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Lost Demiurge
2010-06-03, 03:16 PM
Okay. So it's been a long time since I tried designing an original system. Let me throw something out here, and edit it as time goes on. This'll help me muse over it, and let you guys give me suggestions if you like.


CREATING YOUR CHARACTER

1. Choose a class.

Classes
Warrior - Mage Knight, Musketeer, Soldier, Swashbuckler
Scholar - Bargainer, Gadgeteer, Martial Artist, Sage
Rogue - Archer, Burglar, Ninja, Spy
Empowered - Avatar, Magus, Mentalist, Shapeshifter


ARCHERS – The rangers, skirmishers, and guerillas of the wilderness. Archers are skilled in ranged attacks, and most tend to pick up stealth and wilderness-related skills, in order to set up the perfect shot. Even under the worst conditions, despite all opposition, and no matter the odds, an archer can ALWAYS hit the target if he works hard enough.

AVATARS – Avatars are the chosen of a greater power, usually a diety, force of nature, or universal force. They work toward the goals of their chosen power, abiding by its code and gaining benefits from it. Avatars have mystical abilities granted by the power that fills them, and by serving their masters well, can gain more powers…

BARGAINERS – Bargainers are called witches, heretics, and occultists. Using magic gleaned from forbidden tomes, or rituals passed down from shamanic tribes, they call up lesser mystical entities and enter into pacts with them… By abiding these pacts, they are given the ability to call upon their pacted entity’s power. Given the right conditions, they can also summon up minor spirits to do small tasks. And if they find stronger entities in the course of their adventures, well, what’s one more pact…?

BURGLARS – The second story men, street thieves, grifters, and crooks of the world. Usually skilled in stealth and picking locks, they tend to come at problems with an indirect approach, and always, ALWAYS have a planned exit out of a bad situation.

GADGETEERS – Builders, craftsmen, and scientists who use their knowledge to make potent equipment, automaton guardians, and other fantastic and bizarre inventions. Of course, the knowledge to create can also be used to destroy… And as such, a good gadgeteer can useful when you want to end a siege, or bring down a mountain. Gadgeteers are trained in sciences, and usually have some skill in repairing their devices or disabling those of others.

MAGE KNIGHT – A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A single incantation in the wrong hands, can double a man’s threat to his enemies. A single spell in the RIGHT hands, well… The Mage Knights are warriors who have mastered a simple trick, the art of calling elementals to bind their weapons. Combined with precise martial prowess, the Mage Knight is a fearsome foe and a valued ally.

MAGUS – Wizards, arcane students, and court mages can all call themselves Magus. Part of a trained brotherhood whose members can be found throughout the world, the Magus takes a scholarly approach to magic. All know the secret language of Arcane Runes, and trade spell scrolls written in these runes between themselves to acquire new secrets.

MARTIAL ARTISTS – Warriors who use either the simplest of weapons, or none at all. In addition to training their bodies, they train their minds in philosophy and ancient martial secrets, learning to unlock their full potential. Indeed, most martial artists worthy of the name have learned the trick to push themselves past mortal limits!

MENTALISTS – Illusionists, mystics, and those with a touch of “the talent”, Mentalists use the raw power of their mind to affect the people and world around them. Unlike most other mystics, their powers are subtle and hard to detect.

MUSKETEERS – Musketeers are warriors from an advanced culture. Comfortable either up close or at a distance, they use cutting-edge weapons and armor to defeat their foes. These items are often hard to replace in the field. As such, they obsess over their tools, taking the utmost care to keep them from breaking.

NINJAS – Assassins who have discovered mystical secrets, the ninja are an obscure and mysterious brotherhood. All are masters of stealth, and all are trained in the use of outlandish weapons… And all know secret hand signs that can be used to unlock strange and exotic powers!

SAGES – Wise men and women who study the world around them, and learn from every experience they witness or read about. If a sage doesn’t know how to do something, he knows at least three ways to do it by another method.

SHAPESHIFTERS – Folk who have learned the ancient ways of animals and beasts, and taken the final step of shedding their skins. All shapeshifters can access a single alternate form, and those who survive long enough may learn more as they go.

SOLDIERS – Soldiers can be found throughout almost all lands, bearing sturdy armor and heavy shields to guard themselves, while they use close combat weaponry to lay the foe low. The best soldiers NEVER die easy, and even the most tenacious foe may not be able to keep one down for long.

SPIES – Spies are good at fooling their foes, infiltrating hostile territory, and doing the unexpected. A good spy is always prepared for any situation… The best ones tend to carry all sorts of useful items in places hidden about their person.

SWASHBUCKLERS – Swift, light warriors who scorn heavy armor and fight using light weaponry. Their panache, style, and agility allow them to use nonstandard means of advancing upon their foe… Or if things go badly, help guarantee a dramatic exit.


2. Divide 10 points between the four traits below. You may not put less than 1 point, or more than 4 points, in each trait.

Traits
Build – General fitness, physique, sturdiness, and raw strength.
Grace – Nimbleness, agility, and coordination.
Heart – Willpower, empathy, and mental stability.
Mind – Cognition, memory, and overall senses.

3. Add in the trait boosts from your class, and record your class ability.

Class: Trait Boosts: Class Abilities

Archer: +1 Build, +1 Grace: I Didn’t Miss – Whenever you fail a ranged attack roll, you may pay a number of Focus points equal to the difference between your successes and the opposing number+1. This turns the roll from a miss into a basic success.

