Following are the straight crunchy bits of my latest project, SURGE (Simple Universal Roleplaying Game Engine). These aren't meant to be anything more than a bare bones set of mechanics around which one can build a game of their choosing. Now, I'm not looking for any specific advice here, rather just a few general critiques of the system basics (what you like and don't like, what you would do differently and why, etc). That said, I do expect the die mechanic (rolling 3d20 and picking the highest one) to pique some interest (most negative), as it has already done so elsewhere - so if you hate it, don't be afraid to say as much ;)

Characters in SURGE
All characters (both player characters and non-player characters) in a game that utilizes the SURGE system are defined in the same manner, as outlined directly below.

Character Power Level
All characters in a game that utilizes SURGE have a power level. The power level of a character is a numeric value that defines the scale of character’s overall influence in the context of a given game setting. Power levels range from -5 (which represents the least powerful characters in a given setting)  to +5 (which represents the most powerful characters in a given setting). For example:

Luther and Doug are playing a game that takes place on an alternate pre-historic Earth where dinosaurs co-exist with mankind. The Referee decides that, in this setting, the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex tips the scale  with a power level of +4, while the humans of the setting have a power level of -4 by default, representing their relative lack of power when compared to the mighty Tyrannosaurus.

Typically, a given character’s power level is assigned by the Referee, but can be voted upon by all the players. Regardless of how power levels in a game are determined, making sure that a character has a power level is the first step in defining them.

Character Boons
Every character in a game that utilizes SURGE is initially defined by powers, skills, or abilities that benefit them. In games that utilize the SURGE system, these advantageous powers, skills, and abilities are referred to as boons.
A boon can be anything that directly benefits a character - from the ability to cast arcane spells to a mastery of gun-fu or from the power of flight to wicked hacking skill. Absolutely any beneficial power, skill, or ability that a character possesses can be considered a boon.
In games that utilize SURGE, boons are rated from +1 to +3, with a higher rating denoting greater benefit. For instance, a character that has the boon Inhuman Strength with a rating of +3 is stronger than a character who has the same boon with a rating of +1 or +2.
So, how many boons can a character have? As many as you want - but, for every positive rating point that your character has in boons, they must also have a corresponding negative point value in...

Character Banes
Character banes are disadvantages, flaws, or imperfections that a character possesses. As was the case with boons, anything that adversely effects a character can be a bane - from an unsightly scar to simple social stigma. Any detrimental quality that a character possesses can be considered a bane.
In games that utilize SURGE, banes are rated from -1 to -3, with a lower rating denoting a greater hindrance. For instance, a character who has the bane Arthritis with a rating of -2 is more hindered by this condition than a character who has the same bane with a rating of -1.
There is only one requirement where the definition of character banes is concerned - the negative point value of a character’s banes must cancel out the positive point value of any boons that they possess. For example:

Kurt’s character has 14 points of boons, which means that his character must also have at least 14 points of banes (14-14=0).

Action in SURGE
Whenever your character performs any action of consequence, you grab three twenty-sided dice (3d20) and roll them. Once the dice are rolled, you call out the highest die result, ignoring the other two. If there is a tie for the highest die result (for instance, a roll that produces results of 5, 9 and 9), simply call out that tied number (9 in the previous example), and ignore the remaining die result as you normally would.
After you have done this, add the power level of your character and the ratings of any relevant boons or banes that they possess to the die roll result that you obtained. This final, modified die roll result determines whether your character’s action succeeds or fails and to what degree it does so.

Unopposed Action
If the action your character is performing isn’t being directly opposed by another character, then the final, modified, result of your die roll (as explained above) is compared to the following table to determine the action’s outcome.

Roll Result Success or Failure?
3 or Less                 Catastrophic Failure
4-6                 Moderate Failure
7-10                 Standard Failure
11-14                 Standard Success
15-17                 Moderate Success
18 or Over Phenomenal Success

As the table above indicates, there are six degrees of success and failure recognized in games that utilize SURGE. These six degrees of success and failure are explained below.

