Using this Book

Using this Book

This book is primarily written as a reference guide to aid the quick retrieval of information during gameplay. This book was not necessarily written to be read cover-to-cover. The following is an overview of each chapter in this book.

Chapter 1. The Basics. This is where you are now. This is an introduction to the key concepts and fundamentals of the game system. This will be the most important chapter for understanding the basic mechanics introduced in the game.

Chapter 2. Characters. This chapter goes through each of the main components and concepts that make up a player character in World Saga. The process of creating a player character is then described in depth with an example to follow along the way.

Chapter 3. Actions. This chapter goes through each of the actions in the game and the mechanics that govern those actions. This chapter is intended to be an important reference during gameplay to provide specific rule information for each available action.

Chapter 4. Equipment. This chapter looks at the different types of arms and armaments characters can use in the game. This chapter goes over each of the weapons and armor options available to characters, as well as the other various gear that a character might carry with them.

Chapter 5. Magic. This chapter introduces an optional magic system and the skills associated with that system. This chapter also includes a list of the various spells and powers that magical characters can use.

Chapter 6. Playing the Game.  This chapter goes through each game mode of World Saga and describes how to play that mode in depth. This chapter provides extended details and advice for playing the game and additional options to tune the game to your group’s personal taste.

Chapter 7. Running the Game. This chapter is intended for the GM. It provides extensive advice and guides for running a game of World Saga. Here the GM will find information for how to create and run their own adventures. They will also find helpful information on dealing with unexpected events at the game table. There are also additional rules to adjust the game to fit your style and setting.

Chapter 8. NPC Folio. This chapter provides the GM with game statistics for various NPCs and opponents they can use to challenge their players.

Appendix. The appendix of the book provides an alternative character creation system, helpful summaries of the game rules, and copies of important charts for ease of reference. All of these tools can be copied and printed for use at the game table. These resources along with character sheets are found online at: worldsaga.us

The Players

As a player of the game, you will create a character of your own design, called your player character, or PC. The PC will be carefully crafted to fit within the setting of the game world, but also envisioned as a complex protagonist of a story that has yet to be told. As a player, your influence on the game world will be limited to your character’s actions and decisions. You will explore and interact with the game world as described by the GM. Since you will often be taking on the role of your character, this book will often refer to ‘you’ when, in fact, we are referring to the PC you are roleplaying.

The Game Mediator (GM)

The Game Mediator, or GM is responsible for describing the world around the PCs. The primary role of the GM is to facilitate play and exploration. This usually involves describing the current situation in the game world to the players, so that they can make decisions and respond accordingly on behalf of the characters they play. Being a GM can be a very rewarding role for someone who enjoys world-building, improvisational storytelling, and enhancing the experience of others at the table. 

Everyone Belongs

Roleplaying games are for the enjoyment of everyone at the table. Before players begin their first session, they should get together and discuss the type of game that they want to play and the genre of the story they are telling. This will help the GM guide the gameplay in that direction and ensure that it will be fun and entertaining for everyone involved. This discussion also helps the players to understand the scope of the setting and the general theme for creating their characters.  For example, if the players decide their game will take place in a pirate setting, each player might want to create a character with a nautical theme.

Additionally, it is important to be mindful of the needs of other players. Not everyone has the same tolerance or comfort with certain topics or styles of gameplay. It is important for the group as a whole to discuss if there are any topics (such as descriptive gore, sexual content, spiders, etc.), that are completely out of the scope for the story. This should be done before your first session.

Discuss with your group which topics are completely out of line for the game, and which topics or content is okay to include in the game, but you don’t want them to occur “on screen”. In the later cases, such events are okay to occur during a game session, but they occur “off camera” and are not roleplayed directly. When such content comes up, the scene simply “fades to black” and the next scene begins. 

During gameplay, any player reserves the right to ask for the gameplay to pause if an uncomfortable topic is being approached or breached. They can simply state that a “line is being crossed”. The GM and other players should cultivate a non-judgmental attitude when this occurs. They can identify the problem and attempt to resolve it as a group. It is okay to rewind the narrative and remove the offending content from the story before moving on.  Remember that everyone at the table is there to have fun. That fun should never come at the expense of another player’s sense of well-being.

Things You Will Need to Play

Dice: Dice are used to resolve actions in most roleplaying games and World Saga is no exception. Die rolls simulate the probabilities of success and failure. They help determine the outcome of uncertain circumstances. When playing World Saga, you will often have to roll a d20 to resolve the action. A d20 is a 20-sided die, an icosahedron.  In some situations, you will roll a standard 6-sided die, a d6.

Throughout this book you will see this icon to represent rolling a d20. Each player should have their own d20 since you’ll be rolling this die quite often.

You will see this icon to represent rolling a d6.  You will likely want to have a few of this die. Sometimes you’ll be asked to roll the d6 multiple times and sum the results. In these cases, a number will appear before d6, such as 3d6. This indicates you roll the d6 three times and sum the result for the final number.  Additionally, you may have to add a value to the total, such as 2d6+2. In these cases, roll the d6 (as many times as indicated), sum the result, and then add the bonus to reach the final number.

Character Sheet: Each player will want a character sheet for their PC. It contains all the details about their character and allows them to update and record changes to their character during gameplay. Character sheets can be found online at: worldsaga.us.

Maps: Combat scenes can be quite chaotic, with a lot of action going on. A map of the area can help everyone at the table visualize the scene. Maps are usually marked with 1-inch (25 mm) grids. Each square on the grid represents roughly 5 feet or 1.5 meters of space. This book refers to all distances in squares, making it easy to calculate these distances on a gridded map.

Miniatures: Along with maps, miniatures are used to represent the PCs and the NPCs. These can be hand-crafted metallic miniatures, cardboard pawns with plastic bases, or even as simple as small toys, coins, or plastic markers. As long as everyone understands what these tokens are meant to represent, they will serve their purpose in tracking where everyone is on the map during a complex scene.

Adventure: You will need some sort of quest or adventure for the players to embark upon. This might be something of the GM’s own creation or a purchased module that follows a predictable story. An adventure is a loose scaffold of a story that is waiting for the player’s choices to drive that story along. Tools for GMs to create their own adventures are found later in this book.