Rogue's Risk - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Grace related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Grace rating in this manner.

Avatar: +2 Heart: Power Overwhelming – You start the game with three powers related to your Empowering Entity. Discuss these powers with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend experience to purchase new powers, as the game goes on.

Magician's Might - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Heart related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Heart rating in this manner.

Bargainer: +1 Heart, +1 Mind: Sworn to Service – You start the game with a pact with one entity, and a power learned from that entity. Discuss the entity and the power gained with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend experience to learn new powers from any pacted entities as the game goes on.

Scholar's Sagacity - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Mind related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Mind rating in this manner.

Burglar: +2 Grace: Gone in the Blink of an Eye – You may escape a bad situation entirely, no matter where you might be. To activate this ability, spend a number of Focus points equal to the number of enemies in the scene and make an opposed Grace roll against the enemy with the highest Grace. If you succeed, you escape. If you fail, you don’t manage to flee.

Rogue's Risk - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Grace related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Grace rating in this manner.

Gadgeteer: +1 Grace, +1 Mind: Deus ex Machina – You start the game with one invention schema. Discuss the schema with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend experience to invent new schema as the game goes on.

Scholar's Sagacity - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Mind related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Mind rating in this manner.

Mage Knight: +1 Build, +1 Heart: Elemental Blade – You may spend 5 focus to imbue your weapon with an elemental aura of your choice, adding your Heart to the base damage of the weapon and switching its damage type over to the element in question. This effect lasts until the end of the scene, or until countered.

Warrior's Way - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Build related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Build rating in this manner.

Magus: +1 Heart, +1 Mind: Member in Good Standing - You start the game with one spell. Discuss the spell with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend money and experience to learn new spells from other Mages as the game goes on, and you are a recognized Mage... This may have benefits, depending upon the situation.

Magician's Might - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Heart related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Heart rating in this manner.

Martial Artist: +1 Build, +1 Mind: Fast Meditation – Spend a Focus point and a turn, choose a Trait, roll your Mind and add the successes to the trait number for a single roll using that attribute. If these successes are unused, they disappear after a minute’s time.

Scholar's Sagacity - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Mind related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Mind rating in this manner.

Mentalist: +1 Grace, +1 Mind: Subtle Power – You start the game with two mental powers of your choice. Discuss these powers with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend experience to purchase new powers, as the game goes on. Additionally, you may use your powers without giving any visible sign that you are the source of the power. To do this, pay triple the focus cost of the power.

Magician's Might - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Heart related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Heart rating in this manner.

Musketeer: +1 Build, +1 Mind: Spit and Polish – Glitches and Critical glitches never damage or break your personal equipment.

Warrior's Way - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Build related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Build rating in this manner.

Ninja: +1 Grace, +1 Heart: Mystic Signs – You start the game with one ninjutsu power. Discuss this power with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend experience to purchase new ninjutsu powers, as the game goes on.

Rogue's Risk - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Grace related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Grace rating in this manner.

Sage: +2 Mind: Polymath – You may spend 2 focus points to gain any skill at rating 3 for one turn. This skill adds to your die rolls in the same manner as a regular skill.

Scholar's Sagacity - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Mind related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Mind rating in this manner.

Shapeshifter: +1 Build, +1 Heart: Alternate Form – You start the game with one alternate form. Discuss this power with the GM, to work out the details. You may spend experience to purchase new alternate forms, as the game goes on.

Magician's Might - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Heart related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Heart rating in this manner.

Soldier: +2 Build: Walk it Off – Spend 3 Focus points and roll your Build. Each success made on this roll heals 1 point of your Endurance.

Warrior's Way - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Build related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Build rating in this manner.

Spy: +1 Grace, +1 Mind: Always Prepared – You have a number of small but handy devices hidden about your person and almost impossible to find with a search. You may spend 2 focus points to produce any small, cheap item that you wish.

Rogue's Risk - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Grace related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Grace rating in this manner.

Swashbuckler: +1 Build, +1 Grace: Traverse the Scene – You may instantly move to any point in the scene that could possibly be reached by using the scenery and your natural abilities. To activate this ability, spend a number of Focus points equal to either 1, or the number of enemies around you, whichever is greater.

Warrior's Way - You may spend 1 or more focus to add an equal amount of dice to all your Build related die rolls for 1 turn. You may not add more dice than your unaltered Build rating in this manner.


4. Choose two trait abilities from the following lists. NOTE! For every trait ability that you select, you must have at least a 3 in that trait. If you select two trait abilities from the same trait, then you must have at least a 6 in that trait.


Build Abilities
Go Go Go! – Spend 1 Focus ignore all encumbrance penalties to your movement for 1 turn.
Healthy - Your maximum Endurance is increased by 5.
Skilled Brawler – Whenever you make an unarmed attack and hit, you may pay 1 focus to give your fists or feet a base damage of 2.
Indefatigable – You may pay 4 Focus to shrug off natural or supernatural fatigue, sleepiness, or weakening effects.
Knockdown – Whenever you score a hit using a heavy weapon or your bare hands, and the number of successes rolled equals or exceeds the target’s Build trait, you may pay 1 focus to knock the target prone.
Sunder Item – Whenever your foe tries to defend against your attack and rolls a glitch or critical glitch, you may pay 4 focus to destroy one item that he is holding. If the foe holds nothing, then you may pay 8 focus to destroy his armor.


