(D6) Game Creation - Urban Fantasy/Dark Fantasy

[Dysart]

I've been working on an RP rule system using my favourite dice rolling system (D6) and my favourite type of fiction books (Urban Fantasy/Dark Fantasy).

When I initially thought about running a system that encompased things like Werewolves, Vampires, Fae and Spellcasters I initially thought of WoD of course. How ever I find WoD is not very heroic, and I play WoD a lot and find it can get bogged down in combat very easily and doesn't ever feel like "Hell yeah, I did that!"
How ever I do get that feeling when I used to play a modified version of the StarWars D6 (trimmed down and streamlined by guys who have been playing it for 20-30 years).

So I really want to encompass the movie/tv show feel and yet the dark almost scary tones of the book series I've read based around Werewolves/Vampires/Spellcasters/Fae.

What I've been doing is working on modifying the existing open D6 Modern rule system as it's so very flexible it can cover a large amount of creatures and concepts without locking the players into a "race/class" system like in DnD and other systems.


Why I'm posting is I'm looking for a few volunteers who maybe haven't played the D6 system before who would be willing to have a read of the material and let me know if it makes sense?
I've been writing and thinking about this system so much that I'm afraid what I've written to explain the system will leave holes of "Yeah but how does X work" and I'd really appreciate some feedback regarding this!

(P.S. - Please be gentle, this is my first topic here! Also I'm sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum.)

[Dysart]

Fair warning the below spoiler is about 5 A4 pages long but would server as the introduction to the system/campaign setting.

General Knowledge
The general public are oblivious to the dark machinations of the creatures o their world.
However small pockets of suspicious humans have begun to suspect that there is just something wrong, something dark that they just can't see.

Generally the average Joe and Jane public know nothing and are totally oblivious. But this doesn't mean they are ignorant of things in front of them.
There is speak among the 'Forsaken' that some governments know of the secret societies and have departments dedicated to investigating, capturing and experimenting on them... this could be rumours or be a horrific truth.

The mystical and supernatural races refer to their society as 'Forsaken' or 'The Forsaken', nobody remembers where this name came from but it is a known reference by all.

The World You Live In
The world is very similar to the real world but it's important to look at building your character with a certain mind set.
Imagine, if you will, any television show with supernatural elements. For example 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', each of the major reoccurring characters can be viewed as player characters. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles and Angel as well as others in later series. Each of them has their own personalities and backgrounds even before the first episode. It is important to build a fleshed out character with drives and desires, this makes for a more enjoyable play and gives the Games Master (GM) more to work with.
As the player characters you are the heroes. You fix the problems or you ignore them. The world is here to facilitate the lives and dreams of the heroes. This doesn't mean they'll always get there way or be happy, no, this means the GM must spend a lot of time throwing pain and trials at the heroes. Just like in real life, there are times of happy peace and time of terrible strife.
Remember to be Dynamic. It's your job to have fun and be memorable.


The System
The Role-playing system that will be used is loosely based around the D6 system taking parts from 'D6 Adventures' from West End Games and 'Star Wars D6' also from West End Games.

Items and gear can be taken directly from the 'D6 Adventures' as can most things. If there is anything that you require that isn't the books it is the GMs responsibility to come up with rules, cost and difficulty in which it is to get such an item.

Important changes are how the combat rounds are structured. Important changes are listed below:

* Initiative is 1D + Perception number + Reflex number.
* The first action each round is at full Dice (or Max D) and each further action is at an increasing -1D per action. This is until a defensive action is taken, a Dodge or Parry which will end your turn.
* Player characters should verbally describe actions they plan to take as best they can. Any action not described will suffer due to this. (see below for opposite)
* Any player who goes out of their way to describe an action in a correctly dynamic way will have what will be called "Dynamic Bonus" in which hidden bonuses and benefit of the doubt will be given.
Dynamic Bonus - This bonus has no physical value but the GM can choose to allow an action to be easier if the theory sticks well with the theme of the game.

Please bear in mind that any idea or choice is never wrong and that everyone is entitled to their own decisions.
Finally, the Games Master (GM) is here to enjoy the game as well and keep that in mind, always respect their choices and remember that any rules can be discussed on the merit of its value and on how correct it is. Final decision is ultimately up to the GM who would be advised to err on the side of majority to keep the game fun and true.


