Yet Another RPG

[icekatze]

hi hi

I know there's already several RPGs out there, but I went ahead and started working on one too. The core rule book is finished, but I'm still working on the supplemental books. I'm putting this here because I've been talking to some people about it and I wanted to have my resources in a place that would be easy to find without searching or repeated referencing. I went and split Perks, Magic and Equipment off into their own documents for the sake of organization.

• Basic Rulebook (Completed)
• Perk List
• Big Tome of Magic
• Equipment Catalogue - Weapon Tables - Armor Tables
• Wildlife Guide

• Character Sheet
• Littlepip

Things on the to-do list:
• Spirits.
• Descriptions for equipment... Sooo many descriptions... >_< (had to move weapons into a new table, all the tables in the document were causing things to grind to a halt.)
• Made a new document for creatures and pets...

[subaqueousReach]

This looks pretty good so far. I'm having some issues with my games magic system as well =(. I'm having troubles balancing it into the combat system I've come up with but it's starting to look like it'll work. Gotta run it through my test group before I can be sure though. Basically I'm converting my old Fallout 3 project to FE =P.

[Kkat]

I really look forward to when you start playtesting this. ^.^

I hope, when you do, that I can participate.

(Right now, I'm with one of the playtesting groups for the other system, and we've been working on hammering out the systems for magic and zebra alchemy.)

--Kkat

[wolf5000]

I wouldn't mind join and helping test it.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I'm looking forward to it too.

I'm actually really pleased with the way magic is shaping up in this one. I mostly just need to come up with some difficulty progressions for different spell effects. I mean, I know its more difficult to turn a dragon into a mouse than, say, a rock into a hat... but how much more difficult?

[icekatze]

hi hi

Special thanks to Tosxychor for leaving some helpful comments. Figuring out how to balance Pipbucks is indeed going to be a bit of a trick. Most of their abilities I think are going to end up being like spells, only they've got pre-set strength and uses. I think I might try adding in other things for wasteland ponies to have that might help give them an edge in other ways... maybe start with a wider variety of smaller pieces of equipment or something.

(Unfortunately, as cool as letting people comment on the documents was, I had to turn it off because it was making my browser choke for some reason. Probably on account of this being an older computer. )

Also: on the topic of long distance flight. I quite a lot of looking into migrating birds, especially birds with low aspect ratio wings like pegasi have, but even with high aspect ratio birds, a lot of them only travel for about an hour each day, then spend the rest of the day eating and recovering. There's birds out there that travel very long distances non-stop, but they often lose more than half their body weight in the process... something I don't see Pegasi doing. (For example: the Ruby Throated Humming Bird doubles its weight with fat in preparation for its migration across the gulf of mexico, and the Bar-tailed Godwit loses over 55% of its body weight when it migrates.) This is ok for me, since it puts pegasi and other ponies on a more level playing field while still giving pegasi an edge through flight. And since sky wagons can be powered by spark batteries, I bet that reduces the strain on the driver and lets them pull for longer distances.

It turns out that human experience can be a little bit misleading because we're actually extremely well adapted for long distance travel. We might not be as fast in the short distances, but a galloping horse will tire out after 1 to 2 miles, while people can run for dozens of miles.

(At a racing pace, a pegasus with an average endurance can travel 190 kilometers without taking damage and up to 380 kilometers if they're willing to take physical damage from exertion. A pegasus with an endurance of 10 can travel 290/580 kilometers the same way. And thats not counting any perks they might have, or potions they might use to restore health and fatigue.)

[icekatze]

hi hi

I hope nobody minds me repeat posting status updates here... I can stop if its getting annoying. I'm just excited because I finally finished the Basic Rulebook. Also, I went and did something exceptionally crazy. I learned how to use formulas in Google Spreadsheets, even though math has always been my nemesis. The character sheet now automatically adjusts skills and derived stats based on modifiers. It even automatically calculates radiation resistance when picking up rads. (and don't forget to check page 2, which has an equipment list that auto adds up item weights) You should be able to make a copy of it to edit on your own... I think...

I think its pretty cool anyway.

(Also: totally just got alchemy and how it relates to enchanting figured out. *yay!*)

[Tosxychor]

Okay, so first impression from a hands-on perspective:
The whole thing looks good. Sure, it's a bit on the complicated side, but I don't mind much ;p
Some changes that maybe could be brought:

• Stable Shot is two perks for the price of one. Seriously, +10% base crit for 5 xp is too much, why is luck doubled for this perk and STR isn't for example in Tank (+3 for armor requirements only)? I can take that perk right on (even if yeah, you said there'd be requirements later on, but still) and have a 32% crit chance with a x2 crit weapon. And that's absurd xD A simple +5% would be good (and it would still be quite convenient as a perk)
  Also, since some perks are explicitely stated to be taken more than once, do I have to inquire all other perks can be only taken once? (mostly that would just mean players have to get creative to make new perks with similar functions, though :p )
• I still can't figure out for the life of me why STR is involved in Athletics and not AGI. I mean, being able to walk a tightrope, or do a loop-de-loop, or picking up something delicate with the mouth, are all feats of agility mostly. If STR is needed to make more relevant skill-wise, I'd say to have it x2 in Melee and Unarmed instead of x1.
  Also, the malus/bonus rule to grappling depending on STR should be probably one-sided only (say, "the stronger one gets the bonus" only) instead of having a difference of 5 STR create a 50% gap in opposed rolls, on top of the other ways STR helps :p
• This is more of a clarification I'm asking: does the pegasi 25% fatigue discount apply before or after subtracting DoS?

