The mechanics cannot be part of an IP. What's owned is the method of describing them. If I have a novel way of describing the way that the d20 system carries out action resolution, I can appropriate that description (or put it under a share-alike/attribution license, for that matter).
Making an RPG. Any Advice?
- Thread starter josha
- Start date
Starfox
Hero
Lets see if I can write the framework of a basic fantasy RPG in one post. Starting out very basic: three stats:
Strength - the ability to take and absorb damage
Dexterity - the ability to hit and not be hit
Skill - The ability to perform magic and non-combat tasks
The basic character comes with a basic melee weapon and nothing else.
Say each character starts with 8 in each skill with 8 points to distribute. They also get one feat or pick a nonhuman race.
Combat:
Attacking means rolling your Dexterity against a DC of 10 + the target's Dexterity.
Damage roll is 1d20 + Strength - opponent's Strength. For every 10 points of result, you get to lower one of your opponent's Strength by one point. Strength reduced to half means the opponent is out. Reduced to zero means he's dead.
Healing; After each fight, each combatant recovers one point of damage to each hurt attriobute. Further healing takes rest - make a skill roll each hour against the current value of the hurt attribute to recover one damage. Basic damage is against strength, but other attributes can also be damaged.
Noncombat:
Skill is used for noncombat tasks, of which there are only a few you can do without feats (see below). You can find and remove mundane traps, make basic deals with friendly people (like bying stuff from a merchant), sense hidden opponents, stay hidden yourself, forage for food, apply basic first aid, and read simple runic messages typical of a dungeon. All with a successful Skill roll (DC varies, of course, but is often 10+opponent's skill).
Character Advancement:
Every fight you win, every treasure you find, and every dangerous/complex situation you resolve gives one xp. Increasing an attribute has a cost equal to your current score. Learning a feat costs 15 points. No award for trivial tasks, and extra-special obstacles can give multiple xp at the GMs whim.
Feats:
Each human character starts with one feat. Nonhumans instead have a racial ability (see below).
These are what distinguishes one character form another. You start out without feats and early on it is likely you want to gain one or two, but you'll probably focus on attributes as these give more immediate rewards. As you progress, attributes get more expensive while feats do not, so diversification gets more attractive. Each feat gives a range of new things you can use your attributes for.
Where reasonable, a character lacking a certain feat can still try to use it, but suffers a -10 penalty on the roll.
Scout: You can hide even in light cover and move around while hidden.
Ranger: You can spot enemies by other senses than sight (hearing, smell, tracks etc) giving you a skill roll to spot them before actually encountering them. You can track and survive in the wilderness; you can forage for a whole group of people.
Healer: A successful healing roll removes all damage, not just a single point.
Thief: You can pick pockets, perform sleight-of-hand, open locks, and remove complex/magical traps. All using skill rolls.
Cleric: You are devoted to a higher cause. You can sense evil (dire enemies of your cause). You can learn prayers.
Mage: You can perform some cantrips; create light, move light objects nearby, sense active magic nearby. You can learn spells.
Tank- You can use armor that increases your Strength by 5 when taking damage. Exceptional armor might provide more protection.
Archer - You can make attacks at range using a bow or crossbow. This takes two hands.
Shield Fighter - You increase your Dexterity by 5 when defending and wearing a shield. Exceptional shields might provide more protection. This takes up one hand, meaning you cannot use both hands for weapons.
Greatweapon Weilder: You can use a two-handed weapon to increase your damage in melee by 5.
Two-Weapon Fighter: You use two weapons in melee, increasing your Dexterity by 5 when making melee attacks.
Linguist: You can read basic text and runes automatically. You can decipher damaged, coded, foreign-language or otherwise undecipherable text with a Skill roll.
Sage: You can make a Skill roll to recall pertinent information, such as what abilities a particular monster has, tidbits of history for a person or place, abilities and drawbacks of magical items found, and so on.
Bard: You can charm people with an opposed Skill roll. People who are hostile might stop fighting for a moment to talk or take you prisoner instead of killing you. They do not automatically become friendlier, but you get a chance to make a proposal, offer, or to explain something. People who are noncomitted become friendly. People who are already friendly become bemused and happy. You only get one attempt each encounter at this.
