Open RP System (My own rpg rules)

For a while now I've been buidling my own set of RPG mechanics. I've been working and tweaking the system since about november refining it as I played out various aspects. I feel that now I have developed enough of the rules to possibly start play testing them.

These rules are based on several aspects of other systems I liked and wanted to implement into one system. It uses multiple dice, d20 to determine most of the character actions. It is a abstract progression instead of using levels, and character generation is a mix between random rolling and player choice to customize to their liking. I pulled imspirations from a multitude of systems...d20, palladium, GURPS, Dominion Rules, Cursed Empire, and Unisystem.

I made combat lethal and realistic, but as of yet I'd need to play test it to make sure its not too bulky. However, the players will need to both utilize positioning and body hit location in combat. A shot to the head will most likely kill the person. And combat is more interactive with the characters rolling to parry and dodge.

Magic and Psychic powers are integrated easily for campaigns where those exist, as well as cybernetics.

I am also aiming to give alot of control the GMs, by trying to make the system settle into the background, and using body location damage to show actual injury affects.

As I progress with these rules I will probably want to assemble a team of play testers to try various genres, and to get critiques and ideas to add to the system. Eventually I would like to publish these rules as a core set for free, and then start building genre books and campaign settings.

Already I have the basics for character creation, character progression, and combat finished. Next I will be assembling equipment, psychic powers, magic and cybernetics. In the far future I would will build races, and character concepts for different genres.

Game Review: Palladium

If anyone has gamed with me or talked with me on message boards they know that I am a fan of the d20 system. Its simple, quick, and flexible not to mention that d20 is in it's infancy compared to other systems and still has plenty of room for improvement.

That being said there are many other gaming systems out there that I enjoy as much as d20, well there are two systems really, and I'm starting to build my own which is a slow process. These two systems are the Generic Universal Roleplaying System (GURPS) and the Palladiun System. This article is my review of why I enjoy the Palladium games.

The biggest boon for Palladium is that their material is superb when if comes to content, background, premise, feeling and setting. In my opinion Palladium games are probably the best written in all these aspects. Palladium is a system that uses various dice, with the d20 utilized for attack rolls and saving throws and d% used to accomplish skill rolls.

Character Creation is vary in depth, utilizing 8 attributes, and a thorough combat system, where there characters can take boxing, wrestling, and other such skills to add techniques and improve themselves physically.

Magic and psionics are integrated from the ground up and utilize a point system that is tied into the world directly and lets you as a psychic or mage to tap into source to draw power and boost your skill.

The most well known game made by palladium books is RIFTS. RIFTS is literally the culmination of fantasy, sci-fi, cthulu horror, and post apocalyptic action. There are hundreds of classes (all are very unique too), and thousand of races. It is designed for a little high powerer feel with the whole addition of Mega Damage. In short mega damage allows a single 1st level character to walk into a town of poorly equipped folk and quite literally wipe it out. Mega-damage is fairly standard as the high-tech and high-magic setting revolves around MD and all characters start with MD items of some sort.

Another game is much fun is Nightbane...in this game demons have invaded the earth and their powers (or some other power) chooses people at random to become extremely powerful creatures (which is thought of as a reflection of your soul). As these creatures you fight the Nightlords who are slowly invading the infrastructure of the world and subverting humanity to their whim. Its dark, moody, and can be creepy as you never know who is a friend or who is an enemy.

As for me I have played Rifts before I played D&D and enjoyed it much more than AD&D 2e, but thats and opinion. If you are ever looking for something different than d20 I highly recommend checking out both of these games. Rifts to this day still holds the record of premier sales, selling over 10,000 copies in the premier month, and over 250,000 copies without going to a bigger company for promotion...mainly living by word of mouth and a few small adds in RPG -zines.

This system and RIFTs and Nightbane are both highly recommended and I garauntee you will be hooked the moment you step into a suit of power armor to fight a dragon, or peel of your facade (host body) to fight demons in your own twisted form of power. This is my plug for palladium because it is a great game, and rather affordable compared to many d20 books.

How Too...OpenRPG

This thread I'm starting is going to go over a few techniques and functions I use in my OpenRPG games. I will include how I organize my application window to how I maintain my character and monster logs in-game.

To kick it off I have discovered how to save pre-drawn maps so the GM can create entire dungeons ahead of time.

