From: [a 3619] at [mindlink.bc.ca] (Chris Harwood-Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: FRPG Shell
Date: 27 May 92 05:59:15 GMT
Hello all.
I would like some input from folks in this group on my latest FRP design ideas.
Cran Fantasy (as previously published in this group) is all but gone, replaced
by this new system. All comments are welcome, either by E-mail or this forum.
The system is intended for the fantasy genre, but is designed independently of
the "campaign": I assume that each GM will have his or her preferences as to
the varying effectiveness of weapons, the classification of skills, magic and
spells, etc.. This system therefore attempts only to set out the skeletal game
mechanics which is fleshed out by the GM. (I will note what needs to be
determined by the GM as I go).
Naturally, I would provide my own campaign rules with the game, but it would be
in the form of an appendix.
My question to you folks is this: Assuming that you had not already designed
your own system ;-) but were looking for an existing "shell" system to
customize to your own specs, would this fit the bill? And if not, why not?
OK. Here we go...
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OVERVIEW
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A character is essentially made up of three things: Attributes, Special
Abilities, and Skills. Attributes are innate characteristics, Special
Abilities are advantages and disadvantages, and Skills are learned abilities.
Character creation is done with "character points" ("chp"), which the player
uses to set initial attribute values and special abilities. Skills are learned
and improved with "experience points" ("exp"). The amount of chp and exp given
to starting characters is naturally up to the GM.
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ATTRIBUTES
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Attributes are basically (yes) a hash of GURPS and HERO, with three primary
attributes (strength, agility and intelligence) and five secondary attributes
(health, endurance, willpower, charisma, and perception). Hit points are
normally equal to ST, and Move is figured from ST and AG.
The range of ability scores (for humans) is intended to be from about 7-16,
with high levels being very expensive and low levels being a severe handicap.
The "normal" range would thus be from about 9-13. They are meant to be
exponential; e.g. +5 ST means twice as strong.
Attribute costs are set by the system, not the GM, but I won't bore you with
the details unless asked. Note that character points are only spent when the
character is *created*. If attributes change at all, they will only change as
a result of roleplaying.
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
-----------------
Special abilities are things like "immune to fire" or other innate qualities.
What they are, and their chp costs, are set by the GM. Again, once the
character is created, special abilities are *fixed* and will not be altered
except in the course of roleplaying.
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SKILLS
------
Skill levels are from 1 to 10, or higher. They are meant to cover broad areas
of training, and *feel* something like a "character class" - i.e. you can have
a "first level guy" or a "tenth level guy" and the 10th level guy is
astronomically better than the novice 1st-level guy.
Skills have an exponential experience point cost:
Level Exp
1 3
2 6
3 12
4 20
5 28
6 40
7 56
8 80
9 112
10 160
...etc.. Cost doubles every 2 levels (odd levels are 1.4x previous level).
The actual list of skills must be defined by the GM. They come in three types:
combat skills, spell colleges and roleplaying ("other") skills.
TASKS
Central to the skill system is the concept of a "task" - any action that
requires a skill roll to be successful. A task may be easy, medium or hard,
and possibly require a minimum amount of training. That characterization is up
to the GM.
The skill roll is figured from that characterization. It is a roll on 3d6 that
must be less than or equal to:
11 (easy),
9 (average), or
7 (hard).
The roll is then modified by the character's skill bonus for IQ or AG,
depending on whether the task is mental or physical in nature (the bonus is
equal to IQ or AG minus 10).
The roll is finally modified by the character's skill level, less the minimum
level required. For example, if the minimum level is 3 and the character has
skill level 5, the roll will be at +2.
If the character does not have the minimum level required, the character would
never succeed no matter how hard they try. It's like getting someone with no
computer training to code in a program. It just can't be done.
An example of how this would work: A character has AG 13, and "circus acrobat"
skill at level 5. There is a bottomless chasm ahead, with the only way across
being the remnant of a suspension bridge. The GM decides that
tightrope-walking across the bridge is hard, but can be done with a minimum
level of 3 or more. Thus the character's skill roll to attempt the task will
be:
7 (hard skill), +3 (AG 13) +5 (skill level) -3 (minimum level)
...which comes to a roll of 12 or less.
Note that task difficulty levels and/or minimum skill levels may be different,
depending on which skill is being used to attempt the task. A woodsman and a
spy might both be able to perform a "stealth" task, but depending on the
surrounds the skill roll might differ between the two characters.
Guidelines for task minimum levels:
Task requires Minimum Level
------------- -------------
No training 0
basic training 1-2
intermediate training 3-4
advanced training 5-7
exceptional training 8-10
absolute mastery 11+
SPELLS
Spellcasting is handled through the task system. The skills that can be
learned by a character are broadly-defined "spell colleges", with each college
or discipline allowing the character to cast a variety of spells. Each spell
would be characterized as a *task* with a given difficulty and minimum level.
Thus, the GM could set out how characters would learn their magical skills
however he or she wishes: a spell college might represent a guild that must be
joined, or magicians might have to go and compile a spell book. Colleges and
their spells are entirely created by the GM.
More cavalier GMs could even have the players *make up* spells as they go
along, and the GM would just assign the difficulty ratings and minimum levels
on the spot (the same way other tasks are decided during play). Thus an "earth
magician" can say to the GM "I want to burrow a small hole in this stone wall"
and the GM can take it from there.
