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TheLonelyScribe
2011-05-31, 03:41 PM
It is by no means perfect, but it's fun and I think it could be developed into a worthwhile system with your help. My aims were this: to make a system which uses numbers but in a simpler and more universal way than in D&D (so far I am failing at this by an extraordinary degree), and to make it so that advancement is very flexible, with few categories of abilities and no 'classes'. It's supposed to be slightly gritty and quite realistic. See what you think:

Attributes
Roll 6d6 and add up the total to see how many points you have. Distribute these points amongst the different attributes at will. You can have a maximum of two attributes with six points, a maximum of three with five, and a maximum of four with four. If you have extra points over then too bad.
Alternatively, roll one d6 for each stat and apply, D&D style. The same limits apply to the number of attributes with a particular bonus in them as to the point buy system, and so you may require re-rolls.
At certain levels you gain bonuses to attributes. You cannot have a score of more than 8 in an attribute due to these bonuses.
There is no Intelligence attribute. The player's intelligence is the only important intelligence in this system, which, at the GMs discretion, may include complex puzzles.

Toughness (Tgh)
How tough you are. Helps calculate hp, defence and resistance to physical effects.
Agility (Agl)
How agile you are. Helps calculate defence and several different attacks.
Strength (Str)
How strong you are. Helps calculate several different attacks.
Alertness (Alr)
How perceptive you are. Helps calculate awareness and ranged attacks.
Willpower (Wll)
How wilful you are. Helps calculate magical attacks and resistance to magical effects.
Personality (Prs)
How charismatic you are. Helps calculate things to do with magic and social interaction.


Attack, Defence, and hp
To calculate your defence against physical attacks:
Tgh + Agl + Armour Bonus + Misc + 6 + 3(x-1) where x is your universal bonus

To calculate your defence against magical and naming attacks:
Alr + Wll + Prs + Misc + 6 + 3(x-1) where x is your universal bonus

To calculate your defence against physical effects (such as poison):
Tgh + Misc + 3x where x is half your universal bonus rounded up

Attacks vary from attack to attack, but usually melee attacks go something like this:
Str + Agl + Attack Bonus + Misc + 1d12 + (x-1)d6 where x is your universal bonus

And ranged attacks go something like this:
Alr + Agl + Attack Bonus + Misc + 1d12 + (x-1)d6 where x is your universal bonus

And magical attacks go something like this:
Wll + Prs + Attack Bonus + Misc + 1d12 + (x-1)d6 where x is your universal bonus

And naming attacks go something like this:
Alr + Prs + Attack Bonus + Misc + 1d12 + (x-1)d6 where x is your universal bonus

If the attack roll is greater than the defence, the defender takes an amount of damage equal to the amount by which the attack roll exceeded the defence roll. Some attacks deal no damage; in this case they simply take effect if the attack roll is greater than the defence.

When the attacker for a magical or melee attack gets one on their d12 roll, but gets a higher total attack roll than the defender's defence, they are engaged in a lock. In this case the action to attack is wasted while they struggle with each other, and either character can restart the attack and defence actions using a standard action. If the defender uses the standard action, the attack is turned back on the attacker, effectively making them both the attacker and the defender. When the attacker gets one on their d12 roll and still rolls higher than the defender's defence, the defender can roll 1d6 + Agl. If they get eight or higher they have caught the piece of ammunition without being damaged, but if they fail they simply take half damage, having deflected the attack somewhat.

To calculate your hp:
(2 x [{universal bonus x Tgh} + {universal bonus x Wll}]) + Misc
You fall unconscious when you hit 0 hit points. You die when you get to -(Tgh) hp. A character with negative hit points loses one hit point every 1d6 hours until healed.


Advancement and Universal Features
Opponents all have a challenge rating. When you defeat an opponent you get EXP equal to its challenge rating divided by the number of characters who were on your side in the fight. When you have EXP equal to ten times your current level you gain a level, expending the EXP used to gain the level and retaining any remainder.

