Dice/Stat Based RPG'ing?

[Elf_Lvr]

Hey guys, I was just thinking about beginning a diced RPG format here - especially after reading the links Dain and CG posted to "Darths & Droids" and "DM of the Rings." I'd be all for researching diced RPG rule formats and writing one up for use on this site - along with character formats, skills and abilities, items, enemies, and so forth... I think it sounds like a sort of fun challenge.

But before I put in the effort I'd want to to know how many people would be INTERESTED in such a monstrosity. So, what say you?

Come on now, WHAT SAY YOU?

[crickets chirp]

Anyone?

Basically this is me attempting to step up and mod this forum. So, I'm not gonna be crushed if there isn't much excitement for this sort of thing; after all, this site is about TCGs, not RPGs.

Another problem would, of course, be dice. I wonder if Kralik could come up with some sort of dice system like we had at CC... or something. If he doesn't end up finding this post, I'll PM him, again, if there's enough interest.

[AgentDrake]

Might be interested, but I probably wouldn't have the time.

...maybe I could make a few Gandalf-style cameos...

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Mmm, that would be fun. I've looked at a bunch of different systems, including D&D, GURPS, and a few obscure ones, and I say we could even homebrew a TLHH system. That could be very cool. What I'd love to see is a nice, streamlined-but-fun system.

What genre? And what feel? How much "crunch" (strict rules) do you want to have? How much realism?

Etc., etc., etc.

And do you want it to be more of an aide to roleplay, or a way to make roleplay into a fun game?

Dice shouldn't be a problem. I bet Kralik would be able to get something together.

[AgentDrake]

I vote for keeping things fairly loose and casual.

I actually really like the DC RPG system that CG cooked up and Dain shanghai'ed. Doesn't work for everything, but it's a great original idea. Hoping Dain can get Realms going again, for one.
And I might be able to get Troy running by the time CG and Kralik get a system sorted out for dice, or something.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

As far as the DC RPG system...well, was more of a novelty, using DCs to resolve an RPG. As an RP system, it's not that great. And not very customizable.

But a loose system, I definitely have a bit of expertise with writing rules for that. I might toss around a few ideas, come up with a basic mechanic.

[sickofpalantirs]

I'd be very interested.

[Elf_Lvr]

Wow. People are actually (maybe) going to participate in this. Someone drag Dain over here and we'll have a decent group.

Since I know nothing about dice-based RPG systems (like D&D), I think I'd probably need some help writing/proofing whatever system we do use. Up for it, CG?

This was a really bad idea to have 2 days before I start school, but I'll try to devote as much time to it as I can.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Lol, yeah the starting-school thing. And while I have probably not enough time to commit to playing in an RP, I will definitely be around to suggest unique ideas for a dice-based system.

Initial idea: I'd like to try and steer away from a numbers game as much as possible. I.e., your stats give you bonuses to rolls, which you try and get as high as possible. What I think would be nifty is something more like a dice-pool system, such as the one used by White Wolf's Storyteller system. You have a certain number of dice (determined by a stat), and you count however many dice fall above a certain number. That gives you three areas to modify difficulty in, for example, and it also provides a nice round curve, instead of the flat curve given by the d20 system. (Which means that really, really good rolls and really, really bad rolls will both happen not a lot, like in real life. If you want me to explain, I can...but it's some funky statistics work)

Now, I don't know that we want to clone a major aspect of the White Wolf system, but you get the general idea. I'd like to base it off of a non-standard dice mechanic.

[AgentDrake]

Ooookay.....

I understood none of that....

[sickofpalantirs]

I understood...so would we use our own dice? or have something like on CC?

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Ooookay.....

I understood none of that....

Lol. Actually, on second thought, that system might not be a bad one. It wouldn't be sold, so I'm not so concerned about having similar mechanics to other RP systems. So basically...here's how it would work.

Let's say that one of your statistics lets you roll four dice. Because of one factor, these are six-sided dice. Because of another factor, your target number is three. Finally, one last factor requires you to have two successes. So you roll the dice.

You get a 5, a 4, a 2, and a 6. That's three dice that fell above a three. Three successes. Which means that you achieved your goal of two successes, and then some. So you'd succeed in whatever you were trying to do, and maybe get a bonus. So.

I'm thinking it could be something like this...

Basic Attribute: How many dice you roll.
Skill: What type of dice you roll.
Skill required for a task: What the target number is.
Effort required for a task: How many successes you need.

So let's say you have a character with the attribute "Strength 2", and the Skill "Miner (d6)". He also has a pickaxe, which increases the Skill to "Miner (d8)". He wants to try and dig through rock. The person running the game sets the difficulty at 2, but requires a good bit of effort, namely, 2. The character rolls both dice, and gets a 3 and a 1. Bad luck...the 3 passes, but the 1 doesn't, so you only get one success. He fails.

If you need me to elaborate, I can, but...wow, that actually feels like it would work.

[lem0nhead]

HEY! Good job i randomly decided to drop in on this forum for some reason.

Im so up for a dice based TPG game, i love D&D, ive just never bothered here cos i didnt like the DC style RPG.

Count me in if we can get a D20 online system working.

Here's a link to a good die roller http://hamete.org/dserver/dice and if you register your email it can keep a log of your rolls to stop cheating.....

If know one likes that idea could Dain or Kralik get a button introduced to the forum that when clicked creates a post that identifies itself as authentic i.e. un modded or simply posted, that generates a random number?

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Dain, what sort of d20 are you talking? Because at the moment...I don't have access to 3.5 stuff (and probably won't), just the 4e PHB. Although I do know that d20 Modern and d20 Future are available online, openly, legally. But I have no experience in those. Did you have a look at Chameleon? Very different from d20, mainly because I've messed around with different systems' mechanics, but I think it can work well. And would be in need of playtesting.

The die roller you've got is good, although I'd definitely prefer an on-forum integration.

[lem0nhead]

Question to CG. Why are you addressing Dain when he hasnt posted in this thread

I have access to all the 3.5 stuff for D&D. PDF and physical.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

*whacks head*

And that was posted at a sane hour of the day, too. I meant you, lem0n.