Renaming Dexterity edition.
OT: >>43885322
A thread dedicated to discussion and feedback of homebrews of any kind made by /tg/ regarding anything from minor elements to complex mechanics, or even inviting people to test your system in Roll20.
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Posting the current version of Hard:Suit - now with added crit table for body damage
Questions, criticisms, ideas and suggestions all welcome
So, I'm working on my skill system, and presently I'm not super happy with it. My present method is each skill is tied to either (Attributex2) or 2 attributed added together. And then you get "free" skill points to put into the skill, 10 at level 1, and you can only invest 2 points per skill to start. I call this the Runequest Method.
However this makes a base skill like, 10 even if your attributes are average and you put no points into the skill. This makes it really hard to "test" a skill on anything other than 1d10 +Skill Vs Target Number. Since I'm aiming for a 1d10 system, this makes things tricky.
My other idea is to start skills at 0, divorced from attributes, and then when you use the skill, you tie it to whichever attribute would best cover it. So if you have Weapon Skill (Sword) 2 you could either use it with Finesse to attack, or Knowledge for maintanence. If you have Nature 2, you can use Perception to follow tracks, or Knowledge to identify an animal. And you can then Test as Skill+Attribute, roll under, or 1d10+skill+attribute for contested rolls or Target Numbers. Which gives more flexibility. I call this the Traveller Method.
However, that's a little harder to balance, and it relies a lot of GM Fiat and could lead to arguments regarding which Attribute and Skill combo would cover what task. I'd also have to consider reworking a couple subsystem but that's nothing.
Thoughts?
Those links we were supposed to add aren't there, and now I don't know what they are. Thanks mobile.
Anyone have any feedback for my classes here? I'm still working on formatting so I know its not perfect, but how do you like them as for a retroclone style game?
>>44044549
Including this one?
http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=21479
I thought I remembered something about an extra google doc too.
>>44043955
I'm liking the Traveller method. The problem with the Runequest one is that with a D10, there's not a lot of wiggle room, so starting off with high modifiers kills it. If you are already starting at +10, +12 if you put points in the skill, it already starts to feel inflated.
Personally, I'm liking the roll under, but that's going to mean low numbers and limiting growth, so things don't bloat past the point of the die roll is meaningless. You can always balance that out by having harder tasks add modifiers to your roll, though. For example, climbing a difficult cliff-face, if you have Climbing 2 and a Strength of 5 (or whatever is decided to be the attribute for climbing a cliff), you'd need to roll a '7' or under, but because it difficult, you could say it adds +2 to the roll, making it effectively a '5' or less.
>>44044643
Ah that's it! For whatever reason my phone really hates large and archived threads, so the last thread would've been almost impossible to load.
>>44044549
>>44044643
I just grabbed the OP in the last thread after seeing it 404. If I missed anything, that's my bad.
>>44044609
Looks like role-centered archetypes, with some neat fluff.
Not sure about the intended balance, though it comes of as a consistent and rounded selection.
How I see it: Bastard/Damage, Militant/Support, Crook/Utility, Debaser/Magic.
I guess I'm actually not sure how the magic user fits in exactly.
I like it overall.
The God Wars ended some 500 years ago and it left the world in ruins. Many gods died and the world literally broke in the war.
Established ideas about the gods; Greek-style walking on the earth, interacting with mortals. Gods create the souls of their children. Races worship other gods beyond patron god
Moradin, the Sunsmith. Father of Dwarves and Gnomes, forges their in the sunforge at night. Sun god as well. Dwarves was originally created by his own father, he took responsibility and created the gnomes for his own to brighten the world after the war
The hobgoblin god is an ascended war general, took his gods place when he fell. Not sure how he creates the souls. Im thinking of having him NOT be a war god, but otherwise rather blank
Human God. Dont really got any good ideas yet. So far; Aleene the Huntress, Stealth and guile are not virtues, but methods, and stand in contrast to the honour of the hunt. Grows the souls on a tree
Lizardfolk God. Even less, possibly birthing the souls herself or makes them from the surrounding area
Special mentions;
Death was a harvest god, now just a soul collector who does not care about worshippers.
Angels and Daemons tries to rally souls their course, each with their way.
The Whispered One, a god who engineered his own disappearance, name is lost to time and divine veils. Have followers, but they dont know anything, they just do his bidding.
Other forces in the world; Karma, Destiny (yes, separate) and some say Nature. Arcarnum (magic) is also a very powerful force
Elves have no god, which is why their race is dying. They survive with necromancy powered reincarnation
Halflings died out quick w/o a god
Help needed:
Flushing out ideals, domains, history, and soul creation methods. Any great ideas!
How to justify monsters? Have them be soulless, make monster gods or is there another solution I havent thought of? Trolls was children of Moradins father, they got tricked into their predicament, but now reincarnate from stone.
>>44044609
I like how the Bastard can gain a whole bunch of different weapon based skills based on what you might have achieved previously (or potentially learn nothing).It'd encourage players to try using different combat ideas and experiment to squeeze out new techniques
>>44043276
when making my own homebrew, is 15 choices of skills enough? Given that my approach to skills is:
> none of the skills are trap choices, all is usable in one way or the other.
> the setting is urban fantasy.
>characters usually have only one or two skills, but they are allowed to have no skills or up to 8 skills. This is balanced by the fact that battle techniques and skill slots use the same limit, the more skills your character decide to have, the less useful options in battle you have.
The current skill list is:
+ Athletics
+ Security
+ Stealth
+ Perception
+ Insight
+ Bluff
+ Diplomacy
+ Intimidate
+ Demolitions
+ Chemistry
+ Computers
+ Streetwise
+ Heal
+ Business
+ Cooking
Thoughts?
>>44046441
>Cooking
My food bro!
Cooking should always be a thing in Games.
>>44046090
One of the gods imbue mortals with their own life force to form souls, because the god constantly generates more, so they must cull the extra growth so it doesn't get out of control. Creating mortals is a convenient way of culling the growth.
For one of the scummier races' god.
>>44044646
Another modification to roll-under is the black-jack method; you still roll under some skill/attribute based number, purely or mostly defined by the character not the circumstance. The base difficulty in the roll present itself as a number to roll above.
Say a skill of 7 on test with difficulty 2, so you'd have to roll between 2 and 7. What a roll of 2 or 7 means, can either be pass or fail as needed by the system. Anyways, the basic idea is that you have to overcome yourself like any roll-under system, but incorporates a way to have circumstance modify the chance of success; roll above the difficulty. It might not actually be better than modifying the skill, but an alternative.
>>44043955
As you described them the methods arent so exclusive. The core idea in RQ is the skill generation, but it carries the sides effect of a larger skill size. The real problem is if the difference from low to high can 'overpower' the d10, because adding +5 to both sides doesnt mean a thing. I read Blade of the Iron Throne and it sounds alike, but it's supposed to the 'grandson' of RQ, and from I remember you dont combine skill and attribute, only use one of them. You can still have that, but you gotta re-evaluate you size expectations
The core idea in Traveller method is the combinatorial nature which appeals to most because of the general lack of skill synergy in most systems, which this method inherently facilitates. WS (Sword) 5 should both give attack and maintenance knowhow
You can have both, use one for skill generation and the other for roll method. When making a system you gotta keep scaling in mind as well a starter characters, a trap I fell into at first.
Myself, I fear the combo discussion more because mine are not always so clearly disjoint or players trying to push their action into a more beneficial Approach. Just gotta have clear definitions and good examples.
My approaches are Aggression, Defense, Finesse, Leadership, Perception, Skulduggery and Survival
>>44047399
The Blackjack method is pretty slick, not gonna lie. I do like that.
And I would probably do the "free" skill points in a similar manner between either system. I really like the idea of skills being able to Key off different Attributes, because that, I feel, goes a long way to helping define a character. 2 characters might have Nature 3, but if one has a higher Knowledge and the other a higher Perception, they will still be using the skill very differently. Maybe I'll giving players a selection of options of which attribute to tie which skill to, and then it kind of stays that way until they take a Trait or something.
My original idea way back when was that each Skill had 1-2 attributes linked to it, and you had a number of skill points to distribute between those based on your attribute score. So if you had Might, you could distribute those points between any of the Might related Skills. Good in theory, but you have to VERY finely balance the number of skills to the starting attribute scores and it makes players prioritize multil-Attribute skills and single attribute skills differently and it just gets really messy.
Posting some Hard:Suit city/nation descriptions, now with El Prosta (Not-Brazil) a cartel dominated trade hub close to the Ecozone.
I'll post a map in the next post with ringed places still without 'Not-countries' I'd like to fill in but am unsure of what.
Any suggestions for those would be real helpful.
>>44047905
map with 'not-countries' to be decided on
>>44046909
>One of the gods imbue mortals with their own life force to form souls, because the god constantly generates more,
because I AM A GOD!!!
This is great fluff for the hobgoblin god. The race fuels the god and he makes more.
Still not sure about afterlife, with Death (and others) collecting souls, but Hobgoblins might escape that fate by rejoining their god. It might be a religious schism, join god or the afterlife.
>For one of the scummier races' god.
The only objective evil I want in my setting is the Daemons and possibly some monsters. However, the word Cull lead me to "mosnters gonna take your soul"
Along with the idea of animals not having souls, monster could just use a fraction to procreate, devouring the soul and passing it on.
>Lizardfolk God ... makes them from the surrounding area
Im like this idea more and more, some born from rocks others formed from leaves. Wood, water, a gem even, or raw ores, anything the god grabbed to make the soul put into the newly laid egg (or earlier). The material would then have a similar role to the astrological signs (if their importance was scaled up and actually true) in lizardfolk society.
The life tree for humans, I could use some help naming it. I was thinking of modifying Yggdrasil, but old norse arent my thing. I like the tree idea and built another piece of fluff around it:
Execution is usually done by hanging, a small prayer on the noose to keep the spirit until Death collects - also wandering spirits bad...
Another note on Humans, they have Nobles with actual blue blood. Otherwise their core idea is Driven, which grants bonus to either their karma, destiny, faith or expertiseweird standin for levelstat
>>44047893
>The Blackjack method is pretty slick, not gonna lie. I do like that
It's pretty simple to say "It's DC 4" to the player and he should then just roll. OR He says, "I rolled 4, do I pass?" or some other method of handling the conversation. Either way, rather simple and devoid of additional math.
.The blackjack method might be able to open up the space such that large attributes/skills dont kill chance, but still gotta keep an eye on the 'roof'.
>I really like the idea of skills being able to Key off different Attributes
Here's my current description of my approaches:
Approaches, in a sense, define "How" a character is, in what manner the characters handles challenges. It's a methodology and a broader skill set rather than a particular skill. Really, what the characteristic is called, it is an approach to the challenge at hand. One should think of approaches as perpendicular to attributes when wondering about the character defining nature of approaches.
It might help define your skill set, because when doing combinatorial attributes/skills it can be particularly difficult to pin down. Haggling in my system can be done with with at least 6 different combinations, with several being completely disjoint from another combination. Attacks are handled by the combat attribute, but no set approach, all varies from how you do it.
>each Skill had 1-2 attributes linked to it, and you had a number of skill points to distribute between those based on your attribute score
I like this idea, it makes attribute-skill correlation clear. Just have starter maximum. It could even prove to be all the freedom needed in skill selection during char-gen.
>multil-Attribute skills and single attribute skill
You gotta see it from the other side, each skill is lumped together with other skills and it is between those you have to choose when you get your skill points. Try write up a matrix/table to see how it is.
I have my 'skills' separated too much to do this type of connection.
>>44048788
Well at the time I had somewhere around 40-ish skills and 8 Attributes with an average of 5. I've since cut it down to 20 "normal" skills, 7 Weapon Skills and 2 "Crafting" Skills based on what crafting specialty you selected. I'm thinking of bumping up the "normal" skill list a bit, because I feel like I've left some important, or at least semi-Important skills off. I'll mess around with it some after work, but barring that coming through, I'll either do the "Traveller" method or do a "Runequest" method but with skills only keying off of 1 attribute.
