This include home brews?
Just got done playing my friend's. We affectionately call it "Don't roll a 1."
It's heavier on the narrative than the dice rolling, but it goes like this. You get three stats, strength/willpower, reflexes/agility, perception/cunning. Each stat gets a die, d4 to d20 (you up a skill group a die "step" when you level and get a few steps at character creation.) Anything/everything you do is basically attempted with one of these stat groups. There's no charisma stat, every interaction with NPCs are 90% roleplaying.
When attempting stuff, you can roll 1 stat, 2 stats or all stats, representing going all out. The target numbers are basically "the more higher totals you get, the better." When you roll max on a die, it open ends and you roll it again, adding it to your total. Anything less than open ended but not a 1 is just a basic success, you achieve your goal (although sometimes with a lot of GM caveats.)
When you roll a 1, things turn against you. Not only did you miss, but the guy kicks you in the stomach, or parries and counter attacks. That evil monk you were interrogating by chanting prayers at him just hooked up with his lord and master spiritually and manifested a demon.
When you take a wound, it's the same story. You roll one of the stats, corresponding to the type of threat. Anything but a 1, it's a flesh wound, essentially. If you roll a 1, you're pretty grievously wounded. And then you roll again. Roll another 1, now you're felled, basically crawling across the ground in a wreck and unable to do most things. Roll again. Get another 1 and you're dead. If you survive, then next time you roll a 1, you're testing at the wound level you're currently at. So when you roll a 1 while wounded, and then roll another 1, you're now felled.
It's kind of shocking how effective it is. 1s happen a lot. So while it's a system that lends itself to big ballsing PC actions (because it's so free form and the margin for success is pretty broad), there's a lot of inherent risk in doing pretty much anything. It's a game where dramatic things happen a lot, and where it pays to go over the top rather than play super conservatively (read as: hide in combat.) And yet there's a lot of room for subtly as well. A lot of how it plays out has to do with the GM's personality, but the rules are free enough to allow a GM to express their preferences by how granular they choose to make things.
In terms of wizardry, it's kinda broken. I assume magic might get another revision, but basically wizards can do mostly anything. They used to have spell lists, and power points, but none of that anymore. Now they all they have to do is create a fake-ass sounding latin name (think Harry Potter), and write it down on a notecard with a brief description of what it does so it can be added to the Tome of Spells. No one has ever really pushed the boundaries yet, but I assume doing something incredible or expansive requires multiple rolls, and a 1 pretty much blows the whole deal. The GM keeps his target numbers in his head so we never hear what we're shooting for, and the thresholds are generally pretty low. (You succeed, you kill a minor enemy. Important guys usually several successes. But a number of important baddies have gone down in a heap to open-ended rolls.)
There are a couple basic class templates. Wizard/Thief/Paladin or Cleric/Fighter. What class you pick basically defines whether or not you cast spells, a handful of special abilities and some kit choices. Wizards get their spells, Fighters get Exceptional Strength, Thieves get thieves tools and Stealth, Clerics or Paladins get Miracles. These are only templates. For example, in an older sort of build, I made a Pirate Captain. I have abilities like "Knows about a secret island" and "Skullduggery" and "Has a ship". These are very loose "powers", but basically it means I know about a secret island that I can at any point decide to go to and fill out the details of. I've got a ship, one way or another.
My last ship, the Blind Zonka, ended up in mud up to the mast when the harbor she was berthed in mysteriously drained out. But whether by stealing one, or appropriating it by more legitimate methods, I'll have a ship. Skullduggery is new and like most abilities, sort of nebulous. But it basically means in areas of piracy, I can say what I want to do and it generally happens. Sort of how Wizards can invent any spell effect they want, thieves can vanish into the shadows, can cast miracles and call on their gods, and fighters can apply their strength in any way they can argue for. Most of the time, you don't have to roll, except when it's really dramatic. So when someone is like "I wanna play a Ninja...." we basically cook up the Ninja class on the fly. Classes end up tailored to the thing people have envisioned, rather than trying to cleave religiously to a list of stuff.
There's gear which is basically special ability based, basically. He tries to keep it pretty light on that stuff because it starts to weigh the game down, or becomes broken in application quickly.
Been playing this system in its various forms for a while, and I'm starting to dig it. You can really focus on what's going on and what you want to do when you're not belabored by modifiers, traits, situational rules, long and tedious combat sequences. Granted, the pace of the game ends up being pretty quick and it can feel a little shallow compared to a combat that takes 45 minutes to resolve, or the level of gamesmanship that comes with most RPG systems. But a good GM with fun ideas and a taste for freestyle can make a lot out of it, and so can the players. Just don't roll a 1.
Author
Topic: Tabletop Roleplaying Games (Read 19586 times)