trap they find during game play.

Without this skill, any character that attempts to disarm a trap will automatically set it off, even if the player successfully disarmed the trap. Any character can detect any trap they can see in-game; this skill is not required to detect traps.

By taking 10 minutes of in-game roleplay, the character is able to see into the beyond and divine the fate of a character. This skill is rather unreliable, not all predictions come true and those that do, rarely the way the characters expected. Once the diviner is finished with their reading, they should write down their prediction on a sheet of paper and hand it to a Plot Marshal. The Plot Marshal, at their own discretion and under no obligation, may or may not act on the information and should they chose to act, they are under no obligation to use it the way the character would wish or think.

Knowing this skill allows the character to use any divination tools they wish to, for example: tarot cards, dice, bones, tea leaves, crystal balls, palm reading, etc.

This skill will stop any poison or disease that affects the character.

This skill is not latent and the character has to call this skill when they are affected by a poison or disease. If a character has another defense against the effect they must call their Dwarven Resist skill first. If a character is out of Dwarven Resist skill uses for that Tag Cycle they do not have to call another defense against the poison or disease effect.

The character must call “Dwarven Resist” when they use this skill. This skill will not work if the character is unconscious.

This skill allows the character to curse another character when they are killed. The curse is enacted when the character leaves their body after being at the Brink of Death. The player should announce the curse to the offending character and the effect is immediate. There is no defense to this skill except for the Resist or Resist Curse abilities.

The curse can be removed by the character or by a clan’s leader. Otherwise, the character must find a way to remove the curse. As with other curses, this curse will stay with the character even if they are killed. Below are the curses a character can use. They can choose a curse for their level or any lower level.

---Previously Called "Gypsy Curse" this skill is still under that name in the pdf rules for 4th Edition LAIRE---

This skill will stop the following charm effects: any Charm School spell even if augmented with the Total Power skill, any charm effect Spell Song, any charm effect Nature Magic spell, sorcery charm effect and friendship charm effects. This skill will not stop the Hypnosis skill, Vampiric Domination, alchemical items, demonic charms or draconic Charms.

This skill is not latent and the character has to call this skill when they are affected by one of the listed effects. If a character has another defense against the charm effect they must call their Elven Resist skill first. If a character is out of Elven Resist skill uses for that Tag Cycle they do not have to call another defense against the charm affect.

This skill will not work if the character is unconscious.

Enchantments is air magic, and deals lightning damage. The color of its magic is Orange.

There are no special rules for Enchantments.

After spending 1 minute in-game examining an item, the character can tell how much it is worth in-game. Every in-game LAIRE item has a number engraved on it. The character can consult an Evaluate Item List to determine its value. The character cannot tell if an item is magical or not, nor can they identify an alchemical item or component with this skill.

There is an out-of-game logistical limitation to this skill. If there is no Evaluate Item List available, the attempt fails.

This skill allows the character to curse another character when they are killed. The curse is enacted when the character leaves their body after being at the Brink of Death. The player should announce the curse to the offending character and the effect is immediate. There is no defense to this skill except for the Resist ability.

The curse can be removed by the character or by a clan's leader. Otherwise, the character must find a way to remove the curse. As with other curses, this curse will stay with the character even if they are killed.

Below are the curses a character can use. They can choose a curse for their level or any lower level:

• Levels 1-4:
  • Curse character to end every sentence with one word, chosen at time of curse.
  • Curse character to kneel while they are speaking to a gypsy.
  • Curse character to never use their hands to eat.
• Levels 5-9:
  • Curse character to always accept a bet, no more than 5sp wager.
  • Curse character to always yell – as loud as they can – everything they say.
  • Curse character to always walk in light. They must carry a light source as bright as a Light spell if it is dark. If there is no light present, they cannot move.
• Levels 10-14:
  • Curse character to always tell the full and complete truth.
  • Curse character to be blind.
  • Curse character to never be able to run.
• Levels 15-19:
  • Curse character to be unable to move unless there is another character in line of sight.
  • Curse character to never refuse a request for help.
  • Curse character to wither away, losing 10%, rounded up, of their original Body Point total per month down to a minimum of 1 Body Point.
• Levels 20-29:
  • Curse character to take whatever damage they deal in hand to hand combat.
  • Curse character to stutter, making them unable to use any skill that requires a verbal or cast spells.
  • Curse character to take double damage from all forms of attacks, no effect on durations.
• Level 30+:
  • Curse character to be brought to the Brink of Death before every dawn by any means plot devises.
  • Curse character to never be able to hurt another character directly.

