DaltonTrigger
2008-04-29, 11:15 PM
Hi!
I'm currently in the process of collecting, appraising, and rewriting rules from different game systems and incorporating them into a game of my own design. I am using mostly the One Roll Engine as a basis, and bastardizing other rule sets into it. Maybe it won't be 'my own' enough to get a copyright on it, but it will still be something I've put time and heart into, to present my players with rules custom tailored for our roleplay style. :smallwink: That style being we're looking for very simplistic, flowing set of rules to complement a mostly free form game. You know, when somebody picks a fight you resolve it real quick and get back to the storytelling with minimal number crunching.
Now I'm all set on that stuff. The questions I have are very specific:
1) Help with monetary system? I really, really don't know what to do. Here's what we have established so far:
I am leaning toward a dual-coin economy, with gold Ducats and silver Bits. Copper, being incredibly common, is nearly worthless as a currency but sees other uses in alloys and everyday items. This isn't really for any reason other than flavor.
It's a low magic, gritty, realistic world. If you went into a city with thousands of citizens you'd only find a dozen or so with any magical ability at all (including all mages, clergy, magical demihumans, and nobility). Magic items in particular are rare (It's not, "hey look, another flaming sword." it's, "Wow, could it be? Flametongue, sword of King Secrum, used to slay the Ogre Lord and bring an end to the Ten Thousand Day War?")
Because of this, magic of any kind isn't even considered part of the economy like it would be in D&D 3e.
What I am looking for then is good points by which to estimate things like the average price of a suit of armor, the average income of commoners in various careers, the cost of owning land, etc. Perhaps there is a game system with a good set of rules already in place that I can 'borrow'? :smallredface:
2) Character advancement. I already have some idea of how I might do this.
Because it is supposed to be down to earth, advancement goes along a relatively limiting plane. Even if your character becomes the 'best' at whatever, he is still mortal and charging headlong into a mob of orcs is suicide no matter WHO you think you are. That being said, I also think it would be foolish for some upstart 18 year old character to be able to become a better swordsman than a 40-some year old warrior who's been defending the realm for the last 20 years, just because he went on an adventure and got some experience points.
My idea is as thus: Skills and stats can only be bought if it is (at least loosely) roleplayed out. If you want me to allow you to increase your Coordination stat, you better have been in a lot of situations where your coordination has been tested to its limit. Or, at the very least, dedicate a certain amount of time (maybe a month or two?) seeking a trainer.
Pacing out the amount of upgrades a character can get in game time prevents the issue of having somebody barely out of puberty somehow end up becoming the world's best fighter. Again, this isn't an over the top game like D&D where the PCs are one-in-a-million, cracking dragon skulls with their bare hands because using their weapons makes it too easy.
In my mind, it leads to better characterization when a character is a master at his profession from years of working at it; and now, in his advanced years, the gray hair, scars, and aching back are a testament to a lifetime of achievement. Plus, frankly, forcing PCs to seek trainers leads to EASY, but very meaty plot hooks. When a PC wants to advance his sword skill to the maximum the rules allow mortals to attain, it may be time for them to hunt down a true living legend and convince them to provide personal lessons! :smallsmile:
Still, tell me what you think?
On a related issue. An NPC teaches a PC a skill. Say the PC is about to visit Lord Buggerall's castle, and an NPC offers to teach him a little etiquette to help him get by. It saves the PC's bacon because he currently has NO skill in nobility or etiquette. I can easily justify allowing him to temporarily get by; the lessons are fresh in his short term memory or something. But at some point I think I should say "if you want your character to remember this lesson for more than a day, spend some of your points and buy a couple ranks in the skill. Otherwise you forget it." What are your thoughts on this? Knowing how to deal with nobility in this example is not a commonplace skill, so I consider noble customs to be a specialty enough to require an investment. The same question remains if you replace "noble etiquette" with "architecture" or what have you.
3) Of Mice and Player Deaths. The game IS supposed to be gritty, realistic, and lethal. Of that there's no question, and if a character is stupid enough to run straight into a horde of monsters and die a guaranteed death, then fine. But on the other hand, the system at hand makes players very, very fragile.
Your limbs each have 5 HP, while your torso has 10 HP and your head has 4 HP. A body part that is reduced to 0 HP is either stunned (if it's shock damage) or maimed (if it's lethal damage). Reducing the HP of the head or torso to 0 through lethal damage means the player is dead. Here are two ideas I have to reduce the odds of "lucky roll death syndrome" in my players:
Make players who are reduced to 0 HP be mortally wounded, but not dead. They are lying there, screaming in pain, bleeding all over the place, but much like in D&D I could allow first aid to keep him alive until proper help can be found.
Some sort of trait--"toughness" or something--that can be bought assuming the prerequisites are met and increases the max HP of every body part by 1. Not a huge boost, but it still makes a signicant difference.
Just to note, in my world resurrection and creating undead are terrible sins. The Mother Goddess, (haven't named my pantheon yet), is the goddess of rest and death. She collects souls of the departed and gives them peaceful rest until such time the Father of Life feels they are ready to return to the world (reincarnation etc). As such, resurrection or creating undead is preventing the soul from achieving rest and, eventually, returning to the world as a new life. It is the highest form of blasphemy. And as a result, unless my PCs are pretty evil, they wouldn't do it. :smalltongue:
Aaaanyway, thanks a lot to anybody who takes the time to read this staggering amount of text and give me some advice. I appreciate any help I can get as I continue to work out the intricacies of my setting. I am new to being a GM at all, so this process is a double challenge to me.
