Looking at rpg.net and that latest Tabletop RPG game thread got me thinking about tabletop rpgs, and how to make one. Lulu.com allow for self-publishing, allowing for any new tabletop RPG writer to get into the market to write junk, so I wonder if...hm...anyway, let see here what I got already...
1) Mechanics. I hope I don't get in trouble, but RTD is pretty simple...so...I would like to use Sean's expaned rules for RTD, modified...
The action results are defined by a six-sided die roll:
[1]: Epic Fail. Whatever you tried to achieve, you didn't, and you made it worse. You gain a negative Status effect.
[2]: Fail. You didn't, or couldn't do what you tried to.
[3]: Meager success: You didn't fail, but you didn't succeed either. Like trying to sit on two chairs but ending up on one.
[4]: Success: You succeeded in your plight. All consequences are now your problem.
[5]: Epic Success: You succeed in the most positive way possible. The universe will bend to your will.
[6]: Overshot: Not only did you succeed in the most positive way possible...but you learnt from it, so you could do it again! You gain a positive Status effect that will apply to future dice roll!
In addition, if at any time something threatens you, you get a free roll to dodge it. If you end up in a very bad situation as a result of the first dodge roll, you may or may not get another free roll to narrowly escape death.
*Swarm rules: Each successive dodge roll during a turn, unless it is a dodge against the same object or character, will get a -1 bonus.
Status changes:
*Dizzy: You cannot perform physical movement accurately, -1 physical actions. May cause vomiting.
*Dazed: You cannot focus on your surroundings, -1 physical actions and dodge, -1 mental actions.
*Stunned: You cannot make your body obey your orders, -2 physical actions and dodge.
*Confused: You cannot get your thoughts into order, -1 mental actions.
*Unconscious: You cannot move your body or react to surroundings, -2 to physical actions, no dodge, failguard.
*Asleep: You cannot move your body and cannot discern reality from dreams. -2 to physical and mental actions, no dodge, failguard.
*Trance: You are in an altered consciousness state and have trouble reacting to surroundings, -1 physical actions and dodge, no failguard. Deep trance gives -2 penalty.
Some status effects may grant "failguard". For the duration of these effects, the final total of any action roll will never be below 2.
If you are Stunned, Dazed, Dizzy, Confused, or otherwise receive a temporary penalty to overall or individual rolls, this penalty lasts until your next action is resolved, and not through the whole turn.
Sleep, Trance, and Unconsciousness are inflicted at a default severity that degrades with each attempt to overcome it.
If you receive a long-term effect that has the potential to alter itself, you get an Effect Resistance roll immediately after your action is resolved to determine the spread and consequences of the effect.
If you receive a mortal wound but are not killed outright, you need to pass a roll to avoid death at the end of every turn.
Combo rules:
You can spend your turn to help another player achieve his goal. If your roll is higher, it is taken as the success roll for the action.
You can also spend your turn to botch another player's action. If your roll is higher, its opposite is taken as the success roll for the action.
In both cases, individual player rolls determine what happens to the players in the course of the action.
Action rules:
Some actions may be considered "free", depending on the circumstance, and not require a roll.
As such, these actions can be paired with normal actions without penalty.
NPC rules:
When interacting with NPC's, a player can affect the action choice of the NPC via persuasion or hypnosis. In any case except direct physical control, the action of the NPC will be carried out in the NPC phase.
In extreme cases, regular players can be treated as NPC's. In these cases, the action will be carried out by the player in his own turn, and the effect that changes his action will be considered a positive Combo.
Any character that is not controlled by a player, be it because he is on AI, or insane, or mind-controlled by an NPC, or just about any other reason, will have a roll determine the general aim of his action for the turn. NPCs usually have an aim in mind, but insane NPCs follow this mechanic as well. The roll effects are relative to the players, specifically:
[1]: The character will do something VERY detrimental to the players. From going on a muderous rampage to destroying something the players need.
[2]: The character will do something detrimental to the players, and beneficial to him. Attempting to steal someone's item, killing a friendly NPC, pulling a lever that opens the exit and closes the treasure room with all the players, they all go here.
[3]: The character will do something for himself, without specifically aiming to do anything to anyone. Excercising, gaining skills, picking up equipment, just killing a horde of elves because they happen to be there, all fit here.
[4]: The character will do something that benefits him and the players both, usually helping in an action or just doing something the rest of the team is doing.
[5]: The character will do something beneficial to the players most. Finding a hidden button to stop some deathtrap, endangering himself to heal someone, etc.
[6]: The character will do something good for the team, but will be very excessive in his approach to the problem. Shooting a closed door with a rocket launcher to open it or summoning a nuke to destroy a nearby band of brigands will go here.
Enemies in this state will be less inclined to help the players even on high rolls.