Healing is the magic of life, restoring and rejuvenating the injured and destroying undead. There is a flash of Pink when it is cast.

Special Rules for the Healing School:

If your character knows how to cast any Healing spells, you must be aware of all the logistical responsibilities involved. The necessary tag exchanges are described below, but you should read the Playing the Game Chapter for more details.

Healing magic that harms undead does double the normal damage. For example, a Heal Person spell that would normally heal for 12 Body Points would do 24 points of direct body damage to the undead character. Like with any spell, the caster should not double the damage when calling the effect of their spell, the player of the undead character will do the appropriate modifications themselves. If a spell does not list a special affect for undead characters, then it has no effect

This skill allows the character to identify and collect herbs during an Event. The player should go to the NPC Cabin and inform a marshal they are attempting to collect herbs. The player must then spend time in-game looking for herbs. The longer the character looks, the more likely it is they will find something. When the character finishes, they return to the NPC Cabin and a random roll will determine what the character finds.

With this skill, the character can bring in-game any common herb that they have a physical representation for. For example, the player brings in a pack of mint leaves from the supermarket and can ask the Treasure Manager to write them out the appropriate number of tags. The maximum amount of herbs a player can bring in is 1 silver piece worth per month

Ice is the magic of freezing. Whether it's blood or breath it can stop it in its tracks. There is a Light Blue flash of light when Ice spells are cast.

There are no special rules for the Ice School.

The character with this skill is particularly good at teaching others the things they know. Normally, it takes 5 minutes per Build Point to teach someone a new skill. The character with this skill takes only half that time. So to teach someone the Slay skill normally takes 50 minutes, but with the Instructor skill it will only take 25 minutes of in-game roleplay to teach.

This skill is cumulative with the Quick Study skill therefore, if the student has the Quick Study skill, it would only take 12½ minutes to teach the Slay skill.

This skill is not list or Teach skill specific and any skill the character knows can be taught quickly.

This skill allows the character to interrogate another character and force one truthful answer from them. It takes 5 minutes to use this skill and during that time the character should roleplay his interrogation of the target character. For every purchase of the Stamina skill the target character has, they can prolong the time it takes to use this skill by 10 minutes. So a character with three purchases of the Stamina skill could hold out for 35 minutes. This skill can be countered by the Courage skill. No other skill or spell will stop this skill.

Paladins and Dark Paladins are immune to the Interrogate skill.

This skill trains the character’s mind to resist charms. The character can use this skill to stop: any Charm School spell, any racial charms like Satyr/Faun charm, the Hypnosis skill, charm like effect Spell Songs, charm like effect Nature Magic, Ritual of Domination, Possession, Vampiric charm, Draconic or Hierarch charm, or any other charm affect.

This skill will not stop a fear effect. This skill has no obvious effects when used and does not need to be called out loud. This skill must be used immediately after the attack. A player could not wait until they are given a command they do not like then use this skill to free their mind to disobey the order. The one exception to this rule is charm effects that have a base duration of longer than 1 hour. The character may use his Iron Will to regain self control for 10 minutes. Some examples are: being an undead under the control of another, being under the effects of a Ritual of Domination, or a Demonic Charm. A spell that has been augmented with the Spell Binding skill does not fall under this exception as the base duration is still 1 hour or less.

This skill can never be used to stop any Follower of the Light or Servant of Darkness turn or control skill.

This skill has only one use, to overcome obstacles encountered during game play which do not physically exist. It cannot be used to jump over a stone wall if the stone wall is there out-of-game, but if the Marshal only describes the wall or if the wall is only represented by a tarp, string or other out-of-game item, then the character can use this skill. The Marshal will have final say as to whether the character successfully uses this skill. This skill cannot be used to prevent falling damage of any kind.

