Some sort of Lite system

The_Swede · May 21, 2007, 6:51pm

Yeah, I know. There are two other system on the forum.... none the less, here is mine:

My troubles
I don't like...
...all the secondary attributes. It takes so long to explain to new players (I've been sort of demonstrating Feng Shui to all kinds of gaming people). And I don't really feel that most the secondary attributes bring anything to the game.
...how you calculate the damage. To much numbers to make it a fast game.
...all the limitations during character creation (max 12 or =12). A good system limits itself.
...the Fu schticks. It takes time during character creation and are unnecessary complex in design. I haven't played any of the supernatural types yet because I want to hold it down and let the players discover them later on. This is my big issue, because I don't have a solution to this.
...my changes to be totally incompatible to the Feng Shui scenarios.

My changes
Take a look at the CHARACTER SHEET (pdf, 125 kb). No beauty, but it works.

This is a new way on how to freely build up a character without having to look up a special archetype. The archetypes still exist and provides more restricted but powerful characters then this free character system. Freedom comes with a price. I will go through some changes to the archetypes later on, but first up is how this free character creation system works.

T[size=75]HE ATTRIBUTES[/size]
I removed all the secondary skills that are related to the skills. You can see which primary attributes that affects which skill on the character sheet.

All characters starts with:
Body: 5
Chi: 0
Mind: 5
Reflexes: 5

You get 5 points to spend on your primary attributes. You get to choose one secondary attribute in addition to your primary attributes (draw a circle around it or something). Everytime that you make an attribute check, add +2 if you can motivate how your secondary attribute is relevant. Observe that I moved Move to Reflexes.

NOTE: I want to remove Move all together, because I play a game without distances to targets. I don't know what I should replace Move with. Perhaps I should keep Agility and use it when the player wants to do acrobatic manouvers, like jumping into a car that goes in full speed, grabbing something while falling and jumping to a ledge.

Chi is a special case. If you choose Fortune as a secondary attribute, then you can't use Chi for Fu or Magic. The same rule goes for the two other secondary attributes. Fu = no Fortune nor Magic; Magic = no Fortune nor Fu.

T[size=75]HE SKILLS[/size]
Assign +6, +4, +2 and +2 to four skills except Martial Arts and Guns. Instead add 12 and 14 to either one. The skills are based on only three primary attributes. You can see which one on the character sheet.

"But I want have more control", says the whiner. My reply on that is "Change the attributes then". You can see which primary attributes that affects which skill on the character sheet. To use a contact or knowledge, always use Mind, even if the skill is normally based on something else.

As you can see some of the skills are removed, some are new and some are merged into new ones (intimidation + seduction + leadership = convince). Hopefully the name explains it all. Arcane devices and Creature powers still exists, but I want to keep those as a secret.

If you don't have a skill and still want to use it, the difficulty will be raised by two.

T[size=75]HE QUOTE[/size]
You may say your quote before a roll abd get +1 on AV on the roll. Put a paper clip on the quote area after you said your quote, to show that you used the bonus. You can say your quote more then one time, but you will just benefit from the bonus once per session.

NOTE: The quote can be signature gestures as well. For example, rolling the neck like Sgt Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon or trip over something like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars. The more generally applicable and the catchier the quote is, the better. "Trust me" or "Yippie Kay Yay" are two acceptable quotes, because they can be applied to almost all actions. "Say hello to my little friends" can only be used on guns, martial arts... or perhaps if your an animal keeper.

T[size=75]HE SCHTICKS[/size]
Pick a schtick. Any schtick.

T[size=75]HE FUN EXPERIENCE[/size]
Give out experience points as usual, but give the same amount to all players. I want the players to buy schticks. I think this game is all about schticks (not really, but let it pass for now).

Ã— Spend [attribute value Ã— 1] experience points to buy a new skill. What attribute depends the skill you want to buy.
Ã— Spend [attribute value Ã— 1] experience points to buy a secondary attribute.
Ã— Spend (bonus Ã— 2) experience points to raise a skill one step.
Ã— Spend ([total amount of schticks] Ã— 3) experience points to gain a new schtick.
Ã— Spend (attribute Ã— 4) experience points to raise a primary attribute. You can't buy secondary attributes for now. I have to playtest things first.