Catastrophic Failure - A truly horrendous failure. Your character fails to perform the action that they were attempting and suffers a major consequence as a result of the failure.

Moderate Failure - A slightly more spectacular failure than the standard fare. Your character fails to perform the action that they were attempting and suffers a minor consequence as a result.

Standard Failure - A no frills failure. Your character simply fails to perform the action that they were attempting.

Standard Success - A no frills success. Your character successfully performs the action that they were attempting.

Moderate Success - A slightly more spectacular success than the standard fare. Your character successfully performs the action that they were attempting and earns a minor benefit as a result.

Phenomenal Success - A truly remarkable success. Your character successfully performs the action that they were attempting and earns a major benefit as a result as a result of the success.

Opposed Action
If the action your character is performing is directly opposed by another character, on the other hand, then both you and the player of the opposing character make a die roll (as explained earlier) and compare the results both to one another and to the table presented in section 3.1 of these rules.
The character whose player produces the highest successful modified roll result triumphs over their opponent. Tied results are treated as a kind of stalemate, with neither character gaining the upper hand over their opponent for the time being.

Combat Actions
Combat actions in games that utilize SURGE are resolved like any other action as circumstance dictates. The only real difference between combat actions and non-combat action in games that utilize SURGE is in the way that they are described (usually combat actions are described as being charged with fast, furious, energy).

Injury in SURGE
Character injury in games that utilize SURGE is based upon the degree of success or failure that a you achieve when resolving your character’s action attempt.

Wound Levels
In games that utilize SURGE, there are three different levels of wound that a character may sustain as follow - Injured, Maimed, and Out. They are described below. 

Injured - Characters who have been Injured have sustained a wound that slightly impairs their ability to perform actions and suffers a -2 modifier to die rolls made on their behalf.

Maimed - Characters who have been Maimed have sustained a wound that greatly impairs their ability to perform actions and suffers a -4 modifier to die rolls made on their behalf.

Out - A character who sustains a wound that kills them, knocks them unconscious, or otherwise incapacitates them is Out and unable to undertake any action at all.

Note that wound levels in SURGE are not cumulative - that is, if a character who is already Injured sustains another wound that also bestows the status of Injured, they remain Injured - they do not upgrade their condition to Maimed.

Non-Combat Wounds
There are a myriad of things besides combat that can cause a character to be wounded - falling a great distance, crashing a car, and so on. Any time that your die roll produces a result of failure when your character is attempting to perform action, your character could sustain injury (if the action that is being undertaken poses that risk). For example:

Andrew’s character, Agent David Fox, is attempting to scale a steep cliff with his bare hands. Andrew rolls 3d20 and adds his character’s boons and banes to the result in order to determine the outcome of this action. The final result of Andrew’s roll is 4 - a Moderate failure. Agent Fox will sustain a wound as a result of his failed climbing attempt.

When a character is attempting to perform a non-combat action that poses risk of injury, if you obtain a Standard Failure, your character is Inured. If you obtain a Moderate Failure, your character is Maimed. Finally, if you obtain a Catastrophic Failure, your character goes Out.

Wounds in Combat
Whenever your character successfully strikes an opponent during combat, they inflict damage to that opponent based upon their degree of success. Your character Injures their opponent when a Standard Success is scored on their behalf, Maims their opponent when a Moderate Success is scored on their behalf, and takes their opponent Out of the action if a Phenomenal Success is scored on their behalf. For example:

Marta rolls a Phenomenal Success on behalf of her character, the dashing Lady Yolanda, who is locked in mortal combat with the vile Professor Frost atop his Zeppelin, which is hovering over the Great Sphinx of Egypt. As a result, Lady Yolanda lands a blow that knocks the Professor to the ground.

In the event that your character wounds another to the tune of Out during the course of combat (as was the case in the above example), you get to decide whether Out, as applied to your character’s opponent, means ‘knocked unconscious’ or ‘shuffled off the mortal coil’ - that is, should your character drop another during combat, the fate of that wounded character is iin your hands.

