Design Challenge: prison-playable RPG rules

[Janx]

THe D&D in prison thread got me thinking. In it, some guy lost a court case for his right to play D&D in prison. So they took his stuff.

We rely on so many tools and rules to play D&D, that I wonder if we lose sight of what we really need to play the game.

Consider the inventiveness of prisoners. They make tatoos, weapons, and other stuff out of limited resources.

I wonder if one could build an RPG rule-set that could be played in prison. Say a fantasy setting, with rules so simple that there would be little to no documentation needed, once they were known or confiscated.

Let's assume in prison, they have the following resources:
some coins (let's say $2 worth)
a pair of d6 dice (from Monopoly)
a pencil stub (for writing on paper)
paper (for character sheet, GM adventure notes)
a printed out copy of the rules smuggled in as a letter from mom

if somebody knows of more or less resources available, that'd be fun to tighten this up.

The challenge then, is to make a set of rules that defines a PC, Monsters, a combat system, handling non-combat (skills?) and a magic system. Basically be able to play a D&D style adventure run by a GM.

The winner gets a no-prize. I suspect the ideas generated could be the one-true-rules-lite champion.

On your mark, get set go!

 

[Ourph]

Let's assume in prison, they have the following resources:
some coins (let's say $2 worth)
a pair of d6 dice (from Monopoly)

I believe in most facilities, real money (coins) and dice are considered contraband due to prohibitions against gambling.

 

[Janx]

Here's some rough ideas I've got so far:

either use 1d6 as a random number generator or 5 pennies (thrown on the floor) count the heads to generate a 0-5 number (add 1 to get to 1d6). The coin method may have a different stat spread, but that's ok.

combine skills and stats into a very short list of generic types (kind of like how 4e merged all the social skills into 1). These would be have values 1-6 (based on the char gen rules)

Minimize emphasis on gear, AC would be modeled in one of the skills and thus improvable with XP. All weapons would do 1d6 damage. All PCs would get 1d6 HP per level. Of course you could add in a stat bonus for each of those...

For the moment, let's assume the 6 D&D attributes (and thus skills)
Strength (bonus to melee attack rolls)
Dexterity (x2 = AC, bonus to ranged attack rolls)
Constitution (bonus to HP per level)
Intelligence
Wisdom
Charisma (used for social skill checks)

Char gen would be roll 1d6 six times, arrange to taste or point buy with 20points

XP leveling would be current level x1000, giving you 1d6+conHP and 1 point to increase a stat


There's some flaws with it. Already I see problems with doing a combat and damage easily being as much as the PC has at 1st level. eitherPCs need more HP, or damage needs to be less.

What I like about the basic idea is that everything is very closely tied to simple formulas off the 6 stats. This should make it easy to remember the rules. AC being 2xDEX is simple, and would scale to 1d6+str being rolled against it. I haven't even described combat, and many of you probably even figured out that a PC rolls 1d6+str to attack, and compare to the AC, >= meaning a hit, then rolling 1d6 damage + str.

I used 1d6, because I assume it may be easy to get 1d6 and hide it. The pennies idea is a way to simulate a d6, with another ordinary ignorable item.

Making damage be just STR or DEX for melee and ranged respectively would reduce rolling, and reduce the lethality. Increasing HP would also help (perhaps 10+CONd6).

I haven't touched INT/WIS/CHA yet, as I also haven't touched a magic system. Like old D&D, I suspect CHA will be the dump stat, unless I arbitrarily tie something to it.

 

[jdrakeh]

Formless Collaborative Roleplaying. No tools required. The original PDF is no longer available for download, but you can get see the text and get a later version here. Alternately, you may want to try Enclave, here (note that it's still very much a work in progress).

[Edit: If it's not immediately clear, I wrote Formless (well, 99% of it), so I'm not trying to pass off somebody else's work as my own.]

 

[Janx]

I believe in most facilities, real money (coins) and dice are considered contraband due to prohibitions against gambling.

I was concerned that was the case.

rock-paper-scissors could be used, with a number of "losses" being the threshold. Thus if you had a skill of 3 and I had a skill of 2, I would have to beat you 3 times or you would have to beat me 2 times.

That could be tedious though. The draw numbered slips of paper from a hat/cup would also work

 

[jaerdaph]

Never Drop Your Dice in the Prison Shower Again!

I'm designing a new line of gaming products catering especially to the discerning Prison Gang D&D Player.

As we all know, D&D is the number one activity of prison gang members today because it fosters hostility, violence and escape behavior. My products will foster an inmate's obsession with escaping from the real-life correctional environment because as everyone who has ever dropped their soap in the prison shower knows, sometimes you just need to get away to Oerth, Faerun or Eberron, if only for a just a little while.

Dice on a Rope!

Because there are some Saving Throws you never want to fail...

 

[Umbran]

I wonder if one could build an RPG rule-set that could be played in prison. Say a fantasy setting, with rules so simple that there would be little to no documentation needed, once they were known or confiscated.

By my memory, Tunnels and Trolls runs perilously close. The only big issue at hand is probably the spell list, which would have to be memorized.

So, that gives you your first design criteria - no long lists that need to be memorized. Spell casting, if any, needs to be something fairly freeform.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

You can easily make a d4 or d6 with paper. If you don't have tape/glue, use one of the various sticky bodily fluids.

 

[jdrakeh]

By my memory, Tunnels and Trolls runs perilously close. The only big issue at hand is probably the spell list, which would have to be memorized.

The crazy huge dice pools will also present an issue — dice are considered contraband in many prisons because of a little game called "craps" and, in those where they are allowed, they tend to be tightly controlled (usually they must be signed in or out).

 

[pawsplay]

How to roll a dX:

Two players each right down a number between 1 and X. Add the two numbers together, and if the total is greater than X, subtract X.

Example: I pick 1 and you pick 6. We get 1 + 6 = 7, -6 = 1.
Example: I pick 4 and you pick 2. We get 4 + 2 = 6.