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If you bought the PDF of Forge Out Of Chaos through DriveThruRPG, you'll find a dozen pages are missing. I've scanned them from the physical copy - here they are.
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Character Creation
Forge characters have characteristics modeled on D&D: Strength and Dexterity, Intellect for Intelligence, Insight for Wisdom and instead of Charisma there is Awareness. All are rolled using 2d6, with a d10 used to add a decimal point to each score, ranging from 2.1 up to 12.0 (i.e. 13) and averaging at 7.5. Scores in the range 4.5-8.9 are 'normal' but benefits kick in at 9.0, 10.5 and 12.1 and penalties at 4.4, 3.5 and 2.8. Intellect and Insight are added together to calculate your Skill Slots and your Hit Points are calculated by doubling your Stamina.
If you roll badly, don't despair. You can buy enhancements to your characteristics as Skills later on.
If you roll badly, don't despair. You can buy enhancements to your characteristics as Skills later on.
There are three secondary characteristics that are rolled differently. Speed is 1d4+1 (2-5), Power is 2d10 (2-20) and Luck is 2d6+4 (6-16). Speed is useful for everyone and Luck determines your base Saving Throws against Death, Disease, Magic, Mind and Poison. However, Power is only important if you want to be a Mage: it determines how many Spell Points (SPTS) you have.
Races
As with most Old School RPGs, races alter and nuance character creation in important ways. As usual, Humans are the 'default' and the non-Human races diverge from this standard.
Berserkers gain +1.0 to Strength and Stamina at the cost of a similar penalty to Dexterity and Awareness; they have great Saving Throws against Fear (of course) but poor against Disease and Magic; I understand vulnerability to Magic but why Disease? Mind would make more sense. Their main benefit is +1 Attack Value (AV). They're clearly modeled on Klingons, what with those ridges on their foreheads.
Dunnar are creepy albino cripples with the ability to sense magic by touch. They take hourly damage from direct sunlight and have Night Vision to compensate. They have great Saving Throws against Mind (but not, oddly, Magic) but poor ones against Death (for some reason; if it has to be something, why not Poison?). Their twisted bodies give them -1 Speed but they get no characteristic increases.
Dwarves and Elves are loosely tied to their D&D template, with little hint of Tolkienesque mysticism. Dwarves have Heat Vision and great Saving Throws against Poison and Disease (which makes sense given their hardiness) but poor ones against Death and Magic (reversing the trope of Dwarvish magic resistance) and suffer -1.0 to Awareness (no Dwarvish perceptiveness here). Elves have normal vision, long lifespans (but only 140 years, not millennia) and great Saving Throws against Mind set against penalties for Disease and Fear (canceling Elvish imperturbability). Being charming, they get +25% on Reaction tests and a +25% bonus to the Magic skill, which is a substantial benefit in a campaign, but not in a one-off scenario.
Ghantu and Higmoni are the two 'monster' races. Ghantu are massive one-eyed apes, enjoying +2.0 Strength and the ability to wield two-handed swords without penalty. Their hide grants them Armour Value 1 and they can use their claws for 1d4 damage in a brawl. Set against this is a terrible Saving Throw against Mind, penalties with missiles due to poor depth perception (though they do have Night Vision!) and all Skills cost them twice as many skill slots. No magic for them - except for direct-from-the-deity Divine Magic! Higmoni are more balanced, being pug-faced orcs with slow regeneration (2 Hit Points per night) and Heat Vision. Unfortunately, they smell terrible (penalties on Reaction and even Hiding!!!) and get -1.0 to Dexterity as well as poor Saving Throws against Disease and Mind; why would creatures with great healing be vulnerable to disease?
Jher-ems, Kithsara and Merikii are the obligatory animal races. Jher-ems are weasel-people who can track by scent and use their tails as weapons (Attack Value 3, which is impressive, and 1d3 damage). The main thing with them is that they're telepathic; set against this their frailty gives them -1 to Attack Values and their wheezy coughs mean they cannot run! Kithsara are lizard people, with Armour Rating 2 scales and bites that are Attack Value 3 for 1d3 damage: all powerful assets. As innate magic-users they get -1.0 to Stamina but +3 to Power (which is of no benefit if they don't learn Magic). Set against this, they have terrible Saving Throws vs Poison and Death (odd for swamp dwellers) and their Thin Blood loses 2 HP per minute rather than 1 when they are bleeding out. Merikii are humanoid, flightless birds with Night Vision who are naturally ambidextrous and fight with two weapons. They share the Thin Blooded frailty with Kithsara but suffer -1.0 to Strength (and a limit of 9.0) so they're not going to be overwhelming combatants and their Saving Throw penalty is against Mind.