You always have killer advice, but dang if it isn't difficult to parse out your sentences some times.
I made this during the summer and never got a chance to playtest it. If anyone wants to do a Savage Worlds one shot based off Doom, let me know how it goes.
Questionnaire:
>What type of game are you working on?
>What type of game would you be interested in being made?
>What's one mechanic you really want to use in your game?
What's one mechanic you REALLY want to avoid in your system?
>What is your default setting?
>Do you have a secondary setting? If so what is it?
>>44043276
>>44044549
Here's the summary of RPG systems document.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FXquCh4NZ74xGS_AmWzyItjuvtvDEwIcyqqOy6rvGE0/edit?usp=sharing
>>44048009
Man, I wish I could make maps like this. How did you start making this?
1 could be a not-Hawaii, a relatively safe tourist destination allied with Brinst. It could have it's own share of troubles of course likerumors of sealife being affected by the eco-zone, despite being so far away
4 is not only really close to the borders of the eco-zone, but it is also right next to mountain ranges and a desert. Maybe it could be a hub for pilots to meet at/train in the harsher parts of the eco-zone, while also being a central defense point.
3 would probably a sort of not-South East Asia, due to it being a potential trading route connecting Brinst and Matrazan.
I have no idea what to do with 2. Not-new zealand maybe?
Also, do you have anything in particular you want looked at in the mechanics pdf?
>>44052200
>Type of game
OSR style dungeon crawler with a heavy reimagining.
>Type of game would you be interested in being made?
Probably a game with skill and magic systems I really like; I steal and reincorporate these all the time.
>One mechanic you REALLY want to use in your game?
Roll under mechanics. I've already built much of the skill system around it so it works thus far. Also saving throws are roll under your stats.
Additionally; I really like each class getting a special mechanic they get to use to make them feel more different and unique to each other. Another part of the project.
>Really want to avoid
Anything with mechanics that feel arbitrary, cumbersome for the sake of realism or just things that don't fit.
>Default setting
Semi-Generic high fantasy with a twist of edge and with some weird cosmological events and religions.
>Secondary settings
I have like 6-7 settings in total, they are all on the back burner while I work on my main shit.
>>44050011
>You always have killer advice
We're are doing much the same so I have already wondered about much about what you are doing. A keen insight in math helps with any dice mechanic or statistical problem.
Writing feedback helps me make clear what I want.
>>44054881
>I really like each class getting a special mechanic they get to use to make them feel more different and unique to each other
In theory it's nice, but might be a bitch to balance. Im gonna try have some unifying methods across various situations. Like 'social combat' having similarities to normal combat. To have different mechanics handling the same situation could very easily be unbalanced. Im gonna try have magic function on the same level on as normal as normal man.
>>44052200
>>What type of game are you working on?
Still unsure about the categorisation but It seems to end up being low/mid-powered, mid/high-magic, high fantasy Im shooting for.
>>44046441
>>44050011
We might already have this pdf, but I have made bookmarks in this edition. It got some good advice on skills as well.
>one or two
From that list, it sounds very limited, but it might work in your system, as it is only half of it because of the tie-in with techniques.
The list itself looks pretty good, exhaustive and fitting for urban fantasy. Fantasy usually implies magic which probably have a place either in techniques or skill depending your implementation.
>>44052304
>>44044643
>http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=21479
>https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FXquCh4NZ74xGS_AmWzyItjuvtvDEwIcyqqOy6rvGE0/edit?usp=sharing
Huh.
>my off-hand bitching actually ended up leading to something
Weird.
>>44046090
Maybe monsters could be fragments of past gods, perpetuating thanks to the life cycle. Their essence lands wherever, plants grow, and when wild animals feed on it a select few turn into monsters, stronger any of the other animals. Sometimes an animal could feed on a large amount of essence, turning them even monstrous, or start exhibiting characteristics similar to the relevant god. It could serve as a reason to not eat monsters too, since the change happens even to those with souls.
>>44043276
Thanks Aegos for rescuing the thread from obscurity
>>44052200
>What type of game are you working on?
A sci-fi space adventure system using the One Roll Engine
>What type of game would you be interested in being made?
If someone could make a really good Persona game with simple mechanics and extensive player creation option, it would be amazing. I attempted at some point in the past using Magical Burst but it was pretty terrible.
>What's one mechanic you really want to use in your game?
Generating random adventures to allow GMs to come up with episodic game sessions for their players in the style of a SF television show
>What's one mechanic you REALLY want to avoid in your system?
Not so much a mechanic as something stylistic, but I'm trying to keep my writing clear, brief and interesting to read. The worst thing a game can do I feel is present itself in huge, inscrutable blocks of information or in prose so flowery that it's impossible to actually understand what's being described.
>What is your default setting?
A galaxy recovering from a technological dark age resulting from the collapse of its prior civilization. Space is divided between dozens of warring Factions, with a quasi-religious organization controlling scientific research called the Gestalt in the galactic core and a vast reef of hostile coral lifeforms around the galaxy's rim.
>Do you have a secondary setting? If so what is it?
Not yet. I want GMs and Players to come up with their own settings. The game itself contains numerous rules that can be used to help GMs to create their own cohesive universes.
>>44057456
This is great stuff! Definitely gonna use this.
>>44058070
What do you mean when you say that the flaw of the Vitality/Vigor system is that you have to track hit points? Most games do this, so what are you aiming for in avoiding it?
It's not a bad idea, BTW.
>>44058070
I'm kind of getting the impression that you might be getting bored of dice, due to the numbers not being exactly what you want it to be. Maybe start looking at other methods of play, like cards for starters?
If you'd still like to use dice, I think I remember someone mentioning a grid like thing for one of their projects. It brings to mind a method commonly used in war games, combat results table. Maybe consider taking a look and find a away to adapt it into RPG form?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_results_table
Some system for a weird west; which allows magic and is fast to play. I could use some ideas for magical "themes", as the ones I have don't feel evocative enough.
Also, what do you think about the random equipment tables? I'm thinking on dropping horses and mules, because is kinda awkward when one of the players has a horse and the other two have to walk. It just breaks the rhythm
>>44052567
Great ideas!
I like the idea of how 1 could be a relatively safe holiday destination like hawaiibut have a Cuban style 'Bay of Pigs' incident during the war involving Populdon secret service hoping to undermine Brinst ideals there via a coup
Maybe 2 could be a Japan analogue, having ties with Matrazan (not-russia) being their first contact historically
3 I think could possibly be an Not-Australia, the ecozone changing just enough to make an already harsh place harsher but in a different wayits an ugly planet, a bug planet!
I like the idea of 4 being a kind of training area populated throughout with huge fortresses to provide a form of Ecozone barrier, funded partially with the vastly rich East Ostran investors, hardsuit use considered a recreational past time much like pheasant shooting and marlin fishing is considered now. (The post-war Jution sea is now a beautiful but horrifically caustic expanse that's effected the previously strong naval trade across the sea)
Map wise I started looking at maps I thought had a good look to them. In this case the (StrangeReal map from the Ace Combat series) and tried to take as many elements as I could from it and photoshopped as much as I could.
Game mechanics it'd be helpful to see how combat mechanics pan out since I think the game is going to be pretty combat heavy. I have a feeling that quite a few numbers might have to be fiddled to re-balance things.
>>44059203
In a western setting, mounts shouldn't be equipment, they should be mandatory. Everyone should get to have a faithful steed.
Also of note: in the money section you write "prize" instead of "price".
I don't think the "weirdness" is really coming through here. This is mostly because it's just a mechanical document, but I think the readers would like to have a little bit more about the overall themes of the game.
Also I'd suggest changing the starting equipment up somewhat to ensure that everyone gets to start with a competent weapon (i.e. either a bow, six-gun or shotgun) and not have to be stuck with brass knuckles or a sling because of a bad roll.
I've got this Mortal Kombat PnP in the making nad got no one to show off, so I'll post it here and ask for some feedback.
I don't expect anyone to read the whole thing, but i got some general questions
>Styles and fonts
Are they big enough, are they readable, do you thing there are some fonts that would fit it better? Column breaks will only be inserted once I made sure there is little to nothing I want to add text-wise, so it might be a tad bit disoriented
>Character Sheet
is the Character Sheet at the end of the document is easy to look at, is it fine if it extends to two pages, are things relatively easy to find on it?
>Schools
In the Table of Contents you can easly find the list of schools. These are abilities/attacks that are withing a theme. So far I got Fire, Air, Water, Ice, Telekinetic, Some Dark necromantic magic school, and I don't know it there isn't anything else that's not MK race specific, so if anyone has a revelation, that would be nice
>>44058147
>What do you mean when you say that the flaw of the Vitality/Vigor system is that you have to track hit points?
Vigor is the usual hit points. In some systems there's unclarity to when you are actually wounded. In D&D 4e you are 'bloodied' at half hp (maybe it's 1/4), but many systems arent clear when hp becomes meat.
With Vitality/Vigor there's a clear divide between meat points and near-misses/insignificant blows.
>>44058070
Havent played GURPS or SW so help much with the inspiration/goals of the game. I still think the basic bones you post look solid enough.
>>44060707
look at all that typos. No wonder I have to go trough it with a grammatical steamroller all the time
>>44060727
I understand that, but in your previous post you said:
>However, using Vigor/Vitality would require tracking hit points, something I don't really like.
What exactly don't you like about tracking hitpoints? Do you just want to minimize bookkeeping?
>>44060707
>Styles and fonts
The font size is fine, it could even do to be a bit smaller - generally 11pt is used, or 10pt for smaller paper sizes, but 12pt is acceptable if your content is a bit shorter. No larger for the body text, though.
Not sure about the title fonts, definitely use the same colour throughout though - the blue doesn't seem to fit. I don't like 'dirty'-looking fonts so I'm too biased to comment on the actual font choice, but I'd try to match the logo as closely as possible at least for section headings. Major game logos always have ripoff fonts available, finding them might be a little difficult at times though.
Good choice on finalizing text before working on alignments.
Justify text rather than leaving it left-aligned; you might need to rewrite some passages to avoid too-wide spacing, since word processors don't give you fine control over justification like you'd get in a proper design tool. This makes the columns look a lot tidier, though.
>Character Sheet
Two pages is fine. In fact, if you're unsure about fitting it on one page, definitely make it two - duplex printing is a thing and separating the information out and giving players more space is only a good thing. Make sure everything you need at one time is on the same side, though - all skill and biographical stuff on one side, all combat on the other since you have enough for a full page.
Blank writing space is the devil, give us lines. I don't think I've ever met someone who can write on blank paper and keep a straight baseline.
>Schools
I only have a cursory knowledge of MK so I can't comment a lot, but it seems pretty robust in selection. Can't say for balance, though.
Remove the canon fighters' names from the headings and have them listed in the school foreword, the TOC is messy with them.
>Other notes
Personally I'd rename the Kombatant Kreation chapter to "The Mortal" and Kombat to "The Kombat" just because the former fits.
Spell check after you finish typing any passage, always.
>>44061287
>Personally I'd rename the Kombatant Kreation chapter to "The Mortal" and Kombat to "The Kombat" just because the former fits.
Listen to this man
>>44060707
Run that shit through a spell checker, parts of it are so bad they give me a headache.
>>44061287
School balancing will be started once all the maneuvers that make them up are in place. It's a little like text aligments. I've got a huge excel sheet with every attribute of every attack move, so I can shift the strengths drawbacks and requirements easily
The canon character names were implemented at a prototype stage, where the attacks only had stats, and no descriptions, they'll be removed in the final stage, they are just there in case I forgot how the attack looks like, and the texts aren't descriptive enough. That way i can just start up the game and take a look
Thanks for all the alignment advice, I'll go work on it. Wanted the spellchek to be done at the final stage along with the decoration, but maybe it's better if I go piece by piece.
