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 :-)

RPG THEORY - UTILITY OF MINIS

Last post included many pics... so this one will be another only-text boring post. You know, for balancing things out...

I already said in a previous post that the Arcade Ruleset is to be used in conjunction with miniatures on the tabletop. And that is caused mainly by two reasons.

The first one is that Arcade is derived from rules for a boardgame (Heroquest as the grandfather, Netherhells as the father). And those boardgames are to be used with minis; the use of visual aids is inherent to the game system, and that's been inherited by my Arcade ruleset. Which I consider a good thing, as that allows for the creation of fast-to-play boardgames derived from the generic ruleset; such as a dungeoning and looting one, surviving a zombie horde, or plunging a spaceship from a xeno infestation. Three examples that I hope to develop once the three rpg's, Ajsalium, Necronomicon and Galaxtar, are (more or less) finished.

And the second is the more theoretical one: miniatures can help in maintaining focus during a roleplaying session. In my opinion having a visual image of a character is the first step needed to understanding him/her and immerse in the game. With a miniature you have that visual image and in full three dimensions. The more depth you add to the image, the better the identification with the character can be. And it may even help in keeping in-game, as it's rather typical (at least for my own gaming group) to lose "concentration" on the game and let the minds and conversation fly. When that hapens, having a little representation of your character on the table can help regaining the gaming momentum easier and quicker.

And on this psychological front we too have the more profund impact of the miniatures hobby as a whole. With which I mean mainly the painting of the mini. Believe it or not, that act enhances the connection between the player and the character, because during the hours that the painting sessions last, it's unavoidable that the player will begin thinking about his character, and imagine a psychology and a story for him/her. After all, sometimes just deciding on the colour with which to paint the clothes already implies some affiliation or world view for the character.
The backdrop of all this is that's important for the mini to properly represent the character. To get the most out of a mini in a roleplaying game we must consider it more than just a gaming aid, more than a token. I spend long hours browsing the web in search for the perfect miniatures for the characters I have in mind. Sometimes I am lucky and find them; but there are other times when the process gets reverted, with the mini being the source of inspiration for inventing characters. And most commonly there's a compromise in between, when I find a mini that's close to my previous concept, but not quite exact, and I twist this former idea to better fit the mini. Or converting a mini, although to be honest my modelling skills are rather limited and little more than swapping pieces.

So here was my justification for using miniatures in roleplaying games.
Ah! And they are cool, too. ;-)

SAMPLE CHARACTER SHEETS

This has taken me longer than expected, and has been much harder. Yet, here I can present you with three sample characters, one for each of my settings. With these sheets the sketchy ruleset I have in my mind is finally coming to fruition. I'm posting them in the hope that seeing a real example will help you better understand some of the points I've not been able to explain correctly. And I'd expect to ignite your imagination, too.

Click for bigger images

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THEORY OF ADVENTURE DESIGN

I've said time and again that the Arcade Ruleset is intended to provide fast and fun gameplay. There's an emphasis in being GM friendly - as his is always the worst part - providing a set of rules that are very easy to learn and general enough to convey most situations.
Yet, this is a game, and is governed by a set of rules. Those rules will dictate what can be done, and what don't. And that limit should be taken into account when designing an adventure; as this is not a precise simulator of real life, there are many things that you can imagine that won't be playable with these rules. So, before making an adventure, try to concentrate on the rules for a while, because they are the "language" in which the adventure must be written.

