What's on Your Quest List?

In my continuing efforts to break up the monotony of the D&D 40th Anniversary Blog Hop Challenge series of posts, I am taking a look at some products that I wish I had gotten over the years.  I was originally going to post about a free OSR support magazine but that will come later in the week.

It has been my experience that if you have been involved in this hobby - or any hobby for that matter - for a time then there are products you did not get when they were available for some reason and now you wished that you had added them to your collection.  Maybe one of your friends had the game and you were not worried about your own copy?  Your friend now lives three states away and it will not be so easy to borrow now.  Maybe you had a copy and sold it?  The game is now out of print and you can not find a copy. Whatever the reason may be, we all have an item, or even a list of items, that we would like to have if the opportunity presented itself.  I have a list of items presented below with a few notes added.

Chivalry & Sorcery 1st or 2nd edition

I knew about C&S being "like D&D but more like real medieval society" and was interested but I did not buy any products until the third edition.  I was intrigued by the ideas presented in the rules but I was not very fond of way they were presented.  The weird fonts used in some areas made headings hard to read and there were LOTS of errors in the text.  I sold it in irritation.  I am still interested in either original or second edition C&S for no other reasons than to see how well it captures a more realistic medieval flavor and to do some comparing and contrasting with Adventures in Fantasy.

Everway

I was intrigued by the notion of not only going with a game system built around cards instead of dice but the fact that the cards were similar to tarot cards instead of traditional playing cards.  I only every saw it in the store twice and I already had other products in hand to buy.  I have not yet found it at a reasonable price.

Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game original edition

This was the first game that came along that made us put away our AD&D game for a while and play it instead.  I know Palladium has its fair share of detractors but this is a different game than the beast that RIFTS has become with all of the changes to the rules.  It uses an earlier form of the Megaversal system that is much easier to handle and we had a blast with this game.  There were many more character classes than AD&D, there were insanity rules, nice little touches like the pictures of coins from various nations, and a score of other cool stuff.  I do not know the difference between this edition and the revised edition pdf offered on drivethrurpg but I just might take a chance.

Powers & Perils

I remember seeing this in the old hobby shop for a long time but I never got around to buying it.  I probably picked it up 20 times or more.  I have seen the website and looked at the rules; I would just like them in the original printed and boxed form.  Since realizing all these years later that Powers & Perils was designed by the co-author of Adventures in Fantasy makes me even more interested in owning this game.

That is probably the "big four" on my list.  I have excluded some games - Fantasy Earth and Pelicar - that I want but have since discovered they are cheaply available from online retailers. What is on your list?  Can you tell me anything about the games on my list?  Got something you want to sell? ;-) 

  

    

Hakkenslash - The Simple RPG System

I know that a 2D6 fantasy role-playing game seems to be a fairly popular idea at some of the forums I frequent.  If you are interested in that sort of thing, there is the Hakkenslash RPG Google+ Community.  If you are interested in play testing I am sure that S.D. Houston would appreciate all the feedback he can get.   

State of the Blog...

It has been almost two weeks since I last posted.  Work has been pretty hectic with extra hours and extra days recently but it always picks up during the winter in the bus industry.  I am just thankful that I have one of the “easier” jobs instead of the back breaking labor that others are doing all day.  We are on holiday leave until Jan 6^th so I plan on getting back to regular posting.  In an effort to do some catching up, here are some snapshot thoughts on various subjects.

Posts & Traffic

My last post was the 300^th post to this blog and there have been almost 45,000 page views since the start.  I know some of the traffic is the result of random search results but there are others that could be considered faithful readers and I appreciate it.  Thank you all for stopping by and also for commenting when the mood hits.  Even if we disagree, I enjoy reading the other viewpoints and experiences.

A Look Back

Starting this blog was a random thing for me.  I have always enjoyed writing but it isn’t always easy for me.  Once I get started it seems like words flow pretty easy but getting started is definitely the hardest part for me.  It often feels like I drag the words out while they are holding on kicking and screaming the whole way.  If I can keep up the writing it is much easier but if I go weeks on end then it becomes difficult again.  I would assume that – like any skill – you have to exercise it to keep it up to snuff.

The Way Ahead

I began blogging with real no plan in place.  I just started posting about Adventures in Fantasy and went off in other directions for the content of other posts.  While random ideas and concepts served me well for some time, there is something to be said for having a plan with a goal in sight.  I am going to try to get back on track with committed posts planned out – not sure of the frequency – to eliminate the mostly random nature of my blog posts.   

Adventures in Fantasy

I started this blog by examining Arneson’s Adventures in Fantasy game.  I got sidetracked and I still owe any interested readers the final post or two for this game.  I stated the same thing earlier this year and have yet to fulfill that goal.  I am making a commitment to complete that series of posts before the end of January 2014. I also have other resources for this game that I would like to make available – reference sheets and a character sheet, specifically. I have even tossed around the idea of making a game in reaction to Adventures in Fantasy similar to the way that Tunnels & Trolls was written largely as a reaction to D&D.