The_Swede · May 21, 2007, 7:20pm

T[size=75]HE PAIN[/size]
Calculate the Outcome of an attack as usual and add the damage from the weapon. Consult following table with the result.
<15: Hand out a [color=blue]blue paper clip (bruise). 1 point.
15-19: Hand out a [color=darkred]red paper clip (blood wound). 2 points.
20+: Hand out a [color=orange]yellow paper clip (seeing stars). 3 points.Wounds are considered a good thing and makes you concentrate even harder. The highest wound adds it's point to all rolls made. I made this rule to get a dramatic curve, where the wounded can turn the combat around.

T[size=75]HE COMEBACK[/size]
After a fight, remove all the blue wounds.
After a scenario (or sometimes sessions), remove all wounds.

T[size=75]HE OTHER SIDE[/size]
If the total amount of paper clips (or whatever you use, colored stones works as well) is equal or more then Toughness, then go on to do the death checks. Ignore the blue paper clips, but add together all the points that you get from the red and yellow ones. Two red and one yellow paper clip render a difficulty of (2+2+3=) 7.

Mooks
Mooks sniff it if they get 2 blue or 1 red paper clip in wounds, ie if they don't go down on the first hit, they surely will on the second blow.

T[size=75]HE EQUIPMENT[/size]
I still wanted that the mooks went down on difficulty + 5 (difficulty + 4, for some weapons). Therefor I redesigned the weapon damage to implicit follow the rules even better, without special cases. There's a special column in the weapon area, where you can scribble down how much you must exceed the mook's AV to put him/her down.
Dam. = Strength + 1: punches, tonfo, nunchakas, knives, kicks* - Concealment rating 1.
Dam. = Strength + 2: Staffs, clubs, spears, axes, swords - Concealment rating 2.
Dam. = 9: Throwing stars, throwin knives, arrows, small guns (.22) - Concealment rating 1.
Dam. = 10: Medium (.38) and heavy (.44) handguns - Concealment rating 2-3.
Dam. = 11: BFGs, shotguns*, medium (5.56 mm) and heavy (7.62 mm) rifles* - Concealment rating 4-5.* Spend an extra shot on the action to get +1 on the damage. Describe it as round kicks, jumping kicks, KA-CHINK sounds (shotguns) or filling the air with led (semi- or full automatic weapons).

Concealment rating
No roll is required if the requirement is reached. If it's not reached, then the only thing it takes to discover the weapon is to actually look after a weapon.
Conc. = 1: Requires a sweater or cloths with pockets. You can't wear a bikini or a tight and wear a concealed weapon.
Conc. = 2-3: Requires a jacket, poncho or a cape.
Conc. = 4-5: Requires a long coat or bags of some sort.NOTE: I need more suggestions to where to hide a weapon.

Signature weapon
Gives +1 on AV instead of +3 damage. This doesn't just includes weapons but can also include a hat, car or whatever and give +1 i any, in advance choosed, skill. Say Driving for a car and perhaps Convince for that stylish hat.

The_Swede · May 21, 2007, 7:57pm

"T[size=75]HIS IS THE BENCHMARK STUNT...[/size]"
To hit more then one oppenent gives a negative modification equals to the number of opponents you want to take down. It doesn't matter how you do it, if you shoot down a flag pole over your opponents, if you spend one bullet per opponent, if you throw in a granade or shoot at those highly-exploding barrels - the more opponents you want to include in your attack, the higher is the modification.

How you do it is up to you to describe after the roll.

O[size=75]FFENCE IS YOUR BEST DEFENCE[/size]
Instead of doing a active dogde (+3 on AV), you can parry and try to do a counter attack. It will cost you one shot, but if your opponent fails to hit you, you succeeded with your counterattack. Your damage is your weapons damage + your opponents negative Outcome. In addition, you get to describe the act.

NOTE: The players are here to use their best butt-kicking shoes. This manouver is often used against mooks.

K[size=75]EEP IT COOL[/size]
You can prolong your action with one shot to do +1 damage. Yes, you can use this with "Offence is your best defence". Just remember to describe in what way you prolonge your action. It can be things like saying "KA-CHINK" while reloading an imaginary shotgun, stand in a cool pose, put on your sun glasses, twitch your neck with a loud "crack", slowly pointing your gun against your target, cocking your gun with a loud "click", pulling a one-liner or letting the wind play with your hair or long coat.

Everything isn't about fighting - it's also about intimidation.

I[size=75]T SAYS "CLICK"[/size]
Despite of the heading, you never reload. You always reload when the "camera is filming someone else". Instead, you can sometimes use empty clips as an excuse why the attack didn't work. Imagine Trinity in Matrix saying "Dodge this!" (prolonged action) and pulling the trigger at point blank. It wouldn't feel right if that shot missed, instead it could say "click".

