Monday, March 22, 2010

ARCADE RULESET: REVAMPED

As I intended, last weekend I run the introductory adventure for the Dragon Age RPG. And as I expected, I liked it very much; and I think the players liked it too, if only for the fact that they were able to learn a new rpg in about half an hour and start playing.

So now its thinking time again. I want to use it as the basis for my generic system, but without totally discarding what I had done so far with my own Arcade ruleset. How can I adapt and merge the two systems?
To begin with, so far I'll keep the general basis of Arcade, but giving it the two main DA characteristics: the 3d6 roll as the only type of roll, and the "dragon die" and its utilities. You may want to re-read now the article that offered general overview of the Arcade ruleset before continuing.
HP: You begin with 5 points for free, and then buy dice of HP. Two construction points per die.
MOV: Based on race. 5 is the standard free stat; you can add 1 per construction point, or substract one for one extra construction point.
INI: A derived stat, equals AGI (free) + racial bonus (add 1 per construction point) + class bonus or special training (add 1 per construction point).
MAR: Very changed, as there won't be special combat dice anymore, but the catch-all mechanic of the 3d6 roll. MAR will now be a bonus to the 3d6 roll; add 1 per 2 construction points.
RAR: Again, changed similarly to above: RAR will now be a bonus to the 3d6 roll; add 1 per 2 construction points.
MDR & RDR: Very changed. To start with, I'm fusing them together. Also, DR is now the number you have to roll equal to or higher with the MAR or RAR test. If you succeed, then you roll for damage. Armour won't add to the Defense Rating, instead its rating will be subtracted from inflicted damage (like Damage Reduction in the d20 system). Add 1 per 2 construction points.
MP & MR: Only for Ajsalium. Lightly changed, as I adopt the Dragon Age system. There will be a Magic skill for everybody, which will be used for resistance rolls. Only magic users will have also Mana Points, needed for casting spells. A spell is cast by spending the MPs listed, and then succeeding in a difficulty test. Add 1 to MAG per 2 construction points; add 1 to MP per construction point.
FOR: As it was before, but now it's also a damage bonus to weapons based on strength (see below). This last use make it more expensive than before: add 1 per 2 construction points.
AGI: As it was before, but now it's also an initiative bonus. This last use make it more expensive than before: add 1 per 2 construction points.
DEX: As it was before, but now it's also a damage bonus to weapons based on dexterity (see below). This last use make it more expensive than before: add 1 per 2 construction points.
PER: As it was before (add 1 per construction point).
INT: As it was before (add 1 per construction point).
SOC: As it was before (add 1 per construction point).
KNO: As it was before (add 1 per construction point).
Specialities: As they were before. Standard price will be one speciality (or +1 to an existing one) per construction point. Maximun number of specialities per corresponding "mother" skill equals to said skill's stat. I need to rethink the way these will be used in Necronomicon; if I get rid of the "automatic success" rule, the value will be 1 per construction point spent; but that would be compensated with making PER, INT, SOC and KNO more expensive, as they will be more widely used in these games (add 1 per 2 construction points).
Powers: Only for Ajsalium. As they were before, each class will have their own, and their construction point value will range from 1 to 3 depending on how useful they are for life-threatening situations.
Weapons: They'll be classified in two broad groups, based on the key skill to use them: FOR (such as axes, mauls or swords) and DEX (such as daggers, quarterstaffs or bows). Each weapon will cause some damage (typically, 1d6 or 2d6), to which the corresponding skill stat will be added.
Sanity points: Only for Necronomicon. Basically remains unchanged; the sanity test will be a 3d6 roll.
Stunts: They will (very likely) be added, in the three settings. But I still need to think quite a lot about them, truth to be told.

Ummm... that's basically the new Arcade ruleset incorporating principles from the Dragon Age RPG. It's a big change, but actually not a profund one. Next thing, I'll check how this version looks like redoing the character sheets I had already done, and seeing if I need to tweak the construction points table yet once again.
More than ever, comments and suggestions would be very welcomed. Now, I'm off to buy a lot of d6's :-)

Monday, March 15, 2010

NEWS AND UPDATED STATUS

Well, the return to normality I talked about just two post ago has gone pear-shaped very soon, hasn't it? I don't want to go into much detail, but let's say that a personal issue I have suffered recently have had a much bigger impact than I expected. I just wasn't feeling like doing anything, hobby related or otherwise. But I'm feeling better again now, and although I know it will still take more time to fully recover all my energies and be truly myself once again, I'm back at the rpg hobby.

And what am I doing? First, as I said when I reviewed the Dragon Age RPG, I'm going to direct an introductory adventure this weekend with my friends. I want to test the game and get a first hand impression of how the rules work. If things go as well as I expect, I would then start reverse-engineering the system, to make it a generic ruleset, and assign points to different stats, and adapting it to horror and science fiction (the fantasy adaptation will already be done by the guys at Green Ronin, publishers of Dragon Age). I'm rather excited to have found this game, as I feel this could be the end to my quest for the "perfect" rpg system.

I think I already mentioned somewhen that once I have the three rpgs done, I'll create lite rules for boardgames based on them. From the Ajsalium RPG will come a hack and slash game in the vein of Heroquest or Warhammer Quest. From the Necronomicon RPG I want to create a boardgame of pulp mythos action, somewhat based on the Arkham Horror game by Fantasy Flight Games. And from the Galaxtar RPG will come the "Xeno Hunt", a game of cleansing hordes of xenos infesting a spaceship, or dying in the process (for which I'll adapt the blips rules from Space Hulk). This last game is the one I'm focusing on right now, and I'm at the stage of thinking the general guides of the game, such as types of players and enemies, etc. I have created this thread about it at the Forum of Doom, to gain suggestions and comments, so soon I'll write down the first sketch of the game; which will be posted here.

Another thing I am very excited about too is that I have contacted, via the Forum of Doom, with Landreth, an extremely talented Russian painter of minis. I have commissioned him to paint my collection of rpg minis, and the first batch of them have just been posted to him. I'm so looking forward to own professionally painted minis... Don't worry, because I'll post pics of them on this blog once they are painted. If you want to check Landreth's talent, just visit his gallery at the Cool Mini or Not site.