Creating Objects
Resolving Conflicts
Additional Notes on Combat
Improving Abilities
This system is meant to work in the background as a gaming aid. The system's functionality is somewhat dependent on the maturity of the players and the Game Master(GM), for the system is not meant to tell them what to do, quite the opposite. This system is a tool to be used as needed. The design goals are real simplicity, true speed of play (almost all systems claim to be easy and fast, but most are very slow), giving emphasis on storytelling, giving power (and responsibility) to the GM and, finally, extreme adaptability. Adaptability meaning it can handle, in addition to different genres, different themes and moods and, for example, a wide variety of realism levels. Adaptability means also that in a Mecha game, for example, where the characters are pilots of giant robots, the robots can be created with the exact same rules as the characters themselves. High Fantasy magic items can also be created with the same rules, along with the different armies of a war-themed game, or the haunted house of the horror game. Even the competing nations of a secret agent game can be designed as easily as any other object. You can make your own additions to the system as needed, for hit locations and other traditional RPG elements (must gain XP!) for example. This system is still meant to be usable as is for any gaming need.
I want to note that the word character is used through out this text in the traditional sense. Ie. a character is a humanoid being being played and developed by a single player. The scope of Bob, is much wider than this, though. Players can, and will, relate themselves to more than just a single sentient being when playing with these rules. As shocking as it may seem, the "character" (traditionally the centerpoint of a game) in this system is just an object amongst others. A game of Bob can very easily be played without having any kind of humanoid, or even sentient objects as player objects (note: "player object" is a wider term includes the term "player character").
I also have to note, much to my dislike, that understanding what I want to explain with these rules may be a little hard to understand. If you are a RPG veteran, though, I hope you understand everything.
The most common "object" is a character, a player character (PC) or a non-player-character(NPC). This system can also be used for creating other objects, such as weapons and vehicles. The creation steps are listed in the order they are to be completed. Always start from step one, then on to step two etc.
1 Name and concept (main role)
The concept is a short
description that captures the essence of the object. You can also
name the object (a "working title" can be used if a "real
name" is hard to come by now). The concept determines the basic
power level of the object. A Dragon is tougher than a man. An army is
tougher than a guerrilla group, which is
tougher than a single man (not in all genres, though). The GM is
always the final judge on who's tougher than who (or what's tougher
than what). That's why it's recommended to use an intelligent GM.
2 History
The real creation of
the object starts by writing a history for it. It can be as long or
short as needed and wanted. The history should, at least, be detailed
enough so you can determine some stats for the object based on this
history in the following stages of creation. The history can reach up
to the very moment (in-game time) the game starts, so you can write
about even the very last seconds before the action begins. The
players should discuss the history of their characters (and other
objects) with the GM, and the GM should in turn tell the players
beforehand about the type of characters that suit the game in
question. When the history is done, you should be able to complete
the remaining stages of object creation using this history as a
source.
3 Basic Talents(BT)
Exactly what
the Basic Talents are, is determined by the GM based on what is
central in the campaign and game world. All objects of a certain type
are rated with the same Basic Talents. All characters, for example,
will have the same BT, and all vehicles would have their own set of same
basic "talents". A modern airplane can
not be intelligent in the same sense as a human, on the other hand a
human can not have a flight range in the same sense as every
airplane has one. The purpose of basic talents is to make
similar objects easily comparable with each other when needed to. In
the case of people, for instance, they can represent the genetic
tendencies. For a ship or an airplane they can represent permanent
structural properties. Generally speaking the Basic Talents are the
unchanging, well, basic talents.
The Scale:
+0 Not at All
+1 Not Very
+2 Somewhat
+3 Moderately
+4 Fairly
+5 Very
+6 Extremely
A basic set of BT to use in any normal campaign (character human or humanoid) includes Agile, Dangerous, Disciplined, Handy, Influential, Witty and Tough. The BT are joined with the appropriate level, like "Very Handy(+5)" or "Moderately Dangerous(+3)". This list should be altered to suit the tone and content of the campaign, add more, take some out and use different words. Agile measures whole body movement and coordination, flexibility etc. Dangerous measures how willing and able the character is to cause physical harm, strong or aggressive, for example. Disciplined measures discipline. Handy measures how good the character is using his/her hands. Influential measures charisma and other social influence (not related to social status). Witty measures how fast the character thinks. Tough measures physical and mental toughness, this BT is used when checking if you get hurt or can soak it up.