Basically, in any roleplaying game there are two types of encounters: combat encounters, and non-combat ones. With my ruleset the latest can be subdivided into skill test encounters, and powers encounters. A combat encounter is what it sounds: a fight on any kind, that will risk the lives or wellbeing of its participants. A skill test encounter means that a character has found some kind of obstacle, and to be able to do what he wants must proof himself valid. A powers encounters (in lieu of a better denomination) is similar to a skill test one, but with a biggest emphasis on the protagonism of a character: his will be the spotlight, showing that it is thanks to his special uniqueness that obstacles can be overcome and the plot advanced.
And for an adventure to be fun it should be as varied as possible. Which means that all three kind of encounters should be used in any adventure. Don't have the PCs always fighting for their lives, but threat them every now and then. Similarly, show them there are many difficulties to face in the world, but that many of them can be overcome. And this is very important: make sure every player have fun by giving their PCs their fifteen minutes of fame. One of the good points of being a GM is that when you write an adventure you already know the PCs; having that in mind, always write at least one encounter per PC in which he may shine; if possible, make them two. It's nice for a player to feel his character has made an essential contribution to the adventure.

But how should an adventure be structured? In my opinion the best way to do so is using a cinematographic approach, which means thinking the adventure in terms of scenes. Write the adventure as if it were the script of a movie; that means structuring it with the typical introduction-plot-conclusion scheme, too. The introduction serves two goals: getting the PCs know each other (unless we're talking about an ongoing campaign) and involve them in the adventure. Don't be afraid of breaking the old cliche of starting with all the PCs together and take for granted they already know each other; introducing them in successive scenes will give much more realism to the story.
But, of course, a rpg is not the same as a movie, because you must take into account a key element: those perky players, and their weird decisions. That said, the introduction and the conclusion scenes can be pretty much rail-roaded without it affecting the game's playability; it's what the players will expect, after all.
The plot will be a whole different matter. It is there where there's never any single way to do things; even if you think the "right" decisions for the PCs are very obvious, they are not. More, there's no such a thing as "right decisions", because during the development of the plot the game no longer belongs to the GM, but to the PCs. After all, they are the protagonists. What I'm trying to say is that, even if it's good to present ways to advance in a very obvious way, you can't seriously expect that the PCs will follow a linear plot (unless you force them, a bad habit that takes most of the fun from a game).
And all that means you'll have to write extra scenes, quite a good bunch of them. And they can be of any of these three kinds: alternate paths, dead end paths, or floating scenes.
Alternate paths, as the name suggests, are different ways to reach the same place. They can make things more dangerous or more safe; quicker (less scenes than the "original" plot) or slower (more scenes). With alternate paths is important to tie their benefits or perils with good or bad playing on the PCs part; good alternatives should be the result of players using well their characters, and vice versa. And there's always the same old alternative: left or right corridor? You, the GM, know they are the same, but it will give the players the sense that their decisions can influence how the game goes. Infact, it would be good if you considered the "original plot line" just as another alternate path, and take on writing the adventures including many alternatives since the beginning.
Dead end paths are either side quests or false clues (these can be misinformation or misunderstandings too). They are a series of scenes that won't later connect with the main plot, so what's the point with them? Actually, they are pretty useful, and serve different purposes. The first purpose is slowing things when they're going too fast; the Arcade ruleset is intended to provide a fast gameplay, but sometimes the PCs are too good and the adventure is menaced to be ended within an hour; trying to make them follow a side quest will ensure a little more time. A second purpose is adding difficulty to the adventure; evil guys should not be stupid, and they sure will try to mislead would-be do-gooders. Or adding ethical questions; for example: the main plot may require the PCs to act quickly, but won't they spend a little time to save an innocent? Yet a very important use for dead end paths usually overlooked is giving realism to the adventure. Sure, the PCs are the protagonists, but that doesn't mean the world revolves around them; foiling them into leading what finally has nothing to do with them or the main plot will give them, and the adventure, a nice reality bath.
Finally we have the floating scenes. They are a more evolved equivalent of what in D&D tradition were the random encounters. They are very similar to dean end paths in that they don't really belong to the core of the plot, and the uses they can be given. The main difference is that floating scenes have no predefined starting point, and can be thrown at the players almost at any moment. In order for that to work properly they must be short and very generic. In fact, they can be so generic that you may recycle them from one adventure to another, and always keep a bunch of floating scenes made for a setting. For example: in Ajsalium, heroes may be attacked by a hungry griffon whenever they are in the wilds; in Necronomicon, the players can suffer a theft attempt whenever they are just going anywhere; or in Galaxtar, hyperspace jumps can always go wrong and put the adventurers in the middle of an asteroid field.

