Omnificent Role-playing System (ORS)

[dreamborn]

Dreamborn™ is looking for qualified people to assist in the development of ORS™. There are two types of positions currently available: ORS™ Partners and ORS™ Associates.  Go to www.dreamborn for more information.

Omnificent Role-playing System (ORS™) is Dreamborn's complete role-playing system.  ORS is targeted towards gamers seeking the ultimate gaming experience.

As the name implies, the underlying philosophy of ORS™ is a role-playing system that is unlimited in creative power.  To accomplish this ORS™ was designed with realism and playability as the two main guiding principles.  ORS™ breaks the mold in most role-playing systems in eliminating predefined classes/professions, and artificial level definitions.  It introduces a level-less system that is skill based with character advancement based on skill usage.

In ORS™ all player characters, non-player characters and monsters are created using the same procedure.  This ensures that all starting player characters are balanced with respect to each other and every other entity in the world.  Abilities have been grouped into three categories:  body, mind and soul.  Each of these is further divided into six sub-categories.   Skills are actions that entities can perform during the course of play.  Abilities and skills can improve with use.  Talents and flaws are a characteristic of the entity that does not improve with use. 

To fully experience ORS™, requires the GM and players to use computer aids to facilitate the gaming experience.  These computer aids are available for personal computers, Pocket PCs, and PDAs.  The aids have been carefully designed to speed up game play, increase realism and playing experience.  ORS™ can be played face-to-face or remotely over the Internet.

ORS™ embraces all four of the classical stages of magic, and even combinations thereof.  The first and most primitive stage is magic performed by magic ritual, "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble"(Shakespeare, MacBeth).  The second stage of magic is performed with incantations, "Abracadabra, Dev and Chot".  The third stage involves gestures, primarily of the hands and fingers. The fourth and highest stage of magic, the supreme exponents, are wizards of pure thought, who need no words or gestures but their will alone to pierce the heavens.  These wizards have even been known to wear armor and carry swords.  Of course only the most supremely gifted personages become wizards of the fourth stage.

Let me know if you have any questions about ORS or becoming a partner or associate

Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com

[Valamir]

Kent, exactly what do you mean by "break the mold in most roleplaying systems"?

No classes and Levels?  That's been around since the earlies days of the hobby and is true of the vast majority of RPGs out there

Skills that improve with use?  That's only been around for a few decades...Hell the old Fantasy Games Unlimited was doing that back when RPGs came in boxes.

PCs / NPCs / and Monsters created using the same rules...yup, seen that many times.

Attributes grouped by Body, Mind, and Soul with subdivisions...geeze that's so cliche I'd hoped never to see a game do that again.

Where exactly is the mold being broken here?  Now don't get me wrong, not every game needs to revolutionize gaming. But if you're going to put such strong marketing hype into your press releases you'd better be offering something other than what every game in the universe other than D&D has already been doing since I was 10 years old.

In fact, the one thing in your press release that sounded the least bit interesting was that the game was designed to be used with some form of computer aids.  I'm not sure what computer aids have to do with "realism" (god what a horrible word to put in a press release), but unfortuneatly your release doesn't help much.  Its the most interesting feature you listed and yet you say next to nothing about it.  What sort of computer aids are you talking about? I certainly hope something more than on line character generators, record sheets and dice bots...


I know this sounds harsh and it is for several reasons.

1) your first post to this community is an advertisement.  That completely lacks class.
2) you didn't bother to read any of the stickies that would have informed you that this site is not a bulliten board for press releases.
3) you clearly haven't bothered to spend any time looking around at the many games designed by members of this community which on a scale of "breaking the mold" leaves your game in the dust.  If you had you wouldn't have dared to post anything suggesting your game was revolutionizing roleplaying.  In fact for you to come here and brag about your game being leading edge because it doesn't have classes and levels is down right laughable.  Laughable anywhere...but especially here of all places.

I suggest you take a look around, realize that the RPGs played here have gone WAY beyond thinking in terms of levels and classes and skills, and then come back and tell us what your game is REALLY about.

Do a search on Power 19 and then answer those 19 questions with regards to your game and you'd be telling us something alot more interesting than this press release. 

Your game very well may be awesome...but the above press release simply makes me shake my head sadly.

[dreamborn]

Hello Valamir

Some of the key components are that ORS has no classes/professions, it is leveless and skill based.  To fully appreciate how this work you must understand that we are using a computer to augment roleplaying (CARP engine).  The GM has a laptop or mini-tower, and all the players have PDAs/pocket pc's.  There are 18 abilities, 6 each can be grouped into a mind, body and soul category.  As in real life the more you do something the better you get.  Like wise if you don't do something for awhile your skill deteriorates a bit.  You will never forget everything but you won't be at your peak.  ORS takes care of creating the pdf (probability density function) that takes into consideration your abilities, your skills and your traits.  At that point ORS computes a multivariate outcome space.