4 Gained Talents(GT)
The gained
talents of the characters are usually "skills". They are
talents they have learned and can improve, and
acquire new ones. In case of a ship, GT can represent the skill
of it's current captain and crew. GT can be named as seen best and
can be as wide or accurate as needed to best describe the object in
accordance of it's history. If the history is written well, there
should be no disagreement about suitable talents and levels between
player and GM.
The Scale:
+0 Not at All Skilled...
+1 Not Very Skilled...
+2 Somewhat Skilled...
+3 Moderately Skilled...
+4 Fairly Skilled...
+5 Very Skilled...
+6 Extremely Skilled...
Examples, A Character: Fairly skilled driver(+4), a ship: Not Very Skilled Captain(+1)
I should propably emphasize here that the ship needs it's captain as a GT, because when the ship is trying to outrun or fight another ship, this is not a situation of character vs character (ie. pilot vs pilot) like it would be in most systems. The traditional RPG way is that the characters have a skill and the players roll a skill roll to see if their character can fly the ship. In Bob, the pilot (be it NPC or PC) is a GT of the ship, and the "player of the ship" rolls the "skill roll", so, in a way, the ship is the "character" being played by the player who throws the dice. So when characters operate any machinery, players never roll "piloting checks", situations are machine vs machine, with the "pilot" being just a part (GT) of a machine.
5 Signs
What does the object look
like, how can one see, when looking at it, that it is what it is? A
character can be muscular or move softly, or have a sharp gaze. A
ship could be "eaten by time" or "beautifully
decorated". The signs are in close relation to BT and GT. You
know a fast car from the looks.
6 Status
When created, the status
of the object is usually good, it doesn't have to be, though, and
once the game starts... Status is quite clearly a measure of the
"status" of the object.
<1 Fate Under GM Control
1 Incapacitated
2 Reeling
3 Battered
4 Injured
5 Bruised
6 Good
When making decisions the GM should note the status. There can be no ready formula of applying status because the effects of status depend so much on the action in question. Let's say a character has fallen from a tree and broken his leg, his status is now 4(Injured), if he now tries to run, he would get big penalties, but it's still quite easy for him to shoot a gun. This also means that the players must keep track of what their status means, ie. the player should write on a piece of paper "fell from tree: left leg broken from thigh", for example, or for a ship "lazer blast: ion drive's cooling system blown to bits". This helps role playing a lot. Is stead of just losing hit points, the characters have injuries just like me and you would get from the same situations. And when it's time in the game world to start healing the wounds and fixing the machines, the GM and the players know exactly what's wrong, and can role play the healing/fixing processes.
7 Goals and objectives
Goals and
objectives really only concern characters.
The Goal:
The goal is the character's "goal in life".
The GM can use this when creating a plot to the campaign.
The
Objectives:
Objectives are smaller motivations the character sets
to advance towards his goal. The GM can use these for creating plots
for adventures.
Other objects can in a way have objectives and goals, too. They are still best suited for independently functioning sentient objects, though. For example, if the goal of a nation is to rule the world, it's really the leader's (or maybe the people's) goal.
The following method of creating good objectives and goals for
characters is borrowed from ARC.
The
GM can do a short interrogation with each player
separately and retrieve information that will be useful for
the game. Remember that as a GM you shouldn't force a pre-planned
storyline on your players and as a player you should play your
character with passion and explore all possibilities. Holding back
and playing carefully so that you can keep a character alive is not
fun for anyone. If your character has a Goal or an Objective calling
he should respond in a way that demonstrates that. Call of
Cthulhu or Paranoia are good examples of games that
demand such players.
The WECD (pronounced Wicked) is an interrogation technique that GMs can use to help players create interesting and enjoyable characters that won't be out of place in the GMs campaign.
1st step: World. The GM describes the campaign setting where the character's lives will take place. It doesn't have to be too descriptive, but enough information should be provided so that the players can proceed with the next steps.
2nd step: Element. Each player takes something of interest from the setting. It could be the feel, the theme, the moral, a visual, or anything that has to do with the setting and should carry some emotional weight.
3rd step: Choice. Now it is time for the player to decide if the character wishes to support or rebel against the Element he has chosen. The player should also decide how strongly he feels about the Element.
4th step: Detail. The player in collaboration with the GM create a more detailed story of why and how the PC feels the way he does.
