Spes Magna Games

Earlier I fiddled with the rules in Stars Without Number. Today, I amp up the fiddling to full-blow tweaking.

The Gist of It All

There are two types of dice rolls made to determine success: either 1d20 or 2d6.

* For a 1d20 roll, 20+ means the character succeeds, 13-19 means the character succeeds but with some sort of complication or consequence, and 12 or less means the GM says what happens, but the character earns some bonus experience points.

* For a 2d6 roll, 10+ means the character succeeds, 7-9 means the character succeeds but with some sort of complication or consequence, and 6 or less means the GM says what happens, but the character earns some bonus experience points.

Combat

There are two basic combat moves, one for melee combat, the other for ranged combat. Here they are, ripped from Dungeon World and mercilessly tweaked for Stars Without Number:

Hack and Slash: Roll 1d20 + attack bonus + attribute bonus associated with weapon + combat skill level + target’s Armor Class. A modified melee attack roll of 20+ is a hit, and the character deals damage and avoid the enemy’s attack. At the player’s option, the character may deal +50% damage but is then exposed the enemy’s attack. A modified melee attack roll in the 13-19 range is also a hit, but the enemy also makes a successful attack against that character.

Volley: Roll 1d20 + attack bonus + attribute bonus associated with weapon + combat skill ranks + target’s Armor Class. A modified melee attack roll of 20+ is a hit, and the character deals damage. A modified melee attack roll in the 13-19 range is also a hit, you must choose one consequence:

* You have to move to get the shot, placing you in danger as described by the GM, or
* Your shot is ill-placed, and deals half damage, or
* You have to take several shots to hit, using twice as much ammo.

The next move is used when a character defends a person, item, or location from attack. Relevant attribute bonus and skill ranks are determined by player description and GM adjudication.

Defend: Roll 1d20 + attack bonus + relevant attribute bonus + relevant skill ranks. On 20+, choose three options. On 13-19, choose one option.

* Redirect an attack from the thing you defend to yourself, and/or
* Halve the attack’s effect or damage, and/or
* Open up the attacker to an ally, giving that ally a +1 bonus against the attack, and/or
* Deal damage to the attack equal to your level.

Skills & Skill Checks

I want to simplify the skill points system. A character gets a list of skills determined by Background Package and Training Package. A skill that occurs in only one package starts at skill level 0. If a skill occurs in both packages, it starts at skill level 1. At 1st level, every character picks one package skill as a specialty. This skill gains a +1 bonus to skill level.

At each level after first, an expert receives +3 pips, and warriors and psychics receive +2 pips. All characters receive bonus pips equal to his prime attribute bonus. The player divides these pips between skills as desired, including new skills. Except for the character’s chosen specialty, a character’s maximum level in a skill is equal to 1, plus their level divided by 3, rounded down. The maximum level for a character’s specialty is equal to 2, plus their level divided by 3, rounded down.

For example, 1st-level expert Rocket Rob Braden has a 14 Intelligence, and his backgrounds are Astrogater’s Mate and Pilot. His starting skills and skill levels, with a Vehicle/Space specialization, are Combat/Gunnery 0, Culture/Spacer 1, Exosuit 0, Navigation 1, Science 0, Tech/Astronautics 0, Tech/Postech 0, Vehicles/Air 0, and Vehicles/Space 2. At 2nd level, Rocket Rob receives +4 pips. His skills become Combat/Gunnery 1, Culture/Spacer 1, Exosuit 1, Navigation 1, Science 0, Tech/Astronautics 1, Tech/Postech 0, Vehicles/Air 1, and Vehicles/Space 2.