Spells will naturally have a number of other parameters besides the difficulty
and minimum level: casting time, duration, possible resistance (if any), and
other qualities may be specified normally.
COMBAT SKILLS
A combat skill should be a holistic "fighting style", such as Karate or Fencing
rather than a discrete "weapon proficiency". A single fighting style might
include training in a number of weapons, the use of a shield, two-handed and
throwing weapons, etc.. All of this is again up to the GM.
Thus, when it comes time for combat, the character much choose in what style he
or she will fight. That skill level is what determines attack and defence
values, and also possibly damage.
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COMBAT SYSTEM
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Each character has an attack (AT) and defence rating (DEF) which is essentially
equal to their fighting style level. The AG skill bonus modifies AT and DEF:
half of the bonus is applied to AT and the other half to DEF (round up for DEF,
down for AT).
Characters then take turns in order of their initiative value (based on AG and
encumbrance). Each turn can involve movement and a *maneuver* (attack, defend,
guard, aim, cast spell, etc. - like in HERO) which can alter AT and DEF.
ATTACKS
Attacks must be responded to by the defender, who may block, parry or dodge.
This is stated by the defender *before* the attack roll. Blocks and parries
operate at normal DEF, dodges at DEF-2. A character will have a maximum number
of block and parry attempts per turn (this maximum will increase with skill
level), but can dodge any number of times in a turn. If the character does not
(or cannot) defend at all, the attack hits automatically.
AT and DEF will be modified by the situation, including the hit location aimed
at, relative facing, etc..
An attack roll is on 3d6 and is modified by +AT-DEF. For example, a roll of 10
with AT 3 and DEF 5 works out to 10+3-5 = 8.
The roll is compared to this chart:
up to 8: miss
9, 10: defence is successful (block/parry/dodge)
11+: hit
SHIELDS
Shields have a "protection rating" (PR), which modifies the "hit" result: If
the defender is carrying a shield, any result of 11 up to 10+PR is a "hit
shield" result. Only if the roll is above 10+PR will the actual defender be
hit. Small shields would have PR 1 and large (tower) shields would have PR 3.
Thus if the defender is carrying a medium shield the chart would look like
this:
up to 8: miss
9, 10: defence is successful (block/parry/dodge)
11-12: hit shield
13+: hit defender
Weapons and shields have HP ratings; if that much damage is done to the item in
a single blow, the item shatters.
RANGED ATTACKS
Ranged attacks operate in the same way, but they are subject to size and range
modifiers. Additionally, extremely fast missile weapons will have a "speed"
rating which is used to *divide* the defender's base DEF. For example, an
arrow might have spd 2, which halves the defender's base DEF. A gun might have
spd 3 or more.
Inanimate objects have a base DEF of -5 against ranged attacks (as opposed to
the automatic hit rule for HTH attacks).
DAMAGE
Damage is based on the weapon and the character's ST (ST alters damage by
amount above or below 10, subject to the weapon's minimum ST and maximum
damage). The combat skill level will default to +1 point of damage per 2 skill
levels, but this can be altered for each fighting style by the GM.
Armour provides damage resistance (DR) which is subtracted from damage rolled.
The remainder is applied directly to the hit location:
1) Each arm or leg has 40% of the character's hit points.
2) Each hand or foot has 20% of the character's hit points, and this damage is
counted in determining arm/leg injury.
3) Each eye has 10% of the character's hit points (minimum 1).
4) damage elsewhere is just counted as "general damage".
Damage to eyes and limbs is also counted as general damage.
If the character takes general damage equal to HP, the character falls
unconscious. If the character takes general damage equal to 2xHP, the
character dies.
If the character takes at least half his or her HP of general damage in a
single blow, the character will be stunned and forfeit his or her next turn.
INJURIES
When damage to a limb or eye reaches *it's* total HP, the limb or eye is
incapacitated. If the damage was done incrementally, the limb or eye will
recover as hit points are recovered normally. If it was done in a single blow,
the character makes a HT roll to avoid the injury being permanent. Any
incapacitating blow will stun the character, and a permanent injury may cause
the character to lose consciousness (another HT roll).
When damage to a particular limb or eye reaches *double* the area's hit points,
the injury is permanent (no roll). Note that damage beyond the incapacitation
point is not counted towards general damage.
RECOVERY
Recovery operates independently for each hit location. Thus, if the character
recovers 2 HP per day (the actual value is based on the health attribute), each
hit location would recover 2 HP, as well as 2 HP of "general" damage being
recovered.
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GRANTING EXPERIENCE
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Experience points (not character points) are granted at the end of each gaming
session on a scale of 1 to 4. My personal preference is that it be on the
basis of roleplaying, but that's naturally up to the GM. The only important
thing is that it be on a scale of 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent).
This value is then multiplied by (the character's total experience divided by
20). In this way advancement is linear, but multiple skills only penalize the
"generalist" character by a few levels.
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THERE'S MORE
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...but its generally detailed stuff like chp costs, lists of maneuvers and
their AT and DEF modifiers, situational combat modifiers, etc.. It's all
pretty niggly and hasn't been playtested for game-balance, so I omitted it.
What you have here is the basic system, however, set out at least in conceptual
terms. Let me know what you think. :-)
Thanks in advance,
Chris.