>rename the Kombatant Kreation chapter to "The Mortal" and Kombat to "The Kombat"
This is undisputable genius!
Hey guys, I'm having a little bit of trouble with the setting, and therefore, the mechanics that should come from it. I mean, I have the skeleton of the mechanics, but not all of them.
The problem is, I was originally trying to make a fantasy setting. Low fantasy, a little darkish, adventurers on a lost colony type of thing.
But the thing is, whenever I read about other settings, be it sci fi, historical, whatever, I start thinking up other settings and never end up finishing any of those. So it's just a neverending cycle of getting hyped by other settings.
The thing is, I also don't want to be doing generic old fantasy, and I believe a lot of the tropes of fantasy are just so common now a days, that it makes me lose interest easily. But I think there are still cool things to be done, if done right.
I've just made a thread looking or asking for inspiration, but not much luck.
Do you usually have the same problem? Or you easily stick to a theme and go from there?
>>44043276
Some homebrew DnD and Pathfinder encounters in need of review: koboldpress.com/archives/20595
>>44062414
I'm familliar with the problem, I've dubbet Project disorder.
I usually find myself having ideas that I think should be explored further, or get caught in a mood, and start working on something.
Then the mood just goes away in a few days, and I get newer ideas. It's a really hellish cycle.
I didn't find a definitive solution, but I came to understand that it helps if you don't start to do any work, but instead chart up a project plan that entails what you have to do. What steps you have to make, to make the thing reality.
By then, spurrs of the moment pass, and if you have no dedication to carry it trough, then you'll know it. Or if you do, then you'll have some system to follow.
Having a permanent inspiration also helps; books, shows, movies, inspiring people.
>>44052200
>What type of game are you working on?
A mercenary mecha team game in a strangereal world devastated by biological warfare
>What type of game would you be interested in being made?
Simple system games that can be adapted to fit different settings
>What's one mechanic you really want to use in your game?
A universal results table with 'Yes and' to 'No and' representing success and failure
>What's one mechanic you REALLY want to avoid in your system?
Bloated degrees of success and numbers becoming way too inflated due to bonuses
>What is your default setting
Usually hard sci-fi in alternate worlds
>Secondary settings
I'd like to try and make a weird, Vampire Hunter D / Angel Egg inspired fantasy at some point where some aspects of technology might as well be magic from how insanely advanced it is in comparison to the otherwise pseudo-western.
So I've been stealing ideas from various systems for my homebrew. I have a system for domain level play and a system for the players to create a starting village at the start of a campaign.
http://pastebin.com/TvnS7TqX
I'm thinking though, if there's any way to get domains running on the same system as bussinesses, churches, etc. That way it's a smooth transition from buying an inn, to being a member of a city council, to being a feudal lord with your mercenary army.
Big thing though, is that when starting a business; the players are still scrounging for gold and having to track their posessions. At the point of a domain, going abstract seems the less book keeping heavy route. I'm trying to figure out how to smooth that transition from "turnips are cheap in this town and expensive in the other town, so we're going to trade them on our journey to make a bit of money" to "I have 15 wealth points which I spend to upkeep 4 military units"
Square or hex for a tactical combat game like D&D 4E? Hex seems better overall, but squares allows easy handle by the GM.
>>44064438
Square. 8 directions > 6. Plus hexes can get wonky for AOEs and straight lines.
>>44062625
That could be a solution to the problem.
I've completed projects before, it's just that whenever I'm not completely focused, I really lose interest in some themes or topics.
I mean, I don't actually lose interest, I just gain interest in another theme.
I've been planning a fantasy game since forever, but now I'm all about a sci fi game and setting, or even a mixture of both.
And at this rate, I'll never get anything else done. Ever.
>>44064438
Squares will save you a lot of headaches in the future.
>>44064552
>>44064774
>>44064438
Also: it's way easier to get your hands on squares (graph paper, 90% of battle mats) than it is to get hex paper.
>>44044609
Feels more like the "Militant" is a Cleric and not a Paladin.
>>44066105
Yeah, it's a reimaining of the both.
Miltiants are a fighter type with some support abilites, then there are going to be Cultist healers who are directly healing support, but without the fighting or turning abilites.
Doing my first test of my beta system this week, wish me luck bros.
>>44067641
remember to tell us later how it went.
Why did no one ever tell me that trying to create an RPG from scratch while juggling responsibilities like a wife and work and a house is asking for trouble?
I haven't gotten any useful work done on my system in days, only thrown around theories and ideas.
We should have a disclaimer.
>>44068335
Maybe AGDG put a nodev curse on you.
>>44062414
Personally I always jot down anything up, regardless of feasibility. It satisfies the "I need to make this right now!" urge quite well, and you'll have something to go back to in the future.
If it's just theme though, you could always merge the things you want to do together. If you think fantasy tropes are unappetizing as is, what if you replace those specific tropes with sci-fi once instead? The end product could be very interesting.Still hoping someone makes a 'wooden mechs powered by magic' setting eventually.
>>44062414
I have bits and pieces for 5 different settings going on right now.
>>44067641
the first one is expected to be rough, don't be disheartened if it's not all rainbows and waifus
If I have an inkling if an idea for a system of magic that has no hard numbers, but basic concepts, is this the right place?
So I'm thinking about how I want to launch my mecha wargame, and I think three factions are a good place to start. The setting is an alternate world with technology that varies from the 1880s to the 1930s, depending on which field you look at, plus some departures for the sake of justifying mecha and others for the sake of cool. These are the factions I want to start with
>The Aquilonese Republic
“For Truth and Justice!”
Aquilonese mechs, called Platforms, are quadrupedal and deadly accurate with their cannon and Teleforce Beams, but rarely mount melee weapons and are incredibly slow compared to other nations.
Aquileon is ruled by seven elected Councilors, who rule the nation in the peoples' name, assisted by a veritable army of beauraucrats and civil servants who translate the elected officials' orders into something real. Since the fall of the aquilonese empire and the turn to democracy, the Aquilonese Republic has longed to reconquer its "rebelling provinces" which most call Independent Nations.
The Aquilonese Army has been slow to adapt the innovations of other nations, not trusting mechs in favor of artillery and infantry, but their success on the battlefield has forced the Aquilonese to create their own, the slow, sturdy, quadrupedal Platforms that mount heavy cannon far in excess of anything else on the battlefield.
(cont)
>>44070047
>The Astarian Principality
“For Princess and Country!”
Fast and brutal in melee, Astaria’s Knights mount heavy armor and shields that enable them to shrug off cannon rounds, but they eschew cannons or beams to meet this end, preferring disposable rockets for their ranged armament.
The Astarian Principality is ruled by Princess Arminia Caliak, a young and vigorous ruler who's equally at home in a council chamber or a battlefield. She is the last remaining descendant of the Aquilonese Empire's royal family, and quite popular among her people. Arminia's mech pilots are the Knights that have fought for her family since time immemorial, now serving as her elite forces, striding ahead of her armies to shatter trench warfare.
>The Shoshkepali Directorate
“For Science and Progress!”
Shoshkepali mechs, known as Sarcophagi, mount debilitating lightning weapons that weaken their enemy with bolts of lightning before moving in for a melee execution. Larger Shoshkepali mechs are able to mount the most effective beam weapons in the world, but Shoshkepal rarely uses cannon of any sort. Shoshkepal also features a unique element in managing the amount of electricity that's being sent to your mechs via beamcast power.
Shoshekpal is a nation ruled by scientists, with the Director being the executive of the government, currently a doctor of engineering. His scientist-administrators see that all the needs of the people are met, even though none without degrees in the "approved scientists" get a voice in his government. The Shoshkepali military, however, is controlled by the church, most notably by Karep, the God of Death. Shoshkepal's mechs, known as Sarcophagi, are held to be Karep's personal property, its pilots his emmissaries in the mortal world, tasked with collecting more of Shoshkepal's enemies for his realm.
>>44070002
Sure.
>>44070002
Yeah, just don't expect us to be super enthusiastic about fluff. We're not really super enthusiastic about anything, as a sweeping generality.
>>44068335
Remember that you're in no hurry to finish the system. The big rush is to get the core of it playable and then you can add neat stuff to it.
I know that feel, I'm juggling work, school and a house atm. I think a few days to mull things over every now and then can help out though.
>>44070056
A nation ruled by scientists and engineers, but have a military ruled the church with religious connotations on the most scientifically advanced part of the army is a little weird.
I think if the emphasis was on a god of knowledge, with the god of death having a stronger following among the military, it'd be smoother.
It is gonna sound pretty dumb, but it is where I am.
4 elements availible to players. Fire, water, earth, air. These elements are used by making physical contact with a gem. These gems in turn are implanted into 4 categories of weapons, or mediums. Martial weapons, relics, plants or animals, and the human body. In martial weapons they add elements to the attack and have limited creation ability. In relics they gain more supernatural abilities. Mage staffs which cause AoE effects or major element production of elements are in this category. Plants are used by putting a gem into a piece of a plant, which creates a temporary wand, which can grant control of that plant in the area. Animals have the gem embedded in them and are generally raised long term. Gems make them elemental. (I am trying to figure out how the caster can touch the gem with this option, otherwise I need a different form of invocation for the magic). And then human body which makes your flesh partially elemental.
General thoughts? Sound terrible? I need to nail down the usage method and then figure out what the most powerful magics for each element and medium combo.
If anyone has a good guide for this sort of thing to help me out that would be great!
>>44070285
The church being in control of the military is a pre-Scientist Takeover institution. I'll actually be adding in some subplots about political wrestling over the military.
>>44070056
Trenchbreaker right? Looks like a diverse selection mechanically, though I'm unsure about the balance of the available mechs as is, the Astarian seem to be potentially the weakest at the moment since they need to get into close range, while the others can either pepper them with artillery from afar or disable them before they can get any closer. Though I guess they do have rockets, so it might be a non-issue.
>>44070285
Advancement of science motivated by religion isn't that rare, I think it's an interesting aspect of the faction.
>>44070458
Yes, Trenchbreaker, forgot to have my name on.
I've actually balanced that by tying melee and movement speed to the same stat; Astarian mechs have high Gearing. For example, the Astarian Vanguard(Pictured) has a Gearing of 7, which lets it move 7" per turn, as well as its hammer having a melee range of 5", so it actually has a 12" effective strike range, and the game is played on a board 48" across.
Also, yeah, rockets are one-shot, but they're a lot more devastating per shot than cannons are.
>>44070341
Sounds nice, reminds me of the Materia stuff in the Final Fantasy games though. You could probably distance from it by focusing on physical contact as a method of invoking the magic instead of just wearing the gems. Discourage constant gem-touches-skin outfits by having contact be painful, or other sorts of negative feedback.
>>44070541
That works well. The body implantation is a taboo because it can change you so much physically, and makes you age/decay/go crazy.. Haven't decided in which.
>>44070513
That's an interesting way of balancing it, no complaints here. Looking forward to your progress. Did you decide on whether or not to handle the cards and stuff the way LCG does it, or follow the booster packs of old?
Also, if I could make a suggestion, do add the option of having rulers, to make measuring and stuff easier. Something like X-Wing/Armada's movement thingies.
>>44070559
Have it do everything, the worser the better. Though I suppose it depends on how dark and gritty you the setting to be, or whether magic is common among normal folks or restricted/forbidden.
>>44070392
That would be a nice addition. The summery didn't cover that, so I just assumed the scientist regime was there since foundation of the nation.
>>44070458
I think it takes certain aspects of the faith to propel scientific progress, and a god of death would cover some things, depending on the portrayal of the deity, but more in the medical field than others.
>>44070605
I want to follow the booster packs of old, mostly because that seems like a good way to separate NEETs and weaboos from their clammy yet slightly sticky disposable income.
Also, the whole game is built on inches to use with a normal tape measure.
>>44070733
The scientist regime has been around since the foundation of the nation, per se, but that's only forty years, since the collapse of the Aquilonese Empire into the states you see at left.
