Post by mcr on Mar 8, 2020 19:14:15 GMT -5
Apologies in advance for the long post(s).
In the general thread I suggested Cthulu Dark as a possible game system for a horror game. After reading the rules, I actually kind of like the basic concepts and think they can be easily used and adapted for what I want to do.
I'd like to host a game using those rules with the following modifications
Starting Out
0) Rule 0 applies.
1) The game will be set roughly in the present day. There might be some deliberate anachronisms, and especially recent or cutting-edge technology or developments might be ignored, but more or less the world in this game is the world as it is in real life with the obvious exception that the game will include horror elements such as, among other things, witchcraft, demonic rituals, ancient prophecies, children of the night, and so forth, and minor fictional elements (feel free to make up a home town, but not, say, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry as a major establishment in this setting)
1a) Create a character who would have a reason to involve him or herself in weird goings-on, to do so in a group or team, and have some capacity or other for dealing with the weird. Shut-ins who never want to leave their homes or work with other people, or invalids incapable of doing much of anything besides drooling are probably not appropriate for this setting. But even a determined beautician with a basic knowledge of cosmetic chemistry, or a housewife running a prescription drug sales business under the table, to take a few examples, might be capable of and interested in investigating and stopping the weirdness affecting their lives.
1.5) Try not to overburden the character with too many concepts from other pre-defined works (for example, working for the FBI investigating weird events is fine. Having particular ties to specific characters from the X-Files is a no-go). Less is more, as this will help us get on the same page about what exists in this setting and what doesn't.
2) Instead of an Insanity score, use a catch-all "Consequences" score, which may but doesn't necessarily include going insane. Instead of an insanity die, use a D4 Consequences die. "Consequences" scores start at 1.
2a) The meta-conflict of the game will be trying to figure out when to push your luck by rolling against your Consequences score or trying something else instead.
3) Each character starts with a D6 Basic and D4 Advanced character trait. The Basic trait represents a general concept or basic approach to problem solving. For example, it might be "Soldier", "Athlete", "Professor" "Private Eye", or "Team Mom". Advanced traits represent something your character does particularly well or particularly defines them, for example, the Soldier might be an "Expert Marksman" or "Field Medic". The Professor might be a "Mage in Training" or "Research Scientist". The Private Eye might have "Quick Footed and Quick Fingered" or "Master of Disguise". The Athlete might have "Winners Never Quit" or "Wealthy/Celebrity". The "Team Mom" might have "Street Smarts" or "Miss Congeniality". Feel free to be creative.
4) Different/non-human character backgrounds are okay, but try to keep power levels on the low side. Newly turned vampires are okay, but elder vampires are right out. Characters with demonic parentage are okay, but not the Prince of Hell. Witches learning magic are fine, but not the Sorcerer Supreme. This serves a mechanical as well as narrative purpose. See Rule 1.5. Also bear in mind that your character should have at least some plausible reason to involve himself with other characters of potentially diverse archetypes. Magic-hating Inquisitors probably won't play well with diverse backgrounds in the group.
Action Resolution
5) All actions, including combat, are resolved as follows: when bad things could reasonably happen as a result of something your character wants to do or your character wants to do something not ordinarily within his or her normal capabilities, describe how your character would try to achieve what he or she wants, then roll your Basic Trait and Advanced Trait as relevant. Then roll the Consequences die. If it's something beyond your character's normal capabilities but wants to try anyways, just roll the Consequences die. When it would be reasonable for your character to succeed without consequence, there is no need to roll; assume that your character achieves what he or she is aiming to do. If you'd rather not take the risk of suffering negative consequences, that's fine. But without risk, sometimes there is no reward.
If one or more rolls are higher than your Consequences *score* (not your Consequences *roll*), your character avoids serious consequence. The difference in the highest roll and your Consequence score determines the level of success. 4 or more is a great success (your character achieves what they want, and gain an additional benefit), 2 or 3 is an average success (your character achieves what they want), 1 is a bare success (your character avoids bad consequences but may not necessarily achieve what they want).
If no roll is higher than your Consequences *score*, increase your Consequences score by one and describe the consequences. Feel free to be creative. Consequences do not necessarily mean failure.