The character is able to jump 10 feet straight up, 20 feet out, or 30 feet down. This skill cannot ever be used in a combat situation, in other words the character cannot use this skill to jump into a fight, out of a fight, as a means to escape pursuit, or to leap to an unreachable location and attack. It can never be used as a means to jump from tree to tree as a mode of travel, regardless of the character. This skill can only be used to overcome non-existent obstacles

This skill allows the character to perform a séance which takes 10 minutes of roleplay and requires the normal trappings of a séance – such as candles, incense, holding hands, etc. – and thereby speak to spirits. The spirits must be willing, though the character can request a spirit’s presence. It is up to the discretion of a Plot Marshal as to whether the spirit appears or not and whether the skill works. A spirit can make its presence known to the medium and it is up to the medium whether or not they wish to perform the séance.

This skill does not allow the character to see spirits and the character cannot be sure by simply the sound of the voice if they have contacted the correct spirit.

This skill will only let the character speak to a spirit that has been dead for more than 10 years.

This skill allows the character to extend and retract sharp claws. The character must use approved LAIRE claws in combat dealing 1 point of damage with each blow. The claws are part of the character’s body and may not be coated with poison and doing so would poison the character. Even if the character were immune to the poison, the poison would be expended when applied. The character’s claws take damage and any damage dealt to the claws is taken from the character’s Body Points.

Damage Bonuses and special weapon attacks, like the Slay, Stun, Waylay, Assassinate, etc. skills, with the exception of the Speed skill and Inspire and Heroism spell songs, may not be used with the Natural Claws skill. However, the character’s Strength Bonus does add to the damage.

The prerequisite for this skill is being a member of a race that has claws. It is normally not available to characters outside these races

Necromancy involves the creation and control of undead. When it is cast there is a sickly black miasma of a flash of color.

Special Rules for the Necromancy School:

There are five types of undead that can be created with magic spells: Zombies, Skeletons, Ghouls, Revenants, and Death Slaves. All other forms of undead are created by ritual magic, which players must learn about in-game or are spontaneously created. When your character learns Necromancy, you must carry any costuming and claws for the undead you wish to create and their approved undead Character Card.

No undead creation spell can be cast on a body in sunlight. The Create Zombie, Create Skeleton, and Create Revenant spells work in two ways. First the character can cast it on an already dead corpse of the appropriate type. The second method allows the character to cast the spell on a character in their Death Count, “infecting” them with the creation spell. When character reaches the end of their Death Count, they will be raised as the appropriate type of undead.

If a caster creates an undead with a necromantic spell, they have control over it. The creatures made by Create Zombie, Create Skeleton, Create Ghoul, and Create Revenant are mindless undead; they can obey simple commands for example: “Guard me,” “Give all your possessions to that soldier,” “Walk around this cemetery and attack all living things but me,” but they cannot do anything that requires creative thought or forces them to make a decision, for example, “Establish a defensive perimeter,” “Guard my friends but attack my enemies,” “If I die, carry my body back to the Necromancer’s Guild.”

All undead are hurt by Heal Person and by Heal Life spells, and can be healed by certain spells of the Death School. Heal Life is never a saving grace for a living character that has been turned into an undead; the only common way an undead character can be brought back to life is through some Healing School spell or to be resurrected at the Healers Guild. There may exist other lost magical spells or sorcery rituals that can bring the character back from being undead.

If Sever Magic is used on the caster to cancel their control over their undead, they will continue to follow and carry out their last commands. If they did not have any specific commands, then the undead revert to their normal behavior: attack and slay all living things including their creator. If another caster uses a Command Undead to issue a command, the original creator may override that command if they are present; the original caster just has to speak for the undead to obey.

If your character is turned into an undead, then a death must be recorded on your character card when you are resurrected, and you will suffer the normal consequences of the Death System. All of the undead created in this school, unless noted in the spell description, will last for 1 hour then turn to dust. However, if the character is un-resurrectable, the effect is permanent until destroyed. As with all spells, the undead creation spells do not last past the end of an Event, so if a character is undead at the end of an Event, they are not undead at the beginning of the following Event. However, the player must still go to the Healer’s Guild and resurrect normally, unless their character is unresurrectable.

