One more system

#1

(Update: the newest version of the K10 Rules)

I was trying to create rules on a certain principle. The basic idea came from that doubling XP requirement for increasing Hit Points. And it all worked so neatly! At first...

But sadly, it didn't work. What came out of this brilliant idea was getting weirder and weirder, and I had to trash it. Here is the new concept. The system may seem strange even now... but I don't care. It's my first attempt to create a complete RPG system anyway. This may be an alternative system for the Labyrinth, or for anything else. Your input will decide.

Oh and please try to ignore the big, BIG holes here and there I may filled them later...
or feel free to do it yourself.

Last Warning: these rules were not playtested.

Summary:

The Skill makes it all. Skills decide everything, skills are what these rules are all about. Even attributes are skills in a way. While a skill can theoretically grow to the Heavens, it takes more and more time and strain to improve it. At some point, a skill will become practically impossible to improve further.

The rules allow any character to concentrate on few key areas of knowledge, or have many of a lower Rank. Hit Points are limited, and combat will be fast and deadly.

The Basics:

Rule: All rolls are made with a 1d10.

Consequence: If the number you roll against is high enough, you can't beat it. Well, life is hard! Some things are simply impossible.

Optional rule: If you roll a 10, you can roll again and add the result! OK,
everything is possible, just not as much probable. Would need further rules
so it does not grow beyond reasonable limits.

Note: Some people may want to replace the roll with a 2d6, or a (2d6-1), or
2d10/2 or any other combination of dice rolls. Feel free. This is the basic rule for testing purposes, may change it later.

Note: A 1d10 can be nicely translated into percentiles. A 1d6 would make things much different...

Many rolls are composed in this way:
Relevant_Attribute + Relevant_Skill(s) + Relevant_Bonus(es) + 1d10
The number achieved should be higher than a set diffilcuty number, or the result of some other, opposing roll.

Note: Need some pre-set diffilcuty numbers for 'easy', 'hard', 'impossible' etc.

Note: Need guidelines for what happens if the roll is equal to the opposing
number/roll. For now, it is a wild surge or some similar unpleasant effect.

Note: Also may need to limit the maximum number of skills/bonuses those
insidious players will undoubtly want to use. For now use common sense. ;-)

Rule: Here and are used rolls with 'half' a skill. In these cases, always round DOWN.

Rule: These are the attributes for all characters:

Physiqueness - is the raw physical power a character can use
Dextrousness - the agility of a character, important not only in combat
Steadiness - the general potential to withstand suffering, determines HP
Atractivness - personal influence on other people
Smartness - the ability to think! :wink:

All characters of all races begin with their abilities at a 2, unless it is for
a given race defined otherwise. This will be some kind of 'human average'.

Note: Let it be 2? Or 3? Or what?

Rule: The basic Hit Points are equal to Steadiness.

Rule: If a character's Hit Points fall below Steadiness, (s)he starts to have a penalty to all rolls equal to the difference.

Note: Sounds logical at first, but characters with a higher Steadiness can end up with a higher penalty. Leave it at that, or change somehow?

Rule: At HP 0 or less, the character is unable to fight, K.O. If HPs reach negative Steadiness, (s)he dies.

Rule: The basic Magic Points are equal to Smartness.

Note: This means all characters have some Magic Points, although only few with the respective skill(s) can use them for spellcasting. Some may learn Cantrips, other uses might be for personalised magic items (idea unfinished yet).

Rule: Improving abilities costs twice as much as improving normal skills.
(See below Improving skills)

Rule: Spells dealing damage cannot cause more damage to a single target than twice the spells rank.

Note: Add a similar limit for weapons? Not sure about it. Combat will be fast, maybe too fast, and a limit to maximum damage may slow it down. But means problems if you use weapons without having the respective skill.