Has all this rung a bell to you? Likely it has, because it's has been done before: "choose your adventure books". Very popular for teenagers, they are a full genre based on the concepts I've just exposed. So if you want a good example just grab one of these books from your collection (or ask your friends for one, if you don't own any, what would be rare for a roleplayer, that is what I assume every one following this blog will be).

ARCADE RULESET (VI): ASSIGNING STATS

As promised, in this last entry to introduce you to the Arcade ruleset (and help me to define the frame of it), I'll explain how scores are assigned to the different stats.

First of all, any creature (hero, npc, monster) would be assigned a level; and levels are assigned certain "construction" points. The higher the level, more points. This is the level/points chart I've sketched so far (note it's not a linear progression):
Level 1: 10 points
Level 2: 15 points
Level 3: 21 points
Level 4: 28 points
Level 5: 36 points
Level 6: 45 points
Level 7: 55 points
Level 8: 66 points
Level 9: 78 points
Level 10: 91 points

With these points you can buy stats, at the following costs. Most combat stats cost two construction points, because they are a matter of life and death: HP, MAR, MDR, RAR and RDR. The other combat stats as well as skills stats are cheaper, needing only one point: MOV, INI, FOR, AGI, PER, DEX, INT, KNO and SOC.
In Ajsalium, class powers will cost from 1 to 3 points, depending on how useful they are. Magical Resistance's cost is two points; Mana Points are cheaper, just one point.
In Necronomicon, investigative specializations will cost two points (as it's an investigative game, I deem reasonable to make them somewhat expensive, as they'll be the most used stats). Sanity Points will cost one point.
In Galaxtar, skill specialities will cost one point.

It's important to know that there's a "level 0 template". Said template has a minimum of attributes that make something exists, and so you don't need to spend points in acquiring, for example, the first HP, or the first three MOV points. Also, monsters may range from level 1/4 to 15, with the following points assignation:
Level 1/4: 3 points
Level 1/2: 6 points
Level 11: 105 points
Level 12: 120 points
Level 13: 136 points
Level 14: 153 points
Level 15: 171 points

Lastly, some differences between the different settings in which these rules are to be used:
Ajsalium is created with an old-style flavour. That means two things: it will feature legendary heroes, ranging from levels 1 to 10. Also, they are divided in different classes, and I plan to provide exact stats for every class at every level. In other words, PCs will be pre-generated, and you'll only have to copy the stats in a blank character sheet.
Necronomicon is very different in style. The PCs are not heroes, but ordinary people facing the inexplicable. That will be translated, rules-wise, in only having levels 2 and 3 (level 1 would make them too helpless, even for my taste!). Also, there are not classes. So, players will be given the adequate points (15 or 21), and they can use them to create their character as they see fit. Some restriction rules may be added to avoid unbalanced PCs.
Galaxtar will work out in a similar way to Necronomicon. But as it's more action oriented, there will be three levels to choose from: 2, 4 and 6 (15, 28 and 45 points, respectively). That should allow for the cinematographic action so fashionable nowadays. In theory, and as of today, there won't be classes, but freedom to create PCs as wanted. Yet, so far I can only think of adventures created for policemen, soldiers, mercenaries or criminals; so I may at the very least create the pre-generated versions of those professions.

ARCADE RULESET (V): MISCELLANEOUS SPECIALITIES

The third section of a character/reference sheet is the one that will vary more from one setting to another, as stated above. It's the "module" that allows for fine customization. So I'd better present the three different version of this section separately.

