Search for the Gizmo of Ultimate Goodness:
an adventure in Science FantasyFour randomly generated adventurers must delve through a randomly generated dungeon, fighting randomly generated enemies and acquiring randomly generated loot. But that's not why they're here. They're here to retrieve the Gizmo of Ultimate Goodness from the clutches of the (randomly generated) boss monster that dwells somewhere within. And they only have one real-life month to do it. And did I mention schizo tech? Oh yes, there will be schizo tech...
Exploration Rules
1) The party must defeat the boss monster to get the Gizmo of Ultimate Goodness. After one month of real time has elapsed, the party is kicked out of the dungeon (or they can choose to fight the boss, if they've already been to the boss room).
2) If the party is kicked out, they must fight a "lesser" boss. They do not need to fight it if they have the gizmo (but if they still want to, I guess they can).
3) Whenever the party enters a new room, there is a chance that residual aether from the construction of the dungeon will be present, and its energy will add one use to each spell of each player (no max).
4) The party can know which doors/portcullises are locked just by looking at them. They can also tell about half the time whether a door is trapped or not, but not necessarily what trap it is or how it's activated.
5) The party has no chance of automatically noticing secret door, or traps that are not on doors.
6) There are no monsters or traps in corridors (not counting the possible traps on doors).
7) Each player can act individually, but the party must decide as a whole which room to explore next. I'd appreciate a unanimous vote, but I'll settle for majority vote if I have to. (If there is no majority, the party will be stuck in the room until they get their shit together.)
The Combat Turn
Combat is a sequence of turns that lasts until one side is defeated or flees. Each turn starts with a description of what the monsters are preparing to do. ("The gobbo shaman is muttering something. One of the gobbo warriors stands defensively in front of him, and the other charges forward swinging his lightsaber wildly.") Then the players talk strategy and submit their actions. (If the monsters can speak common, they will hear your strategy. Seriously.) You may take any number of actions in one turn, but there are restrictions on what actions you can take. Your actions can include any/all of the following (and stuff like it):
-Moving up to 6 squares (including diagonally). You cannot move into enemies' squares. You can move into allies' squares, but you can't end your turn in them.
-Drawing, stowing, and/or picking up one or more non-heavy weapons/shields
-Drinking one or more potions
-Interacting with objects in the environment
-Attempting to use Stealth (not always possible)
-Dropping an item on the ground (unless the item is fragile, it will not be damaged)
-Going out on your own terms
However, your actions cannot include more than one of the following:
-Making one attack or dual-attack (interacting with the environment in order to deal damage counts as this)
-Casting one spell
-Drawing, stowing, and/or picking up one or more heavy weapons/shields
There are also certain things which cannot be done in combat because they take too long, such a using Medicine, Pick Locks, or Underwater Basket-Weaving
Once all the actions are posted, I resolve the actions of the players and the monsters. I might move to this step if only a majority of players have posted and it's time to move on (we only have a month, after all). Don't worry: enemies will tend to avoid players who didn't post. You are allowed to write your actions any amount of turns in advance, if you wish. If there is confusion about whether this action of the monster happened before that action of the player, the action with the higher roll happened first, or they both happened at once (depending on the situation). All actions that use skills or require some luck to succeed are evaluated with a d20 roll. Unless non-attack/non-magic actions must equal or beat a certain number to succeed (the number depends on the situation). Attacks must equal or beat the defense roll of the opponent. This defense roll is based on either Evade, Block, Melee Weapons, or Will, depending on which has the highest bonus (the type of attack can also determine which skill can be used). Unlike all other rolls, defense rolls cannot crit succeed/fail. Here are the details of each blocking method:
Evade: Prevented by Medium and Heavy Armor. -5 penalty if you did/will attack or cast a spell this turn, or have little time to react.
Shield: Requires a shield (duh). -5 penalty if you did/will attack or cast a spell this turn, or have little time to react.
Melee Weapons: Requires a non-light melee weapon. Can only block melee attacks. -5 penalty if you did/will attack or cast a spell this turn, or have little time to react.
Will: Can only defend against psychic attacks, transmutation magic (petrification, polymorph), and control magic (charms, paralysis). Non-sentient creatures automatically fail their Will rolls.
The roll for casting a spell must equal or exceed 7 (the magic number) to succeed. Otherwise, it backfires and has a random effect on the caster. If the spell is being cast at an enemy, the same roll that determine the success/failure of the spell is used to see if the spell hits.