This skill grants the character a limited immunity to necromancy. The character is immune to any undead creation spell in the Necromancy School. Damaging spells from that school still effect the character normally and a Death Slave spell brings the character to the Brink of Death. Undead creating sorcery rituals affect the character, but they are at half power, in other words, half the normal Body Points, Power Points, Strength Bonus, Skills, etc. and is wracked with constant pain and agony. After the end of the current Event in which the undead was created, the player can choose to end their character’s undead torment whenever they want, even if the character is on their last death.

This skill makes the character permanently immune to all fear effects.

A player may only have the Cleric or Paladin skill at one time. It is possible, with Plot approval and appropriate in-game roleplay, for a character to change from a Paladin to a Cleric by swapping this skill for Cleric, with the appropriate Build Point change.

This skill allows the character to attempt to pick an in-game lock. Without this skill a character cannot even attempt to pick the lock.

This skill does not guarantee success; the player must pick the lock with what ever tools they have on hand.

This skill allows the character to spit a dose of contact Paralysis poison at a target character. This effect is exactly the same as the poison of the same name.

The poison from this skill cannot be collected, stored or dissected by anyone in any way. It cannot be placed on a weapon, and can only be thrown.

The character must call “Poison Spit” when they use this skill.

For each build spent in Power Points, a character will earn 1 Power Point to use to cast spells with. If the character has Mage Basic Career Skill List then they instead earn 1.5 Power Points per build spent. This is retroactive if they later learn the skill list.

Power Points are per-tag and will refresh back up to the character's learned max every 12 hours at 7:00. Because of this each purchase counts as a tag skill for rare rules that interact with a character's tags.

A professional skill is way for a player to round out their character’s background or personality. Professional skills never have any impact on game play other than the rare, incidental situations where, at the marshal’s sole discretion and under no obligation, the character may gain some roleplay insight or otherwise unavailable information. For example, a player who has the Professional Skill: Sailor may find themselves in a situation where they must steer a boat, or raise or drop an anchor. The marshal may let the player do this if it fits within the story or module.

The character does not ever gain any kind of income, item, exclusion, information or preference by having a Professional Skill. Using the above example, the character who chooses to learn Professional Skill: Sailor does not get a boat, trade routes, connections, contracts, cargo, insight into the economic machinations of the Nobles or a land, receipt of cargo, exemption of their monthly maintenance fee, a place to sleep out-of-game (i.e. on the boat they do not have), etc. Any of these benefits must be earned in-game if ever possible and do not ever come from this skill.

A character may only have one Professional Skill for every 10 Levels, excluding their starting Professional Skill, rounded down. So a Level 14 character may only have an additional Professional Skill; once they turn Level 20 they may learn another if they wish. Characters whose race is Common Man start the game with twoProfessional Skills, instead of one. They are still bound by the limit on the number of additional Professional Skills they may purchase. For example, a Level 20 Common Man could have four Professional Skills.

The list of approved and accepted Professional Skills is given in the following list:

Animal Trainer, Artist, Baker, Bartender, Blacksmith, Candle Maker, Carpenter, Carpet Maker, Cartwright, Clothier, Cobbler, Cooper, Crop Farmer, Dairy Farmer, Fisherman, Furrier, Gaoler, Glass Blower, Guardsman, Herder, Hunter, Innkeep, Laborer, Lumberjack, Mason, Merchant, Miller, Miner, Pig Farmer, Rancher, Sailor, Scribe, Servant, Shipwright, Shop Keep, Soldier, Tanner, Teamster, Thatcher, Tinker, Town Crier, Trapper.

Pyrotechnics is fire magic. From creating a simple flame to the highest damage single spell in the elements, that is pyro. There is a telltale flash of Red light when pyro is cast.

Special rules of Pyrotechnics:

Except for the Match spell, Pyrotechnics spells do not create actual fires. The flames do magical damage and do not actually burn anything; a caster can hurt a character with a Fireball spell, but they cannot use Fireball to set a house on fire.

Despite the word "eldritch" in the pyrotechnics verbal, no spell in this school deals "Eldritch" typed damage. It is only "Magic Fire" damage for purposes of damage resistance and appropriate defenses.

