[KotR] Driving Mechanics

This post is about how driving works in Knights of the Road, my WhiteBox compatible post-apocalyptic setting.

Driving systems, in my opinion, are always too complex in most RPGs, with players having to juggle several numbers just to make a U-turn. Because of this, I've decided to reduce any driving check to one roll. But, a d20 has a tad too much randomness for my liking, as good drivers should be able to consistently drive well. In order to fix this, I've decided to make driving checks use 2d6.

The most relevant attribute would be Dex, but I would rather use Wisdom as a modifier (using the to-hit modifiers for Strength). This means that when you are driving in dangerous circumstances, you roll 2d6 and add a number based on your Wisdom score. I do like even numbers, so target numbers can be 6, 8, 10, or 12.

Combat in cars should also be simple, but vehicles do provide additional protection when compared to regular armor. How I'm handling this is somewhat inspired by WotC's Star Wars Saga Edition's force fields. Each car has an armor rating. Any damage that exceeds this number goes towards the crew and reduces the armor rating by 1. Attacking cars is the same as regular ranged attacks.

Example: Alice opens communication with Bob via a sheet of lead bullets. She rolls a 14, adding 1 for a high Dexterity score, beating Bob's AC of 12. For damage, she rolls 6 on 2d8, which surpasses Bob's car's armor rating of 4. Bob takes 6 damage and his car's armor rating is reduced to 3 until repaired.

Knights of the Road Inspiration

Knights of the Road, my Swords and Wizardry WhiteBox setting/expansion, is primarily based on the following sources in media:
Movies:

• Blade Runner
• Dr. Strangelove
• Five Deadly Venoms
• Mad Max
• Master of the Flying Guillotine
• The Matrix
• Wizards
• Zardoz

Books:

• Tank Girl
• Railsea
• The Postman
• Dying Earth series
• The Dark Tower series

TV Shows:

• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
• Thundarr the Barbarian
• ThunderCats
• Xena: Warrior Princess

These sources of inspiration are almost exclusively from the 80's (Mad Max, Tank Girl, He-Man, etc.), except for a few outliers like the Dying Earth series and Dr. Strangelove. In order to create this list, I started off with a few key points (Tank Girl, Mad Max, He-Man) and started finding other sources that I had read or seen earlier and that I felt would be a good inspiration for the genre of game that I'm working on, like related cartoons to He-Man (Thundarr the Barbarian, ThunderCats, etc.), movies that had a more martial arts/cinematic vibe (Five Deadly Venoms, Master of the Flying Guillotine), and sources that had a similar setting (Railsea, Dying Earth, Wizards, etc.).

Now I have a list of shows, books, and movies that I feel, as a whole, more completely encapsulates the genre of game that I'm trying to reach (cinematic, post-apocalyptic fantasy with a focus on vehicular combat) and can evaluate my rules and game based on how true to the base material the game is.

Knights of the Road

Knights of the Road is my name for a minor wargame/S&W WB supplement I'm working on, that is trying to emulate Mad Max and Tank Girl in a fantasy-esque setting. Think WH40k meets Car Wars via OD&D. Hopefully I'll be able to post more about it soonish. It may end up going in that 'zine I was talking about earlier.

More Musings on an OSR Zine

I'm still working on getting an OSR zine together and have contacted a few artists about doing some art for it. If all goes well, maybe it'll all be together sometime next year. Format wise, it will be a 32 page, 8.5"x11", saddlestitch booklet published through Lulu and a PDF version through DTRPG. It'll probably have a polished version of the Troika! inspired RPG I posted about yesterday, a polished version of the LotFP monk class I posted a while back, and some other gaming miscellany.

And all of this is after I write the last bit for the OtSoG stretch goals and at least the majority of the DCC compatible version.

On Designing an OSR RPG

After reading Troika!, designing my own OSRRPG went to the forefront of my mind. So of course, after two days of work in my free-time, I now have a (quasi-almost) playable draft.  It basically uses proficiencies from Skills and Powers, random magical power based on IQ like AD&D psionics, and is around as rules-light as TBH/Troika!. Currently I just have to write all... 99 spells before it's playable and I can start playtesting. (Maybe having a d100 table for which spell you learn wasn't a good idea...)

Link to the WIP Draft

If I can finish writing the spells, play test the system, and throw a framework of a setting around the rules, I might commission some artwork and publish it, but that's a far ways away right now.

EDIT: After a long time brainstorming spells in my free time, I managed to get a complete list and will hopefully finish the rules skeleton this weekend.

On the Shoulders of Giants and Future Projects

The On the Shoulders of Giants KS is now in its last couple hours, and I'm working on that. I will be sending out surveys and finishing up additional text quickly and have a couple of other projects 'on the burner'. I have Bloodied and Battered, the Barbarians of Lemuria supplement I'm working on, a couple Swords and Wizardry WhiteBox hacks/additions, and some other stuff. Swords and Wizardry hack wise, I'm currently thinking about a Shadowrun hack (w/ serial numbers filed off).

On Classes in OSR RPGs

Every OSR RPG takes a slightly different approach to how they handle classes, from using the traditional four, to adding more classes, to stripping away classes. Personally, I like a nice happy medium of using a different four classes. For example, in my current Kickstarter, it includes four new classes for LotFP: the Conspirator, Corpse Worker, Prize Fighter, and Witchdoctor. This is because it was originally meant to be an entire rules hack of LotFP, replacing all of the core classes. In the end, I decided to just make it a supplement however. But making setting specific classes allows for the players to have characters that fit well in the world without being flooded with choices, in my opinion.

Inspired by: http://osrsimulacrum.blogspot.com/2017/11/classes-dismissed.html

[LotFP] Monk Class

I just read Qelong and wanted to try to make a monk class of my own so, here it is...

Inspiration: Kill Bill, Wuxia films, and spaghetti westerns
HD: d8
Experience: As Elf
Saving Throws: As Elf
     Unarmed Attack Bonus: A monk has a bonus on all unarmed attacks. This is one half, rounded up, of the bonus a fighter of the same level has. Monks deal 1d6 damage with their bare fists.
     Uncanny Presence: Due to a monk coming from far away and being raised in a different culture, something about them always seems off... Enemies facing a monk take a -2 penalty on their morale rolls.
     Brutal Assault: Whenever a monk delivers the final blow to an opponent, their player can narrate exactly how it happened.
     Defensive Stance: Whenever a monk does not attack in a round, they add their unarmed attack bonus to their Armor Class.

"He somersaults over the guard effortlessly before shrieking like a raptor and pulling out the guard's heart from his chest with his bare hand! As the guard slowly crumples over, the monk takes a bite from the still beating heart before dropping it on the ground."

In my opinion, this is a way to get the senseless overkill shown in many martial arts flicks without having to make the character actually overpowered, as well as giving the player a creative outlet. The monk is a lone stranger from far away, exiled from their home land. No one has seen someone else capable of such sheer violence and the monk will not teach anyone.