NaGaDeMo: DICE part 2!

Still plugging away on DICE. We'll see if I can get it completed by the end of the month...

Either way, it's a fun project and I definitely intend to complete it. Developing a system more-or-less from scratch gives you some interesting insights into the workings of your own brain. It's weird to realize how much time your brain spends working on an issue without letting you know. You may spend an hour or so agonizing over a particularly difficult rules-concept and then decide to come back to it some other time. Hours later an idea pops into your head more or less fully formed with a little note from your subconscious: "hey, here's that thing you wanted."

So far here's a few of the ideas that are hitting the walls until they stick:

Dice (i.e. your characters) are composed of four main parts:

1. Your Core Dice...that is your (Level) d (Sides). So a 5th level d12 has a Core Dice set of 5d12. 
2. You've got a Paradigm which is essentially a short description of your Dice's character concept: Savage Barbarian, Pirate, Mercenary, Illusionist, Hacker, etc. The Paradigm gives a bonus to rolls that fall under it (so the Barbarian gets bonuses to survival in the wild, hunting, etc while the Hacker would get bonuses to programming, computer knowledge, breaking security and so on). 
3. You also have Skills which are player-created abilities that determine your training. The lower the die class the more Skills you have, but you can purchase them later. d4s are an exception, having only a small selection of Skills but they are "Esoteric Skills", allowing them to accomplish a wide variety of feats with ease. 
4. Then you've got Tricks which are the Feats/Edges/whatevers of DICE. They're special moves or abilities that are triggered by spending Meta-Dice. For example, one Trick for d12s is Freak Out! which grants a scene-long bonus to offensive maneuvers but penalizes defensive ones. 

Other random ideas in no particular order:

Damage: There will be two core damage systems in DICE: "Classic" will feature traditional Hit Point mechanics. Every Dice will receive a number of hit points each level based on their die-type. This can be rolled, averaged or maximum as the GM chooses. Alternatively you've got a Wound system. Dice who suffer more damage from an attack than their die-type (so more than 12 for a d12, more than 6 for a d6) will suffer a Wound. Each Wound inflicts a cumulative penalty to rolls and once your Wounds exceed your Level then you're out of play.

Maneuvers: Special maneuvers (knock-downs, trips, blinding, etc) can be attempted by sacrificing Core Dice in an attack. So say you've got a 3rd level d10 who normally rolls 3d10 to attack an opponent. If he wants to attempt a disarm maneuver he's got to sacrifice 2 of those dice, leaving him with 1d10 but if he succeeds he'll disarm his opponent on top of any damage. A similar system will allow for magical "debuffs".

Multiple Actions: There is no set limit to the number of actions you can take but it must be possible to "group" them all into a single declaration and you receive a penalty based on the number of distinct actions. For example you may not simply punch someone in the face then kick down a door...but you could pick someone up and throw them through the door.

Opponents: As seen in the DICE outline I posted a while back monsters are classified by die-types as well. Here's a brief overview:

• d4s are the small, annoying monsters that make up low-level encounters. Giant Rats, automated hover-drones, kobolds, goblins, annoying children. Etc. 
• d6s are the "commoners". Your bartender, your town watch, your average orc. They're all probably d6s. 
• d8s are the tough guys. They're either burly monsters like minotaurs or attack bots or they're well-trained enemies like elite mercenaries or highly skilled guardsmen. Undead that can be described as "shambling" probably fall into this category too.
• d10s are your massive hulks: golems, battlemechs, giants, elementals, etc. If the words "hulking" "ginormous" or "slabs" apply then it probably is a d10. 
• d12s are mythical beasts: chimera, gorgons, squid-headed humanoids, etc. Not only deadly but probably brimming with magical power as well.Ghosts, vampires, liches and other highly mystical undead fall into this category as well.
• d20s are the major opponents: dragons, demons and devas (okay...angels...I just really wanted to keep alliterating there). Magical and physical powerhouses.
• d100s are gods and avatars. Probably far off the map for most DICE games but by golly if they're statted someone is going to take it as a challenge and try and kill 'em. 
• d3s are the Dice Which Should Not Be. Not demons or devils but some hideous, unspeakable other. They'll screw with the combat system (normal rolls are 1d20 + Core Dice...d3s roll 1d20 x Core Dice) making even low-level d3s horrific challenges. 

