Players use a point buy system. Players are provided with 46 points. Each attribute starts with a value of 1. Attributes and skills are purchased 1 point at a time. Each point purchased costs the new level of the skill or attribute. For example, to get strength from 1 to 4, it costs 2 + 3 + 4 = 9 points.

Elves half cost Dex, double cost Toughness (Cha/Wil?)

Dwarves half cost Toughness, double cost Charisma (Wil/dex?)

Halflings half cost Dex, double cost Toughness (Per/Con?)

Any leftover points are converted to 100 XP.

Cost to improve skills with XP is the level that the skill is available multiplied by the new rank being purchased.

So to go from a level one skill at rank one to rank two, it would cost 200 XP. To go from a level 2 skill at rank one to rank 2 is 400 XP.

The cost to improve an attribute is the new rank squared, then multiplied by 100.

Hit points are 10 plus (level)*(Flat Toughness*3), and unconsciousness rating is (level)*(Flat Toughness*2).

When a weapon is used one handed, damage is Strength rank plus weapon rank. When  weapon is used two handed, damage is Strength rank times 1.5 rounded up plus weapon rank.

WEAPON TYPE                            SKILL BONUS

Daggers and Short Swords           +1 Initiative

Swords                                                 +1 Attack

Axes                                                      +1 Damage

Blunt                                                     +1 Damage

Spears and Polearms                     +1 Defense

Bows                                                     +1 Attack

Crossbows                                         +1 Damage

Slings and thrown weapons       +1 Attack

Fists and specialty weapons      +1 Initiative

Weapons                                                              Strength Requirement   Damage bonus

Daggers                                                                    1                                                       1

Short Swords, Hatchets, Rods.                      2                                                       2

Spears (may be used 1 or 2 handed)           2                                                       2

Long Sword, Axe, Mace                                   3                                                        3

1 or 2 handed Sword, Axe Mace                  4                                                         4

Polearm  (2 handed only)                               4                                                         4

2 Handed only Sword, Axe, Mace               5                                                         5

Sling                                                                         1                                                         0

Short Bow                                                              2                                                         2

Long Bow                                                               3                                                         3

Small X-Bow                                                         2                                                          3

Large X-Bow                                                         3                                                          4

ARMOR

The armor penalty is subtracted from the total rank of any skill check that is subject to armor penalties. The Defense bonus is added to the character’s defense value, the Armor Rating is a flat number subtracted from the damage dealt on a successful hit.

Armor                                                Str Req    Defense  Armor Rating  Armor Penalty

Padded armor, silk shirt, etc      1                    1                      0                                  0

Soft Leather Armor                        2                    2                      0                                  0

Hardened Leather                           2                    3                      0                                  1

Small Shield                                       2                    +1                    0                                  0

Hide Armor                                       3                     3                       0                                  0

Chainmail                                           3                     4                       1                                   1

Medium Shield                                 3                     +2                    0                                   1

Scale Mail                                           4                     5                       1                                   1

Half Plate                                            4                     6                       1                                   2

Large Shield                                      4                     +3                    0                                   1

Full Plate                                            5                      7                      2                                   2

1                                        1d4

2                                       1d6

3                                       1d8

4                                       1d10

5                                      1d12

6                                      2d6

7                                     1d6 + 1d8

8                                     2d8

9                                     1d8 + 1d10

10                                   2d10

11                                    1d10 + 1d12

12                                  2d12

13                                 2d6 + 1d12

14                                 1d6 + 1d8 + 1d12

15                                 2d8 + 1d12

16                                 1d8 + 1d10 + 1d12

17                                 2d10 + 1d12

18                                 1d10 + 2d12

19                                 3d12

20                               2d6 + 2d12

1. Fast
2. Varying levels of critical success.
3. Even progression for upgrades.
4. High variance of results at low levels of skill, and low levels of variance at high levels of skill.