Grace Abilities
Disarm – Whenever you score a hit using a light weapon or your bare hands, and the number of successes rolled equals or exceeds the target’s Grace trait, you may spend 1 focus to disarm the foe of one weapon or shield.
Dodge – You may pay 10 focus to instantly avoid any single attack that would have normally hit you.
Missile Deflection – You may use any of your combat skills to parry missiles, at the cost of 1 focus per attempt.
Not Luck, Skill - You may pay 7 Focus to gain one action die.
Quick Draw – You may spend 1 focus to suffer no penalty when drawing a weapon and attacking within the same turn.
Rope Walker – You need not roll to keep your balance when walking a rope, or a narrow, straight ledge, at the cost of 1 focus per turn spent traversing the obstacle.


Heart Abilities
Courage – You may pay 3 focus to automatically resist any fear-based effect, or other mind-affecting power. No roll is necessary.
Magic Resistant – You may spend 2 focus to cancel out a single success of any power or spell targeting you.
Read the Tells – You may spend 4 focus to make a Heart + Mind roll when first meeting someone. If your successes exceed their mind trait, then you may ask the GM a number of questions about the individual equal to the margin of your success.
Stirring Speech – Spend a number of focus equal to the allies you wish to inspire, then roll your Heart. For every success that you gain on the roll, your allies regain 1 spent point of focus.
Stressful Recharge – Take 1-6 points of endurance damage that cannot be avoided by any means, or healed without rest. For each point of endurance damage taken, gain back that many focus points.
Well of Power - Your maximum Focus is increased by 5.


Mind Abilities
Connections – Pay 3 focus upon starting a scene to have an acquaintance in the area. This acquaintance will happily give you information and trade with you, but will not risk their life for you.
Element Friend - Choose an element. You may pay 1-6 focus to create some of that element. The more successes, the more of that element created. You may take this ability several times, with each ability representing a different element.
Linguist – Pay 2 focus to gain basic skill in speaking any language you encounter, for the duration of the scene.
Medical Master – Spend 2 focus when treating a comrade’s wounds. Instead of rolling your Mind + Medicine, treat every die that you would normally roll as a success.
Poison Immunity – You’ve spent the last few years developing an immunity to a particular poison. When poisoned you may pay an amount of focus equal to the poison’s rating to shrug off the condition with no ill effects.
Puzzle It Out – Whether through careful consideration of the facts or by requesting divine guidance, you have insight into things that most people don’t. Spend 8 focus and ask the GM a question to gain a hint. The more mysterious or hidden the answer, the more obscure the hint.


5. Calculate your Health and Endurance Pools

Pools
Endurance: Build + Heart x3
Focus: Grace + Mind x3

6. Depending on your class, you may start with one or more skills. See the list below.

Archer: Either Archery 4 OR Throwing 4.

Avatar: None.

Bargainer: Summoning 3

Burglar: Larceny 3 AND Stealth 3

Gadgeteer: Two of the following at Rank 2 - Alchemy, Carpentry, Leatherworking, Masonry, Medicine, Metalworking, Tailoring.

Mage Knight: One of the following at rank 3 - Axes, Brawling, Guns, Knives, Maces, Polearms, Staves, Swords

Magus: Arcane Runes 3

Martial Artist: Brawling 4

Mentalist: None

Musketeer: Guns 4 OR Swords 4

Ninja: Ninja Weapons 2 and Stealth 2

Sage: None

Shapeshifter: Brawling 2 and Dodging 2

Soldier: Armor 3 and Shields 3

Spy: Disguise 2 Perception 2 and Stealth 2

Swashbuckler: Acrobatics 2 Dodging 2 and Swords 2


7. Choose three skills. Set one of them at 3, the second best at 2, and the worst at 1.


Skills:
Acrobatics, Alchemy, Arcane Runes, Archery, Armor, Athletics, Axes, Brawling, Carpentry, Climbing, Disguise, Dodging, Explosives, Guns, History, Knives, Larceny, Leatherworking, Lying, Maces, Masonry, Medicine, Metalworking, Ninja Weapons, Perception, Polearms, Politics, Religions, Riding, Sailing, Shields, Spears, Staves, Stealth, Swords, Summoning, Survival, Swimming, Tailoring


8. Give your character a background and a name, and you're ready to play!


PLAYING THE GAME


Unopposed Rolls: To accomplish a task against something that is offering no resistance, roll a number of six-sided dice equal to your appropriate trait plus one appropriate skill, plus any bonuses and negatives from situational modifiers, spells, or other effects. Roll that many dice, and for every five or six that comes up on the dice, count one success.

1 Success equals enough to accomplish a task of average difficulty.
2 Successes are enough to accomplish a difficult task.
3 Successes are enough to do just about anything humanly possible.
4 Successes are enough to do anything humanly possible, and do it with style.
5 or more Successes are enough to do damn near anything that has even the slimmest chance of success.

Opposed Rolls: When trying to do something that affects another PC or NPC, that person may choose to make your task more difficult. Roll the appropriate amount of dice to your action and total the successes as normal. The PC or NPC will roll the appropriate amount of dice for his method of resisting your action, and total his successes. Then you must subtract your successes from his successes. In the event that this leaves you with 0 or less, your action fails.

