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[Dermonster]

I loved the time period back in the day when Gatleos used to make games. Mini char creation sheet, somewhat low risk of unmeaningful death, fantastic turns with some real oomph to them, they had some real color and effort.

You gave that man a thimble of water and he'd have filled a damn aqueduct. I still think that the way he did things were really optimal, though I will admit Eternal RTD's namesake is a lie. Nowadays its just half remembered promises of Breakfast Wizards and Homestuck RPG's.

[flabort]

Alright, so the basic premise of how my name based generator would work:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'll use the made up name of OneMoreMan, and my own name flabort, for the examples.

1) Convert the name from the Hexatridecimal system to a decimal (Base 36: A=10, B=11, C=12... Y=34, Z=35). This is variable A. (OneMoreMan=2503470972642143; flabort=33938866217)
2) Replace all lower case letters in the name with the number 0, then convert from Hexatridecimal. This is variable B. (OneMoreMan->O00M000M00=2437486849281888; flabort->0000000=0000000)

3) Compare Variable A with Variable B. Line up the right most digits. Highlight any digits that match (Known as Set Y). In a different color, highlight any that are 1 away from each other (1 and 2, 4 and 5, 9 and 0, etc., known as Set X). The blank space to the left of Variable B (If there's a space, it will be from B) is filled with zeroes.
(OneMoreMan:
2503470972642143
2437486849281888

flabort:
33938866217
00000000000)

4) Any singular number from either Set Y or Set X becomes an Uncommon Trait. Roll a d20, and multiply by the highlighted digit's value plus one. Digits from Set Y are only counted once. Use both digits if they are from Set X.
(OneMoreMan: 9 8 2 1
[1d20:6]*(9+1)=60: Albino
[1d20:20]*(8+1)=180: +2 to working with technology, -2 to working with or resisting magic
[1d20:8]*(2+1)=24: Complete heterochromia iridum (Two eye colors)
[1d20:1]*(1+1)=2: +1 to music related rolls

flabort: 9 0 1 0
[1d20:2]*(9+1)=20: Over 6'6"
[1d20:8]*(0+1)=8: +1 to brawny rolls, -1 to brainy rolls
[1d20:12]*(1+1)=24: Complete heterochromia iridum
[1d20:1]*(0+1)=1: +1 to actions involving fire)

Uncommon traits usually have little or no effect, or have equal drawbacks.

5) Any pair of numbers from the same set next to each other become Inherited Supernatural Traits. Roll a d6 and multiply by the digits' value. If the pair is from Set X, only use the set from Variable B.
(No such pairs in either example)

Inherited Supernatural Traits are things that you have because of being born that way (though they may not manifest until puberty or later; or they may show up right at birth). Most have major drawbacks related to them, such as Super Strength turning into Super Weakness in the presence of certain rocks.

6) Any pair of numbers from different sets next to each other become Gained Supernatural Traits. Roll a d6 and multiply by the digits' values. Only use the set from Variable A.
(OneMoreMan: 25 47
[1d6:4]*25=100: Magic Sword (Next trait determines sword's ability), requires souls or it turns on owner
[1d6:5]*47=235: Powered Armor, Energy shield variant (Halo), sometimes has a will of it's own
So OneMoreMan starts with a magic sword that produces an indestructible field of energy around anyone who wields it, as if they were wearing a suit of armor. If he doesn't kill people with it, it will kill him, and sometimes (while it's armoring him), it will move for him, taking control of his movements.

flabort: No such pairs)

Gained Supernatural Traits are things that you have because they happened to you (Super Soldier Serum, spider bite, frozen in ice cream), or you had them given to you, or you made them. They also have drawbacks, to balance them out. Many of them say something about the next trait; this turns the next trait (either another GST, a Divine Trait, or a Mundane Trait) into a modifier for the first.

7) Any run of three or more highlighted numbers regardless of set is a Divine Trait. Just read the number off the table to get the trait.

(No example)

Divine traits are ridiculously powerful, you must be the child of a god. That said, you have powers that fit that theme, but several weaknesses, too. Generally more weaknesses then benefits.

Remove any highlighted numbers from both variables. Add them together to get Variable C. Divide the number into sets of 3, the first number in each set is the second in the previous one. Take each 3 digit number and it becomes a Mundane Trait.