Rule: A character that plays its part well is awarded through Experience Points, or XPs. These XPs may be saved indefinitely, but are much more useful if spent on abilities or skills. The GM decides on how much a character gets for his/her actions (if at all). The GM should have a 'price list' like this:
- Minor combat challenge 1 XP
- Major combat challenge 3 XP
- Good roleplaying 1-3 XP
- Achieving the objective of the adventure 2 XP
- Great ideas 1-3 XP
- Contributing to the campaign world 1-3 XP
- Greatly entertaining the whole group (sometimes involutarily) 1-2 XP
- ...
Getting XPs is not the point of roleplaying. XPs can be used for character development in a numerical way (is now better at this, and better at that... ), but for many people is improving numbers not equal to character growth.

Skills

A Skill is a packet of knowledge covering one area of problems. To really know, you must understand the topic, you must have spent some time considering it, and without practice your knowledge is little worth. A skill is not only about words, it can be about feelings, and movements, even pure instincts of how-to-do-things-right. Weapon-skills and artistic skills are much like that. Skill is something you can improve in.

A skill shall be defined through its description and effects, and maybe special modifiers to gaining and raising. No two skills may do the same thing.

Rank
A number that determines the character's knowledge of the skill.

The Rank of 0 determines 'common knowledge' of the man from the street. It may really mean 'zero' knowledge. How much do you or I know about Brain Surgery? Nothing, I guess. In other cases, it means at least some knowledge of the topic. In general, anyone of us can Climb to a certain degree, anyone can communicate in his/her primary language, etc. Exceptions can exist, but those are special cases. A smart GM can solve much with modifiers fitting the given situation.

A character is Skilled, if his Skill is at least the Rank of 1. The higher the Rank, the better his ability to use the skill.

Skill cost modifiers:
Modifiers are added to the skill cost, to show how much XPs you need to gain/raise a skill.

Permanent modifiers are always added, and are always defined in the skill definition. These represent the general diffilcuty of the skill.

Situational modifiers can change from day to day. Say you have no teacher for a complicated skill, and must learn it alone from dusty tomes of an ancient dialect. The Game Master decides this deserves a skill cost modifier of +2 or more. These modifiers represent the relative diffilcuty of learning THIS skill in THIS conditions.

Note: Will need more guidelines one day. For now use common sense.

Note: A skill without permanent modifiers might be called an 'easy' or 'common' skill. A skill with a permanent +1 to skill cost might be a 'medium' skill, with a perm. +2 to skill cost a 'hard' skill, +3 a 'very hard' skill.

The Hit Point Skill
This skill represents your mastery in ignoring suffering. It simply adds to the number of Hit Points. Loosing these Hit Points means no penalty. These HPs are lost first.

Example: if you have a Steadiness of 3 and a Hit Point Skill at 4, you have a total of 7 Hit Points.

The Magic Skill
Represents the ability to gather and keep Magic Points for the magic-user. When gaining a new Rank in this skill, you get MPs equal to the Rank. (A skill of 1 gives one MP, at 2 gives 2 new MPs, at 3 gives 3 new MPs, etc., cummulative.)

Special:
+1 to skill cost
+2 to skill cost if not taken at character creation

Note: Magic is not easy and common to learn, and much harder if you are older.

Note: You can easily get more Magic Points than Hit Points.

Gaining new skills:
Skills are bought for 1 XP, with all necessary skill cost modifiers. Skills are gained on Rank 1.

Alternatively, the GM may decide that you deserve the skill, based on your past acting. (This should be a special situation.) Rarely, you could get a skill through a magical incident, divine intervention, or any other form of bizzare enlightement. Most of the time, you must work very hard to gain new skills.

Improving skills has two guises:
1. Reality-wise you train, exercise, practice, study with a teacher or alone, and/or do whatever else thinkable that might bring about your future improvement.
2. Game-wise you spend XP in the needed amount to raise the skills' Rank.

While the GM will certainly note the second point, (s)he might not carefully observe your character's development at all times. You as the player are responsible for a believable background of your character, and for the background of your character's skills/abilities. The GM may veto your attempt to raise a skill, if you didn't use it, or trained it in any way. Improving a skill should have its time and place, not simply between Room 15 and Room 16 of the Dungeon!

Note: If the character was succesfull enough with using a skill, the GM may lower the XP cost or even directly raise the skill. This should be done only for exceptional deeds.

To improve a skill to a certain Rank, you must spend XP equal to that Rank, plus any possible modifiers. The Table is included as an attachment (hope it works right).