The Rule of Ones: If your roll comes up with no successes and at least one “1” on the dice, then you have glitched. Something bad happens, as a result of your action. If your roll comes up with no successes and at least half your dice show “1”s, you have committed a critical glitch! Something REALLY bad happens.

Action Dice: You start with one action die every session. You gain action dice when you impress the GM, and when you hit plot goals. You may only spend one action die per turn. You can spend action dice to do the following things with action dice:
-On your turn, you can roll it, and gain back that many focus points.
-You can spend an action die to gain one automatic success in any roll. You must do this BEFORE you roll.
-You can spend an action die to reroll any roll. You can only do this AFTER you make a normal roll. When you do this, add the action die to the roll, and treat it like a normal die.
-You can spend an action die to cancel a glitch. It's still a failure, but it is no longer a glitch.
-You can spend an action die to downgrade a critical glitch to a regular glitch.



COMBAT


Combat: Sooner or later, something will try to kill your characters. At that point, things shift over into combat mode. These steps show how combat works.

1. INITIATIVE: All participants roll their Grace (plus any other bonuses), and add their successes to the basic number of their Mind trait. The GM counts down from the highest number. When the GM reaches a PC’s number, that PC gets to act. NPC’s act on their own number. (The GM may prefer to roll a single initiative for large groups of NPC’s of the same type. That tends to speed up things.)

2. ACTION: Once the count reaches a PC’s initiative, that PC may try to do something. The action that they take must be something that the PC can describe with a sentence or two. The acting PC only gets one action. Once the PC describes their action, the GM assigns any applicable bonuses or penalties, and tells them what kind of dice to roll, and whether it’s opposed or unopposed. If opposed, the GM rolls the appropriate dice. If unopposed, then the GM tells the player how many successes they’ll need to score to complete the action. Simple actions may not require any successes.

3. REPEAT: Once the group reaches the end of the round, start the initiative count over again. Do not reroll initiative, keep the same one from the last round. Continue this until combat’s done.

Combat-Specific Actions:
-Hitting: To attack a target with a melee weapon or your bare hands, roll an opposed roll of either (your build or your grace + the appropriate weapon skill) versus (their grace + either their appropriate weapon skill or their dodge skill.) If you get at least one success, you hit them. Add the total number of successes together, subtract theirs, and add the resulting number to the damage total.

Damage dealt by hitting someone is equal to 1/2 your build score (round down) plus the base damage of the weapon, plus the number of successes left over from your attack.

-Shooting: To attack a target with a ranged weapon, roll an opposed roll of (your grace + the appropriate weapon skill) versus (their grace + dodge skill.) If you get at least one success, you hit them. Add the total number of successes together, subtract theirs, and add the resulting number to your weapon’s base damage to see how much damage you dealt to the target.

Damage dealt by shooting someone is equal to the base damage of the weapon, plus the number of successes left over from your attack. Some ranged weapons may also allow you to add 1/2 your build score to the damage total as well.

-Spells: To attack a target with a spell or mental-based power, roll an opposed roll of (your mind + the appropriate skill) versus (The trait and skill determined by the GM. This will vary from spell to spell). The amount of damage dealt varies, and some spells don’t do damage at all, but have other effects.

Damage dealt by using a spell is equal to the spell’s base damage plus the number of successes left over from your attack. Some spells may also allow you to add 1/2 your heart score to the damage total as well.

-Powers: To attack a target with a natural ability that doesn’t involve hitting or shooting them, roll an opposed roll of (your heart + the appropriate skill) versus (The trait and skill determined by the GM. This will vary from power to power.) The amount of damage dealt varies, and some powers don’t do damage at all, but have other effects.

Damage dealt by using a power is equal to the power’s base damage plus the number of successes left over from your attack. Some powers may also allow you to add 1/2 your heart score to the damage total as well.

How Not to Die: When you take damage from any physical source, you may roll your build to resist it. When you take mental damage, you may roll your heart to resist it. Rolling in this manner is called a “Soak Roll”. Each success on the roll reduces the damage by 1. Any damage that is not reduced is subtracted from your Endurance. THE RULE OF ONES DOES NOT APPLY TO SOAK ROLLS. You cannot glitch or critical glitch a soak roll.

Armor adds dice to your soak roll. Most types of armor only protect against physical damage, and don’t do a thing against mental damage.

When you reach 0 endurance, you are knocked out. If you take damage that puts you into negative endurance, then you run the risk of severe injury. Every time your negative endurance count reaches a number equal to your (Build + Heart), then the GM will assign you an injury. When your negative endurance count reaches a total equal to your Endurace, then you die.



EQUIPMENT


Most forms of equipment and their exact details will be covered in the setting documents. General guidelines are provided below, for convenience.

Weapons: Daggers, clubs, and staves have a base damage of 1. Most one-handed weapons have a base damage of 2-3. Two-handed weapons usually have a base damage of 3-5. Many weapons have additional benefits and flaws, related to their form, bulk, and usage.

Armors: Light armor has a soak rating of 1-4, and heavy armor has a soak rating of 5-10. Most forms of armor have bulk penalties… If they are worn without the appropriate skill level, then they give die penalties to all non-soak combat-related rolls, and some non-combat rolls.

