PDA

View Full Version : lets make a Game system (again)



Froogleyboy
2009-09-09, 08:23 PM
Okay, lets make a game system. The core thingy-ma-bob:
Every thing has a chance a of failure, when attempting a task, One most roll a percentile die against the chance of success and add/subtract and modifiers. For example:
Johnny wants to jump across the river which there is a 50% chance he will succeed, he rolls and lands on 53 which is a failure, but he has the agile trait which takes 5 from his roll, giving him 48, which is a success

Lysander
2009-09-09, 09:05 PM
All right. Permanent improvement is limited. You can only have a maximum training bonus of -10 in any ability.

But there are practice bonuses given to any character. You can pick which abilities that your characters practices each day. Every day you keep the same skillls as practice skills the bonus rises by -1, without limit. You can switch your practice bonus from one skill to another whenever you like, but that completely wipes out the practice bonus and starts it again from -1. So you don't want to change the abilities your character practices if you can avoid it.

The number of skills you can practice at one time is based on your level, with one skill per level. So at level 10 you can simulataneously practice 10 skills at once. A skill is only practiced and gains a -1 bonus in a given day if you actually use it, but this can be done through practice or field use.

To keep things simple there are three stats:

Mind

Body

Spirit

Each ability is based on a combination of the three stats. For example fencing is (Body + Mind). Your untrained modifier is equal to one stat plus another. So if your Mind score is 4 and your body score is 6 you receive a -10 modifier to all fencing checks, before adding your training bonus and your practice bonus.

Zovc
2009-09-10, 03:29 AM
To keep things simple there are three stats:

Each ability is based on a combination of the three stats. For example fencing is (Body + Mind). Your untrained modifier is equal to one stat plus another. So if your Mind score is 4 and your body score is 6 you receive a -10 modifier to all fencing checks, before adding your training bonus and your practice bonus.

Why are we keeping things simple if fencing is different from fighting with a longsword? Why can't we fight the same way (but describe it differently when playing), and have the weapons behave differently?

Also, you'll have an absurd amount of skills that seem identical if it's Ability X + Ability Y for each skill if yo only have three abilities.

I feel like a percentile dice has too big of a range of numbers on it, but stick with it if you like it.

How did you decide that Johnny has a 50% chance of jumping across the river?

Eloel
2009-09-10, 04:20 AM
Everyone has 50% base chance of doing something. Your skills, the area etc. modify it.
So, walking on a normal surface would have 50% base chance. +25% since you've been doing it for your whole life. +20% because you're on a smooth surface. +5% because you have the required equipment (shoes/sandals/whatever).

50% base for everything
-25% to +25% for experience&skills
-20% to +20% for circumstances
-10% to +10% for 'other'
Never below 0%, and never above 100%

Attacks would also be subject to same thing. 2 people with no bonuses or penalties due to anything would hit each other 25% of the time. 50% chance to hit, 50% chance to block-dodge the hit. Defense would scale slower than attack does (75% attack + 66% defense = 50% attack + 50% defense, so they'd scale accordingly.)
Various weapons would give a different bonus to attack, damage and would have different attack-rates. (You're going to attack more times with a rapier compared to a greataxe, but greataxe is likely to deal enough damage to offset the difference in # of attacks.)

Froogleyboy
2009-09-10, 09:05 PM
How did you decide that Johnny has a 50% chance of jumping across the river?

Just an example, gameplay would be different

Zovc
2009-09-11, 12:45 AM
Everyone has 50% base chance of doing something. Your skills, the area etc. modify it.
So, walking on a normal surface would have 50% base chance. +25% since you've been doing it for your whole life. +20% because you're on a smooth surface. +5% because you have the required equipment (shoes/sandals/whatever).

50% base for everything
-25% to +25% for experience&skills
-20% to +20% for circumstances
-10% to +10% for 'other'
Never below 0%, and never above 100%

Attacks would also be subject to same thing. 2 people with no bonuses or penalties due to anything would hit each other 25% of the time. 50% chance to hit, 50% chance to block-dodge the hit. Defense would scale slower than attack does (75% attack + 66% defense = 50% attack + 50% defense, so they'd scale accordingly.)
Various weapons would give a different bonus to attack, damage and would have different attack-rates. (You're going to attack more times with a rapier compared to a greataxe, but greataxe is likely to deal enough damage to offset the difference in # of attacks.)

I'd say training (experience/skills) needs to be represented somewhere, how are we recording training, and what sort of bonuses do we take for granted?