Healing Wounds
In games that utilize SURGE, your character’s wounds heal as subsequent scenes pass without your character sustaining further wounds (much as the characters in popular action films seem to heal serious wounds over the course of a few short scenes), as explained below.
Characters that have been Injured heal completely after one entire scene passes without their being wounded again, while characters who have been Maimed upgrade their status to Injured after one entire scene passes without their sustaining further wounds. Finally, a character who has been Out will upgrade their status to Maimed after an entire scene passes without that character sustaining another wound (unless that character was killed, in which case they’ll usually stay dead).

Experience in SURGE
Over the course of a game that utilizes SURGE, your character will grow and change as a result of their experiences. That said, SURGE handles most such development in the context of story, with experience often being its own reward.

New Boons and Banes
The Referee may award boons and banes to players based on action that occurs during the game. For instance, a character who spends a lot of time lifting weights may be awarded a boon of Defined Biceps +1 after several game sessions or a character who has been studying damnable eldritch sorcery may receive a bane of Unhinged +2 after several game sessions have passed.
Note that boons and banes obtained in this manner do not have to be balanced out, as were your character’s initial boons and banes - the growth of your character, like taht of real people, won’t be a linear, predictable, progression. Rather, the growth of every character will be unique, based upon the choices that their player makes during actual game play.

OK, I'll bite: why highest of 3d20?

It gives a pretty generous average and I don't mind the idea of heroes who succeed more than they fail. But looking at your success chart I'd think something like 4d6 drop lowest would make more 'sense', by which I guess I mean I like a tighter curve. You're going to be having a lot of Phenomenal Successes (I mean, more than 1 in 8 rolls will be 20's, just for starters) with your system whereas I think what I'd want is a lot of Ordinary Successes.

What effect does power level have?

Hello,

I suggest that you will run into some difficulties concerning whether a given thing is a Bane or a Boon. How about "loving father of three?" Would that be a Bane and a Boon? Or what?

Best,
Ron

Sean wrote:
OK, I'll bite: why highest of 3d20?

You're going to be having a lot of Phenomenal Successes (I mean, more than 1 in 8 rolls will be 20's, just for starters) with your system whereas I think what I'd want is a lot of Ordinary Successes.

Jack wrote:
What effect does power level have?

Ron wrote:
Hello,

I suggest that you will run into some difficulties concerning whether a given thing is a Bane or a Boon. How about "loving father of three?" Would that be a Bane and a Boon? Or what?

Best,
Ron

Hi James -

Well, to be honest, that's something that came up because of the seemingly endless "If it doesn't utilize a bell curve, it's shite!" feedback that a lot of commercial RPGs seem to pick up on public forums.

Thinking about this more last night, I might do something like 4d6 plus best relevant trait (instead of all traits) plus circumstantial mods and power level, with the GM citing worst relevant trait and circumstantial mods against you. Your traits would help you more than hurt you in general, and this way both the time to list them and the time to adjudicate conflicts are slower. Anyway, it's your game, enough of my ideas.

Sean wrote:
If you want a double-hump or high- or low-end curve I think you at least owe some flavor text explaining the kind of 'feel' you expect it to produce.

You're the Six-Sided Sagas guy, right? I kind of liked that system.

Characters in SURGE
All characters (both player characters and non-player characters) in a game that utilizes the SURGE system are defined in the same manner, as outlined directly below.

Character Power Level
All characters in a game that utilizes SURGE have a power level. The power level of a character is a numeric value that defines the scale of a character’s overall influence in the context of a given game setting. Power levels range from -5 (which represents the least powerful characters in a given setting)  to +5 (which represents the most powerful characters in a given setting). A power rating of 0 is often attributed to the typical denizen of a given setting. For example:

Luther and Doug are playing a game that takes place on an alternate pre-historic Earth where dinosaurs co-exist with mankind. The Referee decides that, in this setting, the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex tips the scale with a power level of +4, while the humans of the setting have a power level of -4 by default, representing their relative lack of power when compared to the mighty Tyrannosaurus.

