Suggest a game system for me PLEASE!

[ShaneNINE]

First, I'm not a regular here so I'm not up on all the vocabulary and lingo y'all use. So bear with me.

Please, please, please, for the love of all things green and furry, help me find a system so that I can finally run a freakin' game instead of not running a freakin' game because i can never find the 'right' rules.

List O' Requisite Type Things:

1. Rules Lite and Fast. Meaning that you say what you're going to do, roll a standard number of dice, do very minimal single digit math, and know pretty much right away with a simple glance of the dice if it worked or not.

2. Very little (what I know as) 'crunchy bits'.

3. 2dx, 3dx, etc, or die pool.

4. We play fantasy. Pretty generic. Characters range from 'normal humans' to 'somewhat Exalted' types.

5. Combat - here's the thing. I don't need the rules to force realism; we can take care of it during the game. And not every successful hit is automatically a damaging blow. What I need is rules that provide some guiding info: success levels, severity of wound, etc, so that I can make something up (about the attack) that fits what the dice say. But I don't want a dead character every time a dagger lands a strike. On the other hand, if the character gets shot in the torso with an arrow, then, well, better start thinking of a new character concept. But the most important thing is speed of play: roll the dice, look at the dice, decide what happened, move on. Is there such a beast?

6. Broad skill groups.

7. Small number of attributes.

8. Skill based.

9. Ability to add 'powers' (spells, charms, etc) to the system without mucking anything up.

10. In resolution, the dice play a factor, but it's mostly the skill level that decides the outcome.

11. Not sure how to put this... I don't want a character progression system like D&D. Yes, I want the characters to progress at regular intervals, but the rate at which they do should be pretty granular.

Why can't I find a game system I'm satisfied with? Am I freak or something? Aaaaiiiiiiggghhh!!!!

For reference- TriStat dX is pretty close to what I'm looking for. If it focused more on skills than all the special powers and stuff I'd have liked it much more.

Thanks.

[ethan_greer]

Hi Shane!  Haven't "seen" you since I stopped frequenting the Harn forums.  (I go by Silkworm over there...)

Anyway, I'll answer your question with a question:

You seem to have a pretty explicit idea of what you want from your game.  So, why not design your own system?  I know you've got the talent for it, given your work with the d20 Harn Guide.  Designing your own game can be very rewarding.  Also, note that formulating a clear idea of what you want your game to do, as you have, is a huge part of the work.  You're halfway there already.  Just something to think about.

[John Kim]

Why can't I find a game system I'm satisfied with? Am I freak or something? Aaaaiiiiiiggghhh!!!!

For reference- TriStat dX is pretty close to what I'm looking for. If it focused more on skills than all the special powers and stuff I'd have liked it much more.

On your first question: no, you're not.  My impression is that basically everyone isn't quite satisfied with games as written -- and either have a bunch of house rules or develop a system of their own.  There are hundreds and hundreds of systems out there from people dissatisfied with what is available.  

Have you looked at "Simply Roleplaying!"?  There is a version of the core rules free for download (cf. http://www.microtactix.com/site/srmain.shtml ).  It might have other problems for you, but it is pretty similar to Tri-Stat but more skill-focussed.

[ethan_greer]

Oh, and John's not tooting his own horn, so I will:

http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/freerpgs/
http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/encyclopedia/

These are good places to go to find games you've never heard of...

[HMT]

Storyboard?

[Mike Holmes]

Hero Quest is almost precisely what you describe.

1. Using Simple Contests, one roll for any conflict and it's all over. There is one table that you have to either memorize or refer to (I memorized it after one session).

2. The basic resolution has almost no crunchy bits. Where they exist, they're all in setting info that can be taken or chucked as you like.