ORS software hides all this Bull shit complexity from the user's and therby increases playability and realism.

Yes to gain the advantages of ORS you need to be wired.  I currently game with engineers, mathmeticians and scientists so this isn't a problem for us.  I am predicting that in the future this will be a non issue as the capabilities of pocket PCs increase and the price decreases. 

I am sorry about the buzz words but they REALLY do apply here.  I realize I need to improve the pitch BUT I only have so much free time (I am an engineer also).  Everything is based on statistics and probabilities.  I guess the word mature is due to the fact I personally have 27 years of RPG experience and my group in total has over 100 years of experience playing roleplaying games.  We have played alot of the systems out there, none of us were completly satisfied so we are designing a new system.

The PC, NCP and creature creation system is all based on abilities, skills and traits.  I realize all skills don't apply to everyone/thing but then again no-one ever uses the complete set anyway.  One of the things I love is that you can create a dragon template (for example).  Select the skills (loose term) that he consentrates in and then just pick a duration, and you can advance the dragon from hatchling to any age.

The nuts and bolts of the CARP engine (the software that drives ORS), is customizable for the GM.  The players should NOT know everything about their world, but the GM should.  ORS provides a method for introducing the wonder of experiencing creatures, settings, etc., for the first time.  As a DM/GM I hate it when the player realizes what a monster is and his PC now knows it, this wont happen in ORS.  The GM can customize all races and monsters for his world.  The player will not know the details.  Furthermore, every creature is unique depending on its age and life choices, no longer will a goblin be just a goblin.  Characters will soon learn to be careful.  The GM also has the ability to adjust luck and entropy in his world, and on a case by case basis.  This allows the GM to make encounters easier and harder depending on his gaming style or need to follow a predefined story line.  So as you can see, The GM's guide provide insite into the inner workings of ORS and the CARP engine allows the GM to be in control.

The design is such that it does NOT destroy the feel of a face-to-face game.  The GM still tells the story verbally, the players will still interact verbally.  You can still utilize miniatures but may wish to use the ORS tabletop display.  The goal is to increase realism and playability and simultaneously decreasing the amount of time refering to books, notes, keeping track of health, etc.

In regards to your last point about this being an advertisement.  Correct I am looking for Partners and Associates to work on the ORS development.  As I understand it 'Connections"  is EXACTLY the place to do that here at this forum.

Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com

[Lance Tofsrud]

That is interesting to hear. I have been working on a similar system that is augmented by software in .NET so it is great to hear that others are trying the same path. It is a challenge to define what should be automated and what should be left to the design of the player.

All the best of luck in your effort!

LT

[Filip Luszczyk]

The question is - why should one want to use sophisticated software and all those electronic devices (which, living in Poland, I have never ever seen on my own eyes anyway), if just about the same: deciding odds and verbally describing situation, could be done with as much as one die roll, coin toss, or even without the use of Fortune at all? On the other hand, why should a player interested in all those variables want it for them to pass unnoticed in play?

Of course, I suppose it is possible for the player to want all those variables to be included in the outcome, just to be comfortable with the certainties of "realism" (which I think is totally subjective thing by the way), and not to bother with complexity of the system. Still, this is just a specific group of players, with specific preferences and specific views on "realism".

So, what about players who prefer to emulate some genre, like shonen Anime or Wuxia, that is inherently "unrealistic". Will the system handle the odds of those realities for them? I suppose not. So much for another thousands of sim players.

Calling it "An Ultimate Gaming Experience" is not too accurate I think. Especially that for every person "An Ultimate Gaming Experience" would be some completely different thing - do you realise that people tend to have very varied preferences in this matter?

[dreamborn]

Hello Filip Luszczyk

The nice thing about the design is that it is NOT limited just to sword and sorcery type campaigns.  It is equally applicable to Historical, Space Opera, Spy, Amber, Old West, Chuthulu (sp), Cyber Punk type campaigns.  In fact those genre are have been built into the design.  I must admist I don't have much experience in Anime, I have watched Akira, and a few others but I think ORS would work with them also.

Kent

[dreamborn]

Hello LT

Perhaps you would be interested in joining forces.  Dreamborn is very early in the design phase.  Perhaps you would like to be an associate or partner?  Just a thought.

Kent

[Ron Edwards]

Ohhhh - kay. Kent, you asked me if it was OK to post, and I said yes - but told you not to treat it like a promotional advertisement. And that's what you're doing.

You've posted your links and made your request. Anyone who wants can contact you privately. No further chit-chat here.

