New Guy

[Chris_Chambers]

Hey, I am one of the guys that was down at GenCon.  I was wondering, because sometimes especially with little sleep, I am very bad with names.  If I could get a list or atleast a response from the guys that I talked to down there?  I have the game "Of Myths and Legends".  Don't know if that rings a bell or not.  I was just trying to touch bases with them and ask a few questions.

Thanks

Chris Chambers

[Mike Holmes]

Hey, Chris, I was one of those guys who you talked to. Quick, before you get moderated over to the Contacts forum, tell us about your concept so we can get some discussion going on it. Read the post at the top of this forum for ideas on what makes for a good post about your game.

Welcome aboard. :-)

Mike

[Chris_Chambers]

Thanks, Well the concept.  Hum.  It deals with the time periods of 16th and 17th century.   For the most part right now, it is based in Europe.  (to much source info otherwise)  Game play is rather fun for instance, say your a salior on a merchant vessel.  In the night you come across a wreckage and the captian orders men aboard to search for survivors...

Mostly anything that you have seen in the movies or in some books and television shows, you can do here.  And though it is based in real history, remember is called "Of Myths and Legends".  So the stories and the old wives tales, are true.

Go to the ends of the world, where map makers have only dreamed.  (beware of things that might eat you)  Visit lost cities, claim untold riches.  Fight big nasties.  It is up to you.

Chris

[Mike Holmes]

Topic for discussion, man. Bring up some topic about your game. :-)

For example, do you want to talk about how the system supports the social conventions of the day (I think you mentioned something about that)?

Here's a question for you: How do you handle the "end of the world"? That is, if the players go off the maps of Europe of the day, is the rest of the world like the real world, or does it change dramatically? I.E. could you run across Atlantis or something?

Is there a site for the game?

Mike

[Chris_Chambers]

No there is no site for the game just yet.  Haven't had enough time, or experience creating sites.  The map thing, yes if they sail to a certian location off the map there is going to be a place where they can find Atlantis.  But only that place, other than that they just circumnavigate the globe.  As for the other stuff, I was kinda in a hurry the other day so here is the stuff I want to ask about.  

I was wondering what you think of the character creation I had set up.  I am also posting the system. I was told that it looked like it had problems, though it didn't come out in the playtesting.

Character Creation

Character creation is rather simple.   Most of the skills that you acquire in this game are through occupational advancement. For example for the first years of your life you're a commoner, the skills that you receive stack on top of the skills that you already have.  Let's say that after you have spent your time as a commoner you enter the navy.  You then get to gather those skills that you procured from the navy.

Character Stats

Stats are rolled with 4D6.  The following stats are rolled; Physique, Prowess, Appeal, and Reason.  These stats represent the base score.  All core scores are cascade stats.  The breakdown for them is as follows; Physique-muscle, stamina, fortitude- Reason-intellect, cunning, education- Appeal- influence, appearance, social status- Prowess- manipulation, agility, reaction.  After the core stat is rolled it is then broken down amongst its corresponding minor stats.  But each minor stat must be at least at a level 2, and can't be more than half the core stat.

Breakdown of Minor Stats

Physique-

-Muscle is a stat based on brute strength.  Some physical tasks will      involve this stat.

-Stamina is basically what it states.  How long you can endure certain hardships.  This is an essential stat for some of the more laborious archetypes.

-Fortitude reflects your base health points.  Certain skills will affect health points further.

Prowess-

-Manipulation governs how much manual control your character has.  This involves skills such as Archery and the like.

-Agility reflects how "fast on your feet" your character is.  Some maneuvers are based off this score.

-Reaction, like it sounds, reflects how fast you react to things in your environment.  For example, if someone is attacking you then they have to score above your reaction or you automatically dodge the attack.

Reason-

-Intellect reflects how smart your character is.

-Cunning reflects the degree of your characters common sense.

-Education is the level at which you have acquired through school or some other training.  It could have some impact on base skill levels if not at an appropriate level.

Appeal-

-Influence reflects your impact on those around you.  At higher levels it
governs how others see your character.

-Appearance is basically the looks of your character.  The higher the score, the better you look.  Scores of 7 or higher denotes good looks.

-Social Status reflects the station of your character.  With a high score, comes higher social class.  The peak class is nobility.

Some skills directly affect minor stats.  In these cases the core scores are not affected.  But all bonuses that derive from minor stats are increased to the new level.  


Skills

Skill resolution is as follows.  The level of skill plus the corresponding stat equals the target number.  A success is rolling under your total on 2D12.  So the higher the skill the easier the task will be.  GM's discretion allows him to set a difficulty level on top of your roll.  For example:  the GM says that to do a certain task that you are attempting that because of actions around you difficulty is 4.  You roll 2d12 and add 4 to your score.

Combat

Sword Fighting

Combat is relatively easy.  Your character has a reaction rating.  For example you have a reaction of six (6).  You add that to the level of skill that you have in your chosen weapon.  That is the number that the opponent has to roll over on 1D12.

You are attacking, and you are at level 2 with the sword that you are using.  The person you are attacking has a reaction of 6, and a skill of 3.  Roll 1D12, and add you skill to your die roll.  If your roll is over 9 with your skill added in, you have hit.  

Firearms

Unlike sword fighting when you are attacked by firearms fire, you do not get the benefit of your skill level of your weapon.  But you do get the benefit of any dodge skills that you have acquired.  The attacker on the other hand has a chance to add their skill into their shot.  But because of serious nature of certain weapons.  Hp hits can be severe.

Attack Types

There are three types of attacks.  First you have slashing attacks.  Then you have thrusting attacks, and finally firearms.  While involved in a sword fight you have to announce what type of attack you are using, be it a slash or thrust.  While involved in a sword fight you may opt to forfeit your attack, and parry the swing.  Parry works the same as a hit, if you roll over their modified reaction once they hit you, you have successfully parried the shot.

