Calibas

[Raazan]

I have been working on a new roleplaying game system for some time. although it is still in progress, I am creating this thread so that I can recieve ideas from the numerous role-players on these forums. eventually, I hope to post the full rules (currently in Microsoft Word format) on these forums or on a theoretical website (any help on this would be greatly appreciated). lets start with a summary of the rules.

the system uses only d6s, which are roled using the "doubles add and roll over" mechanic. for those who are not familar with the mechanic, here is a basic description of how it works.
when you roll 2 or more d6s, and you get 2 of the same number (2 6s, 2 4s, etc.) you pick them up and roll again. if you are rolling more than 2 dice, the doubles essentially become a separate roll which is added to the main roll (example: if you roll 3 dice and get 2 5s and a 6, you would reroll the 5s. lets say you got a 4 and a 6. this would add up to 26. you DO NOT reroll the 2 new sixes, as they are essentially from separate rolls) if the reroll comes up doubles, roll the dice again until you roll something other than doubles. there is no such thing as a triple (if you get 3 6s, pick 2 sixes and roll them again, you do not reroll all 3 sixes) or a quadruple (if you get four 6s, divide them into 2 pairs and roll again, as separate pairs). this means that a die averages 4 or 5, and 2 1s are better than a 1 and a 2. (note: some rolls may not use the "doubles add and roll over" machanic. these will be marked with NDA which stands for "Non Doubles Add")

their are 15 attributes (which will be discussed later) divided into three categories. different races multiply these by different amounts. these are numbers. abilities, on the other hand, represent a number of dice. for instance Dexterity 25 means that you add 25 to any roll which uses Dex, whereas Swordsmanship 10 means roll 10 dice using the doubles add and roll over mechanic and add to whatever attribute you are rolling with (usually Dex). so Dexterity + Swordsmanship means, in this case (using the numbers mentioned earlier), roll 10 dice (Swordsmanship) and add 25 (Dexterity). this is an attack roll with a melee weapon. (wether it hits or not will be discussed in a later post.)

the races vary from humans to vampires to dragons, but their needs to be a way to balance it. enter Player points. all players have an equal number of player points. they can spend these on a more powerful race (aka dragons or vampires) or use them to increase the power of a less powerful race. this brings rather nicely to experience. experience is gained by overcoming obstacles, wether by dipliomacy, avoiding them alltogether, or simple combat. this can spent to increase attributes, abilities, or the give them a level in an art.

arts represent the training that a character has undergone. each level in an art gives you talent points (very video-gamey, but it works) which can be spent to unlock new powers (the equivelent of spells or maneuvers), level up old ones (their is no auto-scaling mechanic), or give them passive bonuses (which can also be leveled up). the precise talent trees and number of talent points is still under construction.

limits are different in calibas. a mage can wear plate armor, but they will suffer a penalty to their spellcasting. however, they can invest talent points in a passive bonus which allows them to wear heavy armour with no penalty, but that means sacrificing a point which could have gone to a spell. a similar give and take mechanic is built in to the whole system. increasing an art means your not increasing an attribute or ability, and thus you aren't as likely to hit anything if you only increase arts. increasing an atttribute means that you don't have the powers or hit points of someone who increased an art, and so on and so forth. it requires a bit more thought about what you are doing than d&d, because in d&d the decisions are entirely based on your level, but in this system, yoour level is yet another decision.

using powers requires an expenditure of Resources (Mana for Mages, Chi for Fighters, and so on) these regenerate over time, but you still have to ration it. the maximum resource you have to spend is based on an attribute, added to an ability (which is not rolled) and the total is multiplied by your level in an art.

that about does it for the rules. see the next post for the setting. please post about your opinions, thoughts and ideas.

P.S. please don't mention my grammar. it's not that i'm bad at english, it's simply that I am to lazy to check everything right now. I might fix it later I might not.

[Raazan]

now for the story.