In addition, you can reload by your own by using "Keep it cool" and describe how you in slow-mo is changing ammo clip or perhaps slamming the clip in the weapon with a loud sound.

NOTE: I was tired of the endless pain of keeping track of ammunition.

M[size=75]OVE YOUR ASS[/size]
When it comes to movement, you can find the same way of thinking as in "It says click". You can always move from one place to another when the camera has it's focus on someone else. You can even move mooks in this kind of way, if it's a part of an attack.

M[size=75]OOKS AND INITIATIVE[/size]
They only act on shot 10 and 5 and they are always act before anyone else that are on the same shot. For example, if someone rolls 14 in initiative, then that person may act two times (on shot 14 and 11) before the mooks can act. On the other hand, if someone rolls 10 then the mooks gets to act before that player.

M[size=75]OOKS AND NUMBERS[/size]
All mooks are treated as one opponent when they attack. If there are two mooks attacking one PC, then they get +2 on the roll, if there are three, then +3 and so on. The usual thing is that a horde of mooks attack several PC's at once, so for example eight mooks (gives +8 on the roll) can attack perhaps 3 PC's, rendering "only" (8 - 3 =) +5 on their only roll.

NOTE: Even though I roll 20 results before the session with a home-made dice generator, so I can use 1d20 to roll for mooks, I hate rolling those dices. Why? Because 10-15% of the times, the roll really matters. Now, mooks are more fearsome and the dice rolling is quicker.

The_Swede · May 21, 2007, 8:11pm

NOTE: I removed the gambler. I couldn't see where that type could fit in in my "somewhere in the future" games.

You can still choose an archetype - it's often recommended because it gives your character higher skills at the cost of restricted selection. The only occasion where you don't follow the book is the skills, where you automatically gets all the skills marked with an '=' but you can't raise those. The other skills are where you can put your +6, +4, +2 and +2 bonuses. If the archetype only has two or three skills to put the bonuses on, you may put a (or two) +2 bonus(es) on any skill.

Example
A ninja has the following stats (in the Feng Shui rulebook).
Deceit +4 (Max 12)
Guns +2 (Max 11)
Info
Intrusion +9 (=14)
Fix-It +3 (Max 12)
Martial Arts (=14)

Add 6 skill pointsAccording to my rules, the ninja gets Martial Arts and Intrusion 14 and can put +6, +4, +2 and +2 on either Deceit, Guns, Info and Fix-it, ignoring the all the "maxes" and given skill point. The ninja also has to calculate the bonuses for Intrusion and Deceit, subtracting the attribute from the skills AV. You have to do this, because the bonus depends on how many experience points it takes for the ninja to raise that skill.

Example 2 (with free skill picks)
An ex-special force
Driving +7 (=12)
Guns +9 (=14)
Info +5
Martial Arts +5 (=10)
Sabotage +4

Add 3 skill points. Swap the Skill Bonuses and Action Values of Guns and Martial Arts if desired.Ignore the skill points. This archetype gets three skills for free and have only two skills, Info and Fix-it, to put two bonuses on (+6 and +4). That means that the player may choose any skills with those two +2 bonuses.

Sabotage is also replaced by Fix-it, but it does the same thing as Sabotage. The ex-special force also has to calculate the bonuses for Driving, Guns and Martial Arts, by subtracting the attribute from the AV. This is importent because the cost of raising the skill depends on the skill bonus (multiplied by two).

The_Swede · October 27, 2007, 3:43am

I don't like subtraction in a roleplaying system, especially not in the dice rolling. That's why I changed how you read the dices.

You still got a positive and a negative die, but after you roll 'em you look for the lowest die. If the negative is the lowest, then it's that one that "adds" to the AV. If the positive die is the lowest, then it's cheering time for the player who can add that number to the AV. Rolling equals give 0. The "extraordinary" thing with double sixes are gone. It's stupid to have a rule for 2.78 % of the dice results.

If you roll a 6 on either one (double six renders 0), remove the other die and re-roll the one who showed a 6 - that's the final score. If you spend a fortune point, remove the negative die before rolling.

NOTE: The probability isn't hardly changed at all compared to the ordinary system.

