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PBEM RPG.

Posted by MalakhonFor group 0
Malakhon
GM, 1 post
Fri 25 Nov 2016
at 16:38
  • msg #1

PBEM RPG

PBEM RPG VERSION 1.00


This is a rules lite system designed specifically for use in PBEM RPG campaigns. It was designed to address the fact that face-to-face campaigns with heavy dice rolls are much easier to manage and can rely more on RNG. I needed a system that resolved conflicts quickly and yet gave players some input into the outcome of that conflict.

Example of old system:

PLAYER: "I want to attack the Orc."

GM: After finding out what everyone else wants to do "Okay, everyone roll initiative. (waits for the outcome of rolls) Now, I've calculated weapon speed modifiers, go in order and each of you roll to hit. Then roll damage if you do."

In PBEM - the person who was supposed to roll first may be the last one to post but the decision of what target to attack was dependent on the outcome of that person's roll for the next player - so we are stuck waiting and there are a number of dice rolls to manage.

I've attempted to de-clutter the amount of dice rolls but also add some element of strategy.
The system has been made Universal so that it can be plugged into a variety of different settings but would require some customization for magic, psionics, mutated powers etc.

This guide is divided up into three main sections;

STATS - The four primary statistics tracked by this system and draws.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION - NON-OPPOSED ROLLS - simple skill tests
CONFLICT RESOLUTION - COMBAT - advanced skill tests
FATE CARDS - player advancement.

STATS


There are four primary statistics and they are reflected as by two numbers separated by a slash.

CLUBS: 00/0
SPADES:00/0
DIAMONDS:00/0
HEARTS:00/0

Clubs - This is the primarily for combat, tactics and military matters. This is also used for physical tests such as swimming, running, and resistance to disease. It can also be used for intimidation tests.

Spades - This is used for stealth, sneaking, lock-picking, and could be considered the "Rogue" - jack of all trades skill. It can also be used for intrigue related - secret brokering and con (bullshit and blather) related attempts.

Diamonds - This is used for intelligence, logic, wisdom, wit, and also for identification of valuable items, mercantile tests, haggling, barter, gambling, etc.

Hearts - This is physical attractiveness and charisma - diplomacy, negotiation, and is used in romance, forging friendships and so on.

as you can tell from the names the stats are based on a simple deck of cards - and they all have something to do with how you interact with people. I found that in typical RPGS a single "Charisma" stat may have been sufficient for all manner of interaction but that there really are many ways you can negotiate - you can intimidate people, you can charm them, you can appeal to their pragmatism with a reasonable logical offer or you can attempt to bullshit them. I don't understand why one stat would control all four of these very different styles of communication as they all require very different skill sets.

The primary (first) number D00 - This is the player score in that ability.

10 - Typical average adult
20 - Above average well trained
30 - Elite
40 - Fantastic

The draw (second) number D0 - This can never exceed the primary score divided by 10 (rounded down).IE: A person Primary 20 in spades may have no more than 2 draws in spades.

A Draw is explained in the Cards of Fate section and is typically only available to PCs and outstanding NPCs (such as master villains and other heroes). Players gain draws as they gain experience.

WHEN TO ROLL:
PBEM games also tend to focus on communication and that is why the core system reflects these four primary stats. The four primary stats are used for COMMON activities that the player does. The GM will also approximate based on the player provided background a skill such as a medical doctor can roll their Diamond skill if they are attempting a complex and risky medical procedure that requires their character to roll where a person who wasn't a medical doctor may not get to roll at all because they have no idea where to even begin.
Conversely, a character that is a medical doctor may not have to roll at all for a routine medical procedure that they performed daily and the GM may require a diamond roll for non medical doctors attempting the same thing.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION - NON-OPPOSED ROLLS

The simplest of conflict resolution is when the player has no competition other than the world around them and the circumstances of their actions. If it is a routine, mundane task the GM should not be rolling at all. A player who speaks polish fluently should not roll each time they want to speak polish. A player who repairs radios for a living should not roll to repair a simple broken radio if they have all the parts available.