Ajsalium. In the fantasy setting of Ajsalium PCs will have some special powers that clearly make them stand out from the common man. Some examples have been provided before (a cleric's "prayers", a paladin's "lay on hands", and a fighter's "tactical maneuvers"); more examples would be the ability of a druid to polymorph into an animal shape, a thief's ability to pick pockets unnoticed or the night-unstopable rage of a barbarian. All these powers will be listed in the appropriate section of the Ajsalium compendium dedicated to the character classes, and the way they are used explained there, so there's no point in going into more detail here. The way I plan to run Ajsalium this is the part that will likely be used the least, with combat and skills taking the prominent part of the game.
Absolutely, this is a ripoff from the Dungeons & Dragons game, and when talking about this I'm specifically thinking on the third edition of said game (which is the best one, in my humble opinion).

Necronomicon. For this investigative horror setting, this section of the character sheet will likely be the most used. Here there will appear some real-life areas of expertise, such as economics, history, mechanics, intimidation, computers, flirting, chemistry, biology... A list from which to select will be provided; every expertise will have an associated skill from which it "originates" (SOC and KNO will be the most common ones). The number of expertises related to any given skill stat cannot be higher than the score of that skill; for example, someone with a KNO of 2 will only be able to select up to two expertises related to Knowledge. In game, they are used just by stating they are used, as if they were always successfull. The GM will reveal any clues, but only if he had arranged there was some clues to be found using that expertise. Also, characters may "invest" in extra points for their expertises; stating they want to employ one of those the GM should give extra information when revealing the clue, information that may clarify the importance of the clue, or even another clue that would make the characters come closer to their goal, or embark them on a side quest.
Again, this is not original, but copied from the "Gumshoe" system used by Pelgrane Press (as mentioned in an earlier post). I liked their reasoning than an investigative game should be about interpreting the clues and not about finding them.

Galaxtar. To be honest, I haven't given this part much thought, but so far I've settled for what would be an "advanced skills" rule. As with the expertises of Necronomicon a list of possible areas of (science-fictioned) expertises will be provided, and as above, those will be related to any of the seven basic skills. Again, maximum number of expertises associated with a skill will be limited to the score of said skill. The way to use these expertises will be similar to the way of using skills, with the only difference of adding three scores: the skill die roll plus the expertise's stat plus the associated skill's stat. This will result in significantly higher results, thus allowing the accomplishment of much more difficult actions. Thus will be reflected the heroic achievements of science fiction heroes against life threatening dangers.
Not to break a norm, this is too a ripoff, more or less, from the "Codex" system used by Margaret Weiss Productions.

ARCADE RULESET (IV): SKILLS

Combat is a simple thing to play. Skills are even easier. Every now and then skill tests will be used to determine whether a creature succeeds in a certain task, apart from combat. These tests are carried by rolling the special skill die:



If a success symbol is rolled, the test has been superbly passed; if a failure symbols appears, the character has failed miserably, and the GM may even rule bad consequences as he seems fit. Otherwise, when a number is rolled, it will be added to the stat number of the appropriate skill. If it's equal to or higher than the difficulty number previously established by the GM the test is passed; when lower, it just fails. If you look at the die layout, numbers range from 1 to 4. Skills will be rated from 0 (worst) to 6 (best). And difficulty numbers will range from 1 (easiest) to 10 (most difficult).
The automatic success and automatic failure symbols are there to make the game even easier and faster (behind the scenes, I can tell you they are the legacy of Games Workshop's games "a natural 1 always fails and a natural 6 always success" rule). Yet the GM must remember than whenever the skill die is rolled there's always a chance of success and a chance of failure (16,67% each). But sometimes you don't want them to fail; for example, you ain't telling them to roll an agility test to see whether they stagger whenever they walk; in these cases don't make them roll dice. On the other hand, you want to prevent abuses; if an illiterate character (KNO 1) wants to make a knowledge test (difficulty 9) just hoping he rolls a success, tell him he can't even make the test. That would be just abusing the rules, and is thus forbidden; impossible things are out.
The just explained skill tests are the "simple skill test". There's also the "opposed skill test", when you don't roll against a fixed difficulty number given by the GM, but against the skill test of another creature. This is done with both creatures rolling the skill die and adding the result to the appropriate skill. Higher wins. Should one success or one failure appear, it obviously means success or failure. Should two successes appear, the GM will determine whether that means two simultaneous successes or a draft. An example of the former would be two wrestlers trying to grapple each other, both can success simultaneously, grappling the opponent yet being graped themselves too. An example of the latter would be someone chasing another, in which case they maintain the same distance. When two failures appear, both creatures have failed, and miserably; with the former examples, the wrestlers would have suffered painful luxations, and the chased and chaser would have stumbled and ended with their faces stamped on the floor.