For example, suppose the Soldier's first potential consequences come when he is trying to brace a doorway while angry goblins are trying to break in. He would roll Soldier and Consequences, but Expert Marksman wouldn't really help in this situation. If he rolls all 1's, something bad happens, but not necessarily failure. Maybe the goblins give up, but the soldier is wounded in the effort. Or maybe the goblins give up because something bigger is coming and the solider has to fight or run. If he rolls all 2's, perhaps the door breaks but the soldier and his team escape out the window before the goblins bust it down. If he rolls a three or a 4, the door holds long enough for the team to find some supplies before it breaks down. On a 5 or a 6, the door holds, the goblins flee, and the team is able to find a secret that is the key to their long term goals with the extra time he buys them.
Advancement and Permanent Consequences
6) At the end of each Episode where your character suffered a consequence because of something he or she attempted, if your Consequence score is less than the highest number on your Consequence die, reset your Consequence score to 1. You have survived this Episode without long term consequences. In the next episode, you may add one to any one roll up to the number of times you suffered a consequence in the previous episode (no more than one at a time). Feel free to explain how your character's previous actions helped him or her in the new episode.
7) If your character's Consequence score is equal to the highest number on your Consequence die, replace the Consequence die with a die of the next higher level, D6, D8, or D10. Your character now has a permanent consequence which is either Moderate, Severe, or Transformative. For example, a moderate consequence might be that the Cult now knows you're investigating them and will try to stop you. A severe consequence might be permanent blindness or loss of a limb. A transformative consequence may be something like permanent insanity, turning into a vampire (when he doesn't want to) or something so severe as death. Again, feel free to be creative.
8) If your character gained a permanent consequence, choose one: A) Increase your Basic Trait or Advanced Trait to the next die level B) Add a new D6 Basic Trait C) Add a new d4 Advanced Trait. Feel to explain how or why the consequence helped you improve.
9) If your character has a permanent consequence, roll your Consequence die at the end of each Episode where your character suffered a consequence and subtract 1 from the total. That is your Consequence Score for the next episode. Your Consequence score cannot go below 1. When your Consequence score reaches 10, bad things will always happen when trying to do something where bad things could happen as a result of the consequence. But bad things don't always mean failure, and failure, even in death, doesn't always mean the end........
9a) When your character reaches a Consequence score of 10, that doesn't mean your character stops advancing. For each Episode where your character ends the Episode with a Consequence score of 10, you continue to gain as many bonus points as consequences suffered for the next episode. However, to gain permanent advancement, your character must first take active efforts to deal with the consequence (getting a new body, exorcising the demon within him, purging his memory of the horrors which rendered him insane, etc.). Instead of increasing a trait or adding a new Basic trait and raising the Consequence die, dealing with the consequence always lowers the consequence die by one level and adds a relevant d4 Advanced trait which cannot be improved again whether a new permanent consequence happens to the character or not.
Multiple Dice and Situational Modifiers
10) In some situations, additional circumstances will result in no more than a one point bonus or penalty to dice rolls. Feel free to be creative about explaining why a penalty or bonus would or wouldn't apply. Helping your teammates may confer various bonuses if two or more people are helping carry out the same action. Players should determine who will take the "lead" in group efforts. Only that player will roll.
For example, if the Athlete and the Soldier both want to brace the door, perhaps the Athlete will roll his Athlete and Winners Never Quit traits. The Soldier simply adds a one point bonus to the Athlete's roll (this wouldn't necessarily be an automatic success - perhaps the number of goblins or the fact that the door is old and moldy would result in a net penalty).
On the other hand, if two or more characters are doing different things to achieve the same goal, then both players roll and the highest roll determines the level of success (though one or both characters may still suffer consequences if one or both fails to beat his own Consequence score).
11) Characters with multiple Basic Traits may only roll one Basic Trait when trying to resolve an Action. However, they may roll as many Advanced Traits as are relevant.
For example, suppose the Athlete becomes involved in a feud with a pack of werewolves. For his first complication and advancement, he chooses "Huntsman" as a basic trait, which he thinks will help him generally in situations where his athletic training might fall short. His second complication and advancement he chooses "Wolfsbane" to represent increased knowledge and expertise in dealing with his enemies.
When trying to track werewolves in the woods, he might roll "Athlete" OR "Huntsman" but not both, and "Wolfsbane" AND "Winners Never Quit" as appropriate, explaining how both skills help him.
