Hi
(translation of the first post)
Introduction
- Just like recently I shared with you my modifications of Warhammer 2-ed mechanics (here:
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg ) so I would like to share my original mechanics which I called "Parchy" ("Scums"). In honor of the first session I played there (more precisely this one:
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg .
- Apart from this first session, I played a few other sessions:
“Star Raiders”:
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg
"Agenci Spectrum":
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg
Hell Gate London:
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg
"X-COM":
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg
"Agenci Spectrum 2":
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg
“Lost Station”:
lastinn - rpg - sesje rpg
- Plus a few single player sessions. These sessions, as you can see, lasted differently, some barely started, others could last longer than a year. The subject matter, as you can see in the titles and sections themselves, was also quite diverse. But anyway, we managed to play quite a lot of sessions on this mechanic in the forum, often on quite various topics. From sf, through post-apo, to investigative and war sessions. That's why I think the mechanics are relatively universal. And today I would like to tell you something about her
"Scums" - detailed mechanics
- In my opinion, "Scums" is what I call detailed mechanics. Most of the mechanics I know, or at least I know what it is, are detailed mechanics. So these are classics where individual actions, segments, meters, attacks, etc. And they consist of consecutive turns of combat or other dispute / conflict. And they, in turn, create the final effect of the dynamic scene we play. Similarly to this genre I include the mechanics of Warhammer, Neuroshima, D&D and Masquerade Vampire, which are quite classic titles on our RPG market.
- In my opinion, this type of mechanics can be great for table sessions. But with forums they require a specific approach both from the GM and the Players. Well, I think that the longest of this mechanics limitation is usually collecting declarations from players. And without them, there is no point in counting and throwing the dice. And such tests, especially during combat, usually require shredding the action into more than one stage, after which it is necessary to collect another portion of declarations from players. This, of course, is possible even in real time. However, under certain specific circumstances. Namely, the rule is that the fewer participants, the easier it should be. Because as in the convoy speed is determined by the slowest unit, when collecting declarations, the reaction time is counted after completion from the last participant. In this respect, the mechanics are of secondary or tertiary importance when it comes to the write-off rate. Therefore, my mechanics are also not free from this specificity of a forum game. In my opinion, this is not a disadvantage or an advantage of it, that's how it comes out on the forum in most of the sessions I have conducted or played.
Modular mechanics
- As far as possible, I tried to design this mechanic quite modularly. Various details are described below because I do not know what can be useful during the session. Ba! I don't always know what I will need for a specific session! Therefore, I preferred to describe something so that there was a ready-to-use solution than not to describe it. That is why, for example, I use negative modifiers as I lose more Health points, but if it is difficult for someone to count it or has a different philosophy, these modifiers may not be taken into account. I use them in my sessions, but others do not have to. Similarly to the list of Advantages and Disadvantages, it is included in the list, but neither the Player nor the GM has to use it. And that's actually what you can do with every detail of this engine.
Skins
Actually, although the core of the mechanics of "Scums" is the same, almost each session has a separate "skin" of the mechanics under the universe of a given session. Therefore, individual files may differ. For the "X-COM" session, a resource management scheme for the base and its modules was created. Specific professional skills developed for "Agents" taking into account paranormal phenomena. For the "Parchów" session, a robot construction and cybernetic modification department was created, which rather suit sf climates, but not necessarily other ones.
The basics
- The mechanics of "The Scums" are based on the values from 1 to 10. It is intended for more or less human beings. Without any superpowers. Therefore, in such a basic version, it is designed to play sessions as realistic. Some post-apocalypse, realistic science fiction or fantasy, modern, investigations, maybe something similar to Zewa Cthulu (like human). Some marvel superhero, epic magic level and similar heroic atmosphere may not be so easy to play on it.
Scale of features
Below I present an approximate scale for the value of individual features. It is calculated on a human scale, so it is possible that posthuman beings or various beasts, robots, or animals may have a very different framework of these traits.
Value:
10 - outstanding
9 - very good
8 - good
7 - above average
5-6 average
4 - below average
3 - weak
2 - very weak
1 - bottom
Explanation
10 - Skill at the peak of human abilities on the level of geniuses and Olympians.
9 - A much above average skill, it is probably one of the main and the company's skills for a given character.
