Lvl 2 Expert
2017-04-25, 04:31 AM
We have a ton of these threads, but screw it, I'm opening my own.
I'm looking for tips on where to look for a good system for not too serious games set roughly between 1550 and 1850, the age of muskets and rapiers. I'll write out my wishlist in bullet points:
o I'm interested in running, jumping, sneaking, fencing, intriguing and all that other stuff the characters in the title do. It would be nice to be able to build a tense scene out of finding your way past the guards, climbing onto the balcony, silently opening the door, listening in on a conversation and running back to your horse really fast when you get caught. It's even better if your undercover buddy inside can then have a good discussion convincing a majority of land owners present that they need to hire him and his crew to tackle the recent rise in suspicious activities.
o I'm not really looking for a pirate system heavily centered around ships. A ship would be a cool setting for parts of a game, but it's not an automatic extension of every well made character. Think house, not horse.
o While I enjoy historical details, mechanics wise I'd prefer a system that can be easily adapted for use with a slight range of settings. Thinking of roughly this period it would be nice if I could explore an early frontier town with the same ease as an important port city of the Ottoman empire or a European trade post in southern China. Even if I have to homebrew some stuff, the chase scene rules should not be breaking down because camels happen to be slower than horses. And the unarmed details of the combat system should for instance not be too specialized for portraying either a bar brawler or a far east martial artist. As long as it's refluffable I don't mind using general mechanics for the both of them.
o I don't really have a preference for mechanical complexity, but I do like mechanics that support character complexity. I'd like the system to encourage things like making a pistol whipping farmhand specialized in cows who was fired, moved to the city and started whatever they called free running back in that time with a local group of mostly reformed thieves now working as couriers by day and off the books couriers at night for a slightly corrupt governor. I don't mind role playing parts of the story without mechanical justification, but there should be at least some ways to make every character shine. Whether the game uses three or ten base stats, or drops them completely in favor of some sort of base skills (like say Athletics (including acrobatics and tumbling and such) , Outdoor (tracking, finding water, paddling a raft), Fighting (including unarmed), Shooting (including bows), Social, Sneaky, Animals (including riding), Tools (the common man's skill) and Brains) with a loose specialization system on top of it doesn't really matter. In fact, I really like GURPS' approach of just letting people put skill points in complete skill sets like "mountaineer", "musketeer" or "thief". Because in real life people are no rope experts because they practiced their rope skill, it's because they're sailors with some experience in climbing and pioneering. But that specific system as is is a tad on the crude side maybe.
o I also like mechanics that support quick play. I don't mind the rules being complicated, but I do mind having to add up 6 new different numbers every time I try to punch something. But something like an attack of opportunity system that let's you use next turns (offhand) attack early to block, parry or return an enemy's strike, yeah, I'd be down for that. As long as I can do it quickly.
o The setting is no or very low magic. It would be kind of cool to have the occasional shaman capable of calming down animals to an almost supernatural degree, and I'm not even opposed to occasionally useful tricks like making a rope stand up on its own, but fireballs are straight out, and effects that absolutely outclasses any mundane options even more. Healing should not rely in magic or simply not be necessary (maybe a system with a direct connection between attacks and effects like getting pinned or wounded rather than a damage counter?), in combat healing is preferably not or barely a thing.
o It would be nice if being a murder hobo is not the default way of playing the game. Disarming, chasing off or capturing enemies should be as easy, fun and diverse as taking them down lethally, if not more so.
o I'd prefer having no real solid classes. There's no reason why the pikeman can't be the one mingling in high society for a change, or why the king's guard can't employ a man who likes to track and hunt animals on his free days.
Yes, that's a long list, and I gladly accept answers based on reading to the point where you got bored and/or thought of something. I don't have a group ready for this, it's more something I've been thinking about in general.
I'm looking for tips on where to look for a good system for not too serious games set roughly between 1550 and 1850, the age of muskets and rapiers. I'll write out my wishlist in bullet points:
o I'm interested in running, jumping, sneaking, fencing, intriguing and all that other stuff the characters in the title do. It would be nice to be able to build a tense scene out of finding your way past the guards, climbing onto the balcony, silently opening the door, listening in on a conversation and running back to your horse really fast when you get caught. It's even better if your undercover buddy inside can then have a good discussion convincing a majority of land owners present that they need to hire him and his crew to tackle the recent rise in suspicious activities.
o I'm not really looking for a pirate system heavily centered around ships. A ship would be a cool setting for parts of a game, but it's not an automatic extension of every well made character. Think house, not horse.
o While I enjoy historical details, mechanics wise I'd prefer a system that can be easily adapted for use with a slight range of settings. Thinking of roughly this period it would be nice if I could explore an early frontier town with the same ease as an important port city of the Ottoman empire or a European trade post in southern China. Even if I have to homebrew some stuff, the chase scene rules should not be breaking down because camels happen to be slower than horses. And the unarmed details of the combat system should for instance not be too specialized for portraying either a bar brawler or a far east martial artist. As long as it's refluffable I don't mind using general mechanics for the both of them.
o I don't really have a preference for mechanical complexity, but I do like mechanics that support character complexity. I'd like the system to encourage things like making a pistol whipping farmhand specialized in cows who was fired, moved to the city and started whatever they called free running back in that time with a local group of mostly reformed thieves now working as couriers by day and off the books couriers at night for a slightly corrupt governor. I don't mind role playing parts of the story without mechanical justification, but there should be at least some ways to make every character shine. Whether the game uses three or ten base stats, or drops them completely in favor of some sort of base skills (like say Athletics (including acrobatics and tumbling and such) , Outdoor (tracking, finding water, paddling a raft), Fighting (including unarmed), Shooting (including bows), Social, Sneaky, Animals (including riding), Tools (the common man's skill) and Brains) with a loose specialization system on top of it doesn't really matter. In fact, I really like GURPS' approach of just letting people put skill points in complete skill sets like "mountaineer", "musketeer" or "thief". Because in real life people are no rope experts because they practiced their rope skill, it's because they're sailors with some experience in climbing and pioneering. But that specific system as is is a tad on the crude side maybe.
o I also like mechanics that support quick play. I don't mind the rules being complicated, but I do mind having to add up 6 new different numbers every time I try to punch something. But something like an attack of opportunity system that let's you use next turns (offhand) attack early to block, parry or return an enemy's strike, yeah, I'd be down for that. As long as I can do it quickly.
o The setting is no or very low magic. It would be kind of cool to have the occasional shaman capable of calming down animals to an almost supernatural degree, and I'm not even opposed to occasionally useful tricks like making a rope stand up on its own, but fireballs are straight out, and effects that absolutely outclasses any mundane options even more. Healing should not rely in magic or simply not be necessary (maybe a system with a direct connection between attacks and effects like getting pinned or wounded rather than a damage counter?), in combat healing is preferably not or barely a thing.
o It would be nice if being a murder hobo is not the default way of playing the game. Disarming, chasing off or capturing enemies should be as easy, fun and diverse as taking them down lethally, if not more so.
o I'd prefer having no real solid classes. There's no reason why the pikeman can't be the one mingling in high society for a change, or why the king's guard can't employ a man who likes to track and hunt animals on his free days.
Yes, that's a long list, and I gladly accept answers based on reading to the point where you got bored and/or thought of something. I don't have a group ready for this, it's more something I've been thinking about in general.