Quick Play RPG System

[Elemental_Elf]

I foresee Mobility being too powerful a stat. In your system it gives you a bonus to Attack rolls, Initiative AND Defense. I could see a lot of people gaming it to the point where Mobility is the #1 stat. Further, it's a little restrictive to players who don't necissarily want to be Mobile.

a good solution might be to allow 2 stats to govern Attack, Initiative and Defense in an 'either or, your choice at 1st level' set up. Meaning:

Attack: d20 + Power or Mobility
Defense: 10 + Resistance or Mobility + Armor
Initiative: d20 + Mobility or Intellect

Now granted people could just game the system and just use Mobility BUT it opens up the system so that people who don't want to be nimble can do so with out feeling left behind.

Other than that, I really love the system, great idea BTW. :)

[Nomadic]

I like it, very 4e-ish (haha). I think that actually is a good solution for balancing the skills without enough love (INT) with the skills that were getting a bit too much (MOB).

That is exactly the kind of crunch feedback (crunchback?) that I needed. Feel free to upgrade yourself to a gold trimmed badge for that incredibly helpful insight.

Update:
- Clarified some more stuff
- Changed the system to 48 points (to fix the difficulty with magic at 1st level)
- Added a DC area to skills as well as a modifier bonus addition
- Fixed the combat system to give int and res some more lovin (and mob a little less)

Thanks again everyone.

[DakkaDakka]

Resolution: Victory, defeat, or something else causes combat to end. Tally up experience (note that even losing a battle will earn some experience provided they survive it; if the party loses a battle give them a quarter of the experience they would have earned had they won).

I like how you reward defeat as well, it's a good way to say, "Hey, if you know your screwed... RUN! You'll still advance... and you'll live to fight another day."

Spells:

I think you should maybe make a formula for this, even if it is something simple as... allthough this list could become quite extensive...

Instant spells add +1 to cost
1 turn spells add 0 to cost.
2 turn spells subtract 1 to cost.
For every 1d6 damage a spell does, add 1 to it's cost...

Also, for the spell Ice Dart, you are likely to deal 1 damage 80% of the time, I don't know if you intended for it to deal this low amount of damage or not?

With combat against spells being basically Resistance + Mobility vs. Int, an attacking wizard is at a disadvantage in more situations... I might be wrong though. If someone goes for just Power and Resistance for a tank neglecting mobility and int to form a tank at level one, as far as armor is concerned their resistance and mobility modifiers will cancel out each other. But then again if you're the "tank" you don't need Strength. I'm not sure on a solution for it... I just know that at higher levels the gap will get worse and worse...

Right now that's all I can really see with your system. I'd say it would help if you got a PBP and told players, "Tell me what YOU want to be." If they want to be ninja's, pirates, mages, you're going to have to sit down and flesh some basic "classes" or at least the Abilities/Skills to allow players to do what they want. Maybe add a section under the skills/spells, "Recommended for people who want to be a Mage, Battlemage, Warrior, Thief, etc." You've got a pretty good foundation here.

[Nomadic]

Spells:

I think you should maybe make a formula for this, even if it is something simple as... allthough this list could become quite extensive...

Instant spells add +1 to cost
1 turn spells add 0 to cost.
2 turn spells subtract 1 to cost.
For every 1d6 damage a spell does, add 1 to it's cost...

Also, for the spell Ice Dart, you are likely to deal 1 damage 80% of the time, I don't know if you intended for it to deal this low amount of damage or not?

Right now that's all I can really see with your system. I'd say it would help if you got a PBP and told players, "Tell me what YOU want to be." If they want to be ninja's, pirates, mages, you're going to have to sit down and flesh some basic "classes" or at least the Abilities/Skills to allow players to do what they want. Maybe add a section under the skills/spells, "Recommended for people who want to be a Mage, Battlemage, Warrior, Thief, etc." You've got a pretty good foundation here.
[/quote]

I tend to be an anti-class person. I might normally allow them but in this case they would add alot of pages. However, I am not against writing class templates. Things a player can pick if they don't want to spend the time coming up with a custom build. So yes a "class" section for that sort of stuff is fine.

Thanks for the contribution though, help yourself to a badge. :)

[Nomadic]

You know on second thought that magic system has merit. In fact if i can think something up I might just make a basic chart which lets players create their own spells by using up more mana. That would save me so much work and add to the modularity. Time to put on my thinking cap.

