Welcome to Crystal Kings

Welcome to the universe of the Crystal Kings

The CRYSTAL KINGS ROLEPLAYING GAME is about creating and telling stories and adventures in an epic science-fantasy setting. Using this product as a guideline, Crystal Kings (CK) is a game driven by the power of imagination. A group of players share the wonders of fantastic locations and things, such fighting dragons on an alien landscape or a starship blasting off from a space station in deep space crawling with undead, and imagine the events and decisions that explorers would experience within those scenes. When those scenes are presented, the decisions and actions of the players shape and determine the events that follow. Dice are often rolled to determine the outcome of some of those decisions, whether it be performing an emergency mechanical repair, conning their way into a secure barracks, or determining if they hit or missed an enemy they’ve attacked with their weapon. By providing a limitless number of decisions while using dice to finalize the outcome, the story is able to branch out into an infinite number of directions.

Players and GMs

Every CRYSTAL KINGS (CK) game requires one of the players to be the Game Master (GM), who referees the game and narrates the story. Each remaining player creates a character, a persona used to participate in the game’s scenario. Several characters band together to form a party (also referred to as a group, squad, or unit) allowing them to join forces while exploring worlds both arcane and alien or surviving against a powerful adversary. The GM creates and presents a scenario, or adventure for the rest of the players while managing the outcomes of what the players decide they would like to do. Do they choose to venture into the abandoned mining station? Make an evasive maneuver to avoid the enemy battleship? Perhaps they decide to remove the data crystal that may or may not activate the wizard's tower security drones. Based on these decisions, as well as the dice rolls that may be required, the GM determines the results and tells the players what happens next. Since imagination is the only limitation, any scenario can be improvised and played through with exciting and unforeseen outcomes. Here is an example:

• Game Master (GM): After passing over the craggy peaks, the warning signal of your ship flash red, indicating the defenses of the abandoned fortress are locked onto you. within the ship, you don't hear the squealing protest of long rusted metal turrets moving to track the approach. The rusted and barely moving turrets look to have been placed atop towers that doubled as guardposts and ground facing gun emplacements. Beyond these, a wide chasm gapes, disappearing into the deep fog below. A deactivated energy-bridge spans the chasm, leading to an arched entrance to the Fortress courtyard. The sounds of moaning can be heard in the wind, though it seems like almost nothing lives for miles around. From atop the walls, stone gargoyles follow your ships' movement, grin hideously as age old dust and debri breaks away from the rotating bases. Though the lights are not on, It appears the main road into and out of the fortress is open. Beyond that, darkness claims anything to be seen.
• Armin (playing Toby): I want to look at the gargoyles. Statues don't move unless they have an ulteriour purpose.
• Sarah (playing Diana): The energy bridge is deactivated? can we try to remotely reactivate it from the ship?
• GM: OK, one at a time. Armin, Toby is going to scan or look at the gargoyles?
• Toby: Scan them, can the ship detect what technological systems or arcane magics are moving them?
• GM: is Toby proficient with Technology?
• Toby: no.
• GM: Make an Intelligence Check with Disadvantage.
• Toby: Does my Investigation skill apply?
• GM: yup!
• Phillip (rolls two d20 and takes the lowest): crap! eight.
• DM: Toby isn't able to set the scan paramaters correctly, you detect nothing beyong the movement itself. Diana is going to attempt to remotely connect to the energy-bridge?

In the Crystal Kings game, each player creates a character and teams up with others, played by friends, to go on fantastical adventures.
Working together, the group might explore anywhere and everywhere, from jungles and deserts, to the depths of the oceans and space. On their adventure they can have fun doing things like solving puzzles, talking with other characters, battling monsters of magic and science, and discovering items and treasures of incredible value and power.
One player takes on the role of the Game Master (GM), acting as the the game's lead storyteller and referee.
The DM creates adventures for the characters, who navigate its hazards and decide which paths to explore. The DM might describe the entrance to an abandoned fortress with a small starport, and the players decide what they want their adventurers to do. Will they land their ship on the starport and risk leaving it unatended? will they land outside of the fortress and attempt to reactivate the energy bridge? Do they have the ability to teleport to and from their ship? Then the GM determines the results of the adventurers' actions and narrates what they experience. Because the GM can improvise to react to anything the players attempt, Crystal Kings can be infinitely flexible, and each adventure can unfold in exciting and unexpected ways.
The game has no real end; when one story, quest or mission wraps up, another can begin, creating an ongoing story called a campaign. Many people who play the game keep can their campaigns going for months or years, meeting with their friends every week or so to pick up the story where they left off. The characters grow in might as the campaign continues. Each enemy defeated, each mission completed, and each treasure recovered not only adds to the continuing story, but also earns them new capabilities. This increase in power is reflected by a Character's level.
There's no winning and losing in the Crystal Kings game—at least, not like you would in a game of checkers or chess. Together, the DM and the players create an exciting story of bold characters who confront deadly perils. A grisly end, torn apart by ferocious monsters or done in by a nefarious villain, is a part of the game but nothing to be feared. Other Characters can search for powerful magic to revive their fallen comrade, or the player might choose to create a new character to carry on. The group might fail to complete an adventure successfully, but if everyone had a good time and created a memorable story, they all win.