However, RTD is usually used for less serious works, and, well, this game could be a tad serious.
2) Setting: This setting is based on
a previous alignment system I made for a fanasty story...This is just a short summary, of course.
---A great mighty Alien race, the Creators, wanted some a new labor source, geared towards providing "services".
---The Creators decided to outsource this job out to a low-level newbie Creator. The Creator's goal is to create a prototype that can later be demonstrated at the next Creators' Expo.
---Low-level newbie Creator found Earth and seeded it with the Human Race, Adam and Eve. Creator places himself on the throne to observe the Human Race, placing himself as a God figure and demanding "sacrifices" (purely to test their suitablity as a labor source).
---Cain and Abel, the two sons of Adam, provided two sacrifices to the Creator. The Creator has declared the sacrifices of Abel better than the sacrifices of Cain.
---Abel boasts that since the Creator has accepted his sacrifice, Abel is therefore "holy", and thus better than Cain. Cain and Abel gets in a fight. Cain, in order to defend his honor, killed Abel and fled the scene. No one has ever seen Cain again.
---Supporters and friends of Abel was upset at this great murder of Abel. They swear revenge at this terrible crime. These supporters assembled into the "Abel's Legion", and sought vengence against Cain and his supporters. The
Abelian Reign of Terror begins.
----Abel's Legion claimed that Abel, because he provided a sacrifice the Creator liked, and thus pleased a being who is far superior to humanity, in fact is "holy", and thus above criticism. Pointing out this fact is not at all 'arrogance', and Cain deserved punishment for attacking Abel.
---Supporters and friends of Cain became upset at the formation of the Abel's Legion. They believe that Cain was right to have defended his honor, and that Abel was too arrogant and thus deserving of his fate. These supporters assembled into "Cain's Alliance", which seeks to protect the supporters of Cain against the Abel's Legion's Reign of Terror, and eventually destroy Abel's Legion once and for all.
----Cain's Alliance argued that Cain's "honor" was hurt when Abel boasted about his achievments. By insulting Cain, Abel implied that it would be impossible for Cain to one day be able to beat Abel. This insult is damaging to a person's psyche, and it is right for Cain to resist this insult by killing Abel and proving that Cain may be superior to Abel.
---Both Abel's Legion and Cain's Alliance do swear loyalty to the Creator, at least nominally. But, both sides desire the intervention of the Creator, and sought to court him. The Creator remained netrual, refusing to condemn either Abel and Cain for fear of fanning the flames of violence and destroying his creation.
---Low-level newbie Creator attempted to stop the violence between Abel's Legion and Cain's Alliance, by forming a treaty between the two sides. Being a newbie, the Creator failed miserably. The low-level newbie Creator began consulting his superiors.
---His superiors isolated the gene in the humanity template that caused aggression, and removed it, creating more docile slaves. A new prototype of humans is in development, while the low-level newbie Creator was transferred into a seperate department. Man has lost their God.
---The war between Abel's Legion and Cain's Alliance interrupted the Creator's main goal of forming civilization. Instead, society is organized in a fedualistic tribal stage, which each tribe being part of one of the two factions.
---Tribes: Real power is in the hands of the Tribal Leaders, which use the feud between Abel and Cain for their own purposes, usually sponsoring one Faction in return for receiving military support from that Faction. The Tribal Leaders delegate power to the Elders, who each run a small portion of the Tribe, and seek to expand the Tribe's power and influence. Meanwhile, the Factions themselves recruit amongst the Tribes, filling their bloated bureacracy with loyal supporters who would be able to monitor the Tribes and continue the war against the hated Other Side.
---Diplomats: Each Faction assigns one "Diplomat" to each of the Tribes of Mankind, who watches over the affairs of the Tribe in order to ensure that they are serving the main Faction correctly, and do not waste time fighting with other Tribes belonging to the same Faction. The Diplomat delegate power to his Staff, who act as the eyes and ears of the diplomat. Often times, the Diplomats and the Tribal Leaders get into conflicts, leading to the possiblity of the Faction's Military fighting off against the Tribes.
---The Creators has decided it is best to "cover up" this mess, as well as possibly reuse this planet for other experiments, and sent in a squad of genetically-enginered Warriors to massacre both Abel's Legion and Cain's Alliance. The Warriors are indiscrimnate in their slaughters, but the forces of Cain and Abel refuse to work with each other, seeing the other side as responsible for bringing the wrath of the Creators upon them, and for causing the violence. Both factions hope that Cain/Abel will one day come to save mankind, and destroy the other side.
3) Goal: Um...er...that I haven't thought of yet.
4) Magic System will basically be like
this.
4) Sample Missions: I haven't thought of that either.
What do you think? What else do I need? If anything?
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Topic: How to make a Tabletop RPG Game (Read 10130 times)