Options for any & every RPG

[darrick]

didn't have an apt or catchy subject line for this one...

a thought occured to me a while ago.  there are a ton of RPGs out there, instead of coming up with new ones all the time, why not come up with a system/rules/options for adjusting existing games.  on top of that, my attempts to re-write an improved edition for the Empire of Satanis RPG have proven ineffective. 

that is why i'm writing some RPG rules for making any game more like Satanis, from D&D to Sorcerer to Bunnies and Burrows.  no, this probably won't be that popular or revolutionize roleplaying, but i think it would be fun for some Satanis-loving people out there.  it's hopefully going to make a game more out there, darker, sillier, crazier, etc.

what i'm looking for specifically are appropriate game system bonuses; i don't have an enclopedic knowledge of RPGs like some people here.  other than that, any suggestion on how to implement this Satanisian template in other games would be great.  if anyone wants to test this system out, please do.  let me know how it went in a private email and please feel free to post it in the actual play forum.  below is what i have so far... 


Using detailed description for a character's action yields a bonus, as long as this embellishment has certain qualities...

Satanis Quality One – Darkness/Evil/Horror

Satanis Quality Two – Blasphemy/Sacrilege/Outrageousness

Satanis Quality Three – Weird/Bizarre/Strange

Satanis Quality Four – Inappropriate Sexuality

Ok, each time a Satanis Quality is referenced when a player explains his character's actions, that player gets a bonus to his character's roll.  Each Satanis Quality will give a single bonus only, no matter how often it's used for one action/roll.  Therefore, if a player rattles off three different details of Quality One to describe his action, he only gets one bonus.  However, if that player illustrates his action with several SQs, then he would get a bonus for each SQ that was used. 

What form do these "bonuses" take?  Well, here's a list I've come up with...

D20 RPG:   Gets a +2 for each SQ.
Single D6 RPG:  Gets a +1 or -1 (whichever is more advantageous).
Multiple D6 RPG:  Gets an additional D6 to roll.
Multiple D10 RPG:  Gets an additional D10 to roll.
Percentile RPG:  Gets an additional 5% in their favor. 
Diceless RPG:  Character gets a slight advantage.

Example 1

Game Master:  A guard stands between you and the vault ahead of you.  What are you doing?

Player (character is Anatole):  I approach the guard, slipping my knife from its sheath.  As I do this, Anatole whispers an ominous prayer to the Evil Ones. 

In this case Anatole gets a bonus.  If this were diceless, he'd get an edge to his next action because he used SQ One in his description. 

Example 2

Game Master: The humans have you surrounded.  They have flame throwers.  You see hatred, fear, and awe in their eyes.

Player (character is Yortaun):  Yortaun will not be destroyed!  As they are fearful already, he will make as many of them flee in terror as possible.  Yortaun makes this unutterable sound with his throat, the sound of insects dying of madness.  His tentacle reaches out to caress the cheek of the human nearest to him.  My thoughts are filled with the pitiful face of Jesus as I laugh at his crucifixion.  How many of them run screaming from Yortaun?

Game Master:  Very well, you need an 18 or better on this one.  From your description you get a (adding the bonuses in his head) + 6 beyond your normal modifiers. 

In this example, the player fulfilled 3 different qualities.  The scream was SQ 1, the tentacle touch was SQ 3, and laughing at Jesus was SQ 2.  Instead of a +6 for that D20 game, it might have yielded 3D10 bonus dice or 15%. 


Hideous Paradise

Once per gaming session, each player may either alter reality or choose to be the Game Master.  When a being walks the path of the Dark Way it leads to a Hideous Paradise.   

1.   Altering Reality!?!  How can this be?  That is a matter for your gaming group to decide.  Perhaps the character invokes the power of Satanis or finds a handhold in the fabric of time and space?  In any case, that character can pick something that is "real" and suddenly change it to suit his needs.  How much reality can be altered though?  Good question.  How about we limit it to one person, place, or thing; and duration no longer than 24 hours. 
2.   The player might instead choose to become the Game Master for the rest of the game.  However, anyone who still has their Hideous Paradise for that session can depose the new Game Master and become the GM themselves.  What happens to the original GM?  He should either have a pre-made character ready from the start or take on the role of a non-player character (within reason, the former GM shouldn't be allowed to become an avatar of Nyarlathotep for instance, unless everyone at the table agrees).  The person that was the GM at the adventure's start is now a player and also gets his Hideous Paradise.  That means he has a chance of becoming the GM again. 

Darrick
http://www.cultofcthulhu.net

[Adam Dray]

These are essentially like Riddle of the Steel's spiritual attributes, or like Traits as used in a lot of games, including Dogs in the Vineyard, which takes it a step further and rates each trait in dice. If you can bring that trait into play, you get the dice.

[darrick]

exactly, and these new Satanis Qualities would just go on top of whatever traits are already present in your DitV or Riddle of Steel game, etc. 

although for RPGs that don't already have such a thing, it would introduce this concept into the mix.  advice on bringing these Qualities or traits into (potentially) any and every possible RPG?  will what i already have written work or is there something i've missed.  please look for holes or weird systems that would be impossible to integrate this new system into it.  i'm hoping to do some short playtests in the next couple weeks, although there are many games out there that i've never played.

thanks for your help, D

http://www.cultofcthulhu.net

[Roger]

there are a ton of RPGs out there, instead of coming up with new ones all the time, why not come up with a system/rules/options for adjusting existing games.

This is a profoundly deep question.

I doubt any one else can answer it for you -- like most deep questions, the answers tend to be very personal -- but I would suggest serious contemplation of it will be rewarding.


Cheers,
Roger