I do have all these other countries planned out, by the way.
>>44070811
Note: This map is old and I have been planning to rename the capital cities.
>>44063027
You'd have to make the transition gradual I think, and reveal more mechanics to keep track of as you go up ranks, rather than having a bunch of mechanics for business level then another pile of completely different ones for domain. Something like:
Personal: Health, Money
Family: Family health, money, living conditions
Family and business: Family health, money, living conditions, business transactions, relations with other shop owners
And so on until domain level. Also, maybe take a look at 'The Quiet Year', which is also about building a village.
>>44060068
you're right in everything! but sometimes we need some second opinions to see obvious details. thanks
>>44059203
Im narrowing character creation even more. At the start, all players roll for a skill.
Whenever you do something that falls under your skill domain, you can re-roll the lowest die and keep the highest result.
1. Thievery and stealth
2. Survival in the wilds
3. Medicine and potions
4. Science and repair
5. Keen awareness
6. Favored weapon (choose one)
How much do you think that science and repair is gonna come up in the west? Should I change it for anything else?
I feel that acrobacy and resilience are best covered by DEX and STR rolls alone respectively, so it has to be something else.
>>44072637
I'll read the pdf later, but regarding science and repair, maybe change to 'tools and repair' instead? Since science would imply actual sciency stuff like researching biochemistry or something, which probably wouldn't be that useful.
>>44073012
No I think Science works just fine for this, since to me it implies all kinds of weird experiments with electricity and chemicals that would fit right in with a Weird West game.
Currently working on taking the Fallout System that basically copied all of the algorithms from FO 1 and 2 and trying to streamline them somewhat so it doesn't require as much math. Honestly I haven't changed a whole lot except some names and a few rules to help make things a little easier.
Main changes I've made so far are:
- Added Academics Skill (a catch-all knowledge skill), and Investigation; removed Big Guns, Doctor, and Traps (going with Vegas' Explosives instead).
- Added "Nerve" as a sort of Willpower/Fortitude save for when a character suffers major damage or is scared shitless by a pack of Deathclaws.
- Simplified Skill Contests by using Degrees of Failure or success. Basically every 10% you roll under your Skill is a degree of success and every 10% you roll over is a degree of failure. When in a Skill Contest the creature with the most Degrees of Success wins the contest.
- Cutting out Damage Resistance as a % system and just using Damage Threshold. I am, amusingly enough, renaming Damage Threshold as DR so that when someone takes a look they don't wonder what "Damage Threshold" means.
- Made it so Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Robots get Perks every 3 levels rather than every 4, 5, or never.
For the most part it's a fairly straightforward d100 system where you try to roll under a Skill's Value. It's not even a completely new system- just more of a reskin of one that already exists.
>>44044609
I like the Trophy mechanic for the Bastard-- it really fits well with the theme of your base setting which is particularly grim and violent, as well as with the setting (the world is the body of a warrior god). It's also something I'm not sure I've seen before, so kudos on that.
Bumping with content.
This is part of a three-step process that allows player to randomly generate alien races. Part 1 creates their physical abilities, Part 2 is cosmetic and Part 3 is their culture. the other parts are done too but Part 3 is what I'm most proud of, so its the first one that I've formatted.
Basically you take a bunch of dice and roll them all, then sort out your matches and non-matches and use the chart to figure out what abilities your alien culture has, and what historical events have shaped it. So a roll of 1,1,1, 5, 8 gives you a Scavenger culture of junk collectors who lost their homeworld but have earned a reputation since then of battlefield expertise.
>>44070811
I think a quick history summery might be useful to help judge the fluff blurbs you've given us.
so, I'm building a rules ultra-lite to run this CYOA as an RPG in. what do you think?
CORE MECHANIC
D6 pool
4,5,6 is a success
6 is a trigger/raise
1 is a botch/glitch
pool is the skill+item mods; to reach a target number of successes
Target number(TN)
1=trivial
2=easy
3=resonable
4=Challenging
5=hard
6=beating Dark Souls 100% without dying
7=beating Dark souls in under 2 hours...without dying
TN>Successes
fail
Glitch>Successes
fail EXTRA HARD
Sucesses>TN
sucess in action
Raises+success
good things/more damage/crits
Skills:
Shooting
Punching
Throwing
Tanking
Dodging
Finding
Making
Breaking
all players start with 2 in each skill, 10 HP, and 3 points to spend raising them(1-point can be spent on +5 HP);
level up grants 2 points to raise them, and +5 max-HP.
levels 3, 6, and 9 grant an extra point
opposed rolls that tie first count raises(character with more wins) and if that ties then it counts dice totals(Highest wins)
COMBAT
attackers roll the pool(throw, punch, or shoot)
defenders roll pool (dodge, or tank)
Tanking; must equal or beat the attackers roll; take half damage rounded down
Dodging; must beat the attackers roll; negates damage, some attacks cannot be dodged(explosions, fire, the vaccum of space)
Mental Combat
>I have no idea
thoughts?(system, mechanics, facility layout?)
additions?(weapons, locations, enemies)
do you think I could I run this system for my small collection of 12-year-old girls?
>>44081045
the starting gear and location to be assembled on a random table and rolled for.
I'd like a few more things to add to that list just for the sake of nice round numbers
I might also add Moving and Thinking to the list of skills but I'm worried about bloating the system as-is.
I made a map for a game that doesn't really existyet
17th century English Civil War era:
>In 1066, Haleys Comet (actually an alien science and survey probe long abandoned by a now dead race) collided with the earth, fragments breaking up in the UK and the volatile mutagenic chemicals and waste collected in its travels is spread throughout the island.
>The mutagenic chemicals creates a wildly varied species of abhumans known as the Formorii ruled under the guidance of a psychic sub-species
Jump forward through time to the 17th century
>The Formorii, now a powerful nation in their own right advance themselves in leaps and bounds by combining the incredible intelligence of their elite with the scraps of technology left by the probe.
>They share their findings with the rest of the kingdom in return for political power and representation, even managing to find leverage with several high profile marriage arrangements to human nobility in exchange for new metal forging designs and farming techniques.
>Harsh taxation and increasingly brutal exploitation by the King lead to the formoriian population and a number of humans living in formorii territory to question 'the divine right of kings' and favour the ever stronger parliment system over royal decree.
>Civil war erupts
Thoughts or ideas?
Hard:Suit is still going, I just wanted to take a break from drawing mechs and tinkering to play around with a wildly different setting for a change.
>>44081182
>>44081045
items/gear
Laser Pistol
2 DAMAGE+(1/Raise)
+0 Shooting
Fabricator Cube
+2 Making
can produce materials from garbage/waste
cannot produce batteries or power sources
cannot produce advanced Technologies
Advanced Visor
+2 Finding
+1 Shooting
Portable Shield
+3 to Tanking up to 3 times per combat
+1 Punching
Powered Armor
+2 Dodging
+2 Punching
Regeneration Implant
+2 Tanking
Regen (1+Level/round)
Yellow Mask
+3 Dodging
Limited Teleport
Ancient Symbol
after 3 days: reallocate up to 3 points within reason to account for shape-shifting
shapeshifting takes 2 rounds to complete and can be interupted by a successful attack.
>skyresh guy is still dead
will he ever come back?
>>44081496
gear from the companions section
Companion NPCs will be rare and disinclined to aid the party without serious considerations/questing
Full Body Armour
+2 Tank
-1 Dodge
Assault Rifle
2 DAMAGE+(1/(2*Raise))
+1 Shoot
Grenades
5 Damage
AOE 2 meters(radius)
cannot be dodged
Surgical Kit
+3 to Making(First Aid actions)
Stun Gun
conditional +2 DAMAGE to Punching
Sniper Rifle
5 Damage
may only fire once every round
minimum range 5 meters
Monosword
3 Damage+(1/Raise)
Carbon Bow
3 Damage+(1/Raise)
KN-900
Shooting: +3
Dodging: +3
Laser Pistol
EV-3
Shooting +4
Punching +4
Dodging +4
may only make 10 combat actions before needing to recharge(4 hour charge rate)
>>44043276
Gonna call this thing Six Dice because I haven't thought of a better name yet.
Aiming to find a balance between lite and nuanced that feels satisfactory.
The main goal of this system is for a short campaign that can be finished in around 6 hours or less.
There are 6 levels. There are 6 stats. The system is mainly skill-based, with each skill having six ranks.
I'm not going to post it all tonight, just some of the basic character creation stuff, to see what people think.
-PART 1-
PRIMARY STATS
The point of the stats is the cap that is sets on related skills' ranks invested (for example, Weaponry, Might is strength, if you have a strength stat of 3, you can invest up to 3 ranks in the skill).
Starting characters the following values to distribute in the stats of their choosing: 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1. Each additional level, they can invest 1 additional point into the stat of their choosing, but cannot exceed 5 on any stat until during the leveling process to 6. meaning no character can achieve a stat or an associated skill rank of 6 until they are level 6.
Strength (Str)
Agility (Agi)
Vitality (Vit)
Intellect (Int)
Perception (Per)
Will (Wil)
>>44082624
-PART 2-
SECONDARY STATS
>1.) Hitpoints (HP)
Start with 8. Combine with size modifier*2 (a medium sized Human is +1, so has 10, a small Halfling is -1 so has 8), and add Toughness skill ranks (each rank in toughness gives +2 hp)
Take damage and you lose some. Lose all of these and you die. You can heal too with magic, first aid, and rest. Standard stuff.
>2.) Vigourpoints (VP)
Start with 10, and add Vigour skill ranks (each rank in vigour gives +2vp). Unlike hp and mp, which counts down from total, vp counts up: a fully vigourous character has 0/10, for example, while fully exhausted character has 10/10.
Sort of the characters exhaustion in battle, can do fancy extra stuff beyond attacking, moving and spellcasting (ie. quickdraw, blocking and dodging, called shots, disarming, extra movement) by adding points for each time the character wishes to perform special actions. It also works non-lethal damage, such as getting hit by a punch.
When the character's vp reaches the same amount as his current hp, he gets a weakening "Exhausted" status and can't perform any more special actions willingly. When he is fully exhausted of these points by extenuating factors, he passes out.
Get these back with just a little magic or rest.
>3.) Manapoints (MP)
Start with 10, and add your Mysticism skill ranks (each rank in Mysticism gives +2 mp). These are used to cast magic spells, but they can also be put forth to enhance Resistance rolls against magical attacks, which can make these still be useful for characters that use little-to-no magic. Diff. spells have different mp requirements. If you don't have enough, you can't cast it.
Get these back by a full-night's rest and a little meditation.
>>44082644
SKILLS
New characters get 6 rank points to invest in any Major Schools of their choosing, and another 6 to any Minor Schools of their choosing. The only cap to any one skill's ranks is the associated stat.
Whenever a skill is rolled, it is done with d6(s). Each rank counts as an additional d6. The total rolled is the result, which is measured against what in D&D terms would be a "DC".
Skills aren't just for rolling, some have important passive Secondary Stats (hp, vp, mp), while others grant proficiency (weaponry, armour, linguistics for languages and literacy, spells for magic schools, performance, job, craft.
>MAJOR SKILL SCHOOLS (character selects specialty to one of these schools when they first create character. they are considered to always have 1 rank in all skills under a school, if untrained. Whenever they invest a rank, it counts as 2 ranks.)
>1.) Combat
Weaponry, Might (str)
Weaponry, Grace (agi)
Armour (str)
Blocking (str)
Toughness (vit) (ranks add hit-points)
>2.) Cunning
Evasion (agi)
Precision (works a little like sneak attack, handles potential critical hits) (per)
Stealth (agi)
Sensory (per)
Vigour (vit) (ranks add additional action points to use during a turn)
>3.) Erudition
Divination (per)
Mysticism (int) (ranks add additional mana-points)
Spellcasting (wil)
Resistance (wil)
>MINOR SKILL SCHOOLS (character selects specialty to one of these schools when they first create character. they are considered to always have 1 rank in all skills under a school, if untrained. Whenever they invest a rank, it counts as 2 ranks.)