I'm sure that most of us know how and are capable of walking more than 90% of the times we try (Hell, I'd argue that I'd need a critical failure to not walk properly--and as a side note, I do know that some people out there can't walk... sorry) That doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the terrain is tailored to walking. Yes, we have roads, and yes, I've walked through fields and (swampy) forests, I think it's safe to say that--unless there is something that should give a person a chance of failing to walk (for example, the pair of flip-flops I own that have over time become almost perfectly smooth on the bottom, I call them my "slip-flops."). Make players roll to see if they don't get a 1 (or 100, whichever is a failure) when walking, otherwise, they've got it.

When you come across some rough terrain, subtract 5%/10% per [measurement] of roughness the terrain has. I'd say that the woods I've ventured through had no more than a 10% chance of causing me to slip up (not necessarily fail to walk as in fall over, but more so, stop to catch my balance), more so 30% when the mud was wet (during/after a rain, I actually have fallen over in the rain).

I'd say this system will work fine having most bonuses and penalties being in increments of 5.

Perhaps for actual skills (unlike walking, in my opinion) there can be a sort of rank system, this is where a player can specialize in certain types of fighting. Speaking of types of fighting, how are you going to differentiate between handling a rapier versus a flail? Will you make a Rapier handle different than a Longsword? Which of those two swords does a Shortsword behave like? Unfortunately, you have to be arbitrary with these things, and that leaves room for loopholes, such as the shortsword--which could be handled like either weapon.

Regarding ranks, one rank = +5% each?


Just an example, gameplay would be different

I knew that, I was trying to get you to expand upon your own system.

grungar3x7
2009-09-11, 02:07 AM
To keep things simple there are three stats:

Mind

Body

Spirit

Each ability is based on a combination of the three stats.

How about nine stats, each tied to one of three disciplines? Each disciplie would have an offensive, an avoidant, and a resistant stat. For example, pulling names outta you-know-where:
Body uses brawn, agility, and physique.
Mind uses smarts, wit, and focus.
Spirit uses will, humor, and faith.

Then you could have skills which use one or more stats, possibly up to seven, or even nine if you want to get crazy! Fencing, for example, could depend on agility, focus, wit, and possibly even smarts.

Froogleyboy
2009-09-11, 02:25 PM
Okay, I've noticed many of you asking me questions but the thing is, I want you guys to work together to build it, Like a community building thingy

Yakk
2009-09-11, 03:32 PM
Instead of adding/subtracting modifiers, what if we made a die-pool percentage game.

The difficulty of a task gives it a percentage rating.

The skill you have determines how many d10s you roll.

You get to pick any set of d10s to form your d%. Or even better, the number of pairs of d10s you can use to roll under the target determines your success level.

grungar3x7
2009-09-11, 11:49 PM
If you do that, then what about odd numbers of dice? You would start out with two d10's; but do you add in another pair, or singly? Also, if it is one by one which is added first, the tens place, or the ones place?

If it is one at a time I would have the tens place added first, and for each full d% available, to mix n' match to have the most beneficial result; with the caveat that if any full d%s are failures by an amount of 25 or more, either a success is removed, or a complication is amended to the action.

Zovc
2009-09-13, 12:53 AM
How about nine stats, each tied to one of three disciplines? Each disciplie would have an offensive, an avoidant, and a resistant stat. For example, pulling names outta you-know-where:
Body uses brawn, agility, and physique.
Mind uses smarts, wit, and focus.
Spirit uses will, humor, and faith.

Then you could have skills which use one or more stats, possibly up to seven, or even nine if you want to get crazy! Fencing, for example, could depend on agility, focus, wit, and possibly even smarts.

This is basically (new?) World of Darkness.


Okay, I've noticed many of you asking me questions but the thing is, I want you guys to work together to build it, Like a community building thingy

...and this has led me to decide I should not contribute to this project anymore.

I hope you don't plan on claiming this system if all you're going to suggest is that the game system use a percentile dice.

AgentPaper
2009-09-13, 04:03 AM
I'll just jump in and mention that making it so you need to roll low to succeed and "negative bonuses" are good is just going to cause unneeded confusion. There's no real excuse to not keep things intuitive and have high rolls be good.

Jlerpy
2009-09-13, 09:46 PM
I'll just jump in and mention that making it so you need to roll low to succeed and "negative bonuses" are good is just going to cause unneeded confusion. There's no real excuse to not keep things intuitive and have high rolls be good.

I don't think there's anything specifically unintuitive about low being good*, but I do think that "negative bonuses" are confusing. I'd recommend treating bonuses as effecting the target number rather than the dice themselves.

*But then again, I've been a GURPS GM for the last nine years. :)

Froogleyboy
2009-09-19, 11:34 PM
or maybe something like this:

There is only a 20% chance a person could jump from a rooftop to a moving truck, but Josh is skill in agility so he has a 30% chance
or something along those lines

Froogleyboy
2009-09-20, 12:04 AM
Okay, guys, I've finished the draft of the system. I'll post it when work lets up