The Campaign Builder's Guild

Note: Work in Progress!

Influences

This system borrows a lot from sparkletwist's far more nuanced and sophisticated Asura system.  Asura allows for a lot of things that this system doesn't and goes into far greater detail in many areas.  I'm not using Asura because it's a little more detailed and involved than I want for these games.  I already run a very rules-intensive Iron Heroes game, and I want the opposite philosophy for Sixguns: a quick, dirty, "whatever works" approach.  Asura's beautifully balanced variances, pre-programmed characters, and carefully calibrated checks and balances far surpass my crude efforts here for elegance and subtlety.  I take a lot of cues from it, but ultimately I decided I wanted something a little coarser, faster, and simpler.  This has more to do with my own laziness than it does with any notional deficit of Asura.

Basic Task Resolution

Firing a metaplasma pistol, disabling a Xothic League computer's security software, riding a Byakhee through a treacherous gulch, and all other difficult actions are resolved with a simple roll, sometimes against a static Difficulty Class, sometimes against an opponent's opposed roll.  This roll is always a d6, plus any modifiers.  Modifiers include the environment (bonuses or penalties decided by the GM), personal Attributes (Brawn, Nerves, Viscera, Senses, or Sanity), Knacks, and Gumption points.

Attributes

All characters have 5 Attributes: Brawn, Nerves, Viscera, Senses, and Sanity.  Starting characters have 25 points to spend on their abilities.  Alternatively one might try rolling 2d4 for each statistic, or something like that, for those with strong ideological prejudices against point-buy.

Brawn governs physical strength, brute force, and athleticism.  Use Brawn to arm-wrestle a Deep One in a dim saloon parlour, force open a shuttle door, or haul your way up a cliff-face.

Nerves governs reaction time, reflexes, and agility.  Use Nerves to draw your pistol faster than your opponent, duck into cover as a deranged criminal lobs a phlegethon grenade at you, or leap through an airlock door before it magnetically seals.

Viscera governs physical toughness, durability, and gut instincts.  Use Viscera to shrug off a metaplasma shot, fight off poisonous gas, or intuit which path through the mountains just "feels wrong."

Senses governs manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and perception.  Use Senses to snipe a brigand with your laser rifle, pick a lock, or notice some mysterious carvings under the dust of an ancient stone wall.

Sanity governs mental fortitude, willpower, and reasoning.  Use Sanity to resist a Shoggoth's mind-melting ululations, hack into a computer system, or hold out under torture.

A Note on Social Skills: There are no Diplomacy, Persuasion or Intimidate rolls in this system.  Social actions are entirely determined by GM-player interactions.  If you want to play a smooth-talker, be prepared to talk smooth.

A Note on Knowledge: There are also no rolls for Knowledge.  Either a character knows something or they do not.  Simply ask the GM if you think your character might know something that you don't.

Knacks

In addition to their five Attributes, characters have Knacks.  All characters begin play with either one Knack and two Boons or two Knacks and one Boon.  Knacks are aptitudes or proclivities for a certain type of action.  They can represent either disciplined training or natural ability.  A character performing an action in which they have a Knack adds an additional +1 to their roll.  For example, a character with a Knack for Pugilism rolls 1d6 + Brawn + 1 in a fistfight.

When characters gain sufficient experience, they can choose to acquire a new Knack, upgrade an existing Knack by an additional +1 (maximum +4), or acquire a new Boon.

Knacks should be very specific.  Discuss new Knacks with the GM to determine if they're either too specific or too broad.

Example Knacks: Pistols, Pugilism, Hacking, Byakhee-Riding, Piloting (Aethercraft), Engine Repair, Gambling, Driving, Cooking, Tracking, Sneaking.

Boons

Boons are special abilities.  All characters begin play with either one Knack and two Boons or two Knacks and one Boon.  As they gain experience they may acquire more Boons.  Boons might be a function of the character's species, an aspect of their profession, the consequence of an arcane accident, the result of intense devotion, or almost anything else.  New Boons should be discussed with the GM.  Boons should never provide a static bonus to a roll – that's what Knacks are for.

Example Boons:

Marksman: The character rolls damage 3 times for critical hits (6 to hit) with ranged weapons.

Brawler: The character rolls damage 3 times for critical hits (6 to hit) with melee weapons.

Martial Artist: The character uses Nerves instead of Brawn in melee combat.

Tough as Nails: The character doesn't lose consciousness when reduced to negative Viscera.

Hip Shooter: In the first round of combat, if equipped with a ranged weapon, the character always goes first, regardless of Initiative.  Thereafter they revert to their usual Initiative.

