Blades and Barmaids: Custom Modular RPG System

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Added some more stuff. This will be my last update for the night, and I probably won't work on it tomorrow or Monday as I have a big paper due on Tuesday, but I'll watch this thread and look forward to constructive criticism (including criticism on the writing in the book, if a section doesn't read well or make sense, I'd like to know).

Big Book v.12-26-03

[Hotfoot]

That's pretty good. I might present something very similar to this as an alternative to the standard method in the Big Book. It's certainly a lot less complicated. I still like being able to get specific about breaking bones, severing arteries, etc., but this is definitely more elegant. Thanks a bunch

Well, in Sil, light and deep wounds are described in some detail (as well as what I like to call "negligable" wounds, they hit, but not enough to cause the penalty of the light wounds), so you can still get the whole "broken finger, cracked rib, arterial gash, etc." results.

My Willpower stat is pretty similar to this, but represents the way different people have different resistances to pain. It also serves as a check against dying when HP drops below 0.

There's an optional rule in Silhouette which lets players (usually in cinematic campaigns, another fun thing about sil, reality distortion levels), attempt to ignore the wound penalties through a WIL check, at least for a short period of time.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

That's pretty good. I might present something very similar to this as an alternative to the standard method in the Big Book. It's certainly a lot less complicated. I still like being able to get specific about breaking bones, severing arteries, etc., but this is definitely more elegant. Thanks a bunch

Well, in Sil, light and deep wounds are described in some detail (as well as what I like to call "negligable" wounds, they hit, but not enough to cause the penalty of the light wounds), so you can still get the whole "broken finger, cracked rib, arterial gash, etc." results.

I saw that in the T8 demo. It's a cool system.

My Willpower stat is pretty similar to this, but represents the way different people have different resistances to pain. It also serves as a check against dying when HP drops below 0.

There's an optional rule in Silhouette which lets players (usually in cinematic campaigns, another fun thing about sil, reality distortion levels), attempt to ignore the wound penalties through a WIL check, at least for a short period of time.

What are reality distortion levels?

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Added some more misc. stuff, along with the introduction to Disaggregated Weapons, one of the most important concepts in Part Two. Only major things left to tackle now are magic and modifications. After that, I'll clean up the book so people can understand it better, and maybe throw in some rules that I don't personally use, but others might, like encumbrance, pain, and bleeding rules. Lastly, I'll include examples for a playing session, character sheets, and monsters.

Big Book v.12-27-03

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

If anyone else has any criticism, points of clarification, etc, I'd love to hear them. Would anyone actually use the system? If not, why? Once I know that, I can improve it.

[Hotfoot]

I saw that in the T8 demo. It's a cool system.

Indeed it is...

What are reality distortion levels?

They're a quick and dirty way to set the power level of a campaign. Basically your Joe NPC always has the same stats, PC's have increasing stats per each level of RDL, as do major NPCs (of the same level, major NPCs are always better off than PCs).

Basically, there are three levels: Gritty, Adventerous, and Cinematic.

In Gritty games, combat is quick, messy, and often lethal. In other words, to be avoided if at all possible.

In Adventerous games (the standard), characters tend to have better chances in combat (and other things), and so on, though it's still quite dangerous.

In Cinematic, a few new rules are added, the characters are still tougher, and combat gets more epic in scope. Special rules include existential angst, expanded criticals (any extra 5s or 6s, instead of just 6s), the W.O.O. (Weapons Out of Ordnance) Factor, Script Immunity, and so on. The rules, of course, are all entirely optional, but can make for a fun cinematic-styled game.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

What are reality distortion levels?

They're a quick and dirty way to set the power level of a campaign. Basically your Joe NPC always has the same stats, PC's have increasing stats per each level of RDL, as do major NPCs (of the same level, major NPCs are always better off than PCs).

Basically, there are three levels: Gritty, Adventerous, and Cinematic.

In Gritty games, combat is quick, messy, and often lethal. In other words, to be avoided if at all possible.

In Adventerous games (the standard), characters tend to have better chances in combat (and other things), and so on, though it's still quite dangerous.

In Cinematic, a few new rules are added, the characters are still tougher, and combat gets more epic in scope. Special rules include existential angst, expanded criticals (any extra 5s or 6s, instead of just 6s), the W.O.O. (Weapons Out of Ordnance) Factor, Script Immunity, and so on. The rules, of course, are all entirely optional, but can make for a fun cinematic-styled game.

Dammit! Here I thought I was the only one who had power levels that scaled up and down easily.

So, have you checked out the newest update? Is there anything you're still lukewarm or downright cold about? Is anything unclear or poorly explained? Would you use the system?

[Hotfoot]

Dammit! Here I thought I was the only one who had power levels that scaled up and down easily.

Hence why it always pays to have your eyes open, even when you're locking yourself up to work on a huge project.

So, have you checked out the newest update? Is there anything you're still lukewarm or downright cold about? Is anything unclear or poorly explained? Would you use the system?

Just downloaded it, I'll give it a look through when I get the chance.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

My friend Gerard Paloma told me he was having a problem with the .rtf file format, so from now on I'll be uploading in both .rtf and .doc.

[Mark S]

I like your combat system. It seems to be what we instinctively evolved AD&D into back when I played that.

I think you should think about experience point allocation. I like the way you use them to increase skills but players shouldn't be able to increase their blacksmithing or lockpicking skills from XP earned by fighting. You should try to come up with a way to increase skill XP only from doing the skills.