Typically, a given character’s power level is assigned by the Referee, but can be voted upon by all the players. Regardless of how power levels in a game are determined, making sure that a character has a power level is the first step in defining them.

Character Boons
A boon is a power, skill or ability that benefits a character - from the ability to cast arcane spells to a mastery of gun-fu or from the power of flight to a wicked computer hacking skill.
In games that utilize SURGE, boons are rated from +1 to +3, with a higher rating denoting greater benefit. For instance, a character that has the boon Inhuman Strength with a rating of +3 is stronger than a character who has the same boon with a rating of +1 or +2.
So, how many boons can a character have? As many as you want - but, for every positive rating point that your character has in boons, they must also have a corresponding negative point value in...

Character Banes
Character banes are disadvantages, flaws, or imperfections that a character possesses. Any condition that adversely effects a character can be a bane - from an unsightly scar to simple social stigma. 
In games that utilize SURGE, banes are rated from -1 to -3, with a lower rating denoting a greater hindrance. For instance, a character who has the bane Arthritis with a rating of -2 is more hindered by this condition than a character who has the same bane with a rating of -1.
There is only one requirement where the definition of character banes is concerned - the negative point value of a character’s banes must cancel out the positive point value of any boons that they possess. For example:

Kurt’s character has 14 points of boons, which means that his character must also have at least 14 points of banes (14-14=0).

Other Character Qualities
Not every quality that defines a character can (or should be) automatically earmarked as a boon or a bane. For starters, character qualities that don't bestow an obvious, undeniable, benefit or levy a similarly obvious penalty upon a character aren't appropriate boons or banes. For example:

Lando's character, the dashing Donovan Kane, may be the Proud Father of Three Children - but that doesn't bestow any obvious, advantage or levy any similalry clear-cut penalty, thus it isn't an appropriate boon or bane.

Now all of that said, character traits that aren't boons and/or banes can still play an important role in games that utilize SURGE, albeit a non-mechanical role (for instance, such traits often act as guidelines for portraying a character's outward persona).

Sample SURGE Characters
` The following three characters are presented here to illustrate the intended application of the SURGE character definition rules.

Gordon Hart aka The Black Knight (Pulp Crusader)

Power Level: +1(in this setting, normal, baseline, humans have a power level of 0 and compose the majority of the world's population).

Boons:
Acrobatics +2
Driving +1
Martial Arts +1
Pistol Expert +2

Banes:
Hunted -2
Paranoid -2
Secret Identity -2

Brief Decription:
Gordon is a physician turned vigilante who prowls the streets of Arkham, Massachusetts, protecting its citizens from the hidden evils that stalk the night.

Jack Frost (Boosted Serial Killer)

Power Level: +2 (in this setting, regular humans have a power level of 0 and compose the majority of the population while most cyber-enhanced humans have a power level of +2).

Boons:
Boosted Strength +2
Boosted Agility: +2
Melee Weaponry +3
Ranged Weaponry +1

Banes:
Albino -1
Paranoid Delusions -3
Homicidal Mania -2
Drug Addiction -2

Brief Description:
Jack Frost (real name unknown) is a deranged, cyber-enhanced, maniac that litters the back alleys of Newark with dead bodies every December.

Jonathan Grider (Vampire Lord)

Power Level: +3 (in this setting, regular humans have a power level of -3, while young vampires - who are compose the typical citizenry of the setting - have a default power level of 0, and Vampire Lords have a power level of +3).

Boons:
Control Shadows +2
Devilishly Handsome +1
Supernatural Strength +2
Supernatural Agility +2
Wealthy +1

Banes:
Allergic to Sunlight -3
Allergic to Silver -2
Aversion to Religious Icons -1
Self-Absorbed -2

Brief Description:
Jonathan is a minor Vampire Lord who holds sway over the human populace of E-Block in the Venusian Commons.