8 - Clearly above average. This skill is close to the character's center of interest.
7 - Noticeably above average, but not very much. A character can be considered a specialist in a small team in the field.
5-6 - Average street average, the majority of the population does, the character does not stand out with anything special.
4 - Noticeably below average but not very much. This is not the character's strongest point, but there is no shame.
3 - Clearly below average, probably some skill at the edge of the character's interests and experience is slim.
2 - Very different from average, has obvious difficulties, probably never, or almost never, did it.
1 - Due to such a low value, the character is actually mentally, mentally or physically disabled.
- Since the session focuses on the PCs who should usually be full of physical and mental strength, the lower limit is the statistics for 2 or 3. It depends what is the specificity of the session and who the players' characters are to be. If these are to be any soldiers and efficient agents, the lowest attributes should not go below 3, as some commandos or similar elite are even below 4.
Dices
- Only one type of dice is used for the game: d10. In most cases it is a 1d10 roll. If the result is as high as the upper limit needed to pass the test or less, then the test was successful, then no.
Example:
Player Charakter (PC) has a given trait on an average level, that is, for example, 6 (scale 1-10). If he has to test this skill, he rolls a 1d10. If the result is 1-6, the test was successful, while 7-10 was not successful.
- Professional skill tests are an exception. I will tell about them below. When testing a professional skill, roll 2d10. And chooses the better result. The weaker bone falls out and is not taken into account.
Health
- Health or "Health Points" is also 10 for a creature with the size of an average person. These Health can be more or less visualized in terms of body weight and size. So adults usually have 10 Health. The selection of certain Defects and Advantages may modify this original value by 2 one way or the other, but still it may be around 10. Small children may have less, after 5-8 Health, a large dog may have 3-5 Health, a cat may have 1-2 Health, and a tiger or a lion 20-40 Health.
- The mechanics save this Health as 10/10. It should be read that someone has the current state of 10 out of 10 Health, i.e. he is in full strength. In the event of an injury, the record may look like 5/10. Then someone currently has 5 of their 10 Health.
- When a character (or another creature) takes damage, its Health gradually decreases. It manifests itself with successive states. Penal modifiers are already provided for the worst. They reflect the gradual weakening of the character due to pain, blood loss, body inertia, and similar effects. These are in turn:
s.healthy (10/10) mod 0 - You're fine!
s. scratched (9/10) mod 0 - It's just a scratch!
s.ranny (7-8 / 10) mod 0 - It hurts but I can do it!
s. serious (5-6 / 10) mod -1 - Au! It hurts, it slows down, but you still keep working.
s. heavy (3-4 / 10) mod -2 - It's hard, you can barely move.
s.critical (1-2 / 10) mod -3 - Critical, you lie down or crawl.
- The above quick descriptions are just playing suggestions, not hard commandments. And for orientation, a blow with a knife or a shot from a standard pistol deals 1-2 damage. Rifle or Carbine Shot 5 damage (or more if the target is large or you are shooting with a triplet). An attack of a dog, wolf or similar creature takes 2-3 damage, a blow with a sword or an ax takes 3-4 damage.
- In the case of creatures other than humans, with a different amount of Health, the above proportions can be wrong. In short, one type of "state" is about 20% of Health. So if something would have, for example, 20 Health, the critical state is about less than 20% of Health, which is 1-4 / 20. On 5-8 it will be heavy etc.
- The above states of health and the modifiers that result from it are thought mainly of people and similar creatures. Those that feel pain, suffering, bleed, etc. In a session, however, there may be creatures that are more vulnerable or resistant to these effects of injury. For example, some zombies or androids may feel less or no pain from these effects. Although even such creatures or machines may experience the gradual deterioration of their Health as damage that slows them down and weakens them, even if it is not strictly pain and bleeding. They may not feel pain from, for example, the loss of a limb, but the lack of it can really affect their abilities.
Attributes
Physical, mental, social and combat traits are described in particular groups called Attributes. These are: Character, Body, Mind, Fight and Profession, respectively. These Attributes fall under the individual skills.