Now let's have a closer look at what the skills are useful for.
Fortitude (FOR). This is a combination of strength and constitution. To ram down a closed door, lift a portcullis, swim across a strong river, or ward off the effects of venom this is the skill to use.
Agility (AGI). Good reflexes, body coordination and flexibility is what agility means. You will use this skill to chase someone or pass through a very narrow passage, for example.
Perception (PER). This skill stands for sensory awareness: the ability to see, hear or otherwise detect the presence of creatures or features of some worth to the adventure.
Dexterity (DEX). Not to be confused with agility, dexterity is eye-hand coordination and nimbleness. This is the skill used to make a "magical" trick, play a musical instrument, or create a counterfeit document, just to give some examples.
Intelligence (INT). The ability of rational reasoning, used to solve a problem. Deciphering a codified message and discerning the secret motivations of a person are a couple of things done with this skill.
Sociability (SOC). Social skills are what are needed to delve successfully in society, be it a classy palace or a downtrodden gutter. With a high score you'll be able to easily befriend unknown people, get information from them, or convince a seller to offer you a special low price. This skill will be key in the Necronomicon setting.
Knowledge (KNO). This skill is a bit special, in that it means the general knowledge a person may have; but also, for every point it has, it grants a specific area in which that person is an expert. It's the GM who will determine whether a piece of info may be known by passing a KNO test ("hey, I just remember hearing that..."), or whether some expertise will be enough to discern some piece of info ("let me tell you that this essay is just a plagiarism of the book...").

ARCADE RULESET (III): COMBAT

So, you already know the stats that will be used in combat. Now you want to know how all that works. It's awfully simple, specially if you've played any tabletop games like Heroquest or the more recent Descent or Doom boardgames from Fantasy Flight Games. When we enter in combat mode, we somehow zoom in on the action that's taking place. Time is divided in rounds, and during every round every creature (PCs, NPCs, enemies) takes its turn. During a turn a creature can make two actions, either different or the same.

Moving is one action. A character may move a number of squares (if using a battlemap, otherwise a square equals an inch, which equals five feet in real life) up to its MOV stat. Humans (standard race for all three settings) have a MOV of 5. Jumping over a chasm requires spending two movement squares per square the chasm has.

Attacking is one action. You will use special combat dice with the following distribution:



If a character is adjacent to another he may make a Melee Attack; if not adjacent, but with a line of vision, it would have to be a Ranged Attack. The attacker rolls as many combat dice as the MAR or RAR stats, and counts the blood drops (which means successful attacks). The defender rolls as many combat dice as its MDR or RDR, and counts the number of crossed out blood drops (which means successful parries). Substracting successful parries from successful attacks gives the number of Hit Points the attacked creature suffers and that will have to be detracted from its HP pool.
When MAR or RAR is higher than one, you may divide the attacks against viable targets as you see fit.
The exclamation mark stands for a special symbol that may have different meanings. For example, in the Ajsalium setting, a magical weapon would hit with a symbol as well as with blood drops. Magical armour would save with a symbol as well as with a crossed out blood drop. In the Galaxtar setting a symbol may have a bad implication, signalling that a weapon has jammed.

Not all damage must be wound damage; there's stun damage too. Stun damage will be inflicted when fighting unarmed, or just by declaring the attacker wants to cause only stun damage. Unlike wound damage, stun one is added up; should the current stun damage ever be higher than the current Hit Points the creature falls unconscious.