For the first requirement, fixed dice systems are usually fastest, followed by progression dice systems, with dice pool systems usually trending on the slower side of the equation. The reason why fixed dice systems are generally fastest for resolving checks is because you’re pretty much always rolling the same single die for each check, or at most the same couple of dice for each check. For example, if you’re playing a game where you roll a single 20 sided die to see if you hit
the monster with an axe, you’re always going to be rolling a single 20 sided die to see if you hit, no matter what. Compare this to dice pool systems, where you’re rolling numerous dice for each check, and the better your ability, the more dice you’re going to be rolling. Progression dice systems generally have you roll a single die at lower levels of ability, but multiple dice at higher levels of ability. However, most progression dice systems won’t have you rolling nearly as many dice as a dice pool system. Another mechanic that affects speed are whether or not you’re comparing the results of your roll against a static target number, or having all parties roll dice and comparing the results. Re-rolling dice will also slow things down. Both of these mechanics are a bit slower for fixed dice systems and often times a LOT slower in dice pool systems. Just imagine an attacker and defender rolling about 10 dice each, with re-roll mechanics, and then comparing the results to see who hit whom. Ugh. And lastly, math slows things down. Bonuses and penalties, either applied before or after a dice roll, will take up time. This affects fixed dice systems the least, but can really be a problem in both progression dice systems and dice pool systems. With those two systems you can have both modifiers to what kind/how many dice are used, AND modifiers added or subtracted from each die roll result. So just based on speed, I’d lean towards a fixed die system, against a dice pool system, and “possibly” on a progression dice system.

I think my second requirement is doable with any of the three dice mechanics I’m looking at, but easier with progression and pool systems. With those two systems, I can just have any die that rolls the highest number possible on that die rolled again and added to the total. For example, if I roll a six sided die and happen to roll a 6, I’d then roll another six sided die to add to the total. So if I rolled a 6 and the second die rolled a 4, my total would be 10. But if I rolled a 6, followed by another 6, I’d roll a 3rd die to add. So on and so forth. This gives me critical successes that can be just a bit better, or if you’re super lucky, up to a LOT better. This is trickier with fixed die systems that have you roll a single die that has a wide spread of possible results. Critical successes happen much less frequently, but when they do happen they are crazy good. For example, if I roll a single twenty sided die, I’d only get to add another die if I rolled a 20, but if I do roll a 20 and add another d20, my result could be crazy high. This re-roll and add mechanic is often referred to as “exploding dice”. Based just on this requirement, I’d lean towards either a pool or progression system, and away from a fixed die system.

My third requirement is pretty much totally doable with every dice system except dice pool systems with exploding dice testing against static target numbers. This is because you’re always rolling the same type of die in a pool system, and if your target number is N+1, where N= the number of sides on your die, then any upgrade you get that puts your target number to 1 + any number divisible by N is worthless. For example, if we use six sided dice for our pool, if the target number to hit me is 6, then upgrading my skills/gear/etc to make the target number 7 is wasted effort. This is because any time you roll a 6, you roll another die to add to the total, so if you roll a 6 you’re definitely going to get a total result of at least 7. This actually comes up as a problem in multiple very popular RPGs.

This last requirement is really only easy to achieve with a progression die system. At low levels of ability in a progression die system, you roll a single die (d4, d6, d8, d10, etc etc). At higher levels of ability you roll multiple dice and add the results together (2d6, d6+d8, d6+d10, etc etc). When you roll a single die, you have an even distribution of results (high variability), and when you roll multiple dice and add the results, you have a bell curve for the distribution of results. The higher level your ability, the more dice you’ll be rolling, and the higher the peak in the bell curve for your results probability. Your roll results become more predictable. This is exactly what I’m looking for.

Given all of this, I think I’ll be using a progression die system. I’ll use re-roll mechanics for the varying critical successes. To keep a fast pace, I’ll want to have most checks made against static target numbers. However, I think I’ll still have some opposed rolls for very dramatic and seldom made checks. For example, I’ll try to have most combat tests made against a static number, as that what is likely to generate the majority of an gaming evening’s dice rolls. But I’ll have things like sneaking and social skills opposed. They’re pretty dramatic events, and they don’t usually occur as often as combat tests.

I want to be very deliberate about how I design the mechanics for this game, so instead of just picking whatever dice system I’m most familiar with, I’m going to start out with a set of objectives that I want my dice system to achieve, and then design the dice system to meet those objectives.