Gotta say, the rest looked all good so far, which is quite a feat! Can't wait for the next session ^^

[icekatze]

hi hi

After a long day of rest, I think my brain is finally starting to work again. Time to get back to work. I am willing to entertain suggestions on how to make things less complicated. As long as it can keep the flavor of the mechanic intact, I am all too happy to make my life as a GM easier.

As for the specific points:

• Stable Shot: I honestly don't know where I got 10% from. I think I might have derped on that (it happens to me from time to time, so keep an eye out.) Looking back on the perks from F3 and NV, it only has a +5% improvement, which is what it should probably be.

• I think back when I was first envisioning Athletics, I was expecting to use it for long duration tests as well as quick maneuvers. Not that its likely for anypony to actually play in a game of hoofball in the wasteland, but I guess I was thinking that it would cover longer duration exertion as well. On the other hoof, I suppose I could switch it to strength and agility and use the already existing fatigue mechanic to handle long duration activities. I'll see if other people think it should be changed too, and so, we could switch it to strength and agility. Though it is going to be used for strength related things too like lifting things past your carry weight. (did I forget to write something in the rules about that? I better check.)

• I think the way I intended for the Strength bonus to work is that it applies to the attacker. Since most combat is not an opposed test, grappling shouldn't be an exception.

The part where it becomes tricky is when someone is attempting to break out of a grapple. In this case they use their opponent's margin of success as a modifier to their own skill roll. So, I think that the strength bonus/penalty should only apply to the attacking roll. After that, its already built into the roll to escape because they'd have a proportionally higher or lower margin of success to beat.

• The pegasi special ability thing is calculated before you make your skill roll. (Its like how rainbow dash had to try really hard to make a sonic rainboom happen, and when she failed she failed big, but when she succeeded, her momentum carried her a long way without nearly the same kind of effort.)

• Also: One point I want to bring up that I noticed during the game. The skills that you have are balanced around tasks with an average level of challenge. For easier tasks there are circumstantial bonuses that will often apply. And, while I don't recall if I specifically mentioned it in the rules (if not I'll need to), I think good roleplaying should help influence the outcome too.

For instance, When rolling for skills like Negotiation or Expression, don't just immediately assume that you lost the encounter because you didn't succeed your skill roll. It will certainly have an effect on the outcome of the conversation, but it shouldn't be a brick wall. If someone has a really great argument, or if they've got the person at gunpoint, or whatever, they'll have a bonus to their roll. Similarly, other characters have motivations of their own, and will sometimes want something out of you. So they might be willing to cut a deal even if you fail your roll, its just that they might demand to get the better end of the bargain.

(For example: Even if you fail your Negotiations roll, a merchant will still likely buy that item off of you. You just probably won't get a good deal on it.)

[icekatze]

hi hi

After a lot of careful consideration, it looks like I really did goof up on balancing magic. I'm still happy with the general framework of how magic works, where you increase the challenge of a spell by increasing its level of effect. There were a lot of things I didn't consider when I was balancing it though.

I didn't even think that someone might play a character without a special talent. Since having a special talent gives the character a 20% bonus to their skill, and another 20% bonus to their magic, I was banking on people starting out with at least a 60% chance to succeed from the start.

Now that I've seen it in action though, its clear to me that things need to be reworked a little bit. I think there needs to be some kind of threshold where magic becomes something simple to do. Little filly Twilight had to put effort into turning a page, but Rarity was able to lift a bunch of shopping bags without any trouble at all. So I'm thinking maybe as long as you are in a range (determined by how skilled you are) you only roll to reduce the casting cost rather than checking for success or failure, and it is only when you exceed your limits that you have to roll to check for success.

I think that would be more in line with what we've seen in the show and read in the stories. Now I just need to figure out a way to make that happen that doesn't involve complex math on a regular basis...

---
Also, Martial Arts. There's not much to go on anywhere for martial arts. In Fallout 2, there's some really complicated tables involving special attacks that aren't really that special, and in Fallout New Vegas there are a few Unarmed Perks that might qualify. But that hardly counts as a system for martial arts.

I thought about maybe having packages of Perks, so when you get them all, you get a bonus... but that was a lame idea. It'd just make every martial arts character a carbon copy.

I also thought that perhaps it might work to make it like magic. You get a single Perk for the martial arts style, and then when you roll unarmed, the roll would double as a magic roll to see if you get a special effect along with your attack. No idea how to balance that though.