Improving abilities
Abilities are too skills in a certain way... common skills that are considered
at Rank 0, without any 'skill' cost modifiers, but always twice that expensive. Is this OK? What do you think?

Example: A common skill is gained for 1 XP, improved for 2,3,4,5,6,7... etc. The first improvement for any ability costs 2*1= 2 XP. Second improvement costs 2*2=4 XP, third 6 XP, fourth 8 XP, then 10,12,14,16,... XP.

Note: The costs grow fast, even faster than for very hard skills (+3 to skill cost and the like). Abilities are harder to improve to higher levels.

Optional rule: Say that the number or XPs spent for improving the skill is equal to the number of days you must spend training/learning? Does not have to be exactly this way, but the sheer number of XPs should definitively have impact on the length of the learning, reflecting the growing diffilcuty to learn at higher Skill-levels.

Note: Can not apply to gaining skills. Even if a skill costs only 1 XP, it may take MUCH longer to learn the basics.

One more system

#2

Of Magic

Spellcasting

The first axiom: There are three states of a mage's magic, which a mage can use to immediate magical effect.*

(* of course there may be more, but I can think only of three now, it is a good number and... that's enough reasons for now :wink: )

To cast a spell you need some magical energy and concentration. The spell may need material, verbal, and somatic components, but some theories claim these are only to help concentrating on the shaping of magic. Now back to those states:

1. Mind
After meditating, gathering energy, exercising or whatever strange ritual you have, the magic is directly in you: in your body, in your brain to be exact. This is one reason a mage can handle only a limited amount of magic. If you absorb too much, it can damage your mind, so take care!

Casting spells this way takes always at least one turn, or more if the spell needs more. Components are used as intended. It should be noted that casting this way is much harder to disrupt. On the other side, IF the casting is disrupted, it can damage or tire the mage. Similar thing is true for magic-draining: much harder to succeed, but potentially harming.

2. Aura
If you don't want to store the magic, why don't let it flow? You can disperse magic in your immediate vicinity, so it is more 'at hand', physically speaking.

Casting spells with magic in this state may be faster. Particularly defensive shield-like spells, that shape magic around the caster. On the other hand, this magic can be easy to drain, and a 'Dispel Magic' can disrupt this aura entirely. If you have more magic around you than you can handle, it may start to dissolve on its own. You can not be harmed this way, though.

3. Prepared Spell
Sometimes you need a spell immediately. Let's say the Fireball spell takes one full turn to cast (or more), but that may be too long. Let's say the last component is throwing the freshly created ball with your hand. The mage concentrates, uses the components that may be necessary, except the last one, and now it waits...

Releasing a spell may need only a single thought, or the last component for the Fireball, and is so much faster, possibly only a fraction of a second. The magic concentrates according to the spell, for Fireball directly around the chosen throwing hand. A prepared spell is harder to dispel or drain, but may dissolve after a time. The mage does not have to concentrate all the time, but a shock or casting other spells may cause it to dissolve or go off. The spell may be more vulnerable to directed effects, so entering an area protected against fire-magic would dispel it.

How to know a spellcaster by the state of his magic?
(1.) Very hard, unless they all wear pointy hats and look like Gandalf. Specialised spells exist, a simple Detect Magic will not help.

(2.) Easily through Detect Magic, but a strong aura (lots of magic points) can be felt as a slight tingling sensation up to strong static electricity in your hair. Any magic user recognizes this, as can many magical creatures and some sensitive people.

(3.) Detect Magic will show it, but the caster may not seem suspicious otherwise. Other magic users may sense it, especially if they know this spell. Sometimes people or creatures seem to react strangely, maybe through some kind of sixth sense? For example, running around with a strong killer-spell makes it very hard to gain trust. Needs more research.