List of Attributes and Skills: Character:
- Charisma - strength of personality, reaching the hearts of others with arguments
- Determination - willpower, resistance to stress, morale
- Talking - persuading, flirting, bluffing or detecting it
Body:
- Perception - perceptiveness, noticing details, sensitivity of the senses
- Reflex - speed of reaction, reacting in emergency situations
- Strength - load capacity (number of equipment slots), muscles, athleticism, resistance
Mind:
- Deduction - the ability to associate facts, analyze data, situations, etc.
- Memory - remembering different things, words, faces and details
- Wisdom - having knowledge in various fields of knowledge (but not professional) and facts
Fight:
- Range - chances of being hit with most standard firearms *
- Melee - chance to hit in close combat without a weapon or with most melee weapons
Profession:
- selected or assigned ** professional skills, e.g. hacking, sniper, healing, etc. The list is here on pp. 27-30 link: [url] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryBvLA9HFK0OfqBso9EOqfytNQdjq7WnuUJKr-x7 -eE / edit # heading = h.qb36y19rph4y [/ url]
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* Firearms - in some realities modern, post-apo or, for example, WWII. But if it's SF, you can safely use other weapons, which are standard in the given realities, such as plasma, laser or bows and crossbows, if it's some fantasy.
** Assigned Skills - Session specifics may require a given or all PCs to have some professional skill. Let's say, in the "Agents" session, all BG who were agents got the Agent skill on 5 from the start, and in the Astronaut sf sessions on 5, since they were the crew of spacecraft.
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Professional skills
- The list of professional skills is in the attached links. These are just examples and you can easily add new skills if they turn out to be needed during a session.
- The plot can be considered that such an ability is a conglomerate of theory and practice in a given field. And it's usually related to a profession. Such, for example, Treatment is theory and medical practice. So doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc. would have it. It involves the diagnosis of diseases and the patient's condition, the operation of medical equipment, attempts at resuscitation or extracting debris from the body. Everything falls under the same Healing skill and can at most have different modifiers. Similarly, for example, Range means not only shooting a firearm, but also its maintenance or recognition of weapon models, and the driver of car models and everyday car maintenance, eg battery charging, wheel replacement, etc. something that can be done without specialized tools, a workshop or a specialist.
- The professional skill is rolled to 2D10 and a better result is chosen.
Points
- Depending on the session, the above skills are allocated from about 80 to 100 points. You can spend about 11-14 skills (3x Character, 3x Body, 3x Mind, 2x Fighting, 0-3 Profession). 80 points out of 13 skills gives the statistical average of 6.15 and 100 points out of 13 skills is 7.69. About 85-90 points is such a standard for adult professionals in 1-2 areas.
Armor Protection (AP)
- Armor is a conventional term for all types of body protection that is worn. But in specific conditions, it can also be curtains, e.g. a stone, a tree trunk, a wall that act as armor because they have a chance to stop a projectile. The GM then decides if a given veil provides any AP, and how and what.
- The armor is mostly something that covers the body. The system is designed for dynamic shootings where you usually aim at the center of your body. And that's where armor is usually worn.
- AP is counted on a scale of 1-10. Although it is counted from the top. This is a separate test to be performed if an attack has reached a target and that target has an AP The roll is made 1d10. If he has as much HP or more, the armor has protected the owner and no damage is done. If there is less than this value, then how much Health is lost to the target. So it is an "all or nothing" policy.
Example:
The soldier is wearing Kevlar reinforced with SAPI plates. It is a solid military protection against missiles. It gives 7+ AP. If the 1d10 rolled up to 1-6, the attack hit the target, for a 7-10, then it stuck in the armor or ricocheted from it.
- It is possible to have a weapon or ammunition that modifies such a base OP. For example, armored ammunition reduces the actual armor protection by 1 or 2 points. then this exemplary AP 7+ is reduced to 9+. And in the case of expanding ammunition which deals more damage because it deforms easily on an obstacle, it is more difficult for it to penetrate the armor and the real OP increases by 1 or 2 points. Then this military armor from the example above would count not as AP 7+ but as AP 5+.
- There are also attacks that bypass the armor. For example, area attacks (explosions), fire or falls from great heights. Then the AP is not tested, but the damage is checked immediately.
Dice throws
All rolls (tests) are made with a d10. For professional skills, roll 2d10 to the other 1d10. There are two basic types of tests: regular and counter-tests.