And so on... There are many more feats.
Prayers/Spells
These are learned like feats and work like feats, but you must be a cleric or mage to learn them and they can do supernatural things. Some of these are prayers (P), some are spells (S) and some are both. Spells marked * causes one point of Skill damage when used.
Lay on Hands (P*) - You can perform a healing roll against ally you touch. Benefits greatly from the Healer feat. You cannot heal yourself.
Bless (P*) - Make a skill roll against one attribute of an ally you touch. If you succeed, that attribute increases by 5 for the current fight.
Fire Blast (S) - A ranged attack.
Fire Ball (SP*) - a ranged attack that can attack up to five targets in a group. Also known as Flame Strike.
Zap (S) - a ranged attack that does Dexterity damage.
Lightning Bolt (SP*) - a ranged attack that can attack up to five targets in a line. Also known as the Wrath of God.
Cold Ray (S) - A ranged attack that does Skill damage. Can also be the chilling effect of the undead.
Blizzard (SP*) - a ranged attack doing Skill damage that can attack up to five targets in a group.
Invisibility (S) - you can hide in plain sight. If you stand absolutely still, opponents can only find you by hearing, touch, or scent, usually meaning they must actively search (unless you are standing where they want to pass).
Charm (S*) - as the Bard feat, but you can use it as often as you like.
Races
Instead of choosing a feat for a beginning character, you can choose to be nonhuman. Nonhuman races have racial abilities that are similar to feats in function.
Wood Elf: You see in the dark outdoors and can sneak like a Scout.
High Elf: You can see in the dark outdoors, detect magic, and learn spells.
Dwarf: You can see in the dark out to 20 meters, sense traps and and unsafe construction underground and keep track of your location underground.
Halfling: You can hide like a Scout and resist all damage at +5. Strength must always be your lowest attribute - it cannot be higher than either Skill or Dexterity.
Strength - the ability to take and absorb damage
Dexterity - the ability to hit and not be hit
Skill - The ability to perform magic and non-combat tasks
The basic character comes with a basic melee weapon and nothing else.
Say each character starts with 8 in each skill with 8 points to distribute. They also get one feat or pick a nonhuman race.
Combat:
Attacking means rolling your Dexterity against a DC of 10 + the target's Dexterity.
Damage roll is 1d20 + Strength - opponent's Strength. For every 10 points of result, you get to lower one of your opponent's Strength by one point. Strength reduced to half means the opponent is out. Reduced to zero means he's dead.
Healing; After each fight, each combatant recovers one point of damage to each hurt attriobute. Further healing takes rest - make a skill roll each hour against the current value of the hurt attribute to recover one damage. Basic damage is against strength, but other attributes can also be damaged.
Noncombat:
Skill is used for noncombat tasks, of which there are only a few you can do without feats (see below). You can find and remove mundane traps, make basic deals with friendly people (like bying stuff from a merchant), sense hidden opponents, stay hidden yourself, forage for food, apply basic first aid, and read simple runic messages typical of a dungeon. All with a successful Skill roll (DC varies, of course, but is often 10+opponent's skill).
Character Advancement:
Every fight you win, every treasure you find, and every dangerous/complex situation you resolve gives one xp. Increasing an attribute has a cost equal to your current score. Learning a feat costs 15 points. No award for trivial tasks, and extra-special obstacles can give multiple xp at the GMs whim.
Feats:
Each human character starts with one feat. Nonhumans instead have a racial ability (see below).
These are what distinguishes one character form another. You start out without feats and early on it is likely you want to gain one or two, but you'll probably focus on attributes as these give more immediate rewards. As you progress, attributes get more expensive while feats do not, so diversification gets more attractive. Each feat gives a range of new things you can use your attributes for.
Where reasonable, a character lacking a certain feat can still try to use it, but suffers a -10 penalty on the roll.
Scout: You can hide even in light cover and move around while hidden.
Ranger: You can spot enemies by other senses than sight (hearing, smell, tracks etc) giving you a skill roll to spot them before actually encountering them. You can track and survive in the wilderness; you can forage for a whole group of people.
