Attributes Simplified

It should come as no surprise based on my previous post and very novice standing as a gamer (almost to the 1 year mark and still a floundering newb) that I love me some simplicity in games. Thus I have further modified and simplified my own earlier stats sheet.

The new version has only 5 core attributes of STR, INT, FORT, DEX, and CHARM.
STR is Strength and is added to your attack roll + weapon bonus.
INT is both Intelligence and Intuition and is used in instances like translating runes or detecting traps. It's a trap! Sorry I couldn't resist.
FORT is Fortitude which combines Constitution and Will, basically lumping your ability to withstand physical, mental, and/or magical attacks. It's either hurts you or it doesn't.
DEX is Dexterity, obviously, and is used in instances of picking locks, picking pockets, and sneaking. It is used in the place of STR for ranged/projectile attacks, be they with a bow or a spell.  
CHARM is essentially the same as Charisma. I thought of implying that good-looking characters automatically get a bonus to this stat, whereas unsightly characters suffer a penalty. But I have decided to do away with such because that would allow for a player to choose a snobby, beautiful elf that won't give the time of day to anyone and wouldn't even think of haggling with a mere shopkeeper. Or someone could be a lovable, yet ugly and disfigured dwarf. Because who doesn't have a soft spot for Tyrion Lannister?

Some outliers are Speed and Luck. At first I thought of making SPEED its own attribute that characters would roll up, or perhaps it would be assigned based on race. But that assumes that one would have to level up entirely to get any faster. Why not make speed a skill that can be increased with training? And why would a character in heavy armor have the same racial speed as a character in light armor? To me it makes better sense to have it separate and unequal for reasons of player choice. Let's say you choose to be a fleet-of-foot elf rogue with high SPEED and DEX, but low STR and FORT. You just better hope no one catches you with your hand in their pocket or you're in serious trouble. Maybe someone wants to be a fat, clumsy gnome who can really take a punch. I think the ability to modify and customize characters - if not for strategically better gaming, but just as more fun to play - is key to doing what we do.

LUCK is a conundrum in and of itself because it introduces a very different style of play. Perhaps a rogue/thief character is attempting to pick a lock above their skill level. They could either roll for LUCK, or already have an established LUCK score of plus or minus, which would add to DEX as the skill/attribute they're using.
In the beginning I thought that a player would roll a white die against a black die and use the difference as a LUCK modifier. But what dice to use? Because I tend to think and operate as a generous DM, I thought using a higher white die and a lower black would give an advantage towards good luck for the players. As an experiment I had my wife roll the following:

White	Black	LUCK
d6	d4
1	2	-1
4	4	0
1	1	0
2	1	+1
2	2	0
d10	d6
6	4	+2
6	3	+3
3	4	-1
10	6	+4
5	4	+1
d8	d8
4	1	+3
7	4	+3
7	8	-1
8	6	+2
4	8	-4
d10	d10
7	3	+4
1	3	-2
8	4	+4
5	10	-5
2	10	-8

Obviously the dice are going to have quite the variation, but I think I'm most satisfied with the way the numbers came out on the d8 and d10 rolls. Where I remain torn is just how much of a bonus or penalty to I want to allow for players? You could end up exceedingly lucky (+9) by rolling a 10 against a 1, or you could be so unlucky (-9) as to get struck by lightning from a clear blue sky. If the system is d10 based, should I use d10s for LUCK rolls? Or should I keep it lower with a d6, or even go as low as a d4? I'll really have to think on that.

Simple Mechanic for Skill Checks

Regardless of what the skill check is for - athletics, acrobatics, persuasion, etc - the DM will roll 1d10. The player will roll the same, plus their attribute.This way it's about the random will of the dice, but also incorporates who the character was designed to be. Your lucky gnome charmer is better at bartering than your grumbling dwarf hammerer.
If you want to make it more varied, you can use negative attribute scores, aka penalties, but ultimately I think that detracts from the fun and progression of play. Would you want to be the sourpuss with a negative charisma ATT? Or how about the scrawny, weakling with a negative STR that couldn't even climb a tree to snag an apple for lunch?

Let's say you're playing with a younger/newb audience and you as the DM don't want to decimate and discourage the fun by pwning them again and again. Sure a challenge is fun to overcome, but if dice/odds aren't weighted to favor advancing gameplay, I would daresay the players' interest will wane. I know mine would. As such, the DM could roll a d8 against the player's d10, or d6 against the player's d8, giving a slight advantage to the player's odds of success.
If you want to go with d20 rolls, and to give the oft neglected d12 a chance to get in on the action, the DM could roll a d12 against the players d20. In terms of favored odds, this would grant the players the highest advantage, which equals happy players and keeps the game moving.