Nyarlathetop's Own Luck: Once per combat the character can reroll any result and take the higher of the two rolls, or alternatively force an opponent to reroll any result and take the lower of the two rolls.

Brass: The character begins each scenario with 6 Gumption points instead of 5.  This Boon can be taken multiple times – each time, they get an extra Gumption point.

Bloodhound: The character can track by scent.

Gills: The character can breathe underwater.

Zig Zag: If the character is moving and being fired upon, they win any ties on opposed rolls while defending.

Duck and Weave: If the character is in melee combat, they win any ties on opposed rolls while defending.

First-Aid: The character can forego all actions to apply emergency first aid to a wounded character with negative Viscera, healing 1d2 Viscera; if they move into positive Viscera they regain consciousness.  Out of combat, the character can apply more extensive first aid to heal up to 1d4 Viscera past 0.

Turn the Tables: If the character is defending in a melee combat and wins their opposed roll against a melee attacker, they deal melee damage to the attacking character.

Always Ready for Action: Out of either paranoia, twitchiness, or simply constant vigilance, the character can never be surprised.

Dual Wield: The character can wield two one-handed weapons with only a -1 penalty to hit with each.

Personal Code

All characters in Spaceships, Sixguns, and Cyclopean Horrors have a Personal Code – even the amoral ones.  A Personal Code consists of a series of phrases which describe the character's moral compass, ideals (or lack thereof), goals, or fundamental essence.  These phrases might take the form of a quotation the character frequently recites, an idea or person they are dedicated to, a prejudice they hold, or an organization they are linked to.  For example, Ramsay Olmstead has the following Personal Code:

-   Member of the Esoteric Order of Dagon.
-   Proud of his heritage.
-   Respects his elders.
-   Infatuated with Sthena.

It might seem that some disreputable or selfish characters might not have a Personal Code, but even the most villainous, nihilistic wretch should have a list something like this:

-   Always look out for number one.
-   Profit over people.
-   Every man for himself.

A character's Personal Code can be invoked to activate Gumption Points.  It can also, of course, be used by the GM to the character's disadvantage.  Any time a character's Personal Code creates an obstacle or challenge, the character recovers a Gumption Point.

Gumption

Gumption represents cajones, chutzpah, daring, desperation, courage, or just plain recklessness.  All characters have Gumption Points, starting every scenario with 5 Points.  They can spend 1-5 Points while giving a description of a proposed stunt, wild attack, or outrageous manoeuvre, provided they fulfill at least two of the four criteria:

1)   It utilizes the environment in some creative way.
2)   It relates to a Knack the character possesses in some fashion.
3)   It relates to a Boon the character possesses in some fashion.
4)   It directly ties to the character's Personal Code.

For each Gumption Point spent the character adds an additional 1d4 to any roll; if the action involves multiple rolls, Gumption can be added to a single roll or distributed to several rolls.  Spending Gumption Points tends to ensure the success of any given action: subject to GM approval, events proceed more or less as described in the player's narration of their action.

Example 1: Richard Xu is piloting the Demoiselle d'Ys through a narrow canyon with a renegade Mi-go ship close behind, charging its biocannons.  Up ahead he spots a cave with stalactites drooping down like teeth.  Richard's player wants Richard to fire the ship's weapons, hitting the stalactites, timing the manoeuvre in such a way that the Demoiselle  scoots into the cave but the stalactites hit the vessel pursuing them.  Because this action utilizes the environment in a creative way and Richard has a Knack for Piloting, the player can redeem Gumption Points.  He spends one point on a Senses check to-hit in order to strike the stalactites and a second point on his Nerves check to pilot the Demoiselle safely into the cavern, adding 1d4 to both rolls.

Example 2: Captain Gideon Carter is waiting for a contact in a greasy frontier bar when a Xothic League veteran insults him.  An altercation follows in which the Leaguer pulls a pistol.  Gideon's player wants to ensure that the good Captain can put a metaplasma slug through the belligerent drunk's brain before the other man fires a shot.  Gideon's Personal Code dictates that "It's Fine Long as it's not a Polyp or Xothic," he has a Knack for Pistols, and he has the Marksman Boon, so he meets more than enough criteria to activate Gumption.  Gideon's player decides to redeem four Gumption Points.  He applies an additional 1d4 to Gideon's Nerves check to gain Initiative, 1d4 to Gideon's Senses roll to-hit, and 2d4 to Gideon's damage roll.

