Would like feedback on PnP core rules development

[DaemonEarth]

Hey there folks. So seems like very similar minds are at work here, which encourages me quite a lot. So, as I can see from other posts, folks have developed a rather nice array of Fallout themed PnP systems. I've been working on a general set of Fallout D10 based rules for the better part of two years now, and had been treating it as a PnP game using the mechanics from Fallout 1 & 2 with updated content found in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. So far this is the second build of the system and it is still very much under revision, but I come here seeking aid in ideas for revisions, or possibly just a set of eyes to aid me in this giant undertaking. After the first year of working on the project, I learned of the rather substantial Fallout Equestria content out there, and automatically thought "Well, this thing is immensely adaptable" So the largest aspect of input I'm seeking is how to handle incorporating Ponies into my system, as it's very much vanilla in terms of content, it so far only supports Humans, Synths, Ghouls, and Super Mutants as player characters, with the GM guide in progress for content that supersedes vague rules in the player's guide.
Basically, for the sake of "TL;DR", my system's fairly solid, based purely on the Fallout systems, not on D&D, Pathfinders, Exalted, or other current PnP systems (though my familiarity has helped me form this one), and I really want to include Earth ponies, magic wielding Unicorns, and flying Pegasi (including Alicorns to me would be silly, especially without a level adjustment of like...15 or 20 out of 50 levels).
Any case, thanks for your time, and I look forward to advice or feedback you have to offer.
The documents for my system are currently shared on Google Docs under PDF format, and as I mentioned, currently no ponies, but I'd rather enjoy commentary on what's best to reference or work with as far as PnP ponies are concerned...
Main system doc found here: http://t.co/tQ4qfTRgwc
Items doc found here: http://t.co/FPJfQWIKAu
Incomplete GM guide (under revision rather daily) here: http://t.co/2ez5kH9oWR

My thoughts on how I would handle the ponies as creatures in Fallout:
Earth Pony player race: Racial perk allowing +50 carry weight, Endurance can never be lowered below 5. Earth ponies have a +10 to Unarmed Skill.
Pegasus: Racial perk allows Pegasus ponies to not just swim, walk, run (upright, crouching, and prone) but also Hover, similar to Eyebots and Cazadors. Hovering allows Pegasi to avoid floor based traps and ascend uneven terrain without having to climb, including steep faces of cliffs, buildings and so on. Hovering cost of moving in combat is +2 Action Points to whatever speed of movement is used (Walking becomes 4 AP per tile, running is 6 AP instead of 4 AP). The idea is that Pegasi whom are no longer young fillies have become adept enough to hover and fly as second nature to walking. This ability to hover extends to being able to interact with and use clouds as cover, improvised weapons, and the ability to move clouds. Pegasi may also take a perk upon reaching a yet to be fixed level to allow for high-speed flying, enabling the act of creating high winds such as a mini tornado, able to knockdown foes caught in the path/AOE.
Unicorn ponies are something I've been debating, as I've been flopping between how much magic I can imagine within the Fallout affected universe. I imagine most players using this would use only ponies, so the "power" of the arcane may actually be relatively prevalent instead of minimally invasive in the world. My view is that Unicorns gain a racial perk (which could extend to Changelings and Alicorns as well), allowing the tapping of Arcane powers, which would allow for magic casting.
Magic would work with different ranks invested in the Perk, as the Perk would have multiple ranks, perhaps 5 ranks. The first rank would imply a unicorn pony being able to levitate small objects, implying the manipulation and kinetic control over all consumable, storable, or worn & weapon items in the game. This would mean the ability to lift a power armor suit and a shotgun are plausible, but lifting a pony or person is not. The use of magic would have an Action Point value associated with the spell list, as a list of spells would be required.
I would say Levitation would have a Lesser (small objects, cost 12 AP per round), Minor (levitation up to Medium creatures, including ponies, costs 18 AP per round), and Greater (levitation up to Monstrous creatures, costs 25 AP per round). Obviously the spell is a per-object cost, and by casting spells, a unicorn's horn generates a cloud of luminous magic. This would translate to the tile the pony casting is on to become luminated as "shadow" if pitch black, or lit if shadowed. Obviously this would also affect sneaking as well.
I would venture to say the ability to do magic on the level of megaspells would be limited to multiple unicorns casting the spell, and spells would probably take more than one round to fully cast. While I'd rather leave these types of more involved spells, such as fire balls, ice, or what else can be done, to the GMs and players, I'd say any and all spells have a round duration, an Action Point cost to cast, and be limited in terms of how "magical" things are base upon the level of magic a game wishes to have. High magic worlds may have magic including resurrection spells, necromancy, time travel and so on, whereas low magic worlds may not ever see more than the levitation spell, as the influence of magic is not just rare, but those using it may have to use it for a considerable amount of time to unlock higher powers. This would contrast to high magic worlds where magic would be prevalent in all things, such as magical ammunition, items, enchanted locations and objects, and the ability for magical power to escalate quickly with ease, as it is a large part of life instead of a unique, rare occurrence.
While I do not see the need to modify weapons for ponies explicitly, adding in items to foster the practical use of items I imagine is within reason, so having some sort of array of saddles for mounting heavy weapons or something I feel might make sense.
The largest difference will be how the ponies can carry gear. To me, I view things similarly to the show in that some instances, the ponies are capable of "picking things up" with their hooves, but not to the dexterous degree of fingered hands. While this sort of debate I think exists among fans, I imagine the need to address it is limited in that ponies would be knowledgeable enough to know how to interact with objects of the world despite having hooves instead of hands.