Going back to a d10 system and for even odds, both the DM and player roll d10. If the DM gets a lousy roll and the players agree that it's too simple given the situation, then the DM will roll again (the higher of 2 rolls remains).

Random Rolls

It's been a while since I last posted because most of my non-work time has been devoted towards the tabletop RPG some friends and I are designing. And even that has been hit or miss because real life keeps getting in the way of our fantasy/worldbuilding/gaming escapism.

But tonight I was bored and my mental gears felt the need to grind out something...anything!

Thus I give you this

For random rolling NPCs or quick, who-cares characters with a d4

	Gender		Race		Class
1	male	1	Gnome	1	Rogue
2	female	2	Elf	2	Mage
3	male	3	Human	3	Ranger
4	female	4	Dwarf	4	Warrior

You could also use a d6 if you want a higher percentage of the population to be of a particular race. Say dwarves and humans are the most common race. You could add 5 = dwarf and 6 = human, thus increasing the likelihood towards those as 2 in 6, instead of 1 in 4.

Or if you want to go with more options, use a d8. Again even = female, odd = male.

	Race		Class
1	Gnome	1	Warrior
2	Elf	2	Battlemage
3	Human	3	Mage
4	Dwarf	4	Druid
5	Half-Elf	5	Ranger
6	Half-Orc	6	Thief
7	Goblin	7	Rogue
8	Orc	8	Assassin

If you're concerned with the levels of NPCs you could roll 2d10 and add them together, but this might skew towards very high or low, which may not fit your wants. 

Then I devised these tables for random d10 geography...

	Geography
1	Tavern
2	Forest
3	Swamp
4	Mountains
5	Jungle
6	Desert
7	Plains
8	Ocean
9	Wastelands
10	Dungeon

And d8 locations.

1 Camp - population consists of <10-15 campers. It's only defenses are natural terrain formations, such as thorny bushes, a creek, or cliff wall to deter approach. Defenders are equipped with whatever they have packed for their travels.
2 Outpost/Fort/Tower - population consists of <20-30 guards. It's defenses might be spikes, trenches, and barricades to slow attackers. The weapons and armor of the guard depends on what they are being supplier by their employer. The more guards with better equipment indicates better stuff worth protecting.
3 Hamlet - population of 50-100. It has no walls or defenses other than cleared ground to prevent ambush from the surrounding area. It may have a central watchtower with a single lookout. Defenders are an ill prepared militia with improvised weapons, longbows, and farm tools.
4 Village - population of 100-500. Like the hamlet it has no defensive structures expect perhaps an encircling moat/trench. It may have a warning bell to be sounded in case of emergency. Defenders are unarmored militiamen with spears, clubs, and assorted small blades. Depending on its proximity to a larger town, the village may have a semi-permanent force of armored guards with poleaxes and swords. Typically it is 1 guard per 50-75 civilians.
5 Town - population of 500-1,000. Defense is limited to a motte and bailey, wooden palisade with an elevated walkway connecting a few watchtowers. Patrols are infrequent, typically only after dark. Defenders are lightly armored, full time guards armed with crossbows, swords, and shields. Guards number 1 per 40 residents.
6 City - population of 1,000-10,000. Defense is stone walls with evenly spaced watchtowers. Every other watchtower is equipped with a beacon and ballistae. There are limited points of ingress with iron-banded, wooden gates and perhaps a moat and drawbridge. The walls and gates are under constant watch by the city guard who patrol in regular shifts.
7 Grand City - population of 10,000+. This is a monument of civilization, boasting a fortified castle/palace, bustling marketplace, and even an academy/university. The city guard numbers in the hundreds with conscripts and thanes at the ready. Defense is made up of high, thick stone walls. A moat, portcullises, and catapults are essential to keep attackers at bay. These burgs are built to repel invaders, but most could not outlast a prolonged siege.
8 Ruins - these ragged, tumbledown relics bear the signs of battles long past. Most are now weathered stones, reclaimed by nature. These haunted husks are now inhabited by brigands, beasts, or worse. But where the risk is high, there can also be great reward.

Stick'em With the Pointy End

Arya Stark said it best. There is no simpler explanation for how to use a sword.

Weapons and shields a la www.heromachine.com

1 & 2 handed

 They are: dagger, short sword, longsword, axe, mace, morning star, flail, hammer, battleaxe, greatsword.

