Hitchhiker d20

[Darrin Drader]

This is just weird. I was just having a conversation with one of my friends that it would be a great idea to run a Hitchhiker's Guide tyoe D20 game. So here's my little contribution:

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

"It says that the effect of drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.

"The guide also tells you on which planets the best Pan Galactic Gargleblaster are mixed, how much you can expect to pay for one and what voluntary organizations exist to help you rehabilitate afterwards."

Upon consuming a Pan Galactic gargleblaster, a character must make a Fort check (DC 30) or find himself inebriated within 2d10 minutes + his Con bonus. Int, Wis and Dex are decreased by 2d6 points (any of these abilities dropping below 0 results in passing out for 1d100 hours). Con is then reduced to 3. Sobriety returns after 1d100 hours. Ability damage to Int, Wis, and Dex returns with sobriety, though the Con damage must be regained at the same rate as standard ability damage.

While inebriated, the character must make a Will check (DC 20) or make ill-conceived provocative suggestions towards members of the preferred desireable sex. Passes are made in the form of a contested Diplomacy check.

Checking into a facility that will help you rehabilitate allows the affected character to regain Con damage at twice the usual rate.

 

[Jeph]

Great! but two problems:

The d100 hour recouperation time lets you become fine again after just an hour, with luck. Lets make it 4d20+20 hours, for a minimum of 1 day before recovery.

Now, the passing comments at the preffered desirable sex. Instead of making it a Diplomacy check (cuz they would NEVER succeed), make it a Verbal Conflict, with the drunk dude at +2 Verbal Attack and Sanity Damage.

Great rules, otherwise.
-Jeph

 

[Jeph]

The Serius Cybernetics Corperation
This is one damn annoying corperation. Whenever a character encounters a Serius Cybernetics Corperation product, such as the Happy Vertical People Transporter or Nuetrimatic 3000, they immediately take 1d4 sanity damage. In addition, all Serius Cybernetics Corperation Complaints Department Employees, as well as all Serius Cybernetics Corperation SemiSentient Products, gain all 3 Verbal Proficiency feats for free, as well as the Beligarant feat. Also, time spent in contact with such persons or machines counts as a Stressful situation.

 

[Scud-O]

dear god, this is the greatest use of the d20 system yet!

i am not kidding.

all of those people who say you can't "roleplay" within the confines of the system can, as of now, officially choke on it.

"it" being, of course, something large-ish and chokable-upon.

may i humbly suggest a meta-game convention that allows the GM to grant on-the-fly bonuses to a PC's Verbal Attack Roll if the player actually says something witty/clever/appropriately annoying? nothing to large, +2 max, but just a little something to reward the Ford Prefect in all of us.

 

[Jeph]

Great idea, I actually considered saying give a +/- from 1 to 2 if the comment the player made was particularly witty/crappy. But now, on to the Hitchhiker version of Alignment: Froodieness. (in case you were wondering, the word "frood" appears as the Heart of Gold grows back up to normal height after being in Zaphod's pocket, twords the beginning-middle of Restraunt at the end of the Universe.)

Froodieness: An Alignment-Ish Thing
All characters have a FS/MD score, or Froodieness-Suckyness/Manicness-Depressiveness. For FS, characters have a score ranging from 3 to -3, with -3 indicating a more sober personality, and 3 indicating coolness that only zaphod like demibeings can even hope to approach. Likewise, characters have an MD score ranging from 3 to -3, with 3 indicating Serius Cybernetics Systems DemeIntelligent Mechanical Object like friendliness, and -3 indicating something around the lines of Marvin the Paranoid Robot.

When interacting with a character with a total of at least 7 points of difference from your scores (for example, you are a FS 2/MD-3. They are a FS -3/MD-1. There is a 5 point difference in FS, and 2 point difference in MD, for atotal of 7 po0ints), it counts as a Moderately Stressfull situation.

When engaged in a verbal conflict, characters benefit from a +1 to Sanity Damage for every full 3 points of difference between their FS/MD and their target's.

Some examples, most of which you won't agree with, as Htichhiker is a very subjective series, and the FS/MD system is also very subjective:

Marvin the Paranoid Robot: FS-3/MD-3
Zaphod Beeblebrox: FS3/MD1
Happy Vertical People Transporter: FS-3/MD3
Trillian: FS0/MD0
Arthur Dent: FS1/MD0
Heart of Gold's onboard computer: FS-2/MD3
Zarniwoop: FS1/MD-1

 

[Clear Dragon]

This stuff is great, I will have to break out my books and reread them so I can possibly contribute to this thread.

 

[Jeph]

Hmmm . . . I'm considering compiling this in a word document, and adding a bigger list of skills/feats and stuff. If I do, it will be at least 2 weeks before it's finished. Well, just wanted to ask if there are any more ideas out there!

 

[Darrin Drader]

Well, you will definitely have to have race stat information for dolphins and mice. You should also address the infinite improbabilty drive. I wouldn't mind seeing characer stats for Arthur, Ford, Trillian, Zaphod and Marvin. Lets see... you should also have something on the effects of hyperspace on a sentient being. I'll add more if I come up with anything.

 

[Jeph]

Dolphins and mice are impractical, the game assumes that all characters are human-ish. Why? becuase stats really don't matter at all. It doesn't matter if you're a titanium android or a mattress (from Squornshellas Beta), you still have the same stats. Still, for players who want to customize their character, you may min/max with no restrictions, as long as the GM says it's ok. You can also subtract a point from an ability score to gain . . .

an extra limb,
a point of DR,
+5' speed,
and stuff along those lines.

But, if you do the above, you'l soon find that the extra stats you bought actually don't matter for scraps, and you'll quickly find interesting things to do with your extra limbs, like gesticulate, eat, and play catch at the same time, that are a lot more fun than firing three blasters.

Sadly, it will be impossable to draw stats for the Iconic Hitchhikers (like the ring o' that?) until I have a much more definitive list of skills/feats. Feel free to contribute, I'll just act as editor and add the "occasional" piece of crunch my self.

Co-ordinator of the H20 project (like the ring of that, too . . . )
-Jeph

 

[chimchim]

"Hey... what?"