{table=head]Level|Universal Bonus|Ability Points|Powers|Ability Bonus

1|1|+8|+3|

2|1|+4|+2|+1 to 1

3|1|+6|+1|

4|2|+4|+1|

5|2|+4|+2|

6|2|+6|+1|+1 to 1

7|3|+4|+1|

8|3|+4|+2|

9|3|+6|+1|

10|4|+4|+1|+1 to 1

Etc.|Etc.|Etc.|Etc.|Etc.[/table]


Hero's Fate: When you would otherwise die, you can activate one of the below abilities. The ability is then expended until you regain it. Every time the GM sees you as having achieved a medium term goal (discovering the secret of the orb -> finding the Wizard who tells you the evil boss' location -> finding the evil boss -> defeating the evil boss) you regain the use of one Hero's Fate power.
Reviving: The attack which would have killed you is treated as if it completely missed, dealing no damage. Instead, you gain hit points equal to (Wll x universal bonus)
Distraction: The attack which would have killed you is treated as if it completely missed, dealing no damage. Instead, the creature which attacked you is suddenly distracted by something which the GM determines, and will turn to examine it for at least 1d6 rounds, presuming you do nothing to attract its attention. This means you get the opportunity to attack it from behind.
Bloody Rage: You are treated as having positive hit points for 4 rounds, during which you add one to your universal bonus. If you kill the creature which just dealt the damage to you during this time you have 0 hp after the duration has extended, falling unconscious. If you fail to kill the creature, you die.


The Round
Each character gets one turn, with one standard action and one move action, and a reactionary action, which is a standard action. As in D&D, standard actions can be swapped for move actions.

At the beginning of combat each character rolls 1d12 + Alt, the highest score having the first turn in a round. However, at any point in combat, between two turns, a character may react to the first of these two turns, using either a standard or move action. This has no effect on the actions they get during their actual turn. If two characters want to react to the same action they roll opposed checks (1d12+Agl) to move first. You can use your reactionary action to react to a reaction.

Stunt Bonuses
If the character uses a particularly awesome or creative way to solve a problem, the GM may grant them a bonus to their roll, appropriate to that particular roll.

Money
100 marks = 1 token

100 tokens = 1 fortune

Abilities
It costs two ability points to gain a level in an ability you do not have levels in. Otherwise you spend ability points to gain ability levels on a one to one basis.

Melee Weaponry
For each level in this skill you become proficient with one more group of melee weapons. You cannot apply your melee attack bonus to a weapon you are not proficient with. The melee weapon groups are:
Axes
Swords
Knives
Clubs, Maces, and Flails
Whips, Nunchuks and Chains
Staves and Hammers
Spears, Lances, Tridents and similar long weapons
Unarmed
You are considered to be proficient in improvised weapons which are similar to any group of weapons you are proficient in, usually Clubs, Maces and Flails.

Melee Attack
For each two levels in this skill you gain +1 to your attack bonus when using ranged weapons. You cannot have an number of levels in this skill more than twice your character level.

Ranged Weaponry
For each level in this skill you become proficient with one more group of ranged weapons. You cannot apply your ranged attack bonus to a weapon you are not proficient with. The ranged weapon groups are:
Bows
Crossbows
Slings
Guns
Blunt or Exploding Thrown Weapons
Piercing Thrown Weapons (Javelins, Spears)
Slashing Thrown Weapons (Shurikens , Throwing Axes)

Ranged Attack
For each two levels in this skill you gain +1 to your attack bonus when using ranged weapons. You cannot have an number of levels in this skill more than twice your character level.

Craft Proficiency
For each level in this skill you can make objects in a certain category. You can only craft items which are more complex than 'simple' if they are in a category in which you are proficient. There are many potential categories, but some examples are given below. Many objects belong to more than one category.
Wooden Objects
Metal Objects
Stone Objects
Fabric Objects
Weapons
Armour
Sculptures
Clothing
Steam Technology (you cannot make steam tech with difficulties >3 unless you have the Advanced Steam Technology power)

Craft
To make something you must have a number of levels in Craft equal to its difficulty. To Craft the object you must roll 1d6 every day that you work on it for at least eight hours, adding the difference between your number of levels in Craft and its difficulty to the roll. Once the total rolled equals the cost of the item in tokens you succeed; however, if ever the result of your roll for a day is less than half the item's difficulty (rounded down), that day doesn't count towards completing the object and you ruin one quarter of the materials required, having to purchase them again.
{table]Simple Item (e.g. Wooden Spoon)|1

Medium Item (e.g. Bowl)|2

Fairly Complex Item (e.g. Sword)|3

Complex Item (e.g. Lock)|5

Very Complex Item (e.g. Steam Gun)|7

Extraordinarily Complex Item (e.g. Mech Suit)|10[/table]
The materials used to Craft an object are usually equal to one half of the cost of the object when bought.