Notes:
- It may be possible to gain more magic out of the surroundings or in other ways. You can't go beyond certain amounts in the various states, but you can exceed the your normal maximum in total.
- The second state allows for concentrating magic, for example around your hand. While this holds only for a few rounds, it can speed up the final casting for another fraction of a second. Slower than a prepared spell, but you can possibly choose between more spells: a healing/supporting spell may be suddenly more useful.
- Magic can be easily converted from one state to another, it just takes a little time.
- Preparing and casting a prepared spell (3.) takes actually longer than normal casting (1.), but can be sometimes unnoticeable.
- Apart from other rules, need detailed rules and ideas for conflicts with more than one magic-user. Needed are also tips and tricks and minor or bigger spells that can spoil the fun (of spellcasting). Also think of the many special effects and their influence on a mage's magic. Antimagic, draining, dispelling, countering, ....
- If spells can be upgrades of other spells, even dispelling and other effects may not leave you weaponless. Example: Fire may be the beginning of Fireball, so a partial Dispel will reduce the Fireball to Fire.
- Results into much magic-point swapping and moving around. For game table, poker chips may be useful to show the current magic use. A computer game may be harder to do... maybe develop key shortcuts to move MPs up and down, maybe let the player pre-define strategies?
- Hmmm... spell components in a computer game?! Above all material components will make problems... the others can be easily ignored and considered as used at casting. Needs more thinking-about.

Cantrip skill
Spending 1 Magic Point, you roll this skill against a diffilcuty of 3. The success (the number above 3) determines the number of cantrips you can cast. You can naturally spend more MPs to get more cantrips. The skill's Rank itself also determines the maximum number of cantrips you can cast in a single moment (in theory). Amateur wizards use this mainly for special effects.

Rule: Adding Magic Points at casting will raise the roll at a corresponding number and so help to cast even weakly learned spells. Prolonges casting. Of course, an 'improved' roll can improve many aspects of the spell, but NOT the damage.

One more system

#3

Characters

(Characters were generated with 50 Points)

Henry the Human is pretty much a fighter-type.
(As a human, all his abilities start at 2.)

Physiqueness: 4
Dextrousness: 5
Steadiness: 3
Atractiveness: 2
Smartness: 3

Skills:
Hit Point Skill: 3
Sword skill: 4
Shield skill: 3
Horse Riding: 1
Climbing: 1
Swimming: 1
First Aid: 2

Notes: A sword gives a +1 to attack. Henry has a large shield that gives an additional +1 to defense.

Note: need to determine how First Aid actually will work in this system.

Total Hit Points: 6

Offense: Sword skill + Dex. +1 (sword bonus) = 10
Defense: Shield skill + 1/2 Sword skill + Dex. +1 (large shield bonus) = 11

Hmmmm... not bad for a beginner.

Note: The exact attack and defense rolls may differ, depending on the fighting style the character employs. Even a shield can be useful in attack, and a sword can be more useful in defense.

Note: Need to work out, what happens if a (N)PC has no skill for the used weapon.

Timmy the Troll
(Trolls begin with Phys. and Stead. at 3, but with Atr. and Smart at 1)

Physiqueness: 5
Dextrousness: 4
Steadiness: 5
Atractiveness: 1
Smartness: 1

Skills:
Hit Point Skill: 4
Heavy Club skill: 4
Damage Absorbing skill: 2 (++)
Cooking Humanoids: 1
Ambush: 1
Climbing: 1

Notes: The troll's heavy spiked club gives a +2 bonus to the final damage dealt. This weapon's attack is based on Physique. The 'Damage Absorbing skill' (for now) absorbs half of the skill's Rank of any physical damage taken. The (++) means it has a permanent +2 to skill cost modifier.

Total Hit Points: 9

Offense: Club skill + Phys. = 9 (with a bonus of +2 to damage if it hits)
Defense: 1/2 Club skill + Dex. = 6

One more system

#4

Edward the Elf (a wizard type)
(Elves start with a 1 in Stead, but a 3 in Atr.)

Physiqueness: 2
Dextrousness: 4
Steadiness: 3
Atractiveness: 3
Smartness: 4

Skills:
Hit Point Skill: 2
Magic skill: 2 (+)
Fire Magic: 2 (+)
Fire: 2
Fireball: 3
Staff skill: 3 (+)
First Aid: 1

Note: a (+) means a permanent +1 to skill cost. Fire and Fireball are of course spells. A staff is a fine defensive weapon, counted for defensive purposes at full skill (not half), and gives an additional +1 to defense.