>1.)Academic
Liberal Arts (int)
Natural (int)
Supernatural (int)
Learning (per)
>2.)Physical
Acrobatics (agi)
Athletics (str)
Brawn (str)
Endurance (vit)
Riding (agi)
>3.)Practical
Animals (will)
Gimmicks (int) (ie. knots, locks, traps, clockwork)
Talent (int) - subskills (choose 1): craft, trade, performance
Medicine (int)
Survival (per)
>4.)Social
Detect Motive (per)
Intimidate (will)
Lying (will)
Persuasion (will)
I'm working on something and I've become rather fond of the "Dumbed-Down ORE" mechanic I've developed.
The system uses pools of d6, rather than the d10 of ORE, primarily to keep pools smaller while generally increasing chances of success. Pools are 1 + an appropriate Stat, and I've dumped Height and Width in favor of Area (number of dice * the value of the dice). Area is used primarily to calculate damage, and I'm sure I'll find other uses for it, but the focus of the system is more on "did you succeed or not?" and not "to what degree did you succeed?"
Since I'm forsaking the usual Stat + Skill model of dice pools, I'm having trouble figuring out just how to incorporate skills into the game.
My first thought is that skills allow you to create a virtual match for low-value dice (up to the level of the skill) when you have no other successes, but then the skill is totally useless when you have a natural match.
Another thought is that skills might allow you to "nudge" dice in order to create better successes, but again, Area really isn't ever going to be that big of a thing outside combat or opposed rolls, so it probably won't be worth it to invest in anything other than combat skills.
Adding dice to a pool is out because then it's too easy to achieve seven or more dice, which causes an automatic success (and which is why Stats are limited from 1 to 5).
Finally, skills can be the equivalent of feats/talents/etc: each level introduces a new trick or use for the skill. This would probably be the best motivation to take skills, but it means a lot of work for me to write up that many perks and it would mean a lot of bookkeeping and referencing for players (or a lot of notation on a character sheet) to remember what Acrobatics 2, Carousing 3, or Pickpocketing 1 all do.
Any thoughts?
>>44082796
forgot "Linguistics" under Academic.
>UNTRAINED SKILL ROLLS
A character that has no ranks in a skill, but is required to make a roll or attempts to make a roll, rolls 1 die as if he has one rank.
However, if he fails, he automatically has a "Critical Fumble" and something bad happens. If they roll 1, something really bad happens and they have a "Critical Fail".
I still have to develop the Fumble, Fail and Success system further, but even trained users of a skill can potentially have a Critical Fail, but it happens less often.
>>44082913
>PROFICENCIES
Some equipment or tasks require a proficency to make a proper attempt, this includes weapon and armour types, spell schools, musical instruments, languages, and all sorts of tools.
Each time you invest a rank in a skill that gives proficiency, you must choose one new proficency learned. For might weapons, it may be one-handed melee, two-handed melee or throwing. For grace weapons, it may be ammo-based, light melee or throwing. For musical instruments, it could be string, wind, percussion or vocal. For craft, it could be smithing, woodworking, or tailoring.
Even if you have some ranks in the related skill, if you don't have the related skill, its considered untrained. This means, even if you have 2 ranks in Weaponry, Might, if you haven't chosen one-handed melee yet, rolls with this skill with a one-handed melee weapon are automatically considered untrained.
>INTUITIVE SKILL ROLLS
Some tasks are rather unnuanced and require little training to do. In this case, the character rolls as if he has one rank, if he does not possess any rank in the skill. Additionally, for every 2 points in the related base state he has, any character adds those to the number of dice that can be rolled. This means a character attempting an intuitive but untrained Brawn roll who has a Strength of 4 rolls 3 dice. If he has 2 ranks in Brawn, he'd roll 5 dice.
These dice never exceed 6.
This applies to certain proficiency-based things. For example, certain weapons are considered to have an "intuitive quality", such as light crossbows, staves, and daggers. Even if one doesn't have the proficency, they roll as if they have 1 rank, at least, and may add additional dice dependent on the related stat.
>>44083054
if you don't have the related "proficency"*, it is considered untrained**
>>44082843
If your roll is 1+Modifier, why don't you forgo Stats entirely and just roll the Skill then? The main purpose of Stats in ORE is to provide a foundational dice pool for Skills in the first place, but since your goal is a super simplified ORE with d6s, then you might as well as just use pure Skills.
Alternately you could just look at Skills are Permissions-- Having Brawling lets you use your Body dice for fisticuffs, not having Brawling means you take some kind of penalty to do so.
>>44083171
That makes an enormous amount of sense. I will need to seriously consider that.
"Stats" could be dumped altogether, or be cut back to being "insurance" (the first option I had considered for skills) on bad rolls. (I'm thinking that stats start at 0 for basic humanoid competency and go up to 3 for truly superhuman ability? It would need to be extremely expensive or nearly impossible to achieve a stat of 2 or 3 without a racial or magical bonus.)
>>44083054
>LEVEL PROGRESS
1: Distribute Base Stat points (5,4,3,3,2,1). Choose a Major School, choose a Minor School. Distribute 6 ranks to any Major skill. Distribute 6 ranks to any Minor Skill. No skill can be increased beyond its Base Stat Limit. Choose proficencies. Calculate Secondary Stats. Buy equipment, items and spells with a set amount of wealth.
2-5 (each level): Increase one Base Stat. No stat can be increased to 6 yet. Distribute 3 ranks to any Major skill. Distribute 3 ranks to any Minor Skill. No skill can be increased beyond its Base Stat Limit. Recalculate all Secondary Stats and choose proficencies where needed.
6: Increase one Base Stat. A stat of 5 can be chosen to be increased to 6. Distribute 3 ranks to any Major skill. Distribute 3 ranks to any Minor Skill. No skill can be increased beyond its Base Stat Limit. Recalculate all Secondary Stats and choose proficencies where needed.
>SKILL FLUFF
Each rank is expressed in the traditional guild trade rankings.
No ranks: Amateur
1 rank: Novice
2 rank: Apprentice
3 rank: Journeyman
4 rank: Adept
5 rank: Expert
6 rank: Master
Doesn't mean they are literally training their skills in this manner (though in some cases, they could be). Just my attempt to be cute or give some cosmetic, I suppose.
>SIZE CATEGORIES AND TARGET RATINGS
Size ratings:
+3: Giant (Dragons)
+2: Large (Ogres)
+1: Medium (Humans)
-1: Small (Goblins)
-2: Tiny (Cats)
-3: Miniscule (Bugs)
A target may be rolled against to hit with a Weaponry, Precision, or Spellcasting roll. Their DCs are as following.
-Unsuspecting/Prone: 5 - Size rating (ie. Small Creature 6, Medium Creature 4, Large 3)
-Active: As unsuspecting/Prone + Agility*0.5 (minimum 1)
If the roll is an attack and is successful, the character still can set a new DC before getting hit with a opposed Blocking or Evasion roll, at the expense of some vp. If its a spell, this would instead be an opposed Resistance roll, but not in all cases.
>>44083432
>ARMOUR
Armour essentially serves as "Damage Reduction". A character with an armour that provides "3" subtracts 3 from the damage. For example, he is hit with a greataxe that does 5 damage, so takes 2 damage.
>>44082624
Part 1: System Overview and Base Stats
>>44082644
Part 2: Secondary Stats (HP, VP, MP)
>>44082796
Part 3: Skills Overview and List
>>44082913
>>44083054
Part 4: Skill Details and Proficencies
>>44083432
Part 5: Level and Rank Progress, Size and Target Ratings
>>44083492
Part 6: Armour
>>44083520
>SIX DICE
All crits and questions are welcome, and desired! So long as there's some effort to be constructive.
This is the basics of what I have. Haven't gotten into combat rules and mechanics, equipment stats and proficency options, or monsters and npcs. But hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm going for.
I'll start with some questions I have for you, /tg/. Does the system seem relatively easy to understand/learn, and light? Would you find it boring, or interesting? I'm going to playtesting with my gaming group sometime next year, giving them pizza and beer for their time.
>>44079229
Really nice. What happens when you roll something like "1, 1, 2, 2, 3"? Choose one set, combine characteristics from both results into one alien race, or create two races?
>>44081045
Rather than having hard numbers I'd personally rather have players build a base using the CYOA, roll a random terror, then just start going at it. The roll over mechanic is already usable as is, and the CYOA has lots of nice detail, all the extra skills and stuff feels unnecessary. At most, a target number baseline should be set for the various tasks that might happen, then you could start roleplaying.
That said, that is really just personal preference. Your current list of skills seem nice enough, I'm not too sure if Breaking should be a skill, though I suppose hacking and stuff could count under it. Maybe add Thinking for mind related tasks? Also, how about letting Grenades be 'cannot be tanked' rather than 'cannot be dodged'?
>>44083520
Seems alright, I like that you can invest into a school and you don't need to worry about allocating points for specific skills. For target rating is it roll above or roll under? Because the larger sized targets should be easier to hit than the smaller ones.
>Does the system seem relatively easy to understand/learn, and light?
I guess? It helps that the schools are grouped together, making it easier to decide when allocating points. I'm not sure if it reaches the goal of "for a short campaign that can be finished in around 6 hours or less" though, seems to me like you'd still need multiple sessions to complete a campaign.
>Would you find it boring, or interesting?
I wouldn't object to playing it atleast, though I would wonder why a new system was created instead of using the more popular ones as a base and modifying certain rules and the like.
>>44083957
>For target rating is it roll above or roll under? Because the larger sized targets should be easier to hit than the smaller ones
Not sure if my equations were well written (or if they're even what I will go with, probably needs some work without overcomplicating things), but the idea is that each size category has a size modifier, this modifier will make larger creatures have a number that will naturally increase their hitpoints, but naturally decrease the DC to hit them. For smaller creatures, its vice versa
>>44083957
though I would wonder why a new system was created instead of using the more popular ones as a base and modifying certain rules and the like.
The idea behind it is a simple system that does away with classes, where you can create custom characters that at the same time don't become too unspecialized. Though, I'm really only familiar with a few systems. I'm unaware if something similar to this already exists.
I've been absorbing a few different rulesets and games recently and come up with something to modify old school dnd's combat system a bit;
Whenever you attack, you either use HEAVY or LIGHT weapons.
HEAVY weapons are all melee weapons and bows that deal d8 or greater damage. When using heavy weapons, you get to add your strength to the attack roll.
LIGHT weapons are all melee weapons and bows that deal d6 or less damage, plus most other ranged weapons. When using light weapons, you get to add your Dex to the attack roll.
Using this system we have a clear split between strength and dexterity based characters and even a way to balance them a bit; Dexterity heavy characters would get a big bonus to AC from all their Dexterity AS WELL as their weapons now, but they would do reduced damage because their weapons are mostly smaller in size.
Strength based characters, on the other hand, get to use big and strong weapons that deal more damage but don't get bonus AC automatically from having a high fighting stat.
The Fighters/Warriors in this game have a class ability that lets them add their Strength modifier to Heavy weapon DAMAGE and their Dexterity modifier to Light weapon DAMAGE, instead of just to hit.
What do you think?
>>44083957
>players build a base using the CYOA
picking the starting item and build is fine, but if each player picks a base, NPC, base perk...well then it wouldn't do well with how I want to run this...
>Breaking
I needed a strength analog but I suppose Tanking or Punching can do that as well.
>Thinking
perhaps so...
>grenades
rationale?
you cant really dodge an explosion...but you can throw the 'nade back.
>>44083957
>Really nice. What happens when you roll something like "1, 1, 2, 2, 3"? Choose one set, combine characteristics from both results into one alien race, or create two races?
You combine them, and then the fun part is figuring out how that culture functions.