And there are more possible actions. Opening a locked door or chest with a key is one action; as casting a spell in Ajsalium. Yet, difficult things such as picking up a locked door or casting a powerful spell take up to two actions, which means the character can't do anything else that round. On the other hand, some simple and quick tasks, such as opening an unlocked door, are move-equivalent, meaning that they just take the equivalent of moving one (or two) squares.

In Ajsalium there's magic. And magic is worked with the combat rules, too.
Casting magic is done by spending Mana Points: all spells will list the cost in MP to cast it, and also if it can be enhanced (increase the damage done, spread the reach, make it last longer...) by spending additional MPs. Magic users (wizards and druids for PCs, and some monsters) have a Mana Points score, representing their capacity to weave a spell and/or enhance it. They employ their MP as they see fit, but once the pool is depleted they won't be able to cast more spells until they replenish it. This can be done with rest (a good night rest replenishes all MP), or drinking mana potions.
Everybody will have a Magic Resistance, ranging from 0 (most common) to 6 (extremely rare). When affected by an unwanted spell, a creature rolls as many combat dice as its MR; if it rolls any symbol, it wards off the effects of the spell.

In Necronomicon, Hit Points are joined by Sanity Points. I still need to work a little on how to manage them, but here's what I've thought so far. Whenever confronted by some part of the Cthulhu mythos, a character must make a Sanity test (have yet to decide how to make them, but they will likely be like a leadership check in "Warhammer Fantasy Battles"). If he succeeds, the better for him. If he fails, he loses one SP; this alone makes him "shocked" (one point penalty in any roll) until he gets some time to rest and assume what's happened, and also makes him closer to madness, when SP get to zero (a mad character should be removed from play). The difficulty of the Sanity test, and the quantity of SP lost, will vary according to what part of the mythos is revealed; clearly seeing the great Cthulhu itself is far worse than spotting a deep one!

ARCADE RULESET (II): THE CHARACTER SHEET

I believe that a game system is always better summarized in the character sheets it uses, and I'm not the only one who thinks so, as many rpg books begin with a brief description of them. Thus, I'm going to present the Arcade Ruleset first with an overview of what will be found in a character sheet (or a reference sheet for npcs or monsters).
Apart from the equipment and description sections, rules-wise a character sheet will have three main sections: combat, skills, and specialities.

The combat section will list some stats that will come into play in combat encounters. I'm talking such things as Hit Points (HP), Movement (MOV), Initiative (INI), Melee Attack Rating (MAR), Melee Defense Rating (MDR), Ranged Attack Rating (RAR) and Ranged Defense Rating (RDR). In the Ajsalium setting, two more stats will be added to govern magic: Mana Points (MP) and Magic resistance (MR). In the Necronomicon adventures HP will be joined by Sanity Points (SP), to discern the psychologycal impact of the mythos in the heroes. I think the names given to the mentioned stats are rather self-explanatory, but don't worry because I'll explain their use later.

The skills section will list some stats that rate how skillfull the character is in diverse areas. These have been selected to be very generic, so they can cover every possible situation, or be close to that goal. So far the list of skills is this: Fortitude (FOR), Agility (AGI), Perception (PER), Dexterity (DEX), Intelligence (INT), Sociability (SOC) and Knowledge (KNO). In case those names make you think of D&D, let me explain that it has been purely coincidental; I followed my own road, and just when I picked the names for the skills I realized this was so close to the famous D&D characteristics. Great minds think alike (or so I like telling to myself). Knowledge is a bit special in that it represents general knowledge, but for every point it has admits one concrete area of expertise (more on this later).

The specialities section is the one that will vary most from one setting to another, and the one that still needs most work. In the Ajsalium setting, this will include some special powers typical of fantasy rpgs, such as the cleric's prayers, the paladin's immunity to fear, a wizard's special link with his/her familiar, or tactical maneovers for fighters. In the Necronomicon setting, being a mainly investigative setting, this section will be filled with the areas of master expertise that will automatically provide the hints needed for the plot to advance; some examples would be forensics, intimidation, history, academical research or arts & crafts. In the Galaxtar setting, this section will list some specialized skills that further develop the generic ones, allowing the characters to perform some tasks in a way similar to the usage of skills, but with greater chance of success. Again, if you want more info on this just keep reading subsequent articles.