The character with this skill is a fast learner and can learn a new skill at half the normal in-game time. Normally it takes 5 minutes per Build Point of in-game roleplay to learn a new skill. A quick study will learn a new skill in 2 and a half minutes per Build Point.

To learn an Assassin Proficiency skill normally takes 50 minutes, a character with this skill would learn it in 25 minutes.

This skill is cumulative with the Instructor skill and, so, if the teacher has the Instructor skill, it would only take 12½ minutes to teach an Assassin Proficiency skill.

This skill is not list or skill specific and any skill the character learns can be trained quickly.

This skill causes the character to enter into battle frenzy. The character will gain the following benefits while raging:

• Double their Body Point stat

• +2 Strength Bonus

• Immune to Waylay

• Immune to Torso Stun

There are some disadvantages to raging; they are as follows:

• The character cannot cast any magic

• The character will attack their enemies first, then nonHighlanders or Celts, and Highlanders or Celts last

• While under the affects of a rage, the character cannot use any skill that requires free will

To invoke this skill, the character should roleplay getting angry then call their clan’s name. During the rage, the character should roleplay being angry and out of control and periodically shout out the name of their clan.

The rage will end after the duration or if the character falls unconscious for any reason. Other Highlanders or Celts can end a rage if they roleplay talking the raging character down for 1 minute

When the character learns this skill they are able to read magical writing. This skill is needed to use scrolls, without it a character cannot even tell what spell is written on the scroll.

This skill is also required to read any tome that teaches you magic, for example the magical tomes in the Guild of Arcane Lore

This skill allows the character a better chance to research a new alchemical item or sorcery ritual. This skill give a +10% bonus to their success role. In addition, this skill will allow a character to research in-game information in a library, such as the Ducal Library, at a reduced in-game price.

This skill will allow the character to negate the effects of any one low magic spell, Spell Song, Sorcery ritual, or Warlock augmented spell.

This skill will not stop Nature Magic spells. This skill is not latent and the character has to call this skill when they are affected by one of the listed effects. If a character has another defense against the spell effect they must call their Resist Spell skill first. If a character is out of Resist Spell skill uses for that Tag Cycle they do not have to call another defense against the affect.

This skill will not work if the character is unconscious.

Shadow Magic is a relatively new school of magic, and not much is known about it. This school deals in shadowy enhancement spells, damaging undead, and causing fear. There is a strange shadow-like emanation of light when its spells are cast or invoked.

Special Rules for the Shadow Magic School:

This school of low magic is only usable from sundown to sunup, 7 pm to 7 am. Additionally, most spells in this school will dissipate with the sun rising instead of the end of the Event.

Damage done in this school is suffixed by the word “…Ghost” and is the same effect as an Oil of Ghost Blade. Ghost damage harms a character’s Body Points directly and bypasses Armor Points. A character with Damage Resistance: Silver or better will not be harmed by the attack (ghost is not better than silver damage). There is one exception to this rule; undead are affected by ghost damage regardless of their Damage Resistance

With this skill, a character becomes able to wield a shield and gives that character ability to block damage with a shield. Without this skill, if a character is holding a shield and the shield is struck, the character takes damage as if they were not holding the shield. A shield must be wielded to be effective; the character must hold it by the handle with a hand and arm that is not impaired. If the character holds it incorrectly or the hand or arm is impaired, then any blows struck on the shield effect the character normally, just as if they did not have the shield.

Shields are not weapons and cannot be used to attack under any circumstances. No martial skill can be used with a shield regardless of the skill. However, if the character purchases the Shield Parry skill, they may then use any of their defensive martial skills with their shield.

A shield worn on the back affords the character no protection. A character cannot block an attack effectively simply by wearing multiple shields, even if they have the appropriate skill.

Shields of quality – Dwarven crafted, mythril, and magic shields – can stop the damaging spells of the elemental schools of magic. The spells that do not cause damage but have an effect, such as the Pin, Ice Cast, Shatter, or Blast spells, cannot be stopped by shields.