I'm going to tune down the numbers a bit, since the +Skills I think are skewing a bit higher than I'd like, as the idea for this system is to create baselines for characters, not complete ones.
>>44084215
Yeah, I think we have different ideas on how to run a game based on the CYOA, so you can safely ignore that part.
For grenades, running away outside the AoE radius could be considered as dodging I think. In contrast, you're not going to survive facing a explosion head on and "tanking" it, even if you have armour or are hiding behind cover. For throwing the grenade back you could probably use Finding and Throwing.
>>44084163
This works only assuming that the dice roll is the primary contributor to damage, which isn't always the case depending on what system you are working in.
>>44084361
makes sense I suppose.
as to systems on a CYOA...like I said 12 year old girls(very weird children)and I DO NOT want them to start with D&D...
So I converted Hellsgate over into using the single roll resolution. I also revamped some things. Removed the Command Phase, instead now models can buy upgrades that recreate the effects, and well as some other stuff.
I could always use more suggestions for upgrades.
>>44083520
With the amount of rules and stuff you already got down, it might be more handy to write it all down to a document and then attaching a pdf version to this thread.
>>44085157
...wait, literal 12 year old girls? And here I thought it was a metaphor for childish players.
If you're looking for accessible RPGs, google for 'SUSD RPG', they have reviewed a few games that should be playable by children, though you should omit out any adult bits. The Quiet Year and Fiasco should be particularly interesting, as well as that one 'robbery gone wrong' game.
>>44085334
Good idea. about to head to bed. I've already copied it into a doc for my own reference (all my shit was better organized here than previously) will come back and post the pdf soon enough.
So, I found a problem with the Roll-Under mechanic I was looking to use: it's entirely too limiting number wise. Even if I start Skills at 0-2 at level one the way I have attributes set up means that the average is 5 and the max at character creation is 7. Max for players in general is 8, but even then that means they are Auto passing normal difficulty checks with just a bit over bare investment.
My options are either lower starting attributes, put a very low cap on skills or do some kind of "10 always fails but if your skill+attribute is higher than that you may retoll at -9." Which isn't horrible but...
So: should I scrap the roll-under thing and go back to how it was, or endeavor to change even MORE systems to make it work.
And that's not even getting into how I'll have to rework the affinity mechanics.
>>44085652
Well, if an average stat in a roll-under system is giving you +5 it sounds like your stat bonuses are set way too hight. Without knowing your system better, first I'd look into lowering the average bonus, narrowing the range, and even allowing bad stat values grant negative modifiers - I feel characters generally do not need the capacity of becoming multitalent skill monkeys.
>>44080984
40 years ago, the Empire of Aquileon stretched across the entire continent, from the mountain ranges on the eastern seaboard to the shining western coast. While it was bordered by the somewhat hostile states of Shoshkepal to the South, Kiserre off the Western coast, and Varangia to the North, Aquileon was, overall, a peaceful Steampunk empire.
Then the coal ran out.
The heavy overuse of coal had pushed Aquileon's reserves to the breaking point, and the failure of the coal mines triggered a massive economic depression that shook the country. The King did what he could to lessen the effects, but unrest grew, and Democrat rebels began to spread their "one man, one vote" rhetoric openly. The turning point in Aquilonese history came when the King's own brother murdered him and declared that he would be hosting free elections, the first in Aquilonese history.
The Queen was not happy. Taking up a "ceremonial" greatsword wielded by Queens of Aquileon for generations, she cut her way free of her brother-in-law's agents and fled westward to her home in the western region of Astaria, where she declared herself rightful Queen of Aquileon. In practice, this was the Astarian kingdom seceding from the Aquilonese empire.
In the turmoil that followed, the Aquilonese empire faced invasions on all sides.
(cont)
>>44086124
From the North and South, the Varangians and Shoshkepali peoples made great gains, each of them taking perhaps a tenth of the Empire's land, themselves doubling in size from this acquisition. In the west, of course, Astaria had claimed the entire Western coast, and then went on to claim several nearby provinces, establishing a massive foothold and making themselves quite suddenly a player on the world stage. In the East, the mysterious and powerful Cult of Creators took the opportunity to seize power, declaring themselves the new nation of Fillion and holding their territory against invasion thanks to the mountain range they called home. To the south of them, barbarians from the southeastern desert armed with Kiserran weapons conquered and assimilated a region of Aquileon that had been seized by a Communist revolt, creating a new nation called Nzemya.
[End historylog]
So that's the basic background of how the countries in question came to be. The timeline goes back another hundred years or so, to the end of the Age of Sail, and the "current" of the game is forty years after the empire fractured.
Gameplay questions to follow
So, gameplay question. So far, I've got a few generic melee weapons statted. Hammer, Sword, Axe, Shield, Fist, and Spear. Halberds are going to be unique to Astaria, as the Knightly melee-focused faction. Shoshkepal, with their Tesla/Egyptian influences has Arc Khopeshes, while Aquileon, being not melee focused at all, gets Flamethrowers, which work like a melee weapon in this game due to reasons.
Are there any other melee weapons I should add? Keep in mind, I'm just focusing on Shoshkepal, Astaria, and Aquileon for now. Nzemya, Kiserre, Varangia, and Fillion will follow later.
BRB, watching SW Rebels
>>44086124
>>44086146
Ok, now its making more sense.
>>44086184
I'd try to stick to a few main categories of weapons. The ones you have should cover most forms of weapons you come across, and any out there ones, you can easily use those as a starting point and add rules to make them stand out.
Where does homebrew research culture, religions, and politics for their settings when looking for influence?
>>44087272
I personally look up everything. I love cultures from all around the world, from tribal to modern, though personally I like to take a step back from this and don't just steal things blindly, but I don't take just one feature.
For example; in my setting there are Monkey men from Indian legend who believe in a sort of cycle of reincarnation thing. However their escape from this cycle is not living a life of total spiritual cleanness of the highest scale and then ascending into the stars or whatever; its freezing yourself into a static statue, subsisting on the cosmos in this state, and enjoying absolute bliss in a permanent lucid dream. You could still be awoken/your body killed and you sent to the void if your statue is broken or turned back to flesh, and as such the law of that place forbides anyone fucking with any statue for basically any reason.
It's got enough roots in real world myth there is a parallel but there is some extra stuff to build on as well.
>>44073800
>>44073012
the thing is: once a player has rolled that skill, how fucked is he? I mean, he's gonna repair the one-two broken things I throw there to make his class interesting. Maybe even synthetize some dynamite, but that's it. I'm not sure that he'll get to use it very much.
>>44052200
>What type of game are you working on?
Sci-fi tactical shooter with psionics for variety (yeah it's a bit overdone, but not in the way that I like it)
>What type of game would you be interested in being made?
A balanced, open world rpg with mechanics that feel fluid and make sense.
>What's one mechanic you really want to use in your game?
An insight based combat system. Players (PCs and NPCs) declare action based on their insight stat, lowest insight first. Those with higher insight know what their opponent is doing and lock in their actions for the round. The round is then resolving all of the actions based on the players stats.
>What's one mechanic you REALLY want to avoid in your system?
A weird and arbitrary health and defense/AC system.
>What is your default setting?
Uplifted planets filled with different alien races.
>Do you have a secondary setting? If so what is it?
Non-uplifted planets, or desolate planets where it's the Players versus the world. Also possibly a space/vehicle combat system.
>>44081045
Is the King the Yellow king? what does he do anyways?
So I'm currently building a setting where I want much of the people to be humans or half humans in the main civilized parts of the world.
However, I have a few ideas for other races; I'm a big fan of things like Gnolls, Tengu, bunnyfolk and pig orcs, but the problem is one of my core races is humans mixed with animals; called Bouja. Bouja are usually created not by a human having sex with an animal (thought it can happen), more often it is caused by an animal spirit inhabiting the sperm of a hunter after he kills and eats it, so it can get revenge on him by impregnating his wife, that sort of thing.
However I feel like it might create too much overlap; having half human animal thingies seems redundant next to hyena people and pig people and so on. Is there enough room in the design space for this kind of thing?
>>44088352
I think the skill is really situation dependent, in a game where you find broken down contraptions, jammed guns, or carriages in need of quick roof repairs frequently, it can become quite useful. If nothing needs upgrading or fixing though, it might not be that useful. Unless you count Macgyvering stuff up as a science thing of course.
>>44088888
You mix things up by having the hyena, pig, and whatever be as non-humanoid as it can get (hyena people are big fur clad carnivores that primarily walk on 4 legs, and have rather elongated necks) while the Bouja are your typical human-but-some-animal-features type of race. (Hyena Bouja are humans with ears and tail of hyenas, and have a distinctive laugh). You can even have them be discriminated against by both human and animal races.
>>44085498
well, 12, 14, and 15.
and they asked for something NOT-girly
>>44088869
in the CYOA I think it's implied, but it's not how I'll run him.
>>44088352
You're encountering the universal problem with all skill systems: making sure each skill is genuinely useful and not just there for fluff. Picking skills for the purpose of characterization is great but if it means you've got to choose between "what makes my character interesting and unique" and "what makes my character actually useful" then you've got a flawed system.
My belief is that if a Skill doesn't have a defined mechanical benefit in the game that the GM can actually pose a variety of challenges for then it probably doesn't need to be in the game.
>>44088888
FYI when you get all elbow deep into the mechanics of your setting's sexual culture, it's easy to turn some people off. That said the more I think about it it's actually kind of an interesting idea, and creates a very unique setting element.
What hooks me is the idea that people would try very hard to find ways to avoid this, like hunting in groups and exchanging kills so that nobody eats the thing they actually slay, or hunters intentionally remaining celibate to avoid producing Bouja offspring.
>>44070513
So I know this post was forever ago, but I really dig Gearing as terminology, and the way astarians hypothetically function, both as a result of that mechanic and in a vacuum
>>44086101
That's the issue. I originally had the system tuned for a Target Number system, but I wanted see how rough a switch to a Roll Under mechanic would be.
One of my main goals is to avoid as many penalties as possible, outside of what you inflict on others. So having a lower Attribute Score or skill score isn't a "penalty", it's just less at your disposal. I want a very Upward feeling system mechanically to mesh well with the setting and general feel I'm going for, which is a mostly lighthearted, upbeat world with the players a group of companions who slowly grow together. The world itself is what I describe as Noble-Dark. The people in this world are mostly good, but the world they live in is filled with mystery and danger.
As far as Multi-Talent Skill Monkeys, I just want to make sure everyone has something to contribute at every Phase of the game. Something to help them dig up leads in town, something to help them ward off perils on the road, something to help them embolden their allies at camp, something to lend to combat and something to lend to debates.
SAD characters aren't a thing, no one gets by with only one Attribute, not even 2. Your most focused, "minmaxed" soldier needs Might, Endurance, Finesse and Poise, your focused spell caster needs Knowledge, Finesse, Endurance and Wits, your "only ranged ever" gunner need Perception, Finesse, Agility and Poise. Presently I'm working wit Attributes going from 4-7 at level one, 5 as Average, 8 is "human" max, 10 mortal max. That said, dropping everything down by 3 might work. 1-4 at level 1, 2 Average, 5 "human" max, 7 mortal max. That let's skills only go up to 4 before they hit Attribute+Skill=9 tho. Maybe have skills Traveller Style, with Skill 0 as being trained and anything less is -1? I'm not sure. That also mean I have to rework the Affinity system substantially, as it presently is tuned for a much higher set of numbers.
>>44088538
>An insight based combat system. Players (PCs and NPCs) declare action based on their insight stat, lowest insight first. Those with higher insight know what their opponent is doing and lock in their actions for the round. The round is then resolving all of the actions based on the players stats.
Have you played anything with the One Roll Engine? Because it handles combat in exactly that way.
I'm interested in seeing what you've got if you're still around.
>>44052200
>What type of game are you working on?
A Noble-Bright System based around a group of allies going off on adventures and growing together as a sort of pseudo-family.
>What type of game would you be interested in being made?
