Monday, November 3, 2014

Throw open the curtains, open the doors and sweep away all the cobwebs...

Well hi there, haven't done this blog any justice for a looooonnnggg while so...
Some ideas on gaming.

Superheroing in the Golden Age
So we've been trying to get a game up and running to do with pulp/noir superheroing.  The two players have valiantly been attempting to get the game up and running using the Might Six rules set, based on the old West End games D6 Star Wars system, with of course a few tweaks to attend to the super heroics side of things.    It does so admirably, but the more we play the more I think it suits the Silver/Bronze/Modern style of super heroics.  So looking on the net I came across a system at http://thegamesshed.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/carbon-city-superhero-rpg/ .
A simple one page system that is easy to adapt and play.  It works on what the author calls his Dead Simple Engine.  You can find it and a multitude of genre specific adaptations from Fantasy to Star Trek for download at http://deadsimplerpg.wordpress.com/rules-downloads/ .
So if you want a game that's simple and user friendly, adaptable to your own groups particular needs and that does, literally, take a few minutes from generating the character to play ( unlike some others that promise play after 15 minutes of 'easy reading') give it a try. Plus you only need one d6 to play!

Playing our Classic Traveller game now for over a year we have tried a few home rules. The two I want to talk to here are about skill advancement and taking damage.  As anyone knows in a conventional Traveller game once you have mustered out it is difficult to gain new skills or improve old ones.  As the game is primarily a skill based one that doesn't bode well for those who would like some character development once the character begins play.  So was born this adaptation of the skills advancement from the Traveller Book.



Every time a player rolls a natural double 6 on skill they gain one XP.  When they have achieved 10 XP for that skill they may attempt to roll (8+skill level) or above to increase the skill by one – this advances skill through dumb luck.  No limit to how many skills can be improved via this method in a year ( But must already have a permanent level (zero or greater) for skill to qualify.

Planned skill advancement;

A player can attempt to enroll in a course to gain a 0 level in a new skill (6 weeks with teacher, 18 weeks if learning from books etc at a cost of 100cr per weeks-enrolled at some Learning center or distance learning facility ( available on Starports A or B) At the end of this the person has gained a temporary level 0 in said skill.  After one year of using this skill (and the commiserate practice) the character rolls to see if they can increase this skill to a permanent level 1 (roll 2d6 8+ no DM ) if not successful lose skill level 0, if successful thereafter being able to take advanced courses in the following years ( at thrice  cost) to increase this skill. Can attempt to learn Edu/2  level 0 skills in any given year.   

Advancing in skill already held: Follow above rules using 52 weeks study then a further year (practice) roll to succeed to improve skill (2d6 beat 8+level of skill). Can only work on one skill each year 

While this does allow for some advancement and gaining skills not available to their original profession it seems to be balanced enough with time/cost factors.  In the game all the characters have managed to gain at least one 0 level skill, some have completed a planned level advancement and two have managed to advance due to dumb luck - the time scale was roughly one year play equaling one game year.  The players are happy with their advancement and it does not appear to have created any Frankenstein skill monsters or unbalanced the game in any way.

Combat.
As suggest by one of the players, Glenn, we have been trialling a new system.  Anyone who has been in a firefight in Traveller knows these battles can be very quick and deadly.  Under conventional rules each time you take damage it is subtracted from one of your physical stats (except the first group of damage - which is assigned randomly).  So, for example, a dagger can inflict 2d6 damage if a successful hit is scored.  Players have Strength, Dexterity and Endurance scores ranging from 2 to 12 1at character generation.  These can be modified by age, Terms of service, drugs and esoteric alien  'relics', so for the most  a 2 to 12 range is considered 'normal'.  When the dagger hits, and damage is rolled the average damage is 7, the average score in stats is also 7.  This is allotted randomly to one of these stats resulting in a zero.  At zero the character is considered wounded and unconscious for 10 minutes.  If another physical stat is reduced to zero the character is considered seriously wounded, at all three equaling zero  is dead.  So combat can be very quick, if gun or laser fire is included (which has damage into the 5D range + ).  What we have been trialling is a 'saving roll' system.  If a character is hit and their first stat is reduced to zero they making an Endurance saving (2d6 + End penalty / bonus equal or beat an 8) throw to stay conscious.  On the second stat equaling zero they make a saving roll each combat round to stay conscious, and once they reach the third stat equaling zero they are dead. The amount of extra rolling is fairly limited and doesn't appear to restrict or complicate the combat round, but does give characters a few more options in being able to affect the end result of a battle.

Well thats it for now, currently we are playing another game using the new D&D 5E rules.  Once we've had a chance to explore it more I'll offer up the groups findings and any houserules.  Of course we already have a few (lol) but more on that later.
Game on!
Steve




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