[Elemental_Elf]

You know on second thought that magic system has merit. In fact if i can think something up I might just make a basic chart which lets players create their own spells by using up more mana. That would save me so much work and add to the modularity. Time to put on my thinking cap.

You know, it might be better to just write up a few flavorless 'template spells' that players can feel free to modify with their own unique flavor. These spells should also scale with Level (so there's less writing involved).

So something like...

Ranged Attack Spell  
Type: Combat - Level 1
Casting Cost: 2
Casting Time: Instant
Result: Roll to determine if you hit (1d20 + intellect mod). On a hit, deal 1d20-15 damage (minimum 1).
Scale: For every 2 character levels above 1st, subtract 1 from the negative damage modifier (i.e at 5th level the spell deals 1d20-13 Damage)

[Nomadic]

You know on second thought that magic system has merit. In fact if i can think something up I might just make a basic chart which lets players create their own spells by using up more mana. That would save me so much work and add to the modularity. Time to put on my thinking cap.

You know, it might be better to just write up a few flavorless 'template spells' that players can feel free to modify with their own unique flavor. These spells should also scale with Level (so there's less writing involved).

So something like...

Ranged Attack Spell  
Type: Combat - Level 1
Casting Cost: 2
Casting Time: Instant
Result: Roll to determine if you hit (1d20 + intellect mod). On a hit, deal 1d20-15 damage (minimum 1).
Scale: For every 2 character levels above 1st, subtract 1 from the negative damage modifier (i.e at 5th level the spell deals 1d20-13 Damage)

That is most certainly a possibility I will have to think on. For now though I do have a rough template. Perhaps people can tell me what they think and perhaps give suggestions on how many points would be good (remember that the base 12 12 12 12 gives 10 points to a level 1 while someone who optimizes as a magician 18 10 10 10 gets 40 points).

[ic]
The below is a possible formula for combat spells. Utility spells will work slightly different.

Amount:
X points for every d4 of damage.
Time:
Minus X points for every round it takes to cast.
Lasts:
X points for every round that it lasts beyond the first.
Range:
X points for every 25 feet away the target is (touch attacks cost 0 while anything farther than a touch but less than 25 feet counts as 1).
Targets:
X points for each additional target beyond the first.
Effects:
- Blind/Deafen
Blind or deafen the target for one round per X points.
- Charm
Compel the target to avoid harming you for one round per X points.
- Confuse
Cause the target to attack a random reachable creature for one round per X points.
- Cure
Heal the target of 1 point of damage per X points or Cure the target of a poison for X points.
- Daze
Force the target to be unable to do anything but move slowly (5 feet per round) for one round per X points.
- Move
Move the target 5 feet per X points.
- Paralyze
Cause the target to be unable to move for one round per X points.
[/ic]

[Elemental_Elf]

Its a bit powerful unless you cap the number of points you can use at the character's level (or maybe level +1). Imagine A Mage at level 1 Blinding the BBEG for 10 Rounds! That would get excessive very quickly. If you capped it, I could see the system working, though spells that cause continual harm (Charm, Blindness, Paralyze, etc.) should cost more to increase than spells that just hit for a butt load of damage since they affect the battle in more ways than mere damage can.

Of course, that aspect could be eliminated if you had a system of saving throws... Say:

Physical Saving Throw: d20 + Mobility or Resistance
Will Saving Throw: d20 + Resistance or Intelligence

The DC for a saving throw is the enemy's Attack Roll that caused the effect.

Ex. The 4th-level Wizard casts 'Blindness' on the Troll and modifies the spell to last 3 Rounds. The wizard's attack roll is 14+4=18 (i.e. 1d20 + INT Modifier). A Hit! During the Troll's turn he is allowed a Will Saving Throw equal equal to 1d20+3 (1d20 + Resistance Mod), the DC is set to 18. The Troll rolls a 12+3=15, not enough! The Troll continues to be blinded!

[DakkaDakka]

That's not a bad starting setup. A 1d4 damage, move and then shoot spell would cost 2 mp every time... though for effects, there are some that you might want to last longer without eating up the points... such as:

A ranged fireball that I sit there for a round and cast would cost 1 mp for 25 yards. It would seem that everything balances out neatly.
    [table=More effects][tr][td]
Poison. This poison effects a player's stats, endurance, power, etc. Maybe make poisons that last a day take 1 point per day. And for each -1 to a stat cost an additional point. However poison that does immediate damage should just be treated like the regular "amount."

Sleep. Target falls asleep for X rounds if fails to resist. [/td][/tr][/table]  
I'm trying to think of any other damage spells, because the other things I'm thinking of such as buffs are more utility than anything else.