Perilous Journeys & SteamCraft

I am a fan of both of these games from Perilous Journeys Publishing.  I converse with the author on a pretty regular basis.  I am hammering out some fan support for both of these games and will post them on my blog in the coming months. 

The OSR

I am a fan of the movement and I definitely appreciate their efforts.  The professionally published games I have really been drawn to lately are Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and Swords & Wizardry Complete; I plan on putting up some resources for both of these systems in the coming months.  Those two games really show both ends of the clone spectrum as far as I am concerned – one is closer to “by the book” and the other is closer to “by the spirit” – and I will probably hold off on purchasing any more of these types of games unless something really knocks me off my feet. 

That does not mean I am not interested in other clone games.  I really need to take a closer look at Raven Crowking’s work and I would be really interested in seeing a full blown game by Venger Satanis after seeing some of his other work and through conversations we have had.  I am also currently working on a Toldara sourcebook for the Back to the Dungeon RPG by Eldrad Wolfsbane.  For the most part, however, I believe there are probably enough of the core retro-clone systems available at this point.  I hope the movement starts spawning more supplementary material, more speculative material, and more neo-clone material.

D&D Next

I saw earlier that D&D Next will be released in 2014.  I will definitely do the cheapest buy in possible to check out the final design.  I am interested but I am also a little standoffish about the final product.  I am not confident in their “one system to unite all D&D fans” goal and I am pretty skeptical about how this will work in application.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out next year.  I am sure that it will sell like crazy initially and will most likely knock Pathfinder off the top spot for a short while.  Let’s see what happens after the hype dies down…

Other Games

Now, more than ever, I am curious about breaking out and playing other games.  I want to see how USR handles in actual play.  I am also interested in breaking out my copy of RIFTS and giving it another go.  After reading the game reports from Venger Satanis I am really interested in picking up the Vampire:the Masquerade 20^th Anniversary edition because I missed the original wave of popularity and I have become increasingly interested in the game over the years.  Unfortunately, most of my gaming experience these days is purely academic.  It is rather difficult at times to coordinate schedules to get people together and my wife works on the weekends at night so online gaming can be a real challenge with two young children at home; my 7 year old is autistic and that can be demanding at times.  Please, don’t forget about me when sending the Google+ Hangout game invitations because one of these days I am going to make it!

Board Games

I do not have a tremendous amount of experience with board gaming; I enjoy RISK and Axis & Allies.  Even though I have relatively little experience with board gaming, I do have some concepts for board games that I am working on with other bloggers.  Progress is going to be slow and there is a high probability that neither will ever get completed.  As much as the idea intrigues me, I am falling short on expanding ideas.  I have learned that when it comes to board games I can come up with concepts and ideas for the game but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts design there is something not clicking.

The End

That should just about cover it for now.  I am curious to see what the next year brings to the blogosphere.  I enjoy reading your posts and I hope to continue to produce more “good” than “bad” posts.  I know not every post is going to be gold and that is fine with me.  It is beneficial to get the clutter out of my head so I can move on to writing the next post.  I have put you through enough of my rambling and now it is time to post this so I can catch up on some of blog reading…

Perilous Journeys Character Creation Reference

Just a little document I whipped up for Perilous Journeys that collects various bits of character creation information in one spot. The information presented below is also available as a downloadable document at this location here.

Character Creation Reference

Standard Method

Race	Points	Health	Agility	Mind	Speed
Human	185	40-90	20-60	35-60	35-55
Dryad	200	45-90	25-60	45-65	40-55
Dwarf	190	50-95	25-60	35-55	30-50
Elf	200	40-80	35-65	45-65	40-60
Fomorian	185	50-90	30-60	35-55	30-45
Gnome	190	40-90	30-60	35-60	35-50
Lurikeen	200	40-75	40-65	40-65	45-70
Wild Elves	195	40-80	40-70	35-60	40-65

   

Optional Method

Race	Points	Health	Agility	Mind	Speed
Human	160	1d20	1d10	1d10	1d12
Dryad	160	2d12	1d10+4	1d10	1d10+2
Dwarf	160	3d6+6	1d10	1d8	1d8
Elf	160	2d12+2	1d10+4	1d12	2d6
Fomorian	160	3d6+2	2d8	2d6	1d10
Gnome	160	2d8	3d6	2d6	1d12
Lurikeen	160	2d6+2	1d12+2	1d10+4	1d12+2
Wild Elves	160	1d12	2d10+2	1d8	1d6+1

Abilities

Race	Excluded	Restricted
Human	None	None
Dryad	Psionics, Theurgy	Commerce, Games, Marining, Metallurgy, & Streetwise
Dwarf	Chivalry, Psionics	Ranging, Survivalist, & Marining
Elf	None	Commerce, Evaluation, Mechanics, Metallurgy, Planning, & Streetwise
Fomorian	Psionics, Theurgy	Commerce, Necromancy, Scholarship, & Sorcery
Gnome	Chivalry, Psionics	Marining, Minstrelsy, Ranging, Survivalist, & Improvised Fighting
Lurikeen	Chivalry, Psionics	Commerce, Mechanics, Metallurgy, Planning, Pastoral, & Marining
Wild Elves	None	Arcanum, Chivalry, Commerce, Marining, Mechanics, Metallurgy, & Streetwise

FedEx Came By Yesterday...