The Universe of the Crystal Kings

The universe of the Crystal Kings is a place of full of wonders both scientific and arcane, monsters and horrors of the stars and beyond, and heroes of incredible bravery and strength. They begin with a foundation of a high science fantasy world filled with creatures, things and places of magic and technology that make it unique while leaving room to add more.
The world of the Crystal Kings game exists within a three part system. mortals and the living exist on the Prime Material Plane, sometimes called The Prime Materium, while things of spirit and soul live in the Otherworld of Roth'Eld'wor. Connecting them is the strange place known simply as Between and Betwixt.
Most adventures will take place across various worlds of the Prime Materium, thought many worlds and places are set apart by its own history and cultures, distinctive monsters and races, fantastic geography, ancient places, and scheming villains. Characters can come from anywhere, from the various empires of the Kings to the Nations of the Free peoples and beyond.
An empire of a King is a good starting point for any CK game. Many Characters concepts and backgrounds fit directly within the setting in with the races and character classes presented in these rules. But, your GM can set the campaign in one of these places or on one that he or she created. Because there is so much diversity in the world of Crystal Kings, you should check with your GM about any house rules that will affect your play or the game. Ultimately, the Game Master is the authority on the campaign and its setting.

How to Play

Crystal Kings uses the 5th Edition (5E) rules. Every 5E game follows a basic flow detailed in the following steps:

1. The GM describes the setting and situation, presenting the basic scope of options that present themselves (how many doors lead out of a room, what's on a table, who's in the room, and so on).
2. With the information they are given, the players tell the GM what their intended actions are. Sometimes one player speaks for the whole party, saying, "We'll take the east door," for example. Other times, different character do different things: one might search a treasure chest while a second examines an esoteric symbol engraved on a wall and a third keeps watch for monsters. The players don't need to take turns, but the DM listens to every player and decides how to resolve those actions.
   Sometimes, resolving a task is easy. If an adventurer wants to walk across a room and open a door, the DM might just say that the door opens and describe what lies beyond. But the door might be locked, the floor might hide a deadly trap, or some other circumstance might make it challenging for an adventurer to complete a task. In those cases, the DM decides what happens, often relying on the roll of a die to determine the results of an action.
3. The GM resolves the players’ actions and narrates the results. Describing the results often leads to another decision point, which brings the flow of the game right back to step 1.
   This pattern holds whether the charactes are cautiously exploring a ruin, talking to a devious trickster, or locked in mortal combat against a mighty foe.
   In certain situations, particularly combat, the action is more structured and the players (and DM) do take turns choosing and resolving actions. But most of the time, play is fluid and flexible, adapting to the circumstances of the adventure.
   Often the action of an adventure takes place in the imagination of the players and GM, relying on the GM's verbal descriptions to set the scene. Some GMs like to use music, art, or recorded sound effects to help set the mood, and many players and GMs alike adopt different voices for the various characters, monsters, and npcs they play in the game. Sometimes, a GM might lay out a map and use tokens or miniature figures to represent each creature involved in a scene to help the players keep track of where everyone is.

