------------------------------- C.A.R.D.S. CORE RULES 1.31 Lite -------------------------------
THE CARDS & WHAT THEY SIGNIFY
'Jack/Queen/King' = One use of a player special ability. The player loses one of these cards per use of his ability. 'Ace & 2-10' = One Hit Point per card. The player loses one of these cards per wounding. 'Jokers' = Treasure.PLAY PREPARATION
1)Divide deck into 4 types (Spades, Hearts, Clubs & Diamonds), and take the 3 Jokers out. 2)Every player picks a type: Spades = Fighter Hearts = Cleric Clubs = Thief Diamonds = Mage Special Abilities: FIGHTER = Win a test or single opponent automatically per use. CLERIC = Recover to full HP. (Draw back enough cards randomly from his discarded pack to fill his initial number of cards.) THIEF = Steal a card from an opponent or NPC, and add it into the thief's pack per use / Gain a Joker card from the GM's deck per use. MAGE = Reveal anyone's pack, including the GM's once per use. OR Let the mage see his own deck during the duration of one test / single combat opponent per use. 3)GM takes the last remaining pack. 4)GM sticks the 3 Jokers into his pack. The Jokers are counted as treasure.OPTIONAL LEVEL SYSTEM
5) a)No level advancement, every player starts with a full deck of his type. (Ace, 2-10, Jack, Queen, King.) b)Simple level advancement. Allows level advancement from 1-3. First level, Randomly pick 3 cards out of 'Ace & 2-10', randomly pick one 'Jack/Queen/King'. Randomly add 3 'Ace & 2-10' cards and one 'Jack/Queen/King' card per level advanced. All cards from player's deck. c)Normal level advancement. Allows level advancement from 1-10. First level, randomly pick 1 card out of Ace & 2-10, add one random card from 'Jack/Queen/King'. Add one 'Ace & 2-10' per level advanced, and add one 'Jack/Queen/King' every 3 levels. All cards from player's deck. This is the player's starting deck. The other cards in his deck are out of play for the duration of the game. NOTE: After every game, the Players gain a level, and are restored to full strength. 6) Start game!TESTS & FEATS
This ability check doesn't come into play unless the player tries to do something extraordinary. Mundane actions such as sitting down and looking at a sign do not require a feat/test check, while doing things such as moving a very large boulder, stealing someone's underwear while he's still wearing them and such amazing feats do. 1) Player/GM declares feat/test/combat accepted/forced upon player. 2) Player randomly draws a card from his 'Ace & 2-10' pile, otherwise he may choose to use his special ability, in that case he will randomly draw one card from his 'Jack/Queen/King' pile. 3) If the player randomly drew a card from his 'Ace & 2-10' pile, read on. 4) If the player randomly drew a card from his 'Jack/Queen/King' pile, read. 5) According to the situation, the GM will choose or randomly pick a card from his entire pile. If the GM or Player picked a Joker, he will note the pick and pick another card until a non-Joker card is picked. 6) The Player and the GM will reveal their picked cards and pit them against each other. Whichever card has the higher value from the deck wins the test. Value table: Ace -> 10 -> 9 -> 8 -> 7 -> 6 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> Ace Note:(Ace is the only value higher than a 10 and 10 is the only value lower than an Ace. For instance a 9 is still higher in value to and Ace.) 7) If the player succeeds in his test, he completes his task, and the GM will also hand him the Joker(s) (if he picked any) as a reward. 8) If the player loses, he fails the task and depending on the GM and the situation, may randomly lose a card from his 'Ace & 2-10' deck as a penalty. If the player picked a Joker, he will also lose the joker(s) to the GM. (He dropped/spoiled his treasure in the test.) If the player survives, he may choose to attempt the test again. He may only repeat a test for a maximum of 3 times. 9) If both values are the same, nothing happens, unless the GM or the Player picked a/some Joker(s) from his pack before-hand, whence he will have to give the Joker(s) to the other party. *) Optional Rule: Have player(s) come up with an alternate way to do a feat / test every time, before allowing them to attempt it / attempt it again. COMBAT
1) The GM will arrange his deck himself beforehand to control the difficulty of the NPC or enemy under his control, or he can just pick cards from his deck randomly. This example assumes that a player is in combat with one of the NPCs under the GM. 2) The GM / Player may decide to use his special ability in combat, in which case refer to. Otherwise read on. 3) The GM and the Player randomly picks from his 'Ace & 2-10' deck. If the GM picked a Joker, he will note the pick and pick again until he has obtained a normal 'Ace & 2-10' card. Whoever has the initiative gets the first swing. In this case, assuming that the PC attacked the NPC first, the PC has the first swing. 4) The GM and the Player compare the cards they picked. Value table: Ace -> 10 -> 9 -> 8 -> 7 -> 6 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> Ace Note:(Ace is the only value higher than a 10 and 10 is the only value lower than an Ace. For instance a 9 is still higher in value to and Ace.) 5) Whoever has the higher value wins the round. If the player with the first swing wins, the loser's card is out of play. The winner's card is shuffled back into his own deck. If the player with the first swing loses, he doesn't have to lose his card. If the GM or Player has picked one or more Joker(s) that round, and lost to the opposing party, he will give the Joker(s) to him. 6) If both values are the same, the round ends in a draw, unless either GM or Player picked Joker(s). In that case, lose the Joker(s) to the combat opponent. (Dropped treasure in combat). 7) Return to step 2, with the other player having the swing. (It is the other player's turn to swing). 8) Combat continues until the GM's NPC or monster has no more 'Ace & 2-10' cards left, or the players have no more 'Ace & 2-10' cards left, signifying death. Of course, surrendering is an option, and its effects and availability is up to the GM. USING SPECIAL ABILITIES
1) The GM / Player declares his use of his special ability in a combat or test. 2) The GM / Player randomly draws a card from his 'Jack/Queen/King' deck. 3) If his opponent has any 'Jack/Queen/King' cards left, he may use it counter read step 4. If he doesn't have any, or chooses not to, read step 5. 4) Compare the two 'Jack/Queen/King' cards from both Player and GM. Highest value wins the duel: Jack -> King -> Queen -> Jack Whoever wins the duel succeeeds in getting his special ability to work on the opposing party. Both cards are discarded from play. If both values are the same, nothing happens. Both cards are discarded from play. End the round. 5) The ability of the caster/user works on the target. The card is discarded from play.WOUNDS & DYING
1) Whenever a player runs out of cards from his 'Ace & 2-10' deck, he is dead and out of play for the duration of the current game. 2) Whenever a player recovers from his wounds, cards are drawn from his discarded deck of the same type. He may not gain more cards than his initial number of cards at the start of the game. 3) If a character died, he may rejoin the player in the next game as a new player at level 1, or be resurrected and lose one level to join the next game.TREASURE
Depending on the game and the GM, collecting all 3 Jokers may mean that: -The Players win in their quest (Such as when in a quest to collect enough gold to pay a ransom) ; or -The Players gain the ability to use ANY of the 4 special abilities ONCE. After use, the 3 Jokers are returned to the GM, who will reshuffle it back into his deck. Created by Leonard Tai vtky@pc.jaring.my 26Sep98 http://www.oocities.org/Tokyo/Flats/2807/cards/END OF DOCUMENT