Obviously all of this is still pretty raw but it's beginning to take shape (and I'm only 2/3rds of the way through the month). I'm hoping to run a quicky session this coming weekend and if I can pull it off I'll make sure to record it. 

NaGaDeMo: DICE

So my November RPG design idea already exists: http://nathanrussell.net/naga-demon/. So I'll definitely be taking part. Still doing some work on DICE. So far I've got a basic outline complete.

Intro

-defining terms

-what you need

-Ideas for play.

Chapter 1: Rolling Up Your Dice

-How Many Sides Do You Have?

-Dice Color (hero archetypes/personality)

-What Can Your Dice Do?

-Skills and Tricks

Chapter 2: Trappings

-Gear (rated in dice as well, based on specialization)

-Wealth

-Magical Gear

Chapter 3: How To Play

-Types of Tasks

-Brute

-Skilled

-Esoteric

-Task Examples

-Combat

-Attacking and Defending

-Damage

-Wounds and Defeat

-Situational Modifiers

Chapter 4: Critters and Challenges

-d4s: The little yappy ones

-d6s: common threats

-d8s: beasts and brutes

-d10s: mystic monsters

-d12s: the big ones

-d20s: epic threats

-d100s: godly challenges

-d3's: from beyond.

-traps and environmental hazards.

Chapter 5: Advancement

-Experience and leveling up

-Multi-Dicing

-Other rewards

DICE the RPG: defining terms.

Still mulling over thoughts for DICE. I think I've gotten the bare bones of the core rules set in my mind, although I'm sure they'll need extensive polishing. For now I'll think a bit about each Dice Class and what they can do. First and foremost I'll try and nail down some terminology:

Dice Class: The number of sides your Dice has.
Skills: A skill is a narrow, usually player-defined ability where the Dice is exceptionally talented (i.e. they can take Skilled actions and effectively defend against Skilled actions). Examples: Willpower, Toxin Resistance, Perception, Stealth.
Profession: A Profession basically a big Skill, covering a large number of different Skills at once. Examples: Pirate, Ninja, Doctor, Alchemist.
Traits: While Skills and Professions are player-defined Traits are usually pre-defined. They may be provided by equipment or situation, but usually they'll be selected from a list available to your Dice Class. There are also a few generic Traits available to everyone.

Probably going to have a couple of free Traits at level 1, with an additional Trait earned every level. Skills and Professions will be earned at level 1 based on Dice Class.

d12s receive a single pre-defined skill (Courage)
d10s can select a single Skill of their choice.
d8s can select a single Profession.
d6's can select both a profession and 2-3 skills.
d4's will be able to select 1-2 skills (they get Esoteric abilities automatically however).

I'll probably want to start thinking of some good Traits for the various Dice Classes. We'll see what I come up with.

DICE the RPG: random thoughts

So it's been a bit over 24 hours since random inspiration struck and I came up with the idea for DICE the RPG. Let's see what actual concrete ideas have congealed since then...

So, the system basics would be based around a character's Core Dice, essentially a number of dice equal to your level, of the appropriate Dice Class. So for instance a 4th level d6 is a 4d6 and that's also his Core Dice. While a 1st level d12 would use 1d12 for her Core Dice. 

Actions would involve a simple Target Number system, probably in units of 5, starting with 5 as the most basic and simple. Actions are resolved by rolling 1d20 and adding your Core Dice. So the 1st level d12 above would roll 1d20+1d12 when resolving most actions. 

There are roughly 3 types of Actions: Brute, Skilled, and Esoteric. Brute actions are those that anyone can attempt without any training (although obviously skill makes success more likely). Skilled and Esoteric actions represent actions with significantly greater complexity. Dice making Skilled actions against unskilled targets (say sneaking past a guard, or using judo to flip an enemy over your shoulder) the target is denied their Core Dice on defense. So a 4d6 attempting a Skilled action against an unskilled 4d10 (say...sneaking past him) would roll 1d20+4d6 vs the d10's straight 1d20 roll. Likewise anyone attempting a Skilled action when unskilled (say if that same d10 wanted to sneak by someone) they only get to roll 1d20 to give it a try. Esoteric actions occupy a third tier that's even more exclusive. No one can attempt them at all without the appropriate Esoteric ability. Like Skilled Vs Unskilled actions, those attempting to defend against Esoteric Actions roll a straight d20. 

