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The World of Synnibarr: 3rd Edition

The Ultimate Adventurers Guide I The Original Scifi-Fantasy Role Playing Game

Raven c.s. McCracken Copyright, 2015

(All Rights Reserved)

Author and game designer: Raven c.s. McCracken. Assistant Development: Dylan McKenzie, Scott Owens. Playtesting and editing: Patricia Blevins, Stephen Bretall, Chad Campbell, Allan Dyer, Cory Hatfield, Robin Hunt, Dylan McKenzie, Samantha Owens, Scott Owens, Carol Roberts, Craig Stykel. Illustrations: A. James Morris, Bill Stusser, Brian Snoddy, Dameon Willich, Dragon Dronet’, John Hollis, Mike Grell, Rick Hoberg. Cover, Love Collison.

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The World of Synnibarr: 3rd edition, The Ultimate Adventurers Guide I Copyright © 2015 by Raven c.s. McCracken. World of Synnibarr: © 1980, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993: First and second editions. ISBN: 1-881171-00-0 All rights reserved. This material is protected under international copyright law and the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author. All charts and characters sheets may be reproduced for personal use only. This is a work of fiction. All unique terms, characters, monsters, and likenesses thereof, names, game mechanics, and story descriptions, are the intellectual property of Raven c.s. McCracken and may not be used in any form without written permission from the author. All characters and events portrayed in this manual are fictitious. Any similarity within this book to fiction or non-fiction or any other science fiction/fantasy work is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

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Foreword by Richard Garfield, Ph.D. The creator of Magic: The Gathering.

Dungeons and Dragons was a transformative experience for me. Before I was exposed to it, I liked games - perhaps I even loved games. After D&D, I was a game disciple. Role playing was so different and so powerful that it affected not only the way I saw games but the way I saw life. I could see places where large numbers of players could play in a wide variety of worlds. I could see schools run where every subject was taught by role-playing games. There was a magic in the air that transcended games. Years have passed, and I do far less role playing than I would like. I play an occasional game here or there. I have participated in the design of role-playing games. I have friends who have designed role-playing games, from the biggest sellers to the smallest indie game. I hate to admit it, but perhaps I have become a bit jaded. I have seen too many focus groups, too many want-to-be novelists using role playing as their outlet, too many games that are on the fringe, just to be on the fringe. Raven, with his World of Synnibarr, sends me back and makes me feel like I am 13 again. He is not trying to make his game for the masses. He is not a frustrated novelist. He is not a jaded designer trying to distance himself from old-school role playing. He is overflowing with the excitement, the energy, and the love for the wonderful world of fantasy role playing that I remember from so long ago. Perhaps he is a little mad - creators often are. Synnibarr is big, fantastic, exciting, and dangerous. It has both magic and science - and not just the obligatory goblin steam punk. It is not made to be a movie; it is not a licensed world. This is the work of someone who has been consumed by the power and promise of role playing for people who love role playing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This manual is written as if the reader has never played these types of games. The information presented in this volume shall be supplemented in future editions.

This game is forever dedicated to the stifled adventurers within us all. For we have the hearts and imaginations, but not the powers or the frontiers…yet!

Rated PG13: For Science fiction-fantasy depictions of violence.

Parental guidance suggested.

In Loving Memory Curt Pierce AKA

Aridius, The God of Hope.

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Table of contents

Chapter Page Foreword 3 Introduction 8 Chapter 1 Combat 9 Basic Combat 10 Basic Combat with Burning Constitution 10 Chapter 2 The Game (overview) 16 Chapter 3 General Guidelines 18 Chapter 4 Character Creation 20 Chapter 5 Races 23 Chapter 6 Guilds & Organizations 35 Chapter 7 Auras, Astrology, and Religion 39 Chapter 8 Locutious Cognomen-(Part 1) 43 Chapter 9 General Abilities 49 Chapter 10 Alchemy Disciplines 55 Chapter 11 Chi Disciplines 63 Chapter 12 Earthpower Spells 69 Chapter 13 Magic Spells 75 Chapter 14 Mutations 81 Chapter 15 Psionics 92

Chapter 16 Provisions and Equipment Armor, ammunition, vehicles, weapons, and power armors

98

Starship Creation 117 Chapter 17 Special Substances Physical properties, chemicals, and cybernetics

119

Chapter 18 Burning Constitution 129 Chapter 19 Gaming Situations Prime mechanics, skills, and core guidelines

131

Chapter 20 Adjustments 155 Chapter 21 Adventuring 158 Character Sheet -

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Author’s note I thank the Synners around our Worldship. With great appreciation, ever your servant, Raven c.s. McCracken. This is a completely new system, not a revision of the old one. This new, open-ended, system is designed to start out simple and then reach for the greatest possible challenge, with no end in sight…ever. In this game we bridged the gap between roll-playing and role-playing, between scifi-fantasy wargaming and diceless gaming. This makes for epic storylines, dramatic battles, and eloquent victories. Only the best and the brightest prevail. Only the best… Only the brightest… And so, once more into imagination’s fury I plunge thee… Synnibarr development timeline: In 1977 Raven c.s. McCracken was first introduced to a role-playing game (RPG), called “Metamorphosis Alpha,” at a convention in Seattle. This started him on the path to creating his own flavor of RPG in which the science fiction was mixed with the fantasy. By 1980 the first versions of Synnibarr were photocopied and spiral bound for local distribution throughout the Seattle area. The first professionally published edition was released in 1985.

The Current State of the Worldship (Overview)

The Worldship Synnibarr was fashioned from the planet Mars by the Avatar of Aridius and the collective efforts of a doomed humanity. A hollow sphere designed to be habitable inside and out, Synnibarr contains the seeds of ancient Earth set on an endless voyage.

The adventurers, created by the avatar as defenders, were taken from myth and empowered to be legends.

For millennia the Worldship has crossed the stars, traveling during each Darkmonth to orbit an alternate planet every year, never the same “Altanant” twice…

It is now near the year 700 AD, after the Dark Age, and the Worldship is struggling to escape a race of intergalactic slavers and recover from an intellect-destroying plague that nearly erased all traces of civilization.

Now it is time to make your Fate! This manual contains… Basic character creation and combat system: The basic combat system and combat using Constitution. Adventurer character creation: Races, guilds, and organizations. Locutious Cognomen: The book of the mystic arts. Provisions: Armor, basic provisions, vehicles, weapons, power-armor, starships, chemicals, and cybernetics. The skill system and skills: Force and general, specialty, and spontaneous skills. The advanced combat system: With guidelines to help define a wide range of gaming situations, up to and including immortality and demi-godhood. Adjusting aspects of a character: Abilities, skills, and stats. Adjusting aspects within abilities: How to customize your special abilities and spells. Adjusting the aspects of provisions: How to increase the power of weapons and devices. Character sheets: At the end of the manual. Photocopy and use as needed. The Game Style: This is entirely up to you. This new engine has no pre-disposition to any aspect of play. The inclusive concepts, as always, are developed to be adaptable across all genres. From the lofty reaches of superheroes and immortality, to a more realistic model, Synnibarr provides the grand frame work. All you need do is supply the imagination.

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