Roll to Die
The End of Times has come.
For thousands of years, this world lived to its fullest. Different races waged wars on each other, civilizations were raised and fell under the sands of time. Magical beasts roamed its lands, while powerful magicians experimented with earth-shattering powers. But now... Now it's time for this world to die and give way to a new one. Death himself has decreed this.
Servants of the Death already cleared most of the world from life, but in the end, it was deemed unnecessary for all mortals to die by their hands. So, a Final Battle of sorts was arranged - for the world to end in a blaze of carnage and glory instead of simply vanquishing into nothingness.
Death is all but inevitable... For how long would you survive?
Short introductionThis is an attempt to resurrect my first RTD, which was way too cumbersome with numbers to realistically manage. I toned them down a bit and made some improvements, which would hopefully result in much more carnage and despair.
Ahem. All characters start inside Labyrinth. An endless maze of intermingling corridors, Labyrinth is flooded with various monsters, wary adventurers and many treasures. It goes in all directions and navigating it may be impossible without proper equipment...
One thing for sure - you won't meet immortal creatures here. They might be excluded from the Death's order altogether or fight for their existence somewhere else.
This game would be using d12. Think of it as an expanded d6.
There are two kind or rolls: General (GR) and Battle (BR)
GR relates to all mundane tasks, from searching and identifying magical items, to ambushing, running from danger and recuperating. All bonuses and skills that apply add to the roll up till 10 (perfect success). 11&12 are over the top.
BR relates to all battle actions, like attacks, defense and magical spells. The higher you get - the better.
Special: FAIL / CRIT - mainly occurring in battle, they NULL / DOUBLE your skill bonuses. 1 is always FAIL. 12 is CRIT on BR.
1-4 Enemy
5-6 Contestant
7-9 Thing of Interest
10 - Exactly what was searched for
11-12 Treasure
Name:
Race: (include racial bonus)
Gender: (doesn't do much, although it can have some minor effect)
Attributes: (7 points to assign)
-) Health (100%)
-) Body: 0 (-1)
-) Speed: 0 (-1)
-) Affinity: 0 (-1)
-) Acumen: 0 (-1)
Skills: (5 levels to assign, no more than 3 per one skill)
-)
Special: (1 special attack)
-)
Weapon style: One hand (Shield optional) / Two hands / Double wield / Ranged / Throwing / Unarmed (bonus in latter case)
Weapon type: either general, like Pointed / Slashing / Blunt / Exotic or more specific Axe / Sword / Mace / ...
Armor: Light / Medium / Heavy / No Armor (bonus in latter case)
RaceThere are hundreds of species, some of them intelligent enough to have arrogance to call themselves 'sentient'. Of those races, most will meet their demise here.
Your choice of race affects only one thing: racial bonus. It is a +1 skill/ability that is associated with this race or a minor general bonus.
For example, elves could have +1 Speed, Bow Mastery (+1 Bows), Aether Sensitivity (+1 Magic)... Or Darkvision, Nature affinity, Diplomatic Sense, etc.
As long as it's adequate, it's probably fine.
Body (Strength and Endurance. Affects physical damage and health. Also, willpower and feats of strength.)
Speed (Agility and Flexibility. Accuracy, dodging, acrobatic stunts, initiative.)
Affinity (Artifacts and Resistance. Affects handling of magical artifacts and resistance to various maladies. Also, identifying items.)
Acumen (Thinking and Perception. Applies to searching, puzzle solving, finding healing herbs, etc.)
For each two points in the attribute you receive +1 to corresponding rolls. If attribute is 0 you receive -1. It is possible to subtract from an attribute at start, but it's not recommended.
Skill level determines your experience in the field. It is assumed that you have some minimal experience in all fields, so skills only show just how great you are at the ones you specialize in.
Skills may be anything you want, as long as it's adequate. Very broad skills (Attack magic, Defense) would require 2 levels for +1 bonus, while very specialized ones (Shield bash) may yield additional benefits.
It is possible to raise skills with time and practice. But, as you don't have much of the first, the only reliable way to earn them is by taking great risks. Skills used in dangerous situations would get experience immediately, while training them might take quite a lot of time.
Skill experience progression:
3 (Adequate) -> 5 (Competent) -> 7 (Skilled) -> 10 (Proficient) -> 13 (Expert) -> 16 (Great) -> 20 (Master) -> ?
To train a new skill, you need to use it three times. To get it to the second level, five times more. Simple.
While simply beating opponent with your trusty hammer is fine, there is nothing better than beating him with style!
Special attacks activate somewhat rarely, but when they do - they may change the flow of battle in your favor.
Name: (something colorful)
Trigger: Rolling on BR 6-10 (specify number), counterattacking, receiving critical... (must be a rare occurrence)
Effect: Stun, Disarm, Blind, Confuse, Ignore Armor, Magnify Damage, Lessen Damage Received...
To create new attack, you need to specify that you try before entering combat. If condition is met, attack is created. You may only have 1 SA per 3 levels of main skill.
Weapons come it different varieties, starting from a small concealed daggers and up to unbelievably heavy tree-clubs.
Generally, it's safe to assume that the more accurate weapon is, the less damage it does. Small weapons have great accuracy, but their problems are reach and damage, as well as parrying - it's difficult to parry strikes with most of them. Medium weapons are mediocre at everything, but they do not possess any major drawbacks either. They are ideal for parrying. Big weapons are unwieldy and sacrifice accuracy for terrific damage. It's hard to parry with most of them.
