STARS Roleplaying System

[Drizztrocks]

No, it has nothing to do with space. It is the name for the system I am working on designing.                                  STARS stands for Skill Talent and Realism System. This is pretty much the updated version of my old thread, skill and talent based system. I have done alot of work on this, but will only be posting it in little peices at a time.

                                Core Rules

       STARS (Skill Talent And Realism System) Core Rules

   STARS is a system for people who think realism is fun. It is designed for me and my friends, but can be used by anyone else. It is a fantasy game that is set in a world much like Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings, but with just a bit more flashy magic. It is a role playing game with a huge focus on choices and fleshing out a character. The idea is that a character chooses from a set of Talents. This will not define the character, but the options available to the character. These are called Talents for a reason. It is what your character is talented in, whether that be a natural skill for combat or the ability to use Elementism (magic), or something different entirely, like holding amazing amounts of knowledge in your head. There is a list of available Talents in the Talent section.

         Creating a Character
   To be a player in STARS, the first thing you must do is to create a character. This means think up ideas for a fictional person set in the world STARS takes place in (consult the Narrator for more information). After deciding on what race you would like to be a part of, you need to get your core abilities. These are what define your character. They are basic things, like how strong, smart, perceptive, agile, wise and tough you are. You will see the Core Abilities on your character sheet. There are 7 (Strength, Senses, Intelligence, Endurance, Charisma, Dexterity and Wisdom) Core Abilities that make up the core of your character. To get the scores for these Core Abilities, follow the instructions below.
1.   First, roll a D20 dice eight times, writing down all the results.
2.   Cross out the lowest number.
3.   Then, match the numbers with the Core Abilities. Remember, higher numbers are better. These abilities decide what your character will be good at. Below the Core Abilities are listed, along with some examples of what they do.




Strength: How strong you are. Having a high score in this ability lets you swing a weapon harder, shoot a bow faster, bust down a door, carry more equipment, lift a boulder off of a teammate, swim faster and many other physical tasks.

Senses: How well you know what's going on around you. Having a high score in this ability means noticing an enemy sneak by you, feel that you're being watched, smell poison in your drink, and notice a slight change in temperature and many other things that less perceptive characters wouldn't notice.

Intelligence: How smart you are. Having a high score in this ability means understanding a strange language, solving a nearly impossible puzzle, knowing an enemies weakness, having loads of information from years of research, and figuring out complex riddles, and other tasks that require superior intellect.

Endurance: How tough you are. Having a high score lets you resist the effects of poison longer, resist extreme cold or heat for long periods of time, take more damage, stay underwater long, endure torture and carry loads of equipment for longer. These and other tough tasks belong to the Endurance ability.

Charisma: How much people like you. Having a high Charisma score means persuading people easily, charming the king's daughter into lending you the keys to the castle, paying less when buying items and convincing people to fight for you.

Dexterity: How quick you are, and how good your reflexes are. Having a high Dexterity score means picking locks easier, jumping over pits, swinging on ropes, climbing cliffs with almost no hand holds, dodging a falling rock, blocking a weapon's swing and stealing from a shopkeeper without them noticing.

Wisdom: How well you think outside the box. If you have a high score in this you can make lightning fast decisions on what you should do, solve impossible riddles, understand what an enemies motives are, and decide on the best course of action.


Why are core abilities important?  STARS is a skilled based system. To acquire a certain skill, you need a certain Core Ability score. For example, if you want the skill Heavy Shield (allows you to use a heavy shield) you must have at least a 15 in Strength and a 10 in Endurance. If you want to learn Alchemy (allows you to mix substances to create beneficial effects) you must have an Intelligence score of at least 13.

You cannot accomplish any of the things listed above without first training in the skills associated with them, which is why it is important to have high scores in related Core Abilities. For example, if you want to be a warrior, you want to have a high score that allows you lots of weapon skills and fighting technique skills, which would be Strength, along with Dexterity. Make sure the Core Abilities you get reflect the kind of character you want to be.


Remember, this is designed to be used only by me and my friends.

[O Senhor Leetz]

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[O Senhor Leetz]

I like the calling of the DM/GM the Narrator. however, that would seem to make this system focus around storytelling and narrative.

i know right now that there is not alot written, but what makes this system stand out? is it designed for a specific? if so, how does the fluff compliment the crunch and vise-versa? is it focused on a high amount of crunch or minimalism?

[Drizztrocks]

I haven't really thought about it. The system is specifically tailored towards my own setting, but I guess it could theoretically be used in other settings.

There will be alot of crunch, because the system is powered by abilities, skills and talents. Skills and abilities are basically everything the characters can do, so there will be ALOT of them.

There will also be alot of fluff, and it will definatly be emphasized more then the crunch.

[Drizztrocks]

Oh and yes, it will definatly be storytelling focused gaming. Its supposed to feel epic, realistic and interesting. The entire system is designed exactly for me and my player's enjoyment.