I'm currently in the process of collecting, appraising, and rewriting rules from different game systems and incorporating them into a game of my own design. I am using mostly the One Roll Engine as a basis, and bastardizing other rule sets into it. Maybe it won't be 'my own' enough to get a copyright on it, but it will still be something I've put time and heart into, to present my players with rules custom tailored for our roleplay style. :smallwink: That style being we're looking for very simplistic, flowing set of rules to complement a mostly free form game. You know, when somebody picks a fight you resolve it real quick and get back to the storytelling with minimal number crunching.
Now I'm all set on that stuff. The questions I have are very specific:
1) Help with monetary system? I really, really don't know what to do. Here's what we have established so far:
I am leaning toward a dual-coin economy, with gold Ducats and silver Bits. Copper, being incredibly common, is nearly worthless as a currency but sees other uses in alloys and everyday items. This isn't really for any reason other than flavor.
It's a low magic, gritty, realistic world. If you went into a city with thousands of citizens you'd only find a dozen or so with any magical ability at all (including all mages, clergy, magical demihumans, and nobility). Magic items in particular are rare (It's not, "hey look, another flaming sword." it's, "Wow, could it be? Flametongue, sword of King Secrum, used to slay the Ogre Lord and bring an end to the Ten Thousand Day War?")
Because of this, magic of any kind isn't even considered part of the economy like it would be in D&D 3e.
What I am looking for then is good points by which to estimate things like the average price of a suit of armor, the average income of commoners in various careers, the cost of owning land, etc. Perhaps there is a game system with a good set of rules already in place that I can 'borrow'? :smallredface:
2) Character advancement. I already have some idea of how I might do this.
Because it is supposed to be down to earth, advancement goes along a relatively limiting plane. Even if your character becomes the 'best' at whatever, he is still mortal and charging headlong into a mob of orcs is suicide no matter WHO you think you are. That being said, I also think it would be foolish for some upstart 18 year old character to be able to become a better swordsman than a 40-some year old warrior who's been defending the realm for the last 20 years, just because he went on an adventure and got some experience points.
My idea is as thus: Skills and stats can only be bought if it is (at least loosely) roleplayed out. If you want me to allow you to increase your Coordination stat, you better have been in a lot of situations where your coordination has been tested to its limit. Or, at the very least, dedicate a certain amount of time (maybe a month or two?) seeking a trainer.
Pacing out the amount of upgrades a character can get in game time prevents the issue of having somebody barely out of puberty somehow end up becoming the world's best fighter. Again, this isn't an over the top game like D&D where the PCs are one-in-a-million, cracking dragon skulls with their bare hands because using their weapons makes it too easy.
In my mind, it leads to better characterization when a character is a master at his profession from years of working at it; and now, in his advanced years, the gray hair, scars, and aching back are a testament to a lifetime of achievement. Plus, frankly, forcing PCs to seek trainers leads to EASY, but very meaty plot hooks. When a PC wants to advance his sword skill to the maximum the rules allow mortals to attain, it may be time for them to hunt down a true living legend and convince them to provide personal lessons! :smallsmile:
Still, tell me what you think?
On a related issue. An NPC teaches a PC a skill. Say the PC is about to visit Lord Buggerall's castle, and an NPC offers to teach him a little etiquette to help him get by. It saves the PC's bacon because he currently has NO skill in nobility or etiquette. I can easily justify allowing him to temporarily get by; the lessons are fresh in his short term memory or something. But at some point I think I should say "if you want your character to remember this lesson for more than a day, spend some of your points and buy a couple ranks in the skill. Otherwise you forget it." What are your thoughts on this? Knowing how to deal with nobility in this example is not a commonplace skill, so I consider noble customs to be a specialty enough to require an investment. The same question remains if you replace "noble etiquette" with "architecture" or what have you.
3) Of Mice and Player Deaths. The game IS supposed to be gritty, realistic, and lethal. Of that there's no question, and if a character is stupid enough to run straight into a horde of monsters and die a guaranteed death, then fine. But on the other hand, the system at hand makes players very, very fragile.
Your limbs each have 5 HP, while your torso has 10 HP and your head has 4 HP. A body part that is reduced to 0 HP is either stunned (if it's shock damage) or maimed (if it's lethal damage). Reducing the HP of the head or torso to 0 through lethal damage means the player is dead. Here are two ideas I have to reduce the odds of "lucky roll death syndrome" in my players:
Make players who are reduced to 0 HP be mortally wounded, but not dead. They are lying there, screaming in pain, bleeding all over the place, but much like in D&D I could allow first aid to keep him alive until proper help can be found.
Some sort of trait--"toughness" or something--that can be bought assuming the prerequisites are met and increases the max HP of every body part by 1. Not a huge boost, but it still makes a signicant difference.
Just to note, in my world resurrection and creating undead are terrible sins. The Mother Goddess, (haven't named my pantheon yet), is the goddess of rest and death. She collects souls of the departed and gives them peaceful rest until such time the Father of Life feels they are ready to return to the world (reincarnation etc). As such, resurrection or creating undead is preventing the soul from achieving rest and, eventually, returning to the world as a new life. It is the highest form of blasphemy. And as a result, unless my PCs are pretty evil, they wouldn't do it. :smalltongue:
Aaaanyway, thanks a lot to anybody who takes the time to read this staggering amount of text and give me some advice. I appreciate any help I can get as I continue to work out the intricacies of my setting. I am new to being a GM at all, so this process is a double challenge to me.