Technology Operation
You know how to operate advanced pieces of technology, such as analytical engines and steam engines. You can make checks to control these machines using a roll of 1d6 + levels in Technology Operation.
{table]Simple Task (e.g. simple calculation for an analytical engine)|2

Medium Task (e.g. driving a steam train, giving an instruction to a bound AI)|4

Tricky Task (e.g. complex calculation for an analytical engine, driving a dirigible)|6

Hard Task (e.g. using an ornithopter)|8

Very Hard Task (e.g. giving an instruction to a simple AI)|10[/table]

Armour and Mech Proficiency
For each level in this ability you can wear more sorts of armour and mech suits without experiencing the penalties for non-proficiency, following the progression below:
Armour -> mech suits of your size -> mech suits one size above you -> mech suits two sizes above you -> etc.
Your level in this ability also influences how you can use the functions of mech suits, but this is detailed in the mech suit descriptions.
If you are not proficient with armour you cannot put it on yourself, you must take double the Agl penalty, you must take the penalty to speed and you gain one point less armour bonus from wearing it.
If you are not proficient with a mech you cannot move in it and the GM randomly decides which function you perform when you try to do something other than move with it.

Bonding
For each level in this ability you can bond with more powerful demons and angels. See Bonding Powers.

Summoning
For each level in this ability you can summon more powerful demons and angels. See Summoning Powers.

Naming
For each level in this ability you can pronounce more powerful primal sounds. See Naming Powers.

Rapport
For each level in this ability you are more able to interact with people. You add your Prs to your levels in this ability to make your Rapport modifier. To try to interact in a certain way you roll 1d6 and add your modifier, and try to meet or exceed the difficulty. Sample difficulties are presented below:
{table]Striking up a conversation/Asking for non-secret information|1

Making good conversation/Solving a children's fight over toys|3

Making a friend from a stranger/Solving aggression between family members|6

Making an ally from a friend/Solving a gang fight|8

Asking for quite secret information/Making an unfriendly person ambivalent|10

Making an enemy simply unfriendly/Solving a gang war|12

Asking for top secret information/Making an unfriendly person a friend|16

Preventing a war between nations/Making an enemy into an ally|20[/table]
Telling lies requires you to make an 'attack' (Prs+rapport levels+1d6) against someone's 'defence' (Alr+Rapport levels+1d6). The degree by which you exceed their defence affects how much they believe the lie. If you are telling a particularly believable or unbelievable lie, the GM can give you penalties or bonuses.

Acrobatics
For each level in this ability you can jump further and higher, climb better and do similar categories of things. An Acrobatics check is 1d6 + your level in Acrobatics. Some examples of difficulty are given below:
{table]Jumping a fence/ Climbing a ladder|1

Jumping a metre with a run-up/Climbing a rope ladder|3

Climbing a tree|4

Climbing a knotted rope|6

Climbing an unknotted rope/Climbing a very rough wall|8

Climbing a rough wall|10

Climbing a smooth wall|12[/table]

Business
For each level in this ability you become better at skills to do with trade, such as analysing the price of objects and haggling. This also represents general professional capability, and so you are able to earn a number of tokens a week (if you spend the week working) equal to 1d6 + your levels in Business. To judge the worth of an object the GM rolls 1d12 without you seeing it. He removes your levels in Business from the roll (to a minimum of 0), and decides if you judge over or below. E.g. you have a steam gun worth 20 tokens, and try judge its worth. You have 3 levels in Business and the GM rolls 5, deciding that you underestimate it, meaning you believe it is worth 18 tokens.

Heal
For each level in this ability you become better able to heal people. A person in your care for 24 hours gains a number of hit points equal to your levels in heal divided by two. You can heal yourself, but you heal two less hit points. You can also roll 1d6 and add your levels in Heal to try to heal a disease. You must have medicines and supplies to do this worth an amount of tokens equal to 1/4 of the difficulty of the disease.

Stealth
For each level in this ability you become better at hiding and not being noticed. When trying not to make a sound whilst moving or when trying not to be seen you must roll 1d6 + Agl + levels in stealth. If your roll is greater than the observer's Alr x their universal bonus, you are not observed. If your roll is equal they get a feeling that there is something in your direction, and may well go to investigate. If your roll is less, you are observed. If you remain completely still whilst hiding, you gain an extra d6 to add to your roll.