Once I have resolved the actions, I post the results and the next turn begins.
Armor Types
There are three basic types of armor.
Light: Does not hinder any actions or skills. Usually DR 1 (reduces damage taken from any attack, spell, etc. by 1).
Medium: Prevents Evade, and limits Stealth to just hiding. Usually DR 2.
Heavy: ?
Weapon and Shield Types
All weapons have the melee, shooting, or throwing type. All shields have the shield type. Additional types may also be present in a weapon or shield. The following list only has the most common types of weapons and shields:
Melee: Can only attack adjacent enemies (diagonally adjacent counts). If you are wielding a melee weapon in each hand, you can dual-attack (at the same target), albeit at a -5 penalty for both rolls.
Shooting: Can attack any enemy in line-of-sight (obstacles and enemies at least as tall as you block line of sight). Attack gets a -2 or -5 penalty if target has partial cover (depending on amount of cover). Attack gets a -5 penalty if there is an enemy adjacent to you (no matter who you are attacking). If you are wielding a shooting weapon in each hand, you can dual-attack (at the same target), albeit at a -5 penalty for both rolls. Shooting weapons have infinite ammo.
Throwing: These weapons have limited ammo (technically, they are the ammo), but you can retrieve and reuse them during or after battle (except burst throwing weapons). Whenever you attack with a throwing weapon, you may attack with up to two more throwing weapons (at the same or different targets). Also, everything italicized under "Shooting" applies to throwing weapons as well.
Shield: Shields can block attacks and bash enemies. A shield bash is the same as a melee weapon attack, except that bashes have a chance of staggering the target (% chance differs between shield). Staggered creatures lose their actions this turn, or next turn if they already acted. If you are wielding a shield in one hand and a melee weapon in the other, you can dual-attack (at the same target), albeit at a -5 penalty. (You cannot dual-attack with a shooting weapon + shield, nor shield + shield.)
2-Handed: 'Nuff said.
Light: These weapons and shields don't suffer a -5 penalty when used in a dual-attack. When dual-attacking with a light weapon/shield and a non-light weapon/shield, the non-light one still takes the -5 penalty. Also, light melee weapons can be thrown (using the Ranged Weapons skill), but they will only deal half damage. Light weapons cannot be used to defend against attacks. (Note: There is a type of armor called Light Armor. It is unrelated to the"Light" weapon/shield type.)
Heavy: These weapons and shields cannot be used in a dual-attack. Also, you cannot draw or stow a heavy weapon/shield in the same combat turn you attacked or cast a spell (and vice versa). (Note: Same disclaimer as for the "Light" weapon/shield type.)
Burst: These throwing weapons deal damage to all creatures in a 3x3 area on the grid. Each creature can avoid the damage by rolling 10 or higher using Evade, unless they are in the center square (the origin). When attacking with a burst weapons, you target a square on the grid (where the origin will be). You must meet or exceed a target number (Throwing Weapons roll) for the attack to succeed. If you fail, the weapon goes off closer to you than intended. The "target number" is equal to 3 times the distance (in squares) to the target square. Burst weapons are consumed upon use.
Damage Types
Damage always has a damage type (blunt, sharp, plasma, etc.). A damage type only matters if the target is vulnerable (x2 dmg), resistant (x0.5 dmg), immune (no dmg) or has a special reaction to it.
Unarmed Combat
If you are very desperate, you can attack enemies with your bare hands. You can also kick, wrestle, grapple, etc. It won't do much. The enemy will defend against it like any standard attack, and might get free attacks on you. (Imagine trying to wrestle with someone who has a knife. They wouldn't even have to try.) All unarmed combat rolls are based on Athletics. These rules do not apply to monsters who naturally use unarmed combat (like snakes, giant spiders, or DoomGuy under the effects of a berserk power-up).
Aspects
Firstly, I will PM you two sets of three aspects. You choose which one to build your character from ("your set"), and the other is discarded. You must incorporate the aspects from your set into your character. Your character must be flesh-and-blood, be able to die from wounds, speak Common (or have another means of communication), be no taller than an orc, and be no shorter than a gnome. While being humanoid is not necessary, non-humanoids might have some trouble with doorways and equipment. (Nanotechnology allows equipment to scale to its users size, but you still can't swing a sword if you only have hooves.) You may give your character one special ability, but then you must give them a special downside as well. Your skills and spells are determined by a point-buy system (see below). There is a standard equipment list, but you may start with different (mundane) equipment if it makes sense (PM me about it).
