The Labyrinth: System Criticism <LONG>

[Calrin_Alshaw]

Ok, I'm completely new to these forums, I was pointed in this direction after I had a game-idea floating in my head, but D&D just seemed too rules-heavy to support the story. I eventually ended up deciding that all a character at first will need is a name, and a physical description, I and the other players would find out what this character is LIKE later on.

After those assumptions, I decided that there would be a "system", for game play, and doing things out of the ordinary, or while under pressure, there would be dice and stats. However, I still wanted it to be simple. I wanted something that someone could learn the rules of the game (stats and dice rolling) within a small period of time, which translated to low amounts of reading.

This is merely a system for playing in my idea. For this particular setting and world that the characters would be in. However, I have attempted to leave it vague enough, that others could use some or all for themselves.

Here it is:

All "tests" refer to rolling a d10. A stat of 0 means you add 0 to the roll. The GM's roll is to unfold the story, thus, while the GM may play a character, that characters interaction might be compromised with the GM's knowledge of possible future events.

There are four statistics, three of them physical, one of them involving controlling magical energy.

Strength, Agility, Health, and Magic

Strength tests are called on when performing difficult actions beyond everyday assumed norms. Anyone can jump a five foot hole in the floor, but can they jump 7? 8? 20? Most people haven't tried and wouldn't know.
Strength tests are also used if there is a physical conflict and a hit has connected.

Agility is used to detirmine someones physical grace, reaction, and balance. This is also used to detirmine whether you have hit something when a physical conflict occurs, resolved by opposed rolling against that which the hit is being attempted against.

Health is used to detirmine general physical health and endurance. This also represents how much physical harm you take before you pass out/die.

Wounds that have been gained through any means will generally have a "level". Superficial, being your simple scratches and scrapes, minor wounds being your cuts and bruises, major wounds being your nasty bruises, deep cuts, and fractures.

Magic is used when a character, having attained knowledge of an ancient word (magical language), and it's meaning, they act as a conduit and shaper of magic, however, magic is tempermental and random, and no amount of training will change this, all one can do, is become a stronger conduit through hours of concentration and shaping, or linking with a willing individual.

I will attempt to explain how the system uses the d10 and my world's preset rules. Examples to show how mechanics work will be given.

Most test requirements (number to meet or beat) are set by GM and circumstance.

Health, as said, represents the ability to take injuries without going unconcious and/or dying. I will explain the numbers.

1+ Health is higher than your average human who eats, sleeps, and works.
0 Your average human, where the game starts.
-1 through -4 are the amount of injury most people can sustain and still remain concious.
-5 through -9 is unconciousness.
-10 is "deaths door" if not helped through magic or a "doctor" who can help save you, you'll probobly die real soon.
-11 If you are here, you are dead, no one saved you while you were at -10, or while you were unconcious someone killed you.

Superficial Wounds: Scratches and scrapes. No real effect on the character, enough however, (10) counts as a minor wound.
Minor Wounds: Nasty cuts, scrapes, and bruises. -1 to strength, agility, and health. 2 count as a major wound.
Major Wounds: Bone fractures, deep cuts, even broken bones. -2 to strength, agility, and health.

Agility, as said, represents general grace and physical reaction. I will explain how the numbers work, especially pertaining to a fight, since this involves a characters life most times.

1+ More graceful than your average person, good balance, and reactions.
0 Your average person.
-1 Your less graceful than the average person
-2 or lower. There is something wrong, probobly some sort of injury or fatigue.

To hit an intelligent being (something that can react), you roll opposed agility tests. The person attacking rolls a d10 (say a 5), and the person trying to avoid being hit rolls a d10 (lets say a 4). In this scenario, the attacker hit. You must beat the defenders agility test to hit.
If you succeed on your hit by 3 or more, you've connected your blow quite well. For every 3 points by which you beat the defenders agility test with your own, add +1 to your strength test to wounding them.

Strength, as said, is used for actions that require pure muscle. The examples were jumping a hole in the floor, also used was harming someone. As explained above, a particularly well aimed blow helps this test to harm someone.

1+ is stronger than your average person.
0 is your average person.
-1 is weaker than your average person.
-2 or lower. There is something wrong, probobly due to injury or fatigue.

To harm an average human, unarmored, you must succeed on a strength test of 7. A 7 or 8 causes a superficial wound. A 9 or 10 causes a minor wound. An 11 or 12 causes a major wound. Every group of 2 after this, causes another major wound-equivalent.
Weapons add +1 to this strength test.
Projectile weapons, like a bow, have a natural +2 strength test.

I have to sleep now, I will put up the magic information tomorrow

Calrin Alshaw

[Victor Gijsbers]

Hi Calrin. You are looking for a system which is not "too rules-heavy" to "support the story". This is not quite clear to me - surely, you can play a story of any complexity in D&D, GURPS or another rules-heavy system? I can see how those systems would not actively induce the players to take a large part in story creation, but then, that does not seem to be your aim. You claim after all that the GMs role is "to unfold the story" and that he know "possible future events".

It seems to me that if you want the GM to unfold the story, you must want the players to do something else. Overcoming obstacles? Then you may want to stick with a system that gives the players an interesting time doing that, such as D&D. Your system is a bit too bare-bones to keep things interesting, perhaps. Or do you want your players to really 'get into their characters'? I do not see your system encouraging that either. Perhaps you can take a look at The Window: http://www.mimgames.com/window/. But maybe I'm reading too much in your words, and what you are looking for is thematic story-creation by both players and GM. An intriguing rules-light system well-suited to that aim is The Pool: http://www.randomordercreations.com/thepool.html.