If you ever roll -5 or below, it's a fumble . Something extraordinary bad happens and it should be kind of cruel or funny. I would prefere both. If you ever roll +5 or more, you always succeed with your task. In combat, extraordinary rolls often means that one person gets a yellow wound. If it's you or the oppoenent that gets that depends on if the roll is a failure or success. The rest of the opponents (if any) get wounds according to the actual result in the skill check. These extraordinary rolls occur about every ninth time (better then 2.78 %).

NOTE: Spending a Fortune Die means in this case that you always will succeed on 5+ (33%).

The_Swede · December 19, 2007, 1:09pm

Here are some really short explanations on some of the skills on the CHARACTER SHEET. These new skills are mostly old ones that I merged into new ones.

Convince
Any archetype that has intimidation, leadership or seduction has this skill instead.

The key function for this skills is that it generates fortune points. The one who got the highest willpower or convince in a group that are going to be Convinced, sets the difficulty for the roll. If the roll is succeeds, then you will get a temporary fortune point that you can use against that group. The fortune point will be lost at the end of the session. A convince roll takes 3 shots.

Big brutes and abominations use Convince to frighten others and they may also add Body instead of Mind to the skill bonus.

Martial artist and old master can use this to make an impression or convince the other part that, for example a fight, will be useless. It's beneficial for Karate cops to this skill, because then they can use the fortune point on their unique schtick.

Ghost and spy are using this skills as a charm attack, and the spy can even use this skill to render a fortune point for his/her unique schtick.

Fix-it
Any archetype that has sabotage or demolition has this skill instead.

For Ex-special force, this skill means (obviously) sabotage and demolition.

Profession
The profession depends on the archetype; if journalist, then it's Journalism; if detective, then the skill can do everything that a detective should be able to do. If a plummer then.... well, you get my drift.

Gamling
This skill is removed.

The_Swede · February 18, 2008, 6:08am

I have Golden comeback and it's a smart move to make chases work as combat. But when I tried it, it was boring. Nothing in the system did help me to describe the action. It was booring (probably most due my lack of experience in describing chases). Stoltze has a few good points when it comes to chasing.

The soul of Feng Shui is is description, just like fighting.
The players should to most of the work.

...but then he kind of lost it after that. I want to add one thing to the list.

A chase mustn't continue forever, so it has to have a fixed point that is reached after a while, no matter what happens during the chase.

This is one thing that I'm going to use in fights too. No combat should exceed two sequences. After the last round is finished, something bad will happen with the characters. I got that rule so the players will feel that they always are fighting against the clock, making it (hopefully) more stressful for the players.

Back to the book. I don't like pep... and wreck... and the stunts... and... no! No, I don't like it at all!

I got a more simple solution - the car has same stats as the driver. If it's a big bruiser then he's driving a big truck, a jeep or something similar, A ninja, on the other hand, is driving a fast and agile car. So, the car has the same body and reflexes as the driver. This thinking can be extended to mechas as well. A good driver also has a good car. Someone with Driving 8 got a Volvo and someone with driving 14 got a Porsche.

But what if the Volvo and the Porsche driver switches cars? Well, the Volvo driver can't handle the Porsche to it's full capacity but the Porsche driver can work wonders with the Volvo. I'm note so sure what would happen if the ninja and the big bruiser would switch car, but I will leave that for now. All I can say is that they often choose cars after they own individuality. A ninja and a big bruiser that drives Volvo got two different kinds of Volvos that are matching their own attributes.

Aaanyway...

They are always goals in a chase, either it's finish on first place, shake off the chasers or stop a driver from getting any further. You can achieve this in two ways - either by doing massive damage to the other persons car or by going really fast. The first move is exactly like doing an attack, but you're using Driving against the other persons Driving. If you do enough damage to wreck the other car, you've won. The damage you do is your Strength + 2 (this has to be playtested). Mooks can be taken out with a red paper clip as usual.

If you want make to alot of distance you can make rolls against your Driving. These rolls are added together and the first person that hits 50 wins. The person who has the highest score is privileged to describe the action for each roll that is made. If the player has the highest score against some police mooks (note that mooks are added together in my house rules), that player will describe how she's trying to avoid the police by doing different stunts.

Any named opponent don't roll - they just add their Driving AV for every action that they take. Simple math, it will take about 5 actions (15 shots) before the chase is finished (AV 10-15 times 4 actions > 50) . Mooks never try add upp their Driving "rolls", they only attack (if it's not in a race, but then they're ignored). This means that the player example in the paragraph above never have to describe when the mooks is doing something (ok, I usually let the players describe when the opponent fails with their rolls), but only when he's rolling against Driving.