Friday, February 10, 2012

2D6: Decisions and (some) Details

The last few days of work have been pretty demanding of my spare time but I am back at work on my 2D6 based game system.  First of all, I do appreciate the comments and suggestions made by all that did so; even if they went in directions that different from mine.  The responses ensured that I looked at differing views and design intentions instead of just simply deciding on something out of thin air.  If I do not wind up using your idea in my design do not take that as a slight on your part; it boiled down to a difference of opinion or point of view and not a judgment on quality or usefulness.  Feel free to continue with suggestions in the future - suggestions are always helpful to me - or, even better, take your ideas and start making your own game; I would love to give some input!  The information below contains the basic ideas I have decided to use for this design.

Narrow Focus
I believe there was some initial talk on my part of just trying to start with a system and then fine tune it to each genre.  That plan has changed.  The focus of the game will now be on the fantasy genre.  I feel that by limiting the focus to just one genre that it would be easier to complete.  I may move on to other genres in the future.

Task Resolution
The 2D6 fantasy game will use a single, unified Action Result Table to determine the outcome of all actions in the game; regardless if the attempted action is striking with a sword, searching for a trap, deciphering a code, etc.  I know many games have different mechanics for different actions in their rules - some of my favorites are guilty of this - but I am getting to the age that I would rather play than worry about cross referencing this rule on page 48 with that rule on page 210 while keeping in mind that I need to remember the optional method detailed on page 58.  You get the idea.  I hope to have clear, concise rules that do not need to referenced every time a player has his character perform an action in the game.  One of the ways I will accomplish this is by putting the ART on the character sheet.

Attributes
Each character will be defined in the most basic physical and mental sense by the use of a short list of attributes.  I have went back and forth on the number of attributes to include in the game.  I am still not 100% sure but after reading some of the previous comments I have figured out that it would probably serve me best to come up with a make shift list of attributes and see how the talent list interacts with them.  Once that is determined, I can adjust the number or definitions of the attributes to suit the game.  At this moment, I am trying out 4 attributes:

Might [M]: a measure of the character's physical strength, constitution, and overall health.
Prowess [P]: a measure of the character's balance, coordination, and reflexes.
Knowledge [K]: a measure of a character's ability to store, understand, and use information.  
Will [W]: a measure of a character's mental toughness and ability to fight off stress.

The attributes will be rated on a simple scale that is easy to follow.  Negative numbers (-1,-2, etc.) are considered below average, zero (0) is considered average, and positive numbers (+1, +2, etc.) are considered above average.

I have tried several different methods for attribute generation ranging from point distribution, archetype selection, to random rolls.  I wanted race to play a role in the determination of attribute ratings but I did not want to do the typical modifier to a roll.  Instead, I came up with a chart of weighted rolls that will tend to create characters matching the typical adventurers of that race; at least, I hope that is what the following chart does.

              Might 
If your roll is a...
Dwarf
Elf
Human
2
-1
-2
-2
3
-1
-2
-1
4
0
-1
-1
5
0
-1
-1
6
0
-1
0
7
+1
-1
0
8
+1
-1
0
9
+1
0
+1
10
+2
0
+1
11
+2
0
+1
12
+2
+1
+2

This table is just an example and not the finished results but you get the idea.  Of course, I just realized that the chart is not set up to have the middle range of rolls be the most common results.  I *think* that would make a difference BUT I am no mathematician so I really do not know if it matters or not.

Talents
Talents will be the skills of this game system.  They will get a rating similar to attributes and work in much the same fashion. I am working on the talents now.

Boons
Boons are advantageous abilities that will also serve to help further individualize and customize your character.  Normally, a character with a Might +1 is basically equally as strong and tough.  A boon of Strong makes him physically stronger.  I have two ways I am evaluating to simulate this.  First, the boon could be slightly strong (+1) or very strong (+2).  You would simply apply this bonus on top of Might when you are doing a task that is related to strength.  Second, the other option I am looking at just gives you a bonus D6 to roll.  I am not sure if you get to pick the 2 rolls you want to keep OR assume a 6 is there and you get to roll 2D6 and use the highest.  

Final Thoughts
That is it for now.  It seems to be coming together a little bit now.  I will continue working on the talents list to see where I stand on the attributes.  If anyone has any input, feel free to share. 


 

2 comments:

  1. Coming along nicely; great job. Narrowing the focus to the fantasy genre is for the best (imho), as so many have stuck their toes in that pond.

    As your goal seems to be overall sleekness, those four attributes would seem to cover all of the necessary bases in a fantasy setting; Might for the Fighters, Prowess for the Thieves and cooler than thou Rangers, Knowledge for the Spell Casters, and Will... I guess for the Clerics? Elves? Elf Clerics? I mean, it's gotta be quite stressful having to bear all those jokes thrown your way every day.

    I know you aren't going with a class system, but the frame of reference for players is there. Smart move.

    Races seem fine, though I would make a suggestion for a halfling (or some such). I know they sometimes get a bum rap, but I always loved playing those little guys. Plus, it gives you a nice round number of four that ties into the nice round number of attributes.

    Sorry, I couldn't resist: I once had a thief halfling that 'captured' two red dragon eggs. His goal was to raise and train them as his Pets of Doom. But his half orc traveling buddy got really hungry one day...

    All-in-all, I really dig this system so far. While you are focusing on one genre, I can see almost any thing you can think of spinning off of it. And that really would rock. Kind of like early TSR where Boot Hill, Gangbusters, and Star Frontiers were pretty much the same system, just with layers added on as they went.

    Bravo!

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    Replies
    1. Cool. I am glad you dig the system so far. Sticking to one genre just seemed so much easier to handle. It will be interesting to see how further development changes things during the design process.

      No worries - the Halfling race will be included. I was just using three examples to show how the results of the attribute roll differed depending on the race of the character in question. There will be more races and Halflings will be one of them. Nice recollection of your thief halfling.

      Classes may be in the game after all. Really, what are classes except a bundled up selection of talents and other character options to simulate a warrior, mage, thief, paladin, etc. This is where the difficulty columns in the ART will come into play also. For instance, a Mage might get a roll against Knowledge at Difficult level to decipher a magic scroll or something similar to that. They may or may not be called classes but I think they will be there.

      Thanks for the comments and suggestion. I hope to get some more work done on this soon.

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