1. I want a system that is “fast”. The less time spent figuring out what dice you need to roll, and/or what the die roll result actually is after all modifiers, the better. However, this needs to be balanced out by not having a system that is too simplistic to allow for variables in a check.
2. I want a mechanic that allows for various levels of critical success, ranging from better than average,  up to (albeit extremely rare) fantastic results. The reason for this is that even having the “chance” at a phenomenal result can sometimes drastically change the player’s behavior.  If you know that you can’t succeed, you won’t even try – however, if you know there is a (snowball’s) chance (in Hell), you “may” try, and you might even succeed. Those epic successes against all odds are what players will talk about long after the game session has finished for the night. I know that I still remember my best friend in middle school shooting a dragon in the eye with a called shot (house rule) on a natural 20 in a D&D campaign almost twenty (damn, feeling old moment…) years ago.
3. I want skill/attribute/equipment/etc improvements to have a steady progression in the bonus they contribute. No “worthless” levels of upgrades.
4. I want the level of randomness in dice roll totals to trend from volatility at low levels of skill, towards stability at higher levels of skill. This allows high skill level attempts much greater predictability of the outcome (the veteran Warrior is generally able to hit low level thugs), while still allowing low skill level attempts the possibility of success (you can never be sure if that newbie Warrior can land a blow, but s/he definitely can sometimes).

I’ve played a lot of different RPG’s, using a lot of different systems. I’ve yet to find a “perfect” system, each one has its own pros and cons. That being said, most decent dice systems can be boiled down to one of three general categories; Fixed Dice, Dice Pools, and Progression Dice systems. And in these three systems, success or failure is generally resolved via opposed checks (attacker AND defender both roll – high roll wins) or checks against a static target number (attacker rolls and compares to defender’s target number), or a combination of both. And lastly, whether or not a die is ever re-rolled, or re-rolled and added to to total. That last mechanic is often referred to as “Exploding Dice”. I’ll go over some of the basic differences.

Fixed Dice:

Many of the really popular FRPG’s that most people are familiar with use some variant of a fixed die system. Most fixed die systems have you roll a single 20 sided die (d20), a “percentile die” (d100), or three 6 sided dice (3d6). With fixed-die systems, the amount of variability in any given die roll is static. That is to say, if you’re playing D&D, you’re always going to be rolling a d20 for your attack, no matter what level you are. The major difference between rolling a single die (d20) versus rolling a set of dice (3d6) is that a single die gives you a flat distribution of die roll results, whereas rolling a pool of dice gives you more of a bell curve for results. So, if you’re rolling a d20, the odds of rolling any of the 20 possible numbers is 1:20, but if you’re rolling 3d6, you’re much more likely to roll a 10 or an 11 than you are to roll a 3 or an 18. Those that are familiar with the dice game Craps are already familiar with this mechanic – rolling a 7 on 2d6 is much more likely than rolling a 2 or a 12. The more dice involved in the roll, the higher the peak and smaller the spread of the bell curve. The end result is that a single die gives you a lot of volatility in your rolls, whereas rolling a pool of dice gives you more stability/predictability in your rolls. Neither system is inherently good or bad, they’re just different mechanics to keep in mind for game designers. Fixed Dice systems can be really good for fast resolution of checks, as you’re usually only rolling a single die per check, or if you’re using a system that uses multiple dice, it’s usually not that many dice, and it’s the same set of dice each time.

Dice Pools:

Dice pool systems have you roll a pool of a single type of die, most often a pool of d6′s or d10′s. The greater your ability, the more dice you roll. There are pretty big pros and cons to dice pool systems. On the plus side, it’s generally very quick and easy to figure out what you need to roll, as there tends to be very little addition or subtraction applied to rolls. You just roll more dice or less dice depending on your ability. It’s also a fairly intuitive process to assess what your odds for success or failure are. Where dice pool systems can run into trouble is when you need to scale up a lot. Then you wind up rolling an ice cream bucket full of dice. Also, opposed checks can bog things down a lot as well.

Progression Dice:

This is a less often used system. A progression dice system has you rolling a variable amount of dice based off of your relative ability. So depending on your ability, you may roll a d2, d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, 2d6, etc to determine your result. For example, if you’re a clumsy wizard you may roll a d4 to hit someone with an axe, and if you’re an experienced warrior you may roll d10 + d8 to hit. The downside to a progression dice system is that it can be cumbersome at times to determine what kind of dice you’ll be rolling for your check, especially when you have multiple modifiers to a roll that change from round to round. Similar to dice pool systems, progression dice systems can get bogged down with adding the totals of numerous dice for each action, although it’s less of an issue in progression dice systems due to usually fewer dice being rolled per check compared to dice pool systems. On the plus side, you can really play around with probabilities with this kind of system. By having a mechanic that allows you to roll a single die at times, and multiple dice at other times, you can go back and forth from static variability to bell curve results.

