Bare Bones System
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Bare bones System Introduction: The simple quest system that I have created is born out of the need to have a free, functioning RPG system for role playing newcomers that doesn't require the user to invest hours into reading and learning, and didn't require players to play in a restricted time period. Most systems are built as if a computer has to interpret the information by having a set rule and calculation for everything, and don't take into account that humans can create these rules themselves while playing. This system is designed so that players can pick it up easily, and create much of their own rules. The end goal of this system is for players to create their own appendices to play from eventually. Character creation: A character is essentially created from two parts: their stats, and skills. In the beginning of character creation, the GM should give each player a set amount of stat points, and skill points to spend. Die names: If you're REALLY new to RPGs, then you may want to know that when someone say “a D(insert number) they are referring to a die of that many sides Success rolls: A D20 should be used to measure if a roll is successful, if the player rolls a number lower or equal to than their stat or skill, they succeed in their roll. All other dice are for weapons. Character Creation: Stats: All stats in this system are some number over twenty, however I wouldn't recommend letting the players go over 16 or 17 in any of their stats, or skill for that matter. There are two kinds of stats, main stats, and sub stats. The main stats are: Strength: physical ability, size, general beefiness Dexterity: speed, accuracy, flexibility Intelligence: Cunning, mental acuteness Spirit/Personality: Call the category what you want, it is a reflection of the character's interpersonal skills, charisma, persuasion and oneness. All other sub stats are governed by these three, and are always rounded, you may make any number of sub stats that you want, but I recommend that you calculate these before playing. Willpower: combination of 2/4 intelligence, ¼ strength, and ¼ spirit. Speed: governed by dexterity alone or if you want ¾ dexterity and ¼ strength. Size: governed by strength alone usually, but GMs may decide if players can choose their size freely, or pay stat points to change it directly Health: governed by ¾ strength and ¼ spirit Dodge: Should be governed by dexterity and should take into account weapons and armor. Persuasion: ¾ intelligence, ¼ spirit Charisma: governed by spirit Fatigue/Stamina: 1/2 dexterity, 1/2 spirit Perception: ¾ intelligence, ¼ dexterity Example: The GM, Larry, gives the player 45 points to spend in their stats Mike decides to create a spellblade character, and spread his points out with 9/20 in strength 14/20 in intelligence 12/20 in dexterity 10/20 in spirit Therefore, Mike's character will have: 12/20 in willpower 11/20 in speed Size can be measured in two ways, some number over twenty, and a physical height and weight (the height and weight should be reasonable for the strength) Size 9/20, 5ft8in 140lbs 9/20 in health So on and so forth. More Sub-Stats can be created based on what the group finds useful and strikes a balance within the party. Attributes and Skills Attributes and skills are things that make your character interesting, and unique. Some skills and attributes are some number out of twenty, but others are static increases in certain areas. They can be as broad, or as narrow as a player wants, however a very broad skill will take more skill points to gain points in, and a very narrow skill may take a normal amount or even smaller amount of points depending on the skill. I recommend a first time group starts with 50 A&S points. Examples: Mike decides he wants to gain the skill “Mastery of the blade”, Mastery of the blade is a very narrow skill, as it only helps Mike's character in combat, and only then with a sword, so the GM may decide that for every two points Mike spends, he gains +1 to all hits with a sword, and becomes a measure more accurate with it. Mike also wants his character to be a Master Chef. Being able to cook all foods, and increase all food related buffs associated with his cooking is quite a powerful and fairly broad skill, so the GM may decide that Mike must spend two points to gain 1/20 in All Culture Cooking. The opposite of this would be if another player Danny, wanted his character to be a baker, so he gains the ability to make various pastries and breads quite well. This is perhaps a quite narrow skill, so the GM may decide that for every point Danny spends, he gains 2/20 or 1/20 in baking. Lets say Mike wants to create a spell blade character. In order to create a spell blade, he must have some skill in magic as well. Here, mike has a choice: He can either- Invest in all purpose magic, and not spend a lot on his other skills, or go into a specific college of magic, save on his other skills, but not be able to cast all types of magic. Mike decides he wants to become a spell-blade proficient in water and ice magics. The GM decides that having access water and ice magic will cost 15 character points, and a few entry level spells are created for Mike. Later on, when Mike progresses as a mage, the GM may come up with more, or upgraded, spells for his arsenal. Defaulting skills: All skills that a player attempts to use, but does not know should default to 1/20 though 3/20 depending on the difficulty of the skill. Disadvantages: I strongly recommend you make your players take disadvantages. Disadvantages give the player points instead of taking them away, and make the game and characters MUCH more interesting. For a first time player, I would recommend taking 3 disadvantages. Examples: Phobias, lower perception of a certain sense, or some allergy to a common food or potion, ugliness, ect. Checks: Here is where your skills and stats come into play. A check is when you decide to leverage your stats against some opposing situation. For example. Mike is a master chef, with 16/20 in cooking. If mike wants to cook something with average difficulty, he will roll a D20, and if he gets 16 or lower, he will succeed in his efforts HOWEVER If Mike wants to make an exceedingly simple dish, such as the traditional elven dish “Pickle In a Cup”, The GM may decide that Mike will get +3 to his attempt at cooking this. I would not recommend ever making the number for success 20/20, because Mike could still drop the pickle or the cup. Also, If Mike wants to create a Dwarven Classic “spider wellington” it may be a bit harder. Spider is notoriously difficult to cook without having a bitter taste, or course texture, so the GM may decide that Mike will have to make his roll at -3 due to the difficulty of this dish. Combat: Turns: The order in which characters get to make action in combat is determined by two factors Is the character aware of the attack? Which character is faster? Example: Juan and Mike find a squad of rebels and are undetected. Even though one of the rebels, James, is faster than Mike and Juan, he is unaware of the attack, so Juan's character is allowed to move first, then Juan's friend, Mike, moves second because he is aware of the attack, but slower than Juan.. After the initial round of attacks, everyone should be aware of the battle, and turns are taken based on speed. Damage: Weapons Weapons can have as much or as little “random” damage as you want. I would recommend that you have a weapon do a hybrid of: “X damage + Y dice of damage” Magic I would recommend that magic works relatively the game, but requires some form of mana to cast. Magic can also have other effects like slowing opponents, poisoning, or area of effect damage. Examples: Ardent flail – 5 fire damage + a d4 Wintertide bow – 3 ice damage + a d8 Torrent – 4 water damage (3 meters AOE) + a d4. 3 mana to cast. Armor: Armor is a value that you subtract from an attack. If the attack is directed toward a body part that doesn't have armor, then armor is not subtracted. If a character makes a general hit, it is assumed that it is a body hit. Accuracy: Accuracy with weapons is determined by the weapon itself. The character's proficiency with the weapon should also be taken into account. I would recommend that percentile dice be used for accuracy. Other Actions In Combat: For any other action that a player wants to take in combat, there is one rule. If the action takes less than five seconds, it can be done and the player can still attack, if not, it will take up their whole turn. Conclusion: The rest of what you do with this is up to you. You may play with as much optional detail as you and your party can create. The end goal of this system is to create some of your own rules, stats, ability, and appendixes and eventually create an entirely new RPG system that you and your friends can call your own..