Polearms & Ranged

They are: spear, halberd, crossbow, sling, greatbow, longbow, (standard) bow, shortbow.
For further explanation of the bows (keeping in mind I am not an archery wizard), certain kinds of bows have a pull strength or poundage - it is the force applied to draw it and the force that is thereby transferred into the projectile. I'm fudging this a bit for simplicity's sake.
The shortbow's smaller size allows it to be carried and fired easily by a rider on horseback, but you don't want to sacrifice power for it. So most shortbows are made from horn or some kind of composite that is lighter, but as strong or stronger, than wood. Their recurve shape also delivers for oomph from a shorter bow stave. Let us say that the shortbow has the same power/pull as a standard wood bow. 40-50 lbs.

A longbow is made entirely from wood, and it's (surprise) longer, to deliver more power. It's poundage is around 75.
The greatbow is monstrous in size, recurve, and strength compared to all others. It is about as heavy as a longbow, but packs much more of a wallop, around 100 lbs!

simple shields

They are: hide, wood, bronze (with the dwarf face), iron, steel (center), large, and tall.

Hide is very light, boiled leather. Not a heck of a lot of stopping power. Same goes for wood. It's a little thicker, heavier, more solid, but it too will break after a few uses/blows. These first two would be favored by rangers that travel fast and light and don't get into a lot of direct scrapes, instead preferring hit and run guerrilla tactics.
Bronze is lighter and softer than iron, but it will stop attacks that hide and wood couldn't hope to.
Iron is getting a bit on the heavy side to lug around all the time, but offers acceptable protection when a dude is trying to mace your face.
Steel is tiring to carry for all but strong characters, but it's unmatched for it's durability.
A large shield can be made of anything metallic, perhaps even wood. But what's the point of having this huge shield that's still going to eventually break? It's just bigger to accommodate larger characters (half-orcs), so they don't feel like they're wielding some piddly buckler.
The tall shield is exactly as it sounds. It's not something your going to dance and parry with, it's something you hide behind when the enemy is throwing everything he's got at you, including gnomes, but don't worry they bounce right off. Think Roman legionnaires marching in a phalanx formation. The enemy launches a volley against them, they set their shields on the ground while the second row stacks theirs above against the rain of quarrels. They pick them up and advance. Repeat as needed. You're not going to advance quickly, but methodically "turtling up" when the need presents itself. Other than that, they're very slow, heavy, and unwieldy in a fight. No small characters can use a tall shield.

**In addition**
A recent thought/realization about tall shields: In the beginning battle in the movie Gladiator, Roman soldiers are shown performing exactly the "turtle" maneuver as described above. However, because their shields are convex rectangles, when they stack the second row over the first it leaves a rather sizable half-circle through which an arrow could plausibly find its way into your eye socket. Bad news bears for legionnaires. Thus, subconsciously I created the above tall shield with a curved bottom which ought to fill in that bothersome arrow-in-the-eye allowance. I hope it's appreciated. Also, having a curved bottom means that you can rock the shield side to side for wider coverage, rather than just standing stock still.

Ain't Got No Class

As I was struggling to develop a Skills web - made increasingly more difficult by not having complete Skill categories and subcategories - I happened to concoct these

Web

I don't know how/if this will work with tracking skill progression. My brain automatically wants to cover skills per class and I can't seem to make it not do that, try as I might.

The upper left figure breaks it down into 3 classes or life-paths of Warrior, Rogue, and Mage, which would in turn require choosing which element you're naturally talented in.

The center figure was part of my original idea for Skills radiating outward into different categories. 12 gives plenty of options, but too many choices makes for a harder decision and might lead to "level grinding" to achieve multiple perks.

Then the lower right figure is something I tried by halving the options to only 6. It might make for easier tracking, but sadly, although I created this web, I can hardly explain it to myself.

So for simplicity's sake I changed from hexes to diamonds. Apparently fewer corners = less irritation.

Again, my instinct is to classify classes first, with suited skills following. While 4 classes covers the bare bones, it seems a little too boiler plate. So in a stroke of what I would hope to call genius, I expanded from 4 to 8, with the "in between" classes encompassing features of the bookend classes.

So you tell me; does it work?

Packed with Expansions

Last night some of the guys and I got together to chat more about our homebrew RPG. Most of our time was devoted to the wonderful map provided by Sporkchop. We discussed races and lore and pantheons of gods. But the unanswered question was scale and climate. How big? What are the degrees of latitude and temperature for that matter.

From what you can see here, the far north is pushing polar latitudes of above 70. Most of the story takes place in the temperate climes of 45-55 degrees latitude. The southern ocean has always been Mediterranean in my mind.

To give an idea of scale and climate

The guys wanted to know what else I had in store as far as an expanded world. I have thought about this far ahead.

