Aquelarre uses a variant of
Chaosium's
Basic Role-Playing system developed for
RuneQuest.
Character generation Each player chooses a class for the character. Each class provides access to a number of skills. Abilities are determined randomly, and skill levels are then extrapolated from the relevant abilities.
Task resolution In order to succeed at a task, the player must roll percentile dice equal to or lower than the character's relevant skill level (to which the referee may have added situational modifiers.)
Combat One round of combat takes 12 seconds of game time, during which time each character can perform two actions, choosing from Move, Attack and Defend. Armor has two ratings: how much damage a weapon has to do to pierce it in one strike, and how much damage the armor can take overall before it is effectively ruined.
Magic Although magic is useful and can help the characters to resolve tasks which have been set before them, most other people see magic as evil and demonic. This tension between the characters' use of magic and the commonly held perception of magic forms the centrepiece of this game. The magic system is complex, and unlike many other role-playing games, successful spell completion is difficult to accomplish. Characters must also learn to practice the arcane arts in private, lest they come to the attention of the secretive Fraternitas Vera Lucis (in this role-playing universe, the antecedent of the
Inquisition). The penalty for being discovered using magic is immediate death. ==Publication history==