That is not dead which can eternal lie
Hey, guess what? I'm back to work on Mission: Zodiac. I kinda got some ideas, and I'm interested in working on the system again. I know I said before that it lacks purpose, but then I realised that it's only because I refused to give it purpose. Did you know that I never asked anybody to play/playtest the game with me? Kind of silly to complain about nobody playing it, then, isn't it? Also, to gain greater exposure to how sodding amazing I am, I've decided I'm going to be putting it up here, on my LJ. It'll all get shifted over to the website eventually, but it started here. You can all say that. Anyway, today I'm giving the basics - how the system works. It happens to be amazingly elegant and simple. The whole thing is based on skills. A character gets a race (I am, for some reason, rather stuck on the idea of recognisably distinct PC races), some basic characteristics, and then a bunch of skills to determine what the character can actually do. I think I'm likely to drop both archetypes (although they were an awesome idea) and styles (I really don't think I implemented them well), in favour of characters just having a bunch of skills.
ALSO: Even if you don't particularly care about M:Z as a system, in particular, I'd like everyone's opinion. I've read a number of RPGs where beginning characteristics are determined randomly, and a number where they're bought with points. Which do you prefer, and why?
So, in addition to all that rambling and polling, I have something to share: the basic game mechanics of Mission: Zodiac. Herein lies its elegance and simplicity. For those of you interested enough to read them (and future M:Z installments), I'd like your feedback. Understand that I won't automatically change anything you don't like, but I will take all comments into consideration.
The quintessential game mechanic in Mission: Zodiac is the contest. There are two kinds: one is simply a contest (referred to as such), and the other is an opposed contest. In either case, you roll a certain amount of d6s. You are trying to roll the target number (usually just called "target") or higher. The target defaults to 4, though many things may raise or lower this number. Every time you reach the target on a die, you have one success. In unopposed contests, you are trying to reach a certain amount of successes set by the GM. In opposed contests, you're trying to gain more successes than whoever opposes you. Most contests use a skill and a stat - add those two numbers together and roll that many dice. In some cases you use only a stat, in others you may combine multiple skills or stats together. Circumstances can alter a contest in two ways: they can alter the target or they can alter the number of dice you get. Some skills or circumstances I detail will mention which should be applied when. In some cases, the target can be greater than 6. Astute gamers will notice that you cannot roll higher than a six on 1d6. If you have such a ludicrous target, roll the contest at target 4. Every two successes allows you to roll one die at (original target)-1. This may be required several times before an attainable target number is reached. Additionally, some skills have foci. A skill focus is an area of the skill in which the character tends to specialise or have superior ability. If a character is making a contest within her focus, she rolls at target -1.
Combat, when it occurs, is organised into a sequence of rounds. Each round is a few seconds long. Every combat begins with an Initiative contest, with highest results going first, and turns proceeding in decreasing order from there. Each round, a character may move around and take actions. Generally a character can take a single action in a round, although exceptions can be made (a character with two swords can, logically, swing more often than a character with just one). Attacking and defending are governed by skills and the contests between them. Taking damage is a similar process - each weapon will have a listed number of damage dice (often including Strength), which the attacker rolls against the amount of dice afforded by the victim's armour (usually including Toughness). Each success more than the defender has inflicts one wound. A character whose wounds equal her Health is incapacitated (and usually thus unconscious). An incapacitated character can easily be slain by anybody who wishes to take the time to do so. Also, should a might blow inflict wounds to a character equal to double her Health, she is killed outright. After a good night of sleep (or other sufficient period of rest), a character may make a Body roll; every success removes one wound.
ALSO: Even if you don't particularly care about M:Z as a system, in particular, I'd like everyone's opinion. I've read a number of RPGs where beginning characteristics are determined randomly, and a number where they're bought with points. Which do you prefer, and why?
So, in addition to all that rambling and polling, I have something to share: the basic game mechanics of Mission: Zodiac. Herein lies its elegance and simplicity. For those of you interested enough to read them (and future M:Z installments), I'd like your feedback. Understand that I won't automatically change anything you don't like, but I will take all comments into consideration.
The quintessential game mechanic in Mission: Zodiac is the contest. There are two kinds: one is simply a contest (referred to as such), and the other is an opposed contest. In either case, you roll a certain amount of d6s. You are trying to roll the target number (usually just called "target") or higher. The target defaults to 4, though many things may raise or lower this number. Every time you reach the target on a die, you have one success. In unopposed contests, you are trying to reach a certain amount of successes set by the GM. In opposed contests, you're trying to gain more successes than whoever opposes you. Most contests use a skill and a stat - add those two numbers together and roll that many dice. In some cases you use only a stat, in others you may combine multiple skills or stats together. Circumstances can alter a contest in two ways: they can alter the target or they can alter the number of dice you get. Some skills or circumstances I detail will mention which should be applied when. In some cases, the target can be greater than 6. Astute gamers will notice that you cannot roll higher than a six on 1d6. If you have such a ludicrous target, roll the contest at target 4. Every two successes allows you to roll one die at (original target)-1. This may be required several times before an attainable target number is reached. Additionally, some skills have foci. A skill focus is an area of the skill in which the character tends to specialise or have superior ability. If a character is making a contest within her focus, she rolls at target -1.
Combat, when it occurs, is organised into a sequence of rounds. Each round is a few seconds long. Every combat begins with an Initiative contest, with highest results going first, and turns proceeding in decreasing order from there. Each round, a character may move around and take actions. Generally a character can take a single action in a round, although exceptions can be made (a character with two swords can, logically, swing more often than a character with just one). Attacking and defending are governed by skills and the contests between them. Taking damage is a similar process - each weapon will have a listed number of damage dice (often including Strength), which the attacker rolls against the amount of dice afforded by the victim's armour (usually including Toughness). Each success more than the defender has inflicts one wound. A character whose wounds equal her Health is incapacitated (and usually thus unconscious). An incapacitated character can easily be slain by anybody who wishes to take the time to do so. Also, should a might blow inflict wounds to a character equal to double her Health, she is killed outright. After a good night of sleep (or other sufficient period of rest), a character may make a Body roll; every success removes one wound.