Its simple really...when you draw the map goto map then save map...note that this will also save the color of the map...the height and width as well as the any mistakes you make while drawing.

E-DND II

Last time on e-DnD we concluded that AD&D: Pool of Radiance did not, for what ever reason, really capture the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons.

Undeterred your author presses on. Next up to bat is Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonlance: Heroes of the Lance.



This is another SSI licence for the ZX-Spectrum released way back in 1988, the same year our old friend Pool of Radiance won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game. One can conclude then that the wise judges of Origins thought our current subject inferior to PoR then…

Oh goody…

Immediately the game begins we are introduced to the eponymous Heroes of the Lance. Now I don’t know Dragonlance from toffee but even I’ve heard of Raistlin Majere – if memory serves he was quite an unpleasant chap. Nevertheless, he, and seven of his yobo friends are here and ready to go!

















HotL does not allow one to create original characters, this is the party and we are stuck with it. Having been introduced I watch as this gallant mob kick in the door of the local dungeon.

Let’s do this thing!





Right-o, this is the lady Goldmoon – I think. At least, I think it is not any of the others, put It that way. Aparantly one can only have one Hero of the Lance active at any one time – where the other seven are is anybody’s guess. I set of to explore the dungeon – note the big pit to the right of the screen? Well, I saw it, and innocently decided to wander over. This was to be my first, but certainly not my last lesson in the lethal controls of this game.

Y’see, when moving left or right, the character walks three steps, and then, quite without warning, breaks into a run.



And so dies the Lady Goldmoon – she threw herself into a pit exactly 15 feet from the entrance to the Dungeon. That’s not exactly a heroic death…

This guy is Sturm. His Wisdom and Dexterity are both pretty fair, so with luck he will be able to avoid the fate of Goldmoon.



With nothing besides the pit to explore in this room, Sturm headed south. Moving through a door involves standing in front of it and holding the Down button for about three seconds – I won’t tell you how long it took me to discover this.

The next room is mercifully pit-free.



Suddenly I am confronted by a man in very short shorts!



Ha! You shall taste my blade!

The combat lasts maybe twenty seconds, and consumes a quarter of Sturm’s hp – battle in HotL consists of hammering the ‘B’ button until you, or your foe falls over – I still don’t know what the ‘A’ button does… Still, good show Sturm! You defeated the anonymous weirdo hanging out in the Dungeon.

I elect to switch characters at this point – I will choose someone with full hp.



I go for Flint the Dwarf.



Ah, another man who likes to show off his legs… Only from Dwarf-height it is even worse, shielding his eyes Flint instructs Raistlin to give this idiot a dose of eldritch pain.

Ah, Magic Missile – where would we ever be without the spell of spells?

Cook ‘im Raist…



The spell hits, but if it did any damage, there was no way of knowing. Time for some old fashioned axe-work.
Flint swiftly hews the guy’s legs off and all is right with the world.

Continuing along Flint encounters another identical foe – this time, despite my most frantic of button hammering Both Flint and Caramon are dropped to negative hit points, and Raistlin is dead. This is serious because of course Goldmoon the Cleric is lying broken at the bottom of a pit in the first room.



I run like a girl. This does not represent a significant breakthrough, since In the next room I encounter whatever this is. You will note that I abandoned Flint and Caramon and thus they are now dead. This is getting less heroic by the minute.



The monster attacks with some sort of ranged spell which cannot really be seen in this picture. I try to close to mellee range.


Charge!!!

I back the evil creature toward an oddly familiar pit – now it will have to taste my blade!

It’s a hard fight, two more of my brave adventurers drop to negative hp – why oh why did the party Cleric take her own life???



Those things on the ground are my fallen freinds.

All I can do is soldier on.



Argh! It’s another, thing! Ooh! And some sort of, erm, thing, behind the thing, maybe it is treasure…

Charge!!!
By the luck of the brave I manage to defeat the monster without loosing another Hero. My reward is this gem.



So far six brave adventurers have died, and this is what they have died for. It’d better be the bloody koh-I-nor.

Moments later our brave remaining twosome is set upon by a Dwarf.



And here ends the tale of the Heroes of the Lance my children. Let it be forever more said that they were, well, a bit naff…







That’s it: 470 points and one gem. Is that truly worth the lives of eight people?