Superior Items: Some items give bonus dice when used appropriately to their function. A well-made rope may aid with climbing, or master crafted lockpicks may help you open a door.



EXPERIENCE

As you progress through an adventure, your character will gain experience points. You may spend experience points to improve your character in many ways. The various ways you can spend experience are listed below:

1. You may learn new skills. To do this, spend 5 experience points to learn a new skill. This new skill's rating is 1, until improved.

2. You may raise the rating of existing skills. To do this, spend experience points equal to three times a skill's current rating, to increase it by 1.

3. You may raise the rating of your traits. To do this, spend experience points equal to four times your trait's current rating, to increase it by 1. If you raised your Build or your Heart, increase your Endurance by 3. If you raised your Grace or your Mind, increase your Focus by 3.

4. You may learn a new Trait Ability. To do this, you must first have less existing trait abilities in that trait's category than the trait rating divided by 3. (Example: Sonny the soldier has a Build of 6. He may know two Build trait abilities. If he wants to learn a third Build trait ability, he must first raise his Build to 9.) Once your trait level is adequate enough to support another Trait ability, you may pay 8 points to learn the new ability.

5. You may learn a new power, spell, invention schema, mental power, ninjutsu power, or alternate form. To do this, you must be of a character class that can learn new powers, spells, schemas, etc... First consult with the GM as to the nature of the power, work out the details. Once that is done, pay 12 points to learn the new power.

Darksword
2010-06-04, 09:44 AM
I like it. It seems overal balance and it like it would be a good pick and go game. Hope to see more.

P.S: Congrats on the easy character creation. Characters still have a lot choices so they are statically unique, but character creation takes about 1o minutes or less.
Edit
P.S.S: Also I take it that Endurance is similar to hp and focus is used as an energy source. It would be nice to add that to a the description.
Also you need to work on the avatar. That is to open ended.

Yakk
2010-06-04, 01:11 PM
I don't see any conflict resolution mechanic? It is hard to figure out what numbers mean without that. It appears, however, that competence is measured as a raw bonus to some roll or rolls?

Many build abilities are seriously niche. I mean, "Lift and Run"?

Grace overlaps with "religious grace" too much in standard word use.

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-04, 02:52 PM
EDIT: CHANGE 1 - Huh, looks like I had Bargainer listed twice. Whoops, my bad... Added the Magus class, to replace the second listing of Bargainer.
---

Hey, guys! I'm glad you posted. Right now we're in the rough, so yeah, bear with me. It'll need some refining...

Darksword, I'm glad to hear you find character generation simple! My goal WAS a simple, easy game that didn't have lengthy character generation. So if we keep to that, then I think we're good.

Endurance is HP, yeah. It goes down when you get hurt.

Focus is what you expend to use skills, spells, and similar things. Once you're out, no more tricks for you, and you're stuck with the basics.

There's also action dice. You get one at the start of the game session, and more every time you do something fun. Action dice can be added to any roll.

The Avatar is open-ended. It's basically meant to represent priests, druids, demigods, and folks who devoted themselves to working for a greater entity. But in a usual pantheon setting, you're going to have vastly different gods... So instead of making up a bunch of little subclasses (This if you're a firepriest, that if you're an acolyte of time), figured we might as well keep it general.

I'm adding class descriptions shortly... Hopefully that'll focus it, for you.

Yakk, I'm tossing around a few ideas on conflict resolution. Right now I'm going with a Shadowrun 4 resolution mechanic. Basically, it's a D6 system. When presented with a challenge, you roll a number of dice equal to the appropriate trait, and add +2 dice for any skills that apply. Every die that rolls a 5 or a 6 is a success. If you roll no successes and at least half your dice are a 1, you've rolled a glitch and something bad happens. If every die you roll results in a 1, then you've just rolled a critical glitch, and something REALLY bad happens.

I'm toying with the idea of numerical skill levels, rather than having all skills give a flat +2. Kinda torn on that, would appreciate input.

The trait abilities are supposed to be pretty niche... But yeah, Lift and Run's kinda bad.

----

Two things I could really use, while I hammer out the rest of the system.

1. Suggestions for a skill list. I've got sample skills up there, could really use some more. Figure renaissance era is the default for this game, so nothing like Computers or Driving.

2. More trait abilities! Traits are like feats, or specialized tricks that a character can do. They don't all have to have combat applications, and they're generally not as powerful as the class abilities.

If anyone wants to help me out with those two things above, I'll be a happy panda! :)

Yakk
2010-06-04, 03:11 PM
So when making such a system, I'd look into ROI on dice.

What is the return on an additional +1 given your conflict resolution mechanic?

Fantasy Heartbreakers are typically 1e D&D clones. Is that your goal? (ie, do you want players to have lists of inventory items, etc?)

How central is the focus mechanic? If I where you, I'd take something like "focus" and seriously run with it. Build the game around it as a concept.

Ie, players would burn focus to reroll defence rolls, would burn focus to do attacks that simply take out targets, etc.

This could then extend to non-combat situations, where you burn focus to solve problems.

But that's just me. :)

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-04, 03:26 PM
EDIT 2: Added a short explanation of the various classes to the main ruleset!