A dark, horror scifi game based around of bunch of strangers trying to survive against alien abominations and mad men.
>What's one mechanic you really want to use in your game?
The Camp Phase, where players perform group actions and roleplay out things to earn Unity points.
Also: cooking as an equally viable alternative to Alchemy.
>What's one mechanic you REALLY want to avoid in your system?
Division/ fractions and numbers that only exist to be divided or altered into another number like D&D Attribute Scores vs Attribute Modifiers.
>What is your default setting?
Noble-Bright world of Ourobund, with a focus on the continent of Aermense Lae and Aergraq.
>Do you have a secondary setting? If so what is it?
Still working on this, it could probably work in a lot of fantasy settings.
So, I'm reviewing my Skill System, since I'm going to be trying the Traveller Method of each Skill keys off a different Attribute based on how you're using it, so I want to weed out some redundancy. I'd really like each skill to be able to key off at least 2 different Attributes.
I'd also like Basic Skills to be a Multiple of 5, but that's not as necessary.
Attributes:
Might: Physical strength
Endurance: Physical Durability
Finesse: Manual Dexterity
Agility: Full-body Nimbleness
Knowledge: Factual Intelligence
Perception: Environmental/Situational Awareness.
Wits: Mental/Conversational Flexibility
Poise: Physical Charisma
Normal Skills:
Constitution
Focus
Presence
Will
Senses
Nature
Sincerity
Logic
Religion
Insight
History
Mobility
Stealth
Medicine
Arcana
Athletics
Reflexes
Survival
Perform
Animals
Weapon:
Blades
Axes
Maces
Spears
Pistols
Rifles
Unarmed
Protection
Crafting:
Smithing
Woodworking
Alchemy
Cooking
Mechanics
Foraging:
Gathering
Hunting
Mining
To Be Decided:
Tact
Streetwise
Boating
Scribe
Riding
Investigation
I'm free all day to answer questions or comments.
>>44087349
Thanks anon
>>44087349
Right now I'm doing a lot of research on old Irish Law, things Honor Prices and Druids as basically law keepers rather than hobos who lives on the woods. It's why in my setting Druids are basically law-men instead of hippies, and as such are much more urban.
Looking up the old roots of things we take for granted can lead to an ABUNDANCE of awesome lore for your setting.
Updated map with some new places.
Lan-Lo
Pre-War
-Popular holiday destination, tropical climate
-A questionable leader that's easily bribed
-Reliant on tourism for their economy
-Effected by both Brinst and Populdon influences
Post-War
-Managed to avoid the majority of the war due to not being a major target. Some of its beaches were turned red.
-Involved in a political incident involving the Populdon secret service who had hoped to establish a pro-Populdon leadership. They were caught and Brinst benefited from it by far subtly establishing their own Pro-Brinst leader.
-Tourism economy took a hit from the Brinst ocean algal contamination but they opened up to Brinst sea trade and allowed a Brinst military base to be established on Lan-Lo territory
Hotai
Pre-War
-Originally a Brinst colony
-Close allies to Matrazan
-Economic exchange across the islands
-Encouraged Matrazan to trade with Brinst and were shamed by the failed Brinst missile shield
-The stable environment was altered by Matrazans geo-bomb fallout, turning it into a chaotic mess of biomes
Post-War
-Seeking atonement from Matrazan for their encouragement of the missile-shield
-Intense hatred of Brinst
-Large amount of mercenary pilots hired by Matrazan
-Matrazan training ground due to now varied ecology
>>44079229
Attached is Part 2 of the One Roll Aliens process, which allows you to randomly generate their physical appearances by rolling a handful of d10s. I had a lot of fun with this one.
Hey guys, I am working on a Legend of the Wulin hack, and I was curious if there was any good documentation floating around for the probabilities of their dice system?
Or how to get anydice to work with it?
>>44096173
You might be able to take some work from ORE and redo it. Height to ones and width to tens, but there might be some other finesses to it, sadly I havent gotten around to read LoTW, but this pdf might have something. SpaceOperaman might help with the ORE side of the math.
>>44092694
I hate to plug myself but...
Thoughts?
>>44097850
I'll take a look at it tomorrow.
quick bump
>>44092694
I'll try and give the skills attributes I think they would work with, see if it helps.
>Normal Skills:
Constitution (Might, Endurance)
Focus (Wits)
Presence (Poise)
Will (Knowledge, Wits)
Senses (Perception, Wits)
Nature (Knowledge?)
Sincerity (Wits, Poise)
Logic (Knowledge, Wits)
Religion (Knowledge)
Insight (Knowledge, Wits, Perception)
History (Knowledge)
Mobility (Finesse, Agility)
Stealth (Finesse, Agility, Perception)
Medicine (Knowledge)
Arcana (Knowledge)
Athletics (Might, Endurance, Agility, Finesse?)
Reflexes (Perception, Wits, Agility, Finesse?)
Survival (Knowledge, Perception, Wits)
Perform (Endurance, Finesse, Agility, Knowledge)
Animals (Knowledge, Poise)
>To Be Decided:
Tact (Perception, Knowledge, Wits)
Streetwise (Knowledge, Perception, Wits)
Boating (Might, Endurance, Finesse)
Scribe (Finesse, Knowledge)
Riding (Endurance)
Investigation (Knowledge, Perception, Wits, Poise)
The rest are pretty situation specific skills, you could probably have them under their own categories. Looks like a lot of Knowledge and Wits. I had trouble deciding on Finesse (is it specific to small stuff you do with your hands?), but I don't think I placed it where it shouldn't be.
>>44094476
Compared to the previous document, it's a bit hard to glean how many dice should be rolled how many times. Is it once for every trait or however much you want new traits? I tried rolling an alien though, just to see what happens.
Rolled 5d10 three times.
First roll, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Uhhhh I guess I have Alternate Vision, Tentacle Arms, Non-verbal, No Mouth, and (rolled 9) Black Skin Colour.
Second roll, 10, 5, 4, 5, 5. 3x5 so I now have Rough skin texture. I assume traits don't stack so 4 gets ignored. 10 means I have Antennae.
Third roll, 1, 8, 1, 8, 1. 3x1 means I have 1 eye in addition to alternate vision. 2x8 means I breed by releasing spore.
Result: unimaginable horror. You weren't kidding about 15d. And I also just answered my question, which is "roll as many dice as you want all at once". You should probably clarify it as an instruction rather than mentioning it offhandedly. Works nicely though.
>>44067655
>>44069724
It went well
Fun shit happened and besides a bit of confusion with the crit system and modifiers everything went really well, sadly a player forgot to get the night off from work so I have to write him in next session, but it's fine I've already got it planned out.
So anyone down for a storytime?
Pic is my current shitty placeholder logo until my artist friend finishes the one he's making.
>>44090389
Good to hear.
Also, I've got four more factions in the work that will be added later on.
Varangia: Focus is formation fighting. Mechs get bonuses when standing in specific shapes.
Fillion: The Fillonese use Tripods, straight out of War of The Worlds, but their spindly legs and weak armor leave them as the glass cannon faction.
Kiserre: Kiserre can be considered the balanced "jack of all trades" faction, with the addition of Titanium armor and amphibious design.
Nzemya: Communist Zulus in power armor
>>44102349
Stories about successful homebrew sessions regardless of mistakes or failures is always nice to keep motivation up, go for it.
>>44102684
>Strength
You could limit the maximum + modifier for a weapon. Dagger could have a max of +1 at most for example, while a sword can be +2.
>Armor
Maybe have armor give - modifiers in addition to armor? It'd probably be weapon specific according to the armor.
>Toughness
GM controlled characters should have toughness according to the event I think, in order avoid random "kill this npc because I can". That's just personal opinion though. Unless someone specifically complains about it I think additional wounds = tougher should be fine.
>Granularity
If you want less maths you could try having the amount of points available be limited to a battle. That way there'd be less maths due to players conserving their points for attack.
>>44043955
Make attributes start at 2 and max them out around 6 (maybe)
>>44101684
Thanks for giving it a shot
As far as your first point of confusion, the system is called "One Roll Aliens" because each stage of the design process only requires a single dice roll. So what you generated isn't one alien with 15d, but rather 3 aliens with 5d.
The first alien is as you described. All loose die means it'll be mostly made out of unique parts. Personally I don't like it when that happens, and when I complete the rules I'll add a suggestion that if you get no matches, feel free to roll again.
Your second roll misses the fact that with 5s are the only Variable Trait that DOES stack. I had hoped that I explained it well enough here:
>Variable Traits are non-cumulative, meaning that a Set of 4x9 doesn’t include the
traits of 2x9 and 3x9. The exception is Sets of 5, which affect the Alien’s Skin. Each level of
Width in that Trait allows the player or GM to acquire the Traits of the lower levels. That
way you can have an Alien with leathery red-skin striped with purple zig-zags.
So the 3x5 roll means you get to roll for both Skin Color and Texture. This creature also has no mouth or a weirdly placed one, and antenna like you indicated.
Your third roll creature actually has 3 eyes. Since the roll generated no loose dice, it's impossible to get an odd number that would make you a cyclops. And as you indicated, 2x8 means spore reproduction.
Now if your goal was to create a 15d alien, what you would do is add all of those pools together and find matches. Here's how that would look:
4x1: Giant, glittering compound eyes
2: Tentacle arms
3: Non-verbal language
2x4: Sharp fangs
4x5: Skin Color, Texture and Pattern
2x8: Spore reproduction
10: Anennae
The way that the One Roll Engine works, if you roll more than 10d, you are guaranteeing yourself at least one match. In normal circumstances, the ORE doesn't let you do that, but for the purposes of randomly generating aliens, it works just fine.
>>44092694
I think your "To Be Decided" skills are mostly unnecessary, except maybe for Streetwise. Boating is probably unlikely to come up in most adventures, yes? And Riding seems like a thing that everyone should have access to, not just someone who picked the skill. It's a lot more fun that way.
>>44105100
>>44043955
Or a better attribute for action and a worse attribute for save / reaction (e.g. save vs trap)
I made a thread >>44107771 here if anyone wants to mess around with my One Roll Alien rules.
>>44096513
Man I wish I liked the ORE toolkit but it's so dense and tangled that it's just a nightmare to try and parse, nevermind understand. The beauty of the ORE is its simplicity, versatility and straight-forwardness, and the Toolkit is anything but.
Working on writing up a setting for an upcoming GURPS campaign. I haven't figured out the setting proper (dungeonpunk with an alternate-WW1 sort of tech level), but I literally had a race come to me in a dream and I gotta ask for feedback.
Name: Kotoli (pending)
>Race of automatons built by the dominant nations
>Ranges from 1.5 to 2.25m, generally built to look attractive by the creators' cultural standards; "skin" is porcelain or other material; faces look human, except they lack a mouth
>Clockwork bodies built around a magically infused core that provides both power and soul; susceptible to damage to the core and hard to repair, but unable to feel pain and don't require upkeep
>they run off magical energy; every Kotoli leeches magical energy from its environment to operate, and a large enough group can create a magical dead zone
>as a rule, they cannot harness magic; magic is shaped by words of power in the setting, and they were built without the ability to speak
>instead, they communicate through elaborate sign language; in servitude the language is standardized, in Kotoli enclaves the local variations can make it difficult for outsiders to understand each other
>most Kotoli still live and serve in the big 3 nations, but enclaves of free or escaped Kotoli have sprung up in the past 2 decades; a violent uprising in #3 led to a region breaking off into an unrecognized Kotoli state; the two sides maintain an uneasy peace, since the big three are magic heavy (blocked by the dead zone) and the Kotoli don't have the manpower or drive to expand>the earliest Kotoli were made with the ability to speak, and at least one of them is able to shape magic even in the dead zonesartificial souls still can't be created; early Kotoli were enslaved and repurposed prisoners ripped from their bodies and forced into a core, more recently created ones are the dead or dying, extracted from their bodies without their families' knowledge
>>44108595
Hit the character limit. I haven't hashed out mechanics and I don't have my books in front of me, but I know there's advantages for magical draining already. If not, I'll end up writing something up myself.
