Weight Rating (WGT)     This stat simply indicates the mass of the character. Larger characters can absorb more damage, are harder to toss around, can carry more and larger items, and can train more STR. However, smaller characters pay less for armor, encumber ridden animals less, can fit through tighter passageways, and have more DEX. During character setup, you will get to choose what size individual you would like to play; picking a character with more WGT will result in less DEX, and vice versa. Once chosen during setup, a character’s WGT almost never changes.

    Each unit of WGT represents a range of around 25 pounds. For example, a character of 6 WGT will weigh from 126-150 pounds, a character of 7 WGT weighs 151-175 pounds, and so on. You will need to decide the weight of your character in pounds within this range.

Adjusted Weight Rating (AWGT)    Some non-playable creatures (such as large animals) have an adjusted WGT stat, used for certain rules such as injury factor and armor weight. It represents the diminishing returns of greater mass on issues more related to volume and area. This AWGT stat is already accounted for in the listings of non-sentient creatures, but is detailed here in case the GM needs to adjust default stats or create new creatures:

    For creatures of 20 WGT or less, their AWGT is equal to their WGT. For larger creatures, count only 50% of the WGT they have from 21 to 50, and only 25% of the WGT they have over 50; the result is their AWGT. For example, a horse of 50 WGT has an AWGT of 35, while a tyrannosaur of 600 WGT has an AWGT of 172. Willpower (WILL)    Every sentient being has a will, and the history of Lur-Asko is full of determined individuals who accomplished far more than might have been expected from their physical abilities alone. The primary use of WILL is in using it to gain a reactive +TN, which is discussed in the next section. WILL is also used by itself for certain rolls, such as resisting telepathic effects. Base vs. Total Stats     Characters will encounter many things that affect their stats - either positive bonuses or negative penalties. However, certain rules will refer to a character’s base stats, which do not include these temporary bonuses and penalties.

    Unless base stats are mentioned, assume all rules are dealing with a character’s total stats, which include temporary bonuses and penalties. Base stats are abbreviated with a lowercase b first, such as bSTR or bDEX. Neither base nor total stats can ever be reduced below 1. If the math calls for any stat to be 0 or negative, it is considered to be 1 instead. Unless otherwise specified, the same rule also applies to the target number of any roll based on these stats.

    Rules that refer to percentage-based reductions to stats (for example, cutting DEX in half) simply apply a temporary penalty of the appropriate size to reduce the stat to that fraction of its normal total. Apply such cases after considering any other temporary bonuses and penalties. All calculations in Legends are rounded down.

Rolling on Stats     Dice must be rolled whenever your character attempts something that has both meaningful consequences and a reasonable potential for failure; drinking some water requires no roll, but a complicated sword attack definitely does. To determine whether or not your character succeeds, you must roll on a stat.

    The exact stat depends on the activity in question; some tasks have specific stats given in the rules, and the GM will determine the stat for anything else. First, find how many points your character has in the specified stat. This becomes your target number, or TN. Some activities have specific dice rolls listed; for all others, the GM will choose a die based on the approximate difficulty of the attempted deed: d6 for simple, d12 for moderate, d20 for hard.

    Improvised Actions has many guidelines for rolls that are not otherwise specified in the rules. Other dice may be chosen by the GM, and any difficulty may be obtained by combining dice into a multi-dice roll such as 2d20.

    Finally, the dice are rolled. If the roll result is less than or equal to your TN, your character accomplishes the task. This is called a success or a pass. If it is higher, you fail.

Bonuses/Penalties to Target Number (+TN/-TN)     Many Abilities offer bonuses to target number during certain rolls, while some rules may inflict penalties to your target number. For convenience, bonus to target number is abbreviated as +TN, and penalty to target number is abbreviated as -TN. For example, while your TN always begins as one of your stats, you can obtain Close Combat Abilities that increase your skill at DEX rolls to dodge attacks during combat. If such an Ability gave you a +TN of 4, your TN for that defense roll would not just be your DEX, but your DEX plus 4. -TNs and +TNs never actually change the stat you are rolling on. Actions affected by many rules might have multiple +TNs and/or -TNs; unless otherwise specified, all valid +TNs and -TNs stack.

    Generally speaking, +TNs and -TNs will always reflect something intrinsic to your character's skills and capabilities. This is why +TNs come primarily from Study Abilities. External circumstances that present increased or decreased difficulty (without reference to your innate skills) will usually change the dice used in the roll itself.