EDIT 3: Changed skill system to ranked skills, rather than basic proficiency. Should help differentiate higher experience characters, and help starting characters make successful rolls with their chosen specialties.

Also added a basic die boosting ability to all classes. Warriors get to boost rolls related to their build, rogues their grace, scholars their minds, and magicky types their heart.

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-05, 08:24 AM
So when making such a system, I'd look into ROI on dice.

What is the return on an additional +1 given your conflict resolution mechanic?

Fantasy Heartbreakers are typically 1e D&D clones. Is that your goal? (ie, do you want players to have lists of inventory items, etc?)

How central is the focus mechanic? If I where you, I'd take something like "focus" and seriously run with it. Build the game around it as a concept.

Ie, players would burn focus to reroll defence rolls, would burn focus to do attacks that simply take out targets, etc.

This could then extend to non-combat situations, where you burn focus to solve problems.

But that's just me. :)

Hm. Well... A die has a 1/3 chance of rolling a success. So 3 dice equals 1 success, on average.

Given that most stats will end up between 1 and 6, we might NEED a ranked skill system that adds more dice the more you sink into it, if people want to have significant progress at higher levels. Have to change the sage's ability there, that won't be hard. Yeah, let's do that.

I'm not going for a total 1st edition D&D clone. There aren't any levels, for one thing. And it's using Focus as magic points, no vancian system anywhere to be seen. Too, the classes are only a loose framework. It's really open ended, you can build a sage who kicks ass on the battlefield, with the right skills. Or a warrior who uses the right trait abilities to be a skilled courtier.

I like some of your ideas about focus. Let's run with that! First order of business? Adding some basic focus abilities to all of the classes...

EDIT: You know... Off on a slight tangent, here. I toyed with the idea of races and backgrounds, but I figured those are better left to the background setting. And the way this game works, the setting is 100% modular from the basics... The core rules are enough, you can slap a setting on it or not, as you like.

Yeah! So Races and Backgrounds will be in the setting sheet! Okay, this should work.

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-07, 03:24 PM
EDIT 4: Added a "playing the game" section. This is just a start, so far. It will grow given time and development.

EDIT 5: Added a combat section.

EDIT 6: Snuck in a brief equipment system. More of a yardstick than anything else, really.

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-09, 10:34 AM
EDIT 7: Added an action dice system. Next up, experience!

After that, the system basics will be done... Might make some minor modification to put in a comprehensive skill and trait ability list...

EDIT 8: Added an experience section! Also adjusted a couple of abilities to balance them. (Lift and run became GO GO GO, and stressful recharge became more balanced.) Almost done with the basics...

EDIT 9: Minor revision involving Action Dice, revised the skill system and the trait abilities. Done!

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-09, 02:29 PM
And with that, we're done! Cannibalized more of Shadowrun's system than I thought, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Alright. In the next week or so, I will set up and prepare a setting sheet and a play-by-post recruitment thread to test this sucker out.

I would HIGHLY appreciate comments, criticism, and insight as to the rules that I've worked out. Please review and give me your thoughts.

Thanks, and we'll see how this goes!

Darksword
2010-06-09, 02:49 PM
You need examples of powers and etc to set a standard for balancing

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-10, 10:36 AM
Heh! Don't ask for much, do ya? Due to open-ended creation, powers are going to be unique and vary from game to game and setting to setting, so the exact balance is going to be up to the GM and the players. So sample powers, while useful to some, aren't a necessity of the basic rules. I was hoping for feedback on the basic rules before I got down into the weeds with powers, but hey. Whatever makes you happy... Sure, I'll do up what I see as a list of sample powers if it'll let you critique more easily.

Here you go. I'll put down explanations for 'em later when I have more time.


FANTASY HEARTBREAKER
SAMPLE POWERS

AVATARS AND BARGAINERS

Avatars and Bargainers both draw power from entities far greater than they... The difference between them is that Avatars are infused with the power of the entity, and may do as they please with it when they get it. Bargainers are limited by a pact... If they break the pact, then they lose access to the powers supplied by it until proper restitution is made. Bargainers make up for this by having the capability to pact with several different entities. Avatars are limited to being empowered only by a single entity


Low Power: Lesser Healing - Pay 1 focus to heal one target by touch. Roll a number of dice equal to your Heart. For each success rolled, the target heals one point of endurance damage.
Average Power: Fiery Shroud - Pay 3 focus to attempt to wreathe a foe in flames. Roll your Heart vs. their Grace. If you succeed, they burst into flame for a number of rounds equal to your margin of success. Each round they are burning, they take your Heart in endurance damage. Armor does NOT help against this damage.
High Power: Summon Angel - Pay 8 focus to call down an angel to defend you. The angel can fly at-will with the speed of a large bird, and has a fiery sword with a base damage of 4. All of the angel's traits are equal to your Heart, and it has the Swords and Perception skills at a level equal to half your Heart, rounded down. It has Endurance equal to 5 times the summoner’s heart. You must pay 4 focus at the beginning of each turn after the initial summoning, or the angel returns to the heavens.


GADGETEERS

Gadgeteer schemas are unique among the player-created powers. The schemas are basically methods of constructing technomagical items. They take resources and time to craft. However, once the ingredients and work is done, anyone can use them. They DO take focus to activate, though, and this typically comes from the user.