3. One d20 for every roll. Every roll. There are no other types of rolls for damage or for anything.

4. The standard setting is fantasy, and I have extensive notes on how to convert it to other fantasy settings.

5. Covers your combat concerns perfectly and applies them to things outside of combat as well.

6. They're called Keywords in HQ.

7. No attributes at all. None. If you want to be strong, you buy it like any other Ability.

8. It's "Ability" based. Everything is an ability, skills, "attributes", friends, everything. One system, no waiting.

9. Can handle any power you can think up as easily as Pick Lock skill (and with the same system).

10. Character abilities are rated on a scale of 6 to 1000 or so. And you use a d20 to resolve things. Yet there are still times when the underdog wins. It's all things here.

11. Characters progress constantly by spending Hero Points at the end of every session (pretty standard these days, actually).

All this said, it may turn out that you can't stand HQ. Why? Because it has several non-traditional ideas in it to make this all work well. So just beware. But I can only recommend it.

Mike "starting to sound like a fanboy" Holmes

[RaconteurX]

I second the esteemed Mr. Holmes' recommendation of HeroQuest. I have used it for everything from Star Wars to Nephilim to Bunnies & Burrows to Aberrant, and then some. It is marvelously versatile and, using the Extended Contest rules, any activity can become the suspense-filled climax of an evening's play... something which most other games only manage with combat.

[Nuadha]

The problem with using Heroquest, is that it only uses one die.   It sounds like you want a system with more of a dice curve, where skill ratings are more important than lucky dice rolls.

I would suggest trying GURPS, but I personally don't like combat in GURPS.   However, GURPS combat can be pretty simple.  It uses 3d6, so it has a strong dice curve.

Hero System also uses 3d6 but it tends to be more "crunchy."

I second the suggestion that you try creating your own system or adapting a system you like.  For example, if you like everything else about Heroquest, I'm sure you can adapt it to use 2d6 or  some other  dice pool.

[Mike Holmes]

Nuadha points out an error in my statements. In HQ there are two dice rolled, one by each side of the contest. Further, by an interesting artifact of the chart used, there are indeed curves in HQ, and very interesting ones at that.

Mike

[RaconteurX]

The problem with using Heroquest, is that it only uses one die.   It sounds like you want a system with more of a dice curve, where skill ratings are more important than lucky dice rolls.

Skill ratings in HeroQuest are vastly more important than lucky die rolls, as evinced by the Mastery rules. If you have a Mastery advantage and do happen to roll a Critical, it bumps your opponent's result down by one level per Mastery in excess of your foe's; if you roll other than a Critical, it bumps your result up until you reach Critical then the remaining Masteries bump your opponent's result down one level each.

[Jason Lee]

You could check out FATE (FUDGE based) - so clever it hurts and it sounds like it'll fit the bill.

[adamsmith]

I second FUDGE.  It can do all of the stuff you want, and it's really easy for new players to pick up, too.

[Lorenzo Rubbo-Ferraro]

Shane, have you seen The Window?

http://www.mimgames.com/window/

it pretty much fits your bill.

[ShaneNINE]

Ok, thanks very much folks.

I had already seen The Window, FUDGE, HeroQuest (Mike, you're right, I just can't wrap my head around that; I need numbers!), Simply Roleplaying, and Action (pretty neat, that one).

FATE looks very promising. I've downloaded it and printed it to read.

I'm also rethinking GURPS Lite. Maybe even a lite version of Hero, but the work involved with that makes me cringe.

Ethan/Silkworm: I could do my own system, true, but I just don't want to. I'm way too lazy. I'm not even looking forward to adapting an existing ruleset. If I did make up my own system, it would likely look a lot like GURPS Lite anyway.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

[Mike Holmes]

Shane, I'm missing something. I mean, I can understand if you don't like HQ for some reason. But I don't get the numbers comment. Looking at a typical character sheet, I count 63 numbers on it. And that's before play starts, and loads of other numbers come tumbling in with each resolution. So what were you trying to say.

In any case, if you like Hero, but with less work, then you might be intrested in Fuzion. That and Action are based on Hero.

That said, FATE may be perfect. OTOH, if it is, then I'm not sure what the beef could be with HQ...

Mike