Reactive +TNs     Most +TNs your character receives from Abilities apply whenever the situation is valid for them. Some +TNs apply to specific kinds of rolls, or whenever your character is in a specific situation (for example, a defense +TN when you are wielding a shield). You do not need to specify that you are using each of these Abilities before making the roll; since they cost you nothing, your character is presumed to be using them whenever they can, and you simply add up all the +TNs that properly apply to your roll.

    However, some +TNs do not always apply, because they have an associated cost or other drawback. These are called reactive +TNs, because you apply them after you roll and see the result. By paying the associated cost, you can apply a reactive +TN to turn a failed roll into a success, or lessen the amount of failure (for rolls in which the margin of failure makes a difference). Like normal +TNs, reactive +TNs are usually valid only for certain rolls or situations, and you can apply as many of them as are valid and can be paid for. However, you cannot apply the same +TN more than once to the same roll (for example, you cannot pay a double cost to apply the same +TN twice). In combat, using a reactive +TN is not an action, and can be done even outside your turn (such as during a defense roll). Some Abilities provide both normal and reactive +TNs, and the normal +TN continues to apply whether or not you use the reactive one.

    You must apply reactive +TNs after you see the roll result, but before you announce your success or failure to the GM and know the exact consequences of the roll. For example, you can add a reactive +TN to a defense roll after it fails normally, but not after you announce your failure and see what the damage of the attack is. You are never required to use any reactive +TNs you have access to; in the example of defense rolls, a heavily-armored and tough character might not waste resources on reactive +TNs to defend against attacks that are unlikely to injure them.

    Reactive +TNs and expertise re-rolls (see Studies) are the only rules that can affect a roll after the dice have been rolled. Abilities that affect rolls in other ways - such as by adding Hindrance or Easing - must be announced before the roll, and cannot be added or removed after you see the result.

Using Willpower     Your character's WILL provides your first and widest source of a reactive +TN. In most rolls on any stat (even WILL), you can add a reactive +TN equal to your WILL stat. This is often referred to as using Willpower. This can only be done for one roll, and then the Willpower use must be regained by resting for at least 4 hours.

    Willpower use is an invaluable tool for avoiding the worst and most dangerous of failures, and should be used wisely. Its reactive +TN can apply to rolls on any stat, but it cannot be used in rolls for long-term actions, such as lengthy searches. It also cannot be used in CON rolls that describe unconscious acts or bodily processes (for example, natural healing rolls).

Hindrance & Easing     There are a wide variety of circumstances that can affect rolls - for example, it is harder to defend yourself in melee combat if you have been knocked down. Rather than describe several potential dice rolls for each action depending on every possible circumstance, Legends instead uses Hindrance and Easing to modify the listed roll. Whenever any amount of Hindrance affects a roll, you roll that amount of additional d6s, and add their results to the result of the original roll. To use the above example of being on the ground during a melee defense roll, that situation causes 3 Hindrance to affect your d20 melee defense roll, so the roll would actually be d20+3d6. Hindrance is always rolled at the same time as the normal die, before any reactive +TNs are applied.

    Easing proceeds the same way, except that Easing causes the results of the d6s to be subtracted from your roll. Easing and Hindrance also negate each other, before being rolled. For example, if you have 3 Easing and 1 Hindrance in a given d12 roll, 1 Hindrance cancels out 1 Easing, leaving 2 Easing, so your roll is d12-2d6. Therefore, a negative or 0 result is possible if the roll has Easing (which might matter for rolls in which the margin of success is considered).

    Some rules specifically cancel Hindrance or Easing from a certain circumstance, without truly adding Easing or Hindrance themselves. Resolve such rules before directly negating Hindrance with Easing or vice versa.

Blunders & Lucky Breaks    In any stat roll, when the die rolls its maximum result (for example, a d12 rolls a 12 or a d20 rolls a 20), this is called a blunder. This represents an unlucky mistake that creates more difficulty. Whenever a blunder occurs, the blundered die is rolled again, and both of that die’s results are counted in the total roll result. Therefore, even if a character’s TN is much greater than the maximum numbers on the dice, the roll must still be made because blunders could potentially occur (although unlikely, the re-rolled die can continue to blunder for as long as it rolls its maximum result).

    In any stat roll, any time a die rolls a 1, this is called a lucky break - the opposite of a blunder. Whenever a lucky break occurs, the die that rolled 1 still counts as a 1 in the roll, but that die is rolled again, and the result is subtracted from the total roll result. Unlike blunders, lucky breaks can only cause a single re-roll per die. Usually, a 1 already means success, but a lucky break can be relevant in a multi-dice roll, a roll with Hindrance, or a roll in which the amount you succeed by is relevant.