[Xeviat]

Hey Survivorman, would you like to collaborate? The notion of building a system with realism in mind from the get-go interests me. I'd love to help you.

[Drizztrocks]

I would absolutely love to have help. The only problem is I tend to be inconsistent at times. I won't abandon a project, but I might be preoccupied with school work and cannot get time to work on it. If thats not a huge problem for you, absolutely.

[Xeviat]

Not a problem. I work and have a million and two projects to work on. But I'll definitely check on the thread every few days.

As for realism, one of the things I have been wanting to have in a system is a unified system for item/creature weights by size and strength (item strength scores would be for weight). This way, throwing items and creatures can have a simple Str vs. Str roll.

I have been looking into olympic records on things like weight lifting, shot put, and various sprint and marathon times to find baselines for peak human capabilities.

[Tillumni]

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)

[Drizztrocks]

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)

 That makes sense. Even though my current rules say that you cross out the lowest one, if you got a 1, 2, and 3, that 2 and 3 still aren't going to get you anywhere.

[Drizztrocks]

Talents

Talents are something that you are not necessarily born with, but you have a natural skill with. That is the in game description. Talents are chosen during character creation. You can also buy them later on with enough experience points. Yes, in this system character growth is acheived through buying skills and abilities with experience points.

Right now I am working on the Magery talent. It is one of about 5(?) other Talents that I have not been able to work on yet. These are listed below, and none of them are definate except for Magery and Combat Training.

 Abilities- After a character chooses a talent, this opens up a huge ammount of abilities to choose from related to that Talent.

TALENTS

 Combat Training Power
A natural skill for combat. This can be any type of combat, but it allows you many more options regarding fighting techniques and weapons and armor. This will include all types of archery, sword fighting, axe fighting, hand to hand martial arts, and everything else you can think of. It going to be difficult to give this Talent their own unique abilities, but i'm not going to be happy until its pretty close to perfect.

Magery Power
Magery is a talent your character is born with. You have the natural ability of Elementism, which is more commonly called magic. I will soon post what I have so far for this Talent. The magic is divided into about seven different elements. During character creation the character chooses elements that they want to be able to cast spells from. Spells are the abilities for a character with Magery.


Loremaster Knower
The Loremaster talent is for someone who has been taught a vast ammount of knowledge, and is capable of completely intellectual tasks with ease. This Talent does not mean having a know-it-all character who is blurting out facts about history every other second. Where the Magery talent sorts its spells into elements, the Loremaster talent sorts its abilities into colleges. For example, the college of alchemy, the college of history, the college of magic, the college of machinery, etc etc.  
[note]Yeah, I realize the name Loremaster is totally ripped off from LotR. At first I had Scholar, then Schooled, but Loremaster just fit the best. Its only for personal use, so it doesn't really matter.[/note]


Noble  Getter
The Noble talent gives the character wealth and personality, either gained through some means or gifted by birth. They have influence over atleast some of the actions of a small town, and will no doubt gain many followers in time. Having the Noble talent allows you to have power, to influence people. You are charismatic and persuasive, but you're motives are all your own.
[note]I really like this one. The system allows the Noble to be anything he wants. The same with the Loremaster. These archetypes that are usually associated with a weak character based on roleplaying skills can be just as involved with combat and challenges as the rest of the characters. All they need to do is put ranks in those skills, which they are incouraged to do.[/note]


Expert  Goer
The expert talent grant many more skills during character creation then most other talents. It also allows alot of flexibility. However, i've run into a dillema with the Expert that may leave him left out from the final draft. All the things that make him special, picking locks, feats of acrobatics, dodging and disabling traps, are all things that can be acheived by skills. For this reason I will have to get very creative with the abilities. For example, an example of an Expert ability could be that he can search for traps as a minor action instead of a standard. Things like that, things that cannot be acheived by skills.

Woodsman  Goer
The woodsman talent allows the character many options regarding wilderness and survival skills, things very important in my system and in my setting, as there are huge expanses of wilderness where most adventures take place. The woodsman's abilities can consist of hunting techniques, setting traps, stalking enemies, gathering food, things like that. This also allows the character access to many poisons. The problem is coming up with abilities that will prove useful in any sitiation.



 The Combat Training, Magery and Loremaster talents are set in stone right now. The noble i'm also pretty positive is going to make it in, its the Expert and Woodsman i'm worried about. Not so much that they will make it in or not, because I really want to include them, but that they won't be very fun to play. The woodsman talent doesn't seem to have to much going for it, so I am so completely open to ideas to make it unique. Even just one huge difference to make it stand out would be great.  

[Drizztrocks]

The Expert also needs one big thing, and it shouldn't be traps. I'm thinking of getting rid of it all together. It seems insignifigant compared to the other talents.