An Idea

[thomas mill8]

I am currently working on a post apocalyptic RPG. I'll just outline the main points.

Stats are determined by rolling 3d8. The stats are Strength, Intelligence, Agility, and Accuracy. Each of these stats has 3 sub stats, except Accuracy which has 5. Substats are increased instead of normal stats.

Strength has Size: X Constitution: X and Strength: X

Intelligence has Medical: X Mechanical: X and Technology: X

Agility has Speed: X Dex: X and Stealth: X

Accuracy has: Light: X Medium: X Sniper Rifles: X Heavy Automatic: X and Explosives: X

Substats are determined by adding your base stats and X points from you substat modifier pool. Your modifier pool is 1d12.
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Size:
Determines the physical size of your character. 1-8 is very small. -2 to all Strength substats. +2 to all Agility substats.
9-14: Small -1 to all Strength substats and +1 to all Agility substats.
15-19: Average. No bonus.
20+: Large: +2 to all Strength substats and -2 to all Agility substats.

Constitution is used to determine Health and resistance checks.

Strength is used for damage, maximum load and some physical checks. 10 lbs per level of strength.

Health is (Con/2)+Con.

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Intelligence is more class specific. So here I will list the classes.

Medic: Allows for use of medic substat.

Engineer: Allows for use of mechanical substat.

Hacker: Allows for use of technology substat.

Sniper: More in the accuraccy section.

Demolitioneer: See above.

The substat allows for use of more advanced items.

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Speed is used to determine AP. AP is half of your speed. AP is used when in combat.

Dexterity is used to determine your dodge rate. Dodge rate is equal to your dexterity level.

Stealth is used to see if you can use stealth based items and your hide ability. Hide is stealth x 2 - opp Int.

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Accuracy is used to determine ranged weapon accuracy.

Unless you are a sniper, Sniper rifle accuracy is halved. Unless you are a Demolitioneer the same penalty applies to explosives.

Accuracy is a weapons accuracy + your accuracy bonus for that weapon type.

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Weapons:

The Game is set in the future. Not too sure on an exact date, but somewhere in the 2060s or 70s. The weapons would consist of mostly current weapons, but futuristic weapons later in the game.

Plot:

Terrorists unleashed massive Biological attacks, causing most of the world to become a desert wasteland. Water and food are precious commodities. Guns are even more so. Bandits rove the world, raiding towns and villages, and killing travelers. You can either be a bandit, or become a champion working towards a better world.

Social Structure:

There are a few types of towns you can expect to find.

1. Villages - Small, has around 20 people, guns are mostly non existent. They do however hire travelers for protection, and sell food and water.

2. Town - Average sized, had around 100 people, has some basic weaponry. Sells food and water, and occasionaly some transportation.

3. City -  Large sized. Has around 300 people, stocks decent weaponry. Doesn't sell food or water, since they have none to spare. Has a large supply of weaponry. Always has some transportation.

4. Fallout Shelters - Average sized. Has around 70 people. Stocks advanced weapons in small quantities, and some food and water.

5. Metropolis - Largest. Has 1000-5000 people depending on the country. A metropolis
is an inhabited city that was built before the attacks. There is only one per continent. They stock everything you need, but it won't come cheap.

New York city has 5000 people. London has 4000. Brazil has 3200 people. Hong Kong has 2400.  Cairo has 1000.

This sums most of it up. Skills will come at a later date, because I currently have only rough ideas for them. Any ideas for them would be greatly appreciated.

[Ken]

Neat idea; I have a couple of questions/observations I'd like to share.

1)  I love the size stat. I've included something like this in a couple of my game designs and think its a cool way to help differentiate between characters.
2) Under Intelligence, you don't have a knowledge stat for those who might be post-apocalytpic living libraries. Your design definitely seems more tactical/combat oriented. Is there any room for something this? Maybe mechanical and Technology can be combine to make room.
3) For the sake of consistency, could some of the weapons classes be combined to make 3 substats in Accuracy? Its probably not important, I'm just curious.
4) A lot of games make a direct correlation between dexterity and dodging. In a game like this, I think that strategy and tactical knowledge may be just as important a factor as physical quickness. What do you think?

