Fantastic Frontiers - Men & Muskets

09 Jun, 2025

Fantastic Frontiers - Men & Muskets is the first part of a series concerning highly lethal fantasy roleplaying inspired by the fur-trade and the French & Indian War. The first part, Men & Muskets, is about the humans and how they kill one another.

Forming a Party

Roll 1d6 to generate a dice pool of potential followers.
Cast those dice and count all results that show a 4+. 
Those are your Men. They are lead by a Leading Man.

Initiative vs Men

Have each Leading Man roll a d6. On a 4+ this Man and his Men may act Quickly (Before their enemy). On any other result, this Man and his Men may act Slowly (After their enemy).

Men move 8” (40m) per action. Men have two actions per activation.

Reloading:

1 - Fumble, no reload 2-5 - Reload. 6 - Fast reload, may fire once more.

Firing test is a 2d6, succeeds on 8+; Misfires on a 1,1 or 1,2. 
Other results go wide. 
Doubles (4,4 / 5,5 / 6,6) - Roll Hit Location table twice taking higher result. 
Cover - Roll Hit Location tables twice taking lower result.

Misfiring:

1 Trigger stuck - Take an action to try again.

2 Shot stuck - Spend an entire activation resolving the issue (must make successful reload, if result is a 6 then this only takes one action).

3 Lost digits - Reloads are now rolled at a disadvantage.

4 Burnt retina - Ignore whites of their eyes bonus, hit location at disadvantage.

5 A farewell to arms - This firearm is unusable.

6 Fatal error - Begin making death checks.

Hit locations

1 Grazed - No effect.

2 Leg - 5” (25m) Slower, melee -1.

3 Shoulder - Firing test at disadvantage, melee -1.

4 Center of Mass - Grievous Wound.

5 Center of Mass - Grievous Wound.

6 Head - Instant death. No check.

Repeat hits on limbs become a hit on center of mass.

The whites of their eyes: Enemies within 4” (20m) are fired upon with advantage.

Melee check:

Man-to-Man: Make a 2d6 opposed roll. 
Whoever rolls lower will suffer a grievous wound. 
A tie results in mutual destruction, and both men begin making death checks.

Ganging Up: For every additional man piling into the melee, add a single die.
If a group is defeated, all Men go down suffering grievous wounds.

Coup de grace - As an action, a man can kill someone making death checks as long as he is in base contact with his target. If a man making death checks is fired upon successfully, it results in his death.

Grievous wounds:

When a man is Grievously Wounded he falls to the ground and begins making a 
death check at the end of each turn. He is unable to act while on the ground.
 
If he rolls “On your feet, soldier”, he is able to get up and can activate as
normal next turn.

Death check:

1-3 Death. 4-5 Holding on… 6 On your feet, soldier!

Stabilizing wounds:

Men making Death checks can be Stabilized by another by using an action within base contact of an allied man. Each turn, he can apply pressure to the wound to keep the man from dying and give him a chance to recover. If a man is being stabilized he can choose to make a death check at +1 or forgo a death check, defaulting to a result of “Holding on…”

Any injured man who is not dead at the end of a battle survives another day. Any lasting injuries (shoulder, leg) are resolved after a season's rest.

Tasks are resolved automatically if there is time to do them.

Men are assumed to be competent in what they do. 
If there is a pressure due to time, a man may succeed on a base chance of 
1-in-6 and if he fails, that same man cannot try again. 

A man can become Known for a certain talent, such as breaking down doors or climbing trees.
If such a man should distinguish himself during an adventure,
he can claim that action his specialty and can gain a +1 bonus for the next outing.

Saves are rolled on a 2d6

A save can be rolled at advantage/disadvantage given the situation.

Constitutional Fortitude 7+

Surviving poison, enduring torture, standing up to questioning 

Dodging & Daring 8+

Avoiding pit traps, dodging dragon's breath, leaping chasms 

That Which Spells Doom 10+

Magic and certain death 

Leading Men

Leading Men have special traits which define them and they are the ones who issue commands. A Leading Man can ignore one hit result per Adventure. When a Leading Man's followers witness his death they must test morale. If they survive that which killed their Leader, one may be chosen to become the new Leading Man.

Leading traits:

1,1 Dependable - May reload automatically, with no chance of failure nor extra firing.

1,2 Keen Vision - Whites of their eyes bonus range +2” (10m).

1,3 Peak Manual Dexterity - Fast reload on a 5+.

1,4 Hawkeye - Firing hits on 7+.