[SirNitram]

Personally, I seperate 'reality levels/types' from power levels. One can be very powerful in 'base reality' and very weak in 'cinematic reality'. I'll throw up the quick&dirty of mine right now. Keep in mind this is for AD&D 3rd Ed.. Actual mileage may vary.

Base Reality: Normal life for us. Physical laws work. Sci-fi tech requires a DC of 10 to operate. No magic above 2nd level operates. Deities under rank 10 are effectively mortals, but retain class levels.

Mystic Reality: Fantasy worlds. Physical laws usually work. Sci-fi tech requires a DC of 20 to operate. All normal magic is operational. All deities, except Small Gods, have access to normal power.

Sci-Fi reality: The realms of Sci-fi. Physical laws usually work. Sci-fi tech operates normally. Magic up to 5th level works, but requires a DC of 10 to operate. Most deities powerless, but those actively worshipped are at full power.

Hyper-reality: A setting for any of the realities. Hyper-Base disables sci-fi tech and magic, and cripples all deities under rank 16. Hyper-Mystic disables most physical law and sci-fi tech, allowing access to the most powerful spells(10th, 11th, 12th level magic), and Small Gods flourish. Hyper-Sci-Fi inhibits all magic and deities not somehow venerated(The Force, for example, would work in Hyper-scifi if it was believed in) does not work. In addition, Hyper-reality experiences are enhanced across the board: Healing, damage, experience, etc are all doubled.

Sub-reality. A setting for any reality. Generally not seen often, outside of dreaming. All healing, damage, experience, etc, are halved. Intelligence checks can alter sub-reality in small ways, up to the DM.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

I like your combat system. It seems to be what we instinctively evolved AD&D into back when I played that.

I think you should think about experience point allocation. I like the way you use them to increase skills but players shouldn't be able to increase their blacksmithing or lockpicking skills from XP earned by fighting. You should try to come up with a way to increase skill XP only from doing the skills.

Thanks for the input, Mark.

I currently give XP only for combat and role-playing, because I haven't found any such system that had the twin virtues of being simple, yet not easily abused. Besides, even though it doesn't make sense that you increase non-fighting skills with XP you get from fighting, when was the last time you saw an adventure with no fighting? Fights happen often enough that it doesn't present gameplay problems to have a pure fighting-based XP system.

If you come up with or stumble across a system that would work, please let me know.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Personally, I seperate 'reality levels/types' from power levels. One can be very powerful in 'base reality' and very weak in 'cinematic reality'. I'll throw up the quick&dirty of mine right now. Keep in mind this is for AD&D 3rd Ed.. Actual mileage may vary.

Base Reality: Normal life for us. Physical laws work. Sci-fi tech requires a DC of 10 to operate. No magic above 2nd level operates. Deities under rank 10 are effectively mortals, but retain class levels.

Mystic Reality: Fantasy worlds. Physical laws usually work. Sci-fi tech requires a DC of 20 to operate. All normal magic is operational. All deities, except Small Gods, have access to normal power.

Sci-Fi reality: The realms of Sci-fi. Physical laws usually work. Sci-fi tech operates normally. Magic up to 5th level works, but requires a DC of 10 to operate. Most deities powerless, but those actively worshipped are at full power.

Hyper-reality: A setting for any of the realities. Hyper-Base disables sci-fi tech and magic, and cripples all deities under rank 16. Hyper-Mystic disables most physical law and sci-fi tech, allowing access to the most powerful spells(10th, 11th, 12th level magic), and Small Gods flourish. Hyper-Sci-Fi inhibits all magic and deities not somehow venerated(The Force, for example, would work in Hyper-scifi if it was believed in) does not work. In addition, Hyper-reality experiences are enhanced across the board: Healing, damage, experience, etc are all doubled.

Sub-reality. A setting for any reality. Generally not seen often, outside of dreaming. All healing, damage, experience, etc, are halved. Intelligence checks can alter sub-reality in small ways, up to the DM.

Interesting. There's certainly nothing preventing such a system from being put into place in B&B. Actually, one thing I haven't gotten to in the book yet, but deals with the modularity issue, is modifications. That is, there's B&B, but there's also Guns & Glory (G&G), which is tailored for modern and sci-fi settings, and an as yet unnamed superhero mod. I think that's somewhat along the same lines as different levels of reality.

[SirNitram]

Interesting. There's certainly nothing preventing such a system from being put into place in B&B. Actually, one thing I haven't gotten to in the book yet, but deals with the modularity issue, is modifications. That is, there's B&B, but there's also Guns & Glory (G&G), which is tailored for modern and sci-fi settings, and an as yet unnamed superhero mod. I think that's somewhat along the same lines as different levels of reality.

Yea, it's all about modularity. The best part is, you can mix and match. You can literally have the characters venture from one type of reality to another, or even find 'pockets' where the rules change and another is dominant(This is key for playing with any Hyper-Base, since in such, there's no way out unless there are 'pockets' of more lenient reality). It's fun to drop PC's through portals between the types and see how they react.

[Gerard_Paloma]

That is, there's B&B, but there's also Guns & Glory (G&G), which is tailored for modern and sci-fi settings, and an as yet unnamed superhero mod.

Hey, I've got two ideas: Power & Peril (P&P) or Victory & Villians (V&V). I kinda like the second one myself.

[Beowulf]

It occurs to me that you might want to check out the L5R 2E RPG. It's somewhat similar towhat you have.