Healer: A successful healing roll removes all damage, not just a single point.
Thief: You can pick pockets, perform sleight-of-hand, open locks, and remove complex/magical traps. All using skill rolls.
Cleric: You are devoted to a higher cause. You can sense evil (dire enemies of your cause). You can learn prayers.
Mage: You can perform some cantrips; create light, move light objects nearby, sense active magic nearby. You can learn spells.
Tank- You can use armor that increases your Strength by 5 when taking damage. Exceptional armor might provide more protection.
Archer - You can make attacks at range using a bow or crossbow. This takes two hands.
Shield Fighter - You increase your Dexterity by 5 when defending and wearing a shield. Exceptional shields might provide more protection. This takes up one hand, meaning you cannot use both hands for weapons.
Greatweapon Weilder: You can use a two-handed weapon to increase your damage in melee by 5.
Two-Weapon Fighter: You use two weapons in melee, increasing your Dexterity by 5 when making melee attacks.
Linguist: You can read basic text and runes automatically. You can decipher damaged, coded, foreign-language or otherwise undecipherable text with a Skill roll.
Sage: You can make a Skill roll to recall pertinent information, such as what abilities a particular monster has, tidbits of history for a person or place, abilities and drawbacks of magical items found, and so on.
Bard: You can charm people with an opposed Skill roll. People who are hostile might stop fighting for a moment to talk or take you prisoner instead of killing you. They do not automatically become friendlier, but you get a chance to make a proposal, offer, or to explain something. People who are noncomitted become friendly. People who are already friendly become bemused and happy. You only get one attempt each encounter at this.
And so on... There are many more feats.
Prayers/Spells
These are learned like feats and work like feats, but you must be a cleric or mage to learn them and they can do supernatural things. Some of these are prayers (P), some are spells (S) and some are both. Spells marked * causes one point of Skill damage when used.
Lay on Hands (P*) - You can perform a healing roll against ally you touch. Benefits greatly from the Healer feat. You cannot heal yourself.
Bless (P*) - Make a skill roll against one attribute of an ally you touch. If you succeed, that attribute increases by 5 for the current fight.
Fire Blast (S) - A ranged attack.
Fire Ball (SP*) - a ranged attack that can attack up to five targets in a group. Also known as Flame Strike.
Zap (S) - a ranged attack that does Dexterity damage.
Lightning Bolt (SP*) - a ranged attack that can attack up to five targets in a line. Also known as the Wrath of God.
Cold Ray (S) - A ranged attack that does Skill damage. Can also be the chilling effect of the undead.
Blizzard (SP*) - a ranged attack doing Skill damage that can attack up to five targets in a group.
Invisibility (S) - you can hide in plain sight. If you stand absolutely still, opponents can only find you by hearing, touch, or scent, usually meaning they must actively search (unless you are standing where they want to pass).
Charm (S*) - as the Bard feat, but you can use it as often as you like.
Races
Instead of choosing a feat for a beginning character, you can choose to be nonhuman. Nonhuman races have racial abilities that are similar to feats in function.
Wood Elf: You see in the dark outdoors and can sneak like a Scout.
High Elf: You can see in the dark outdoors, detect magic, and learn spells.
Dwarf: You can see in the dark out to 20 meters, sense traps and and unsafe construction underground and keep track of your location underground.
Halfling: You can hide like a Scout and resist all damage at +5. Strength must always be your lowest attribute - it cannot be higher than either Skill or Dexterity.
nedjer
Adventurer
Most of that - Treasure in the sig. Also Creative Commons, editable, tablet ready. Happens to be a new version out later this week to sate PDF fans mainly. Might be one problem though - doesn't use a d20, special Dragon dice or a d13 at any stage
Anyway, please don't just make a clone. Bring something new to your design. Clones just stick the gaming wheel in a muddy rut on a rainy day.
