Legends Roleplaying System

  1. Characters    2. How to Play    3. GM Guide    4. Legends of Magic    i. Tables    ii. Examples    iii. Game Design    iv. Blog 

The Legends Roleplaying System is a lightweight framework for pencil-and-paper roleplaying games (RPGs.) Tenets:

• Focus on roleplaying
• Innovative, free-form "in your own words" character creation
• Lightweight rules that describe concepts more often than specifics (fewer rule lookups)
• No restrictive lists of skills, character classes, or items
• Seamless transition between dice-full and dice-less roleplaying
• Versatile and adaptable to any genre

Legends has an especially flexible and freeform character creation process. Each player writes a backstory for his character. Your key traits and gear such as "grizzled old soldier", "notched longsword", "street smart", "carefully diplomatic", "master swordsman", "chainmail hauberk", or "black wizard" are underlined and purchased with points. The character sheet is essentially a nice set of Traits tied directly to the backstory, each with a Rank from 1-6. There are no lists of classes, races, or skills to get in the way. Over time the character's Legend will grow with tales of his adventures and daring deeds, adding more traits, increasing Ranks, gaining special abilities, and obtaining better gear.

The core rules are small and beautiful. When a character needs to do something, the player roleplays the action and then chooses up to three of his Traits that seem relevant. (The third Trait is only available in ideal circumstances, such as when the character has time to prepare, is within his area of expertise, or if he is willing to expend additional energy.) The three Traits (which have Ranks from 1-6) are totaled to give the player a "dice pool" of six-sided dice. The player can spend the dice to take simple actions (e.g. picking something up, moving) but must roll them for risky actions (e.g. fast-talking past a guard, attacking a foe). When rolling dice, a roll of 1-2 (on each d6) is worth one point (called a "Success").

If the action is resisted by someone (swordsman vs knife fighter) or something (climber vs cliff), the opponent describes an opposing action and rolls for Successes in the same way. Whoever has the most Successes wins and uses the difference in Successes (the number he won by) to say what happened. For violent actions, the loser typically gains one Wound per extra Success, which is a penalty in dice on all future dice pools. At some point one combatant will run out of dice and collapse in defeat.

There are more advanced and detailed rules, but what you just read covers most situations. While Legends is not tied to any particular genre, I've always been partial to sword & sorcery games and there are many extensions for this genre. I hope you enjoy Legends as much as I've enjoyed designing it.

-- Paul Abrams

1. Characters (updated 2009/06/06)

  1.1. Traits    1.2. Trait Lines (Themes)    1.3. Specialty Traits (Skills)    1.4. Items (Equipment)    1.5. Signature Traits    1.6. Legendary Items    game design: No Character Sheets    player tips: Writing Portraits 

In the Legends System, each character has a "Legend" that consists of two parts: a Portrait that describes the character in literary terms, and a list of Traits pulled from the portrait, grouped into themes. Both parts are written in your own words, and all of the game rules are built to work with any character you can imagine, so players seldom need to break character when playing the game. You can see firsthand the flexibility and simplicity of this system by glancing at the Sample Characters. [ more... ]

2. How to Play (updated 2005/10/03)

  1. Action Pool    2. Actions / Reactions    3. Getting Hurt    4. Turns    5. Raise the Stakes 

"It's your turn, what do you do?"' [ more... ]

3. GM Guide

  Challenges    Minor Characters    Monsters 

This section lists rules and tips for the Game Master (GM) for running a Legends game.

4. Legends of Magic (updated 2006/06/20)

  1. Magic Theme    2. Principles of Magic    3. Magic Actions    4. Advanced Magic Actions    5. Magic Signature Traits 

Magic is a fantastic opportunity for imagery and descriptive roleplaying. This magic system is an expansion that embodies the spirit of Legends--there are just a few flexible rules that enable rather than restrict your imagination.

Legends of Magic is a supplement for the Legends System. It is possible to play the game without this supplement, or for the GM to replace Legends of Magic with a magic system of his own design. The basic rules of Legends allow for free-form use of magic, with no restrictions on what magic can do, only how you determine whether or not it worked.

The term "Magic" is used to indicate any sort of supernatural power, and in the broadest sense a "magic spell" is any kind of magical activity. Arcane wizard spells, priestly miracles, psychic projections, or the innate abilities of a mythic beast are only a few examples of magic. While your character might not necessarily call what he does "magic" or the act of using magic a "spell", the rules use these terms consistently to [ more... ]

i. Tables (updated 2004/09/08)

  table 1: Size    table 2: Weapons    table 3: Armor    table 4: Shields 

All of the tables used in Legends are grouped together here for quick reference during play.

ii. Examples

  Examples of Play    Magic Items (Legendary Items)    Places    Sample Characters 

This section contains numerous examples of characters, items, monsters, and encounters. As you will see, characters are not the only subjects worthy of a legend--items, places, and monsters can also be created.

iii. Game Design

  Comparison of Legends RPG and FUDGE    Dice Variants    Funky Dice    Magic    What is a roleplaying game (RPG) ?    Wizards and Armor 

Legends is still a work in progress, and this section reveals some of the past and future of the system.

iv. Blog (updated 2009/06/29)

This blog journals the history of the Legends RPG and various turning points in game design.