Notes About Characters
Once you have thought of an enjoyable character concept it is important to always stay true to the character. For some characters it is entirely plausible for them to have weapons skills or even martial arts skills (E.G. Buffy or Giles from the previously mentioned TV show).
For others it is a totally ridiculous idea for them to have anything remotely combat orientated (E.G. Willow in series one of the same TV show).
When building your character remember to stay true to the ideas you have and build a genuine person.


Character Information
The 'General Knowledge' section refers to the information known to the public in the wide world. However this section refers to the public knowledge known to 'Forsaken' or the Supernatural/Mystical people who live in their world.
There is many different types of Supernatural but listed below are the popular ones that most have heard of:

* Vampires
* Werewolves
* Fae - Many variations
* Shifters (Believed mostly extinct)
* Witches

This is not an exhaustive list but the top most talked about and known races.

Each 'Forsaken' knows of the above five races and the basics (listed under each race as 'Popular Knowledge').

In addition to knowledge about the races each Supernatural knows how important it is to keep their 'gifts' hidden from the general populace. There are ruling bodies in the Werewolf, Vampire and Fae societies which police this directly.


Playing Together
This game is not designed to be team based even though it rewards those who do work together.
Each character is designed as a separate entity; they have their own lives, dreams and desires. However due to the nature of the world most 'Forsaken' characters tend to roam in groups for safety and companionship.
The GM should encourage players to work together to resolve their common goals and to ask each other for help with their singular problems. The GM should not force friendships but may often give reason for interaction due to overlapping interests and desires.


Making a Skill Check
In this section we'll cover making a skill check. Skill checks are for attacking, defending or even something as simple as going for a drive.
Most things a character does in their day to day life requires no roll, it is only under extenuating circumstances, combat or if the character is under stress that a check is required. It is best to let the GM decide if a roll is required. At some points combat may be such a trivial ease that you will not even need to make the roles.
Here is an example:
Gremore: I want to take a shot at the werewolf while he has his back to me.
GM: Ok, make a Firearms check.
Gremore in this case would look under Coordination and find his Firearms skill. In this case he has 5D (five dice to roll) as it's one of his better skills.
He rolled a 3, 5, 1, 3 and a 6. He adds the results together.
Gremore: I rolled a total of 18.
GM: Ok you've hit. Roll your damage.
We'll leave our example there as we'll cover damage later.

Not all skill checks are for combat only. Had Gremore been escaping a police car for instance on his Motorcycle he'd have look under his Coordination attribute for Driving and roll those dice instead.
In most cases the GM will suggest which skills are required but all players are encouraged to come up with their own ideas over which skill they'd like to use for any scenario which is then up to the GM to agree to.


Rolling Initiative
In most situations one group will have a surprise round in which they will get to make a single action (irrespective of powers and abilities) before the opposing group responds.

In most situations Characters will roll their own Initiative and generate an order in which they act. Depending on the situation the GM may opt to group similar NPC (None Player Characters) together to save time.
For instance a Swat Team would all act together as a team and so would run on the same initiative. The same could be said for a pack of rats, this is not due to team work but due to same statistics.

To generate an Initiative score a player rolls their Wild Die and adds the number of Perception Dice and Reflexes Dice.
For example:

GM: Ok people, a bar fight has just broken out. He missed Gremore but barely. Everyone make an initiative roll.

Gremore: I got an 11 - Gremore rolled a 5, added 6 (3D in Perception and 3D in Reflexes).

Cassandra: I got a 1 on my dice - Cassandra got a 1 so must go after everyone else and roll fresh next turn.

Tim: I critical rolled into a 13 - Tim rolled a 6 on his dice which means he gets to roll his dice again and add the result which in this case was a 1 (but not a failure) and then added 6 (4D in Reflexes and 2D in Perception).

GM: Ok, the drunk got 6 in total. Tim you're first, Gremore second, then the drunk and finally Cassandra.

As shown above Initiative works like any Wild Die roll in that a 1 is a failure and a 6 lets you roll again.
A result of 1 can be dealt with in two different ways, most GMs stick to one choice.

* Last in the turn and roll again.
* Roll again with a maximum of 1 action this turn.

For most NPCs it will likely mean they miss a turn all together.


