tl;dr: I'm looking for players to try my medieval fantasy system and setting in a one-shot or two-shot game.
Hey all,
Wondering who would be interested in playing some one- or two-shots in a custom medieval fantasy system and setting I've made? It's been tested pretty constantly over the last decade or so as it's evolved, stabilized, and matured. I'd like to run some one-shots with at least a few sets of people I've never met before for three reasons:
1. I get the itch to play something besides the current longer-term campaign I'm in, but don't want to commit to another regular thing.
2. I like teaching new players (both to RPGs and to this system) and want to see how it goes to introduce the game to strangers. I've always played this with friends and friends of friends, so I'm curious what strange new things people outside my normal circles will try.
3. It's fun.
Read or skim however much info you want:
Setting
The setting is a large, mostly ancient- to medieval-era, fantasy world populated by dozens of nations of varying sizes vying for dominance. But, just because some monarch has drawn a line on some map doesn't mean that everything inside their borders is safe -- or even explored! Wilderness abounds, filled with wild beasts, ruins of long-dead lords, and wandering bands of varying trustworthiness. Every area has its own culture, language, and people, with values that might seem quite foreign to visiting adventurers.
In practice, campaigns and one-shots typically stay in one or two major areas, depending on the flavor of the game and any plot the GM has.
Playable races include a number of unique races, humanoid and otherwise, along with various fantasy stock peoples and anthropomorphic or morphing species.
Magic can be common or rare depending on player preferences per campaign. It is of the "inherent to the world" type, rather than ritual, spiritual, religious, or (in most cases) species-specific.
I like to emphasize exploration and a sense of uncharted territory in this setting, rather than a more civilized, settled feel.
System
I've found that players typically enjoy creating and trying various character concepts, as the system allows for a lot of variations, both in initial choices of race and class, and also in leveling up. For one-shots with new players, I will give players choices from a menu of pregenerated characters, unless there is a strong consensus otherwise. This is simply because making characters for the first time can be time-consuming. (Experienced players, in my experience, make characters in somewhat less time than it takes to create a D&D 3.5 character, but perhaps a bit longer than in Savage Worlds.)
The system uses races and classes . Races determine starting stats and typically provide some special abilities or bonuses. Classes influence skill and spell selection and provide some special abilities or bonuses. Both races and classes interact to influence stat growth on levelups. In long-term campaigns, class can be changed every level for characters willing to trade away focus in exchange for versatility.
The core mechanic , used any time two stats are being compared, is for the GM to use a simple chart to compare the acting character's number with the target's number to find the required d20 roll to succeed. It is curved so that if both numbers are even, there is a 10/20 chance of success; having double the target's number gives a 15/20 chance; having half gives a 5/20 chance; etc. For example, if an attacker has 400 accuracy and a defender has 200 evade, the attacker needs a 6 or higher to hit. This allows characters of disparate power to interact meaningfully and avoids adding and subtracting a litany of very small numbers until, at high levels, the die roll barely matters, while still being intuitive enough for players to estimate their chances of success.
A variety of dice are used, ranging from d4 to d20. While the core mechanic compares two numbers and gives a d20 roll required for a success, individual skills often use their own rules, as do other situations that are not based on comparing two numbers.
Leveling is done on a point buy system with costs for improving stats based on race and current class. Leveling also grants points to spend in various magic and skill types, based primarily on current class, to purchase new abilities and upgrade old ones.
Spells and skills are treated similarly. While spells use a Mana / MP system (rather than cooldowns or per-day selections), use of skills is limited only by circumstance and applicable supplies. Both spells and skills involve purchasing specific abilities, rather than the broader d20-style skills. For example, a player may have received Security points and purchased the Wire Trap skill, granting their character the ability to create, disarm, or destroy wire traps. Or, a player may have received Offense magic points and Fire magic points and purchased the Ring of Fire spell, which their character can cast any time they have the required MP. An unusual feature of the spell system is that spells can be cast with insufficient MP, taking the difference out of the character's HP.
Combat is of course turn-based, played on a square grid. Each turn, a character can move and act (in either order) or move twice. Each round, a character can counterattack one opponent when they are attacked. An attack consists of a d20 accuracy roll, a 2d8 damage roll (that determines a damage multiplier rather than an exact amount), and a d12 critical roll. Criticals are relatively common and vary in effect from granting extra damage to ignoring enemy defence to stunning an enemy, depending on the weapon being used. Damage from a successful attack is deducted from the target's defence and dealt to their HP. Successful attacks add up and eventually increase a character's skill with their weapon and thereby their chance of a critical hit!
About Me
I'm a 23-year-old "broadcasting and digital media" grad, janitor, and amateur game designer. I work at a museum, alone, in the middle of the night, cleaning things and listening to Fear the Boot, Critical Hits, and Paul and Storm Talk About Some Stuff for Five to Ten Minutes on Average. I like playing, programming/creating, and designing video games and tabletop RPGs, but don't have any released because I haven't finished any. (Unless you count this one, which is almost finished.) I can't draw. I like to record things, like music or RPG sessions over roll20 and Skype voice chat (don't worry, I ask first). I play guitar, bass, and keyboard when I'm bored or in my church's band.
Edit: Besides this system, I've played in Savage Worlds: Clockworks, D&D 3.5, a bit of Pathfinder, a bit of D&D 4, and some BESM and BESM d20.
If I had to rate, from best to least best, the following five things: puppies, pandas, tacos, gaming, and dice, I would have to say: tacos, gaming, dice, puppies, and pandas.