This skill allows the character to avoid any physical or magical attack that does damage only. The attack can be augmented by any damage type, for example fire, ice, silver, magic, etc. Sidestep will stop skills that deal, augment, or increase damage such as Critical Attack, Assassin Strike, Crit Backstab, Power Strike, Magic Knife, etc., but it will not stop attacks that do damage and additionally have an effect such as Stun, Scourge Your Hands spell, Thunder and Lightning spell, etc. This skill will not stop any attack augmented with Eldritch damage. This skill will not stop skills or monster abilities such as Speed, Perfect Aim, True Aim, Slay, etc. Or any Spell Songs. Finally, the Sidestep skill cannot be used on area effect attacks even if they only do damage.

The character must have both feet free and able to move, so if they are under the effects of a Pin spell, Bind spell, Ice Cast spell, Paste of Binding, etc, they cannot use this skill.

To use this skill, the character must call, “Sidestep” and it is used when called.

This skill makes the character a Spell Singer and gives the character access to Spell Singing magic. In addition, it gives the character 3 Spell Singing Points.

This skill permanently gives the char acter +3 Body Points each time the skill is purchased. Other than wh at is listed in this rulebook, this skill will not allow the character to perform any other actions or feats of great stamina.

By means of this skill the character is able to deliver a stunning blow to another character. If the target character is struck in the torso then they are affected by a Torso Stun for 5 seconds. If the blow lands on an arm or leg then that limb is broken and must be healed before it can be used again. The character also causes their normal damage when they use this skill. The character should suffix their damage called with the word “Stun”.

A character that is affected by a Torso Stun cannot take any offensive action, any defensive action, call any defenses, invoke any items, cast spells or speak. They may only move slowly and should call out their stun count, “Torso Stun One, Torso Stun Two, etc” for the full 5 seconds. Nothing can heal the character from being Torso Stunned. If a character’s arm is broken, they are disarmed as per the Disarm skill and must keep their arm at their side. A character with a broken leg must kneel on that limb and may only crawl. The character cannot jump or hop around on their good leg.

This skill is not used if the character misses their target or the attack is blocked. If they succeed in striking their target or if the target calls an appropriate defense, the skill is used.

Unless the target character is immune to stunning blows or has damage resistance superior to the attack, they take the damage and the effects of the stunning blow.

This skill grants any character a permanent +1 Strength Bonus, noncombinable. This is combinable with any natural racial Strength Bonus the character already has. This skill can only be purchased and used by a living character. If a living character is turned into an undead, they lose the benefits of this skill.

This skill has only one use, to overcome obstacles encountered during game play which do not physically exist. It cannot be used to swim across an actual lake or river if the water is there out-of-game, but if the Marshal only describes the water obstacle or if the water is only represented by a tarp, string or other out-of-game item, then the character can use this skill. The Marshal will have final say as to whether the character successfully uses this skill. The character walks across the out-of-game representation at a slow walk and can swim any reasonable distance.

Thaumaturgy is the magic of magic. It is the main way spellcasters can interact with ongoing spells. There is a flash of Purple light when it's spells are cast or invoked.

Special Rules for the Thaumaturgy School:

The Detect Magic, See Magic, Identify Magic, Detect Curse, and Know Your Curse spells have a logistical limitation. If there is no one present who, out-of-game, can inform the caster of the magical properties of an item, then these spells do not work but do not cost the character any Power Points. Also, the first three spells cannot detect the presence or effects of alchemical items.

Thaumaturgy spells work the same on low magic, Nature Magic and Spell Singing. Many work normally on most sorcery rituals.

The word “thaumaturgy” is pronounced “THAW-ma-tur-jee.”

This skill allows the character to interrogate another character and force one truthful answer from them using physical harm and pain so long as it conforms with the decency standards of LAIRE. It takes 30 minutes to use this skill and during that time the character should roleplay his torture and interrogation of the target character. For every purchase of the Courage skill the target character has, they can prolong the time it takes to use this skill by 10 minutes. So a character with three purchases of the Courage skill could hold out for 60 minutes. This skill can be countered by the Iron Will skill. No other skill or spell will stop this skill.

To use this skill, the target character must be restrained and unable to resist. The character may either inflict pain without causing Body Point damage or cause damage if they wish at any point while using this skill; they may even deliver a Killing Blow.