Croesus
Adventurer
The following suggestion really doesn't fit 3.x, but if you want the above, I think you need to pretty much throw out feats and make skill use much more abstract. Instead use some sort of action dice and/or hero point system to allow players to perform special maneuvers, do cool stuff, and avoid the occasional bad luck. Require the players to describe their actions and adjudicate accordingly, rather than simply "roll to disable the trap, DC 20".
In addition, I'd recommend strongly focusing classes on specific roles, with different strengths and weaknesses. There can be overlap, but in general, a cleric should not be able to fight as well as a fighter.
Make weapon damage more dependent on the character class and level than on the weapon used and character stats (3E, IMHO, made stats far too important with the +1 for every two points above 10). A trained fighter with a dagger should be far more dangerous than a wizard with a greatsword.
Decide how quirky you want the classes to be. I liked the mechanics in Castles and Crusades, but I really didn't want to play all the quirks of the classes (this class gets a unique abilty at 5th, 13th, and 16th level, while this other class gets a special at 8th, 11th, and 17th level, etc). Do you want classes to be more similar in advancement, e.g., everyone gets a special at every even level, or do you want them to be very different, ala 1E?
Decide how compatible you need it be. For example, should someone be able to pick up the 3.x Monster Manual and run a creature with little or no modification? Or are you expecting them to first convert anything used? The single biggest issue with modding 3E is everything is so intertwined, and a seemingly simple change may create hours of additional work dealing with the ripples.
Lastly, check your math. I've toyed with creating a lighter version of 3E for years, and it's difficult to get the math to work at all levels without having to change the system so much it's no longer a 3.x compatible system.
PS: Personal request. Make the basic system very simple, even incomplete in some ways. Then offer numerous options that can be layered on, so players choose the level of complexity and detail they want.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
This makes you look like a dick. I'd suggest avoiding these types of posts in the future.
I have created my own game system that has a core from the D20 system. I changed a lot of things but these helped me speed up combat and make it more gritty:
Damage is a flat number that your margin of success adds to. This means that the better you roll the more damage you do. This eliminates a second damage roll for each attack. You can use the values that I have for my weapons if you want to.
Criticals just add +5 to your roll. There is no confirming criticals. This works well with the previous rule.
There are no attacks of opportunity. So much faster without that.
Nexus uses a wound system that means that means that characters can never ignore even a normal person with a dagger but I can understand that this part would not feel very retro. However it makes combat faster and it is the key to making a game gritty and realistic.
Instead of your hit points going up as you level, your toughness (natural DR) goes up as you put points into it.
I use a different attribute mod system then d20. Instead of a +1 for 10 -11, +2 for 12-13, etc. I just subtract 10 from the number and that is your bonus. So if you have a 14 in an attribute then you have a +4. It means that your natural abilities mean more. It also means that you don't have to have 18s in your attributes to have good bonuses.
Use the mechanic from 4e and have passive Defence ratings. Don't roll your defence. So this way you have one roll per attack on both sides.
check out the concepts page from my nexus system for some more ideas!
Damage is a flat number that your margin of success adds to. This means that the better you roll the more damage you do. This eliminates a second damage roll for each attack. You can use the values that I have for my weapons if you want to.
Criticals just add +5 to your roll. There is no confirming criticals. This works well with the previous rule.
There are no attacks of opportunity. So much faster without that.
Nexus uses a wound system that means that means that characters can never ignore even a normal person with a dagger but I can understand that this part would not feel very retro. However it makes combat faster and it is the key to making a game gritty and realistic.
Instead of your hit points going up as you level, your toughness (natural DR) goes up as you put points into it.
I use a different attribute mod system then d20. Instead of a +1 for 10 -11, +2 for 12-13, etc. I just subtract 10 from the number and that is your bonus. So if you have a 14 in an attribute then you have a +4. It means that your natural abilities mean more. It also means that you don't have to have 18s in your attributes to have good bonuses.
Use the mechanic from 4e and have passive Defence ratings. Don't roll your defence. So this way you have one roll per attack on both sides.
check out the concepts page from my nexus system for some more ideas!
Starfox
Hero
Nice ideas.
Check out the little proposed game I wrote in 30 minutes earlier in this thread - almost all the same elements/ideas. Many of these things speed up a game a lot.