In the general thread I suggested Cthulu Dark as a possible game system for a horror game. After reading the rules, I actually kind of like the basic concepts and think they can be easily used and adapted for what I want to do.
I'd like to host a game using those rules with the following modifications
Starting Out
0) Rule 0 applies.
1) The game will be set roughly in the present day. There might be some deliberate anachronisms, and especially recent or cutting-edge technology or developments might be ignored, but more or less the world in this game is the world as it is in real life with the obvious exception that the game will include horror elements such as, among other things, witchcraft, demonic rituals, ancient prophecies, children of the night, and so forth, and minor fictional elements (feel free to make up a home town, but not, say, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry as a major establishment in this setting)
1a) Create a character who would have a reason to involve him or herself in weird goings-on, to do so in a group or team, and have some capacity or other for dealing with the weird. Shut-ins who never want to leave their homes or work with other people, or invalids incapable of doing much of anything besides drooling are probably not appropriate for this setting. But even a determined beautician with a basic knowledge of cosmetic chemistry, or a housewife running a prescription drug sales business under the table, to take a few examples, might be capable of and interested in investigating and stopping the weirdness affecting their lives.
1.5) Try not to overburden the character with too many concepts from other pre-defined works (for example, working for the FBI investigating weird events is fine. Having particular ties to specific characters from the X-Files is a no-go). Less is more, as this will help us get on the same page about what exists in this setting and what doesn't.
2) Instead of an Insanity score, use a catch-all "Consequences" score, which may but doesn't necessarily include going insane. Instead of an insanity die, use a D4 Consequences die. "Consequences" scores start at 1.
2a) The meta-conflict of the game will be trying to figure out when to push your luck by rolling against your Consequences score or trying something else instead.
3) Each character starts with a D6 Basic and D4 Advanced character trait. The Basic trait represents a general concept or basic approach to problem solving. For example, it might be "Soldier", "Athlete", "Professor" "Private Eye", or "Team Mom". Advanced traits represent something your character does particularly well or particularly defines them, for example, the Soldier might be an "Expert Marksman" or "Field Medic". The Professor might be a "Mage in Training" or "Research Scientist". The Private Eye might have "Quick Footed and Quick Fingered" or "Master of Disguise". The Athlete might have "Winners Never Quit" or "Wealthy/Celebrity". The "Team Mom" might have "Street Smarts" or "Miss Congeniality". Feel free to be creative.
4) Different/non-human character backgrounds are okay, but try to keep power levels on the low side. Newly turned vampires are okay, but elder vampires are right out. Characters with demonic parentage are okay, but not the Prince of Hell. Witches learning magic are fine, but not the Sorcerer Supreme. This serves a mechanical as well as narrative purpose. See Rule 1.5. Also bear in mind that your character should have at least some plausible reason to involve himself with other characters of potentially diverse archetypes. Magic-hating Inquisitors probably won't play well with diverse backgrounds in the group.
Action Resolution
5) All actions, including combat, are resolved as follows: when bad things could reasonably happen as a result of something your character wants to do or your character wants to do something not ordinarily within his or her normal capabilities, describe how your character would try to achieve what he or she wants, then roll your Basic Trait and Advanced Trait as relevant. Then roll the Consequences die. If it's something beyond your character's normal capabilities but wants to try anyways, just roll the Consequences die. When it would be reasonable for your character to succeed without consequence, there is no need to roll; assume that your character achieves what he or she is aiming to do. If you'd rather not take the risk of suffering negative consequences, that's fine. But without risk, sometimes there is no reward.
If one or more rolls are higher than your Consequences *score* (not your Consequences *roll*), your character avoids serious consequence. The difference in the highest roll and your Consequence score determines the level of success. 4 or more is a great success (your character achieves what they want, and gain an additional benefit), 2 or 3 is an average success (your character achieves what they want), 1 is a bare success (your character avoids bad consequences but may not necessarily achieve what they want).
If no roll is higher than your Consequences *score*, increase your Consequences score by one and describe the consequences. Feel free to be creative. Consequences do not necessarily mean failure.