Low Power: Goggles - Goggles require small amounts of glass, metal, and leather to make. (Metalworking success: 1) It takes about a day to put together. The function of Goggles is to protect the eyes from damage, blindness, and other ill effects. The wearer may pay 1 focus to negate any effect that targets their eyes, as the effect happens. This doesn't affect illusions, or other things that affect the mind, only effects that target the eyes.
Average Power: Autocrossbow - The Autocrossbow requires moderate amounts of wood, steel, wire, and gears before it can be constructed. (Metalworking success: 3) It takes about a week to put together. The autocrossbow is a mechanical bow that spits out bolts at a high rate of speed. The autocrossbow requires the Archery skill to use. It has a base damage of 3, and holds three bursts of ammunition. It is short ranged when compared to a regular crossbow. When totalling successes from the attack roll, the shooter of an autocrossbow may pay 1 focus per success to double the amount of damage from successes added to the base damage.
High Power: Hulking Automaton - The Hulking Automaton requires large amounts of iron and gears and smaller amounts of gems and rare chemicals to construct. (Metalworking Success 5) It takes about a month to put together. The Hulking Automaton is a twelve-foot-tall humanoid statue with jointed limbs powered by grinding gears and alchemical reactions. It uses a crystalline brain to function, and ruby eyes to see. The Hulking Automaton's Build and Heart traits are equal to the creator's Mind (At the time of construction), and it has 60 Endurance. It has a Mind and a Grace trait each equal to 1, and a Brawling skill equal to half the creator's mind, rounded down.


MAGI

Magus spells are careful, well-researched applications of arcane energy. As such, they can do damn near anything... But as a rule, they can't do it as well as another power might do it. They also shouldn't make other niches obsolete. A spell designed to open doors will not be as good at it as a well-trained burglar with a high grace and larceny skill. Finally, no spell should be able to do more than one or two things. A single spell which is useful in every situation is a broken spell.


Low Power: Magic Orb - Magic Orb is both an exercise used to teach apprentices how to focus and shape magical energy, and a simple method of attacking a foe. The Magic Orb spell calls up a bubble of force that the Magus can direct at a single foe who's within bowshot. It costs 1 focus to create, and It dissipates after it strikes or misses. To attack with it, roll Mind + Heart vs. the opponent's Grace + Dodging. The Base damage of the magic orb is equal to half the caster's Heart.
Average Power: Flight - The flight spell allows a caster to take to the sky, about as fast and manuverable as a bird in flight. It costs 4 focus to cast, and requires the expenditure of 1 focus for every turn that the caster wishes to remain aloft.
High Power: Weather Control - The weather control spell allows the caster to shift the weather in whatever direction he likes. The change is near instantaneous (Although the caster can mask it as a natural change if he is willing to take time and be subtle), and can be quite violent in the event that the desired state of the skies is far different from the starting state. (i.e. Changing from bright and sunny to cold and snowy instantaneously is likely to generate one hell of a hailstorm.) It costs 10 focus to cast.


MENTALISTS

Mentalist powers revolve around what some people would call "traditional psionics". As such, they deal with things like telepathy, illusion, telekinesis, body control, psychometry, and pyrokinesis. They do things inside these areas very well, and they rarely do anything beyond this scope.


Low Power: Telepathic Message - This power allows the mentalist to send a single message to a target. The mentalist must be familiar with the target, either through eyesight, telepathic contact, familiarity of long-term acquaintance, or similar means. The target must be within the mentalist's Heart in miles to be able to hear the message. It costs 1 focus to send a message, and the message must not take more than ten seconds to say.
Average Power: Mental Blast - This power rocks attackers back on their heels by applying raw NOISE directly into their brains. Mind blast affects up to the mentalist's Grace in targets, and costs 5 focus to use. The mentalist rolls their Grace plus Heart, vs their Mind plus Heart. The base damage of Mind Blast is equal to the Mentalist's Heart.
High Power: Dominate - Dominate is a fearsome discipline, that can turn even strong-willed victims into puppets dancing on the mentalist's strings. It costs 10 focus to attempt to dominate a target, and once initiated, the mentalist rolls their Heart against the target's heart. Failure results in the target's actions being totally controlled by the mentalist for a number of turns equal to his margin of success. There are a few restrictions... The mentalist cannot cause the target to take a suicidal action. Also, the control is obvious and the target WILL remember it once the domination is done.


NINJAS

Ninja techniques are a mix of thievery skills taken to ludicrous levels and subtle magic designed to fool a foe. They can also include body alteration techniques or unusual applications of ninja weapons. Most are not meant to be hugely powerful... Think more Basilisk, less Naruto.


Low Power: Water Walking Technique - The Water Walking Technique allows the ninja to skate along noiselessly on any body of water. This power works better when the water's stable... If dealing with large waves or whitewater, this may require Grace + Acrobatics rolls to stay on top of the surface. It costs 1 focus per turn to use water walking technique.
Average Power: Shadow Substitution - Shadow Substitution allows the ninja to attempt to negate any single attack that would damage him. It costs 5 focus to attempt, and the ninja must roll his Grace + Heart against the opponent's Mind + Perception. If he succeeds, then the ninja vanishes, the shadow duplicate of himself that the enemy actually struck disappears in a puff of black smoke, and the ninja reappears somewhere else in the scene.
High Power: Pressure Point Strike - Pressure Point Strike is a hand-to-hand technique that can paralyze a target with a single punch. After successfully making an unarmed attack on a foe and dealing damage, the ninja can spend 8 focus and roll their Grace + Brawling against the target's Build + Heart. The target is paralyzed for a number of rounds equal to the ninja's margin of success.