(OneMoreMan: 0307264143+3764928888= 4072193031
407 072 721 219 193 930 303 031
too lazy to come up with 8 mundane traits at the moment
flabort: 333886627 + 000000000 = 333886627
333 338 388 886 866 662 627
seven more traits. See how this works, though?)

Mundane traits basically just describe appearance, with the occasional rare modifier to certain specialty rolls. +1 to using a sniper rifle, for example. Or +2 to styling hair. Usually they'll be like hair color, size, a favored piece of clothing, jewelery (or lack of), facial or body hair, etc.
They are far, far more likely not to do anything than uncommon traits.

9) Compile the list of traits, hide any rolls or numbers, give to player. Let them fill in any blanks if it doesn't affect any rolls.

Players with longer names will probably get more traits. But more traits generally means more drawbacks, with the exception of mundane traits. And those are mostly appearance or life story stuff.

OneMoreMan wound up being cursed with a vampire blade, for example, while flabort (that's me!) didn't get any bad stuff like that; I'm pretty dumb and will be banging my head on doors all the time, but I'm big and strong.

Err... not so basic. And I haven't filled out any tables yet, either. However, the player just has to "in", and they become anyone from a hairdresser to a demigod in mechanized tights. Most characters should be relatively balanced to each other, though, even if you're a mundane playing alongside superheroes, due to drawbacks getting stronger as traits get stronger.

[Tsuchigumo550]

ooh, I really want to build something like that now.

Possibly have each character have to come up with the answers to five simple questions to determine starting equipment or something? Let's say I need to determine five things:
Possible magical abilities, possible nonmagical abilities, possible unique weapon, possible unique armor, and possible starting kit, if I was making an adventuring game.

1. What is your name? (Adventurer name)
2. What is your favorite color?
3. Name a fancy food you'd like to try.
4. Pick a number between one and fourty four.
5. What's the worst-sounding virus you can find on Wikipedia?

Spoiler:  Answer Set 1 (click to show/hide)

Sanya
Green
Lobster
Three
Orthomyxoviridae

Take all answers, and assign each to it's corresponding number- spaces are 0, as well as any special characters, so that the answers are now:

Spoiler: Set 1 (click to show/hide)

19 1 14 25 1
7 18 5 5 14
12 15 2 19 20 5 18
20 8 18 5 5
15 18 20 8 15 13 25 24 15 22 9 18 9 4 1 5

Now, you're going to pick which strings output which items. This is because you probably won't have enough different starting item kits for "15 18 20 8 15 13 25 24 15 22 9 18 9 4 1 5" to be useful. So now:
Magic:       7 18 5 5 14
Nonmagic: 12 15 2 19 20 5 18
Weapon:   19 1 14 25 1
Armor:      15 18 20 8 15 13 25 24 15 22 9 18 9 4 1 5
Kit:            20 8 18 5 5
You could also do what-strings-go-where randomly.
Each item may have a minimum amount of characters as well as a maximum, for instance, you may only want five characters in a kit. Let's say I want five values total for all data, and each has a ceiling of 30 (note, higher than 26, causing some things to be much harder to generate.)
Magic is OK, Weapon is OK, and Kit is OK. Nonmagic and armor need some reworking.
12 15 2 19 20      5 18
15 18 20 8 15      13 25 24 15 22      9 18 9 4 1      5

First, separate the numbers into clumps of five or less, as above.
Then, add the first and second clumps. If you reach the ceiling, (i.e., 20+15=35), subtract 30 until the number is lower than the ceiling. (35=5).

12 15 2 19 20
  5 18
17 32 2 19 20
17 2 2 19 20

15 18 20 8 15
13 25 24 15 22
28 43 44 23 37
28 13 14 23 7

If you still have more, continue adding with the third and fourth, fifth and sixth, etc:

9 18 9 4 1
5
14 18 9 4 1

Subtract the resulting pairs from the first group. Ignore negatives.
28 13 14 23 7
14 18 9 4 1
14 5 5 19 6


Magic:       7 18 5 5 14
Nonmagic: 17 2 2 19 20
Weapon:   19 1 14 25 1
Armor:      14 5 5 19 6
Kit:            20 8 18 5 5

Now all that's left is to find an interesting way for things to fit together. Generating armor might involve:
1.Core Metal
2.Armor Piece
3.Addition, Metal, or Armor Piece
4.Armor Piece
5.Addition, Metal, or Armor Piece
so if 14 5 5 19 6 resulted in Silver, Legs, Add Shield, Arms, AP Torso, you'd get silver armor with a shield attached to the shin with armguards and a chestplate.