Normal tests
- These are, for example, tests of knowledge, memory, noticing a detail, hacking, repairing, healing or firing a ranged weapon. These are all the situations when the statistics of only one side are checked and the appropriate modifiers are taken into account at the most.
Example:
The character has the Range skill at 7. Which is slightly above average. Fires at close range for the used weapon (+2), but at a moving target (-2), partially covered by a wall (-2). So the bills are 7 + 2-2-2 = 5. If the 1d10 is 1-5, then you hit the target as the result was 6-10, then no. If it were a weapon and a professional skill, e.g. Br. Sniper, Br. Heavy, then it would be 2d10 and choose a more favorable result, but the modifiers would be the same.
Opposite test
The second type of test is the opposite. It occurs when both sides are in conflict with each other. It may be about persuading someone to do or say something (Talk), grab someone's hand (Reflex or Melee), break out of such a grip (Strength), or deal a blow in direct combat (Melee). Then 1d10 or 2d10 rolls are used if they are professional skills. But it counts a little differently than the regular tests.
Example:
The Character has the Melee skill of 8, so he has quite solid experience in close combat. His opponent is average in this matter, he knows something, but he fights quite sporadically, so he has a Engagement of 6.
Now the base is half the pot, which is the equivalent of a coin toss. In the case of a 1-10 scale and a dice, the d10 is 5. If you were to use the 1-6 and d6 scale then it would be 3, and if you used 1-20 and d20 it would be 10. Just half the pot.
5 (Base) + 8 (Side A) = 13 - 6 (Side B) = 7
If the d10 (or 2D10 for processional skills) comes up with a 7, it's a tie. There is no breakthrough or real effect and advantage for either side. If the roll is 1-6, Side A has the advantage, if 8-10, Side B has the advantage.
- Interestingly, in most cases, counter tests are performed only by the active side. Because the above formula includes the statistics of both sides. So, and their proportions of the chances of success and failure. Just roll the dice to see what came out.
- An exception to this is the Combat (Engagement) Checks which each participant performs consecutively. This is dictated by session practice. There are common situations when there are no equal parties to the conflict, but there is, for example, 2 vs 3, 4 vs 5, etc. As you go along with this counting and throwing, it is easier not to miss an additional participant. They are counted exactly the same, which means that in the vast majority of cases they will probably be mirror proportions. So if Side A of the example above had thrown for a Melee, it would have had a draw at 7 and its success would be on dice 1-6. And if Side B would throw a moment in the same turn, then it would have a chance to draw a 3 (5 + 6 = 11-8 = 3) and would have success with a 1-2 roll and the opponent would roll 4-10.
Checking for injuries
- In case of combat, when damage occurs, it is counted at the end of the turn. In the forum session, he responds to the next lines in excel that works in this counting and throwing. For table sessions, both sides should throw at the same time. Or even when they throw at each other, it should be treated as a simultaneous throw. You just have to count the result of throws in metagrams, but in game it happens simultaneously. Both sides shoot at each other, exchange blows at the same time.
Example:
The Character fights two opponents at once. So there is a classic 2:1 fight. After counting the chances and throwing all three, it turned out that the Character hit Opponent 1, and Opponent 2 hit the Character. It would look like this:
Turn 01
10/10 Character (mod 0)> hits Opponent 1 (4 damage; 10-4 = 6/10))
Opponent 1 10/10 (mod 0)> hits Character but with armor chosen (AP)
Opponent 2 10/10 (mod 0)> hits Character, AP test failed, deals 3 damage (10-3 = 7/10)
Turn 02
Character 7/10 (mod 0)> hits Opponent 1 (4 damage; 6-4 = 2/10)
Opponent 1 6/10 (mod -1) / hits Character (2 damage; 7-2 = 5/10)
Opponent 2 10/10 (mod 0) / hits Character; armor protects
Graduation of the throw results
Such simple examples are presented above. Whether someone succeeds or not. However, you may need to check if something went well or not and to what extent. For example, how close did you manage to sneak up on the opponent or the opponent to the BG, whether the Character was convinced "concrete wall" or barely - barely and generally whether the test was successful with a large margin or it was just a haircut.
