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Thane of Fife
2008-09-25, 06:22 PM
"I am Adam, prince of Eternia and defender of the secrets of Castle Greyskull. This is Cringer, my fearless friend. Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said,

'By the power of Greyskull!'"

-Intro to He-Man

It has recently struck me that, as far as I'm aware, there's no good way to really play a game set in Eternia, Mer, or simply the apocalyptic Earth of Thundarr the Barbarian. Certainly, one could houserule some edition of dungeons and dragons to fit, but it wouldn't quite capture the spirit of the programs. Hence, we have Action Cartoon d20 (and if you can think of a better name, I'd be grateful). Note that this does not encompass anime - that's a different style.

Why use d20?

1. I don't want to create a whole new system.
2. I think that a system as broad as d20 can be shoved into where I want.

Alright, with that done, to work:


Quirks of the Subject Matter:

1. Non-lethal combat: The heroes (PCs) never actually kill anybody. While they have weapons, they never actually hack people open with them.

2. Weird mix of sci-fi and fantasy: Sorcerers + Robots = Cool

3. Fairly simple storylines.

4. Archetypes: Most characters fit into one of a number of definable character types, which we can use as classes.

Source Material:

He-Man, Pirates of Dark Water, Thundarr the Barbarian, among others

Classes:
(These are the ones I think are necessary - if you have other ideas, shoot)

Barbarian - A warrior who relies primarily on his strength and agility to see him victorious. He's a skilled warrior, and uses his physical might to best advantage. Does things like throw really big rocks, or pound the floor to create shockwaves. See He-Man, She-Ra (maybe) and Thundarr.

Swashbuckler - The swashbuckler uses flashy moves to fight off his foes. He swings from ropes, disarms and trips his foes, etc. See Ioz and Ren. Possibly Teela.

Blaster - The blaster fires rays and blasts from his hands, and may boast a number of other gadgets. He is more physical than magical, and may also boast some sort of weapon. See Man-at-Arms, most Robots, and Space Ghost.

Archer (Possible Class) - Does what it says on the tin. Shoots a variety of specialty arrows, bolts, or bullets. Best example is Bow.

Specialist - A fairly generic class, focuses on some weird schtick, like jumping or flying. Best examples are Ram-man, Stratos, or a person with a scorpion stinger.

Animal - An incredible physical specimen, the animal is basically all about having good ability scores and natural attacks. Disadvantages include inability to use most equipment and probably multi-class penalties. See Battlecat and Ookla.

Sorcerer - The first magical class, the sorcerer is somewhat similar to the blaster in that he relies primarily on beams and such. The difference is that the sorcerer's beams generally cause status ailments - levitation, sleep, etc. See Ariel.

Wizard - Not recommended for a PC class, the wizard is moderately capable at fighting, but is primarily based around using Artifacts of Power, and can use such items better than any other class, most of whom can use only the most rudimentary powers of such items. The wizard is dependent upon his artifacts of power in that most of his abilities focus on using them better, but is moderately competent even without. See Skeletor or The Sorceress.

Magician - The final class, the magician covers the remainder of magical effects - summoning, influencing, teleportation, and transformation. Such magic is generally difficult to use, and often requires moderately lengthy amounts of time to use effectively. See Orko and Tula.

Weapons:

General idea is that, instead of causing damage when hitting with a weapon, a character can choose to make an immediate unarmed attack, which will not provoke an attack of opportunity. Should perhaps be better. Should allow for some method of parrying blasts.

Hit Points:

This system uses the Vitality Points / Wound Points system. When a character is reduced to 0 Wound Points, he is either knocked unconscious or slain, depending upon how the damage is done.

Alignment:

All characters have 1-2 alignments, a Primary Alignment and, possibly, a Secondary Alignment.

Alignments are things like Heroic, Loyal (Cause), Villainous, Greedy, etc. Alignment is read Secondary Primary, so a character might, for example, be Loyal Heroic or Villainous Loyal.

Needs work, but is underway.

Alter-Egos:

The idea of characters with two identities is a common one in the source material - see He-Man, She-Ra, Samson and Goliath, etc. Such characters should be possible here as well. They will generally function as two separate characters, with one of them receiving attribute bonuses. I'm not really sure how this should work.

Bonus Feats:

Final big change (as far as I can see right now), will be feats. Normal bonus feats are gone. Instead, when characters hit certain levels of ability, they automatically acquire certain feats. For example, a character might gain the Disarm Feat once his BAB hits +1. Not a high threshold, but more potent feats will have higher requirements.

Some class abilities may actually be attack or ability modifiers, so as to make the acquiring of bonus feats easier.



Comments, questions welcome. Help/Collaboration are definately appreciated.