Skills and Spells
You have 18 points to spend on improving skills and learning spells. (Unspent points are lost.) Each point in a skill gives you a +1 to relevant rolls (d20), up to a total of +5. (You can still use skills you haven't spent points on.) There are eleven skills in all:
Melee Weapons: Attack with your melee weapon, and block melee attacks with your non-light melee weapon.
Ranged Weapons: Attack with your shooting or thrown weapon.
Magic: Cast the spells you've learned.
Evade: Dodge attacks/spells. (Cannot be used while wearing medium or heavy armor.)
Shield: Block attacks/spells with your shield and shield bash.
Stealth: Sneak around. (If you're wearing anything heavier than light armor, you can only use this to hide.)
Pick Locks: Because dungeoneering is glorified breaking-and-entering. (Important: If this roll fails, not even another player can do a "redo" roll! Requires lockpicking kit.)
Athletics: Run, jump, punch people in the face, etc.
Medicine: Cure poison and stop bleeding. Does not restore HP. (The party can't redo this either. Requires medicine kit.)
Will: Defend against psychic attacks, transmutation magic (petrification, polymorph), and control magic (charms, paralysis).
Underwater Basket-Weaving: If you dumpstat this, you're just a powergamer! (This skill is essential to roleplaying.)
You can learn up to two spells. The first spell costs 3 points, and the second spell costs 5 points. Each spell is designed by me from two aspects: One aspect of your choice from your set, and one randomly rolled from the Great List. You will know what the other aspect is, and you may suggest another interpretation of the two aspects, but for purposes of game balance I have the final say. Each of your spells start with three uses. Whenever the party enters a new room, there is a chance that residual aether from the construction of the dungeon will be present, and its energy will add one use to each spell of each player (no max).
Starting Equipment
-- Electric Headlamp
-- Steel-Toed Boots
-- Cape with Custom Design (optional)
1) Leather Armor (light armor, DR 1)
OR
2) Chainmail (medium armor, DR 2, prevents Evade, limits Stealth to just hiding)
1) Nunchucks (melee, 8 blunt dmg)
OR
2) Shortsword (melee, 8 sharp dmg)
OR
3) Dagger (light melee, 5 sharp dmg)
1) Blaster Pistol (light shooting, 6 plasma dmg)
OR
2) Semi-Auto Rifle (2-handed heavy shooting, 10 bullet dmg)
1) Kite Shield (heavy shield, 3 blunt dmg + 50% stagger)
OR
2) Dagger (light melee, 5 sharp dmg)
1) Medicine Kit
OR
2) Lockpicking Kit
OR
3) "#1 Team" Oversized Foam Glove
After choosing your starting equipment, select one to enrich. (An enrichment is like an enchantment, but schizo tech.) As with spells, the enrichment is designed by me from two aspects: One aspect of your choice from your set, and one randomly rolled from the Great List. You will know what the other aspect is, and you may suggest another interpretation of the two aspects, but for purposes of game balance I have the final say.
Character Sheet
You may go into as much or as little detail as you would like.
Name:
Appearance:
Description: Age, race, occupation, etc.
Backstory: How and why you joined the party on their quest to retrieve the Gizmo of Ultimate Goodness.
Skills: List only the ones you have a bonus to.
Spells: List your chosen aspect for each purchased spell.
Equipment: Mark the enriched piece and your chosen aspect. Put a star next to each item you have equipped. (Kits are considered always equipped).
-- OceanSoul
-- Smoke Mirrors
-- Glass
-- Legendary Marksdorf
Waitlist1) Dustan Hache
2) PaPaj
3) Failbird105
4) endlessblaze (maybe)
5) ATHATH
It's been quite I while since I last posted on Bay12. I've been wanting to run a short RTD, lasting about a month from start to finish.
However, I don't know what you guys would find fun, especially since the time limit might be a turn-off for most. So post your thoughts on what sort of game you'd like this to be. Any suggestion is legit: theme ideas, character sheet, setting, etc. After 3 days, I'm going to make the thing and add the rules to this OP. We'll start the game from there.
Also, if someone else suggests something you really like, +1 it so I know which stuff to definitely include.