For example, suppose the Soldier's first potential consequences come when he is trying to brace a doorway while angry goblins are trying to break in. He would roll Soldier and Consequences, but Expert Marksman wouldn't really help in this situation. If he rolls all 1's, something bad happens, but not necessarily failure. Maybe the goblins give up, but the soldier is wounded in the effort. Or maybe the goblins give up because something bigger is coming and the solider has to fight or run. If he rolls all 2's, perhaps the door breaks but the soldier and his team escape out the window before the goblins bust it down. If he rolls a three or a 4, the door holds long enough for the team to find some supplies before it breaks down. On a 5 or a 6, the door holds, the goblins flee, and the team is able to find a secret that is the key to their long term goals with the extra time he buys them.
Advancement and Permanent Consequences
6) At the end of each Episode where your character suffered a consequence because of something he or she attempted, if your Consequence score is less than the highest number on your Consequence die, reset your Consequence score to 1. You have survived this Episode without long term consequences. In the next episode, you may add one to any one roll up to the number of times you suffered a consequence in the previous episode (no more than one at a time). Feel free to explain how your character's previous actions helped him or her in the new episode.
7) If your character's Consequence score is equal to the highest number on your Consequence die, replace the Consequence die with a die of the next higher level, D6, D8, or D10. Your character now has a permanent consequence which is either Moderate, Severe, or Transformative. For example, a moderate consequence might be that the Cult now knows you're investigating them and will try to stop you. A severe consequence might be permanent blindness or loss of a limb. A transformative consequence may be something like permanent insanity, turning into a vampire (when he doesn't want to) or something so severe as death. Again, feel free to be creative.
8) If your character gained a permanent consequence, choose one: A) Increase your Basic Trait or Advanced Trait to the next die level B) Add a new D6 Basic Trait C) Add a new d4 Advanced Trait. Feel to explain how or why the consequence helped you improve.
9) If your character has a permanent consequence, roll your Consequence die at the end of each Episode where your character suffered a consequence and subtract 1 from the total. That is your Consequence Score for the next episode. Your Consequence score cannot go below 1. When your Consequence score reaches 10, bad things will always happen when trying to do something where bad things could happen as a result of the consequence. But bad things don't always mean failure, and failure, even in death, doesn't always mean the end........
9a) When your character reaches a Consequence score of 10, that doesn't mean your character stops advancing. For each Episode where your character ends the Episode with a Consequence score of 10, you continue to gain as many bonus points as consequences suffered for the next episode. However, to gain permanent advancement, your character must first take active efforts to deal with the consequence (getting a new body, exorcising the demon within him, purging his memory of the horrors which rendered him insane, etc.). Instead of increasing a trait or adding a new Basic trait and raising the Consequence die, dealing with the consequence always lowers the consequence die by one level and adds a relevant d4 Advanced trait which cannot be improved again whether a new permanent consequence happens to the character or not.
Multiple Dice and Situational Modifiers
10) In some situations, additional circumstances will result in no more than a one point bonus or penalty to dice rolls. Feel free to be creative about explaining why a penalty or bonus would or wouldn't apply. Helping your teammates may confer various bonuses if two or more people are helping carry out the same action. Players should determine who will take the "lead" in group efforts. Only that player will roll.
For example, if the Athlete and the Soldier both want to brace the door, perhaps the Athlete will roll his Athlete and Winners Never Quit traits. The Soldier simply adds a one point bonus to the Athlete's roll (this wouldn't necessarily be an automatic success - perhaps the number of goblins or the fact that the door is old and moldy would result in a net penalty).
On the other hand, if two or more characters are doing different things to achieve the same goal, then both players roll and the highest roll determines the level of success (though one or both characters may still suffer consequences if one or both fails to beat his own Consequence score).
11) Characters with multiple Basic Traits may only roll one Basic Trait when trying to resolve an Action. However, they may roll as many Advanced Traits as are relevant.
For example, suppose the Athlete becomes involved in a feud with a pack of werewolves. For his first complication and advancement, he chooses "Huntsman" as a basic trait, which he thinks will help him generally in situations where his athletic training might fall short. His second complication and advancement he chooses "Wolfsbane" to represent increased knowledge and expertise in dealing with his enemies.
When trying to track werewolves in the woods, he might roll "Athlete" OR "Huntsman" but not both, and "Wolfsbane" AND "Winners Never Quit" as appropriate, explaining how both skills help him.