Rolling the Dice

The like other ttryp games, Crystal Kings uses polyhedral dice with different numbers of sides. You can find dice like these in game stores and in many bookstores. In these rules, the different dice are referred to by the letter d followed by the number of sides - d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. For instance, a d6 is a six-sided die (the typical cube that many games use).
The Percentile dice, or d100, work a little differently. You generate a number between 1 and 100 by rolling two different ten-sided dice numbered from 0 to 9. One die (designated before you roll) gives the tens digit, and the other gives the ones digit. If you roll a 7 and a 1, for example, the number rolled is 71. Two 0s represent 100. Some ten-sided dice are numbered in tens (00, 10, 20, and so on), making it easier to distinguish the tens digit from the ones digit. In this case, a roll of 70 and 1 is 71, and 00 and 0 is 100.
When you need to roll dice, the rules tell you how many dice to roll of a certain type, as well as what modifiers to add. For example, "3d10 + 5" means you roll three ten-sided dice, add them together, and add 5 to the total.
The same d notation appears in the expressions "1d3" and "1d2." To simulate the roll of 1d3, roll a d6 and divide the number rolled by 2 (round up). To simulate the roll of 1d2, roll any die and assign a 1 or 2 to the roll depending on whether it was odd or even. (Alternatively, if the number rolled is more than half the number of sides on the die, it's a 2.)

The D20

Does an Character's Power-Sword swing hurt a dragon or just bounce off its impossibly hard scales? Will the ogre believe an outrageous bluff? Can a character swim across a raging river? Can a character avoid the main blast of a fireball, or does he or she take full damage from the blaze? In cases where the outcome of an action is uncertain, the Crystal Kings game relies on rolls of a 20-sided die, a d20, to determine success or failure. Every character and monster in the game has capabilities defined by six ability scores. The abilities are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, and they typically range from 3 to 18 for most adventurers. (Monsters might have scores as low as 1 or as high as 30.) These ability scores, and the ability modifiers derived from them, are the basis for almost every d20 roll that a player makes on a character's or monster's behalf.
Ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws are the three main kinds of d20 rolls, forming the core of the rules of the game. All three follow these simple steps.

1. Roll the die and add a modifier. Roll a d20 and add the relevant modifier. This is typically the modifier derived from one of the six ability scores, and it sometimes includes a proficiency bonus to reflect a character's particular skill. (See chapter 1 for details on each ability and how to determine an ability's modifier.)
2. Apply circumstantial bonuses and penalties. A class feature, a spell, a particular circumstance, or some other effect might give a bonus or penalty to the check.
3. Compare the total to a target number. If the total equals or exceeds the target number, the ability check, attack roll, or saving throw is a success. Otherwise, it's a failure. The DM is usually the one who determines target numbers and tells players whether their ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws succeed or fail.

The target number for an ability check or a saving throw is called a Difficulty Class (DC). The target number for an attack roll is called an Armor Class (AC).
These simple rules govern the resolution of most tasks in CK play. More detailed rules for using the d20 in the game are presented later. 

Advantage and Disadvantage

Sometimes a special ability or power tells you that you have advantage or disadvantage on an ability check, a saving throw, or an attack roll. When that happens, you roll a second d20 when you make the roll. Use the higher of the two rolls if you have advantage, and use the lower roll if you have disadvantage. For example, if you have disadvantage and roll a 17 and a 5, you use the 5. If you instead have advantage and roll those numbers, you use he 17. More detailed rules for advantage and disadvantage are presented later.

Rounding Down

There are certain circumstances where a statistic or the results of a die roll may be halved or divided. In general, unless stated specifically, whenever a number in the game is divided to where you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger.

Specific Beats General

This book contains rules, especially in parts 2 and 3, that govern how the game plays. That said, many racial traits, class features, spells, magic items, monster abilities, and other game elements break the general rules in some way, creating an exception to how the rest of the game works. Remember this: If a specific rule contradicts a general rule, the specific rule wins.
Exceptions to the rules are often minor. For instance, many adventurers don't have proficiency with longbows, but every wood elf does because of a racial trait. That trait creates a minor exception in the game. Other examples of rule-breaking are more conspicuous. For instance, an adventurer can't normally pass through walls, but some spells make that possible. Magic accounts for most of the major exceptions to the rules.