Total Hit Points: 5
Total Magic Points: 7

Offense: Staff skill + Dex = 7
Defense: Staff skill + Dex + 1 (staff bonus) = 8

Spells: For both spells the roll is (Spell) skill + 1/2 Fire Magic Skill

Fire: Let's say Fire costs 1 MP, and it's diffilcuty (a set number to roll against) is 3. An easy spell.
In this way, Fire is always succesfull. Maximum damage is 4.

Fireball: Say a Fireball costs 3 MP and it's diffilcuty is 6. Rolling a 1d10 produces these results:
1: the spell fails
2: the spell surges
3-10: the spell succeeds, makes for a 80% chance of success
Maximum damage is 6.

One more system

#5

...For both spells the roll is (Spell) skill + 1/2 Fire Magic Skill...

After I created the rolls for those spells, my mind started to wander...

'Fire Magic' should be a skill about manipulating the element of fire, right? What if someone wants to cast the spell of Fire, but does not know the spell itself, only this skill? The roll can succeed, even if the Rank of Fire is zero. A wizard should be able to create simple fire effects, if he has the basic know-how.

In the example above, it might be better to learn the spells. But what about Illusion magic? There would be few spells, but billions of possible effects (illusions). The average illusionist would do well to invest his XPs into a single skill, and possibly a few favourites. Most wizards will have to stick to illusion spells only, if they want them of course.

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#6

Hmmm...
Well, I find this system to be much more understandable than the other one, easier to work with. Do we make up the skills ourselves? Or is there a list?

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#7

Just to remark: there are already a few skills in the Labyrinth section. If these are a bit expanded, and adapted to these rules (hint here), we would have some already.

AND, yes, players are expected to invent new skills for their characters.

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#8

Like I said before, I like it.

One more system

#9

(Thanks for liking, but would really welcome a bit of helping...)

Non-Lethal Combat

Damage can be "real", caused through "real" serious injuries, renewed through resting and/or healing. Loosing more than a few "real" HPs can have grave consequences on a character's health.

But there are also lighter wounds, wounds that heal relatively fast and don't cause you to die (mostly). This is subdual damage.

At full health the character is at his full potential of Hit Points. Injuries, poison, even stress can cause him/her to loose his healthy status.

Rule: When determining the effects of damage, first count the "real" damage, then the subdual damage. Real damage is considered more severe, logically.

Real Damage and Current State of Hit Points
[*]Below (Steadiness+Hit Point Skill), but still above or equal to Steadiness.
- Unhurt or lightly hurt, no penalty.
[*]Below Steadiness, but above zero.
- Wounded/Hurt, penalty.
[*]Zero or less, above negative Steadiness.
- Unable of combat or other coordinated actions, considered K.O., may fall unconscious. Double penalty to all actions, unless the GM rules the PC simply cannot do it.
[*]Below negative Steadiness.
- The character dies.
[/list:o]

Subdual Damage and Current State of Hit Points
[*]Below (Steadiness+Hit Point Skill), but still above or equal to Steadiness.
- OK, no penalty.
[*]Below Steadiness, but above zero.
- Hurt, half penalty.
[*]Zero or less, above negative Steadiness.
- Seriously hindered at combat or other coordinated actions, may be considered K.O., may fall unconscious. Full penalty to all actions, unless the GM rules the PC simply cannot do it.
[*]Below negative Steadiness.
- Unconscious, possibly falling into coma, the injuries can leave trauma(s) behind.
[/list:o]

Note: If there is a "penalty" mentioned, it is equal to the difference
(Steadiness-Hit Points). Words like "may", "possibly", etc., indicate a roll
would be in place, always based on Steadiness.

Note: Many skills can be created to improve your chances in any of the above situations.

Side Note:
Rule 1: There is a skill for Hit Points.
Rule 2: No two skills can do the same thing.
Conclusion: While there cannot be another skill for Hit Points, there could be one for "Subdual Hit Points", improving your chances whenever sudual damage is caused, or smthing like that. Could complicate things, so maybe later or never.