5th step: Repeat steps 2 through 4 until all players are satisfied with their characters.
These rules are in order of importance, starting from the most important one. Still they are all in effect simultaneously. So even if you are rolling the dice according to rule 4, rules 1,2,3,5 and 6 are also in effect.
1 A Solution Crucial to the Story
If the events just
have to go a certain way, they do, it's the GM's
decision. This rule exists to prevent randomness from entirely
destroying the story in the very first scene.
2 Overwhelming superiority wins
(concepts)
The truck "wins" the pedestrian in a
collision
Conan the Cimmerian beats Conan O'Brien in a fight
F-18
shoots down the 747 in aerial combat, since the 747 is unarmed
The
NPC beats the PC of equal skill in a bar brawl if the player is too
lazy to come up with anything better than "I hit him".(See
the next rule)
The purpose of this rule is to give the GM a quick way to solve conflicts he can see from the concepts has only one solution. The better one doesn't always win, but the superior-enough-one always does.
3 Really really good storytelling by the
player means the PC will win automatically
When a player manages
to describe the character's actions is a given situation very well,
the GM can decide the character has as automatic success. The purpose
of this rule is to encourage the players to com up with good
descriptions and good storytelling. This means descriptions that fit
to the character, the situation and the mood and theme of the
campaign. The GM can use this rule as much or as little as he/she
sees fit.
4 Situation Uncertain
How could it
have come to this? Even the GM doesn't know what will happen. The way
to solve the conflict is to first add up a suitable BT with a
suitable GT. If there is no suitable GT the GM decides a default
value to be used based on the concept of the object. The value we now
have is modified with the chances the object has at succeeding. Next
we subtract a random number (2d6) from the
total to represent all the millions of little details the players and the GM do not
bother to figure out otherwise. This final result is compared to
zero, numbers bigger than zero are a good thing, number less than
zero are a bad thing. Now how did it go again?:
BT + GT (or a standard value determined by concept), and
-9 for Terrible chances
-6 for Bad chances
-3 for Poor chances
+0 for Moderate chances
+3 for Fair chances
+6 for Good chances
+9 for Great chances, and
-2d6 equals:
-9 Terrible outcome
-6 Bad outcome
-3 Poor outcome
+0 Moderate outcome
+3 Fair outcome
+6 Good outcome
+9 Great outcome
5 The GM always determines the
chances.
The chances used can be any
number the GM sees fit. The examples above are only, well, examples.
The chances can even be +3,14 or something, if that extra bit of
detail makes people happy. When determining the chances the GM can
take notice of as many things as he/she wants to and nothing prevents
the players from shouting out their opinions and views. The greatest
considerations should though be on the level of concepts. The
drawbacks and benefits of BT and GT are already calculated into the
formula, Now you just have to think about how the object compares to
its target. One should also think about the difficulty of the action
itself, regardless of the target. Useful little gadgets, like a laser
sight on a gun, can also better the chances.
6 The GM determines who rolls the
dice
Usually it is the player who rolls if his/her character is
involved in the situation, unless the GM thinks it's better the
player doesn't see the result of the roll. All conflicts are
resolved using just one roll. This is obvious when solving actions
like jumping a chasm or executing a vehicular stunt, situations like
this only involve the character taking the action. When the action
has an actively opposing target, though, you still roll just one
roll. The object opposing the action is taken into account when
determining the chances of the action. It's usually easy to figure
out which object is taking the action and which is the opposing one,
but when in doubt, the more important character (often a PC) gets to
roll.
1 Initiative (who goes first) is solved as a conflict
The
first conflict of any longer "combat" is initiative, or who
goes first. Everybody solves their initiative with suitable BT, GT
and chances. Who gets the largest result goes first. The GM doesn't
of course have to roll for all NPCs. It's nice to take notice
of whether the initiative is positive or
negative when describing how the action gets started. The initiative
is rolled only once per fight. If more than one object gets the same
initiative score you can resolve the situation first by comparing the
GT used, if still tied then by comparing the BT used. If still tied,
they act precisely at the same time.
