[OMENRPG] Struggle for Dominance: Ben's PBP Game OOC

Walking Dad

First Post
I like sometimes to make a pre-made character my own during play. Could I see the Burshdett pre-made? If it is a male (they have standard genders right) and not so hard to wrap my mind around, I will use a pre-made character.
 

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[OMENRPG]Ben

First Post
I will give everyone a brief primer on how the rules work, and to start we will be using the " moderate complexity" character generation module.

In short, OMEN is more free form in style than 4e but more tactical than 2e. Due to it being primarily science fiction, guns are definitely common and therefore range, cover, and flanking is very important.

Characters are built using a simple combination of species, four attributes, eight skills, and 24 sub skills known as specialties. It is a classless system with relatively flat math and a 10 level cap. For this game we will start at level one.

If you haven't already you can check out some info at omenrpg.com, especially the species and setting tabs.

All rolls are made using 3d6, and everything including attacks are based off of one of the 24 specialties. It is a cascading system, so attributes apply to rolls, skills apply, and specialties apply. So for example a character with high strength and agility would naturally be better at shooting a gun than somebody who has lower scores in those two attributes.

The four attributes are Strength, Agility, Resilience, and Mind. All rolls use the complete attribute modifier of the specialty's primary attribute and one half ( rounded up) of the secondary attribute. For example a character has a 4 agility and a 3 strength. He wishes to fire an assault rifle, which has Agility as primary and Strength as secondary. Therefore his modifier would be 4(agi) + 2(3 str/2 rounded up) = +6.

He would roll an attack at 3d6 + 6 + the weapon modifier, which in this case is +5. Therefore his total attack roll would be 3d6 + 11.

Now if he has put 2 of his Skill points into the Ranged Combat skill, he would add another 2 points to his total. Bringing it to 3d6 + 13.

If he specialized even further and put 2 of his specialty points into the Agility Based Weapon specialty, (a sub skill of Ranged Combat) then he would add those points into the total

After everything is added in, his total attack with an assault rifle would be 3d6 + 15.

Damage is calculated on the difference between the attack and defense roll. So if the character above rolled a 25 attack, and the defender's dodge was 20, then 25 - 20 = 5 damage applied to the defender.

All other rolls are calculated the same way: 3d6 + Primary attribute + 1/2 secondary attribute + Skill mod + Specialty mod + circumstantial. To climb a wall would be an Athletics roll, which is a sub skill of Movement, and uses STR:RES for attributes. It becomes pretty intuitive pretty quickly.

Attributes

-Strength: physical strength, melee prowess, assists in recoil reduction
-Agility: dexterity, alacrity, ranged skill, assists in weapon accuracy
-Resilience: toughness, endurance, willpower, absorbing damage
-Mind: intelligence, wisdom, charisma, logic, influence, knowledge

Skills

-Influence: charming, persuading, intimidating others
-Knowledge: technology, engineering, anatomy, some piloting, demolitions
-Melee Combat: armed or unarmed melee ability
-Movement: balance, coordination, athleticism, some piloting, tactics
-Perception: physical senses, insight, and natural intuition/"gut"
-Ranged Combat: shooting any ranged weapons such as guns/bows
-Resistance: directly correlates to Vitality (HP), resisting disease, willpower
-Stealth: sneaking, sleight of hand, being forgettable, disguises, deception

Specialties

The GM ultimately decides which Specialty applies in a given situation, although players should attempt to be creative when approaching problems. Rolling multiple Specialties to accomplish one task is completely within the rules. Specialties are formatted like: -Name (Skill, Primary | Secondary): rough description.

-Charm (Influence, Mind | Agility): flattery, charisma, eloquence, and positive persuasion.
-Convince (Influence, Mind | Resilience): convincing another with sound logic and good reasoning.
-Intimidate (Influence, Mind | Strength): coercion, bullying, threats, scaring, and negative persuasion.

-Engineering (Knowledge, Mind | Strength): physics, load-bearing, mechanics, crafting and demolitions.
-Nature (Knowledge, Mind | Resilience): natural occurrences, organisms, and healing.
-Technology (Knowledge, Mind | Agility): circuitry, computers, technological apparati, some piloting.

-Blades (Melee Combat, Strength | Agility): edged weapons such as swords and daggers
-Bludgeoning (Melee Combat, Strength | Resilience): blunt and chopping weapons such as clubs and axes.
-Poles (Melee Combat, Strength | Mind): long weapons such as spears, polearms, and staffs.

-Acrobatics (Movement, Agility | Strength): balance, coordination, dodging attacks, and flexibility.
-Athletics (Movement, Strength | Resilience): strength, lifting, jumping, dodging attacks, and climbing.
-Tactical (Movement, Agility | Mind): formations, tactics, dodging attacks, piloting, and efficient processes.

