Public Use Document

Created by Richard Garner and

Eternal Tempest Productions

The rules and concepts found in this document relate to the Halo Role Playing
System. The Halo system, as detailed in this document, is available for public
use and distribution, in any form, provided the following conditions are met:

Condition 1. No term or concept may be altered from its original meaning. The
only terms that may be renamed are “Health” and “Actions.”

Condition 2. Proper credit must be given to Eternal Tempest in each product or

form of distribution that uses the Halo system. Credit must read, “’Halo’ Role
Playing System created by Richard Garner and Eternal Tempest Productions.
(www.EternalTempest.com)”

Condition 3. A copy of each product or form of distribution that uses the Halo
system must be sent to Eternal Tempest Productions at least one month (thirty
days to the hour) prior to public release. ([email protected])

Eternal Tempest Productions does not hold the right to refuse public use
by any means, provided all of the above conditions are met.

This document is written with general role playing game concepts and
terminology. A basic understanding of role playing games is assumed.

Halo d6 Role Playing System Rules written by Richard Garner.

Copyright  2000, 2001, 2002 Richard Garner. All rights reserved.
The Halo system is broken down into two main portions, character creation and mechanics.

Halo Character Creation

Each character in a Halo system has nine base values that determine his/her strengths in certain areas.
Other values can be generated from these base values depending on the specific game and genre, but
these nine base values are always present.

Values are calculated by combining orders and traits. Orders reflect the character’s personality
tendencies. Active is the character’s tendency to “do and act.” Passive is the tendency to “endure and
understand.” And neutral is the tendency to “observe and avoid.” Traits represent a characters personal
resources and abilities.

To determine these values, first distribute a value of one (1), two (2) and three (3) among the three orders;
Active, Passive and Neutral. No order may have a similar value as another order. Refer to table below.

Once the orders have been determined, distribute a value of (1), two (2) and three (3) among the three
traits; Body, Mind and Soul. No trait may have a similar value as another trait. Refer to table below.

Each value of a character is determined by adding an order and a trait. All characters start with a base of
zero (0) in each value. No base value should ever fall below one (1). Refer to the table below.

Traits Orders
Active ( ) Passive ( ) Neutral ( )
Body ( ) STR (Body + Active) END (Body + Passive) AGL (Body + Neutral)
Mind ( ) COM (Mind + Active) INT (Mind + Passive) PER (Mind + Neutral)
Soul ( ) PRJ (Soul + Active) FTH (Soul + Passive) BLS (Soul + Neutral)

STR (Strength): raw physical might PER (Perception): use of senses and memory
END (Endurance): toughness and stability PRJ (Projection): creativity, imagination, expression
AGL (Agility): reflexes, speed and dexterity FTH (Faith): hope, certainty, confidence
COM (Communication): charisma and influence BLS (Blessing): luck and divine protection
INT (Intelligence): raw thinking ability

A characters damage limit, often referred to as ‘hit points’ in other games, is known as “Health.” A
characters Health value, is the total sum of all Body values. (Health can be referred to in different terms
depending on game design.)

A characters action limit value, or points available for performing combat actions, is known as “Actions.”
A characters Actions value begins at one (1) and can be increased through various means depending on
game design. (Actions can be referred to in different terms depending on game design.)

Value Limits:

The Halo system is best used when values are limited to 10 or less. This allows a good spread of
difficulty among even the super-skilled characters. Therefore, value advancements should be few and
far between. It is suggested that one (1) point of value be granted to a character for every 8-10 game
sessions that he/she is utilized. Game designers and game masters are free to advance as they desire.

Halo d6 Role Playing System Rules written by Richard Garner.

Copyright  2000, 2001, 2002 Richard Garner. All rights reserved.
Halo Mechanics
The ‘Halo’ system employs a simple-to-use set of dice rolls. All dice used in the Halo system are six sided
dice. There are four levels of dice rolls to represent four different levels of gameplay; Light (1 die),
Average (2 dice), Heavy (3 dice), and Extreme (5 dice).

Roll the dice then add all the dice results up and replace the highest set of doubles (if any) with a value of
one (1) per die. If two doubles come up, only replace the doubles of the highest number. If a triple comes
up, only replace two of the three similar dice. Only one set of doubles may be replaced per roll.