As for creatures that exist solely in the FO:E world, I'd say having to address those in a creature guide may be moot as simply using existing creatures and applying their likeminded FO:E counterparts would be sufficient (such as replacing Human Raiders with their pony counterparts, or Cazadors with Balefire Phoenixes).
I'm not sure how some added items such as the RadThrower would be modified, possibly simply a name change to BaleThrower (...totally not throwing Batmans) would suffice.
Either way, I'm excited about the prospect of building this add on with the community, and hope that my system may be a useful tool to some folks. I imagine things like Units or other minor changes to the mechanics may throw some folks off, but I wrote this with the intent that it was open source, using community available information compiled together. Basically, like weight, Units simply allow another means of describing an item within game context. The only large change as far as playing goes is the concept of Units, and the references to using squares on a battlemat/playing surface instead of Hexes like in the original Fallout 1 & 2 games.
Weaponry has effective ranges, as well as weapons having Spread, which modifies the combat check to hit, negative spread reduces the defensive side of a roll, whereas a positive spread adds to the defense of a foe, as well as spread being modified by weapon add ons, ammunition, and being prone or other environmental factors. The "to hit" combat check operates as a Base to Hit – Base Defense mechanic, and a hit is successful if the result of the equation is above zero.
Durability and weapon degradation have also changed mechanics as well: Weapons have Durability and Item HP, Durability is the limit of how many critical failures a weapon can take before breaking, and Item HP reflects the overall condition of an item, when either reach zero, an item breaks. Armor only has Item HP. This is purely to simplify the plethora of information that can be tracked while playing, should a group decide to stick to all the game's combat and item management mechanics.
I do feel the need, after viewing some documents here, to add a table of contents, as simply text searching on Google Docs or a PDF viewer will only aid those viewing the documents on their computers, and not in person, so I will be adding in a Table of Contents, and possible a glossary if there's sufficient demand for such.
All item information has been derived for the Fallout Wikia, and treated as open source information. Some items have been added, and some items have been grandfathered in from previous Fallout games (these being the Dart Gun, Chinese Assault Rifle, and a few others), while others have been added (the rebar firing crossbow, the radiation spewing Rad Thrower) as well as the prospect for more items to be added in. Item management items have been added, including MOLLE tactical vests, pouches, backpacks, duffle bags, and even a gear sled. Also included are concepts for vehicles, as motorcycles, tanks, or airplanes are all possible vehicles to encounter, plausibly in some functioning capacity. Pipboys are an equipped item, and raise stats to reflect their capabilities. Also, there are many more Traits (Perks chosen upon creating a character), as well as general Perks, acquired Perks (gained through reaching skills, learning or completing a task, Karma or Reputation, etc), and Implants. Some Perks unlock special combat related attacks, such as using a firearm as a melee weapon, counter attacking, improvised fighting, and improved traps. One new mechanic I'm sure people will enjoy is trap kits, which allow people to actually lay out traps, much like ones found in the game already, using trip wires or pressure plates, players can set up all sorts of devious traps ahead of time that will slow down foes should their party be in such a circumstance.
Anyways, I'll be happy to answer questions about the system, and would love feedback or opinions on it, as improving it is my ultimate goal. Currently, I'm working on completing the Bestiary, but after that mountain of information is compiled, I believe that is when I will tackle the add on of Ponies... which I believe will be an excellent use of this system.

[skinamulink]

Nice! I've only tried PnP a little, (was to complicated for me) but I think I might take another go at it!