This expanded world map shows the "New World" of the Westlands, although I'm not yet decided on how far west they will be. The red wastes of the Skarr'd Lands in the east and the crater where Nemesis, the hateful lord of destruction and chaos, was imprisoned by Lukus, the god of light and order. To the southeast is the broad desert and dunes of the Grimalkin catfolk. And in the tropical jungles of the south reside the honor-obsessed Draken and their wild lizardling cousins.

Armor Bits & Pieces

Building on the sheets previously posted, I've come up with more details to how the various bits and pieces give characters an advantage or penalty.

The 3 main pieces of armor worn are Helmet, (Body) Armor, and Leggings (tasset, fauld, cuisse). This really only comes into play if using a targeting system, like with the body part die. You of course don't have to go into that much detail. You can simply say a player takes a hit, damaging their armor, but reducing actual injury to their person.

If you want to go into further, you can add more protection to the "exposed" areas by adding individual pieces of armor: pauldron/torque, bracers, guantlets, and greaves. If a player takes a targeted hit to Arm, it is anything above the elbow. A hit to Hand is anything below the elbow. A hit to Leg strikes above the knee. A hit to Foot is anything below the knee. Doing specific hits like this means players must discard, repair, or replace damaged armor. Of course this is a lot of extra tracking and spending that can be tossed aside if you're just wanting a bare bones style of combat and armor class.

Pauldrons with heavy breastplate

Gauntlet with medium scalemail or chainmail

Bracers with light/leather armor

Greave or standard boot and upper leg armor

Greave 2 or complete leg (heavy) armor

As for the pros and cons of additional armor, allow me to explain. Let's say you're a dwarf "tank" fighter, clad head to toe in heavy armor. You carry no shield because you wield a two-handed battleaxe or warhammer. You routinely take hits because you don't have a way to block. You could say that you deflect blows with the haft of your weapon, but likely you'd still take a hit to your hands doing so. So there you are, scrapping and brawling in your tunnels against goblins, orcs, duergar, etc.

Bad news first. You're super slow because your armor and large weapon weigh you down. You take a penalty of -3 or -4 to your Speed. Good news: you get a bonus to Constitution/Fortitude/AC equal to the penalty you endure for Speed. If you're just going to stand there while your enemy whacks at you with his sword, you've got to be able to take a licking and keep on ticking. After all, you are a dwarf.

You're a human fighter in medium/normal (non-plate) armor. You use a sword and shield. You protect your hands with gauntlets, but you don't have pauldrons. On the off chance that you take an Arm hit, it deals +2 damage because you were struck directly with no armor to reduce the hit. Because you're a "standard" race with "standard" overall armor, you don't take any penalty to your speed. Let's say you get a +2 bonus to unarmed attacks if your sword is dropped or knocked away. Bashing an opponent in the teeth with a metal glove is going to hurt considerably more than being punched with a bare fist. You can shield bash opponents to stagger them backwards one square. If your shield is damaged/broken and discarded, you can switch to a hand-and-a-half grip on your sword dealing +1 damage.

A final example: you're a lightly armored ranger primarily using your bow for distance attacks. You wear leather bracers to steady your aim/draw, dealing +2 damage to projectile attacks. Speaking literally and historically, that is why archers wear a stiffened leather bracer on their forearm. Because you're lightly armored, you're fast on your feet, gaining +2 to your Speed. However, because you don't wear metal armor, if you get into close combat, hits are going to do +1 damage. Technically, in the illustration above, the ranger character is wearing leather pauldrons and a leather skirt, but that is purely for aesthetics - they don't give any protection. In my mind a ranger is going to accept minimal armor coverings because it would encumber them as they stalk the woods. The light suede covering on arms and legs is just to protect against scratches and scrapes from thorns and twigs as they move through the underbrush.

At last we come to leggings and greaves. To me, leggings are there as a "just in case" against Leg/Foot hits. I think these would primarily come into play if you're a mounted fighter. If you're sitting higher on a horse, it's likely that an enemy with an axe or sword is only going to be able to reach your lower half. To work this into gameplay, you could change any Hand/Arm targeted hits into Foot/Leg hits. The opponent certainly cannot reach your head, so any Head rolls hit your body instead. Strikes to your torso remain possible and deal normal damage to your (body) armor. However, if your enemy has a ranged weapon or pole-arm, the strikes remain as rolled. If your opponent is mounted as well, there are no hits at all to lower body - everything goes against Head, Body, Arm, and Hand.

I'll have to work out whether fully armored knights are wandering about. I rather doubt it because to do so would be slow, awkward, and exhausting. Sure, a hardy dwarf can trump around in armor that would totally tucker out a mere human. You can modify this by having a character with really high Strength or Fortitude, but they would be lessened in other attributes like Dexterity and Speed.