Modos RPG Playtest 1: the One True System

[GMMichael]

Sorry, I couldn't resist putting "OTS" in the subject.

The first draft of Modos RPG is ready for playtesting. Much like the iPad, it's the product no one even asked for. But really, you have asked for it, if you've ever said:

"Why can't my Fighter take Move Silently?"
"Drawing on the battle mat takes way too long."
"I wish my mage could wear armor!"
"Wait, do I need to roll under, or over?"
"Does grabbing my lightsaber provoke an attack of opportunity?"
"I can write better rules than this."
"Writing up these monster stats takes way too long."

Modos RPG features free-form character classes, great roleplaying flexibility, customizable everything, never-get-a-bad-roll guarantees, and closer-to-real-time combat.

Best feature: characters don't die - they just become mostly dead.

Download it, take it for a spin, tell me about all the changes I need to make, or just start turning it into your own game with the rules on, well, making rules. I'll be playtesting too, and hopefully getting a chat-room game going as well.

Attachment notes:
- "ModosRulebook" is in the .docx format, and is the recommended viewing experience.
- "ModosRulebookAltFormat" is in .doc format, and contains a few formatting errors, but nothing that ruins the integrity of the document. (Until someone advises me otherwise!)

 

[Dethklok]

I can't read docx. Do you feel like loading it as a .doc, .rtf, or .pdf?

 

[molepunch]

I've give it a try with my group soon, once we have the chance. Congrats on finishing the draft of Modos RPG!

(To give you an idea of our group--we are generally quite relaxed about crunchy stuff, and favor roleplaying over roll-playing. We balk at long battles, like in 4th Ed. We are currently playing 13th Age, and have mixed feelings about it. We had a great time with DDN. We have played Pathfinder but didn't stick with the system.)

 

[GMMichael]

[MENTION=6746469]Dethklok[/MENTION]: I have limited upload space in ENworld, so I'll email a reformatted playtest on request.
[MENTION=6683467]molepunch[/MENTION]: Thanks for congrats! It's definitely a draft, and I'm always revising (next landmark: version 1.2). So if you have any questions, PM me. Since your group prefers roleplaying, you'll probably enjoy:

- flexible character abilities that allow, for example, a Mental ability to mean intelligence, wisdom, perceptiveness, photographic memory, ESP, or anything else relating to the mind.

- Hero points, which can be used either to simulate luck or special abilities, and are also used as a reward for good roleplaying.

- One-roll conflicts. If you balk at long battles, it's perfectly reasonable to ask each player for his goal in a conflict, and to roll his one skill that most reflects his desired outcome. Compare the results from each character (considering degrees of success), and determine the outcome in "one-roll." Players don't have to worry about their characters dying in a one-roll (combat) conflict, because characters don't die in Modos RPG.

- Extended conflicts. These are more like a 4th edition or Pathfinder combat, but lean more toward roleplaying because you don't have to worry about a battle grid; there's just two abstract positions to take in battle, offensive or defensive posture.

 

[Morrus]

@Dethklok : I have limited upload space in ENworld, so I'll email a reformatted playtest on request.

You do? I don't recall setting any upload limits, so that may be a permissions error.

 

[GMMichael]

You do? I don't recall setting any upload limits, so that may be a permissions error.

Weird. Last I checked, I could upload 2 MB. Now, it's 2 GB. So...problem solved! If the rulebook, zipped, exceeds 2 GB, I've probably failed in my "core rules" mission.

 

[Dethklok]

Some neat ideas. On first browsing, it looks like more of a toolbox than a game, and the complexity level is about three times what I'm comfortable with, but it's interesting enough that I'll probably take a longer look tomorrow.

 

[GMMichael]

Some neat ideas. On first browsing, it looks like more of a toolbox than a game, and the complexity level is about three times what I'm comfortable with, but it's interesting enough that I'll probably take a longer look tomorrow.

Thanks boss. I really wish that I could package a compelling setting with the game (to reduce tool-boxiness), but 1) it's just the first playtest, and 2) the point of the core rules is to be setting-less. It will be terribly easy to package a cool setting with a rules module and/or adventure module later in the game.

By the way, I've been dissecting the LARP-Help thread, and noticing that several of the observations made by the posters are valid considerations in the Modos RPG combat system. So keep an eye out for that while you're reading.

 

[Dethklok]

Thanks boss.

LOL

By the way, I've been dissecting the LARP-Help thread, and noticing that several of the observations made by the posters are valid considerations in the Modos RPG combat system. So keep an eye out for that while you're reading.

I'll keep an eye out.

One thing I notice already is that you get into trouble saying that the game is designed to be simple and that "The Modos RPG core rules are very bare-bones" when you rapidly start talking about initiative counters and find ability modifiers by taking your ability score, subtracting 10.5, dividing that result by 2, and rounding the final result. (No mention of whether we round toward zero, away from zero, toward even, toward odd, or heck, use stochastic rounding.) So you should probably not try to claim that your design philosophy is particularly simple. Abstract, maybe.

I do like the way damage is taken directly to stats; there's no really no need for an extra "hits" statistic, particularly with your choice to merge Strength and Dexterity.

I'm out of time for now, but I'll let you know what else comes up as I go.

 

[Dethklok]

The skill section is really where I think your attributes show their limitations. Having abbreviations "P" "M" and "MP" is a drawback in and of itself, but sometimes it isn't clear why any of them is chosen; for instance Larceny being P rather than M, or Profession - Artist being M rather MP, both seem off.

More, although my first thought is, "Well MODOS is modular, I should just be able to change it," it's really tough to expand the attributes on a skill-based system which ties attributes directly to skills. This triumphirate philosophy is seeded throughout the text, and if you don't like it, you're better off selecting a different game, because there is so much that needs to be altered and rewritten.

(GURPS had a similar problem since it shunted almost all sensory and willpower related activities into IQ, with social activities scattered seemingly at random among the other attributes. In fairness, though, your attributes are well chosen, while the base attributes in GURPS are not.)


Looking at perks, I like your list of Racial, Priest, Thief, Warrior, and Wizard perks; your game feels vague because of how open-ended it is, and having waymarks like this makes it much clearer how things work.


In the equipment section, you may want to reconsider having gold be the basic unit of coin. It was never thus in any society I have ever known; silver is a more plausible generic coinage.

Your usage of variable damage isn't plausible in any sense, although I can see that gamers may be so accustomed to saying "but my two handed sword is really big so it hurts more than when I cut your throat with my dagger." (I know we're not at combat yet, but designing combat systems is always a balance between letting players do what they think they should be able to, and requiring them to act like fighters plausibly act.)


The spell section seems reasonable (if unfinished), although there are no spells there that I want to cast. Yes, it's a more or less generic game, but there's no reason "Fear" couldn't be Terror; and I have no idea what to do with "Harm" or "Harm2;" they aren't even analagous to spells like Pain and Agony because they only work against undead.

I think you should check out Dragon Warriors' spell list. Even before I knew what they did, Shadowbolt and Deathlight were spells I wanted to cast. In fact I want to cast them right now.

Sorcerer A: "Face my shadowbolts, if you dare!"

Sorcerer B: "Oh yeah? Well I'll stop you with dark!"

My money's on the first guy.


I'll look over the combat section next.