I know this general tends more towards system discussion than setting discussion, but it didn't deserve its own thread and this place was the best fit.
>>44106797
I agree on riding, the only races that couldn't use horses have some other means of moving at the same pace.
Boating might come up, as river travel is a big things, a lot of trade is done via boating and the like.
Streetwise I definitely want to keep, it feels like the one "Area" skill I don't have yet.
Scribe is used for casting spells and would also be used for things like forgery and the like. I'm just not sure if it warrants being a crafting skill or not.
Tact I'm debating on, I have a skill for leadership/intimidation (presence), for bluff and diplomacy (sincerity) and for using facts to win an argument (logic) but I don't really have anything for mocking someone or appealing to nobility or bargaining. So I'm not sure if I need it or not.
Investigation I'm debating as it kind of falls under Logic a bit, but it also covers things that Logic wouldn't. Since I don't have a search skill or anything.
>>44101233
I think you're giving a lot to Wits that would be covered under perception. That my be my fault for not explaining this properly. Wits is more of a Charisma thing than a knowledge thing, Perception is both using your senses and knowing how to work with your Enviroment, so it would be for both noticing bloodsplatter AND figuring out what kind of blow would cause it. If that makes sense.
Finesse admittedly is a bit more of a combat Attribute than even might is. Since the damage mechanic isn't necessarily to hit HARD, it's trying to hit in the first place, as "health" is basically luck or stamina to get yourself out of the way of the attack.
>>44105100
That's an idea. I'll have to rework combat and some subsystems, as presently I'm working off Skills are higher than Attributes, and swapping to Attributes higher than Skills would fuddle that a bit. But I think it could be worth it.
>>44106812
This I'm a little confused about. I'm not sure what you're trying to get across.
>>44101233
>finesse
Think of agility as more inward, being where you want to be and Finesse more outward, putting things where you want them to be.
A couple of these could key off perception, like medicine and some could key off poise like stealth (hiding in plain sight). Medicine could also use finesse (suturing).
Overall this is a pretty good list.
>>44109215
>This I'm a little confused about. I'm not sure what you're trying to get across.
example:
str 4
dex 2
attack = +4 (str -- beccause it'sthe larger one) + other stuff
dodge = +2 (dex -- because it's the smaller one) + other stuff
>>44109437
so would strength necessarily always be higher? How would that work? Or do you just always use the lower attribute regardless of what it is?
>>44106692
Yeah, I noticed my mistake right at the end of the post, but it was nice that the alien still ended up as intended when 15d is rolled even after messing up the creations rules that badly. The proper alien looks like it's just as horrific.
>>44109151
>>44109282
Ahh I see, I interpreted Wits as "the ability to think outside of the box to solve problems, whether it be conversation wise or physical abilities". I think I interpreted Finesse correctly, but looking back I noticed I grouped Finesse and Agility together pretty often. I can give it another once over after sleeping if you'd like. Also, how many skills are you looking to shrink it down to?
>>44109588
That's my bad, I should probably look for a better word but... I like MEFAKPeWPo. Maybe just Wit instead of Wits, it seems to have a bit different connotation.
Ideally, around 20-25 for "Basic" Skills. That way I can do 10-15 starting Skill points and people can either put 1 point in half of all the skills or 2 in a quarter
>>44109588
Pretty much. And remember, this is Stage 2. Stage 1, which I'm completing the rules for now, covers traits that have a mechanical benefit. So this thing could also have multiple arms or legs, razor sharp claws, armor plating or even the ability to fly.
Ideally, all three steps can be done in like five minutes and create a completely unique alien race and culture with just three dice rolls.
>>44108632
I like the idea that because Magic is harnessed purely by words of power, creating a race that is unable to speak is a perfect solution to keeping them in check. In your setting, is Magic freely available to anyone who wants to learn, or is it linked to bloodline/genetics?
Mainly though, what kind of feedback are you looking for? Be specific. Posts that just publish material for everyone to read without directing them to a critical goal generally get overlooked.
>>44111142
I'm inclined to link it into training, rather than anything innate. Some people may be inherently more or less skilled, but magic CAN be learned by anyone. The problem is that magical knowledge is highly guarded by the upper classes and nations' rulership, and those who aren't in a position of power aren't inclined to share their knowledge too much, either. I'm drawing primarily from my (limited) understanding of GURPS' assorted magical systems, if that gives any help.
I got it dropped on me less than 12 hours ago that I'd need to GM something at all, so I'm just trying to fish for ways to improve what little I have so far (which basically amounts to what I've already posted, I haven't even been home long enough to write any of it down). I'm fairly new to tabletop RPGs in general and completely new to GMing, so I don't even know where to start beyond assorted disconnected ideas.
>>44108632
Holy crap. This reminds me so much of my race of half-golems, down to the being mute and therefor not being able to cast spells!
>>44111416
>half-golems
How, uh... How does that work?
>>44111661
Honestly? Exactly how you think unfortunately. There's this magic energy source that golems run on, but normal golems are basically brick retarded. In an effort to make more and more intelligent golems they started making them more and more human. And inevitably very morally bankrupt, very inventive or very lonely Golem Forges made some capable of human-golem reproduction. When the power source ran dry, and all the golems slowly died off, a kind of race began to make as many half-golems as possible.
It is frankly the darkest part of the setting, a lot of Half-Golems, or Half-Sentients (half-cents colloquially) as they are called, have to deal with a lot of judgement and strife. Especially as they are one of the many former space races. They won their freedom relatively quickly though, as ancestral freedom was a reward for serving in a war that took place not a decade later.
>>44111808
*Slave
Not space
>>44108513
Forgot about this place honestly. Figured folks might want to check this out if they like BioShock. Been working on it for a month and a half or so, so feed back would be welcome.
Working on my Alchemy system. Right now I have 6 colors, each ingredient you find will have a color associated with it, but the color isn't necessarily tied to what it is. So you can find red herbs, or red animal bits, or red minerals.
Right now you can either extract one ingredient for a lesser effect, or combine 2 to create a concoction with a very different effect. You can then add an extract to a concoction to give it a "rider" effect. So if you make a Blue+Red Concoction and then add a Transparent Extract, you would get the "Purple" effect and the Pure Green. A blue+blue Concoction would also have a different effect than a blue Extract, so you could do an Azure (Blue+Blue) conception with a Blue Extract Rider and have a very different potion.
Thought?
I'm also thinking of snagging the esoteric Alchemy mechanic from The Last Book, and tweaking that instead, but it feels like either cheating, or a lot of work.
>>44112068
What's the core mechanic for this game? It's a pretty massive document, but I'd love to hear a bit about it. Sell me on it.
>>44112585
d6 dice pools more or less. d4 and d% for certain special roll. Roll of 4 or higher success on an action, with special stuff happening with 6s. Roll of 2 and 3 are regular failures. 1s are critical failures, deducting from total successes starting at the highest number and counting down. Rolling one success is all you need to succeed with an action, but the more successes you have, the better you do at what you're attempting, or deal more damage if attacking.
Classless system. You pick skills based on what you want to do and roll it when you can perform an action. It can be both narrative and combat focused depending on what you'd like to use the system for.
Adam, like in BioShock itself, is dangerous but empowering. It chips away at your appearance and your sanity, but you can choose to not use it and rely on weapons and Gear.
>>44112461
As long as the effect gotten with combining 2 of the same color isn't too wildly different, that should work. Like, blue could be made to give you water breathing, and combining 2 blue would give water-walking would be ok, but water breathing and then combing 2 blue gives you flying would take you out of the immersion a little, since its a bit of a logic jump.
>>44116664
Well it would be more low-key stuff, like green extract gives you a bonus to endurance, double green gives you Stamina back.
Of course some would be flipped of each other like yellow extract give your a bonus to senses, but a double yellow works as a poison for your mind. Kind of like treat something one way and you get a different reaction.
Any good combat simulators out there?
It sounds strange but I've been looking for one and can't find it.
Mostly I want it for fluff, but at the same time to simulate battles going on between smaller groups of Heros.
I know there are pretty good mass combat simulators out there - basically roll some dice to see how the battles go and then determine losses.
But how would you autogenerate a battle between a Level 4 Cleric and 3 Level 5 Fighters vs something like 20 Goblins?
Of course this is dependent on system too, but I'd be interested in knowing if there was a generator before I begin writing one for my games.
>>44116772
The yellow is a good idea. Its different effects, but they are still in the same area of theme; affecting the senses and mind.
>>44121826
Thanks. I have some other ideas by everytime I try to post them the system things I'm posting spam...
>>44122296
You may have to post it in a pastebin or something to get around the filter.
>>44122428
I want to go on record as saying this is silly.
http://pastebin.com/JusVnrGp
Working on a small system to randomly determine the physical properties of alien substances. Does anyone have a list of physical properties that are better than Wikipedia's entry for physical properties?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_property
Alternatively, just spouting out some random properties you can think of would also help.
>>44052200
>What type of game are you working on?
Was working on a simple wargame battling over earth
>What type of game would you be interested in being made?
a simple pick up an play skirmishesque game
>What's one mechanic you really want to use in your game?
Distinct Factions
>What's one mechanic you REALLY want to avoid in your system?
Too many stats for each unit
>What is your default setting?
Usually fantasy
>Do you have a secondary setting? If so what is it?
space opera sci-fi with lots of imaginative unexplored planets
>>44119708
While there isn't an existing simulator, you could make one using Combat Results Tables. >>44058384
Basically
>assign to each involved individual a value; power/strength/anything that represents a characters capability in combat
>roll dice
>find result according to ratio of power and dice result
>>44044609
Militant is army person. Not a holly warrior.
Crook and Bastard are names for villain classes. Not sure what is the tone of your game.
It's OK to just call them Specialist and Warrior.
>>44123879
If you want to post what you've got, I'd be glad to look over it.
>>44122521
Yeah, that's weird. There doesn't seem to be anything in there that should trip the spam filter.
I didn't see this thread in the catalog earlier, here's a game that I've been working on and originally shared on here a couple weeks ago.
It's basically a cross between rules-lite and old school games. It uses map-based combat, but everything's been streamlined. It was originally made to help new players and kids get into RPGs, but it also scratches the itch for if you want to just run a game with simple rules and without a ton of setup.
There's no to-hit roll, every character has its own health regen based on how they act during battle, it only needs a single set of standard RPG dice, and it's setting-generic.
Let me know what you think of the rules and any questions you might have about the system.
>>44126467
>Militant is army person. Not a holly warrior.
Militant is a commonly used name for religious extremists and terrorist. Muslim Militant or Extremist, "Militant Atheist", etc.
All the classes have edgy names on purpose. Why do you think the Wizard was a Debaser instead of just called a Wizard?
>>44044609
The trophy thing is probably the coolest thing to take away from this. I don't know if I've posted this before, but I think it's creates a really interesting mentality that nudges all Bastards a bit towards a Beowulf-esque mindset.
>>44130546
>Budding Heroes
So I'm encourage to make my heroine a DFC?
No progress lately. Accidentally bought Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and spent three hours playing with a Cubone.
How are your projects going, everyone?
>>44132492
Well, as long as you're having fun...
I've decided on trying to flesh out my system, so there is some context before trying to perfect each individual bit.
Currently feeling pretty daunted by the range of complexity for possible armor mechanics.
>>44132492
I'm happy with how Hellsgate translated into the new system, though I feel that there are some things that need to be expanded on.
Playtesting has come to a holt, though.
>>44133051
Forgot my name.
>>44132678
The way I do it is, you have an Armor, which has Hardness that varies based on how well it's made and designed as well of the materials it's made of. So, say your have Armor of 6 and Hardness of 3; you roll 6 dice, and each number above 3 reduces damage by 1. The remaining damage is applied to your Armor stat, reducing it so that you're more vulnerable to damage later.