    Blunders and lucky breaks do not occur in rolls other than stat rolls. Only the initial dice of the stat roll can blunder or lucky break; the d6s used for Easing & Hindrance are not eligible. Like Hindrance and Easing, blunders and lucky breaks are rolled before moving on into reactive +TNs or expertise re-rolls.

Margin of Success/Failure    Some rules refer to how much a roll succeeds or fails by. For example, failing a defense roll by 20 results in a critical hit. Unless such an effect is specified, a roll has no extra effects beyond success or failure, no matter what the margin was. If an effect for the margin was specified, but another rule calls for the roll to automatically succeed or fail (for example, an incapacitated character automatically failing a defense roll), the margin of success or failure is considered to be the maximum amount that matters.

Process Actions     Most actions a character attempts can be handled using the normal rolling rules. However, some actions are longer or more complicated. Such actions can often be done slowly and safely, or more quickly with more risk. Such tasks are called process actions and have an additional layer of rules.

Point Goals and Dice Points     When someone undertakes a process action, the GM determines a point goal for the action. Higher point goals represent actions that require more time and/or effort. Some actions may have point goals listed in the rules, while others the GM will determine themselves. Depending on the circumstances, the player may or may not know what the point goal is.

    To work towards meeting the point goal and completing the action, a character rolls on their stats as per normal rules. For each roll they pass successfully, they apply points toward the goal. Each roll is worth a number of points equal to the highest number on the dice involved. For example, a d20 roll is worth 20 points, a d6 roll is worth 6, and a 2d20 is worth 40. If Hindrance or Easing is added to the roll, or if an expertise re-roll is used, this does not change the roll's point value. Blunders and lucky breaks can occur as per normal rolling rules, and these also do not alter the point value of the roll.

Choosing Dice     Most process actions allow a character to roll smaller, easier dice to perform a task carefully or larger dice to perform it more quickly. Unless indicated otherwise by the GM or the rules, the eligible rolls during a process action are d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and 2d20.

    The GM or the listed rules may limit the dice which can be rolled. For example, a particularly challenging process action may eliminate smaller dice.

Roll Intervals     The rate at which rolls are made during a process action is determined by the action in question. For example, an assassin climbing a wall in combat might make a roll every turn, while a historian researching relics in a library might make a roll every 4 hours. Actions may or may not be able to be paused and resumed later.

Roll Failure     If a character succeeds on a roll during a process action, they always apply the points toward the goal. However, the effects of a failed roll may vary depending on the action. Upon failure, either the character applies no points and may try again at the next interval, or the action may be ruined altogether. If not otherwise specified by rules or GM, the action is not ruined.

    The actual appearance of a roll failure will vary depending on the action and stat in question. A failure on DEX may represent a loss of balance, a failure on STR may represent overexertion, and a failure on INT may represent overthinking the problem.

Blind Rolls     Sometimes, a blind roll must be made to resolve a situation that the rolling character is not aware of. For example, a roll on INT to determine if something you see is an illusion, or a detection roll to overhear a conversation you didn't know was happening near you. In essence, if your character wouldn't know why you're rolling, that roll is a blind roll.

    Blind rolls follow two special rules. First, they may be rolled by the GM on your behalf without your knowledge. For example, the GM may not tell you to roll dice to see through an NPC's disguise, because that would unfairly clue you in that someone is disguised, even if the roll fails; instead, the GM may roll on your INT for you. Second, since you don't know in-character that whatever caused the roll is happening, you cannot add reactive +TNs (even if you were allowed to roll the dice yourself).

    GMs should be aware of the PCs' stats (as well as any relevant Abilities or devices that might provide +TNs on certain rolls), in case any blind rolls need to be made without the players' knowledge.

Voluntarily Failing     It may occasionally be beneficial to fail a roll. For example, an ally might have an unusual grenade device with a beneficial effect, and you may wish to decline the defense roll to dodge it. You may voluntarily fail most rolls, with no need to actually roll the dice. If there are different effects for different margins of failure, you are considered to have failed by the maximum amount that matters.

    In other situations, there might be a roll you want to fail by a specific amount. For example, you might want to let an enemy hit you in melee to set off one of your damage auras, but you don't want them to get the critical hit they would normally receive for a defense roll failing by 20. In such a case, you must still roll the die, announcing your desired result before rolling (for example, intending to fail by 1). If the actual roll result is less than your desired result, it is considered to have rolled your desired result instead.

    Blind rolls, as well as CON rolls that describe unconscious acts or bodily processes, cannot be voluntarily failed by either method.