See, I'm not saying your system is bad; it seems servicable enough. But the important question to aks yourself is: what do I want my system to do? Since you are obviously dissatisfied with D&D, you must want something quite different from the kind of play that D&D facilitates. But your system appears to my eyes as an attempt to do basically the same things as D&D, only with much less complexity and much less handling time. So I'm not sure it will do what you want it to do. But maybe it will, because I'm not sure what you want it to do either. :)

[Tobias]

Hi Calrin.

It's a bit of the old 'what do you really want to happen' and 'what does a players DO' issue.

Rules-light appeals to me (in certain circumstances) - I'm trying to make a game myself that has some of these goals (YGAD), you could check out some of the comments I've gotten on that system in this selfsame forum.

Also, what you have rules and stats for is generally something that is promoted in-game. Got a lot of detailed combat rules? Then that's good for detailed-combat playing. Got three physical stats and one Magic stat? That good for....

But with a bit more info, all this might clear up. :)

Keep plugging!

[Mike Holmes]

Hmm. I don't want to come off as putting you down, but I think it might help if you had some perspective. To be more clear, I can name at least a dozen games that are almost precisely like what you have written out so far. TFT, Action!, FUDGE, TriStat, etc, etc. Any of these might already be the system that you want to play. How can you know you aren't repeating one of these systems if you haven't looked around a little?

That's why I wrote this rant: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=5564

That's not to try to disuade you from trying to design your own game. But just pointing out that you may be going through a lot more trouble than you have to in order to get the game you want.

Mike

[Calrin_Alshaw]

Magic, the most complicated of the stats, there are three sections to this. Magic (General stuff), Linking, and Magical Consequences.

Magic, on the surface is very simple. A person forms the necessary "shape" of what they wish their spell to accomplish, then provide the word in the ancient language that they associate with their effect. However, after one has spoken the word, there is no going back, magic is unpredictable and harmful at best to use. There are two ways to improve your capacity for shaping the magic safely. Linking, and spending hours painstakingly shaping the magic before speaking the word.
Magic cannot effect a living thing (plant or otherwise) directly unless the test requirement is 11+. Magic also cannot create something from nothing, or destroy anything utterly.

Each hour spent shaping magic adds +1 to your magic roll. To succesfully concentrate for such a long period a time, a health test is called for, a result of 2 is required for the first, a result of 3 for the second, etc. If you should fail a health test to concentrate, you lose the last succesful hour of concentration and roll your magic test immediately. (If you spend 4 hours concentrating, and fail on the 4th, you immediately roll a magic test with a +2, having lost the 3rd hour with the 4th)

Linking, the only other way to improve ones ability to be a control and be a conduit for magic. To do this, a willing individual must have the correct way of thinking, and speak the correct word in the ancient tongue, thus giving their link to the recipient. For each link a recipient has recieved, they get +1 to their magic test. The person who has given the link now has no ability to access magic, and is quite mundane. The person having given the link, cannot access magic without getting their link back, and the recipient must willingly give it back. (Death will allow a giver of a link to regain their link with magic again.) If the holder of someone elses link fails to successfully cast a spell, all magical consequences that directly effect the caster of the spell manifest on the giver of the link as well, this applies to each and every giver of a link to the one who failed their casting of a spell.

Magical Consequences. These are things that happen when someone fails to control a spell. Failing by 1 or 2, the spell is harmlessly dissipated. Failing by 3, the magic chooses a new target within 5 feet.(d10/2 round up)Failing by 4, the magic chooses a new target within 2-20 feet (2d10). Failing by 5, the magic backlashes and harms the user (as well as those who have given their link to the user) and causes a superficial wound to them. Failing by 6, the magic causes a minor wound to the user. Failing the 7, the magic causes a major wound to the user. For every 1 above 8 which a user fails, just add more major wounding. 8 = 2 major wounds, 9 = 3 major wounds etc.

Anyhow, the basic range of difficulty to create magical effects. A 2 would represent something as simple as lighting a match. A 1000 might represent creating an inferno of fire raining from the sky. A GM is encouraged to set the difficulties of more intermediate effects, but stick with certain decisions.

Barring magical backlash, performing a spell is no more tiring than a short quick run and a jump.

Calrin Alshaw

[Calrin_Alshaw]

Hrmm, since my original post was here: http://uncertainskies.proboards32.com/index.cgi?board=ooc&action=display&num=1089677586

That is probobly the easiest place to read it, and I think that one makes more sense anyhow.

Calrin Alshaw

[Wilper]

There are four statistics, three of them physical, one of them involving controlling magical energy.

Strength, Agility, Health, and Magic

Wouldn´t a stat for "Intelligence", "Wisdom" or something like that be nice to have when dealing with stuff that concerns strictly theoretical matters, like geography, history.  And perhaps something like "Charisma" for dealing with social interactions?

I didn't see anything about your setting or the intended type of scenarios but still, when I GM any random game such things come up all the time.

[Calrin_Alshaw]

Well, first off, the premise of my game involves PC's starting off without any sort of memories of who they are (past knowing their names) and where they are, or why. Second, I'd prefer to let the players RP how outgoing or charismatic they want their characters.

Calrin Alshaw

[Wilper]

Well, first off, the premise of my game involves PC's starting off without any sort of memories of who they are (past knowing their names) and where they are, or why. Second, I'd prefer to let the players RP how outgoing or charismatic they want their characters.

Ahh.  Then you might get away with only physical stats. :-)