Sleight of Hand
For each level in this ability you become better able to pick locks and manipulate small things. You must have a lock pick to attempt to pick a lock. To pick a lock you must roll 1d6 + your levels in Sleight of Hand, trying to roll at least as much as the difficulty. Most locks are difficulty 10, but more difficult ones do exist. If you roll a one, you break the lock pick and automatically fail. To perform another use of slight of hand you use the same roll and consult the table below to find the difficulty:
{table]Simple coin disappearing trick/Taking a small thing from the loose pocket of a child|3

Complex coin disappearing trick/Pickpocketing on small thing from an easy target (Alr<3)|6

Difficult magic trick/Pickpocketing one small thing from a normal target (Alr 3 or 4)|8

Very difficult magic trick/Pickpocketing one small thing from a difficult target (Alr 4-6)|10

Extremely difficult magic trick/Pickpocketing one small thing from a very difficult target (Alr>6)|12[/table]


Powers
Some powers have requirements you must fulfil before adding them to your power list. These are given in the 'Requirements:' section.

Normal Powers
Weapon Specialisation
Requirements: Proficiency in at least one type of weapon; +2 attack bonus
Choose a weapon group. You get a +1 bonus to attacks with weapons in that group. You can only gain this power once for one particular group.

Improvised Weapons Specialist
Requirements: +1 attack bonus
You get a +1 bonus to attacks with improvised weapons. You can only gain this power once

Calculated Attack
Requirements: +1 attack bonus
You can use a standard action (either during your turn or as a reactionary action) to prepare to attack a particular target. As long as the target does not move out of range of your attack until your next standard action, and does not use any teleporting abilities, on your next standard action you can make a calculated attack, gaining a +9(+3*universal bonus) bonus to your attack roll.

Sneak Attack
Requirements: +1 attack bonus; +2 stealth
When attacking an enemy who does not know that you are there you get a +3 bonus to your attack roll. You can only gain this power once every two levels.

Ambidextrous Shifting
Requirements: +1 attack bonus; Agl 4
You shift your weapon to your other hand just before you attack, catching your opponent off guard. Although you get -2 to your attack roll, your opponent loses their Agl bonus to their defence.

Severer
Requirements: +3 attack bonus; proficiency with axes or swords; Heal +2; Str 4; Agl 4
You occasionally sever parts of an opponent's body when attacking with an axe or sword. If you get a 12 on your d12 roll, you sever a part of the opponent's body depending on the amount of damage you did relative to the opponent's level bonus. This often gives them a penalty which is permanent unless they are affected by a use of the Limb Regeneration power or a similar limb-replacing or restoring effect.
{table]Amount of Damage (/ level bonus)|Body Part Severed|Effect

1-3|Finger|If an opponent loses all fingers on one hand they cannot use that hand for anything other than unarmed attacks, which they get -2 to. If they lose more than half the fingers on one hand, then they effectively have two less Agl when using that hand.

4-5|1d6 fingers|As above

6-7|Hand|As losing all fingers in that hand

7-9|Arm|As losing all fingers in the hand on that arm, but they cannot use it for unarmed attacks.

10-12|Leg|1/4 speed, have a one in five chance to fall over each round, cannot use that leg for unarmed attacks.

12+|Head|Death unless they have a more than one head.[/table]

Steampunk Powers
Junkyard Collector
Requirements: Two levels in Craft
As long as you are in a place where there is plenty of junk of many materials to be found (such as in a city), you can find enough materials for the use of the Craft ability every day worth the equivalent of (1d6*level bonus) tokens. These can only be used for crafting (cannot be sold), and you must have an idea of what you want to make with these materials before you search for them. You must spend at least 1 hour to find these materials.

Advanced Steam Technology
Requirements: Four levels in Craft; Craft Proficiency in Steam Tech
You can make items of steam tech with difficulties >3, such as steam engines.

Advanced Clockwork
Requirements: Four levels in Craft; Craft Proficiency in Clockwork
You can make items of clockwork with difficulties >3, such as difference engines.

Ornithopter
Requirements: Eight levels in Craft
As long as you have a suitable Craft Proficiency, you can make Ornithopters.