Fun Rating 0/10

HotL is probably the least amount of fun I have ever had playing a computer game. Remember those games they had in school? The ones designed to teach you maths or some such? Those games are more fun. I was not at all disappointed to see that final screen, because it meant I could stop playing this abomination forever. The buttons pressed seem to have only a mild correlation to the action performed by the character onscreen and even then it’s not like the actions performed can have any reall impact on the game.

D&D rating: 1/10

This game has AD&D written on the title screen – after that it has as much connection to D&D as it does to shredded wheat or the number nine.

E-DND

So, Neverwinter Nights II is nearly upon us…

Are you as excited as I am?

In fact I’m not very excited at all – there is no way on Obad Hai’s green earth my box will run the game, so there’s not much point in breathless anticipation – I suppose I will wait five years (by which time I may have a better computer) and pick it up on one of the bargain labels.

In any event, I recall the cross words which were traded regarding NWN. Some (your humble obedient included) liked NWN a great deal – for it was fun in bags, and a pretty fair approximation of our beloved game, in mechanics at least, if not in spirit.

Actually, the spirit was not far off – considering the manifold limitations of a single-player computer game, I think NWN made a pretty fair go of imitation D&D.

Others were less charitable – they bemoaned each of NWN’s departures from the game – they wanted to wield weapons without proficiency and they desired mounts and a full range of spells. They asked why only Bards were allowed ranks in perform, and why all the different Knowledge categories had been compressed into ‘Lore’.

You get the idea.

Well, It occurred to me to ask whether NWN is truly the lame duck that its detractors claim. Surely there must have been poorer D&D licences? Think back…

No, not Baldurs Gate, not Even Icewind Dale.

Come with me on a trip back through history.

Back, way back to when computer games came on chunky plastic rectangles and we thought hard about paying £14:99 for the latest release. We’ll see if any of the older games were really true to D&D…



We begin with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance VOL. I on the NES.

AD&D:POR absolutely won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988 by golly. So we know it will be good.

The game begins with some jaunty 8-Bit music in a style which I believe is evocative of trying to stab a scurrying beetle with a stylophone stylus. Swiftly the copyright information fades ad we zoom in on a wall, but not just any wall, this one bares a poster.

It seems the good burghers of Keesh – erm, sorry, Phlan, (I knew it was some sort of miss-spelled egg-based foodstuff) are in need of heroes. This sounds like a job for Azezel!



I’ll admit I don’t know the Forgotten Realms all that well, but I cannot bring to mind the details of Phlan…

Never-mind, It’s time to get my Hero on.

The Game comes with three pre-made heroes for those impatient for the kill, a Fighter, a Cleric and a MU – which is apparently short for ‘Magic-User’. All are Human Males – they’re probably white too. It’s racist man… Or something.



Well, No computer game is going to hand me a pre-generated character. I selected 'Make' and was presented with this!



And This!



I wanted to play a Halfling MU, but as you can see, That was not allowed – instead I opted for a Half-Elf Fighter/Wizard. I think I’m going to regret that in time…

Immediately upon selecting this Race/Class combo I am prompted to select an Alignement. Lawful Good it is – for all ‘round style and effectiveness you cannot beat LG.



The very moment I choose my alignment the game rolls some abilities and assigns them where it feels they will be best. At this point it asks me if this is okay. Well, Actually those are some good numbers – so I suppose I will go with them, although I’m beginning to feel like this guy is just another pre-gen. I mean, I didn’t really choose my race or class, and I’ve just had a set of stats forced on me, without even a say in where they go. I didn’t even get to chose a picture, and he’s an ugly son of a bitch, ain’t he?

Never-mind. We shall soldier on.

I choose my character’s name (for a moment I feared this would be denied me) and the game asks whether it should put Usul (for it is he) into the game world.

By all means…



Here he is then.

Uh-oh… THAC0???

Poor Azezel has never played 2e! What’s a THAC0? Actually, I have picked up a little of the concept – as I understand it, that is the number I must roll to hit an AC of 0. So all I have to do is roll a never ending number of Nat 20’s. No Problem. And look at that AC and HP! Blimey – I don’t know what sort of HD a FI/MU gets, but I’ve got a CON and a DEX of 16 – surely that must count for something.

8hp?

I’m going to die. I hope that there is some gnarled and arcane rule in 2e that makes this hp make sense.

Never-mind, press on. Usul, your time has come.

I select Usul as my first character and click ‘Begin Adventure’.