AstralFire
2008-09-25, 06:29 PM
If you're going to start with a d20 base for some reason, d20 Modern + the arcane supplement seems like a better place to start. Thundarr in particular does take place after the cataclysm of 1996, after all.

RTGoodman
2008-09-25, 06:39 PM
A couple of suggestions:


1. Non-lethal combat: The heroes (PCs) never actually kill anybody. While they have weapons, they never actually hack people open with them.

I'd go with the 4E approach here - when you reduce an enemy to 0 HP or less, you can choose whether to kill them or simply knock them unconscious. If you want to keep the rules for sub-dual/non-lethal damage, just eliminate the to-hit penalty for dealing non-lethal damage with a lethal weapon and you'll be set.


2. Weird mix of sci-fi and fantasy: Sorcerers + Robots = Cool

This isn't that bad - take a look at d20 Modern, the d20 Future sourcebook for it, and the Urban Arcana campaign setting/sourcebook.


3. Fairly simple storylines.

That's DM territory, for the most part - you're always going to have groups that want super-complex stories and groups that couldn't care less for "plot" or "background."

Thane of Fife
2008-09-25, 07:29 PM
Hmm, I'll look through d20 Modern, but I suspect that it may be a bit too inclined towards gritty (never thought I'd say that about a d20 product). On top of which, I think most futuristic devices in such programs are closer to magic, anyway. But I'll certainly look.


I'd go with the 4E approach here - when you reduce an enemy to 0 HP or less, you can choose whether to kill them or simply knock them unconscious. If you want to keep the rules for sub-dual/non-lethal damage, just eliminate the to-hit penalty for dealing non-lethal damage with a lethal weapon and you'll be set.

I'm not certain that I want to present a choice, though. I want to create the feel that the PCs aren't actually hitting people with weapons, and that their blades are more intended for tools.


That's DM territory, for the most part - you're always going to have groups that want super-complex stories and groups that couldn't care less for "plot" or "background."
I know that; I was just pointing out that I was definately going to be including alignment and other straightforward plot devices.

AstralFire
2008-09-25, 07:30 PM
Hmm, I'll look through d20 Modern, but I suspect that it may be a bit too inclined towards gritty (never thought I'd say that about a d20 product). On top of which, I think most futuristic devices in such programs are closer to magic, anyway. But I'll certainly look.

I believe Modern uses the VP/WP mechanic, which allows you to make one solid punch end the fight. (I know Star Wars does, but it's been so long since I looked over the Modern rules I don't even recall.)

Grittiness is -not- an issue. Instead of killing them, it knocks them out. Bam!

Thane of Fife
2008-09-25, 08:02 PM
That sounds incredibly promising, but I have no idea what it means, and, as such, am not finding it in the d20 Modern SRD.

Actually, now that I think about it, I assume that you mean Vitality Points and Wound Points. As far as I can tell, they are not a part of d20 Modern.

Looking at them in the d20 SRD, howevcer, they look rather promising. So, reduction to 0 wound points means either death or unconsciousness, depending on how the damage is done. Seems simple enough.

AstralFire
2008-09-25, 08:05 PM
Just be aware that you're honestly in for a longer haul than you would be if you started your own system (assuming the system was simple, like the one I'm working on.) Balancing my own Campaign Setting which used a billion rules as well as the d20 conversion I'm working on for something else has been much, much harder than putting together the system I'm working on.

(Which you may find interesting, actually, if you want to take a look. Take out the people dying and it works.)

Thane of Fife
2008-09-26, 03:44 PM
Just be aware that you're honestly in for a longer haul than you would be if you started your own system (assuming the system was simple, like the one I'm working on.) Balancing my own Campaign Setting which used a billion rules as well as the d20 conversion I'm working on for something else has been much, much harder than putting together the system I'm working on.

It is my experience that creating one's own RPG tends to bog down around the time of creating a skill list. For whatever reason, I tend to make skill-based games, and generally, to help me come with a list, I turn to The Big List of Skills. (http://www.strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,2250.0.html) This is suicide, however, because once you start to wonder, "Hmmm, do I need chemical hydrology?" it's all over.



Combat Rule Adjustments:

Seems as good a place to start as any.

Combat works more or less just like in regular d20. The major differences are as follws:

1. Uses the Vitality Points/Wound Points system

2. Upon hitting an enemy character with a weapon, the character doing the hitting may immediately, instead of doing damage, make an unarmed attack. Another attack roll must be made for this attack to see if it connects. If the initial attack was a Critical Hit, than a +4 bonus is gained to this attack roll. Unarmed attacks made in this fashion never provoke Attacks of Opportunity.

3. All characters have their Unarmed Strike damage scale as if they were a Monk. They gain none of the other benefits - only their damage die increases.

