Table of Contents
Front Cover Front Matter Introduction Welcome to Season Four! What You’ll Need to Play How to Read This Book The RiM: S4E Team Character Creation D.A.S.H. Design Aspects Statistics Headway D.A.S.H. Example Playing an Episode Structure of Gameplay Making Checks Advantages & Drawbacks Acting in Harmony Damage, Recovery, & Sidelining Using & Restoring Valor Ending an Episode Character Advancement Learning Lessons Experience Points Purchasing Edges Edge List Library of Edges Magic & Spellcasting Magic Is as Magic Does Creating Spells Casting Spells The Canterlot Archives Running an Episode Being the Game Master Collaborative Storytelling Getting Things Started Checks & Difficulty Targets Damage & Sidelining Lessons & Experience Variant Rules Plot Points Equestria Girls Paragon Ponies Wide, Wide World Epic Experience Encyclopedia Equestria Premade Episodes The House of Enchanted Comics Ars Unicornia Mutants and Maresterminds Whinnystrad Miscellaneous Character Sheet A Note for Developers Updates & Resources Single Page Version (for print)
Statistics
Attributes
The next step of character creation is to familiarize yourself with the three Attributes which will form the basis of checks and tasks your character attempts to perform, as well as determining their ability to resist harm, and the degree of their inner courage which they can summon for a variety of purposes.
There are three Attributes in S4E: Mind, Body, and Heart. A new character is created with all three Attributes beginning with a score of 1.
Attributes can be improved by spending Experience Points to purchase certain Edges (Experience Points and Edges are explained in more detail in the Character Advancement chapter of this book).
Mind: The Mind Attribute represents a character’s intellect, reasoning, problem-solving ability, logic and analytical ability. It also represents their memory and knowledge: how much they can remember and how much sheer information they have access to. Finally, it represents their perception and senses: how well they see, hear, smell, taste, feel, and notice about those senses. Characters with a high Mind score tend to be all-around clever, intellectual, and perceptive characters. They approach situations intelligently and rationally, and notice things others do not. They are likely to find solutions nopony else has thought of, and remember important facts no one else did. They are often natural leaders, but can also be some of the best advisors and educational characters in any group of friends. Mind is an important Attribute for characters who cast Spells and use magic, as well as characters who want to focus on having a high pool of Willpower to resist mental and emotional harm.
Body: The Body Attribute represents a character’s muscular strength and power, as well their toughness, stamina, and ability to resist injury and fatigue. It also represents their speed, quickness, reaction time, and overall swiftness. Finally, it represents their agility, dexterity, flexibility, and bodily coordination--their ability to maneuver and move gracefully. Characters with a high Body score tend to be stout, strong, athletic, and fast characters. They approach situations with a mentality of being ready for hard work, and are undaunted by difficulty. They are likely to succeed in a clinch, and can usually be depended upon to accomplish any physical task set before them. They are often the go-to characters in many situations, and can be some of the most relied-upon characters in any group of friends. Body is an important Attribute for characters who are athletic or adventurous, as well as characters who want to focus on having a high pool of Fortitude to resist physical harm.
Heart: The Heart Attribute represents a character’s charm and force of presence: their charisma, determination, and bearing. It also represents their sensitivity, empathy, compassion, care, and ability to connect with other creatures. Finally, it represents their creativity and artistic expression. Characters with a high Heart score tend to be strong-willed, compassionate, charismatic characters. They approach situations from their own perspective, and often help avert disaster with their personalities. They are likely to make friends and allies with the most unexpected creatures and characters. They are often supporting characters in most situations, though when they see what must be done, they can become a rallying force in any group of friends. Heart is an important Attribute for characters who are social or artistic, as well as characters who want to focus on having a high pool of Valor points to spend on a variety of unique abilities.
Fortitude & Willpower
The next step of character creation is to calculate your character’s Fortitude and Willpower scores, as well as familiarize yourself with how Fortitude and Willpower are important to a character.
Whenever a character is exposed to a source of harm, whether physical or mental / emotional, they lose points of Fortitude, Willpower, or both. If they run out of points of either, they become Sidelined, or temporarily defeated (damage, recovery, and Sidelining are explained in more detail in the Playing An Episode chapter of this book).
Fortitude represents a character’s fitness and endurance, as well as their resistance to physical harm, wounds, and injuries. Whenever they are physically injured, a character takes damage by losing points of Fortitude.
Fortitude is calculated from a character's Attributes as: (Body x 10) + (Heart x 5). As a character’s Body or Heart scores change, their Fortitude changes as well.
Willpower represents a character’s self-esteem and determination, as well as their resistance to fatigue and mental / emotional harm. Whenever they are discouraged or scared, a character takes damage by losing points of Willpower.
Willpower is calculated from a character's Attributes as: (Mind x 10) + (Heart x 5). As a character’s Mind or Heart scores change, their Willpower changes as well.
Valor
The next step of character creation is to determine your character’s starting and maximum Valor score, as well as familiarize yourself with what Valor is and why it is important to a character.
In Equestria, the genuine integrity, compassion, selflessness, and courage of an ordinary pony can turn them into a hero, allowing them to face down even the greatest dangers. Those who strive to make the world a better place and do the best they can to do the right thing often find that they have a great inner strength to draw from. Characters in S4E have a pool of Valor points to represent this effect.
Characters begin each play session, and each Episode, with an amount of Valor equal to their Heart score, regardless of the amount they had remaining at the end of any previous play session or Episode; in effect, Valor resets to the character’s maximum each time the player group sits down to play, as well as each time they begin a new Episode.
Characters may spend a point of Valor at any time during gameplay to restore 1d6 points of lost Fortitude and Willpower to themselves or any one of their friends. In addition, Valor may have other uses and effects based on the Edges a character has purchased.
As they play, characters may restore points of Valor they have spent (up to a maximum equal to their Heart score) by carrying out heroic, courageous, and / or virtuous actions or decisions at the GM's discretion. Characters don’t even necessarily have to succeed at these moral actions; often enough, making the decision to do what’s right as opposed to what might be easier is enough. In fact, one of the most reliable ways for a character to restore points of spent Valor is to act in a way which embodies their Guiding Element whenever possible.
At the GM's discretion, characters who show apathy or disregard toward those they might reasonably help, or who take advantage of others, or who act unfairly or with cruelty, or who otherwise behave in a knowingly immoral or unjust way, may have points of Valor taken away from them during gameplay to reflect the inner toll such actions take on a character.