1,5 Mechanically Minded - Misfires only happen on 1,1

1,6 Strider - Move an extra 2” (10m).

2,1 Ward Against Evil - Saves against That Which Spells Doom succeed on 9+.

2,2 Grit - Rolls Death Check twice, picking higher result.

2,3 Killshot - +1 Location table result upon hitting the enemy.

2,4 Pugilist - +2 Melee rolls.

2,5 Glass Cannon - 3 Actions per activation, death checks fail on 1-4.

2,6 Lucky duck - Location table result -1 when being hit, once per day.

3,1 True Huntsman - Tracking +1.

3,2 Mr Fixit - Begin known as “Handy”, +1 on repairing/jury-rigging task checks.

3,3 Master of Verticality - Begin known as a “Climber”, +1 on climbing/hanging task checks.

3,4 Sneaky Bastard - Begin known as “Stealthy”, +1 on sneaking/thieving/sleight of hand task checks.

3,5 Strongman - Begin known as “Strong”, +1 on lifting/carrying/swimming task checks.

3,6 Loveable Guy - +1 Reaction from strangers.

GOALS & GROWTH

A Leading Man may develop his ability to fight by accomplishing up to Five of the following Goals.

• Survive grievous wound
• Fell a Great Beast
• Eliminate a dozen men
• Get married
• Become a political leader

By accomplishing a Goal, a Leading Man will improve his fighting capacity by another Man. This effect applies to melee only! At certain thresholds, a Leading Man will improve his Death Check upon receiving a Grievous Wound.

REACTION: Upon meeting strangers.

2-3 Tries to Fight

4-5 Outward Hostility

6-8 Uncertain (open, or a coin toss)

9-11 Agreement

12 Immediate Acceptance

MORALE: when facing gruesome death, overwhelming odds, or loss of a leader.

2-3 Disorganized Retreat

4-7 Organized Retreat

8+ Morale Holds

WEAPONRY

Ammunition is tracked with Resource Dice. On a reload (whether successful or otherwise) roll a d6 for every Resource Dice. On a 6, the die is removed from the pool. When there are no Dice left, the ammunition is considered out. As long as the reload was successful, the firearm may be fired only once more!

Musket - As per Basic Rules. [2 Resource Dice/pouch of shot and horn of powder]

Pistol - Can be dual wielded. Dual wielded pistols must be reloaded one at a time. No whites of their eyes bonus. [2 Resource Dice/pouch of shot and horn of powder]

Bow - Requires both hands to fire, can be carried with one. Does not require a reload action. Misfire results in a broken bow. Can be fixed during battle on a base chance of 1-in-6. Hit location -1. [6 arrows/bundle]

Tomahawk - Axes may be carried at the hip (as a side-arm) or one can be carried per hand. Always OUT after use. Only within Whites of the Eyes Range. No misfire. Can be retrieved AFTER combat ends. Hit location +1. Melee +1. [0 Resource Dice]

Broadsword - Cannot be thrown as a weapon. Requires both hands. Wild swings make it difficult to use alongside friendly Men without risking damage. +3 melee.

Sword - Swords may be carried at the hip (as a side-arm) or one can be carried per hand. Thrown at disadvantage. Only within Whites of the Eyes Range. No misfire. Can be retrieved AFTER combat ends. Melee +1.

Spear - Spears require both hands to use meaningfully. Can be thrown as tomahawk. Melee +2.

d66 Personal Belongings

1,1 Religious symbol
1,2 Drawing set (ink, quill, and booklet)
1,3 Dirty pictures
1,4 Beard comb, brush and oil
1,5 Tea from home
1,6 Handkerchief 

2,1 Harmonica
2,2 Tambourine
2,3 Glasses
2,4 Medal
2,5 Tinned fruit cake 
2,6 Heirloom dagger

3,1 Rabbit's foot
3,2 Heart-shaped locket 
3,3 Botanical literature 
3,4 Telescopic glass
3,5 Opiate tincture 
3,6 Whittling knife and chainmail glove

4,1 Unsent letter
4,2 Specimen jar
4,3 Fiddle 
4,4 Tarnished gold wedding band
4,5 Glass eye
4,6 Religious text

5,1 Big fang
5,2 Tobacco pouch and papers
5,3 Warm mittens
5,4 Sewing kit 
5,5 Dice set
5,6 Old coin

6,1 Ragged teddy 
6,2 Cologne
6,3 Minty balm
6,4 Whistle
6,5 Novel
6,6 Treasure map