These attack , and defense styles affect the amount of damage that you inflict upon your opponent.  It makes sense that a thrust would do more damage if it hit than a slash.  

But remember that you have to announce to the GM what type of style that you will be using before you roll.

[Chris_Chambers]

Sorry, I bumpt the mouse and cut myself off.  But thats what it is in a nut shell.  I am told of problems but don't see it, because I might be to close to it.  Eh, what'cha think?

Chris

[Mike Holmes]

Let's just look at one bit at a time. For chargen, what prompted you to go with random rolls? Just curious. Also, if I roll a 4 or a 5 (possible on 4d6, of course) how do I assign all the substats, given that they're supposed to be at least 2 each?

I like the idea of career progression for skills. Sounds a bit like Traveller in that, or some of the lifepath games. Can you give a little more detail on how that works? Have you ever played the CRPG Darklands? Is it anything like any of these?

Mike

[Chris_Chambers]

I was looking at the roll stuff.  But if you limit to say, re-rolling 1 and 2's then you would have a at the lowest a base score of 12.  Which would allow for the min and max cascade stat.

Basically you have Occupational skills that come with your profession.  But in addition to those skills that are arranged in packages, you get a bonus in adolescent skills.  Which are skills that either don't appear in the regular skill list, or is a base for those skills.  I was trying to make it useful, with out being skill heavy.  So the package was the really the only way I saw at that moment in time.  It gives you more structure, while allowing differences with the addition of adolescent skills.

No I haven't played Darklands.  Though one of my fav's is GDW's series.  Twilight, Dark Conspiracy, Traveller


Chris

[Mike Holmes]

I was looking at the roll stuff.  But if you limit to say, re-rolling 1 and 2's then you would have a at the lowest a base score of 12.  Which would allow for the min and max cascade stat.

Just do 4d4+8 then, which has the same distribution. Or, if you only want to use d6 then go 3d6 + 6, which is very close to the same distribution.

Basically you have Occupational skills that come with your profession.  But in addition to those skills that are arranged in packages, you get a bonus in adolescent skills.  Which are skills that either don't appear in the regular skill list, or is a base for those skills.  I was trying to make it useful, with out being skill heavy.  So the package was the really the only way I saw at that moment in time.  It gives you more structure, while allowing differences with the addition of adolescent skills.

Cool. Reminds me of Rolemaster, but with only one level. Sorta like "Run Out the Guns" that way. Have you seen that system by any chance?

Though one of my fav's is GDW's series.  Twilight, Dark Conspiracy, Traveller

I like that system for chargen, too. I like your system better, however, because (assuming I read right) I can be whatever age, and have the same skills. That is, I'm not incentivized to have 48 year old characters in order to be as effective as possible.

On the resolution system, do you have any rules for auto-success, or auto-fail? Or are people just screwed if they're out of range of the TN?

Mike

[Chris_Chambers]

I haven't played "Run Out the Guns" is it pretty decent.  

The auto-succes and auto-faliure rules are there.  I just have to find them, and see if they make sense anymore.  Alot of what I have done was done at 4 in the morning.  

Chris

[Mike Holmes]

I haven't played "Run Out the Guns" is it pretty decent.  

Well, it's Rolemaster, so many people are going to hate it for all the chart lookups. But the chargen is pretty slick.

The auto-succes and auto-faliure rules are there.  I just have to find them, and see if they make sense anymore.  Alot of what I have done was done at 4 in the morning.

Hmmm. Can only comment on what we see.

Any other topics for discussion about the game?

Mike

[Chris_Chambers]

If a character has only a minimal chance on a die, and the difficulty is extreme then the action automatically fails.  Unless the character has the Luck merit where they can then use that as their one re-roll a game session.  Which will also in that situation knock off 2 points to the difficulty, allowing a roll.  Conversely the character who has double the base score and difficulty on an action can automatically succeed, or if GM preferred roll and use their totals to get a free re-roll.  Luck cannot be given, only one re-roll at any one time.  (no one should be able to re-roll a single roll to death)

Chris

[Mike Holmes]

OK. By auto-success, and auto-fail, I actually meant rules that allow a player to succeed or fail no matter what the odds. For instance, in GURPS, if you roll an 18 you automatically fail, no matter how high your skill is. Why have levels above 18 (they do exist)? Because then a player can do things with large penalties with better chances of success.

It's not a great rule or anything, but it's indicative of what I'm talking about. In general, many games have a philosphy that speaks to whether or not "impossible" things can happen, or whether or not "certain" things have a chance to fail. Apparently yours is simply that, barring luck, impossible is impossible, and certain is certain. Which is fine; I was just curious.

As a note, some people like to have auto rules in their games, but overall it's not a big issue (as they tend to come up rarely).

or if GM preferred roll and use their totals to get a free re-roll. Luck cannot be given,

I'm not interpreting these two clauses well. Could you clarify?

Mike

[Chris_Chambers]

Say if they had a skill of swimming of 7, and the phyical stat stamina of 9.  they would have to roll under 16 on two d12.  But the difficulty was low, like 2.  Since it is a chance everyone has to roll, ie ship is sinking, and their swimming to life boats, the player who shouldn't sink accidently fails his roll.  But because of his exceptional skill and stamina can re-roll once.  

Like I said, really late when I write that stuff.

Chris

[Chris_Chambers]

As for Luck, the limit to that is that you can't re-roll a re-roll.  So if you make one you can't call on your merit.  But I threw the merit in there as an incentive to try the really difficult stuff.  Adds alittle drama to the situation.  Though who doesn't like to have a swashbuckling pirate swinging across from one ship to another.  It just sounds exciting.

Chris