cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/42078497

My RPG group and I (mostly the latter) have spent the past few months working on a setting-generic RPG system. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! I'm quite proud of it as I haven't really seen very many dice systems like this. The system has character specialization (some are better at things than others) without any modifiers or math, just comparison!

Creating a Character

Players need only decide two things when creating their characters: their action die and their approach die.

A character’s “action die” broadly describes their physical attributes, skills, and talents.

• Intelligent, thoughtful, and quick-witted characters use a six-sided action die.
• Charismatic, charming, and attractive characters use an eight-sided action die.
• Agile, dexterous, and swift characters use a ten-sided action die.
• Strong, powerful, and tough characters use a twelve-sided action die.

A character’s “approach die” broadly describes their outlook on the world and how they go about executing their skills.

• Sharp, perceptive, and attentive characters use a six-sided approach die.
• Forceful, reactive, and fiery characters use an eight-sided approach die.
• Disciplined, courageous, and willful characters use a ten-sided approach die.
• Calm, level-headed, and careful characters use a twelve-sided approach die.

Attempts

Characters may do any of four things to interact with their environment: engage, consort, finesse, or exert. These are known as “actions.”

• To “engage” is to interact with an object or place using intense focus and care.
• To “consort” is to persuade, deceive, or otherwise communicate with others.
• To “finesse” is to maneuver one’s body in a precise, swift, and calculated manner.
• To “exert” is to use raw, physical strength.

Characters may go about an action any of four ways: sharply, forcefully, boldly, or calmly. These are known as “approaches.”

• To be “sharp” is to be perceptive, keen, and attentive.
• To be “forceful” is to explode with reckless power and speed.
• To be “bold” is to overcome one’s fears or anxieties.
• To be “calm” is to remain composed under pressure or threat.

If ever a player wishes to do something, they must first describe it to the narrator, who will then determine the action and approach that best fits. Players will automatically succeed in most of their endeavors, but the outcome of riskier or more unpredictable ones is determined by rolling their two dice and counting successes. This is known as an “attempt.”

For a die to yield a success, the number rolled must fall within the corresponding range for that category. (This is supposed to be in table form but most front-ends don't support Markdown tables.)

• Engage/Sharp: 3--6
• Consort/Forceful: 4--8
• Finesse/Bold: 5--10
• Exert/Calm: 6--12

Zero successes result in the attempt failing, one success results in the attempt succeeding, and two successes result in the attempt critically succeeding.

If ever the manner in which a character does something has no effect on its outcome, the player may roll two action dice and no approach die. If ever only the manner in which a character does something has an effect on its outcome, the player may roll two approach dice and no action die.

If the narrator believes that a player’s attempt should be easier or harder than usual, they may increase the number of dice the player rolls. If it is to be harder, the number of required successes increases. If it is to be easier, it does not.

Combat

Many direct competitions require more mechanical structure to ensure every party has a fair chance at victory. In situations such as these, “combat” may be initiated.

Combat is divided into rounds, during each of which, all participating characters make an attempt to win. As the attempts are being made, the narrator writes them down in a list, using the number on the approach die of each to order them from lowest to highest. To end the round and begin another, the narrator reads through their finalized list and describes to the players what happens. If ever a previous attempt—such as the killing of a character—prevents the current attempt—such as that character striking back—from occurring, it automatically fails.

Wounds & Stress

If ever a character is inflicted with some sort of physical injury or mental affliction, they must roll their action or approach die, respectively, and then scratch that number from the corresponding list on their character sheet. This is known as taking a “wound” or “stress” on that number. In the future, if ever an action die rolls a number with a wound, or an approach die rolls a number with a stress, it automatically yields a failure, regardless of whether or not it would normally fall within the succeeding range.

If ever a player receives a wound and no longer has a possible succeeding action roll, they die. If ever they receive a stress and no longer have a possible succeeding approach roll, they go insane. Both permanently remove the character from the game.

When determining how many wounds or stresses an event inflicts, it is important for narrators to note that one character may be killed in only six wounds, and another twelve. The same attempt should have the same effect on both of these characters. A successful attempt may result in zero-to-two wounds depending on the context of the attempt, and a critically successful one may result in two-to-four. A failure always results in zero.