The character using this skill may also force the target to perform one action provided it does not cause the target character to lose permanent Body Points or Power Points or takes longer than 30 minutes. This action can be anything the character is capable of performing. For example, a character can be made to cast a spell or lower a Ward. They can be forced to pick a lock or disarm a trap so long as they have the appropriate skill. If the character cannot perform the action they are directed to do, the skill fails and the Tag is used. The action does not have to be performed immediately. The character may bring the target character to a location where the action will be performed, but they must always be present, the target character must remain restrained, and the action has to occur within 30 minutes.

This skill does not allow a character to mutilate the target character without doing damage or magically preserving the character in anyway. For example, a character cannot remove an internal organ or bone without delivering a Killing Blow. They can remove fingers or toenails but not hearts, intestines, or spleens. This skill does not allow the character to alter the target character’s physiology in any way, the Evisceration skill is used for that.

The character can use this skill to inflict pain upon an unresisting target character without doing damage and without using a Tag for that cycle provided they do not try and force the answer to a question or perform an action.

In order to successfully use this skill, a Marshal must be present. This skill allows the character to track any character that leaves visible signs of its passing. While using this skill the character must move at a slow walking pace. The Marshal has final say as to the successful use of this skill. If no Marshal is present, this skill fails. In addition, the Marshal must know the whereabouts of the character(s) being tracked. If the Marshal does not know, or cannot discover the whereabouts in a reasonable amount of time, the attempt fails.

This skill can be used to cover tracks as well. While using this skill in this fashion, the player must move at a slow walking pace, one step per second. The Marshal has final say as to the successful use of this skill.

All these skills give the character the ability to call damage with that weapon type. If a character does not have the appropriate skill, not only can they not call damage, but should the weapon they are holding be struck, they take the damage anyway.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

Two handed weapons can be used to only block with one hand.

The base damage for a Blunt Weapon is 2 with one hand, and 3 with both hands.

This skill gives the character the ability to call damage with Bows. If a character does not have the appropriate weapon skill, then not only can they not call damage, but if the weapon they are holding is struck, they take that damage anyway.

A bow does not block damage unless it is magical or unshatterable. These special weapons can be used to block attacks but can NOT be used to strike in melee combat.

The base damage for a Bow is 4 when wielded in both hands.

All these skills give the character the ability to call damage with that weapon type. If a character does not have the appropriate skill, not only can they not call damage, but should the weapon they are holding be struck, they take the damage anyway.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

Two handed weapons can be used to only block with one hand.

The base damage for an Edged Weapon is 2 with one hand, and 3 with both hands.

All these skills give the character the ability to call damage with that weapon type. If a character does not have the appropriate skill, not only can they not call damage, but should the weapon they are holding be struck, they take the damage anyway.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

Polearms can be used to only block with one hand.

The base damage for a Pole Weapon is 2 with one hand, and 4 with both hands. For Pole Weapons, the butt end counts as a quarterstaff dealing blunt damage.

This skill gives the character the ability to call damage with Quarterstaff weapons. If a character does not have the appropriate weapon skill, then not only can they not call damage, but if the weapon they are holding is struck, they take that damage anyway.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

A quarterstaff can be used to block with one hand.

The base damage for a Quarterstaff is 2 with both hands.

This skill gives the character the ability to call damage with Small Weapons. If a character does not have the appropriate weapon skill, then not only can they not call damage, but if the weapon they are holding is struck, they take that damage anyway.

Small Weapon costs 0 build and anyone can learn this skill. The character does not need to start with it, but then they cannot use Small Weapons. However, any character that learns any Weapon Skill automatically learns Small Weapon and has it added to their character card.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

The base damage for a Small Weapon is 1 in either hand.

This skill gives the character the ability to call damage with Thrown weapons. If a character does not have the appropriate weapon skill, then not only can they not call damage, but if the weapon they are holding is struck, they take that damage anyway.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

Thrown Weapons can be used to block damage when held, but are usually too small to be able to hold effectively.

The base damage for most Thrown weapons is 1 with either hand. Javelins however have a base damage of 2.

This skill allows a character to make the following weapons.

• Small Weapons
• One-Handed Blunt
• Bastard Blunt
• Two-Handed Blunt
• Spear
• Quarterstaff
• Shields

For full details on creating weapons see the description under the Miscellaneous Skill List in Chapter 2.