Sprites are really Halflings or Hobbits by another name. They have -1.0 Strength and a limit of 7.0, so they're not great at melee. They have a good Saving Throw against Mind but a penalty against Fear. Their main ability is Empathy, which lets them sense a creature's true feelings towards them.
Skills
Forge doesn't have character classes that go up in levels. Instead there are skills of three types, two of which increase through experience.
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Basic Skills entitle you to do a thing or grant you a fixed bonus. For example, Binding lets you bind wounds using a binding kit but Searching adds +25% to your base Search score (derived from your Awareness characteristic). These include the Exceptional Characteristics that let you add +1.0 to one of your basic characteristics, letting you 'buy off' terrible rolls or attain the high scores with their bonuses.
Percentage Skills work just like in Basic Roleplaying/Runequest/Call of Cthulhu. They confer a percentage chance to complete a special task. Tick them every time they are used successfully. You increase them by roll d% and trying to get a score higher than your skill; if you do it goes up by +1%. As your skills go up, they succeed more often but it becomes harder to improve them.
Leveled Skills are received at 1st level and go up in levels: 2nd, 3rd, etc. They include combat skills and Magic. You tick them when they are used successfully (hitting in combat, casting a spell). Each skill has a percentage score too and you improve them by rolling d% and trying to roll lower than the skill. This means they improve slowly at first but then speed up. Once a skill reaches 100% you go up a level and the skill drops to the original percentage value minus 4% and you start all over. If the score drops below 0% it can't be improved any further. Now you see why the Elves' bonus of +25% to Magic skill is such an advantage in a campaign.
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Combat
Each character has an Attack Value (AV) calculated by adding their Weapon Skill Level to any Dexterity bonus or penalty; Berserkers get their +1 AV and Jher-ems their -1 AV. Characters also have a Primary Defense Value (DV1) calculated by adding their Armour Rating (1-7) and Shield Rating (1-3) and any Awareness bonus or penalty. The Secondary Defense Value (DV2) ignores shields and Awareness adjustments and is used for flank or rear attacks. Monsters often have a simple all-round Armour Rating (AR) instead of a complicated DV1/DV2.
Combat is a simple d20 roll to hit. Against someone whose DV is the same as your AV, you need 10+ to hit. For each point of difference, this target increases or decreases by 1. There's a 'to hit table' but you can work it out in your head easily.
Damage is based on weapon type, with a bonus or penalty from Strength. Against an unarmoured opponent, all this damage comes off their Hit Points and once they drop to zero they collapse and bleed out at 1HP/turn (faster for Kithsara and Merikii) and they die when they reach -10.
Against armoured opponents, most of the damage is deducted from the Armour Points of their armour or the Shield Points of their shield. Plate Mail (AR 7) has 70 APs but leather armour (AR 2) has 20; a wooden shield (SR 1) has 5 SP but a tower shield (SR 3) has 25 SP. As these points drop, the Rating of the armour/shield (the amount it adds to the DV) drops too. A small amount of damage is "actual damage" and goes against the target's Hit Points rather than their armour. This is equal to the number of dice rolled in the attack (so a short sword dealing 1d6 does 1 actual damage but a spear dealing 2d4 deals 2 actual damage). Skills like Assassination and Backstabbing increase the amount of actual damage and some spells deal entirely actual damage. Finding a way of bypassing armour is crucial in many combats.
Against armoured opponents, most of the damage is deducted from the Armour Points of their armour or the Shield Points of their shield. Plate Mail (AR 7) has 70 APs but leather armour (AR 2) has 20; a wooden shield (SR 1) has 5 SP but a tower shield (SR 3) has 25 SP. As these points drop, the Rating of the armour/shield (the amount it adds to the DV) drops too. A small amount of damage is "actual damage" and goes against the target's Hit Points rather than their armour. This is equal to the number of dice rolled in the attack (so a short sword dealing 1d6 does 1 actual damage but a spear dealing 2d4 deals 2 actual damage). Skills like Assassination and Backstabbing increase the amount of actual damage and some spells deal entirely actual damage. Finding a way of bypassing armour is crucial in many combats.