Experience

Whenever characters complete a scenario, they gain experience.  At the end of any scenario which they survived, characters gain either a new Boon or a new Knack.  They should also evaluate their Personal Code to decide if any of its precepts have changed or been lost, or if any new ones have been gained.

Combat

Combat in the Rugged system is simple, quick, and deadly.

At the beginning of every combat, all combatants make a Nerves check to determine Initiative order.  If some combatants take others by surprise, resolve initial attacks before rolling for Initiative.

On a character's turn, they have sufficient time to move and attack, or perform actions that take a similar amount of time.  Instead of worrying about half a dozen action types, the rules of common sense should prevail when it comes to what a character can do in a given round.  Reloading a weapon should take a full round, however.

To attack, characters make either a Brawn check (for a melee attack) or a Senses check (for a ranged attack).  This is opposed by a Brawn check (in melee) or a Nerves check (for ranged combat) on the part of a defender to block or dodge the attack.  Surprised characters suffer a -2 penalty to defensive rolls.

If the attacker wins the opposed roll, they roll damage against the defender; if the defender wins the opposed roll, they suffer no damage.  In the case of a tie, the attacker wins.

Some weapons (grenades, flamethrowers, etc) attack an area instead of an individual.  In this case, the attacker must hit a static DC and the defender must makes a Nerves check against the same DC for half damage; on a 6 they take no damage.

If an attacker rolls a 6 to hit, they've scored a critical hit.  If they can hit the opponent, they deal double damage (roll damage twice).  The opponent can still dodge the attack if they roll high enough.

Cover and the like provides a static bonus to defence, determined by the GM.

Characters can spend an entire round aiming to get an additional 1d6 on their next ranged attack.  They can decide to devote all of their energies to defense to gain an extra 1d6 on rolls to defend.

Characters can wield two one-handed weapons at once at a -2 penalty to-hit (very small pistols, like Derringers, eliminate this penalty).  They can even wield a two-handed weapon one-handed with an additional -4 bonus, with or without a one-handed weapon in the other hand.

Death and Insanity

If reduced to 0 Viscera, a character is unconscious.  If reduced to 0 Sanity, a character is disoriented sufficiently that they may take no new actions.

Characters at 0 or less Viscera or Sanity have a 50/50 (1d2) chance of recovering enough to act, regaining consciousness or coming out of a catatonic state.  Characters with negative Viscera or Sanity suffer a penalty to all rolls equal to their current Viscera or Sanity; so, for example, a character at -3 Viscera who has recovered consciousness suffers a -3 penalty to all rolls.

Characters who reach negative Viscera equal to their normal total Viscera are dead.  Characters who reach negative Sanity equal to their normal total Sanity are thoroughly insane and must sit the next Scenario out recovering, also losing 1 Sanity permanently.

I like that you've decided to follow in Asura's footsteps. I like the system a lot and I think that the system you've outlined for us here is a vast improvement on the system you were using before (as that one felt very slap-dash to me).

Quote from: SteerpikeIf an attacker rolls a 6 to hit, they've scored a critical hit.

You mentioned here that there are critical successes in combat, but you don't mention anything about critical failures. Are you dropping that part of the mechanic?

If "Yes":
Excellent! That'll make everyone feel more awesome.

If "No":
You should probably add in a similar paragraph (or just mash it into the existing 'criticals' paragraph) so that we know what that's going to mean if we fail hard.

In either case:
Just so we're all clear on this, there is a 16.667% chance of a result of a 1 or a 6 on a roll of 1d6. That's a lot higher (more than 3 times more often than on a roll of 1d20) than most people are used to in games (including GM's). I'm not saying that the high rate of criticals is good or bad, but I am saying that it's something to keep in mind as this game continues.

Since you're going in a direction mildly related to FATE, as Asura is inspired heavily by that system, I'd consider using a FATE roll to determine success. It will add that statistically awesome parabolic curve to the results of the rolls in your game. That will help to make sure that:
1) Things your good at you'll be good at most of the time
2) Things you're bad at you'll be bad at most of the time
I propose the FATE roll as opposed to the 1d6 roll since 1d6 will mean that every character (PC or NPC) has almost 17% chance to be pretty good at something you're stats say you're bad at or, more often (as people try to do things they're good at more than things they're bad at), to fail miserably at something that you're stats reflect you as being very good at.

Just my thoughts upon reading the system through. Aside from the criticals thing and my disdain of 1d6 rolls giving too much variance in action outcomes, I am pretty excited about this system as it stands currently and I'm looking forward to how it turns out in the long run.

Yeah, I was thinking of dropping critical fumbles.

Fudge/Fate dice might be a good idea.  What do other players think?  I imagine sparkle would probably be in favour of them.

