Chapter 1: Getting Started

White Box requires two kinds of participants: (1) The Referee and (2) the Player. For Players, the first step in playing the game is to create a Player Character (PC). This is a simple matter of rolling some dice to determine your character’s attributes, picking a character class, race (if non-human) and buying in-game equipment. If you’re the Referee, however, you’ve got a bit more preparation to do—that’s covered in Chapter 7.

Rule Number One

The most important rule in White Box is that the Referee always has the right to modify the rules. In fact, it’s encouraged! This is your game, after all. There are gaps in the rules—holes left open on purpose—because much of the fun of role-playing games is being able to make up rules as needed.

Dice

White Box uses several different types of dice, and they are abbreviated herein according to the number of sides they have. For example, a four-sided die is noted as “d4.” If this text requires a player to roll “3d4” that means to roll three (3) four-sided dice and add the results together. Other die types (six-sided, eight-sided, ten-sided, twelve-sided, and twenty-sided) follow in the same manner.

There is no die with 100 sides. When asked to roll d100, roll two (2) ten-sided dice, treating the first roll as the “tens” and the second as the “ones.” So, if one were to roll a “7” and then a “3”, the result would be “73.”

The roll of two zeroes is treated as a result of “100,” so you cannot roll a “0” on percentile dice. The lowest result possible is a “1.”

About the Optional Rules

White Box is very easy to learn and play. The rules are simple and clear. As you create your character and read through the rules, you will see that there are several “Optional Rules” described. These are for customizing the game to fit the way you want to play, but if you are the Referee and this is your first time running a game like this, stick with the basic rules and customize later. The optional rules, plus any new rules that you and your group invent, are often called “House Rules,” because each gaming group will use a different mix of alternate and invented rules. This is a good thing, eventually you’re supposed to customize your game to fit what you want, not to follow the “official” rules forever and ever.

Character Sheets

A character sheet is a piece of paper designed to organize and contain any and all necessary PC information, for the benefit of both the Referee and Player. For White Box, the character sheet could be something as simple as a 3x5” index card—with equipment and spells written on the back. Or you can download the sheet below at http://whiteboxgame.blogspot.com/

Attributes

The basic attributes are numbers which represent the Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma of a character. The standard way to create attribute scores is to roll 3d6 for each attribute in the previously mentioned order. Once those rolls have been made, it is often obvious which type of character best fits the abilities—though, the player always has the option to play any class desired. Once the player decides on a class, points from other attributes may be shifted around (on a 2 for 1 basis), but only into the “Prime Attribute” of that character class. Shifting points around may not lower another ability score below 9, however.

Some Referees allow more flexibility (optionally). One example is to let the players roll 3d6 a total of six times and arrange the rolls however they want. This allows the player to put the best results into abilities that best suit the type of character the player wants to be.

Attribute Modifier

White Box doesn’t give many modifiers for the range of attribute scores. You can modify the game to change the effect that these scores have. Table 1 gives the standard range and effects for attributes scores. Feel free to change the values. For example, if you prefer the “average” range to be 9–12, adjust the table.

Experience Bonus

Each character may get a bonus percentage to their “experience points” (XP) that will increase the amount of experience points gained during an adventure. All characters add together the following: 5% if the character’s Prime Attribute is 15+, 5% if Wisdom is 15+, and 5% if Charisma is 15+. A Cleric with Wisdom of 15+ gets the 5% bonus twice: once because it is the Prime Attribute for a Cleric, and again because it is applied to all characters. The maximum attainable bonus is 15%. All awards of XP to the character during play will be increased by the amount of the bonus (by 0%, 5%, 10%, or 15%, whichever it is).

An optional method for the experience point bonus is simply to give the character a bonus of 10% if the Prime Attribute is 15+, 5% if the Prime Attribute is 13-14, and –10% if the Prime Attribute is lower than 9. There is no bonus for scores between 9 and 12. If you use this method, do not also give the +5% bonuses described in the basic rules that follow: if you do it this way, the maximum XP bonus is 10%.

Attribute Descriptions

Strength

Strength represents the character’s physical power. It is the Prime Attribute for Fighters, so when a Fighter character has Strength of 15+, the character gets a 5% bonus to XP. Fighters can use their Strength Bonus to modify their “to-hit” and damage results when using melee weapons.

Intelligence

Intelligence represents knowledge, reasoning, and the ability to solve puzzles or understand difficult concepts. A high Intelligence score gives a character an additional language for every point above 10. Intelligence is the Prime Attribute for Magic-users, who will get a 5% bonus to XP if the character’s Intelligence is 15+. Magic-users can use their Intelligence Bonus to improve “spell effectiveness” (i.e. target suffers a loss on his saving throw).

Wisdom

Wisdom determines a character’s insight, perception, and good judgment. Wisdom is the Prime Attribute for Clerics. Any character with a Wisdom score of 15+ gets a 5% bonus to XP, and a Cleric character with Wisdom 15+ gets another 5% (total of 10%) because it is the Prime Attribute for the Cleric class. Clerics can use their Wisdom Bonus to improve “spell effectiveness” (i.e. target suffers a loss on his saving throw).

Constitution

Constitution refers to the health and endurance of a character. A high Constitution score (15+) gives the character a +1 to each hit die, and a low score (6 or lower) gives a –1 penalty to each hit die.

Dexterity

Dexterity is a combination of coordination and quickness. It is the Prime Attribute for Thieves (if they are used). A high Dexterity score (15+) gives a character a bonus on “to-hit” rolls when attacking with a bow or other ranged weapon, and a low score (6 or less) gives a penalty of -1 to such rolls. Dexterity can be used to modify a character’s Armor Class.

Charisma

Charisma refers to a character’s personal magnetism and leadership ability. Any character with a Charisma of 15+ receives a 5% bonus to XP. Charisma also determines the number of Non-Player Character (NPC) hirelings a character can acquire. These hirelings include specialists (ship captains, assassins, etc.) and non-human creatures, but do not usually include basic soldiers. Charisma modifies the loyalty of NPCs (See “Loyalty”).

Hit Points

Hit points (HP) represent the amount of “damage” a character can take before dying: they are determined by the number of hit dice (HD) the character has at each level, which is found in the description of each character class later on. If a player begins the game with a 1st level Fighter (1+1 HD) the player would therefore roll 1 HD (1d6) and add “+1” to the end result to determine his PC’s starting hit points. When the character accumulates enough XP to gain a level, usually a new hit die is rolled and added to the total (sometimes a new level only gives an additional hit point, though, not a whole new hit die).

Alignment

Alignments in the game represent cosmic forces and are described as Law, Chaos, and Neutrality. In general, Law also corresponds to being “good,” Chaos corresponds to being “evil,” and Neutrality simply means that the character is indifferent between the two moral polarities. It is quite possible for the Referee to make the alignment system more complex: perhaps Lawful only means that you are in favor of centralized hierarchies in society, in which case you could actually be Lawful Evil as well as Lawful Good. It is a matter of preference if you want to make the alignment system more complex.

Character Retirement

If a character reaches the highest level listed on the table for that character class, what happens? Does advancement stop? Does the character have to retire? Each group has its own play style and a preference for a given range of character levels for their games. If the Referee wants to extend the tables to allow higher-level characters, then go for it!