Intro
Standard d-percentile (Players roll 10 sided dice. One is the tens column and the other is the one) system. You have stats (caped at below 50%) and your goal is to roll below your stat to hit.
Design Note: This system is similar to the one seen in Warhammer 40k’s “Dark Heresy” game only that you have to roll below your stat with a d100. I'm a big fan of this system due to the speed and flexibility of this little novelty. Thumbs up to them!
Dealing Damage
Your goal is to roll as low as you can. The amount you roll below your stat is the amount of damage you do. Weapons and other equipment provide a bonus to their related stats. (So a sword might add 10% to your melee stat.) While your stats are capped at 50%, your totals after equipment is not limited (until 90%). A hit scored causes your opponent to have to avoid damage.
Taking Damage
My goal in this game is to not use HP in the traditional sense. My attempts prior to this resulted in very deadly games but I think the system “Eldritch RPG” did it well. Players will be provided with a set of “Defense Options”. (Parry, Dodge, or Armor) A player accumulates uses of these based on their equipment (a sword might give you +2 Parry and your heavy armor might give you +5 Armor but -2 Dodge) The last use it to “take it”. This is a 50/50 chance to fall and a 10% chance to die. While I initially wanted the players to immediately die, I wanted them to have a feeling of dread when they roll that dice. (Observation: Any time a player has control over something they are generally more engaged. Taking away control removes them from the game a little bit.)
Design Note: Equipment is the focus of the game.
Defense Options
Parry- You parry an incoming blow. Next attack, if you attack them back you receive a +10% to your Melee stat.
Dodge- You dodge an incoming blow by motion. You move yourself 1 square as a result. (Utilizing a hex map so those pesky diagonals don’t get in the way!)
Armor- You take the damage against your armor, hopefully allowing you to get away unscratched. (Design Note: This is generally meant to be the most widely available.)
"Take It"- You take it like a little bitch, meekly attempting to shrug-off the damage as nothing more than a flesh wound. When you “take it” you roll a percentile. If you get 50% or lower you go unconscious. If you get 10% or less you die. Every turn you are unconscious you roll again, although death is at 25%.
Design Notes: The Defense Options was inspired in part by Eldritch RPG.
Options
Advancement: Universal Defense Pool
Each level you get 1 point to your “defense pool”. This means you can use it to do any form of defense once per day.
Design Notes: I am not sure if I want to add this. It may be a little too close to “HP” for me.
Advancement: Class-Specific Defense Pool
Each level you get 1 point to a predestine pool depending on your class.
Design Notes: You’ll lean quick I don’t like class systems in general. They are USEFUL but I really don’t like them.
(Comment by: Caleb Alexander Aylsworth)
ReplyDeleteOne option for the defenses being less like HP, is you could have them gain less per level and then have it come back over a number of rounds, or if the act aggressively. So more regenerative, and it could keep the battle moving back and forth. The downside is that there is potentially a lot of defenses going on and I don't know the fine points of the system. If it worked that way for everyone though, it might be alright.