The simple rule of thumb is - "If I were telling a story is this where there may be a cliffhanger? Where the reader may wonder if the hero makes the jump to the other ledge? saves the girl? drops the ball and loses the game?"

If not - then don't roll.

Impossible actions - If it is impossible - let's say it's my 72 year old gramma and she is attempting to solve Grothendieck–Katz p-curvature conjecture while blindfolded in 10 seconds or the earth is destroyed - we don't roll then either. The earth is destroyed and I am so sorry to my Gramma that I put her in that situation.

Simple Flow of Events:
1. The player says what they want to do.
   If there is more than one player involved the GM may have to wait until they all commit their actions before moving to step two.
2. The establishes a target number and tells the player to roll
3. The player may apply fate cards and then rolls
4. The GM interprets the results.

If there is more than one player involved this may be an opposed roll (see the next section).

In Step One - Players commit by posting in Orange their player actions. They don't have to say OOC as this is an in character action.

In Step Two The GM establishes a target number if the player needs to roll at all. A person with a 10 score may have to roll for something that would be no problem to someone with a 30 score in the same statistic.

This involves "Guestimation" based on the situation around the player - wind speed unladen swallows carry coconuts, time of day, weather, footing, whatever criteria the GM thinks add or doesn't add risk.

Typical rolls require a roll of 11 or more. on a 1D20

In Step Three The player may assign his fate cards. He does this before he rolls always. The fate cards are described in better detail in their own section but here is what you need to know.

1 - The player can only assign fate cards from the applicable suit, if its a diamond check you need a diamond card.
2- Once played, the card is discarded and cannot be used again
3- Joker cards can be used in any situation -and have their own special rules. The player assigns a hilarious intention to them and rolls - the GM will interpret the outcome - if its a critical failure the joke will be on the player.
4- The card ADDS the value of the card to the roll.
  Aces - automatically make it a critical success and add 11 to the roll.
  Face Cards - automatically make it a critical success and add 10 to the roll.
Exception: Roll a natural 1 with an Ace or Face Card automatically make it an EXTREME critical failure and may result in player death.
Roll a natural 20 with an Ace or Face Card automatically makes it an extreme critical success.

The player will roll 1D20.

ROLL OF 1 is automatically a critical failure.
ROLL of 20 is automatically a critical success.

The GM will determine the magnitude of critical and extreme critical successes but they are typically outstanding and often unexpected results and breakthroughs. Obviously, if you are jumping from one cliff to another and you roll a critical success it may mean that you gain enough footing that you are no longer required to jump the rest of the way across and an extreme critical is that you land on your feat with your gun out and ready to take a shot at the enemy.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION - OPPOSED ROLLS

Combat is one of the primary ways this is used but it could be a test between two master minds at a game of chess or a game of darts, etc. The GM will decide what stat is best used for those cases.

Since combat is the one that comes up the most and this is a basic guide - we will focus on those kinds of tests.

The Club stat is typically used for this kind of combat.

1. All opponents involved in combat will declare their intention to attack.
2. Opponents Weapons are rolled:
   Hand to Hand: D6
   Melee: D10
   Hand Guns: D20
   Military Grade Weapons: D20+D10
3. All players roll who intend to add a club card to their roll may do so now.
  Any Ace will add 11, and on a natural 20 will kill one opponent or if there is more than opponent add 30. On a natural 1 the player themselves will be disarmed.
  Any Face Card will add 10,  and on a natural 20 will add 20. On a natural 1 the player themselves will be disarmed.
4. The sum total of the players rolls plus their club score is added together (for each side) and the difference is the "Damage" - this damage is divided evenly to the losing side and subtracted from their club score for the next round.

Example:
 Two Players with a Club Score of 30 each and armed with Hand Guns are facing 5 typical thugs with a Club Score of 10 and hand guns.

The players each roll D20 (let's say its two 10s) and that is added to their score: 60+10+10 = 80

The thugs each roll 10 each as well, 50 +50 = 100

The players lost that round because the thugs score of 100 exceeded the players by 20 points (they have a combined 80). 20 points is divided evenly amongst the two players at 10 points and next round the players will have a combined score of 40 as they each took 10 points of damage) - this reflects a reduced combat ability.