Quote from: SteerpikeFudge/Fate dice might be a good idea.  What do other players think?  I imagine sparkle would probably be in favour of them.

As I understand it, both sides roll a d6. This means you've actually got a small bit of curvature already, as the roll is essentially a 2d6 roll, just split apart.
My personal preference is to only have one side roll, as happens in Asura, and have "curvature" applied to that roll-- this can then be used to make critical success and failure a bit less common, if that's what you want.

In all honesty, if you ask me what I want for this system, I'd probably just make a bunch of suggestions that made it even more like Asura. I'm biased, but it's probably a reasonable bias; I did design it in a certain way because I like a certain style of system. :grin:

So let's give this a shot.

Sthena
Brawn: 3, Viscera: 4, Nerves: 6, Senses: 6, Sanity: 6
Knacks: Lightning Gun (+1), Yith Engineering (+1)
Boon: Martial Artist
Personal Code:
- "My primary mission is to acquire knowledge for the historical record of the Great Race."
- "I must aid and protect my allies. They have taken me in and kept me out of the hands of interrogators."
- "And do they ever need my help. I am often the only useful member of the team."

As critical success only applies in combat, and usually just results in a little extra damage, I'm inclined not to worry about the frequency of critical hits.  But there may be other good reasons to ditch the d6 in favour of 4dF or whatnot.

EDIT: Perfect, sparkle!

FATE's 4dF has a range of -4 to +4, with a mean of 0 and the majority of results falling between -2 to +2 (standard deviation = 1.63)
I actually somewhat dislike 4dF due to the lack of randomness it sometimes feels like it has.

Quote from: sparkletwist<snip> due to the lack of randomness it sometimes feels like it has.

I totally get what you're saying from a stats point of view sparkle, but in practice (or at least my experience), the numbers seem much more varied than they do on paper.

EVEN though it has kicked me in the face a couple times I like the d6 and stuff. But I'M on like 5 differwnt drugs right now so I dunno, I will try to think of stuff for Hadrian.

Edit:

Hadrian Saxon-Sorne

Brawn: 5, Viscera: 4, Nerves: 5, Senses: 6, Sanity: 5
Boons: Marksman (3 x critical damage with ranged weapons), Sharpshooter (Receives a 1d8 bonus when setting up a shot)
Knacks: Longarms (+1), Terrestrial Vehicle Operation (+1)

Personal Code:

"Oorah! Get some!"
As long as I'm getting payed.
Never leave a man behind.
Family is everything.

Equipment:

Suwei 5S MPR Assault Rifle (1d8)
Henrick V-Edge 8" Vibroknife (1d4)
Thiessen Advanced Encounter Armour - Marine Service Model (-1 damage)

I was not taken with the FATE rolling at all. I'm fairly certain I failed every single roll I made-- even the ones I was supposed to be really good at. It was probably just bad luck, but it was not a good first impression of the system. I am more than content with the d6's, unless there is overwhelming support otherwise.

Quick question, before I consider statting up Sakhr properly-- should we include the bonus Knacks/Boons from our previous games so far? Would Sakhr have 5 total Knacks/Boons (3 starting + 2 Scenarios)?

Also, as idle questions, are there any ways to improve your attributes? Further, is there any coherent system for crafting a character from the ground up? I didn't see any way to actually handle Attributes besides arbitrariness, unlike the explanation for Knacks/Boons.

Oh, good point about previous games.
If that's the case, I'll revise Sthena as well.

Yeah we might as well count the previous scenarios.  So everyone gets 2 bonus Boons/Knacks.

For attributes, it's 25 total points, spread out however you like.

If anyone wants to invent a new Boon, please go ahead, and just run it by me!

EDIT: I was thinking there wouldn't be any simple way to increase Attributes.  Maybe things like experimental surgery, implants, drug regimens, occult artefacts, or extensive physical training might improve them.

I like this system.

I'm looking at restating Gideon using this system (BTW, much more solid than before, I really like it)

Quick question - how would I handle something like his fungal arm?

I was pondering that myself and I think it's best represented by a Boon - though it seems more like equipment, it can't be removed or disarmed, and has become an ability much like Doc Tenebrous' scent or Ramsay's gills.

My guess for Gideon's Knacks/Boons would be something like:

Knacks: Pistols (+2)
Boons: Fungal Prosthetic, Marksman, Brass

But seriously, take whatever you like - I feel the characters belong to you guys now!

I'm glad you approve, Kindling!  I think it'll be a nice balance between asura's innovation and the earlier system's bare-bones simplicity.