4. Weapons differ only in their crit ranges, their ranges, and their effects upon an enemy reduced to 0 Wound Points.

5. There will probably be a feat to cover Basic Combat Maneuvers, like Trips and Disarms. It will be a Bonus Feat at about +1 BAB, most likely.

Basic Weapon Guide (to be expanded later, possibly):

Lethal Weapon (Sword, Axe, Mace, etc):
1d8 damage, Critical on 19-20, Melee Only, Lethal
Special: Deflect Blast

Short Bludgeon (Club, Rolling Pin, etc):
1d8 damage, Critical on 17-20, Melee Only, Non-lethal

Long Bludgeon (Staff):
1d8 damage, Critical on 19-20, Melee Only, Non-lethal
Special: Pole Vault

Unarmed Strike
By Level, Critical on 19-20, Melee Only, Non-lethal

Thane of Fife
2008-09-27, 11:16 AM
Races:

There are three major races available in Action Cartoon d20.

Humanoids:

The basic race. Comprises humans and everything which is basically human in shape, but is not an Anthromorph.

Humanoids have no racial attribute modifiers. They get 4 bonus skill points at level 1, and an extra 1 every level after that. Humanoids may pick a single class ability to gain 1 level earlier than would normally be allowed.

Anthromorphs:

Part animal, part human, Anthromorphs are tiger-men, rat-men, frog-men, turtle-men, and so on. The race also include various types of apes and monkeys.

Anthromorphs gain a +2 bonus to any one physical attribute. They may take a second +2 bonus to a phyical attribute, but if they do so, then they must take a -2 penalty to another attribute. All Anthromorphs receive a -2 penalty to all social reaction checks when dealing with humans who are unaccustomed to them.

Anthromorphs may replace one of their +2 attribute bonuses with one of the following:

+2 to Natural Armor Class
+3 to One Kind of Save (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will)

Beasts:

Beasts comprise the various types of animals which become characters - dogs, great cats, etc. It should be noted that Beasts tend to be super-intelligent versions of their base creature.

Beasts gain the same ability modifiers as Anthromorphs. In general, beasts should take at least one level of the Animal class. Beasts may not use items which require hands, as they have none.

Thane of Fife
2008-09-28, 02:08 PM
Last night I dreamt that someone was actually interested in this. Oh well.

I guess that classes are probably the next thing to start on. I'll try listing iconic things which should be included in a given class, as well as working at their VP, saves, and BAB.

Barbarian:
Vitality Die: d10
Fortitude: Good
Reflex: Good
Will: Good
BAB: Full
Throwing things into the distance
Making shockwaves
Throwing really big things
Using big things as weapons
Iron Crotch (Can drop huge distances safely, even landing on horse)

Swashbuckler:
Vitality Die: d8
Fortitude: Good
Reflex: Good
Will: Poor
BAB: Full
Better disarms
Turns enemy's numbers against him
Moves about while fighting
Takes advantage of terrain easily
Work together more effectively

Blaster:
Vitality: d8
Fortitude: Poor
Reflex: Good
Will: Poor
BAB: Half
Attack Bonus improves with Blasts
Multiple Ranged Attacks per Round
Blasts power up with levels
**Needs More**

Specialist:
Vitality: d8
Fortitude: Special
Reflex: Special
Will: Special
BAB: Half
Special Ability - Jumping, Flying, Natural Weapon
Gets 2 Good Saves
Special Ability improves with level up - select from following effects as level:
Superior Trip
Rapid Movement
Better Unarmed Attacks

Animal:
Vitality: d10
Fortitude: Good
Reflex: Good
Will: Good
BAB: Full
Cannot use equipment requiring hands
Gets lots of ability boosts
Faster Movement

Sorcerer:
Vitality: d6
Fortitude: Poor
Reflex: Poor
Will: Good
BAB: Poor
Gains Enchantment Rays
Levitation
Sleep
Paralyze
Damage
Effects improve with levels
Lots of Skill Points
No ability boosts (not for class, anyway)

Wizard:
Vitality: d8
Fortitude: Good
Reflex: Poor
Will: Good
BAB: Half
Ability to use Artifacts of Power increases with levels
May gain slight ability boosts

Magician:
Vitality: d6
Fortitude: Poor
Reflex: Poor
Will: Good
BAB: Poor
Ability to Influence Creatures gradually
Transformation powers - both self and other things
Summoning - Summoned creature is not necessarily friendly!
Teleportation
Ability to Cast Spells improves with levels - spells get quicker, last longer, etc.



Looking over this, Barbarians, Animals, and Swashbucklers will get lots of Attribute Boosts, which will allow them to qualify for the best Bonus Feats. Animals will get to spread their points about more evenly than the other two classes, and will probably get more points overall. Other classes will get more class abilites, but fewer attribute boosts.

Any ideas on how to best implement some of these abilities?