Dirigible
Requirements: Eight levels in Craft
As long as you have a suitable Craft Proficiency, you can make Dirigibles.

Hardened Creations
Requirements: Three levels in Craft
Your creations get a +4 armour bonus to defence.

Expedient Crafting
Requirements: Two levels in Craft
After you have made a roll to record your progress in Crafting for a day, as long as you have got more than half the item's difficulty you can add 4 x your universal bonus to the progress you make.

Artificial Intelligence
Prerequisites: Eight levels in Craft
You can make very basic artificial intelligences. Things include taking inputs to the system to adjust outputs, like 'If creature steps on pressure plate, as well as the temperature being over 20 degrees, spray pressure plate and area around with water'. Actual intelligences and sentience can only be achieved by Bonding a demon or angel to the machine using a Bonding power.

Bonding Powers
Soul Bond
Requirements: Two levels in Binding
You bind your soul to that of a demon or angel. If you choose a demon you can gain a +1 bonus to Tgh, Str or Per as long as you take a move action every round to commune with the demon. If you choose an angel you can gain a +1 bonus to Agl, Alr or Wll as long as you take a move action every round to commune with the angel. You can take this power only twice, the second time binding your soul to an angel as well as a demon. If you do this you can only commune with one of the two per round, and you take one damage each time you switch from communing with one to communing with the other.

Bound Weapon
Requirements: Two levels in Binding; +1 attack bonus; proficiency with at least one weapon group; Soul Bond; sacrifice of a weapon
The demon or angel which you have bound to your soul manifests as a weapon which has certain advantages over a normal weapon. As a move action you can summon a weapon the same as the one you sacrificed to gain this ability, only any magical qualities that it had are not included.
If your Soul Bond was to a demon, the weapon appears red and mutilated, appearing to be partially made out of flesh and skin. If your Soul Bond was to an angel, the weapon appears beautiful and shines with a holy light, and parts of it may also appear to be made out of glass or crystals. This holy light, however, is only an illusion, and does not increase the surrounding level of light. If you are bound both to a demon and an angel you must choose upon gaining this power whether your demon or your angel takes the form of the weapon.
You cannot be disarmed of this weapon, and the weapon itself cannot be damaged. The weapon can never leave you, you cannot drop it or give it to someone else, but you may re-absorb it into your own soul as a move action, drawing it again as another move action. The weapon grants a +1 bonus to attacks with it. You can bind additional demons and angels to your blade using other powers, such as Enhance Bound Weapon.
You can gain this feat twice, gaining one demon blade and one angel blade. Switching between blades is a standard action that deals one damage to you.

Enhanced Bound Blade
Requirements: Four levels in Binding; +2 attack bonus; Bound Weapon
Your Bound Weapon gains a special power. If the Soul Bond was to a demon, you add another demon to the blade, choosing from the list of demon powers below. If the Soul Bond was to an angel, you add another angel to the blade, choosing from the list of angel powers below. You cannot choose the same demon or angel twice if you take this power more than once.
{table]Type of Demon|Power

Toothed Demon|+1 to damage on a successful hit.

Shadow Demon|Any sneak attack bonus increases to +6.

Fire Demon|When you roll 8 on you d12 to attack and you deal damage you are surrounded by a wreath of fire, dealing one fire damage to enemy creatures in surrounding squares.

Succubus|Successful damage dealt also makes the target sacrifice a move action next turn.[/table]

{table]Type of Angel|Power

Justice Angel|When you roll 10 on your d12 to attack and you deal damage to the target he is paralysed for one round.

Fire Angel|You can choose do deal fire damage instead of normal damage with your weapon.

Wrathful Angel|You can choose for the damage you deal to a creature to be shared amongst all enemy creatures in surrounding squares.[/table]

Summoning Powers
These powers give you the ability to summon angels and demons to create temporary effects. Usually they are only visible as a vague energy, however, more powerful Summoners can give the spirits more coherent forms. Most Summoning powers have recharge times, meaning that, once the power has been used, it cannot be used again until an amount of time equal to the recharge time has passed.

Lifting Spirits
Prerequisites: 6 levels in Summoning
You can summon demons or angels to lift you up physically into the air. You can move a number of metres (vertically or horizontally) every move action equal to your levels in Summoning. After (1d12 + levels in Summoning)/2 rounds the spirits gently lower you back to the ground. Recharge time: 5 mins.

