Getting Started

This article assumes that the reader has at least a basic understanding of the terminology of many tabletop RPG's. If you don't, no worries, a helpful glossary of the most basic terms is supplied here.

Required Materials
To play Asternova, it requires a few things in advance. If you're a regular player of other tabletop games, don't worry, you likely already have everything you need to get started.


 * A Pencil and Paper (or similar note-taking tools; a computer often works)
 * Dice (at least: 1d4, 3d6's, 1d8, 2d10, 1d12 and 1d20. More dice are always recommended!)
 * A Game Master and any number of additional players!

=Basic Game Mechanics=

Below are the most important core mechanics of the game. They will be making up the bulk of the dice rolling you'll be doing both as a player and as a GM.

Skill Tests
A Skill Test is a roll to determine the outcome of an action being performed by a character. At its most basic, it is a simple success or failure roll, but many actions have varying degrees of success or failure.

Skill Roll
A Skill Test is done by rolling 3d6 and 1d10 simultaneously. The d6 total is called the Skill Roll and the d10 is called the Luck Roll. The Luck Roll is important because it can affect the outcome of the Skill Roll.

Luck Roll
If the Luck Roll is a natural 1, roll an additional d6 and subtract that number from the Skill Roll.

If the Luck Roll is a natural 10, roll an additional d6 and add that number to the Skill Roll.

In either of these cases, roll the Luck Die again. If the Luck Roll lands on the same number, continue adding or subtracting d6 and rerolling the Luck Roll until it does not.

No matter what is rolled on a subsequent Luck Roll, if it's not equate to the original roll, nothing happens. This means that a natural 1 rolled after a natural 10 DOES NOT subtract a d6, and vice versa. It's simply ignored.

Target Value (TV)
The difficulty of the Skill Test, called the Target Value (abbreviated TV), is determined by the GM before the Skill Roll is made. If the Skill Roll is equal to or higher than the TV, the action succeeds. If it's lower than the TV, it fails.

During Opposing Skill Tests, the scores of Skill Rolls between two or more opposing parties is compared to one another to determine who is successful. If the results are equal, the Skill Test results in a stalemate and appropriate action is taken, depending on the action. If the action is against an unwilling opponent, such as an attack, stalemates are won by the defender.

Modifiers
Depending on the Skill Test and the situation, the character can receive bonuses or penalties on their Skill Roll. For example, a strong character trying to break down a door will receive a bonus to that action based on their Brute Force skill level, while a weaker character might not.

=Creating Characters= Once you understand the core mechanics involved in Asternova, you're free to begin building your own character over in the Character Creation section!