This section is for those who are new to pencil-and-paper RPGs like ZODIAC. This chapter explains the basics of role-playing games and how to play, and is intended as a "newbie guide" for those not experienced with the genre. If you are familiar with role-playing games in general, feel free to skip this section as there is nothing new here that you need to know.

THE BASICS

A pencil-and-paper RPG is one part board game, one part Cops and Robbers, and one part collaborative storytelling. In such a game, you create a character, an alter-ego for yourself in the game world. He might be a mighty warrior, a powerful wizard, a sneaky thief, or something completely different. Roleplaying involves putting yourself in your character's shoes; you control his thoughts, actions, hopes, and fears, much like creating a character for a novel. Typically, RPGs are played with a group of other players, each of whom has their own character in the game world. The game is run by a special player called the Game Master; his title varies from system to system, but his role is generally the same. The GM usually does not have a character. Instead, he narrates the story. He tells the characters what happens, plays the roles of the people they meet (non-player characters, or NPCs), controls the enemy side in combat, and masterminds the events of the world. Some GMs prefer to map out their games beforehand; others enjoy spinning the tale spontaneously, with no preparation at all.

Unlike many games, in an RPG, the players don't compete against each other. They work as a team to overcome the challenges set forth by the Game Master, though even the GM is not trying to "win." He is the game’s referee and adjudicator. Although there is nothing to stop him from utterly destroying the players without mercy, such an attitude would win him nothing but a group of people who don’t want to play with him again. The players and Game Master all cooperate to tell the tale and enjoy themselves.

First, you will, of course, need a group of people to play with. You'll also need paper and pencils to keep track of your character's information. In addition, you need a set of polyhedral gaming dice, which you can find at any hobby or gaming store. The ZODIAC system requires a minimum of...

• One 4-sided die (d4)
• One 6-sided die (d6)
• One 8-sided die (d8)
• Two 10-sided dice (d10)
• One 12-sided die (d12)

You can generally buy a box, tube, or bag of dice that has all six of the dice you'll need. If you do so, you'll also get a 20-sided die (d20)- this die is not used in ZODIAC, but many other RPGs do use it. Having several dice of each type is helpful, because ZODIAC often calls for multiple dice to be rolled at the same time. The more dice you have, the fewer rolls you'll have to make. Finally, you may want a calculator. Although we've made the math in ZODIAC as simple as possible, there are some things- mostly bookkeeping type stuff- that you might not feel like doing in your head. You can download a printable character sheet here.

First, you will need to know how to read die codes. A die code is a simple combination of letters and numbers that tell you how many dice to roll in a certain situation. Here's a typical die code:
3d10+5
So what does this mean? The first number- the 3- tells you how many dice to roll. That number is followed by a 'd' and the number 10. This tells you the type of die that you roll. The number 10 represents the number of sides of the die- in this case, ten. Finally, there may be a '+' or '-' at the end of the code. This simply means that you add or subtract a number from the result of the roll. In our example, after rolling three ten-sided dice, you add 5 to the result. Here's another example:
6d6-10
In this case, you would roll six 6-sided dice (6d6) and subtract 10 from the result.

There are some "unusual" dice that bear mentioning here. First, d10s are typically numbered 0-9, instead of 1-10. A roll of 0 represents a 10- not a zero! Next is the d3, or three-sided die. Obviously, such a die cannot possibly exist, but we can simulate it. Whenever you must make a d3 roll, simply roll a six-sided die (d6), divide the result by 2, and round up. A roll of 1-2 represents a 1, 3-4 represents 2, and 5-6 represents 3. Similarly, a d2 is simply a d4 divided by 2. You can also flip a coin for a d2, if you wish- assign 1 to one side of the coin and 2 to the other. The fourth unusual die is the d100, or 100-sided die. Dice like this actually exist, and you can buy one if you like- but it's not necessary. So how do you generate a number between 1 and 100 without a huge hundred-sided die? Easy- you can do it by rolling two ten-sided dice. One of the dice represents the tens digit, and the other represents the ones digit. Decide beforehand which die is which, or roll them seperately if they both look the same. For example, if the "tens" roll comes up 0, and the "ones" roll comes up 7, then the result of your d100 roll is 7. If both dice come up 0, the result is 100.

Occasionally, you may be asked to make a "percentile roll," usually when something has a certain chance out of 100 to succeed. When asked to do so, you will be given a number called the "Chance of Success," or CoS. Just roll 1d100- if the result of the roll is less than or equal to the CoS, the action succeeds.
Note on d10s: Some ten-sided dice are numbered 0-9. On these dice, a 0 represents a 10, not a 0. On percentile rolls, two 0s (or two 10s) represent a roll of 100.