Fire Shot
Prerequisites: 2 levels in Summoning
You can summon a demon or angel of fire which you channel to cause fire to erupt around a certain creature or object. You make a magical attack with an attack bonus of levels in Summoning/4 (rounded down, minimum 1), but the defender must make a physical defence. You can attack any target you can see. All damage dealt is fire damage, and some objects may catch on fire.

Naming Powers
These powers give you the ability to speak primal words which penetrate deep into the subconscious of humans and other creatures, forcing them to take certain actions or react in certain ways. You cannot use Naming powers against creatures which cannot hear you.

Name of Fainting
Requirements: Four levels in Naming
You make a naming attack roll against a target as a standard action, who makes a defence roll against it. If you exceed their defence roll they fall unconscious for one round, and can be woken normally. For each additional three by which you exceed their defence roll they fall unconscious for an additional round.


Weapons and Armour
Weapons often have two numbers (e.g. 2/1). In this case, the first number is a bonus to the actual attack roll (the Attack Bonus to attacks with that weapon); the second number is a bonus to damage that is only applied if the attack deals at least one damage.


Notes on Flavour and Ground Rules:
No steam or clockwork technology can be used that could not be at least theoretically mimicked today.
Demons and angels are creatures which are created from the same pool of endlessly reincarnated souls as humans. Demons live in the bowels of the earth, and angels live in the clouds, Moon and Sun.

Angels are not necessarily good, and demons are not necessarily bad. The main difference is that demons have twisted and grotesque appearances and usually have very complex alignments; and that angels look beautiful and graceful and have simple, universal beliefs.




This thing is by no means finished, and I am certain that it will need much adjusting. As a certain Greek philosopher said: 'all is flux, nothing stays still'.

TheLonelyScribe
2011-06-01, 03:54 AM
*Bump*
It would be nice if I could get at least one comment, just to know in which direction to take this. (skilfully avoided ending the sentence with a preposition there)

Dryad
2011-06-01, 08:27 AM
I think there's nothing inherently wrong with the system itself; merely a matter of preference. The system is extremely reliant on sheer luck; the character ability scores can range anywhere from overpowered to non-existent (of course; the same goes for DnD, but in DnD, using a point-buy system or a number-grid is nearly standard issue) and the attack/defense system make luck the most important factor in an encounter.

I am kind of puzzled about the reactionary action. You react (which suggests 'fast') to an action. This is a standard action. You can react to someone's action of two turns past/future(?). What is an attack action?
It's too confusing for my taste.

Heroes' Fate: I don't really like saving people's lives when they die. Either they're careful, or they're dead. (I usually house-rule ressurection spells out in my campaigns. Without the danger of death, the challenge becomes moot.)

Stunt bonus: I understand why you would want this. It is awesome when people do creative and awesome stuff, and they deserve to be rewarded for that. However, implementing something like this will spurr players to overcomplicate things and over-awesome things not because of the awesome factor, but because of a higher chance of success. After a while, awesome simply isn't awesome anymore, when everyone will constantly try to out-do one another on awesome.

All the rest: Looks interesting.
Suggestion: Remove the die-roll from defences. Instead, make it a static number, and replace the die-roll value with the number 7 (or six, depending which way you want to go with difficulty). Have attacks rolled against the static defence score as if it were a DC; this softens the chance-heavy feel, and requires less time spent rolling.
In effect, Wizards has done exactly the same with AC. The base number 10 represents the average number you'd get on a d20; it's basicly the same system as yours, only the roll is only made in concept.

TheLonelyScribe
2011-06-01, 08:51 AM
(of course; the same goes for DnD, but in DnD, using a point-buy system or a number-grid is nearly standard issue)

Actually, it is supposed to be standard that you use point-buy. Is that not clear?


I am kind of puzzled about the reactionary action. You react (which suggests 'fast') to an action. This is a standard action. You can react to someone's action of two turns past/future(?). What is an attack action?
It's too confusing for my taste.

I'll look over the wording, but the idea is that you take your action at the point after the action you're reacting to; however, it is actually completely immaterial which action you're reacting to, and you can use this standard action at any point during the round. Also, I don't think many people associate 'react' with 'fast', I am at the moment 'reacting' to your comments, and I didn't do this in fewer than three seconds (the approximate length of a standard action in D&D)


Heroes' Fate: I don't really like saving people's lives when they die. Either they're careful, or they're dead. (I usually house-rule ressurection spells out in my campaigns. Without the danger of death, the challenge becomes moot.)

