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tonberryking
2012-10-22, 01:37 PM
Exactly what it says on the tin.

For those of you not in the Know, Earthbound is part of a trilogy of J-rpgs called the Mother series over in Japan ( the second in the series and the only one to make it over here back in the SNES days). While the gameplay is basically a "contemporary" equivalent of older Dragon Warrior/Quest or Final Fantasy games, the setting is a quirky, lovable slice of Americana where the characters get baseball bats and psychic powers instead of swords and magic and the plots tended to focus on youngsters encountering supernatural/alien forces with malevolent designs that they must stop. Mother 3 was a little bit of a departure and far more fantastical, but just youtube some videos and you'll have the idea.

Anyway, I have a story in mind I'd like to develop into an Earthbound campaign... but the problem is figuring out an RPG system that would work well with the setting ideas. I'm looking for something simple, easy to pick up, and can accommodate the 4 basic archetypes of character "classes" found in the games (and to any EB fans out there, I apologize for this generalization):


A character with healing/support powers and decent combat skills

A character who can build/invent gadgets and weaponry

A bruiser of some sort; doesn't have to have special powers

A "Black mage" type who can use all sorts of psychic powers and classic fire/ice/lightning attacks.



3.5, 4e and Pathfinder are no good, WoD wouldn't cut it, and I'd rather not freeform this.

I've looked at Fate, "Warrior, Rogue, and Mage" and a google search for any fan-made systems have turned up nothing. If anyone can suggest any systems that'd be kind to a light hearted adventure in modern times, please offer me your suggestions.

(BTW, even if I can get a working system, this game isn't going to be ready any time soon for any kind of recruitment. Just saying.)

The Glyphstone
2012-10-22, 02:18 PM
Are you specifically looking for a system where those four archetypes are balanced, or just where they exist? Because I look at your list and see 'Bard, Artificer, Fighter, Kineticist Psion".

tonberryking
2012-10-22, 02:33 PM
I really don't want to use 3.5 for this, so moreso balanced, I guess? A simple rules system where you can make these character types?

The Glyphstone
2012-10-22, 02:52 PM
Okay, so just a system preference rather than the system being unable to provide what you want.


Um....Mutants and Masterminds? It's technically meant for superheroes, but is incredibly versatile - take the Gadgeteer, Brawler, and Blaster pre-builts as templates, file off the serial numbers, and you've got 3 of your four roles filled.

tonberryking
2012-10-22, 03:57 PM
Hrm.

I hate being the difficult person here, but while I could see a Low level Power game on MnM technically fitting the themes I'm after, I had a *terrible* experience with the game system. For whatever reason I *could not* get the math right when building a character in a live game and it's just left me not wanting to go through it again... I guess, what I'm saying is I don't think the system is simple enough for my desires...

CarpeGuitarrem
2012-10-22, 04:33 PM
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying might fit the bill for you. It's a cousin to Smallville, and as such it incorporates more abstract character traits into the game. It operates on a bit of a "meta" level, rules-wise, which means that it matters less what a character is physically capable of and more what a character means to the story.

You could readily do up each of those roles as a customized Power Set, and then add another Power Set for iconic abilities. MHR operates on a "stat it up like it is in the story" approach, so that you don't have to wade through math to get the abilities just right.

tonberryking
2012-10-22, 04:49 PM
..I'm assuming these are more simplistic MnM rulesets to be found somewhere?

The Glyphstone
2012-10-22, 04:59 PM
Considering Green Ronin (makes M&M) has a deal with DC, almost certainly not.


MHR is made by Margaret Weiss Productions.

Edge of Dreams
2012-10-22, 05:03 PM
You could go all the way to extremely rules-light and play Risus - it's free, setting-agnostic, and well suited to lighthearted roleplay.

Basically, each character is defined by a short list of cliches or tropes, with a ranking for each. When a character wants to do something, they select their most applicable cliche and roll that many dice.

http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm

CarpeGuitarrem
2012-10-22, 05:10 PM
..I'm assuming these are more simplistic MnM rulesets to be found somewhere?
Yeah, like Glyphstone said, it's a game of its own, based off of Cam Banks' Cortex system (also behind the Leverage RPG, but modified heavily).

Basically, character skills, abilities and traits give you a bunch of dice to put in a dice pool, and you roll them and pick the two highest dice for your total. (This includes the Distinctions, which can add a d8 for impacting you positively...or a d4 for impacting you negatively, which earns you a "plot point", a sort of "protagonist power" that lets you charge up a roll later.)

Sample character--Nightcrawler (http://www.margaretweis.com/images/stories/bonus_content/CWXM_PREVIEW_Nightcrawler.pdf)