Other than how to roll the dice, all you need to know is how to keep up with your character. A sheet of notebook paper will suffice. It's a good idea to use pencil, because you will probably be making changes frequently. The group may also want to use another sheet of paper to map out mazes or dungeons, or keep notes on clues and information gathered.

Roleplaying is an art, not a science. In essence, you're writing a character and then acting it out by describing what he says and does. At the same time, the other players are doing the same with their characters, and everyone else in the game is controlled by the Game Master.

First, let's define two basic terms: In Character (IC) and Out Of Character (OOC). These descriptors apply to everything you do. Things that your character says and does are IC; things that you say and do outside of the game world are OOC. For example, "Okay, I charge at the goblin, swinging my axe" and "I am Conrad the Cold, and I shall avenge my father" are IC, whereas "Can the dining table fit in my character's backpack?" and "Hey Jill, pass the Doritos" are OOC.

One of the most important aspects of good roleplaying is to be aware that your knowledge (OOC knowledge) and your character's knowledge (IC knowledge) are not the same. There are several implications to this.

First, let's say you're playing in a world of high medieval fantasy. Just because you've got the entire series of Eight Is Enough on DVD doesn't mean that your character knows what a television is. The game world you'll be playing in is created by the Game Master, and if he says that televisions do not exist there, then they don't.

Second, things that you know, or think you know, about what's going on in the game don't necessarily apply to your character. Have you ever seen a movie where the hero somehow knew that, say, the villain was planning to attack Building X in Beirut at 8:00 on Tuesday... even though the movie never explained how he knew that? The same idea applies to roleplaying. For example, let's say you and a friend are creating characters, and your friend says that she wants to make her character a retired assassin. Now you, the player, know that her character is a retired assassin, but that doesn't mean your character does. If your two characters are meeting for the first time, the only way your character would know such a thing is if he had been told, or found out by some other means. Inappropriately mixing your knowledge with that of your character is called metagaming, and is considered very bad form.

A BRIEF EXAMPLE

Here's a quick look at a few minutes of a roleplaying game. Our group of unlikely heroes have just defeated the king of the goblins in his throne room...

GM: Okay, the goblin king goes down bloodily to Warrior's greataxe. His guards are all dead, so it looks like you're alone once more.
Warrior: I throw my axe at the wall and scream victory!
Priest: I just roll my eyes and tend to Rogue's injuries.
Rogue: I say, "Hey, I'm dyin' here! Put that white magic to use for once!"
Priest: "Hold still and shut up, or I'll really give you something to complain about." I cast a healing spell.
GM: Cool, he's up to full health again.
Warrior: "GRAAAH!" I start stomping on the goblin king's head.
Rogue: Uh... okay, I guess I go loot the other goblins while Warrior's doing that.
GM: One of the guards has a few gold coins. The high priest was carrying a small bronze medallion with a strange symbol on it.
Rogue: "Hey, looky here. Wonder how much this piece of trash will go for."
Priest: "Hm, let me see that..." Do I recognize the symbol?
GM: Yeah, it's the symbol of the spider god Zabraxia. Pretty standard for goblins.
Priest: "Ugh, filthy vermin of a god." I throw it back to Rogue. Is Warrior done with his victory dance yet?
Warrior: Yeah.
Rogue: Ooh, I run past Priest and dive towards the king's corpse. She's not getting first pick of the treasure!
Warrior: Hey, we divide it evenly, like always.
Priest: Is your character even smart enough to understand the concept of money?
GM: Alright, alright. Rogue, you find another symbol of Zabraxia on the king, as well as a silver key...
Rogue: "Ooh, I bet this little beauty opens something nice..."
GM: Hold on. You also find a golden ring set with a small ruby. Warrior, you and Priest both notice it as well.
Rogue: "Well, finders keepers, right guys?" I start to slip it into my pocket.
Warrior: "GRAAAARR!"
Rogue: "Okay, okay! I was just kidding, jeez..."

Well, okay, the characters don't always work together in perfect harmony... but hey, that's part of the fun. Like anything else, good roleplaying takes practice; the more you do it, the better you'll get, and you'll find yourself able to play deeper and more complex characters. If you want more in-depth advice on roleplaying, try searching the internet; there are lots of solid articles available, written by experienced roleplayers.

PLAYING ONLINE

Role-playing games like ZODIAC are traditionally played played face-to-face with a group of friends. Of course, sometimes you can't meet in person, or perhaps you don't know anyone who wants to play. Maybe you just feel more comfortable roleplaying online than in person. If that's the case, you can check out OpenRPG, which is a free gaming service you can use to meet other players and run games online, complete with dice, character sheets, and other useful stuff.

THAT'S IT!

You now know the basics of playing an RPG. These simple guidelines apply to many other systems out there besides the ZODIAC engine. Now that you have an idea of what you've gotten yourself into, go on to Chapter 1: Character Creation to start creating your character and learning the rules of ZODIAC!