I agree with Elemental_Elf's point that raising the points for effects, maybe doubling them will work, 2 per round and then add the resistance mechanics. It's something you'd have to play with. Sleep can be extremely powerful, put the enemy to sleep means you can instakill him with a sword in his sleep.

[Nomadic]

@EE - Another brilliant idea. Saving throws were something I was thinking about. That will probably help a great deal. So then effect spells allow a saving throw to avoid the effect (damage still happens if the attack roll gets past their defense).

@DD - I was thinking about poison but I realized that with lasting round effects for damage there was no need. I don't want it to do anything else like damage attributes since then you have to have rules on how to deal with attribute changes. In fact for now I won't have anything that modifies attributes (I might have things though that give boosts to a skills, attack rolls, etc). Once I have run a few games and have a feel for balance, then maybe I can look at attribute modifying. It should be noted though that the magic system is 100% crunch. The names are just labels. A player could tack on paralyze and call it a sleep effect. The effect happens, they just get to choose what it looks like. And yes sleep/paralyze is very powerful. It will likely be impossible to cast at level 1 even with maxed aether points.

[Ninja D!]

2. Good point. I know some stuff it comes into play for. Firstly magic and other extraordinary abilities (psionics, superpowers, etc). Also since you pointed it out to me it will get alot more love in the skills section. Though if you have an idea for it in combat that won't break the game, go ahead and throw it my way.

That's a possibility. Perhaps once I am happy with this iteration I can organize everything and do just that. It would also help me get a feel for what needs to be fixed. Thanks for all the helpful advice. Help yourself to a yummy gold badge.[/quote]Yay, a gold badge!  

If you ever do run that game here, count me in.  Also, once you have more examples of what you're going for with abilities and spells and whatnot, if you want some help there I could probably pitch in a bit.

[Nomadic]

2. Good point. I know some stuff it comes into play for. Firstly magic and other extraordinary abilities (psionics, superpowers, etc). Also since you pointed it out to me it will get alot more love in the skills section. Though if you have an idea for it in combat that won't break the game, go ahead and throw it my way.

That's a possibility. Perhaps once I am happy with this iteration I can organize everything and do just that. It would also help me get a feel for what needs to be fixed. Thanks for all the helpful advice. Help yourself to a yummy gold badge.

1. Awesome, let me know how it goes.

2. Well my worry there is with the people that don't have a good int. On second thought, it would make sense that someone with a strong/quick mind (a magicians mind) would be better able to deal with a mental focused attack (magic). So I can see that working. What does everyone else think about that, changing defense to 10 + Resistance or Mobility + Armor (for physical) or Intellect (for arcane)? So someone with 10 10 18 10 (a tank) would have a defense of 14(physical) and 14(arcane). Meanwhile someone with 10 10 10 18 (a magician) would have a defense of 10(physical) and 14(arcane). You might even have different armors to choose from. A tank might get +5 worth of plate armor for 19(physical) 14(arcane). A wizard on the other hand might get +5 of enchanted robes for 10(physical) 19(arcane). The balance isn't quite even until you remember that wizards can cast defensive spells to bring that gap about even.

3. Yes smart alek, but the section that actually talks about experience itself is not. :P

4. I will keep you in mind for that. As to the abilities, once I have this magic system fleshed out I will start working on those. That's something that has to be done by hand (though I might have a basic guide to help balance them). When that happens I will certainly throw something your way.

[Nomadic]

Well here is an updated version of the combat magic system. Feel free to tear into it as best as you can. I need honest reviews and critique in order to help me balance this (since the current numbers are just educated guesswork). One thing I notice right off the bat is that I am a little on the light side for aether. I think perhaps doubling the max per point (20 per +1 instead of 10) might help slightly. Any thoughts on that would be welcome.

---

When casting a spell the caster chooses how they will shape the spell they are casting. The more advanced the spell the more Aether they have to use to cast it. In addition to standard damage attacks, special effects may be added at extra cost. These effects last a certain number of rounds (depending on how much aether is spent in the casting). The round counts for reoccurring damage and effects start on the turn the spell is cast and count down from there. The spell must be decided on and the cost of the spell committed at the time of casting. Hitting a target requires an attack roll (1d20+INT) which beats the targets defense (10+MOB or RES+INT). If the spell fails to hit or is otherwise lost, the aether is still used up. Note that the order of operations is:

Addition then Multiplication then Subtraction. Thus a spell that costs 20 + 10 that lasts 2 rounds but takes a round to cost would look like: ((20+10)*2)-5

Saving Throw:
If the effects of the spell last longer than one round then on each subsequent round during the targets turn they get a saving throw to shake off the effects. A failed roll means the effects continue working while a success causes them to immediately cease. The roll is against the attack roll the caster rolled. So if the caster rolls a 16 and hits, the target must roll a 16 or greater to overcome the effect. Each effect is rolled for individually (the roller chooses what they are rolling for before each roll). Each success nullifies that effect while each failure means that the effect is in place till next turn.

