PDA

View Full Version : Original System RIDER: THE TRANSFORMATION [Kamen Rider RPG System, BETA]



Beans
2014-05-20, 02:44 PM
The PDF is located here. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B09a6oxxCnopYmljbUN6Rlg3Qkk/edit?usp=sharing)


RIDER: THE TRANSFORMATION is a game that started with me wishing there was a Kamen Rider RPG while also flipping through the NWOD fangame Princess: The Hopeful. I threw some ideas at a notepad file and went to bed, but when I brought it up with a couple of friends who like Kamen Rider, they seemed interested enough that I figured we could make it actually a thing. Only problem? Only one of us had played any tabletop before (my friend had done a game of Exalted at his college) and only one of us was currently involved in anything tabletop (also an Exalted game, actually played here, that I am in).

At first, we drew heavily from P:TH (which you can still see, especially in the parallels between the Heretic Paths and the Twilight Kingdoms), but soon we discovered that the NWOD system didn't quite work out for us, or not all of it. When we actually looked at NWOD, we honestly didn't like a lot of how it worked, but we also did like a good deal of what existed. We decided to cobble together a system that took what we liked from NWOD/Exalted and left what we didn't like; as a side effect of our TTRPG inexperience, it was also one we wanted to be fairly accessible to other TTRPG noobs---not quite "babby's first gaem", but not quite as convoluted as... well, Exalted.

And so we decided on six core stats (STR, END, DEX, MNT, SPD, CHA) and eighteen abilities, three tied to each stat. The idea of "inborn splats" and "chosen splats" remained in the three Beginnings (more or less classes) and the seven Paths (each with a philosophy, a favored powerset, and one little boost in an ability). We kept the dots system and the d10s, though unlike Exalted you hopefully won't need a trillion of them.

We decided not to really bother with distinctions between things like blunt and sharp weapons since, in Kamen Rider, basically anything will just make sparks spew from your armor and send you stumbling back. Weapons boiled down to two types (Melee and Ranged) and two weight categories (Light and Heavy); the weight of a Melee weapon determined how much of a speed penalty it imposed on the wielder and the weight of a Ranged weapon determined the "Steady Aim" speed, which the wielder cannot exceed while firing without taking a penalty to their Accuracy roll. Heavy weapons generally have a higher damage bonus than Light ones, and Ranged weapons overall have lower damage bonuses than Melee ones.

As anyone familiar with Kamen Rider knows, we had to include finishing moves and form changes. Both rely on a mechanic called the Finishing Gauge that we're still working out; a full Gauge can be used either for a finisher or changing to your next Form. Every Rider can have three forms total; the basic one, the Alpha Form, and the Omega Form. Each Form has its own Beginning, which changes how it boosts one's stats (for example, Bio Riders start with high STR and low CHA; a Bio Form boosts STR by 2 to a max of 7, boosts MNT DEX SPD END by 1 to a max of 5, and doesn't boost CHA). Form stats stack, so Omega's boosts build on Alpha's boosts.

One recurring choice of sorts we want to present a player with is this: "Do you want to be more specialized, or more well-rounded?" This is why every character gets two Focused Powersets---the one from their Path and one they choose. This is why only two stats are chosen by your Beginning and the rest can be assigned points at player discretion. This is why Forms have their own Beginnings.

TL;DR: Three people with little TTRPG experience and lots of love for Kamen Rider try to make a working Kamen Rider TTRPG, drawing heavily from Exalted and Princess: The Hopeful.
Love to hear any suggestions you might have.

CouchAlmark
2014-05-20, 09:43 PM
Not bad so far, the only major critique I have of the basic setup is that I'm not sure I like having paths determine both morality and powers at the same time. While it fits the concept that antihero Riders usually start out stronger than the mains and then taper off, I'd like to see them divided differently. Heretics might have significantly more starting points, for instance, but higher experience costs.

I'd also advise looking into Burn Legend, which is what I currently use for Rider-type games. It's very rules-light and easy to play with nothing but some d10s and index cards, which fits your goals here.

Finally, in the case of Riders with more than one form in the same power class, I take it you decided to make that stunt fodder? Just for an example, an OC Mystic Rider using Human Shield:


"Watch out!"

Even as Kouta dives to guard his friend, one hand flicks a black Medal into his belt and pulls the handle. A deep, booming voice rings out as the temple gates on the buckle's front close and open to reveal the new coin set into the center, etched with the image of a tortoise with a snake for a tail.

GENBU PATH: TORTOISE OF EBON MOUNTAIN!

The arm Kouta raises to block the oncoming attack suddenly replaces its azure plating with a thick black armguard etched with a turtle-shell pattern, the rest of his armor following suit a moment later. Large circular shields hang from either shoulder of this new form, its armor thick and heavy. The Kosenjobi Youkai's fireball stops dead in its tracks, clashing against the block and stunning the fire demon into taking a step back.

"Impossible! A human with multiple contracts?!"

"Don't underestimate...the Genju Driver's power!" With a loud kiai and a thrust of his arm, Kouta disperses the supernatural flame with the sound of shattering glass, steam hissing off his right arm.

Beans
2014-05-20, 10:34 PM
Not bad so far, the only major critique I have of the basic setup is that I'm not sure I like having paths determine both morality and powers at the same time. While it fits the concept that antihero Riders usually start out stronger than the mains and then taper off, I'd like to see them divided differently. Heretics might have significantly more starting points, for instance, but higher experience costs.