Fate Points
In Urban Adventures the player characters are heroes. As such sometimes they can perform great feats above even their own impressive abilities.
For example 'Star Wars: Episode 4" the scene in which Luke fires the Torpedo directly down the exhaust pipe blowing up the Death Star. In that scene he calls upon a Fate Point (in that system known as Force Points) to increase his chances.
This is a rare occurrence and should be used at the correct cinematic or dramatic moment which would make the greatest impact.
These FPs double your dice for the turn. This is to show what true heroes/villains can do when they are pushed to their limits.

If used correctly a GM may award a player an extra FP at the end of the session (or episode). Usually FP is refreshed at the end of an episode but on rare occasions if the GM deems the use as a waste or a misuse altogether then they may choose for the player to have lost access to this FP.

Players are encourage to argue their side when it comes to gaining, losing and returning FP as each player will have a different view on their play experience.


Wild Dice / Dynamic Bonus
Within the game there is a lot of scope for doing the interesting or clever option. Heroic or Villainous acts can be risky and taking a risk can give its own rewards, this is expressed in the Wild Die.

If you can come up with an interesting explanation or a 'Dynamic' explanation for your action then you can have the option to swap one of your die in your pool for a 'Wild Die', this is a special die which has a different reaction depending on your roll.

When rolling a 'Wild Die' the first 1 is an automatic failure for the entire roll no matter what else is rolled on your other die. This may seem a huge risk but if you are under pressure and unlikely to succeed anyway then it may be worth the risk.
If however you roll a 6 on you 'Wild Die' then you get to roll the die again and add the result, any ensuing 1s are NOT failures but any further 6s continue the roll, these are known as critical successes.

Either the GM may choose to elect a roll to be 'Dynamic' in which case the PC may choose to substitute a die for the 'Wild Die', once this is rolled the PC may NOT reverse their decision and must stay with the rolled result.

Occasionally an action may be so extremely risky or difficult that the GM says to the player (before the action is taken) that if they proceed they will have to roll a 'Wild Die', this will then be in addition to the roll and does not replace a die. This is due to the risk/difficulty of the roll having a random effect. This may for instance be something as crazy and playing real Russian roulette with a revolver and 1 bullet or it may be as equally dangerous as wanting to jump from a bridge onto a moving vehicle underneath.
Ultimately the GM would be advised to do these as little as often but the option is there for the more dangerous, risky or even out right crazy actions of the PCs.

Some rolls must always have a 'Wild Die' involved, like for instance the first natural healing roll of the day (explained below) or some guns which may be unreliable. These cannot be optioned away but can be removed by other circumstances.
For instance some 'Forsaken' have a natural regeneration which removes the Wild Die (converts this to a normal Die). Or for instance an unreliable gun may be repaired to remove the random element from its capabilities.


Resisting Damage and Healing
Damage is a natural factor in any Role Playing Game. Between combat and the general wear and tear of a life as a PC (Player Character).
There are multiple types of damage but most are resisted by the Physical attribute.
An important factor that is different to a normal attribute or skill check when resisting damage is that it is always at the full amount no matter the amount of checks made or the wound status of the character.
Each character has five wound levels before they die.
* Stunned
* Wounded
* Severely Wounded
* Incapacitated
* Mortally Wounded
Each attack that deals damage is resisted separately and will increase the wound status by one degree more severe if not resisted.
Here is an Example:

Gremore has 3D Physical, he is punched by a drunk in a bar. The drunk made 15 on his roll to deal damage. Unfortunately Gremore only made a 12 on his roll, this means he has become Stunned. The drunk makes another attack and Gremore is hit again. This time Gremore rolls a 4 and the drunk reaches a 10. Due to this being double the result rolled to resist Gremore takes two more damage levels. He has got to Severely Wounded status.

As shown above damage dealt can sometimes incur more than one damage level. The below table shows a simple way to work out the result:

Amount beaten resistance roll
Status
1 step 1+
2 steps Double
3 steps Quadruple
Mortally Wounded X5

The final decision is by the GM for any extenuating circumstances.

Natural Healing can be performed once per day but not in combat for normal characters, certain supernatural abilities or technology can supersede this.
The first Natural Healing roll of each day always rolls a 'Wild Die'.

To heal any step the character must reach a target score depending on the severity of the damage status.
Each step must be regenerated separately with the exception of Stunned which can be healed over 8 hours sleep or as the same difficulty as Wounded.
Here are some simplified guidelines for natural healing:

Failure - Status worsens
Wounded/Stunned - Moderate
Severely Wounded - Difficult
Incapacitated - Very Difficult
Mortally Wounded - Heroic

For most humans healing anything more than Stunned or Wounded is a difficult feat in itself without any external input.

