[Faux Leon] It's an anagram . . .

[Russell Collins]

After an afternoon of watching a certain 90s cartoon, I kept asking myself "how would I play that?" What follows is the basic rules I drew up to answer that question. Since it is drawn from an IP that has already been fiercely defended from the tentacles of the RPG world, I know I will go no further with it. However I wanted to present it here and perhaps shake off some of my "wannabe" game designer stigma by showing I can bring a complete idea to fruit.

It's mostly the bare mechanics of the game now. If you're familiar with the source material you can probably fill in most of the color yourself.


FAUX LEON Role-playing Game

Round-robin GMing. A series of spy challenges.

3 acts: Insertion, operation, endgame 2d6 scenes per act. A major goal awaits any agent who reaches the finish.

Agents
. . . are rated in 5 abilities:
Acrobatics
Devices
Fire Combat
Melee Combat
Relations

Each rating is a pool of d6s. Rolled 5s and 6s are successes. To defeat a foe, roll more successes than their rating. Fewer successes fails to do the job. Extra successes may carry over to second target. For example shooting several soldiers with one blast, leaping over two traps in one bound.

Foes must equal or better your rating to defeat you as well.

Divide 15 dice among these pools to create an agent.

Combat
If it matters who shoots first (agent vs. agent, attempting to ambush, usw.) then check acrobatics for turn order. Most success acts first. Ties roll simultaneously.

Against most active obstacles, rolls for the agent and the obstacle are made at the same time as flurries of attacks are exchanged. If the agent dies, they were probably too slow to fire or find cover, or whatever.

Risks
If you announce a risk, you can roll double your pool for an amazing action. These are the moments when, with one spray of machine gun bullets an entire enemy platoon drops. Any extra successes that cannot be applied to the action (no targets left) are marked on the character sheet as style points. 10 style points is one XP.

The risk however, is that if you fail the roll, you immediately die in a stupid and embarrassing accident.

Helping each other
. . . has a way of backfiring in this game. You can offer dice from one of your pools to another agent to help them out, but the next roll you make is penalized by that same amount. If this reduces your ability to 0 or less, you fail automatically.

Gear
Devices may add extra dice to the pertinent ability pool. Failure while using a device renders it useless.

Each agent starts with a basic gun. To buy other devices during agent creation, check the device ability. The total successes are the total value dice the equipment offers.

Values
Basic: Does not improve your ability. May be necessary for some uses though (No offensive Fire Combat without a gun)
Improved: Adds one to the pool
Advanced: Adds two to the pool
Superior: Adds three
Extraordinary: Add four

Example: Advanced grappling hook and reels +2 to Acrobatics.

Keys
A device may have Keyed operation for 1 extra die to it's pool. After each use, check device ability. If you fail, the key is lost and the device is useless unless the key is found.

Example: Extraordinary Keyed Blast cannon +5 to Fire Combat.

Concealed Weapons
If you are ever unarmed and facing a challenge, check your device ability. A success means you pull a holdout weapon or device from a hidden place. Extra successes may add to the device's value. Fail, and you just gave your next foe a bonus to their pool to attack you, equal to your device rating.

XP
As mentioned before, any leftover points from a risk may be totalled up to become XP at a 10 to 1 ratio. Additionally, each agent who is active and survives the final scene of the endgame gains 1 XP. (No XP for the agents that sat on the bench the whole time!) Traits may be upgraded with XP, just pay the new value in XP. By that reckoning, to gain a 5 in fire combat I'll need 5 XP or 50 leftover points from risks.

Playing
All players make 3 agents apiece. These are the "extra lives" that will come in when their first agent dies. They may be clones, other agents, or civilians who will join the cause when they witness an agent's death. One player is chosen randomly to play Goodchild.

Goodchild sets the goal for the agents, telling them what awaits them in the endgame. He then sets the basic location and as each scene begins he sets obstacles against the agents. There are several types of obstacles, ranging from the simple pit traps to automated guns to clusters of soldiers to seductive heroes of the opposition. Essentially each scene is an opportunity for an agent to be killed or diverted from the goal of the mission. The player will roleplay a possible solution to overcome the challenge, then roll dice to see the outcome. If they are especially inventive in their approach or very entertaining in their narration, then Goodchild may reward them with the discovery of a useful device or by allowing them to bypass the next obstacle while everyone else struggles to keep up.

Obstacles are often quite surreal and colorful descriptions are encouraged. The city is a maze of overlapping construction, so there is no real reason an attractive dominatrix's bedroom shouldn't be right next to a pit full of mechanical alligators.

A player defeated in Relations changes sides and aids Goodchild against the other agents. Maybe seduced, maybe won over to the ideology of the other side. The player continues on, now targetting one of her former cohorts in each scene until put down.

Likewise, if a player wins a Relations challenge, they may lead their new amour into disaster in the next conflict and avoid it themselves.

If and when an agent dies, that player takes over as Goodchild, letting the former Goodchild run an agent. If multiple agents die, the last to die takes over as Goodchild and the others pick up their next agent. The new Goodchild may introduce a secondary goal and change the general setting. For example, the agents must collect a viral sample from Bregna's capital building. As the new Goodchild enters, he adds the plot that the agents are infected by the virus, and need to find the treatment lab for a cure. Also, the top few floors of the building are now a zeppelin in flight over the city.

Obstacles
Each scene of the game involves Goodchild's choice of obstacles taken from the total obstacles for the scene. The description of the scene leads up to the obstacle. Obstacles have increased difficulty with each stage of the operation.

Some example obstacles at the insertion level:

Soldiers: A mass of 2D6 Breen troopers Acro 1 Fire 1 Melee 1 for each troop. They fight as a unit rolling dice together.

Locked gate or door Device 2.

Trap: A pit trap or other static trap. Acrobat 1. If failed Check Acro. 2 to avoid death.

Advanced trap: A active weapon trap. Acrobat 2 or Device 2. If failed face 4 melee or 4 fire combat.

Officer: A higher level soldier 2 for all stats.

Relations challenge: A seduction of mind or body by a person or broadcast. 3 relation 1 melee 1 fire

Alarm. Acrobat 2 or device 3 if failed, face 1D6 troop masses.

usw.


At this point it's pretty foolish to go on developing this idea. I'm not about to pretend I can do more without braving the legal waters of IP licensing. If enough people seem to like the mechanics, maybe I can reformat the idea into something else.

If you play it, let me know what happens.