Start of a New System

Tomorrow I'm running a new game for the crew. I have a pretty solid idea for an adventure, so I'll probably start doing session recaps here each Wednesday. I won't give any spoilers though, since some of my players may read this.

The adventure is a little different, so I needed to find a system that would do what I wanted, namely have quick character generation, support multiple genres, treat death as a real possibility, and deal with horror/sanity loss. I decided to make my own, since it's just easier that way. So here's the basics. I'll add on as things progress.


Attributes

Roll 6d6. Assign each attribute 1 die result.

• Strength – Damage Bonus. Offsets AC penalty from Armor
• Dexterity – AC Bonus (10+AC Bonus = AC)
• Constitution – Determines HP
• Intelligence – Determines number of discretionary skills as well as skill bonus
• Perception – Initiative Bonus
• Willpower – Determines Resolve

Hit Points/Resolve

• +1 = 1d6+1 
• +2 = 1d8+2
• +3 = 1d10+3
• +4 = 1d12+4
• +5 = 2d8+5
• +6 = 2d10+6

Hit points track physical damage. At half your total hit points, you are bloodied and suffer -1 to all actions. When your hit points fall to 0, you die.

Resolve tracks emotional stress from horror, gore, and lack of sleep. When you have less than 5 Resolve, you must make a Willpower check when faced with stress or run away. When your resolve falls to 0, you faint.

When you make an attribute check, roll 1d20 + attribute.

Classes

Knave

• Damage = 1d6 + Damage Bonus
• +3 to Stealth (you may select Stealth as a skill normally, and this bonus is cumulative)

Knight

• Damage = 1d8 + Damage Bonus

Vicar

• Damage = 1d4 + Damage Bonus
• Faith = Roll Resolve dice based on your Willpower. You may restore this many points of resolve. To affect multiple allies, divide the points evenly. You may do this once. 

Skills
Initially, you have a number of skills equal to your Intelligence and the skill bonus is equal to your Intelligence. These skills may be selected before play or during play. If selected during play, briefly describe where you learned the skill. You may select a skill after you roll a skill check, but before the results are revealed.

When you make a skill check, roll 1d20 + skill bonus

Skill check difficulties are:

• Standard = 10
• Difficult = 15
• Very Difficult = 20
• Impossible = 25

Skills

• Aide (Healing)
• Archery
• Athletics
• Language (Choose one)
• Lie
• Heraldry
• Melee
• Read
• Religion
• Riding
• Stealth
• Survival
• Thievery

Equipment

Armor reduces damage by a flat amount, based on the armor type. The heavier and more protective the armor, the harder it is to move. Hence, the damage reduction also serves as a penalty to armor class. This penalty is offset by your Strength. For example, if you have +2 Strength and wear Chainmail (-3 damage reduction), your AC suffers a -1 penalty.

• Damage Reduction -0 = No Armor
• Damage Reduction -1 = Leather Armor
• Damage Reduction -2 = Brigantine Armor
• Damage Reduction -3 = Chainmail Armor
• Damage Reduction -4 = Scalemail Armor
• Damage Reduction -5 = Platemail Armor
• Damage Reduction -6 = Full Plate Armor

Weapons don’t define your damage, your class and Strength do. It doesn't matter if you wield a knife or a long sword, use your class damage die.