To list all available modifiers would be difficult but some of the easier and more readily available are listed below:

8 hours bed rest (Reduces difficulty by 1 step)
3 days bed rest (Heal from Wounded)
1 week bed rest (Heal from Severely Wounded)
2 weeks bed rest (Heal from Incapacitated)
First Aid (Healing roll at 1 or more steps lower difficulty)
Surgery (Mortally Wounded becomes Incapacitated)
Pain Medication (Ignore Stunned/Wounded negatives to dice)
Morphine (Ignore Severely Wounded negatives to dice)
Adrenaline (Awaken from Incapacitated)

In addition to healing a wound received there is also the
option of preventing the wound in the first place.
Primarily this is done by wearing different types of armour which will help resist a variety of physical attacks. These can be found in the D6 Adventure book.
Alternatively you could have a high Physical statistic which helps resist all physical attacks.

Gaining the above bonuses can vary in difficulty for 'Forsaken'. Gaining First Aid is as simple as having someone with the skill use it on you and gain a success, or alternatively use it on yourself.
Surgery is a much more difficult skill to come by and is usually reserved for trained doctors at hospitals.
Similarly Pain Medication is readily available at most shops and homes ranging from Aspirin to Codeine which vary in strength.
However Morphine and Adrenaline would be only available in a doctor's surgery, hospital or locked away in a pharmacy.
Different medications will have different affects and can be discussed or decided upon in game.

A final point to be aware of is that Natural Healing rolls can only be performed outside of combat but a player CAN spend a Fate Point to double their dice pool. This will not be recovered and will be lost forever but can save a characters life.


Roleplaying a Forsaken
Depending on your previous experience with games and role-play games in the past it may be a difficult process for you to step into the mind of another person, even one created by yourself.
An important tip is to always remember this person is very different to anyone or anything you've met in your life and yet very similar at the same time.

For the Forsaken they must always be afraid of being found out by humans but also must deal with the fact that they live in a human world. For some this manifests in a loathing of being different to the 'normal' people. In others this shows as a deep seated hatred for the fact that you must hide your more advanced/powerful true self.

The Fae, Werewolves and Vampires made a pact to keep their true selves hidden from the world of 'mortals' or 'normals' so as to keep from persecution and suspicion. The agreement is known as the 'Forsaken Pact' or more commonly referred to as the 'Fading'. Those who break the 'Fading' are subject to severe punishments in most cases especially if it cannot be easily covered up.

Witches are an exception as they are generally called upon to cover up other Forsaken's mistakes. Most are paid very well to hide mistakes from other Forsaken and remove the blemish before it can be prosecuted.

The difficulty in playing a Forsaken is seated in the race you play.
For Werewolves it is the difficulty of hiding the inner beast and predator that is always trying to break free.
For Vampires it's hiding the eternal thirst and the overall knowledge of superiority.
For Fae, who knows, a general unnatural quality follows them around and they just don't fit in well. Not to mention their inability to tell a lie creates a whole new level of difficulty.
For Witches, their power resides in pain and in death. To accrue power they must delve into the darkest depths of life, it's quite difficult to hide all the death from the normal folk.
For Shifters, generally seen as a myth they're taught from a young age to hide their true abilities even from other Forsaken. They're a dying race and most of them don't even know why.


A Final Note
Though this has been explained multiple times above remember this is a game primarily based around having fun.
The world, the people and the players are all their to enhance the enjoyment and general realism involved in the game.

I (the writer of this book) see Role Playing games as an escape from the day to day life. No matter how happy you are in life sometimes it's just fun to escape and be different for a while.

Always respect others while playing any game and remember, it is just a game, at the end of the day nobody really got hurt, all the players are fictional and the world itself does not exist (thankfully).

Lastly:


HAVE FUN!



When I'm not at work I'll see if I can load a link to this as a google doc so it's not so.... meaty.

[Flashy]

I know literally nothing about this kind of d6 system or how it works, so my comments are going to be on the world and role-playing stuff rather than on anything terribly mechanical.


Are players allowed to be initiated humans? Some would surely exist and that could be a lot of fun.
I think you should expand on the forsaken more. You've said some general things (like in the resisting damage section), but it's not really clear how any of them work in the game.
Sort of the last one over again but how is magic supposed to work?
This is probably personal taste but I think your roleplaying guide is the weakest part of the whole thing. Most of those recommendations are predicated on players playing characters in ways you expect. For example...