Needs an Example and more about Healing... will add soon.

One more system

#10

A rising vampire. Feeding ghouls. The mummy that 'awakens' from her eternal sleep. A dragon that flies high, mightily roars and breaths fire.

What have the situations above in common? There may be something stereotypical around them, but more important, they can ... impress, they could even... SCARE.

Before I start, I must stress something. These are not rules, this could be guidelines. At its worst, it could be optional rules for characters that simply don't fear anything. That said...

Remember the ages-old scene, where the beautiful blonde character (usually in a revealing night gown) searches (insert place), and suddenly the hiding vampire (monster, deformed villain, anything) jumps up, she screams and faints?

For definitively scary situations, you could use the following procedure:
1. Determine "attack" and "defense" numbers, according to the scariness and the ability to resist. Various skills may help, could be defined later.
2. Roll. If the "attack" succeeds, the victim is scared. ;-) Or at least really surprised.

Now halve the "damage" that would be caused, and make it subdual damage.
[*]If the "attack" wounds the victim, it feels the urge to run away very, VERY strongly.
[*]If the "attack" could knock out the victim, something stays behind permanently, like a phobia or a minor disorder.
[*]If the "attack" could leave the victim in coma, it can indeed make the mind collapse in self-defense. When (if) treated back to health, the least thing you can expect are regular nightmares, and you can be happy if you are not reduced into a gibbering idiot.

Note: the last option should work only for truly horrible things... like one of the Cthulhu. And the movie "The Ring" shows you can even die...

One more system

#11

Healing Real Damage

[*]Below (Steadiness+Hit Point Skill), but still above or equal to Steadiness.
- First Aid helps much, bit of resting.
[*]Below Steadiness, but above zero.
- Needs at least one night of rest.
[*]Zero or less, above negative Steadiness.
- Advanced or magical treatment is necessary to heal completely, or it will take weeks if at all.
[*]Below negative Steadiness.
- Death. Powerful common or divine magic. (If possible.)
[/list:o]

Healing Subdual Damage

[*]Below (Steadiness+Hit Point Skill), but still above or equal to Steadiness.
- Regenerates fast and easily, 1 per round of resting.
[*]Below Steadiness, but above zero.
- First Aid helps much, bit of resting.
[*]Zero or less, above negative Steadiness.
- Needs at least one night of rest.
[*]Below negative Steadiness.
- For healing purposes, count half of the subdual damage as "real". Character should not be counted as 'dead', even if this Hit Point Status would dictate otherwise.
[/list:o]

Note: there actually are known cases of people died from stress only, by the way...

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#12

Various

Had a little chat with Strolen, and got things to think about.

First comes a table that should be made among the first things... but I delayed it, because it may need further tweaking. There can be MANY possible types of rolls for all purposes. There are pure skill-checks. There can be ability checks, maybe with relevant skills, and bonuses. There can be even bizzare combinations of more skills. So how to set these numbers, to give the not-so-skilled a chance, and make easy (or even hard) tasks not too easy for advanced characters?

Warning: these numbers I pull out of thin air, and may be changed:

Table of diffilcuties to roll against



 Way too easy       3

 Quite easy         6

 Problematic        9

 Will be hard       12

 Very hard          15

 Impossible!        18 (or maybe...?)

 THIS is impossible 21

 Dad was a god      24

 I am a god         27

 Does not happen    30

Whenever you try to do something, that is met with a static, constant opposition, the DM chooses a number from that table above. If you have dynamic opposition (if you try to hit someone, that person surely tries to avoid it!), you roll against his/her roll.

Adapting skills:
Skills described elsewhere before, with BRAWN, AGILITY, CHARISMA, INTELLIGENCE, are bound to these abilities. What does it mean? That skill checks with these skills Are based on their respective abilities. A Climbing check logically depends on Agility/Dextrousness. But, there can be some some skills that are not based on any ability (or on more). May be fleshed out later.

(Initiative needs to be created!)

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#13

This may be slightly off topic, but have you ever played using the Window system? It's based on dice levels. I'll post a copy when I figure out where I saved it.

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#14

(Window: I have not played that.)