Saving Throw: 1d20 + Resistance or Intelligence

Amount:
Spells default to 0 damage. To add damage you may spend 10 points for 1d4 damage. Adding additional points is as simple as adding on 10 more points per d4.

- 1d4: 10 points
- 2d4: 20 points
- 3d4: 30 points
- 4d4: 40 points
- 5d4: 50 points
- etc...

Time:
You may reduce the cost of casting by taking extra time to cast a spell. While this time is being taken to cast you may do nothing during each round except take a 5 foot move. Anything more than this will break concentration and lose the spell (while still using up the aether points). The spell fires on the casters turn after the requisite rounds have gone by. The number of extra rounds that can be taken is limited to 3.

- Instantly: 0 points
- 1 extra round: -5 points
- 2 extra rounds: -10 points
- 3 extra rounds: -15 points

Lingering:
A spell normally inflicts its damage instantly and can cause an effect that lasts until the start of the casters next turn. By spending additional points the caster can force the spell to linger for a number of extra turns. When a spell lingers, its effects last that many additional rounds. Additionally, any damage that the spell does happens again at the start of the casters turn. During each of the targets turns they get a chance to overcome the damage via saving throws (see above). A saving throw must be made separately for each extra effect (for the purpose of determining throw numbers, lingering damage counts as an effect). To make a spell linger the caster may spend the spells cost times the number of rounds that it will linger.

Range:
Spells default to touch attacks (the caster must be adjacent to the target to hit them). However, additional range may be added to strike targets that are farther away. The target must be within line of sight regardless of distance.

- Touch: 0 points
- Up to 25 feet: 5 points
- For each additional 25 feet: +5 points

Targets:
A spell defaults to one target. The target may be an unattended object or an unoccupied square (which gets no saving throw and has a defense of 5), an attended object (something on a creature aware of you which gets the creature's saving throw), or a creature (which again gets its saving throw). If the caster wishes they may target additional targets. Each target requires a seperate attack roll (you may not target the same target twice). To strike multiple targets the caster must spend the spells cost times the number of targets.

Effects:
Blind/Deafen:
Blind or deafen the target for one round for 10 points.
Charm:
Compel the target to avoid harming you for one round for 20 points.
Confuse:
Cause the target to attack a random reachable creature for one round for 20 points.
Cure:
Heal the target of 1 point of damage per 2 points.
Daze:
Force the target to be unable to do anything but move slowly (5 feet per round) for one round for 40 points.
Move:
Move the target 5 feet per 10 points.
Paralyze:
Cause the target to be unable to move for one round for 50 points.

---

Example spells:

Soothing Balm:
Cost: 20 points (heal 10(20) = 20)
The caster places their hands on the target, healing them of 10 damage.

Ice Dart:
Cost: 25 points (range 25(5) + 1d4 damage(10) * number of rounds(2) - 1 round casting time(5) = 25)
After a round of focus the caster flings a shard of ice at a target up to 25 feet away for 1d4 damage. The biting cold lingers for 1 additional round, dealing another 1d4 on the casters next turn.

Fireball:
Cost: 40 points (range 50(10) + 2d4 damage (20) + blind (10) = 40)
The caster gestures at a target within 50 feet, sending a ball of flames hurtling towards them. On a hit the ball bursts in a flaring explosion dealing 2d4 damage and blinding the target for 1 round.

Turtle Strike:
Cost: 100 points (3d4 damage(30) + confusion(20) * multiple targets(2) = 100)
The caster thrusts forth their hand and a rain of turtles pummels two separate targets. On a successful hit the targets take 3d4 damage and are confused for 1 round.

[Llum]

Just want to point out the inclusion of d4 damage dice removes the only having to have a d20 component of the game.

[Ninja D!]

Just want to point out the inclusion of d4 damage dice removes the only having to have a d20 component of the game.

Llum brings up a good point.  Its something that I had also thought of.  The trouble is, I can't really see any way around it and if you took this route, you probably couldn't, either.