[Joben]

Or you could roll dice on a handful of random tables. The players would never know the difference and it would take something like 1/10th the time. Just sayin.

[Fniff]

I came up with a premise that would be nice for the mechanic, along with a few simplications to the mechanic. Feel free to use this if you like.

Wanderers of the Multiverse!
So, you are you. Yes, you, the guy sitting at the computer this very moment. You were just doing your usual thing, browsing Bay12, when one day your universe got eaten by the Disciple, a rather nasty eldritch being. You managed to survive through freak chance, and you found yourself drifting throughout the multiverse. You fell through the worlds, picking up both bizarre mutations and items, eventually gaining the ability to travel the multiverse alone and without friends. However, good news is at hand. You managed to meet up with some fellow Bay12ers from roughly similar universes. Together, you might just win the battle against the Disciple and his minions, and maybe even get your normal lives back.

The Mechanics
Random Generator thing I made earlier that you may wanna look at to understand the mechanics of this.

Players get an amount of items/mutations depending on what the first letter of their name is and what place it has in the alphabet. If someone has a number larger then 9, use the largest number in the number.

Example: F (As in, Fniff) is the sixth letter of the alphabet, so I get six items/mutations. If I was named, for instance, Tsuchigumo550, I would have two items instead of 20, while someone named SeriousConcentrate would get 9 items instead of 19.

Then, roll an equal amount of d2s to see whether or not it's a item or a mutation. Items are one, mutations are two.

Example: I roll six d2s, and get 5 items, 1 mutation.

Finally, roll for effects (unique things about the item/mutation). Roll a 1d4 for amount of effects, then roll 1d301.

Example:
First, the mutation. I get a 2 for amount of effects, so I roll twice. I get the results 125 and 268, meaning Jump and Guilt. So I guess as a result of a misdeed, I got the power to jump higher then usual, giving a +1 to agility rolls. I probably feel rather guilty about that.

Then the items.

The first item rolls up 66, Necromantic. I suppose it is an artifact that raises the dead. Nice! The GM will probably limit that.

I then roll 123, 269, and 243. Peace, Guilty, Choking. Oh my, I have done a lot of bad things. The item is a piece of rope that is able to choke people silently (+2 to choking people) and kills them rather peacefully, though I always feel very guilty about it afterwards.

I then roll 50, 153, 199, and 283. Good, Birth, Building, Wood. Huh. The item is a picture of a newborn baby that, when activated, creates a wooden cabin able to shelter you from pain but only works for the pure of heart. Well, that's useless for me. "Fniff the guilt-ridden strangler".

I then roll 12. Insect. It's a swarm of insects I can order to harm people that get a +1 to their activities, but must be fed.

I then roll 288 and 176. Black Hole and Mechanics. It's a mechanical object that can make a black hole for a tempoary time. Kickass.

That's my opinion on how it should be done, anyway. It may be because I'm not a mathhead and thus converting things to hexes and that is a bit beyond me, while random generators are definitely in my area.

[SealyStar]

So I'm starting to solidify a decent RtD system.

Basically, the main attributes are simple skills, which are basically a few things that are relevant to the subject of the game. Skills shouldn't be taken as standard RPG attributes, more as general categories that the character is good at. In my initial plans I provided for just +1 skills (so it's binary whether you have a skill or not), but with some tweaking I could extend them to higher numbers like +2, or into the negatives possibly. All skills do is provide a modifier to die rolls, of course - +1 would bump a 5 up to a 6, and so on.

I conceived of using 2d6 instead of the standard 1d6 for various reasons. For one thing, with the way the skills work a +1 out of six is a huge bonus, which can literally mean life and death according to standard RtD rules - and would prevent a "critical-failure" 1 from ever happening.