Non-Player Characters

Non-player characters (NPCs)—especially unintelligent or narratively unimportant ones such as goons, objects, animals, and the environment—function differently to the players’ characters. Rather than being limited only by the creativity of the narrator, each NPC has a unique list of specific actions and approaches, each with their own, unique succeeding ranges. This is known as their “attempt table.” During combat, NPCs have no volition; what they do is randomly determined by rolling and indexing into their attempt table.

Downtime

In between important or especially grueling scenes, players may choose to have downtime. During “downtime,” rather than describing their exact actions in the present moment, the narrator and players broadly discuss what they are doing over a matter of days, weeks, or even months. This could include purchasing new equipment, training, searching for information, or taking time to recover from an injury.

Players are given special agency during downtime; they should be allowed to affect the narrative in ways they wouldn't normally be able to during play. A player might come up with a piece of information they would like their character to find or create an individual they would like them to meet. However, the narrator always has the final say and must agree to what the players propose before it becomes canon; not everything can fit into their existing narrative.

I've been reading through some of the books recently and I realized I haven't seen anything about robot characters. I don't remember any in Cyberpunk 2077 either. Is there any established lore for androids?

Here's how I ran a Cyberpunk RED night market. My goals:

1. Give some stuff for the players to do.
2. Add a few plot hooks, so I have stuff for upcoming sessions.
3. Make a shopping session interesting.

I was going to run the full Salted Legacy one-shot adapted by Sparky_McDibbon, but my world is almost animal free, so having cybernetically enhanced monkeys running around would have been inconsistent. Also, my players don't care if there isn't a direct path to a payoff.

Instead:

1. A Biotechnica Exec NPC that the crew rescued on a previous run was at the Market. He needed to steal some silkworms from Madame Kulp's shop, and offered the crew 400 eddies to do it. Biotechnica wants them, because Madame Kulp has engineered them to do something special. This is a hook for the current session.

2. An NPC who is trying to prevent workers from getting violent at a nearby waste processing facility was seen talking to someone (an exec at the org she's in). This is a clue for an ongoing arc.

3. One of the PCs saw an enemy (a stagehand that ruined his gear), which introduced a new arc.

The crew is pretty violent, so they knocked out a worker at Madame Kulp's shop and searched it, finding nothing. Because Madame Kulp (and her silkworms) are helping set up Night Market Games.

The players made their way to the games. It was a set of three competitions. Each competition is a set of skill checks. A player that loses one competition cannot continue to the next.

1. An insult competition (stolen from a D&D5e resource). The rules were pretty simple:

• NPC rolls a skill, and then insults the PC.
• The PC uses that roll as a DV, choses "an appropriate skill" for an insult and makes an Opposed Skill Check against that value.
• A character wins the competition when they get two consecutive successes, or beats the other by 5 or more.
• The NPC roll was 1d10+1d6+1. That was much too low. In retrospect, it probably should have been 1d10+2d6+1. I was hoping to lose 25% of my PCs during this round, but instead lost 0.

2. Three rounds of the Pepper Challenge. The DVs were too high, and only one of my players thought to ~~cheat~~ use Complementary Skill Checks, so I ended up losing 75% of the crew during this round. I think next time, I'd explicitly ask the players "what are you doing to improve your odds?"

3. Hide and Seek to find the silkworm. The player had to succeed on a DV 12 Stealth to hide a silkworm to sneak away. This was kind of boring, since it's just one check, but 75% of the players had failed out by this point, so that was probably for the best.

Mixed between those, players were able to do some shopping.

How do you run Night Markets or shopping trips? It's generally something I try to avoid, since it can turn into boring grinds that don't contribute to my plot arc, but I enjoyed these sessions.

Hi, all!

Just reaching out to see if there are any Kids on Bikes players active in this community! I've been working on a tool to support play groups at my local games shop, and I thought -- why not open it up to more people?

It's 100% free and open source (GLPv3), there are zero features stuck behind a paywall, ads, or other monetization and I intend to keep it that way. Full disclosure: there is a link to donate to the project, but it's out of the way and will never be shoved in anyone's face.

I want to make the tool better for anyone and everyone who uses it, so if it interests you at all please check it out! It's called Handlebar Heroes. Feel free to make suggestions, ask questions, give strongly worded criticisms, whatever you like. I'm here for it all. 🙂

Thanks so much for your time! I hope someone gets some use out of it.

