Wednesday, September 13, 2017

OSR RPG Idea: Bloodied and Battered

For a couple weeks, I've been working on a tabletop RPG inspired by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, the Black Hack, and Dungeon Crawl Classics, that is, not a retroclone so much as inspired by old style games. I would like to know if the following blend of mechanics seems like a good idea to anyone.

  • Six basic attributes plus Luck
  • Two main class dependent scores: Combat Proficiency Score (BAB/to-hit) and Magic Proficiency Score (sort of similar to caster level). Both of them are capped at 10.
  • Level-less spells (Kinda similar to VaM) where you will roll a d20 and add your Magic Proficiency Score to get a result on a d30 table
  • Standardized experience totals to level up among all classes. So, just like 3e, a wizard needs the same exp. as a fighter to level up.
  • Very low hit points (level 1: 3 hit points and level 20 is normally 15 hit points)
  • Anyone can learn spells, but learning them comes with a cost
  • Percentile based skills, where the actual %s are determined similar to the Fate skill pyramid, except for a ladder instead of a pyramid
  • Abilities each improve/harm one or two skills (+/-20%), but Luck affects all skills (but with less effects than the actual relevant ability) (+/-10%)
Sorry for all of the word vomit, but I would like some comments about any of these concepts that seem particularly good or particularly bad as I'm trying to get a functioning draft out before the end of the month. I do have more details than this on the system in my notebook/brain, but the aforementioned things are more of the important parts. If it's relevant, classes are the:
  • Warlock
  • Man-of-Arms
  • Sorceror
  • Druid
  • Cultist
  • Assassin
  • Hunter
  • Champion
  • Marksman
  • and Pugilist
The current WIP name is Bloodied and Battered and it's supposed to be a rules light dark fantasy-esque game.

2 comments:

  1. Those numbers (such as 3hp) are meaningless without context. Unless you've assumed standard OSR environs and systemic assumptions (especially regarding the power level of the characters and their opposition), in which case it's pretty bloody (although only grittier once you get to higher levels, where other OSR games become more forgiving when it comes to sheer damage).

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  2. I'm not planning on using OSR weapon damage, but am planning on using fixed damage (successful hit: 1 damage) and trying to minimize math. But if you roll 5 more than the target number, you deal an additional point, and 10 more is three total points.

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