SHAPESHIFTERS

Shapeshifter alternate forms basically give stat and skill buffs at the cost of limiting certain actions. Like, y'know, not being able to open doors when you're in a form without thumbs. They also give access to powers related to the form... The downside is that the more powerful the form, the more focus it will cost to maintain. Note that trait adjustments do not affect the shapeshifter’s total endurance and focus… These remain the same regardless of form alteration.


Low Power: Rabbit Form - It costs the shapeshifter 1 focus to turn into a rabbit. It costs 1 focus per hour to maintain the transformation. While in rabbit form, the shapeshifter's Grace is increased by +4, his Perception skill is increased by +2, and anyone trying to strike him must roll an additional success, or miss. However, he has no hands, his Build is halved, and he is a small quadreped.
Average Power: Wolfman Form - The wolfman is a humanoid, wolflike creature. It costs 3 focus to turn into a wolfman, and 1 focus per minute to maintain the form. While in wolfman form, the shapeshifter gains sharp claws and sturdy jaws with a base damage of 3, and regenerates 1 point of endurance per turn. Their Build and Grace increase by 2, and their Survival skill increases by 1. They may pay 1 focus per usage to use their superhuman sense of smell to accomplish various tasks.
High Power: Dragon Form - One of the mightiest of forms, the dragon transformation costs 12 focus to activate, and 1 focus per turn to maintain the form. While in dragon form, the shapeshifter grows to twenty feet long from head to tail and ten feet high, and gains powerful claws and jaws with a base damage of 5. The shapeshifter's Build is increased to 10, but their Grace is adjusted to 3 regardless of their prior rating. The dragon can also fly at will, though they are slow and clumsy, and it takes a full turn to take off from the ground or land. Dragons have scales that count as armor with a rating of 6, and may breathe fire by spending 3 focus and rolling their Grace + Heart to attack all in front of them. The base damage of the flame is equal to the shapeshifter's Heart.

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-10, 03:06 PM
Alright, I added the list of sample powers, and threw in all the details.

So. What needs to be worked on next?

Lost Demiurge
2010-06-14, 03:05 PM
Hm, no comments? Pity. Well, here's the starts of a setting.


HEARTBREAKER SETTING: #1
CRYSTALS AND CROSSBOWS


Crystals and Crossbows is the fantasy world of cliches. There's always a dark lord over the horizon, there's always a hero born to oppose them, and there's always a beloved peasant village just waiting to be burned down by the dark lord's forces, and there's always a race of ancients who left nifty ruins around all over the place.

People in this world have lousy long-term memory. They'll swear up and down that they enjoyed a thousand years of peace before the dark lord came, but they tend to forget about little things like conquering armies, revolutions, magical disasters, and naturally occuring monsters. Or maybe people are liars, or prone to exaggeration. Whatever the reason, the world's been going on for quite a long time, despite every "threatening dark lord", and it's likely to go on even longer, thank you very much.

Still, recently, a troubling trend has started to surface. A few years back an Evil Lord of Dark Evil woke up... And got swiftly smacked down by a fleet of airships from the Evil Empire. Then the Evil Empire went out and started hunting down monsters. They're not even conquering people anymore! They're being NICE. The chosen hero to defeat the (now deceased) dark lord is off happily living in some peasant village somewhere, probably married and with two or three kids by now! They're probably not even prophecied kids!!!

The cycle has been broken. Can the world survive?

Features of the C&C Setting

There are two major features of Crystals and Crossbows, and numerous minor features.

MAJOR
1. When a PC makes a character for Crystals and Crossbows, in addition to the usual steps, they must choose a race. There are more creatures than humans available for play in the C&C world, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. You can apply a race to a character at any point during character creation, but if you wish to keep things simple, it is best done after choosing a class.

2. Before beginning the campaign, the GM should consult with the PC's to figure out which side they wish to support. There are three sides open for a C&C campaign... Imperial, Independent, and Rebellion. Each side has their own advantages and disadvantages, but things are a lot easier for the GM to set up if the entire group is on the same side.

MINOR
-The world of C&C is troubled by monsters. Monsters happen when a creature called a slime encounters a type of crystal called Gilstone. When that happens, the slime slowly mutates into a new creature. The type of new creature formed is dependant upon the amount of Gilstone, the local magical sites in the area, and the area's proximity to the home town of the current prophesied hero. Gilstone is also used as a universal currency for all civilized places in the world, so monster hunters tend to be stinking rich by comparison to most people. Of course, merchants who sell the best weapons and armor for hunting monsters charge accordingly...
-There are gods in this setting, but they only appear to the chosen one and/or his entourage, or get off their butts to do things when the heroes are around. This doesn't discourage people from becoming priests/priestesses, and drawing a little power from them. Many avatars and bargainers get their start this way.
-Bargainers tend to bond with nature spirits or powerful monsters. The gods dislike this, so the various churches and temples will probably be pretty upset with you if you openly flaunt your allegiance.
-The world is full of mysterious ruins. Who put'em there? Well, maybe that's a question you'll answer...