Adventuring in Crystal Kings

The game of Crystal Kings consists of a group of characters embarking on an adventure that the Game Master presents to them. Each character brings particular capabilities to the adventure in the form of ability scores and skills, class features, racial traits, equipment, and magic items. Every character is different, with various strengths and weaknesses, so the best party of adventurers is one in which the characters complement each other and cover the weaknesses of their companions. The adventurers must cooperate to successfully complete the adventure.
The adventure is the heart of the game, a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. An adventure might be created by the Game Master or purchased off the shelf, tweaked and modified to suit the DM's needs and desires. In either case, an adventure features a fantastic setting, whether it's an underground dungeon, an ancient fortress, a stretch of wilderness, or a bustling city. It features a rich cast of characters: the adventurers created and played by the other players at the table, as well as nonplayer characters (NPCs). Those characters might be patrons, allies, enemies, hirelings, or just background extras in an adventure. Often, one of the NPCs is a villain whose agenda drives much of an adventure's action.
Over the course of their adventures, the characters are confronted by a variety of creatures, objects, and situations that they must deal with in some way. Sometimes the characters and other creatures do their best to kill or capture each other in combat. At other times, the adventurers talk to another creature (or even a magical object) with a goal in mind. And often, the players spend time trying to solve a puzzle, bypass an obstacle, find something hidden, or unravel the current situation. Meanwhile, the characters explore the world, making decisions about which way to travel and what they'll try to do next.
Adventures vary in length and complexity. A short adventure might present only a few challenges, and it might take no more than a single game session to complete. A long adventure can involve hundreds of combats, interactions, and other challenges, and take dozens of sessions to play through, stretching over weeks or months of real time. Usually, the end of an adventure is marked by the adventurers heading back to civilization to rest and enjoy the spoils of their labors.
But that's not the end of the story. You can think of an adventure as a single episode of tv or a movie in a series, made up of multiple exciting scenes. A campaign is the whole series—a string of adventures joined together, with a consistent group of adventurers following the narrative from start to finish.

The Three Pillars of Adventure

Adventurers can try to do anything their players can imagine, but it can be helpful to talk about their activities in three broad categories: exploration, social interaction, and combat.
Exploration includes both the adventurers' movement through the world and their interaction with objects and situations that require their attention. Exploration is the give-and-take of the players describing what they want their characters to do, and the Game Master telling the players what happens as a result.
On a large scale, that might involve the characters spending a day crossing a rolling plain or an hour making their way through caverns underground. On the smallest scale, it could mean one character pulling a lever in a dungeon room to see what happens.
Social-interaction features the adventurers talking to someone (or something) else. It might mean demanding that a captured scout reveal the secret entrance to the goblin lair, getting information from a rescued prisoner, pleading for mercy from bandits, or persuading a talkative A.I. to reveal information to the characters.
The rules shows further ahead support exploration and social interaction, as do many class features and personality traits.
Combat, the focus of chapter , involves characters and other creatures swinging weapons, casting spells, maneuvering for position, and so on-all in an effort to defeat their opponents, whether that means killing every enemy, taking captives, or forcing a rout. Combat is the most structured element of a CK session, with creatures taking turns to make sure that everyone gets a chance to act. Even in the context of a pitched battle, there's still plenty of opportunity for adventurers to attempt wacky stunts like surfing down a flight of stairs on a shield, to examine the environment (perhaps by pulling a mysterious lever), and to interact with other creatures, including allies, enemies, and neutral parties.

The Wonders of Magic

Few CK adventures end without something magical happening. Whether helpful or harmful, magic appears frequently in the life of an adventurer, and it is the focus of chapters 10 and 11.
In the worlds of Crystal Kings, practitioners of magic are set apart from the masses of people by their extraordinary talent. Common folk might see evidence of magic on a regular basis, but it's usually minor or major—a fantastic monster, a visibly answered prayer, a wizard walking through the streets with an animated shield guardian as a bodyguard.
For adventurers, though, magic is key to their survival. Without the healing magic of clerics and paladins, adventurers would quickly succumb to their wounds. Without the uplifting magical support of bards and clerics, warriors might be overwhelmed by powerful foes. Without the sheer magical power and versatility of wizards and druids, every threat would be magnified tenfold.
Magic is also a favored tool of villains. Many adventures are driven by the machinations of spellcasters who are hellbent on using magic for some ill end. A cult leader seeks to awaken a god who slumbers beneath the sea, a hag kidnaps youths to magically drain them of their vigor, a mad wizard labors to invest an army of automatons with a facsimile of life, a dragon begins a mystical ritual to rise up as a god of destruction—these are just a few of the magical threats that adventurers might face. With magic of their own, in the form of spells and magic items, the adventurers might prevail!