Action in SURGE
Whenever your character performs any action of consequence, grabe and roll one twenty-sided die (1d20) and roll it. After you have done this, add the power level of your character and the ratings of any relevant boons or banes that they possess to the die roll result that you obtained. This final, modified die roll result determines whether your character’s action succeeds or fails and to what degree it does so.

Unopposed Action
If the action your character is performing isn’t being directly opposed by another character, then the final, modified, result of your die roll (as explained above) is compared to the following table to determine the action’s outcome.

Roll Result -----> Success or Failure?
3 or Less -----> Catastrophic Failure
4-6 -----> Moderate Failure
7-10 -----> Standard Failure
11-14 -----> Standard Success
15-17 -----> Moderate Success
18 or Over -----> Phenomenal Success

As the table above indicates, there are six degrees of success and failure recognized in games that utilize SURGE. These six degrees of success and failure are explained below.

Catastrophic Failure - A truly horrendous failure. Your character fails to perform the action that they were attempting and suffers a major consequence as a result of the failure.

Moderate Failure - A slightly more spectacular failure than the standard fare. Your character fails to perform the action that they were attempting and suffers a minor consequence as a result.

Standard Failure - A no frills failure. Your character simply fails to perform the action that they were attempting.

Standard Success - A no frills success. Your character successfully performs the action that they were attempting.

Moderate Success - A slightly more spectacular success than the standard fare. Your character successfully performs the action that they were attempting and earns a minor benefit as a result.

Phenomenal Success - A truly remarkable success. Your character successfully performs the action that they were attempting and earns a major benefit as a result as a result of the success.

Opposed Action
If the action your character is performing is directly opposed by another character, on the other hand, then both you and the player of the opposing character make a die roll (as explained earlier) and compare the results both to one another and to the table presented in the previous section of these rules.
The character whose player produces the highest successful modified roll result triumphs over their opponent. Tied results are treated as a kind of stalemate, with neither character gaining the upper hand over their opponent for the time being.

Combat Actions
Combat actions in games that utilize SURGE are resolved like any other action as circumstance dictates. The only real difference between combat actions and non-combat action in games that utilize SURGE is in the way that they are described (usually combat actions are described as being charged with fast, furious, energy).

Injury in SURGE
Character injury in games that utilize SURGE is based upon the degree of success or failure that a you achieve when resolving your character’s action attempt.

Wound Levels
In games that utilize SURGE, there are three different levels of wound that a character may sustain as follow - Injured, Maimed, and Out. They are described below. 

Injured - Characters who have been Injured have sustained a wound that slightly impairs their ability to perform actions and suffers a -2 modifier to die rolls made on their behalf.

Maimed - Characters who have been Maimed have sustained a wound that greatly impairs their ability to perform actions and suffers a -4 modifier to die rolls made on their behalf.

Out - A character who sustains a wound that kills them, knocks them unconscious, or otherwise incapacitates them is Out and unable to undertake any action at all.

Note that wound levels in SURGE are not cumulative - that is, if a character who is already Injured sustains another wound that also bestows the status of Injured, they remain Injured - they do not upgrade their condition to Maimed.

Non-Combat Wounds
There are a myriad of things besides combat that can cause a character to be wounded - falling a great distance, crashing a car, and so on. Any time that your die roll produces a result of failure when your character is attempting to perform action, your character could sustain injury (if the action that is being undertaken poses that risk). For example:

Andrew’s character, Agent David Fox, is attempting to scale a steep cliff with his bare hands. Andrew rolls 3d20 and adds his character’s boons and banes to the result in order to determine the outcome of this action. The final result of Andrew’s roll is 4 - a Moderate failure. Agent Fox will sustain a wound as a result of his failed climbing attempt.

When a character is attempting to perform a non-combat action that poses risk of injury, if you obtain a Standard Failure, your character is Inured. If you obtain a Moderate Failure, your character is Maimed. Finally, if you obtain a Catastrophic Failure, your character goes Out.