Since this post has become rather long, I’ll follow up with what system I’ll use in my next post.

I’m beginning this project by making a list of what I want out of this game. This way I’ll have my primary objectives to refer to throughout this process to insure that there’s a consistency in the design. Also, I get sidetracked very easily. Shiny lights are not my friends. This will help me remember what it was that I was working on.

The first thing that I want to address is the “magic problem”. The balance in power between magic users and non magic users has been one of the classic problems plaguing Fantasy RPG’s, especially the earlier FRPG’s. The traditional balance of power was skewed towards melee classes being the name of the game early on, with some parity between melee and caster classes in mid game, and culminating with casters completely dominating the end game content. Some of you “old timers” may have (not so) fond memories of the early levels of your wizard with only a couple of hit points early on, and very little ability to do pretty much anything useful in or out of combat for a LONG time. However, if you were lucky enough to make it to higher levels, that warrior that you hid behind for so long was more or less relegated to holding an umbrella to keep you out of the sun, as well as running commentary on how devastating your last spell was. Game designers tried to address this issue in several ways. In early FRPG’s it was typical to limit the power of spell casters by requiring expensive and exotic spell components to cast spells. I tend to like this approach the least, as it winds up either being ignored altogether (take a look at what it is supposed to cost to cast popular spells like fireball in your old games – did any of you actually do that?), or you wind up having to keep track of a massive catalog of components. In addition to that, it was never very satisfying for the player with the caster. You’ve got this killer spell that you’ve just learned and understandably want to cast, but the game master informs you that you don’t have the components for it, nor will you ever likely get said components because the spell is too good. That doesn’t feel like a fair or fun mechanic, it feels like you’re being penalized for picking a caster class. Even if being denied the ability of casting that spell is needed for maintaining the proper balance of power in that particular campaign, it never really sits that well for the player with the caster. I’ve played other games that have addressed this problem by having EVERY playable class be a magic using class. Some games went to extremes, where the only playable class is a classic robe wearing staff wielding wizard, other games were a bit more subtle (every classic FRPG class happens to use magic too – rogues can summon magic lock picks, fighters can power their attacks with magic energy, etc etc). I don’t really like this approach either because in the former case not everyone may actually want to play a wizard or a vampire or whatnot, and in the latter case it tends to make magic feel less, well, magical. If everyone and their cousin can cast spells, magic becomes kind of boring. The last approach is to have magic users and non magic users do their own thing, but to have parity with the power of the end results. I’ve seen this done really well in non fantasy based RPG’s where the setting is either contemporary (but viewed through a comic book lens) or futuristic. This is because there’s enough technology present that can yield results similar to magic. What’s better, a grenade or a fireball, a far seeing spell or a spy satellite, a shield spell or power armor? You get the idea. However, doing this in a fantasy setting can be tricky, because basically the technology is crap. Some games have dealt with this by having non magic users get completely decked out with magical gear. I don’t like that solution very much because then you wind up with some players playing their class (wizards), and some players playing their gear. Who cares if you’re a fighter or a thief or whatnot, what’s more important is whether or not you have the flaming sword of power and the dragon armor of ultimate truth. Other games have dealt with this by making each class completely generic and interchangeable with any of the other classes. The latest version of Dungeons and Dragons is the worst offender in my opinion. This is much more of a tactical war game than it is a role playing game. Each class is pretty much only a list of their combat capabilities, and each class more or less does the same thing. If you’re a big hulk in plate armor wielding a huge sword, you can use an ability to do X damage to one target, or Y damage to Z number of targets. And if you’re a wizard, you can use an ability to do X damage to one target, or Y damage to Z number of targets. The end result is the same, regardless of what class you’re playing. So what I want to do here is:

1) Make magic and non magic users equally balanced and fun to play in the early, middle, and end levels of the game. And I want this balance to be achieved within the confines of the class, and not with the use of outside bonuses/penalties like magic gear or limited spell components.