Looks great so far; keep up the good work!

Take care,

Ken

[thomas mill8]

1. Thanks.

2. Maybe medical could be changed into science, allowing it to cover all scientific areas. I'll take your suggestion and make mechanical and technology into engineering. And I'll add in a general knowledge section, to encompass all the basic areas of knowledge.

3. The most I could shorten it to is 4, so I'll leave it at 5 for ease of use.

4. I've been thinking of adding a leader class, who uses bonus effects on his team. Now that it exists, his primary stat could be general knowledge. I still need to work out some skill ideas for it.


Now for some Updates:

Thrown weapons. Weapon range is (Str/Wep Wt) + Str.

Leveling up. When you level up, you gain 5 stat points, and 1 skill point every other level. Add Con/2 to your health. Add 1 ap to your total ap.

[thomas mill8]

Update:

Wound system:

Full Health: No penalties.
3/4: Hurt. -10% to accuracy, -1 to all other attributes. -2 to max AP.
1/2: Wounded. -30% to accuracy. -3 to all all other attributes. -4 to max AP.
1/4: Dying. -50% to accuracy. -5 to all other attributes. -8 to max AP. If not healed in 3 rounds, then they enter Dead state.
0: Dead. Cannot move or act. If not revived in 2 rounds, your character permanently dies.

If you enter the dead state from wounded, hurt, of full, there is no chance to be revived.

If you take half of your health in one hit, make a constitution check, depending on the type of gun. If failed, you are unconscious. Unconsiousness is exactly like dead state, except you regain consciousness after 4 turns.

Combat:

Move: 1 AP
Aim: 1 AP -25% to hit if you shoot without aiming first.
Shoot: 1 AP .5 ap if your weapon is semiautomatic. If you aim, shoot, then shoot again, you suffer -10% to hit.
Burst: 1 AP for 3 round burst, 2 for 5 round burst, and 3 for a 10. Each subsequent shot in a burst is at -5% to hit.
Suppress: All AP. Inflicts suppression on your target.
Reload: 1 AP per shell/bullet for shotguns/non clip loaders. 2 AP for clip loaders.

(Incase this isn't clear, the penalty is cumulative.)

Being Suppressed: If you are suppressed, you have a 30% penalty to hit, and if you move from behind cover, you must check to see if you are hit. This is calculated as normal atacks would be. For every action outside of cover you take, you must check to see if you are hit.


Building Outposts: (Under Major Revision) Once you have aquired the appropriate skills, you can build small outposts and towns. Depending on the type of supplies you have you can build different buildings. You must also attract population to run your outpost, and the higher your population, the more skilled workers you will have.

[Callan S.]

Hi Tomas,

What's makes you excited about playing this game when it's finished?

[thomas mill8]

Mostly the open endedness I hope to give it. Of course there would be shorter campaigns, but I'm really hoping to make a sandbox mode the heart of the game. The ability to mold a post apocalyptic world in your image, eithering restoring it to its former glory, or becoming a dictator who crushes other civilizations, is very satisfying.

And for another update:

Hired Help: Your not the only one looking for work. To start with, you'll mostly be competeing with these people for jobs. Later on, you can higher them as supplements to your party, although not without restrictions. You must feed, water, and pay them. You must keep them happy or they may abandon you, or worse, revolt. They are weaker than PCs, and this is shown in the fact that they can not learn new skills, nor level up. They also only have HP equal to their constitution.

Recruitment: Once you have your own city, you can recruit citizens, either forcibly, or by coaxing them. Since this would cause longer battles if each member rolled individually, you make squads out of 4 people. Their stats are equal to the highest person in their squads stats. They also use all weapons from people in their squad. Their AP is the average of all of the members.

[Callan S.]

With that restoration or become a dictator, I imagine with the rules you outline at the start it'd be possible to be walking along, fail to spot a pit trap and fall to your death. The whole restoration/dictator thing wouldn't be addressed for that PC, ever. Does that suit your game? I'm not pushing for a particular answer with this question, a yes or no might help you out (you don't have to post your answer).