Wounds in Combat
Whenever your character successfully strikes an opponent during combat, they inflict damage to that opponent based upon their degree of success. Your character Injures their opponent when a Standard Success is scored on their behalf, Maims their opponent when a Moderate Success is scored on their behalf, and takes their opponent Out of the action if a Phenomenal Success is scored on their behalf. For example:

Marta rolls a Phenomenal Success on behalf of her character, the dashing Lady Yolanda, who is locked in mortal combat with the vile Professor Frost atop his Zeppelin, which is hovering over the Great Sphinx of Egypt. As a result, Lady Yolanda lands a blow that knocks the Professor to the ground.

In the event that your character wounds another to the tune of Out during the course of combat (as was the case in the above example), you get to decide whether Out, as applied to your character’s opponent, means ‘knocked unconscious’ or ‘shuffled off the mortal coil’ - that is, should your character drop another during combat, the fate of that wounded character is iin your hands.

Healing Wounds
In games that utilize SURGE, your character’s wounds heal as subsequent scenes pass without your character sustaining further wounds (much as the characters in popular action films seem to heal serious wounds over the course of a few short scenes), as explained below.
Characters that have been Injured heal completely after one entire scene passes without their being wounded again, while characters who have been Maimed upgrade their status to Injured after one entire scene passes without their sustaining further wounds. Finally, a character who has been Out will upgrade their status to Maimed after an entire scene passes without that character sustaining another wound (unless that character was killed, in which case they’ll usually stay dead).

Experience in SURGE
Over the course of a game that utilizes SURGE, your character will grow and change as a result of their experiences. That said, SURGE handles most such development in the context of story, with experience often being its own reward.

New Boons and Banes
The Referee may award boons and banes to players based on action that occurs during the game. For instance, a character who spends a lot of time lifting weights may be awarded a boon of Defined Biceps +1 after several game sessions or a character who has been studying damnable eldritch sorcery may receive a bane of Unhinged +2 after several game sessions have passed.
Note that boons and banes obtained in this manner do not have to be balanced out, as were your character’s initial boons and banes - the growth of your character, like that of real people, won’t be a linear, predictable, progression. Rather, the growth of every character will be unique, based upon the choices that their player makes during actual game play.

Notes and Revisions

I had one major goal in mind when I designed SURGE - cobbling together a bare-bones set of rules that could be easily applied to any genre, setting, or premise without requiring extensive preparation. I think that SURGE achieves this goal, but my opinion is only one among many (and a bit biased, naturally).
It has been noted that SURGE, in and of itself, doesn't emulate any specific set of genre tenets - but that's the point. Surge doesn't seek to emulate such things by design as it was specifically designed to be non-genre specific and, therefore, capable of being applied to any genre with just a little bit of elbow grease.
In order to apply SURGE to a given setting, genre or premise, one need only cobble together a short list of recommended boons and banes appropriate to the setting, genre, or premise that is to be explored (naturally, defining those boons and banes in the context specific to the game being played is also recommended). Simple enough - or, again, so I think (but this post is here specifically to find out what you think).

Revisions to Date

• 07/21/05: Changed 3d20 Roll to 1d20 Roll to decrease occurance of Phenomenal Success results and eliminate what, in restrospect, I view as a 'gimmick' mechanic that existed for no good reason. 

• 07/21/05: Slightly revised definition of boons and banes to address the pitfall of subjective character definition raised by Ron.

• 07/21/05: Added discussion of character qualities that fall outside of the boon and bane classifications to further address issue raised by Ron.

• 07/22/05: Added 'Sample Character' section to illustrate application of SURGE character definition rules.

I've posted a SURGE playtest file to Miscellaneous Debris that includes all of the updates so far posted to this thread, plus a short, somewhat blasphemous, modern horror setting/adventure (non-linear in nature) that demonstrates how SURGE can be applied to just about any setting and/or premise with very little prep work.