Stars Without Number uses 2d6 + relevant skill level + relevant attribute modifier for skill checks. The total is compared to the check’s difficulty number, ranging from 6 to 13. Since I want Dungeon World-style static difficulty numbers, let’s convert the standard method to a modifier:

Difficulty 6 = +1 modifier
Difficulty 7 = +0 modifier
Difficulty 8 = -1 modifier
Difficulty 9 = -2 modifier
Difficulty 10 = -3 modifier
Difficulty 11 = -4 modifier
Difficulty 12 = -5 modifier
Difficulty 13 = -6 modifier

Use a Skill: Roll 2d6 + relevant skill level + relevant attribute modifier + difficulty modifier. On 10+, you succeed. On 7-9, you succeed, but with a complication or consequence.

Saving Throws

Standard Stars Without Number saving throws need to be converted to work with a static target number of 20+. This is done by determining the bonus for each saving throw category as 20 – the class’s save number. For example, a 1st-level expert must normally roll 16+ on 1d20 to make a Physical Effect save. Using my tweaked version, the 1st-level expert has a +4 bonus to Physical Effect saves.

When exposed to a danger that requires a saving throw, the GM typically determines the category (Physical Effect, Evasion, et cetera), but the player gets to describe how the character attempts to avoid the effect. This description helps determine the relevant ability score modifier.

Make a Saving Throw: Roll 1d20 + save category modifier + relevant skill modifier. A modified roll of 20+ is a success. A modified roll in the 13-19 range means the character stumbles, hesitates, flinches, et cetera. The GM determines an appropriate effect that involves a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.

Character Armor

The method of combat describe above makes a character’s Armor Class irrelevant for its normal purposes. Instead, a character’s Armor Class determines how much damage the character ignores from attacks. Subtract the character’s Armor Class from 9. This is how much damage he ignores from an attack.

This damage, less the character’s Dexterity modifier, instead affects the character’s armor directly. I’ll need to come up with how many hit points different armors and shields have, as well as a simple mechanic for repairing armor and shields.

Enemy Attacks

When a character is subjected to an enemy’s attack, the most common result is for the character to suffer damage. The damage is equal to the creature’s lowest damage die plus its attack bonus plus +1 for each additional attack in its attack routine.

For example, a Sarxian howling tiger inflicts 1d6+5 points of damage (1d6 for its claw, +4 for its attack bonus, and +1 more because it has two claw attacks).

Tags: A to Z 2013, Dungeon World, Stars Without Number

Every now and then, somebody belonging to the Old School Gamers group on Facebook posts a picture with the challenge, “Stat this!” The picture accompanying this post was one of those challenges, which obviously I met and defeated. So, without further introduction, I present…

The Sharkodiak Riders of New Penguinea

Few humanoids of sub-arctic and arctic regions inspire more fear than the sharkodiak riders of New Penguinea, and their ravaging tribes have long proven to be the one great obstacles to colonizing that vast wilderness of forests, rivers, and glaciers.

Penguinean
Hit Dice: 2
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Peck (1d4) or weapon (1d8)
Saving Throw: 16
Special: None
Move: 9 (12 swimming)
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 2/30 (3/60 for an elite)

Penguineans are squat humanoids that greatly resemble penguins. They may be found both above ground or lairing in sea caves in sub-arctic and arctic regions. They form into loosely organized clans, often ranging far from home in order to steal and kill with rapacious ferocity.

Elite penguineans often ride sharkodiaks into battle. An elite penguinean has 3 Hit Dice and a Saving Throw of 14+, is Armor Class 4 [15], and enjoys a +1 bonus to attack rolls due to its ferocity.

Sharkodiak
Hit Dice: 5+5
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attacks: 2 claws (1d4+2) and bite (1d8+2)
Saving Throw: 13
Special: Hug
Move: 9 (9 swimming)
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

If a sharkodiak hits with both claws, it hugs for an additional 1d10 hit points of damage. Penguineans domesticate sharkodiaks, and elite penguineans ride them into battle.