[thomas mill8]

It depends on the GM. I personally don't intend for a player to die by bad luck, only if they make bad choices.Other GMs may run it differently. I always make sure there is an intellegent way to do things that is easier than other ways. Using your pitfall as an example, that would most likely only happen if they go along known bandit hotspots, and not even bothering to check for anything wrong. Of course, if a player made a choice that foolish, I'd skip the pitfall and just have them get ambushed. If they did stop and check, I would applaud their lack of idiocy by making it easy to spot. But I also don't intend to give them high ranking positions and high level characters to start with.

Anyways, here is the update, followed by a sample campaign. This campaign is not sandbox, it is intended for feedback purposes after play.

Melee: Roll 1 or more d20, depending on your skills and dexterity. For every 20 points of dex, add one more D20. If your roll is higher than your opponents roll, which is calculated in the same way, you hit. Damage is calculated by dividing your strength by the melee weapon modifier. Fists only is a modifier of 5. That means a character with 15 strength will deal 3 damage.



Campaign Skills: (This is a rough draft of skills, and a very very small fraction of the total available skills)


Science Skills:

First Aid: Add 1d6 to all damage healed.

Advanced First Aid: Add 2d6 to all damage healed. (Requires First Aid)

Resuscitate: Can attempt to bring a player from the dead state to dying without equipment with a DC of 15+, depending on the situation. (Requires Advanced First Aid)


Engineering Skills:

Manufacturing: Can make bullets by using the appropriate supplies. Can also make light body armor with the appropriate supplies.

Explosives Manufacturing: Can make fragmentation grenades, and small IEDs. (Improvised explosive devices) (Requires manufacturing.)

Hacking: Allows for the bypassing of electronic locks and security systems, with appropriate DCs.


Stealth Skills:

Stealth: Allows for a player to sneak past NPCs with appropriate DCs.

Assassination: A player can attack from stealth, with the target having to make a spot check, then a defensive check to avoid damage. If not, the target takes double damage, or is considered captured if the PC decides to. (Requires Stealth)

Lockpicking: Allows for a player to disable mechanical locks, with appropriate DCs.


Combat Skills:

Recoil Control: When shooting with pistols and sub machine guns, the recoil penalty is reduced from 10% to 5%. (Still Cumulative)

Martial Arts: Dex for melee rolls is increased by 2, and melee damage is increased by 2.


Setting: This takes place in a random city. War rages on between the militia, and a local gang. The militia has hired several new recruits, and the PCs are some of them. (GM info only: The town militia is corrupt. They are trafficking arms and hiring out hitmen. Some people have found out about it, and have decided to stop them. They have no way of getting the information to the masses, due to strict militia control on all information channels.)

Mission One: The Prologue - You are in the militia headquarters when it is assaulted by the gang. Molotovs have set the building alight, and smoke is filling the area.  Several gang members have entered the building, and begun slaughtering the militia. Your objective is to fight your way out. (GM Info: The gang members have 12 hp, 6 ap, they use smgs that deal 4 damage, and have a total accuracy of 60%.)

Mission Two: Rebuilding - While cleaning up the heavily damaged building, you are assaulted again. After the fight you find information that shows the militia is selling weaponry illegally.

Mission Three: Recruited - After you realize what the militia is doing, you can either join the higher ranks of the militia, or work for the gang. If you join the militia, you have to attack the gang's headquarters. This is a large shootout between several of the gang members as listed before.

If you join the gang, you must kill the leader of the militia. The PCs can choose how to do so. The Militia leader has 25 hp, 8 ap, can deal 6 dmg, and has 70% accuracy.

Mission Four: End Game - If you sided with the militia, you must fight the gang leaders, one for each of the PCs. They have the same stats as the militia leader.

If you sided with the gang, you must shootout with the remaining militia. These have the same stats as normal gang members.

[Conteur]

You should rename your subject like "a Post-Apocalyptic RPG". An Idea is too vague...
One of the first question I would ask if I were playing in there would be "since when did the terrorist used their weapon?", next would be "are they still living?, where are they?, could I meet one?, where they helped by a government?".
Survival for the sake of survival is not a good way to survive for long...
Lastly, if I was a player, I would need some Cthulhu or magic to play a whole campaign. But that's just me...