Rules Overview This is a brief overview of the genreDiversion Third Edition rules. Characters Abilities describe the areas in which a character has talent. They are five abilities: fitness, awareness, creativity, reasoning, and influence. They are rated between 1 and 5 (larger values reflect fantastic ability). Pursuits reflect a character's specialized training and knowledge. There are five ratings with accompanying bonuses/penalties: incompetency (-1), basic knowledge (0), proficiency (+1), specialty (+2), and mastery (+3). Some genreDiversion 3E games also add grand-mastery (+4). Gimmicks are special properties that are either beneficial or detrimental to the character. They can also be used to fine tune abilities, such as by adjusting the fitness ability for strength-related tasks or the influence ability when it involves the character's appearance. Health measures a character's level of fatigue and injury. Some games also track other conditions like tension or heroism. The thresholds for fatigue and injury are equal to the character's fitness rating, but may be modified by certain gimmicks -- this determines how much damage a character can take before advancing to the next grade of fatigue or injury. Tasks Whenever a character attempts to do something in which success is not guaranteed, a roll of the dice is needed. The character rolls two 6-sided dice and adds that sum together with his relevant ability rating and pursuit bonus/penalty for a dice total. If this dice total is equal to or greater than the assigned difficulty rating (see image at right), he succeeds. The overkill for a task is equal to the difference between the dice total and difficulty rating. Overkill is used for determining the winner when two or more characters compete against each other. Some tasks may require additional steps. For example, characters can choose over-exert themselves to boost the odds of success (they receive fatigue to lessen the difficulty). Combat and Damage Ranged attacks are always made against a difficulty that is based on the distance to the target. Close combat is made against a difficulty of 8 + the defender's fitness rating and relevant pursuit bonus/penalty. Characters can also actively defend to double their pursuit bonus. Other factors may also modify these values. If an attack is successful, first determine the damage rating. This depends on the weapon used and may also rely on the character's fitness rating. This value is halved if no overkill is achieved. The defender rolls a number of dice equal to the total damage. Each die that is less than or equal to the defender's padding (against fatigue) or armor (against injury) rating (which may also be modified by his fitness), blocks one point of damage. The remaining is applied as fatigue or injury, depending on the nature of the attack. Also, if the total number of dice rolled to block damage is greater than the defender's relevant threshold, he is overwhelmed, which typically means that he falls to the ground. Exploits If a character achieves 5 or more overkill for a task, he may exploit his success. This means that one exploit can be applied to the task, such as increasing the potency of a magic spell, running faster in a given turn, inflicting extra damage, or executing a tactical maneuver that affects an opponent during the following turn. Some genreDiversion 3E games may permit more than one exploit per task or alter the minimum amount of overkill needed for their use. Experience Experience is a measure of a character's past adventures. It can be spent during play to roll an extra die for a task, break ties, or increase a character's padding or armor rating. Some genreDiversion 3E games may extend its use, such as by healing damage or extending the effects of certain gimmicks or powers. While some experience may be necessary to boost elements in special situations, pursuits can be increased and gimmicks can be gained or lost through the game itself. Abilities cannot normally be increased during play, but gimmicks that augment certain aspects of an ability can be gained. Spaces Distances are primarily given in spaces, which is the same as 2 meters, 2 yards, 6 feet, 1 inch, or 1 hex. This makes it easier to convert between Imperial and Metric systems, as well as a smaller scale for when using miniatures or larger scale for starship combat. Scaling Abilities, damage, and size can be scaled to three additional scales above the standard in some genreDiversion 3E games: extra, super, and epic. This aids in interacting with vehicles and huge creatures. Going Diceless Notes are included with most genreDiversion 3E games for incorporating the Active Exploits™ rules for diceless play. These are the basics of the system. Some genreDiversion 3E games also include rules for vehicles (The genreDiversion 3E Manual and Stormrift), chases (Bloodshadows), and special powers (The genreDiversion 3E Manual and Bloodshadows).