Tags: A to Z 2013, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

One thing I’ve not touched upon so far in my rough draft Tiamat’s Throne is religion. I’ve made few hard decisions regarding the topic. For example, I’ve deliberately not added a cleric character class to the setting’s science fantasy. Tiamat’s Throne includes real-world religions since settlers from Terra spread through the stars, colonizing exoplanets and bringing diverse cultures with them. So, in Tiamat’s Throne, one can encounter Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, et cetera. One can also encounter devotees of dragon cults, death-worshipping necromancers, and other fantasy staples.

It seems more prudent to me to say that no religion — not even the one I favor — grants anyone any special powers than to say that only some religions or all religions do. Healing spells have been rolled into the magic-user’s bailiwick. The cleric’s other main feature — special power over the undead — is missing from the setting so far, and it is likely to stay that way.

I am, however, considering modifying the class feature of experts and warriors. As it stands now, the respective class feature of these two classes are as follows:

“Experts have a knack for success, and can re-roll a failed skill check once per hour.”

“Warriors have uncanny luck on the battlefield. Once per fight, they can automatically evade an attack that would otherwise have hit them.”

It might be a good idea to have optional class features that would permit experts and warriors to be more customized, perhaps based on training package. So, for example, there could be a paladin training package for warriors that would permit the character to substitute the standard warrior ability with a paladin ability.

Tags: A to Z 2013, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

People have played quoits for centuries. Halflings particularly love the game, which they play outdoors, using rings made of rope that are tossed at pegs of differing lengths stuck in the ground at increasing distances from the tossing point. Dyes stain the rope rings to help keep straight which player tossed which ring. Players set the longest peg closest to the tossing point; the shortest peg is the farthest away.

Players determine who goes first via some appropriate method, such as a coin toss or odds-and-evens. The game is played in rounds, and the players alternate who goes first each round. The number of rounds played varies, as halflings typically prefer to play quoits until an agreed-upon score is reached. One hundred points to win a game is quite common.

When a ring is tossed, the player chooses which peg he aims for and makes a ranged attack roll. The closest peg is AC 8 [11], and a successful ringing earns 5 points. The middle peg is AC 6 [13], and is worth 10 points, and the farthest peg is AC 4 [15] and earns 15 points. In addition to tossing skill, players enjoy a strategic element as well. Landing a ring atop an opponent’s ring immediately after the opponent earns points is called a “deny”. A deny cancels the points the opponent earned from his most recent turn. The player who scored the deny also earns the usual number of points for a successful ringing.

Tags: A to Z 2013, quoits, Swords & Wizardry

But the third and latest arrow
Swiftest flew, and wounded sorest,
And the mighty Megissogwon
Saw the fiery eyes of Pauguk,
Saw the eyes of Death glare at him,
Heard his voice call in the darkness;
At the feet of Hiawatha
Lifeless lay the great Pearl-Feather,
Lay the mightiest of Magicians.

Pauguk, emaciated and with translucent skin and glowing eyes of flame, serves Death itself. When important or powerful beings fall in battle, Pauguk arrives, visible only to its victim. It calls its victim’s name, and then takes the victim’s soul to whatever afterlife awaits, leaving behind the lifeless body.

Pauguk
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 0 [19]
Attacks: warclub (1d8+2)
Saving Throw: 5
Special: Call soul, invisibility
Move: 15/24 flying
Alignment: Law
Challenge Level/XP: 14/2,600

Pauguk seldom has to fight. It arrives to claim the soul of its victim, invisible to everyone but the victim, who is often already on death’s door when Pauguk arrives. Death’s lackey then calls the victim’s soul, an action which has the same effect as power word kill. Pauguk can call a creature’s soul once per day. Should a victim somehow avoid Pauguk, the creature simply flies away to wait for the next time Death sends it on an errand.

It is widely believed that there is only one Pauguk, or least only one Pauguk in existence at any given time. Legends speak of heroes who manage to defeat Pauguk, bringing death to Death’s minion. If these legends are true, Pauguk’s demise hasn’t stopped Pauguk from further activity.

Tags: A to Z 2013, monsters, Swords & Wizardry, The Song of Hiawatha