Shields are the best means of defense against everything that may come for you, but they do have price in mobility and combat accuracy. Bucklers won't affect your combat much, but they have small coverage and it's a bit hard to block with them. Big shields are really cumbersome, but you can feel reasonably safe hiding behind them.
Armor is what differs hard life from agonizing death. Even lightest of armors do affect movement and accuracy, but heaviest of them grant excellent protection in exchange for outrageous penalties in mobility and combat effectiveness.
Do note that it is possible for weapons and armor to crack and, eventually, break into pieces. So, do have an backup plan for the time it happens. Or loot the fallen for their equipment.
While you can't say at one glace that your weapon deals "1d12+2" damage, you may appraise it using your Affinity. Generally, you'll get a semi-accurate description, though mistakes are possible:
Rusty dagger (Dam: Bad / Acc: Fine / Con: Bad / no SP), Halberd (Dam: V.Good / Acc: Mediocre / Con: Good / Long Reach), Mace of Crushing (Dam: Stone-crushing / Acc: Abysmal / Con: Fine / Magical, Destroyer), Leather Armor (Arm: Bad / Pen: Small / Con: Good / no SP)
Weapon: (Damage, Accuracy, Condition and Special Properties)
Armor: (Armor, Penalty, Condition and Special Properties)
As long as you're wearing armor, you would be slowed down. It's nothing much for an experienced warrior, but for a frail artificer it may prove deadly.
You can't reliably wear armor which Pen exceeds your Body+1, unless it has [Light] property.
For each 2 Body that exceeds Pen, you ignore a part of its penalty, up to no penalty at all.
(safe bet is that most characters won't live to use it)
Magic is divided into Attack, Defensive and Utility categories.
Attack magic is the most various. Great spikes protruding from earth, scalded steam to the eyes, mental fatigue, mind control... It's difficult to mention all varieties, but it's same to assume that attack spells belong to two categories: Physical and Mental. First ones are no different from simple ranged attacks, if a bit more varied. But second... Mental attacks influence the opponent ignoring most of his normal defenses and could only be confronted by splendid resistance. Most physical spells could be blocked, even parried. It's possible to dodge even a few mental ones.
Defensive magic. A crust of icy armor surrounding a frail body. Gusts of wind deflecting arrows, ground turning into swamp... It's that magic that takes care of opponent attacks while mage thinks of a way to end his adversary.
Utility magic is the most versatile. It ranges from mildly useful all-situations spells and to one-time spells that could alter the whole situation at hand.
New spells could be improvised or learned through magic scrolls. Spells level with continuous use, becoming more powerful. Do note that you only receive bonus to the roll if you use a simpler form of a spell.
!Important! - Most combat encounters use autobattle option (see below).
There are three phases a single combat round consists of:
1) Initiative
2) Attack & Defense
3) Damage calculation
Initiative determines who acts first. There are no rolls involved, only Speed attribute. Actions that take some time may reverse initiative, while some actions may allow you to gain initiative despite being slow.
When initiative is determined, first to act uses his action. For normal attack, its success is decided by opposing rolls: Attack vs Defense. Defense can include only one of: Dodge / Block / Parry. If rolls are nearly equal, nothing happens. If one is better, player gets small advantage or executes strike/counter.
If defenses were breached or attacker opened for a counter, success is decided by comparing Damage and Armor / Body. While it is possible to absorb some strikes with your muscles, most weapons would ignore even the best Body attribute possible. Still, miracles do happen.
After deciding on damage, process repeats until everyone makes their move. Then, its a new Initiative phase.
R(esult) = (Attack - Defense)/2
<-2 = Stumble (R+2 penalty to Defense rolls for two rounds, may initiate counterattack)
-1~1 = Nothing
1~2 = Grazing strike (Damage/2)
3~4 = Solid hit
>5 = Critical strike (Damage*2 OR Ignores Armor)
Each creature involved normally gets to make one attack per round. Defensive attempts are not limited.
Attack rolls made after the first one take a cumulative -2 penalty (-1 if double wielding). Each Defense roll (Dodge / Block / Parry) may be used once per turn at zero penalty. Rolling same defense more than once gives cumulative -3 to further attempts.
Example:
Block 3 / Dodge -2 / Parry 1
Goes like this:
Block (3) - Parry (1) - Block (0) - Parry (-2) - Dodge (-2)
Total penalty to the roll can't exceed -10.
Swarm is a horde of small creatures treated as one entity. After all, one adventurer can't fight all twenty normal-sized rats in a 'honorable duel'.
Swarm gets one attack roll per round and does not roll for defense (instead, a constant value is used). Its Result is equal to A-D and shows number of its members that get to attack the opponent. Most swarms partially ignore armor and flee when reduced below ~40% of initial number.
---Round 1. Initiative: Adventurer, 20 rats.
Adventurer - A: 2+7 D: 5 => 4 rats die.
Rats: A: 10+8 D: 8+3 => 7 rats get to attack adventurer, causing him some damage.
As combat is the main part of this game and it can get quite repetitive, going for many rounds, this game uses an autobattle option.
Battle continues until one of the following conditions is met:
Player gets below 30% health / One of the sides is eliminated / 3 rounds pass (number can vary).
You may state your own condition, as well.
