The Campaign Builder's Guild

well, this is interesting, I've been trying to crunch out a system that fulfill the same purpose.

Instead of repeating what everybody else have said though, then I just have one suggestion for the system, taken from the rules I've been fiddling with.

You could remove the need for rolling for damage, and instead have damage be a set number, based on weapon, mode of attack, stat modifier and anything else that could be relevant, and then mutiplied by the margin of succes.

example, a melee hit have a damage rating of 5(weapon) + 2 (stat) = 7.
A succesfull hit with a margin of 2, would then inflict 2 x 7 = 14 damage. (damage here being a general term and doesn't neccesarely have to be straight hit points)

It would speed up a round, simple by removing the need for rolling and adding up the result.

This also allows highly skilled characters to take out several mooks with a serie of fast but low-powered attacks or using improviced weapon to great effect, since they'll be able to get a larger margin of succes, meaning that even a +2 bonus to damage from using a bottle, would lead to a significant increase in damage.

Assuming the dwarfes lives in mountain hold, then they could have goats and such like grassing on the mountain side, within an area that predators can't enter and the goats can't leave, due to cliffs or walls being carved into the mountain itself and the only acces to the inclosure is via a tunnel to thier underground home.

some quik ideas at the top of my head, and not all of them completly thought through, so just take it as a shot-gun approach brain storming of ideas.

Strenght: bonus to physical skills perhaps? high str = higher jumps using athletic, faster running and such like, possible also physical crafting skills such as blacksmithing.

Charisma: inspirational? leadership? better at aiding and motivating others. initial contacts? easiness of forming bonds and connection with npc during downtime, or character creation.

dextery: recovery from attack?  basicly the ability to not get thrown off-balance and instead have fluent movement when swinging a weapon, especially in the case of more cumbersome ones. The physical aspect of multi-tasking? simultaniously coordinating the movement of ones weapon to fight off one opponent, while moving ones body in a way that makes it hard to hit by another opponent.

ingenuity: improvisation? ability to do things outside ones normal sphere of knowledge. such as not having carpentry as crafting skill, but still able to roughly figure out how to make a simple wooden barricade that works.


perception: bonus to ranged attack, or during combats over a longer period where a pattern can be seen? might fall under insight and notice skills though. Non-social gathering of information, like searching an area, combing through an archive, or reading the weather?

How big a difference is there from having 1 in a stat and say, 10, and 20 in a stat?  like..what would 1 in strenght equal to if you should descripe the character?

reason I ask, is because the chance of getting 1 is essentially the same as getting 20, and getting consisting low stat is more likely using a single d20, then using several dice to create a bellcurve.  So you might want to include a optional rule for reroll if total amounth of stat point is below a certaint number. (or just so low across the border that the player doesn't qualify for any skills)

quik question: is defense a fixed number that have to be beated, or is it a opposed roll against the attackers roll?
either case, then the 2.nd option sounds like it might work pretty well for the system you have in mind. a sword defeating defense by 1-5 would give a -1 penalty to defense and attack, representing a would, defeating by 6-10 could mean a severe wound on a limp, either reduced movement speed, representing a leg wound, or heavy penalty using one of the arms representing a hit there.

it might make combat rather deadly though, as the culmulative penalty makes it harder and harder to defend.


will it be level based or point buy based advancement system?

overall, then it looks good so far.

ohh, welcome back, sorry to hear about your foot, but I'm glad to hear everything else is trucking along

# 33 MMORPG, the rpg

Terra, the new, hottests mmorpg have taken the world by storm, with its realistic economy, player run organisations and nations, incredible believeable monster AI and a single shared server. The players each play a gamer in this world, much like any other traditional rpg game, except: death's forgiving (though a grudge could last a life time). Nations are shaken at thier very fundation, not only through warfare and economic distress, but also by real-life drama and happenings. Virus and bugs can suddenly run rampart, though atleast they are more rare then the bands of PK'ers that runs around, offing people for the lulz. Merchants takes great risk, attempting to strongarm into a position of power, just to show off to thier other gamer friends, some even attempting to use exploits and cheats and the ultimate big bad evil guy might just be a currupt GM that uses Terra to live out his very own evil emperor power fantasy...and memes...oh god..the memes can appear at any moment too.

Can the players finish the quest while dodging gankers? Lead thier nation to greatness, despite the leader being busy with homework? Collect enough evidence to prove that a suddenly rich player within an allied nation is really a botter, or are they just being paranoid? Forge a guild of roleplayers, keeping up the spirit, despite griefers trying to ruin events? And is the hunch feeling, that the figther they ran into last week, is the cutie that one of the players in her class have a crush on, real?