ADVANCED COMBAT: The GM may introduce other modifiers such as advanced positions, better weapons, suprise, bleeding out from wounds etc.

LARGE SCALE COMBAT: This system is designed for individual combat but it can be used for larger conflicts by simply forming "Combat Units" which reflect an average of the club score for the members of that unit and their weapons. IE: 10 guys with a score of 30 and guns will be considered a single unit in a conflict. In a situation where the enemy has 300 and surrounded the players the GM may decide that the players are only fighting the immediate 10 around them and use this means to approximate their situation and organize the other 290 enemies into their own units that are in reserve.

PLAYER DEATH: Player death is boring and not fun.

Anyone ever been in a campaign after rolling up your 1st level character and on the first encounter with some Kobolds can probably tell you about the sadistic delight the GM and the other players told them to "Re-roll" and all you did was erase the name of the dead character and say it was his brother seeking revenge.

In this game, player death is treated differently - a bit like in Stories, the player isn't really dead at all.

If they have a fate card the highest one is discarded immediately and the GM comes up with a plausible reason to bring them back. They were knocked unconscious and may have lost their stuff but they are back. The higher the card discarded the better the situation for the player - An ACE is discarded and the player barely has a scratch and is ready at the end of the round. An 2 and maybe the player has a permanent scar and lost everything they had on them - taking weeks to recover.

PERMA-DEATH: If a player rage-quits the game, jumps on their own spear, gets eaten by a dragon etc - they are permanently dead when the GM declares them so. Typically, I am going to bring you back as a zombie or a nefarious enemy NPC if you rage quit my games - but that is GM preference.


<b>FATE CARDS </b>

PBEM games are centered around a "Chapter" or a single adventure that reflects an abstract unit of time as determined by the GM. Typically, this is measured as what an author would consider a chapter in a story - its not the entire story but it has a distinct beginning and ending. It could be a season such as Spring, a year, or just a day depending on how many posts were involved.

At the start of the chapter, a player uses their draws to roll for cards.

You get a number of draws equal to the ones next to your four primary stats, on a 1D12

1- ace
2- two
3- three
4- four
5- five
6- six
7- seven
8- eight
9- nine
10 - ten
11- Jack
12- Queen or King (GM choice)

If players don't have enough draw in total to equal 3 the get a wild draw and may first roll a 1d4

1-Club
2-Spade
3-Diamond
4-Heart

Players may also earn wild cards through play - the GM simply awards them a card that they may not "Redraw" in the next chapter. The player may have as many of the GM will allow. Typically, the GM awards this for something outstanding that the player did, as an example if the player romanced the Queen then the GM may give him a Queen of Hearts, or if they just seduced her sister maybe a Six of Hearts, etc. Players should expect no more than 3 of these in a typical session/chapter.

GMs can award "Joker" cards as well at their discretion. These are intended to be humorous - and not affect the outcome of play in meaningful and tangible ways - they are for practical jokes, or for humorous outcomes. An example, would be that while the Prince schmoozes with your sister at the ball, you play your joker card and want the chef to drop soup on him.

King or Queen Variant: If the GM allows it, when dealing with someone of the sex of the card this is treated as an ACE, as an example if you are fighting a female opponent and you play the Queen card then it is treated as an ACE. This does not apply to monsters or generic situations and is up to GM discretion.


REDRAW/DISCARDS:
 When there is a new chapter, the player may discard ANY cards in their hand in exchange for a redraw up to three times.

Example:
 Let's say that Sir Cavalier has
Clubs 30/2
Spade: 20/1
Diamonds 10/0
Heart 10/1

He has a Club 10, Club 2, Spade 5, a Joker, and a Heart 6 he got for romancing a Queen's sister.

He can discard up to three of them, so he says he wants to discard the 2 of Clubs, The Joker and the Heart 6. Those are immediately discarded.

He may make three up to three draws and since he has 4 on his character sheet, he decides to draw 2 clubs and a spade. He could have decided to draw any combination of draws available to him.

Players with less than 3 draws may roll D4 to determine what suit they are drawing from.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:39, Fri 25 Nov 2016.
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