Skills.

Here are listed the skills mentioned elsewhere, skills I mentioned before, and some new ones. 'Skills bound to abilities' mean, that skill checks with these skills are based on their abilities. A (+) or even a (++) means the skill has a permanent modifier of +1 or +2 to skill cost. Skills marked with a ! have other special properties, like a special roll or other modifiers. Skills marked with a ? mean I feel in some way unsure around them. (Not all of these skills would be good in a computer game, for example...). Details will be worked out later.

Skills bound to abilities



Agility/Dextrousness

Climbing 

Backstabbing  (+) !

Detect Traps  (+)

Disarm/Disable Traps (++)

Pick Locks    (+)

Pick Pockets/ Cutpurse (+)

Stealth

Falling

Set Traps     (+)

Balance ?

Horse Riding   ? (will there be ANY horses?)

First Aid

Find Weakness (+) !

Ambush         !





Steadiness

Sinew





Brawn/Physiqeness

Swimming

Leaping

Twist ?

Dominate ?





Charisma/Atractiveness

Charm ?

Lying ?

Argument ?

Musical Ability ?

Story-telling ?

Haggling ?

Interrogation ?

(Problem is which to keep, and which not.)



Intellect/Smartness

Language

Reading/Writing

Wayfinding    ?

Weatherken    ? (If it's all underground...)

Lore

Craft         ?

Counting      ?

Appraising/Appreciation ?

Engineering Sense ?

Alert         ?

Concentration ?

Cooking Humanoids ?





Special Skills



Hit Point Skill

Weapon skills  (varies)

Shield skill

Damage Absorbing Skill (++) !



Magical Skills

Magical Aptitude/Magic skill (+) !

Fire Magic   (+)

Fire

Fireball

Cantrip

One more system

#15

Nobody to comment?

Hm. It seems that there is one skill for Steadiness, and very few for Brawn/Physiqeness. Some skills could be with a bit of reasoning exchanged between the two. Now, do we keep both abilities, or unify we them into Brawn/Physiqeness?

Steadiness, often known as Constitution represents the 'hidden' potential of your body.

Physiqeness, or simply Strenght, is the amount of raw power you can influence the world around with.

Stead. is more a long term thingy, Phys. a short term one.

So, keep both or make it only one?

One more system

#16

Hi Manfred!

Sorry it took me so long to respond! I've been busy, but there's so much you've written as well!

Note: Sounds logical at first, but characters with a higher Steadiness can end up with a higher penalty. Leave it at that, or change somehow?

How about giving them a penalty for every point they go below a fixed number (e.g. 2). That way higher-Steadiness characters are not disadvantaged. They take longer to reach the fixed level and incur penalties.

By the way, I think we should definitely keep the strenght/constitution distinction, but I don't think physiqueness is a real word. Maybe use "physique" instead?

All in all I think it's a very nice system: concise and coherent. I definitely think we should adopt this one over the old one because (as Captain Penguin points out) it's much easier to use and understand.

Nice work, Manfred!

ephe!

One more system

#17

Well, it was 'Physique' at first, it just happened all the other attributes ended up with a -ness attached, so I decided to make them all silly. :wink:

Characters should suffer suffer penalties if HP goes below Steadiness. I would be against a set number, but... 2 is incidentally some kind of default for most races' attributes (we still can change), so, why not? It is an option.

Hmmm... gives a -1 at 1 HP, -2 at 0 HP... not much for a true 'flesh-wound' ... will think about it more.

One more system

#18

I realise that about Physiqueness now! Sorry!

Re penalties and steadiness, have it so that the penalty applies when HP go below steadiness up to a maximum penalty of (e.g.) -6 that way you avoid penalising the more resilient characters.

ephe!

One more system

#19

Maximum penalty... good.

Will try to push it in.

Anybody some other comments? Like, what needs to be done yet to make the system 'complete' (means still not usable to play, but looking like?) ?

One more system

#20

No support, mood sinking...