This is supposed to be a challenging system, and the Hero's Fate means that people can defeat powerful monsters at relatively low levels, whilst still being scared of them, which is something I want to keep. This also represents how, in most fiction, the hero finds it very difficult to die...


Stunt bonus: I understand why you would want this. It is awesome when people do creative and awesome stuff, and they deserve to be rewarded for that. However, implementing something like this will spurr players to overcomplicate things and over-awesome things not because of the awesome factor, but because of a higher chance of success. After a while, awesome simply isn't awesome anymore, when everyone will constantly try to out-do one another on awesome.

I actually stole this from an idea present in a number of systems, and I have never heard it criticised. I think that what you are describing happens rarely, if at all. I don't know why.


Suggestion: Remove the die-roll from defences. Instead, make it a static number, and replace the die-roll value with the number 7 (or six, depending which way you want to go with difficulty). Have attacks rolled against the static defence score as if it were a DC; this softens the chance-heavy feel, and requires less time spent rolling.

Oh, of course *facepalm*. I was trying to make things less random, but neglected that I was using two rolls, making it more random. I'll hold off a second to see if I can think of anything else before replacing it with a fixed number, as I quite like the 'lock' possibility. It may have to be scratched, though.

Eldest
2011-06-01, 09:59 AM
Looks cool, but (I might have missed it) where is the naming stuff?
The crafting thing looks great.

TheLonelyScribe
2011-06-01, 10:24 AM
I only have one naming power so far, but am planning to expand them after my exams. I plan to include an ability where, if you know a creature's name, you can intone it in such a way that the creature feels compelled to stop and listen to you, and then another one which lets you give it commands that it must follow when it is in this dazed state.

Eldest
2011-06-01, 12:04 PM
Ok. Is there going to be any other uses other than "hey, listen!"? Maybe a sleep effect, maybe change who they are temporarily? Both probably too powerful, though.

TheLonelyScribe
2011-06-02, 03:45 PM
I changed the defences to not be random. I'm going to make it so that a natural one on the d12, but also a hit, means a lock. I rounded down, 'cause I want this to be a system where combat is short and bloody. Also, naming things are going to be far more varied than they are at the moment. The unifying theme is primal mind control through sounds, and it's not a magical effect, simply exotic psychology.

Dryad
2011-06-03, 05:02 AM
Roll 6d6 to see how many points you have, and distribute them amongst the different attributes at will. You can have a maximum of two attributes with six points, a maximum of three with five, and a maximum of four with four. If you have extra points over then too bad...
This does not suggest point-buy as the standard system.


Also, I don't think many people associate 'react' with 'fast', I am at the moment 'reacting' to your comments, and I didn't do this in fewer than three seconds (the approximate length of a standard action in D&D)
However, we are not reacting to one another as much as we are responding. There is no real-time debate going on between us, since the responses can only happen during the times we read up on one another.

If I want to react to an attack, for instance, by parrying that attack, I better be fast enough to do so before the attack has landed. That's kind of what I'm referring to, and I have a feeling that that's absolutely not what you meant. :P

TheLonelyScribe
2011-06-03, 06:59 AM
This does not suggest point-buy as the standard system.
Ah yes, I see what you mean. Well, it's supposed to sound like point-buy. I will alter the wording slightly.


If I want to react to an attack, for instance, by parrying that attack, I better be fast enough to do so before the attack has landed. That's kind of what I'm referring to, and I have a feeling that that's absolutely not what you meant. :P

Not really. I'm thinking more like: 'Oh no! He has wounded my ally! I will go and help' or 'Aha! He has fallen into my trap! Now I just need to get to the secret trigger...'. Really just the way you react to actions in a normal round of D&D, but it allows you to have more immediate effects on parts of the action that your character is particularly concerned with.

Dryad
2011-06-03, 07:11 AM
I see. I'm not enthused about it, but that's because it's simply a sound system in the same way that traditional turns are sound: It offers some advantages, and there is a slight added disadvantage in bookkeeping. Traditional systems don't offer the advantage, and don't take the disadvantage.

I think that the limited way in which you implemented this is very well balanced in the pro's and cons department, and it can be really fun to experiment with.