Brainstorming for the November '14 RPG

brainstorming-november-14-rpg.md

This is very rough brainstorming for the RPG I'm working on this month.

• The game is based on B/X D&D, but will deviate from it a great deal
• Shouldn't be designed for a specific milieu, but I'm aiming for something that works well for post-apocalyptic fantast (like Adventure Time without so much whimsy)
• The game should accomodate just-in-time planning and GMing, because I never have any damn time to prepare
• Instead of having both INT and WIS, there is just INT
• There is no CHA; social interactions (intimidation, persuasion, bartering, etc.) are purely learned abilities
• Maybe there is an attribute for "pleasing appearance"; not decided on this
• Attribute bonuses are much smaller than is typical in D&D. Characters will start with a single +1 attribute, and maybe take a second +1 in exchange for a -1. Alternatively, the player may roll, but must accept the outcome.
• There are no classes or levels; instead, characters start with a background (e.g. Soldier or Wizard's Apprentice) that gives them initial abilities and items, and they can advance the character ability-by-ability as they play
• There is a core set of skills appropriate to post-apocalyptic fantasy. A skill throw's difficulty is:
  • 0 for routine
  • 5 for easy
  • 10 for challenging
  • 15 for difficult
  • 20 for very difficult
  • 25 for exceptionally difficult
  • 30 for nearly impossible
• Skills have an associated attribute
• Fighting is a skill just like any other
• Fighting is an opposed action. A fighting throw's difficulty is the defender's Defense (DEF) characteristic. The formula for DEF is 10 + Fighting bonus.
• Shooting is not an opposed action. A shooting throw's difficultly is determined by the target's range, cover, and movement. The base difficulty is 10. Light cover adds +5, medium cover +10, and heavy cover +15. Medium range adds +5, long range adds +10, and very long range adds +15. A moving target adds +5, and a fast moving target adds +10.
• Fighting damage increases by the degree of success. The base damage for a successful fighting throw is 1D6. For every 5 points the throw is greater than the difficulty, an additional 1D6 is added to the damage.
• Each weapon has a learning difficulty. This learning difficulty is how many advancement points must be spent to learn to use the weapon, and the penalty for using the weapon without first learning how to use it.
• There will be a number of abilities to extend the core fighting ability (e.g., two-weapon fighting, parrying, finish blow, berserker rage, stuff like that)
• Some abilities will require other abilities
• Armor reduces damage, but can break (spent to avoid wounds)
• Going into a fight without armor against a skilled opponent is going to get you killed
• There are not hit points, but instead there are wound points. Wound points are restored completely at the end of combat, with a short rest. When wound points are expended during fighting, long-lasting wounds (or death) can occur. Wounds can be minor (bruises giving temporary negatives to rolls), serious (deep cuts or broken bones taking a long time to heal and giving much worse negatives), and can even result in lost limbs or permanent injuries.
• Instead of earning XP for specific defeating encounters, advancement points are earned:
  • At the end of a play session
  • For completing quests
  • For other achievements
• Quests are a formal game mechanic. They are tracked, have a goal, have requirements, and have rewards. Characters may of course still adventure outside of quests. But quests are the GM's primary tool for guiding the play.
• In addition to money, items, and advancement, there is a reward type called achievements. Achievements are in-game effects for the character (e.g., becoming a knight or earning the title Hero or Wizard)
• There are not set monsters or classes of monsters, but rather a system for quickly composing monsters, with some examples
• Magic is cast by memorizing spells composed of hundreds or thousands of words (or much more for some spells) and reciting them with perfect pronunciation at a precise cadence. Any number of spells may be memorized, but for each spell greater than the character's spellcasting ability there is a cumulative penalty to casting all spells. (e.g., a character has a spellcasting of 3. They memorize six spells. They are at -3 to all spellcasting checks.)
• Failing a spellcasting throw might result in unpredictable and dangerous results. For each 5 points the throw fails, the stakes go higher. Not decided yet if failure is a random roll or something the GM and player come up with together, factoring in the severity of the failure
• Spells can have a rating of their own, adding to the spellcasting throw.
• Advancement points can be used to increase attributes, abilities, spells. Advancement should be quick in real-time (significant growth after each finished quest) but take apporpriate game time (mostly as downtime between quests)
• There will be some sort of downtime mini-game. I have in mind spending days of downtime for various things like training, earning money, crafting, researching, building, politis, relationships (contacts, friends, romantic). Still need to do quite a bit of thinking around this
• Magic items, like monsters, are unique. There will be a system for quickly composing them.