I'd also advise looking into Burn Legend, which is what I currently use for Rider-type games. It's very rules-light and easy to play with nothing but some d10s and index cards, which fits your goals here.

Finally, in the case of Riders with more than one form in the same power class, I take it you decided to make that stunt fodder? Just for an example, an OC Mystic Rider using Human Shield:
The connections between the Paths and their favored Powersets were generally in some sort of reference to the Rider from whom I extrapolated their philosophies (Stars came from Fourze, and thus air and space and etc), and the practice of chosen splats carrying power-inclinations is also something I kept from NWOD fanlines. Also, to stop every Rider from becoming very samey (a billion Heaven or Fury Bios, a billion Desire Mystics, a billlion Stars Techs), you get two Focuses---a Tech doesn't have to give up the obvious benefits of Uchuu powers just because the player wants him to be, say, a Glory rider.

As for the form question, no. As of now, to keep it simple, there are only three forms, one per category---starting form, mid-season upgrade, final form---to keep it nice and simple. I'm hoping to get my first IRL playtest game done in a few weeks (which will involve the players saving Ronny McBurgerson from huge jerks) and then an actual campaign going after that; these may cause things to change as we figure out firsthand what works, what doesn't, and what we can work in.

By the way, if you have any ideas for how the heck to determine the value of the Finishing Gauge, I'd love to hear it. Thanks for your interest!

CouchAlmark
2014-05-21, 02:59 AM
As for the form question, no. As of now, to keep it simple, there are only three forms, one per category---starting form, mid-season upgrade, final form---to keep it nice and simple. I'm hoping to get my first IRL playtest game done in a few weeks (which will involve the players saving Ronny McBurgerson from huge jerks) and then an actual campaign going after that; these may cause things to change as we figure out firsthand what works, what doesn't, and what we can work in.

I figured, yeah. In the aforementioned post the form change was a stunt, Kamen Rider Genju would then switch back to his normal Seiryuu Path either after the stunt or when the scene required him to form change for use of a different ability.

As for the gauge, I just recommend a flat 5 or 10 depending on how many rounds you want most fights to be.

CouchAlmark
2014-05-22, 06:25 PM
A few more thoughts:


I don't see anything yet on what happens when you actually take enough damage to lose. Main character death is actually an extreme rarity in Rider except in the darkest of shows, normally you just get sent rolling across the ground with your transformation coming undone. I would recommend applying a similar light touch about character death. Loss in battle might inflict a temporary reduction of stats due to battle fatigue, but unless the player finds their character's death to be dramatically appropriate it shouldn't be on the line in most fights. Of course, this also applies to Fallen Riders and greater kaijin like the Weather Dopant, who always find a way to escape until it's their appropriate time to die.
Similarly, there ought to be an Escape Battle action that works fairly reliably, consisting of an arbitrary means by which the character somehow gets away. The advantage of escaping early over loss is that you don't suffer any penalty, but once you leave the combat scene you're out and can't return.

Beans
2014-05-22, 07:03 PM
A few more thoughts:


I don't see anything yet on what happens when you actually take enough damage to lose. Main character death is actually an extreme rarity in Rider except in the darkest of shows, normally you just get sent rolling across the ground with your transformation coming undone. I would recommend applying a similar light touch about character death. Loss in battle might inflict a temporary reduction of stats due to battle fatigue, but unless the player finds their character's death to be dramatically appropriate it shouldn't be on the line in most fights. Of course, this also applies to Fallen Riders and greater kaijin like the Weather Dopant, who always find a way to escape until it's their appropriate time to die.
Similarly, there ought to be an Escape Battle action that works fairly reliably, consisting of an arbitrary means by which the character somehow gets away. The advantage of escaping early over loss is that you don't suffer any penalty, but once you leave the combat scene you're out and can't return.

I don't plan to be killing off characters; that's why any sane party will have at least one Mystic, and I may add restorative items (many of which will be enemy drops, which seems to make enough sense). And yes, usually when a Rider's HP gets very low they'll get knocked out of their transformation and make a roll (which honestly I might just have be a "roll til you get a 10") to attempt to transform again and gain back enough HP that they'll be alright with some help. While out of suit, all Stats are at one point, all Abilities are 1 (or 0 if there aren't any points invested) and they can't use any of their rad stuff---which means that they'd probably be better off skedaddling out of battle. And generally if you do manage to get down to 0 HP, you're probably just unconscious.

Zaephyer
2014-08-05, 03:21 AM
This is actually a really cool idea. I'm pretty new to Kamen Rider myself (I've watched the entirety of Wizard and Kiva), but have been a fan of the Tokusatsu genre for... ever. My only concern with this game is that, looking through the book, there wasn't a reference to a list of any monsters to fight, or templates to create custom Imagin, Fangire, Phantoms, Orphnoch, etc... I realize that this game is still a beta, but I did want to bring up that, while Rider battles are always sick to behold, it just wouldn't be Kamen Rider without that Monster of the Day that takes three episodes to defeat. Or half the season. Depends if they're important.

I also noticed that, as important as Justice, Spirit, and Sanity appear to be in this, I've found no means to actually calculate them, as well as Health, yet these states are mentioned several times throughout the book. Again, these are just some points I'd like to bring up. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to house-rule these, but the game becomes virtually unplayable when you need to spend points to do something, and you cannot calculate how many points you have to begin with.