-Insight (Perception, Mind | Strength): understand, infer, counter lies, and judge relative skill.
-Intuit (Perception, Mind | Resilience): instinct, sense danger, sense of direction, and implications.
-Perceive (Perception, Mind | Agility): see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.

-Agility-Based (Ranged Combat, Agility | Strength): light ranged weapons, pistols, ARs, snipers, shotguns.
-Mind-Based (Ranged Combat, Mind | Agility): recoilless weapons, PLUG, KEM, ship weapons, missiles.
-Strength-Based (Ranged Combat, Strength | Agility): heavy recoil ranged weapons, LMG

-Endurance (Resistance, Resilience | Mind): constitution, resist pain, hunger, temperature, and fatigue.
-Health (Resistance, Resilience | Strength): toughness, vitality, resist poison and illness.
-Willpower (Resistance, Mind | Resilience): determination, perseverance, stubbornness and mental strength.

-Inconspicuous (Stealth, Mind | Agility): go unnoticed, be forgotten, act natural, and blend in.
-Sneak (Stealth, Agility | Strength): hide, move silently, concealment, and lose pursuers.
-Subterfuge (Stealth, Agility | Mind): lies, deceit, feints, disguises, sleight of hand, and maintain secrets.

Species

-Awowlee (+1 Agi, +1 Mind, -1 Str): small, dexterous, intelligent, very accurate and highly perceptive
-Burshdett (+1 Res, +1 Str, -1 Agi): big, covered in chitinous bone-like plates, tough, strong
-Chuklakquiss (+1 Str, +1 Mind, -1 Res): insectoid, very strong, good in melee, predatory, intelligent
-Grae'ahtannen (+1 Agi, +1 Mind, -1 Res): insightful, emotional, agile, charismatic, paternal
-Human (+1 Any): creative, mentally flexible, resilient
-Kraezoch (+2 Mind, -1 Agi): highly intelligent, logical, disciplined
-Turtik (+1 Mind, +1 Resilience, -1 Agi): wise, fast, athletic, good in melee

Actions

- Acrobatics: Dodging, evading, tumbling, etc. Escape from grapples, bonds, squeeze into spaces
- Assist: +4 to ally’s action. Must be explained and incorporated, GM discretion
- Athletics: Climb, jump, slide, hang, etc. Can sometimes get an advantage escape grapple/bonds
- Attack: 3d6 + Mod vs 3d6 + Mod
- Be Creative: Describe what your character would do, the GM will figure it out.
- Charm: Charm vs Willpower. GM discretion
- Counter: Prepare a defensive action with +1 bonus. If the defense is successful attack at a -4 penalty
- Defend: +2 to next defensive action (including Dodge, Block, etc)
- Disarm: Attack at -2 penalty. Success disarms target’s weapon which drops to the ground. A Success greater than 5 the weapon can be thrown or held
- Equip: Switch, equip, pick up item/weapon
- Feint: Some form of deception, either gain +2 or +1 for every 5 beating opponent Roll (GM fiat)
- Focus: +2 bonus to roll
- Full Auto: full auto gun attack which sustains a -7 penalty but affects a 10’x20’ area. Second full auto sustains a -10 penalty
- Grapple: Attack vs Dodge. Once grappled target receives -2 def and is unable to move or attack
- Group Attack: A swinging melee attack against all enemies adjacent to one another and you. The attack sustains -7 penalty. Must have a larger or more momentous weapon
- Heal: Knowledge Nature, Roll/5=Vitality restored, Can only restore full Vitality per day
- Improvised Use: Guns/improvised weapons are treated as Melee Bludgeoning weapons
- Intimidate: Intimidate vs Willpower. GM determines effect from penalty to surrender
- KEM: Bursts of momentum can affect up to Roll x 10kg (or 20 lbs). Roll = human-sized target moved in feet
- Knowledge: Roll to assist a secondary roll such as Attacks or Skills. The Roll/5 = bonus to secondary Roll
- Move: Move 30’ (25’ for an awowlee)
- Perceive: Perceive, Insight, or Intuit. These can be used to assist with other Rolls
- PLUG: Wide range of chemical or energy effects on organic material. GM discretion
- Posture Change: Switching from standing to kneeling to prone or tucking into cover. Kneeling grants +1 to Dodge vs Ranged, Prone grants +2 to Dodge vs Ranged.
- Reload: Reload a gun or weapon of similar complexity. Bows require no reload.
- Sacrifice: Take damage for ally, must be adjacent or in line of effect
- Sneak: Roll Sneak vs enemy’s Percept. Success makes target unaware. Attacks receive +4 vs unaware targets. Moving at full speed sustains a -5 Sneak penalty, Sprint is -10
- Sprint: Move double speed but suffer -2 to next 2 actions (including attacks/defenses), penalty reduced via Athletics upon GM discretion
- Target: Can target different body parts with other effects. Attacker takes -4 when targeting but a -5 when targeting the eyes and ears
o Head: add +2 to damage and target is dizzy
o Eyes: blinded. Target sustains -3 to Percept -4 to Attacks
o Ears: deaf. Target sustains -2 to Dodge against out of sight attackers
o Hands: target takes half damage, but takes -4 to all actions with hands (even attacks)
o Feet: target takes half damage but sustains -4 to dodge
o Groin: stunned with pain, temporarily unable to act
o Legs: unable to sprint. Speed reduced to half, No movement Rolls
o Arms: Target can only make one attack per round, including counters. Attacks take -2
- Trip: Melee or Movement vs Defense. A successful Trip makes the target prone. Prone causes a -4 penalty to any Rolls
 