Balance between different Dice will depend on the balance of skill vs unskilled vs esoteric actions. 

-d12s can only perform Brute actions.

-d10s can select a single Talent at character creation representing a narrow area where they are Skilled (such as Perceptive or Sneaky). 

-d8s can select a range of Talents (say 2-3) giving them several narrow or related areas of skill. 

-d6s can select a broadly defined Profession (say Ninja or Con Artist) which defines a large area where they are skilled, as well as a small selection of Talents. 

-d4s have automatic access to Esoteric abilities, allowing them to attempt a very broad range of actions (via magic, weird science, etc). 

Each Dice Class may also has at least one automatic Skill. (say courage for d12s, Weapon mastery for d10s, willpower for d8s...etc). 

Finally characters can be further customized through Knacks (or Edges or Feats or Advantages. Whatever you like) that provide individual special abilities or new Skilled or Esoteric abilities.

Obviously hideously rough and probably quite unbalanced so far. But certainly interesting.

Dice as characters

So, this is the result of a pretty random train of thought that started when I was thinking about how closely linked certain dice were to certain character classes in D&D and Pathfinder. This led to the desire to draw some very silly things.

D12s The Dice of Rage: D12s are big, chunky dice for big, chunky heroes. They give the barbarian their Hit Dice and damage from their trusty greataxes (barbarians who don't use greataxes are really just grumpy fighters). Like the barbarian the d12 is an outsider, rarely used and only barely tolerated in civilized dice bags. 

D10s The Warrior Dice: Lean, mean and pointy. No dice epitomizes the fighter class better. It gives them their hit points and decorates the damage section when they wield their shiny bastard swords and waraxes alongside their shields. 

D8's The Dice of the Faithful: Although everyone likes the d8 it really shines in the hands of divine classes, those who spend their time contemplating the mysteries of ∞. clerics use the d8 for their hit points while both clerics and paladins use it for the majority of their healing and damage spells, and their trusty heavy maces and longswords. The d8 is also the die of nature. Druids use it almost as often as clerics while rangers use their longbows to pepper their enemies with d8s. Both also use it to give their animal companions their Hit Dice. 

 







D6's The Dice of Secrets: No other dice is so involved in mysterious hidden worlds as the d6. In the mundane world it is a sneaky bastard: working alongside rogues to give them their hit points and take away those of their enemies with trusty short-swords and sneak attacks. In the world of the mystical the d6 is even more powerful. Wizards would hardly be seen dead without a trusty quarterstaff and their spells usually involve several handfuls of them at once!

D20's The Party Dice: Everyone loves the d20. From attack rolls to skill checks to saving throws the d20 is always there for you. However, if there's one class that the d20 loves best it's the Bard. The bard may flirt wildly with every other dice out there (except the d12, ugh) but in the end they always come crawling back to the d20. Not only do they use the d20 for their many, many skill checks but their primary use in the party is to make the d20 work well with everyone else.

The Humble D4: The d4 sees little use for anyone other than the commoner for both hit points and the damage of their puny slings and daggers. Sure, some adventurers flirt with the d4 in their lower levels but as time goes on they move away towards mightier dice, leaving the d4 to go back to working the fields. 

The Dread D3: The d3 is a dice that Was Never Meant To Be. A horrific, non-euclidean sin against proper geometry the d3 has no place in any proper game. However it somehow manages to always creep its way in to the dark corners and shadowy edges of the rules. Beware the d3 for it plots against all higher dice values waiting till the stars are right and it can finally break into our realm. If one day you find a d3 in your dice bag you will know true madness. 

The Divine d100: If any one die can truly represent the power of the Game Master it is the d100. Wandering monsters and treasure hordes all bow before it's mighty roll. With the right table the d100 can be used to create anything: monsters, cities, countries...even entire worlds. This is truly the dice of creation itself!

Very silly. However, the longer I worked on this stuff the more it began to inspire me in very odd ways. I don't know if I'm fully in my right mind at the moment but I have conceived of perhaps the most generic role-playing game ever: DICE the RPG! Your class is your die type, representing not only combat effectiveness but also your hit points. You may call it mad, but I say it is genius! I shall create this game and no one will stop me!