When Humanity was young, Magic already filled the world. Dragons walked and flew. intelligent spiders the size of horses crawled through the Forests and Caves. Spirits and Elementals drew power from nature. and powerful sentient beasts had learned to grow in size when needed. Humans revered these creatures, and they, in turn, respected and nurtured humanity. some spirits of nature took on human shape and became the fey (elves, Trolls, Goblins, etc). the Beasts learned how to take on the shape of man and became the Therianthropes, werecreatures. powerful mages from across the stars came and interbred with humans, creating family lines of powerful spellshapers. Dragons tought the Humans how to record their stories in pictures and words. Elementals showed them how even the simplest human could harness the elements of magic with the proper training. but, in the shadows of the spirit world, a darkness grew.

Born of the Seven Deadly Sins of humanity, the Demons arose. they attacked, but they could not stand agaainst the forces of good. united, the inhabitants of the world cast them down. some of the demons saw virtue in humanity, and arose to became the Angelics. representing the Seven Heavenly Virtues, they fought a long and hard war with the Demons. it ended in a tie. the demons watched and waited as the world changed.

Empires rose and fell. champions of righteousness fought the forces of darkness. but not all where so righteous. in the shadows the hearts of men festered, but this was not what interested the demons. what interested them were the others. elf, dragon, werewolf and elemental, thay all had darkness in their hearts. most fought against it, but some did not. werewolves went mad and slaughtered villages. vampires lost control of their hunger and fed on mankind. dragons fell to greed and pride. but humanity remembered that most of their fellow creatures where kind and just, and so trusted them. the demons thought of a plan.

from the most cunning and decietful of their kind, they forged the Demoniacs. demons who looked like men, or dragons, or others. they stole the powers of those they imitated, and brought themselves to earth. suddenly tales of evil dragons and manipulative vampires skyrocketeted. the common people lived in fear. the Dark ages had begun.

for a thousand years the Demoniacs brought chaos and evil to the world. the nobility tried to ask the courts of Fey and others what was happening. eventually, a demoniac was swayed to the forces of good, becoming the first angelical. he revealed the demons plot, but he did not know how to stop it. they could not be hunted down, as they were almost indistingiushible from normal members of the species they chose. they could not be driven back, as the demons could always make more. it seemed that all that was good and pure in the world would be snuffed out.

then, the leaders of Europe, Africa, and Asia met with the leaders of the magical world and formed a plan. all the creatures of magic would go into hiding. magical knowledge would be suppressed. and humanity would find its own path until it was deemed ready to see the world yet again.

many things happened between that day and now but most are inconsequential (the conference marks the end of the Dark Ages, aproxiamately. how close this part of the story sticks to real history is entirely up to you, the following is simply my version of the events) new lands were discovered, and the pact was brought to them. 2 world wars occured, both of which were fought between the forces of evil and the forces of good, with magical creatures fighting on both sides. the secret and the pact that went with it were passed down through generations of leaders. some things changed, others stayed the same.

in the year 2012 (our calender), the world stood on the brink of destruction. in the months leading up to the end of the year, things looked grim. but, on December 1st, 2012, a great leader (whose name, origin, and details are entirelyy up to you, it could even have been a collaberation of many great leaders working in concert) arose and began changing everything. within 20 days he had solved almost all of the problems facing the world. those he hadn't solved, he had put plans in motion to solve within a matter of years. and so it was that, on December 21st, 2012, the creatures of magic reemerged, and the world changed.

the baseline story is set 18 years after this event. by now, the political and social climate has mostly adjusted to it. many people will remember a time when their weren't Werewolves in the police force and ghosts acting as lawyers for the dead. there are still people who oppose the change, and others who don't fully comprehend it all. magic is still impressive to many people, and there are still new tidbits of information coming to light. it is a good point for writing new stories. of course any of the information in this post is optional if you don't like it. this is just what I'm using for my current campaign.

[Raazan]

If anyone finds this, this thread has been moved to the homebrew section.