After some fucking about with probability, I categorized the possible outcomes as such:
≤2 - 3 (8.333%): Critical Failure, the worst outcome; something very bad happens.
4 - 5 (19.444%): Major Failure, something bad but not terrible happens.
6 - 7 (30.556%): Failure, the action is not accomplished but with no other ill effects.
8 - 9 (25.000%): Success, the action is accomplished but nothing spectacular comes of it.
10 - 11 (13.889%): Solid Success, the action is accomplished with particular success and better than expected.
≥12 (2.778%): Critical Success, the action is completed very well and something particularly good is liable to happen.

Obviously it's skewed toward the worse results; this is because (a) losing is FUN!!! and (b) since I originally envisioned mostly positive modifiers, any of those help balance it out. The use of both 2 and 3 for Critical Failure ensures that having a skill does not prevent a character from suffering a serious - and humorous - accident.

I conceived of a different, but hopefully simple enough, scheme for combat rolls, where 2d6 are rolled for the attacker and 1d6  for the defender, and the defender score is subtracted from the attacker. Both attack and defense rolls can potentially get a bonus based on skill and armor. The basic setup for this is as follows:

≤-4 - -2 (4.63%): Critical Miss, the attacker botches the attack so badly that they injure themselves or leave themselves vulnerable.
-1 - +3 (45.36%): Miss, obviously the attack doesn't hit but with no adverse effects on the attacker.
4 - 6 (33.79%): Hit, the attack hits but without causing more damage than expected.
7 - 9 (14.35%): Solid Hit, the attack goes particularly well (for the attacker!) and causes some extra damage.
10-11 (1.85%): Critical Hit, the attacker seriously injures the defender well beyond what they had expected.

(You will note that the number of decimals is less; this is because the 2d6 values were calculated by hand, while the sheer number of possible outcomes for 2d6 - 1d6 meant I calculated it on this wonderful website.)

What do you think? I'm open to refining the probabilities and all.

[Fniff]

I'm making an RTD that's simuatling survival horror mechanics. It's meant to be as non-specific as possible: you can have regular serial killers fighting the players alongside Silent Hill esque monsters. I've managed to simulate the map growing steadily more dangerous, the few sane NPCs going insane then backstabbing you, those NPCs you need to rescue who occasionally give you rewards (And occasionally don't), and videogame style bosses who constantly stalk you. I'd share the mechanics, but I'm not quite finished as I'm not sure if I'm making things quite hard enough for players. The game is meant to be rather dangerous (Don't worry, the character profile is rather simplistic and you can just pop back in the next round so it shouldn't be too annoying), so any ideas for mechanics based off survival horror games that would make things more dangerous for players? Hell, just mechanics that make things more dangerous for players while still being fair?

[NobodyPro]

Okay an interest check before I get too involved in designing my RTD.

It's an episodic action RTD with a light rule set that centers around a group of people who have developed supernatural abilities from their obsessions (Like Unknown Armies' adepts). They fight creatures that are manifesting as the fabric of reality weakens.

[Digital Hellhound]

This is the sight that greeted me coming to the RTD subforum just now;



piecewise whyyyyy

I'm just saying, he's making everyone else look bad with your insane updating speed and endless walls of threads. Sometime needs to be done.

[Tarran]

This is the sight that greeted me coming to the RTD subforum just now;



piecewise whyyyyy

I'm just saying, he's making everyone else look bad with your insane updating speed and endless walls of threads. Sometime needs to be done.

Oh god, he's taking your ability to write too, not just the forum.

As for what needs to be done, well, we obviously need to clone Piecewise so we can get someone as dedicated, but also make changes to his brain so that he doesn't attract suspicion due to similar writing style. Then have the clone start a new RTD.

Then, we need to clone the clone three times, and have them writing in shifts so we can catch up to the original while he is sleeping. Eventually, we will win!

[Xantalos]

But piecewise does not sleep
He never sleeps

[kisame12794]

Indeed. Piecewise is no mere man, he is a RTD updating robot, to whom a thousand spacemagic-related overshoots are rolled each day, so that he may continue to power his mighty cognitive circuits.

[NobodyPro]

Okay, I drafted that obsession magic RTD I mentioned above. Any thoughts?