2) However, I want magic to still feel “magical”, and I want to differentiate the results and play styles of magic and non magic using classes.

Along these lines, I also want to address is the “Warrior problem”. By and large, when a player chooses to make a warrior character, they have a general vision of what it is that a warrior ought to be able to do. The first is charging into a mob of enemies and beating the hell out of them. The second is protecting their allies from being attacked. Pretty basic stuff here. However, very few FRPG’s actually have warrior classes that shine in these areas. The first vision of a warrior, a melee combat bad ass, is something that I think a lot of people would argue is upheld by most FRPG’s. I disagree. If you look at many FRPG’s with a warrior (or fighter, soldier, whatever) class, it isn’t these classes that crank out the most damage in melee combat – it’s the lightly armored guy with two tiny daggers that is the dominant damage dealer in melee combat. The argument for warrior viability is then shifted to how good it is to have a tank class to soak up damage for the party and protect everyone else. However, if you look at most FRPG warrior classes, you’ll actually find very little in the way of abilities that allow the warrior to protect other players. Sure the warrior can wear heavy armor, but that doesn’t do the party a lot of good if the warrior is not the one getting hit. Many times the game master will just have monsters attack the warrior instead of the delicate players “because”, and not due to any actual ability of the warrior class. The best way to measure the actual usefulness of a warrior is to see what the player party does when they attack a group consisting of a few warriors, a healer, a rogue, and a wizard. If the party can and does regularly bypass the warrior/s in favor of killing the other opponents, you’ll see in short order how effective and useful the warrior actually is in that game. In most of the FRPG’s that I’ve played, the players choosing warrior type classes were regularly outdone in pretty much every regard by the other classes. I’d like to avoid that in my game.

Another thing I want my system to address is player choice within the confines of their class. Everyone likes to have choices available, and yet many FRPG classes are very niche in their scope of abilities. This winds up railroading both the players and the Game Master. Good examples would be Cavalry or Archer classes. I admit that it’s very fun indeed to roll a huge bucket of dice for damage when I charge into someone while mounted on my trusty steed, but a mounted combat class is not much fun to play when the Game Master wants to have the party encounter thugs in the bustling back alley markets of a large city. What winds up happening with these kinds of classes is either players feel useless in situations where they can’t make use of their one trick pony, or the GM is forced to come up with one encounter after another that somehow caters to his/her player’s limited options. It can get pretty old pretty quickly.

Another example of the deceptive appearance of choice within a class are games where classes have numerous “paths” or “tracks” that are mutually exclusive. For example, a ranger class that can EITHER be a great archer OR a duel wielding specialist. Or a warrior that can EITHER be a wrecking ball in combat OR a very defensive tank. These kinds of systems tend to result in class bloat, where there are dozens of classes to choose from, each one with only a slightly different set of abilities from the next class. When looked at as a whole, this gives the appearance of choice, but when looked at from the perspective of a player actually leveling up in their niche class, the lack of options can be very frustrating. In many cases I think that this model is primarily driven by the desire to publish more and more splat books to rake in more money. I’ve  looked at zero class systems where there’s just a list of skills, attributes, gear, etc. I think that this kind of system works well in a contemporary or futuristic game where the gear that you have absolutely defines your character. In a game that is not so absolutely gear driven, FRPG’s in particular, classes are helpful for defining your character. What I would like to do is to have a fairly short list of classes that cover the general FRPG archetypes (warrior, rogue, wizard, priest) to avoid class bloat. However, within the confines of each class I would like a large amount of customization possible. Furthermore, I want to allow players to be able to either specialize in a particular aspect of their class or to be more of a generalist, with a balanced cost and benefit for either decision.

The final, and for me most important, thing that I want out of this game is to have the game’s mechanics be internally consistent with the world/story that I’m creating. From the story perspective, what would the world look like where magic was a reality? What groups would hold political power, and how does everyone else feel about that? And from a mechanics perspective, if I’m balancing the capabilities of magic and non magic users, how is that explained by the story?

As I write up my set of storyline and rules, I will post everything here on this site. I intend on posting my game content on this site in it’s entirety for general use by players. Feedback is certainly welcome.

Cheers!