First, I really love how the dwarfen racial trait sets them apart from being simple "short stocky human, that's a little bit more tough....with beard"

as for how to cut down the fluff and avoid overwhelming players with too much information, then a good place to start might be to have a recap of each part in the players section that's focused more on the "what" part, and not so much the "why" or the extra info.

for example: "Deep dwarves reside under the Grand Spire mountains in central Krellshah. Their homes are built into the mountain stone, in a mixture of natural caverns (carved by underground waterways or extinct volcanoes) and dwarf-made "rooms" where only magical light and torchlight can be found...." and so on, can be shortened into "Deep dwarfes lives under the Krellshar mountain, the furtests underground of all the dwarfs races, something that also leads to limited contact with the other surface races while also puts them in contact with many of the monstrous denizens of the underground, making them the race off dwarfs that also have the hardest time trusting others"

it tells the players exactly the same as yours: where the deep dwarfs live, the must important part of thier nations enviroment (furtests underground of all the races) and thier overall relationship with the other races.

a trick you can use to cut down on info is to ask yourself "does my player need this info to play the character, or can he extrapolate enough to not break character without having read through the full description?"

for something poignant, if they have killed someone, but not buried them and return/passes by the area at some later point.

let them see a humble grave, or just a simple tombstone, the bodies buried by a random person that had arrived after they have left and decided to honout the unknown dead.

no consequens, heck, the people killed could very well had deserved it, but it might just make them pause abit.

also, last call for joining in. sorry about disappearing last week.

UPDATE: session time been moved one day!


the game will start saturday at around GMT+1 11pm - 12 am.

setting will be as the staff in a mage academy , probaly with an light-hearted, comedic tone. though serius moments as fitting are not impossible.

just something to clear my mind and have some fun with Xeviat, you're welcommed to join too *nods, nods*

also, after some talking with people, then it looks like we'll start at around 11-12 pm gmt+1, either a friday or a saturday.

So let me know which of those two days works best for people.

assuming no special plans, then any day starting from 9-10 pm GMT+1, except wednesday Friday would probaly be best, assuming no special plans on my side.


anybody who can't do it on fridays at all?

By the way, I'll need to know when would be a good time for you guys.

Also, for those who have no idea what kind of system this is. don't feel shy about jumping in anyway.  the character creation takes less then 15 minutes and the rules are extremely simple.
and more importantly..the more hte merrier!

Allright, so maid rpg got brought up in the irc and ended up with me going "to hell with shame, let's do this!"

So if there's enough interest for this, then I'll run what probaly will be a one-shot adventure/session for some random fun and at the same time give people a taste of how a rules-light system can work

For now, then I'm looking to find out when would be a good time for those interested and which of the following scenarior that people would like to try. multiply choice's possible.

1: "Be our Demon King" The players are all maids in a dungeon where the former demon lord have disappeared, the every day life of setting the traps, adjusting the monster placement and cleaning the moat with acid breathing and immune sharks growing boring, leading them toward an attempt to get the latest arrival to sit on the throne and become the new master.
they must do this without accidently scaring the prospective evil overlord away, or end up killing the poor bugger before the throne room is reached in the bottum.

2: "Operation Love Academy" Contemporarely Setting, the master attends a prestigous school for the rich, even allowing the students to bring along some of thier maids. All is not well though, as something seems to have caught the masters attention, causing him to be wistfull.
Bring happiness to his live! fight off jealuse guys! or seduce him for yourself (or the love interest)

3: "Target terminated, will now proceed to clean up" Maids, gentle beings that ensures the smooth running of a household and also deadly assasins, thier actions cutting a bloody swath through anything thier Master consider a threat.  Wait what?. Experience the live of maids that consist of a surreal mix of prim and proper etiquets, where the biggest issue of the day is what to cook for dinner, juxtaposed against the grim reality of being professional assasin. doing what they must. Essentially, Gunslinger Girl the maid rpg. or think Bourne identity...with maids.

4: "Cheers! in fantasy!"  Your boss just couldn't keep his cool. nooo, he had to make a bet with the competing Tavern about who'll have must costumers.  As if dealing with run-away magical experiments, random mob forming outside the tavern and Adventure party crashing the tavern wasn't enough....nooo sire.
Fight for the honour and prestigues of the tavern you work in, as  you deal with the daily day issues of running a tawern in a world where a random fireball at any moment can blow up the kitchen!

5: "Being a teacher isn't hard enough.  Must up it by teaching in a school for mages!" make sure the answers isn't swiped by invisible students, stop random food figthing from escalating into potato mash golens and help and listen to the ails of the students seeking to make sense of thier life. oh, and try to avoid getting turned into a newt by a cranky head principle.
Play the everyday life as a teacher for students whose pranks are abit more elaborated then just putting a fart ballon on the chair.

5.b: "being a students isn't neccesarely less exciting!" same as above, but from the other side, with each class being highly competive. Win the race! deal with a fellow students budding crush! Avoid the (magical) wedgies!

6: "The birth of a world" The great one have decided to create a world of wonder and magic to fill the void in an empty spot of the multiverse. Unfurtunately this will be his first time attempting, and here is where you, his loyal minor godlings step in. to make sense of the madness, correcting the inconsistingcy and ensure that his world does not implode when the (must likely) figurative ON-switch are flipped.


Unless there's strong support for one of the above scenariors, then I'll just roll a D6 at the start of the session and take it from there.
Character creation will also be done during the session, since it takes less then 15 minutes per character anyway, and it's part of the fun *nods sagely*


Oh, and do keep in mind that I live in Europe, so nothing too late into the night for me on weekdays please *smile sheepishly*

edit: fixing some spelling mistakes

(placehold for options character creation rules)

will start filling out when I get back form work later today and yeah...I can imagien character creation alone taking up alot of space ala besm and gurps. so will have the rest in a seperate thread when I reach that point to make it easier to navigate.