Spoiler: Opening Bit (click to show/hide)

You see them more and more these days, people who have latched onto something as if it’s the only thing keeping them alive. Calling them ‘obsessive’ seems like an understatement. Just today I was on the subway and I spotted this guy who was just sitting there staring at his lighter. This guy just had soot all over his hands and I think he’d singed his eyebrows off too. He probably burnt a building down for giggles. I just don’t understand how someone can become that engrossed in something that it just defines them. They chase it no matter what effect it has on the rest of their life whether it’s booze or drugs or, um, fire I guess. Why- no, quiet. My show is on.
Something has happened to the fabric of reality. Something that has created a new kind of person who has slowly but surely detached themselves from reality and in doing so they have unwittingly gained supernatural powers. These are not well-balanced people. These people are Obsessives.

However, this weakening of reality has allowed other things to manifest, or perhaps they crossed over from elsewhere. Regardless, they may pose a serious threat, not only to mankind but to everything we accept as real.

Obsessions is the story of a group of Obsessives, brought together to fight these incursions and, if possible, stop them forever.

Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)

Name: (If your character prefers a pseudonym, don’t put the character’s real name here. I’ll PM you if I need it.)
Obsession: (This is the defining aspect of your character, so choose wisely. Examples: Alcohol, fire, guns, books, electronica, money, a certain TV show/movie/anime (or a genre in general), Kool-Aid.)
Inventory: (Anything your character would conceivably carry on their person. Weapons must be either legal in the US or easily concealed.)
Notes: (Write a description at the very least.)

Spoiler: Mechanics (click to show/hide)

Actions use the basic D6 system outlined below.

6 – Critical Success/Overshoot (though only on a natural 6)
5 – Success
4 – Close Success
3 – Close Failure
2 – Failure
1 – Critical Failure (though only on a natural 1)

Player characters begin with 10 HP, if this total reaches 0 any further damage puts their lives in the hands of a critical hit chart too large, violent and copyrighted to be posted here.

When a character attacks someone else each character rolls a D6. The damage done is (attacker’s roll – defenders roll).

Spoiler: Magick (click to show/hide)

Charges
Doing something that feeds your obsession grants you a charge (up to a total of three). This has to take time or effort, so an Obsessive Alcoholic couldn’t gain a charge from taking a sip from his beer but he could gain one from finishing it.
You can spend a charge to give your character a +1 bonus to a magickal action.

Spells
There are three types of spells that can be cast: Minor, Significant, and Major. Spells cast should be related to your obsession. Unrelated spells can be attempted but will be penalised by your lack of focus.

Minor – No penalty
While Minor spells have to be declared by the player, the character is manipulating reality subconsciously to suit their perception of the world, whether their perceptions are based in fact, misconception, or delusion. These spells shouldn’t make an outside observer think ‘Magic!’
David, an Obsessive Pyro, pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit the corner of his newspaper before putting it back, as empty as it was before.

Significant – -1 to casting roll
Significant spells represent a conscious effort to bend reality to fit your needs. These spells can be visibly unnatural but should be easy to rationalise by any sane person.
Harry, an Obsessive Operator, groaned as his revolver dry fired. He shrugged, took aim, and fired a seventh round at the oncoming horror.


Major – -3 to casting roll
Major spells are your character’s way of bending reality to fit their ideal. The power of a major spell is that it can break fundamental rules of the universe, bend the will of another human being, and create something from nothing more than thoughts (even life).
Travis, an Obsessive Fanboy,  focused upon a single thought that sat foremost in his mind. Smirking, he reached behind him to find that the new, unfamiliar weight was exactly what he thought it was. A beam katana. "Moe."

Further penalties can apply depending on the scale of the action attempted.

Critical Results
Magickal actions use special tables to further determine critical results:

Critical Success/Overshoot Table
6 – Less Than You’d Hope
5 – Multiplicity
4 – Overflow
3 – Give and Take
2 – Tempest
1 – Doorway

Critical Failure table:
6 – Horribly Right
5 – Duplicity
4 – Violent Phenomena
3 – Collateral Damage
2 – Backlash
1 – Worst Possible Thing

[Unholy_Pariah]

This game soynds rather entertaining, id love to play it as a sci-fi addict... so many rayguns to choose from.

[Fniff]

I'd be interested in it as well... Reminds me of Genius The Transgression a little bit.