Examples: 3+3=2 (a double is replaced with a value of 1 per die)

3+3+3=5 (a double is replaced with a value of 1 per die and the third copy is unaltered)
3+3+4+4=8 (the highest double is replaced with a value of 1 per die)
4+4+4+4+4=14 (only one set of doubles is replaced with a value of 1 per die)

Action Rolls:
Anytime a character is performing a particularly difficult action, an action roll must be made. Action rolls
do not cover simple everyday actions. Game masters should determine when action rolls are needed.

The game master must not only determine whether an action roll is needed but also the difficulty of the
action being performed. Difficulty can be determined by the strain being made upon the character's body,
mind or soul. Once the game master decides what kind of difficulty the action is, a roll is made based on
the following difficulties.

Light rolls are made for simple actions that have minimal chance of failure.
Average rolls are made for not-too-simple actions. This is the most common roll.
Heavy rolls are made for difficult actions. These rolls are challenging obstacles.
Extreme rolls are made for near-impossible actions. These rolls are truly heroic feats.

An action roll is made versus a particular value of a character determined by the game master. When the
action roll is made, if the roll falls below or equal to the value being rolled against, the roll is successful. If
the roll is greater than the value, the roll was a failure. Low rolls are good and high rolls are bad.

Opposed Action Rolls:

If a character’s action is opposed by another character or an non-player character, this becomes an
opposed action roll. Each character’s applicable value must be determined and each character makes a
light action roll (unless otherwise stated by the game master). The rolls are subtracted from the
characters’ applicable values and the new values are compared. The game master may apply modifiers.
Higher value wins.

Skills:
Skill aid characters when attempting specific actions. Characters may add skill levels to base values when
making action rolls related to that skill. If a character were to make a heavy action roll versus agility in
order to swim a moat, he could add his swimming skill of level 2 to his agility for this action roll. Skills
should max out at 7. This ensures that a highly skilled character will still face a possibility of failure in
extremely difficult situations.

Shifters:
Shifters are anything that changes the level of difficulty roll being made. For example, if a character
possesses an advantage or perk such as ‘natural swimmer,’ he could lower (or downshift) the difficulty roll
for a swimming based action roll. If he has a disadvantage or flaw such as ‘fear of water,’ he would
increase (or shift up) the difficulty roll. Shifters should not advance. Instead each shifter should allow only
one shift up or down in difficulty. Game masters should prevent more than one shifter to be used per roll.

Halo d6 Role Playing System Rules written by Richard Garner.

Copyright  2000, 2001, 2002 Richard Garner. All rights reserved.
In-Game References:
When referring to rules in-game, players may use a simple set of phrases. The phrases should contain
two key word types; difficulty and value. For example, the phrase “You require heavy agility,” means that
the player must roll a heavy difficulty roll and compare versus his endurance value.

Glossary of Terms
Action Roll: A dice roll consisting of either 1, 2, 3 or 5 dice that is compared to a specific value.

Actions: Status value measuring available actions.

Agility (AGL): Base value measuring reflexes, speed and dexterity.

Base values: Values that measure abilities and aptitudes. Base values rarely change.

Blessing (BLS): Base value measuring luck and divine protection.

Body values: Base values that measure physical aptitude. Body values include STR, END and AGL.

Communication (COM): Base value measuring charisma, influence.

Endurance (END): Base value measuring toughness and stability.

Faith (FTH): Base value measuring hope, certainty, confidence.

Health: Status value measuring limit of damage points that can be taken.

Intelligence (INT): Base value measuring raw thinking power.

Mind values: Base values that measure mental aptitude. Mind values include COM, INT and PER.

Opposed Action Roll: A dice roll consisting of either 1, 2, 3 or 5 dice subtracted from a specific value. The final
number is then compared to the Opposed Action Roll of an opponent.

Orders: Tendencies and personal character drive that provide a character either active, passive or neutral benefits.

Perception (PER): Base value measuring use of senses and memory.

Projection (PRJ): Base value measuring creativity, imagination, expression.

Shifters: Game elements or options possessed by characters that could alter the difficulty level of a specific action
roll or opposed action roll.

Skills: Game elements or options possessed by characters that could temporarily increase the value being rolled
against by an action roll or opposed action roll.

Soul values: Base values that measure spiritual aptitude. Soul values include PRJ, FTH and BLS.

Status values: Values that measure current level of health and mobility. Status values can change often.

Strength (STR): Base value measuring raw physical strength.

Traits: Generic resources possessed by every character in the form of body, mind and soul.

Value: A number representing the ability or measure of a particular resource possessed by a character.

Halo d6 Role Playing System Rules written by Richard Garner.

Copyright  2000, 2001, 2002 Richard Garner. All rights reserved.