Begin Adventure! Now there is a phrase I can work with.



Immediately Usul rolls up at Keesh, Phlan, and a local johnny is there to greet him.

Apparently.

I take it back, Usul is bloody good looking compared to ‘Rolf’…
Note how the cunning 'four shades of mud' screen-theme continues from the menus into the actual game.



Rolf leads me into the, erm, ‘city’ and gives me a lighting speed tour of the place. For those of you who have never visited Keesh let me describe it, Every single wall in the city is made of blue bricks, every door is made of yellow, erm, something and every road is mage of brown something else. It is entirely unnavigable. I’m certain there are people who have lived there all their lives and still cannot find their homes save by blind chance. It would take a GPS receiver and the entire staff of the Ordinance Survey to locate the pub on three tries or less.













Inevitably I found myself looking for City Hall – Rolf had hinted that I might find paid employment there. As you can see, it took me a while to find the place. Inside City Hall every corridor is as anonymous as every street without. This could take some time.



In time I locate a Clark.



If the other citizens of the city are anything to go by, I imagine this Clerk is considered a ‘looker’. Naturally I was not owed a reward, since I had never been there before in my life. The little hottie told me that I had done nothing special – frankly I think I deserved xp just for finding the place – and then issued me a mission



No Problemmo… She also instructed me to track down some overdue Library books before Keesh Municipal Library fined her. I spend an entertaining two minutes blundering around City Hall getting growled at by invisible guards in front of identical locked doors before stumbling, by lucky accident, into the street.

I wander off, looking for the Slums, which is where I am to find this Keep place, or so it seems. I make a brief, but not unpleasant, return visit to the Temple of Tyr (I seem to find myself in the Temple of Tyr about once out of every three doors I try – by now I am on first name terms with the Cleric on greeting duty).



After wandering in to the Inn again (and asking about the grandchilderen of the old lady behind the counter – for I am now an old friend of hers, I’ve been in there so often) I accidentally find an arms shop.

I purchase a set of Banded Mail and a Trident – since I think Usul will be more of a Fi than a MU. The equipment screen gives me some more insight into the 2e rules, for donning the armour makes my AC drop to 2! Evidently a low AC is good, for some reason.



Still no help on that THAC0…
In any event, I am still desperately looking for the Slums – and it’s not often one can say that. Whilst fiddling with the menu I discover a map of the area.



As you can see, it is spectacularly unuseful, since it lacks a key or legend. Through my explorations I find a Tavern. If you look at the clock you will see that I discovered the map at six o’clock, but even with this cartographical aid, I wandered for another six hours without finding the Slums. By this time the Temple of Tyr have taken me on as a lay preacher, since I am there more than most Clerics. I decide to see if there is any gossip to be heard in the bar.



I innocently select the ‘Listen to Gossip’ option, and what do a I get for my troubles?
Well apparently there is a Silver Dragon in the North, and some sewers under the city, and, Argh!!!!



Ha! He shall taste my Trident!



Ha ha ha… He missed! My mighty Banded Mail is too tough for that puny… Er, wait, does that say Level four Fighter? As in, four times my own level?

No, Serriously?

No, it’s not actually a level four Fighter, It’s six Level Four fighters! (I am the little blue chap)

The rest of the LEVEL FOUR FIGHTERS attack, and two hit.





And that’s it…

Not convinced that this could be an accurate representation of the game, I rolled up (well, I picked and the computer rolled) a Dwarf Fighter. The whole thing was eerily similar up until the Tavern. My Dwarf - Turron got a sixth-sense warning not to listen to Gossip and instead headed back to the streets, where he visited the Temple of Tyr a few more times (they were holding a vigil for some chap names Usul) and then discovered, quite by chance the entry to the Slums.

Presently.



At this point I surrendered to Pool of Radiance. I don’t know what happens if one can eradicate the monsters in the Slums, in fact, I doubt SSI ever bothered to create any game beyond the Keesh slums – I mean, what would be the point? No-one will ever see it.

Fun Rating 1/10

AD&D:POR is annoying to see and hear, every single wall in a given environment is the same as every other, just as each door is a clone of its fellows, navigation is impossible, map or no, and the impossibility of the fights means there is no point in trying to go anywhere.

D&D Rating 10/10

Assuming D&D stands for Dire & Dstupid… Otherwise: 2/10

Tune in Next time for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonlance – Hereos of the Lance