ARCADE RULESET (I): OVERVIEW

So what's this Arcade ruleset? It's not a tabletop game, neither a wargame; it's a generic game system intended to be used in roleplaying games. I'm not going to bother to explain the differences of these three types of games, as I take for granted that anyone visiting a blog called Role 'n' Roll already knows that. Yet, even though Arcade is a rpg, it wouldn't be difficult to be used for some fast tabletop dungeoning, akin to Heroquest. After all, its combat system is indirectly derived from said game, and it would be dead easy just to focus on that part and not use the other roleplaying parts. Similarly it could be used for skirmish level wargames, but I'm not sure how well things would go.

And what do you need to play it? Nothing too fancy, just what you would expect from any rpg out there. Some paper for character sheets, pens and erasers. Some six-sided dice, too: some standard, and some special combat and skill dice (examples in forecoming articles). And minis. After years of roleplaying I've found minis are a great aid in rpgs. In the Arcade case, the rules have been created with the use of minis in mind. Yet, if you don't want to buy and store a load of minis, paper tokens are equally as useful, and infinitely cheaper, and you can print them "on demand". Anyway I recommend the use of minis at least for the Player Characters, because I honestly think they help players focus on their characters. And they are cool. Finally, an erasable battlemap and some tokens would be very useful; Em4miniatures sells both of them in their web store (combat mats and eldritch gems). And not, I don't get paid for saying this. :P

As you will soon see, Arcade has been developed with simplicity in mind. I like saying it's a fool-proof game system; with the biggest fool being myself. From the very beginning I've had this goal in mind: the Arcade rules should be explained and understood in 10-15 minutes, and mastered after one single game session. In fact, that's why I've chosen the name "Arcade", taken from videogames, and opposed to "simulator". You won't be able to recreate the subtle nuances of hundreds of different combat styles, or tune a monster to have the weirdest genealogy ever. Everything is kept to a minimun: for example, in the Ajsalium setting, there are just three types of armour: light, medium or heavy. Or in the Necronomicon setting, small firearms are reduced to revolver or gun. But with these rules you won't have to keep track of dozens of modifiers, and you'll have ready-made characters sheets; if you're the Game Master, preparing an adventure should take little more than writing down the complete plot and scenes, deciding some difficulties and copying some stats. The key idea is that time should be spent designing an interesting plot and playing it, not dwelling with rules.

That said, next we'll have a look at the character sheet, so that we begin to properly delve in the ruleset.

ORIGINS OF THE ARCADE RULESET

First of all, and before I begin describing the basis of this ruleset, due credits where credits are due.

The game system I'm working on is actually an expansion of the sketch rules created by Andy Foster (Heresy Miniatures) for his "Netherhells" game (link for that embryo). These are based on Heroquest, and as that game they are intended for a boardgame. Yet I saw a lot of potential for true rpgs, just by adding some rules for skills, and different levels for heroes.

Then I came across Pelgrane Press' "Trail of Cthulhu" game, which was like a gust of fresh air in the modern investigative games, and just one step beyond the purely narrative games. That gave me a lot of food for thought regarding what simple rule systems could achieve.

I also put my hands on Margaret Weiss Productions' "Serenity" and "Battlestar Galactica", two rpgs that shared the same rules system, called "codex", which added yet another elegant simple rule system, this time for a science fiction setting, and not too dissimilar to what was already on my mind.

So I was left there, somewhat dazed and confused with so many inputs, wondering how could I turn all that into a single coherent system. Then I lost steam and got derailed by other things for some months. Finally I decided to take this project back on track, and it appears that my subconscious mind had been working on it all this time, as I promptly realized that it was pretty easy to merge the three systems I've mentioned.

What will follow is an hybrid, maybe abominable but hopefully fun.