Throwing Results:
10> = epic success
8 - 9 = spectacular success
6 - 7 = great success
4 - 5 = medium success
2 - 3 = little success
-1 - 1 = draw
-2 - -3 = a little failure
-4 - -5 = average failure
-6 - -7 = great failure
-8 - -9 = spectacular failure
-10> = epic failure
My comments
- I do not consider this mechanics of "Scabs" revolutionary or groundbreaking. But in sessions it works more often than it does not. Usually, when I already have decals from Players and I know what and how to crush, it goes quite smoothly.
- The mechanics and scale of 1-10 are easily modifiable on a scale of 1-20 and k20 (like Neuroshima) or 1-100 and k100 (like Warhammer). Both ways.
- Counting to 10 is relatively easy even in memory.
- The mechanics focus on humans and similar humanoids without supernatural powers. And from this point of view, it works quite well for me during sessions, if I care about playing this proverbial realism. But without a million statistics.
- 4 cartridges. Most firearms have relatively small magazines, usually 3-5. Which gives many players the impression that there are literally 3-5 rounds inside. What, when it works by default, and modern assault weapons or heavy machine guns look weirdly little. But you have to take into account that one combat turn is about 5 seconds. In assault weapons, the standard are triplets, i.e. 3-round series. In about 5 seconds, you can easily pull the trigger 2-5 times. Which gives about 6-15 seeds shot. And the capacity of modern magazines is about 30-40 rounds. So just in one round you can fire about ¼-½ of a standard magazine. Hence such averaged values for 3-4 Turns of such dynamic shooting before you have to change the magazine.
- The fight is quite brutal. The weakest pistol or bad knife can deal 1 damage. Usually, a fully healthy person has 10 Health. During 1 turn, you can fire 5 quick shots, so theoretically you can kill a fully healthful human in 2 turns. Assault weapons deal about 5-6 damage, so about 2 hits actually exclude an adult from the fight.
- The mechanics were used to create a whole range of different Character Cards, from various players and to various sessions. It was not used densely and often in all of them, but I think it turned out to be quite universal. It is quite modifiable. It allows you to create a variety of accessories, e.g. accessories for weapons and armor, lists of advantages and disadvantages modifying the base statistics of the character, etc.
- It displays specialists nicely. So it's great for making a band where everyone has a niche. Which is useful in sessions where you play with a team of infantry, agents, members of a gang, or the crew of a sea or space ship. Each character can have up to 3 professional skills, usually 1 or 2. It is difficult to create an omnibus that knows everything. But a few people who complement each other can create a very universal team.
- Creating a character from the mechanical side is quite simple in my opinion. After all, the scale is 1-10, the number of skills to distribute points is about a dozen, and the pool of 80-100 points can be successfully distributed with the help of a sheet of paper and a calculator. And if you use the ready template in excel where the formulas are entered, which add up the numbers themselves, it becomes even easier. The names of the skills are probably quite intuitive, so feel free to separate these points.
- Each of the skills is independent of the others. So you can, for example, have one skill out of 10 in the same group and be a master in it, and the other two at a minimum or medium level.
Links to mechanic (Polish language)
- The original and probably the most extensive mechanics from the "Scabs" session: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...h.9475ciju6e5f
- Skin for Agents. Extended with unconventional (occult) skills and Disadvantages: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...DWWA5QkOU/edit
- "X-COM" skin. This is where the basemaking, different modules of the base and different types of staff of this base appeared: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...h.hz92h64vk1m4
- "Lost Station" skin. This is where the possibility of cybernetic or genetic modifications appeared in the form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...IJXGCWO0/edit#
- And here is the individual, excel KP I mentioned earlier. You can copy it and count your own figure: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...N7c/edit#gid=0
- Link to the Jagged Alliance inventory (modern session) mainly guns: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...-4b9W0VQ/edit#
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- And I guess that's it for me. I could probably write more about it. But I focused on the most important things. More precisely, it is written in the links to docs provided by me. On the one hand, I wrote the above letters for those who would join one of my sessions based on "Scums" mechanics. On the other hand, I am curious about the voices and opinions of others. Just as if someone had any questions. I will try to explain it if I can. And if someone saw the potential in this mechanics enough to use it in their own sessions, I invite you and I'm curious about feedback.
Pipboy79