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Walking Dad

First Post
So, the weapon modifier represents both accuracy and lethality of a weapon, right?

I'm not a big fan of how something similar was executed in the (new) World of Darkness system, but I will not judge anything before trying it out.
 

[OMENRPG]Ben

First Post
So, the weapon modifier represents both accuracy and lethality of a weapon, right?

I'm not a big fan of how something similar was executed in the (new) World of Darkness system, but I will not judge anything before trying it out.

That's correct. The point behind it is that damage doesn't correlate very well with lethality in D&D and most RPGs. The system OMEN uses is more representative of lethality from accuracy, so it is still possible to roll very high with a toothpick and stab someone just correctly in the eye, and they die.

If it was a system that used separation between damage and accuracy, it is a little more abstract. You might roll a very high "to hit" and then roll minimum damage, something that I've never particularly enjoyed as a player or designer.

While most of the playtesters I've had end up enjoying and appreciating the correlation between a high to hit and high damage, others find it too streamlined or to cause too much stacking. But, that is why I'm doing the playtesting with some more experienced folks like the ones here on EN World.

Any and all feedback is appreciated, so please don't be shy. And, we'll see how it works in actual play relatively soon. I will keep editing the post above to reflect more of the rules you need to know, and then I will post up a few premade characters in the Rogue's Gallery. I'll link it over to there once it is completed.

Thanks for the feedback!
 

Velmont

First Post
I agree with both of you...

In D&D, you roll a 19 and you then roll minimal damage is sometimes annoying...

But at the same time, imagine a situation where you have a hunting rifle and a saw-off shotgun with slug shell.

The long barrel of the hunting rifle will give a lot more more precision than the saw-off shotgun.

Now, imagine you hit with both, in the chest. A hunting riffle ammo could do a small hole that luckily miss all vital part, while a shotgun slug looking like THAT will necessary end with a large hole in the chest... and you probably hit a major artery.

So the suggestion is that the level of success increase the damage output, but you still have a basic damage.
 

[OMENRPG]Ben

First Post
Well, I designed OMEN to be fast and to make close enough sense. Not to simulate real ballistics. Were I to simulate real ballistics, then yes I would have a lot more granularity (and thus complexity) within the system. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at the table, rolling dice, it usually doesn't matter much.

That being said, the real damage of most high-powered rifle bullets is that they scramble up all of the meat from the kinetic shockwave caused by the rifling effect of the bullet spiraling out of the barrel. When a bullet is spinning 3000 rpm, it will definitely make a huge gaping hole.

And not just size and shape of the bullet, but the tip design has a huge impact as well. For example, a frangible tip explodes into powder once it hits something. This is devastating inside of a body, but useless against steel or ceramic body armor, as it just snaps apart.

On the other hand, a hollow point can spread and rip through lots of organic material, but is also severely weakened by most forms of body armor (especially in a sci-fi universe in which very dense ablative materials are relatively common).

And in fact, the ballistics of guns in OMEN is entirely different than that of modern Earth. The bullet's energy is produced by a Kinetic Energy Manipulation core in the back of every gun, and the ammo itself is pretty small and caseless as all of the projectile energy is launched from within the gun rather than using powder and chemicals.

I'm not unfamiliar with gun design or ballistics, but when it broke down to it, saying a sniper was +6, an assault rifle was +5, a pistol was +4, and a sword was +3, it simplified and expedited game play. In the end, the character's modifier is much much more important than the weapon being used.
 

Walking Dad

First Post
I have no problems with highly accurate weapons deal high damage. But in NWoD, if you were totally untrained in melee, it was easier to hit an enemy with a chainsaw than a dagger... So the problem would be devastating (high damage) weapons are suddenly very accurate. But as I said, let's throw some dice before judging anything :)
 

[OMENRPG]Ben

First Post
I have put up two pre made characters in the rogue's gallery, as well as elaborated on the rules you guys need to know. If you want to make a character, tell me and I'll help you figure it out.
 

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