Best, Ron

[dreamborn]

The 4th Quarter Release of the Rules went out on Friday.   The Table of contents of the 4 books are posted on my website.  Dreamborn is still looking for Associates and Partners.

Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com

[Sane]

If the game can only be played using special software, why publish the rules in books at all? If these rules are simple enough to handle without the software, then that software is an unneccessary gimmick. If they are complex enough to need a computer then why print them? I can understand a manual for the software being neccessary, although a well-written application ought to be fairly self-explanatory and only need minimal description.

I still can't see anything much that's really revolutionary either to be honest, as I've been playing on-line RPG's of a similar nature through MUX-style clients since the late 20th century. To be honest I went off computer-based RP years ago. It just doesn't lend the same sense of drama, interactivity or sociability as actually being there.

Finally, your webpage claims a lot of Trademarks, presumably meaning the Omnificent Role-play System (ORS) itself. However I cannot find either ORS or the Omnificent Role-play System in the US Trademark database. ARE these legally registered trademarks? If so, where were they registered, and preferably what was their reference number so this can be easily checked. If not then you do not have the legal right to represent them as such.

Ash

[dreamborn]

Hello Ash

The reason you do not understand why written books are necessary is because you are not an ORS Associate or Partner.  If you have no knowledge on which to base your criticism you are just acting like a troll.  But I shall be nice assuming you are just naive.  The books are necessary because ORS is a new Role-playing system, as such many parts are new.  It is not just a mish-mash of what is already out there.  It is an entirely new role-playing system designed from the ground up.  The revolutionary parts are the way the software enhances game play.  The software doesn't replace the GM or the players or even tell the story, it removes the of the BS mechanics, and replaces them with a realistic real-model.  If you are interested sign the Proprietary Information Agreement and read the documents.

Wise-ash you must have no experience in law.  It is a TM not a ®.  Why don't you spend some time learning about what a trademark is and what a registered trademark is.

Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com

[Fifth Element]

Finally, your webpage claims a lot of Trademarks, presumably meaning the Omnificent Role-play System (ORS) itself. However I cannot find either ORS or the Omnificent Role-play System in the US Trademark database. ARE these legally registered trademarks? If so, where were they registered, and preferably what was their reference number so this can be easily checked. If not then you do not have the legal right to represent them as such.

Ash

This isn't fair. The site claims trademarks (TM), not registered trademarks (R-in-a-circle). As far as I can tell, he is not representing them as registered trademarks, but simply trademarks. Registering trademarks can be expensive and time-consuming. Look at the Dungeons & Dragons logo - you'll see it is a registered trademark. WotC can afford to register their trademarks - small publishers generally cannot.

Of the several problems the site in question seems to have with intellectual property law, this isn't one of them. IANAL. Also you apparently ANAL, so I would suggest caution when offering legal advice to another poster.

[Sane]

D'oh, I always get those two mixed up, TM and R. My appologies. Also sorry if that last post came across as a bit more brash than I intended it to. I think it's the Christmas season getting to me.

Ash

[dreamborn]

Hello again Ash

In regards to your question about quarterly releases.  ORS™ is a community project.  All the ORS Associates™ and ORS Partners™ can contribute, critique and make suggestions regarding how ORS works.  The ORS roleplaying system is electronic, all the rule books (ORS Standard Rules™, ORS Codex™, ORS GM's Guide™ and the ORS entity Encyclopedia™) will only be distributed in Adobe Acrobate Reader (pdf).  I am the first to admit that any one person cannot make a perfect game, as such doing quarterly updates allows us to continually update the rules and eventually the software.  If you are familar with software design the ORS rule books can be viewed as a Requirements specification, i.e., they define the ORS™ vision.  But with that said they read just like most RPG rule sets

Recently a fellow Partner and I went back and forth on how the ORS™ system is mapped onto a Zombie.  The end result, I believe is an excellent implementation of the Zombie, being truthful to both folklore and being realistic.

The ORS community is slowly growing and NOTHING within the ORS system is currently written in stone.  Currently partners and associates are working to get their DREAM RPG created.  That eventually is the goal.  Only time will tell if we can accomplish what we have set out to do but we are sure going to try.

Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com

[Filip Luszczyk]

The nice thing about the design is that it is NOT limited just to sword and sorcery type campaigns.  It is equally applicable to Historical, Space Opera, Spy, Amber, Old West, Chuthulu (sp), Cyber Punk type campaigns.  In fact those genre are have been built into the design.  I must admist I don't have much experience in Anime, I have watched Akira, and a few others but I think ORS would work with them also.

Ok, you totally sold me this. I'll be glad to become your partner and work at converting Samurai Santa Go, Go, Go!!! to a more realistic experience.

(Also, I don't really want to speak for the forum moderators, but I bet this thread is now closed due to a major threadomancy)