2 The turns take place overlapping
each other
Even though the players describe their actions in
turns, the fight itself happens in "real time". The GM is
the final judge on timing, but he should listen to the players. "An
action" can be anything you come up with. An action that fits
the character and situation at hand is more likely to succeed than a
vaguely described action. That's why it's good for the GM to
talk about the theme and feel of the game with the player before and
during the game. Different "turns" take different amounts
of time, so the order of turns can change during battle. For example,
if an object waits for another one to react to it's actions, the
waiter's turn will then begin at the exact same moment as the
target's, as if they had had even initiative scores. All timing is
the GM's responsibility, a good tool is common sense. It is still
expected that the players, too, give dramatic and thematically
correct, but most of all fair and honest help. A well told and
interesting story is for the benefit of all. The players should trust
the GM enough to be able to work together with him even when their
characters are in peril.
3 A positive score means the attacker
"hits" the target
Every attack is resolved as one
conflict with the attacker being the active one. If the conflict has
a positive result, the attacker "hits" his target. A very
unsuccessful attack could hit a friend. When you get a "hit"
it's good to remember what it was you tried to do. A hit to the head
it different from a hit to the leg, even if both got a result of +3,
for example. On the other hand, the chances of hitting the head and
hitting the leg are different. The attack doesn't have to be about
hurting people at all, the "hit" is a symbolic term here.
4 "Dodging" is handled by
by making the attack more difficult
The attacks are not actively
dodged or evaded, the GM determines in the chances how difficult the
target is to hit. Other things should also be taken notice of, like
hit location and so on. The difficulty of the shot affects the
chances, but the dangerousness of the attack affects only damage, not
chances of hitting.
5 Damage is solved like a conflict
otherwise, but with the following changes to the formula:
The
Chances are replaced with the dangerousness of the attack
(the GM
decides, a bullet is more dangerous than a fist etc)
The "-2d6"
is replaced with "-result of the attacker's roll"
(no
dice are rolled during damage calculation, remember to
subtract the attackers result)
The result is added to the
Status of the object
(ignore results greater than zero, adding a
negative number = subtracting)
Do not despair, there is an example of all this in the examples section, its not difficult, I just explain it badly ;)
Note that while changes occur only in step four of the conflict rules, damage is still otherwise determined exactly like any other conflict. For example step one, a solution needed by the story, is still step one, ie. the most important step. The dangerousness of damage types is based on the concept of the object being damaged. A bullet is more dangerous to a man than to a ship. In damage resolution, too, BT and GT are already included in the formula, so the dangerousness is based on the concept. Possible bodyarmor affects the dangerousness of the attack. The BT+GT are those of the target, not the attacker. The attacker is taken into account in the margin of attack success.
1 Basic Change
The structure of the object changes:
A
character gets technological/magical augmentations, a ship gets a new
engine.
The object loses structural parts:
A character loses a
hand, a ship loses a mast.
Basic changes can alter both BT and GT.
2 Changes in equipment
"Equipment"
separate of the object (directly related to a GT) change:
A ship
gets a new captain, an organization gets a
new "marketing department sales representative".
Equipment
is missing(GT=0):
The captain of a ship dies, an
organization has no marketing department.
Only affects GT. Remember that when dealing with characters, the equipment used affects the chances, not the GT. For example, a "Very skilled hacker" is still very skilled, even if he doesn't have a computer to use at the moment (use step two of conflicts, "superiority". The defenses of the computer system are infinitely superior to the intruder if he doesn't even have a computer). Also, when your character gets a cybernetic eye, this would improve his shooting GT, because of the better aim, but if he gets a new better gun, he's GT doesn't change, he just has better chances of hitting targets because of beneficial circumstances (having a better gun).
3 Setting and reaching objectives
You
set an objective or a goal (object creation step seven) the character
tries to reach. ("I want to be a better swordsman", for
example.)
Next you achieve this objective or goal inside the game.
(After a long search the character finds a master who can teach him.)
Only affects GT, only usable for "characters". This method of improvement should be used the most, especially if the game is a "traditional" character driven game. This system is an alternative for the experience point system used in most RPGs.
I clearly point out here that the "soul" of this system
is not my original work. This system is heavily based on Mnemonic, a free system created by Alpha-Zulu Games. You can find mnemonic from the Alpha-Zulu Games net site.
The
other system from which I have borrowed material is ARC.
It is published under Open Content License and
I have used material from ARC
according to the license.
Other systems
worth noting as philosophical support: Heritage, Risus, The Pool,
Plain English Role Playing
All systems mentioned above should be listed at John H. Kim's Role-Playing Game Page, the best RPG site of the net.