For Werewolves it is the difficulty of hiding the inner beast and predator that is always trying to break free.

What if the player doesn't care? What if they want to play a werewolf who embraces the predator, and accepts their inner beast? Yeah, I know, in universe pact, but still. How would you deal with a werewolf who does good, but doesn't care about collateral damage? Who believes that the source of strength and power doesn't matter, so long as its channeled to the greater good and isn't really bothered by being a werewolf?

I'd rework the section as "This is what defines [insert forsaken] society, this is how they feel about two other races of forsaken" rather than "this is what your character's struggle will be."

[Dysart]

So before I get to the meaty reply I want to say a big thank you for your response, it's really appreciated!



Are players allowed to be initiated humans? Some would surely exist and that could be a lot of fun.


Straight up normal humans are definitely playable. For me the whole point of writing this booklet it to allow as much freedom in character generation as possible including the option to be human and not be totally out matched or be something I've not thought of and that the GM (me) and the player could build together.



I think you should expand on the forsaken more. You've said some general things (like in the resisting damage section), but it's not really clear how any of them work in the game.

Well this section is just a basic introduction to the settings (I realise now I didn't explain that at all in the previous post) and is the initial first few pages just to explain the basics of the game and not anything to do with the race choices or mechanics of each race. I'm currently tweaking and finishing them off but I'll post them separately when they're finished.



Sort of the last one over again but how is magic supposed to work?


Each of the races will have it's own form of pseudo or actual magic. For example the Werewolves have a few abilities they call pack magic, allowing them to shroud an area from outside viewing/hearing when they work as a group (so 5+ working on it). But I plan on doing 4 different types of spellcasting, Wizards (traditional casting of spells), Witches (sacrificial power), Sorcerers (dark pacts with demons) and Shaman (Totemic or bestowed magic) which will each have a similar but different mechanic to how they use magic and draw the power.



This is probably personal taste but I think your roleplaying guide is the weakest part of the whole thing. Most of those recommendations are predicated on players playing characters in ways you expect. For example...


Ah well that's my mistake, I need to go back and edit it and explain better that the listed ideas are a "usually" or "average" of each of the race, kind of like in DnD how they say "Usually Dwarves are greedy and like money". It's more of a helpful suggestion to new players so they can pick a race that will mirror their normal play style over a "If you're a werewolf you are going to be X and X."



*What if the player doesn't care? What if they want to play a werewolf who embraces the predator, and accepts their inner beast? Yeah, I know, in universe pact, but still. How would you deal with a werewolf who does good, but doesn't care about collateral damage? Who believes that the source of strength and power doesn't matter, so long as its channeled to the greater good and isn't really bothered by being a werewolf?


I would probably give them a big hug (hate winy self hating characters like Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire), in the Werewolf section I will go on to explain more but a quick overview is that there is a seperate entity living within each werewolf which is the very spirit of the Wolf, it has the desires and wants of a Wolf and encourages players to indulge it. There is 3 different kinds of werewolf in my setting, Dominant (embraces the wolf and uses it for aggression), Submissive (Wolf mainly desires pack and protection) and Omega (Wolf spirit that mirrors the human side) and each will have their own benefits/flaws for being each.



As you've never played D6 you're probably the best person to ask, does the above explanations make sense on a basic level? Do they make sense enough that you think you could pick up some dice and give it a go?

Again, big thanks, any and all criticism and comments are really appreciated!

[Zale]

Alright, so let's start off.

I'm not familiar with this type of d6 system, so take that as you will.

First off: Since I don't have and have never read either of the systems this one is based off, it makes it very hard to understand some of the concepts you are putting forth.

I have no idea if this system has skills or stats or powers, I see nothing on how to generate a character.

As I understand it, in order to gauge success you roll a number of d6s equal to your <stat?> and <skill?> against either a set difficulty class or an opposed roll?

Initiative seems fairly straight forward. Combat seems like it's going to be rather brutal since it looks like only a few bad rolls will be all it takes to KO someone.

This is, however, much more.. realistic? believable? than the normal HP system.

I don't see anything that sticks out as a bad idea, but also don't see much to comment on. I would personally move Wild Dice up to before Initiative though, so that people know what it is ahead of time.