Categorisation

Skills:

skill_name
skill_effects ... ... ...
skill_modifiers: (to skill cost)
basic_modifier (0 or +1, +2 or even +3, makes easy, medium, hard or very hard skill, a permanent modifier)
begin_modifier (usually zero, only applied when gaining the skill)
non_begin_modifier (usually zero, applied if the skill wasn't taken at char. creation)

Note:With these modifiers we can get pretty much any combination of diffilcuties.

Example:
Illusion Magic
Teaches the art of creating and maintaing illusions.

Special:
+1 to skill cost
+2 to skill cost at gaining

Note: It is not easy, and very hard to begin learning. Discourages from taking this skill, unless the player really wants it for the character.

Spells:
(Skill statistics)
spell_diffilcuty (the number to roll against)
spell_cost (in Magic Points)
spell_damage (may be special)
spell_range (1 being/item, group of beings/items, the whole room)
spell_duration (immediate, fixed, variable)

Note: In any way, the damage caused cannot go beyond twice the spell-skill. The spell may limit the damage further, or make it constant.

One more system

#21

Ah, so desu!

Very good. Hope you aren't thinking of coding this yourself, if we're really going with coding a system.

One more system

#22

What? Me? Coding? Everything? No, please! I am not yet that crazy.

Ahem... any other ideas? I am a bit low in creativity currently.

One more system

#23

Due to current lack of creativity on my part, I give the whole project a break.

In the meantime, the rules will get a little playtesting. My friend started a group and it seems he would be willing to switch to my System! Wow. We even created a few example chars and played some training adventure.

(Personal Note: Did I promise the system will be dynamic, and combat fast and deadly? It IS. The combat may be even too fast and deadly... Hmmm... :shock:)

One more system

#24

One More System: Game Mastering

Although most of the rules and principles are simple, the Game Master should take the time to study and understand them. No rules are perfect, and these are no exception. The system is relatively "rules-light", it allows much tweaking and fine-tuning for both GM and player. This can be easily abused. But the GM has more tools than Experience Points.

Skills
The player has much freedom in choosing and even creating his own skills and spells. But the GM is the final arbiter on what is possible and what not. Do not be afraid to give a (+) (a permanent +1 modifier) or more to a skill, raise the spells cost in Magic Points, and its diffilcuty, or define right in the skill description the diffilcuty of some desired effect(s). Evade skills and spells that can kill a target outright, with a single roll. If all else fails, ask the player: "Would you like some enemy to have a spell/ability like this?"

Always consider the impact of a skill on the game and the world.

Rolls
In many cases it will be a matter of dispute, which skills (or even abilities) can be counted into a roll. For every skill in the game there should be a modus operandi for at least one generic situation. In any other situation, your players WILL try combinations of skills that seem weird, not logical and downright impossible. If this happens, ask yourself: "To what end?"
- Fun? A good purpose. If it makes the game more enjoyable, you should support it.
- Drive for success? Make a judgement as you see fit.
- Thirst for power? Better not.

Note, that it is easier to give a nice +5 bonus to a roll due to a nice description, than to create a roll the players will want to use over and over. So take care what precedents you create with your rulings, and note them once you do.

Skill Advancing
First and most important, you shall challenge your players' characters in ways that you want them to grow. It is equally important to know, that you will probably fail. Try to find a middle ground, where the fun of the game decides.

Positive: for succesfull using of a skill, lower the XP cost to improve it. Should the cost reach zero, it is considered improved now. For special situations, the GM can award a PC with a skill.

Negative: skills that are disrupting the game flow, and could get too dangerous on high levels, should need teachers to improve. Complicate the learning, and give it more situational modifiers. Make the skill expensive, and reduce the number of challenges the skill can solve.

One more system

#25

The Rules are moving...

Yes, there is movement in the rules. I have been toying with this for too long already. I tried to finish them to a certain degree, but due to lack of time, I present the rules anyway.

Still missing much of the badly needed examples, but who cares:

The Rules

One more system

#26

It took so long...

...but it is complete.

The very first and ultimate K10 in likeable format, nicely deformed for printing, with 1 (one) image total, is waiting for you to download and enjoy!

And of course, to judge harshly anything from system flaws to bad spelling.

So, get your own K10 now, in RTF or PDF, in both cases zipped to reduce the rather large size.