Rolling a natural 20 means that your damage is applied to the armour/shield in its entirety AND dealt as actual damage against the target's Hit Points (against unarmoured opponents it's simply doubled). This is a big deal and the only downside is that the weapon is "notched". Weapons can take a certain number of "notches" (normally 1-5) before breaking.
Rolling a natural 1 means you drop your weapon. There's a Percentage Skill called Weapon Stomp that your opponent can use to prevent you retrieving it.
Rolling a natural 1 means you drop your weapon. There's a Percentage Skill called Weapon Stomp that your opponent can use to prevent you retrieving it.
A distinctive feature of Forge is the post-combat clean-up. Characters with the Binding skill can apply the binding kits they have; each heals 3HP (although I prefer rolling 1d6). Healing Root (purchased for 6gp, about the cost of a hand axe) heals 1d4. Characters with the Field Repair Skill can apply the armour repair kits they have; each repairs 1AP to damaged armour per 2 minutes spent. This means armour (but not shields) can be fully repaired so long as there are enough kits and the PCs spend enough time and the noise doesn't attract Wandering Monsters. While they're doing that, Mages should try to nap: they regain 5 SPTS for 2 hours of sleep.
Magic
The Magic skill costs a whopping 10 skill slots to buy and you might want to invest more into it. It entitles you to perform one type of magic.
Divine Magic is provided by two gods trapped in the underworld but still trying to influence mortals. Berethenu is the god of justice and his spells focus on healing, protection, righteous combat and confronting the undead. Grom is the god of war and his spells focus on blasting people and enhancing your combat skills and equipment.
Pagan Magic was once taught by a bunch of gods who are now dead or banished but mortals have figured out how to keep using it. It's split between dungeon-friendly Attack Magic and more long term Enchantment. Beast Magic grants the powers of animals and power over nature; Elementalism involves fight, invisibility and lightning bolts; Necromancy involves animating and controlling undead and curses. Enchantment has more subtle spells that last for as long as you keep investing Maintenance Points in them.
You get a number of Spell Slots equal to your Intellect. You choose a spell for each slot from the 1st level spells (Pagan Mages can also choose from one level higher, i.e. you could start with 2nd level spells). Each spell has a number of random elements to it (like Range, Duration, Damage Inflicted, etc) and you roll these on a set of tables referred to as 'schematics'. Pagan spells might also have Hidden Side Effects (HSE) and you roll for these too: they include things like taking damage or suffering a loss of spell-casting powers for a time. If you're a Pagan Mage and you invested more than 10 Skill Slots into Magic, you get a bonus to these rolls, making your spells less likely to suck. If you were learning a spell from a level higher than your Magic Skill, you get a penalty, making them more likely to suck.
If your spells do suck, you can re-roll them, but that uses up another Spell Slot. This means you have to choose between having a lot of spells that aren't terribly good, or a few spells that you've re-rolled until they work well. The same applies when you increase your Magic Skill by a level: you get a new load of Spell Slots and access to a higher level list of spells, but you might prefer to use some of those slots re-rolling your existing spells to improve them (and if you re-learn a spell fro a list lower than your current level, you get a big bonus).
Spells cost Spell Points (SPTS) to cast: usually 7 SPTS/level but Elementalism is expensive (9/level). A starting Mage has around 20-25 SPTS and so can perhaps cast 3 or 4 spells before being drained. Each time you increase in Magic Skill you get more SPTS equal to your Power +1d6, but of course higher level spells cost more to cast. Pagan Mages can choose to spend extra SPTS to "pump" a spell in order to increase its Range, Duration, Damage, etc. This carries a chance (starting at 25%) that the spell blows up in your face, but again, if you invested extra Skill Slots in Magic beyond the basic 10, this chance is reduced.
Pagan Magic requires components to cast and these components are expensive: a Manticore Spike for Beast Magic Damage Spells costs just 35gp (still a lot for a starting character to spend) and most cost over 100gp. Enchantment components tend to be a bit cheaper but get 'used up' when the spell is cast. Pagan Magic components don't get used up but they do get destroyed if you pump a spell and it backfires. Sourcing spell components is a Mage's main task.
