Rank20 (Rules Light! Low Magic!)

[Ry]

The response to greywulf's excellent Microlite20 finally nudged me into posting the rules light, low-magic skill-based d20-rolling RPG that I've had brewing for ages: Rank20

Rank20 is like this:

Something that’s fast, compact and easy to set up […] a more streamlined version of the d20 system [...] not SO close to d20 that it uses the same terminology [but] simple enough that conversion can be done on the fly.

One other thing Rank20 and Microlite20 share is plenty of room for GM judgement calls. But because Rank20 is low-magic at its core, it's doesn't share Microlite20's sense of its D&D roots. Still, OGL sources can be used with Rank20 very easily.

The file attached here is the bare-bones version of Rank20; it does not contain any of the expanded rules I have for fantasy races, magic, specializations (think feats), or monsters. It's also not as ultra-lite as Microlite20, clocking in at a modest 16 pages.

So, with the greatest respect to greywulf and Microlite20, I present Rank20:

 

[greywulf]

Sweet! Thanks for the kind words about Microlite20. I'm glad you liked it.

I love reading other rules-lite systems, mainly because there's always something new in there to pick up. I like the way that you've fleshed out the Rank concept, a lot. It reminds me of FUDGE with a little d20 goodness thrown in, and that's a good thing.

I'm also impressed by Reserve Points - your take on Action Points. I've been disappointed at how few uses there are for Action Points. Your Reserve Point concept expands their use a little. That's good too.

I think your default Ranks for Unopposed Actions are a little high, btw - setting an Average DC means that a low-leve guy will need at least a 15 on a d20 to suceed. That's a bit too high for an Average - he's going to fail 3/4 of the time. I suggest a 5/10/15/20/30/40 spread for the DCs, but see what it's like in play first. Maybe your group uses better dice than mine

For something that's supposed to deviate more from d20-core than Microlite itself, it is still pretty usable with OGL material, which is great.

I've been thinking about coming up with some kind of ultraMicrolite20 system that would work for Fighting Fantasy style play using d6s, and your idea of using just Rank would be ideal for this.

Nice work!

 

[Ry]

Sweet! Thanks for the kind words about Microlite20. I'm glad you liked it.

I'm also impressed by Reserve Points - your take on Action Points. I've been disappointed at how few uses there are for Action Points. Your Reserve Point concept expands their use a little. That's good too.

Thanks! Reserve points are the best part of Rank20.

I think your default Ranks for Unopposed Actions are a little high, btw - setting an Average DC means that a low-leve guy will need at least a 15 on a d20 to suceed. That's a bit too high for an Average - he's going to fail 3/4 of the time. I suggest a 5/10/15/20/30/40 spread for the DCs, but see what it's like in play first. Maybe your group uses better dice than mine

Ah, but in Rank20 you add 2 stats to an action instead of 1 - so if you have 3 STR and 3 AGI and Rank 4, you've got 1d20+10 right there, so trying to hit 20 isn't so bad.

For something that's supposed to deviate more from d20-core than Microlite itself, it is still pretty usable with OGL material, which is great.
Nice work!

Thanks greywulf!

 

[Turanil]

It looks interesting, although I will have to read it moe carefully to understand the whole idea. Anyway, thanks for sharing.

As for rule light vs. rule heavy. I think a good thing is to have simple rules easy to understand and use, the same system to resolve most things that happen during the game. But then, there should be extensives lists, numbers, tables, etc. (based on those simple rules) to cover all kind of events and circumstances that could come into play during the game.

 

[Ry]

I definitely think there should be room for that kind of list; in fact, even though it has 2 pages of circumstance modifiers already, they cover really very few situations. I could easily see a GM who wants to really analyze combat having a whle 4-panel GM screen with just modifiers to Attack and Defend actions. Still, some GMs would rather make up most modifiers on the fly - I think Rank20 has room for both approaches.

 

[Turanil]

<...> Rank20 is low-magic at its core, <...> Still, OGL sources can be used with Rank20 very easily.

One thing I thought, upon looking at your system, was that while I am not interested in using it for fantasy games, I think it could have much potential for modern, horror/CoC, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi games. As such, if I can suggest something, I think it would be a good idea to make rules so such genres could also be played with Rank20. I would be glad to be able to use it with all the d20 sci-fi material I already own (but find too cumbersome to use, especially d20M/F).

Just my 2 cents of course.

 

[eyebeams]

If you're interested in alternative, scalable magic systems you might be interested in Quick20, which uses a build your own spell system whose power levels can be tweaked fairly easily.

I think this system is interesting as most implementations (including my own) of light rules abstract the skills.

 

[Ry]

I've looked at Quick20, but I just can't see its magic system fitting with Rank20. You see, non-magic characters have so much variety in the rules - I'd like it if casters had some variety too. Really, I'd prefer to have a few magic skills that defined different kinds of magic than lump it into a single system. I think it would be easier to fit to particular settings if there were skills like Shadow, Cold, Flame, Wind... or Telepathy, Telekinesis, Clairsentience. It's a pretty tough call to make, though.

 

[Ry]

I think this system is interesting as most implementations (including my own) of light rules abstract the skills.

My main thought was that if Rank20 revolved around the skills - and moved everything else, like saves and attacks into the skill mechanic - then the system would be extremely customizable.

If you wanted to increase the granularity of combat skills you could do so - for example, you might break down Attack into a set of weapon classes (Long blades, short blades, axes, bludgeons, bows, etc.) and have a fork in character creation (choose to be a Warrior or Expert) that determines how many @ and 1/2 skills you have in combat skills versus non-combat skills.

 

[Ry]

Would there be more interest in Rank20 if there was a more complex array of combat skills?