Any suggestions on a skill check a player should make to see if they notice being pick pocketed by an NPC?

The Pick Pocket skill (p142) sets the bonuses for a character rolling against a DV while they are trying to steal something, but I'd like the players to feel like they're involved in the event.

I was thinking the player would roll an Opposed Skill Check on Perception, while the pick pocket would roll the Pick Pocket skill. If the player fails by more than 5 they have no idea it happened until they try to use the lost item; less than 5 then they notice a few minutes later.

If the player equals or beats the NPC's roll, then they notice as it's happening and have a chance to intervene.

Any suggestions on how that could work, like alternate skills to Perception or how the encounter could run?

High above the crashing waves lies a well-defended castle that is built into the side of a mountain. This castle serves as the home of Captain Flint and his rag tag army of buccaneers and outlaws!

This fortress features high stone walls reinforced with two towers and plenty of cannons to scan the horizon. A large mountain provides natural protection from the north and west. A small hamlet is set up within the castle, with a mountain spring providing fresh water. More buildings are in the process of being built, as this castle serves as a refuge for many convicts and brigands. Download the high-res map for free here.

To see more maps, check out my map archive here.

Let's forget about the Oops TPK, but let's discuss about the time it ended-up greatly, no matter whether the party decided t sacrify their life to save the world (or simply their honour) or that horror game where the PC found-out too late that they're hopeless and bound to die

Was considering to get a grid mat, large- at least A2 or so - of those you can write and erase. After searching online I found few options, and they're a bit pricey.

Any recommendations? I don't need anything fancy. Just a large laminated grid that can be rolled up. Thanks

You know the situation: the players have decided that splitting up is a good idea. Maybe they're on a shopping trip, maybe they're investigating a dungeon/mothership, maybe some of them were arrested.

What's the best way to handle the situation outside of combat? How do you keep it interesting for the players, while moving the story forward?

A Viking’s home is on the restless waves Where salty winds carry far and wide To foreign shores and glory wars we will set sail With axe and sword by our side.” - Amon Amarth

Welcome to the Longship map pack! This map features a 24-oar longship used frequently by raiders and war-parties. The sleek, narrow shape of this ship allows for easy turns and quick maneuvers, making it ideal for a skirmish.

This pack features additional ship variants for Frost Giants, Fire Giants, Cloud Giants, and Undead.

I have also made tokens of each ship to provide you with full flexibility in how you want to use the ships. Foundry VTT modules with pre-built walls and lighting are available to patrons.

Download the base map for free here.

Check out my map archive to see more maps.

In less than 6 hours, Free League will open the Kickstarter for the revised edition of their Alien RPG. It will include revised and new rules, for example for zero gravity and for miniature support, the cinematic campaign Rapture Protocoll, a solo mode (Last Survivor), franchise updates and much more.

I never played the first edition, but I am a bit hyped about this game as I am much fonder of sci-fi than of fantasy.

How about you?

How do you make downtime interesting in Cyberpunk RED? Downtime is a period between RP sessions where players can heal, repair their stuff, and use their role abilities to fabricate new items.

For characters that don't need to do those things, there are hustle charts, where they roll a d6 and role-specific events happen, stuff like: "Something goes wrong, and you need to lay low - 0eb" or "One of your songs goes viral - 500 eb". Usually the character ends up making a bit of cash, but not too much.

How do you make those hustles interesting?

I am a longtime GM, and have been looking to stretch my improv muscles for a long time. I've had this idea percolating for awhile about making quick, micro-rpgs that get resolved in a week or so. If that sounds like your cup of tea, join in! I'll be creating the initial games, but anyone that wants to create and GM a game is most welcome!

The first game is already up and is based on superhero parodies like The Tick. I call it: Stuperheroes!

Here's a direct link to the game: Stuperheroes

And here's a link to the community itself: !Every_Post_Is_An_RPG@Lemmy.ml

Is anyone interested in growing a Cyberpunk RED TTRPG community?

I really appreciate some of the the posts on the CP:R subreddit, and I'd love to build something like that here.

I've got a bit of content (like my Cyberpunk RED cheat sheet for D&D players), and I enjoy putting together session reviews like this one.

Are you playing Cyberpunk RED? Are you into the Interlock meta? Do you want to try and build an active game-based community here?

EDIT: two responses doesn't a community make. I'll keep my RED posts in the main RPG community. :/