I had the pdf copy for quite some time but I finally got a printed book!

I am off to do some reading...

Steampunk Role-Playing Games [Reposted & Updated]

This post is an updated version of my original post that can be found here if you want to read it.  The original post was a little bit of an experiment with using Google+ comments; it was not all terrible but I prefer not to force those wishing to comment to sign up for yet another service so I scrapped it.  There were some interesting comments made on that post by Studio Arkhein of Rather Gamey and Jamie Hardy of Perilous Journeys Publishing; I believe Studio Arkhein mentioned Space: 1889 - I completely forgot this game - and then Jamie listed several other steampunk games.  This is an attempt to provide the information they added without using Google+ comments.  Any new information in the post will be done in italics.  Any omission or oversight on the information is purely mine.
   
Steampunk week is now officially over with this post about various role-playing games in the steampunk genre.  This is not an attempt to be an exhaustive list but just a listing of links for information about some of the steampunk role-playing games I am aware of.

Abney Park’s Airship Pirates  (mentioned by Jamie Hardy)
Airship Pirates is a line of RPG and board game products based on the songs of Abney Park.  Information can be found at the Airship Pirates web page. 

Broken Gears (accidently omitted on original post by me)
Broken Gears is a free downloadable game of animistic steampunk.  The pdf and information are both available at the Broken Gears web page.
 

Castle Falkenstein

Castle Falkenstein was published in 1994 and I believe it is the oldest well-known steampunk rpg.  If someone knows differently, please let me know about other steampunk rpgs published before this one.  Castle Falkstein is set in New Europa during the 1870s and there are vast changes in the world such as the existence of mythical beasts, faerie races, and magic just to name a few.  I was able to find the Castle Falkenstein entry on Wikipedia that also mentioned a GURPS version but I kept getting error messages for all of the pages I found related to R. Talsorian.  Does anybody else have any information?

 

Jamie Hardy added: This is probably a neglected classic of steampunk because it is certainly way  more steampunk than Space 1889 which is better known.  It came out in 1993 and the setting is New Europa.  New Europa is Europe in a parallel world.  The setting is told through the perspective of Tom who was a game designer that through the use of magic at Castle Falkenstein was teleported to New Europa.  Castle Falkenstein is at the center of where parallel worlds connect.   

The setting mixes high fantasy, swashbuckling pulp, and steampunk items.  If you are looking for actual punk in your steampunk, this is not it.  You are mostly involved in court intrigue, toppling governments, stopping assassins, etc.  The focus is primarily on Continental Europe instead of the English speaking world. The setting info gets repetitious at the start and repeats the same general idea over and over, often using the same words.  It describes itself as a cross between Lord of the Rings, Jules Verne, Sherlock Holmes, and Grimm Fairytales. The artwork and storyline place the focus mostly on high flying adventures and  combating sorcery.  Magic comes off as the focus instead of steam, although there are fantastical items and the author probably intended that steam be a major focus.   

There are non-humans, I believe that are all called Faeries.  There is a Sellie and Unsellie Court.  Most of the action, as I said is continental Europe.  Imagine Europe in the 18th Century with battles between France, Prussia, Austria, Ottoman Empire, and the U.K.  Then add on magic and sorcerers that intervene.  Then add on steampunk technology.  Now, instead of dealing with the UK and its Empire, you focuses on central Europe where all of the countries are dealing with warfare with each other.  With that said, there is a supplement dealing with the Wild West called Six Guns and Sorcery.   
The mechanics use cards instead of dice.  Overall I would say it was both ahead and behind the times.  The production value, even for 1993 seems lacking.  The color art does not really give you any type of feel for the technology aspect of things.  Card mechanics seem more of a novelty than good game design, or at least design that people want which is why almost no game uses cards.  However, it is ahead of the time in bringing steampunk gadgets and technological innovations to the forefront.  An aesthetic change to contemporary steampunk looks, adding a dice system, and putting out a second edition 3 years ago would probably have made this the dominant steampunk game instead of an interesting relic.
     

Eberron
Eberron is not a stand-alone game but a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons.  Eberron was the winning design by Keith Baker in the fantasy setting search done by Wizards of the Coast back in 2002.  Eberron is notable for combining traditional fantasy with magically powered non-traditional fantasy elements such as mechanical beings and skyships.  Eberron began under the 3E version of the D&D rules and has been updated for 4E.  More information can be found on the Eberron page at WoTC or the Eberron article at Wikipedia.

Jamie Hardy: I see this more as fantasy than steampunk, but I am more restrictive on steampunk than popular culture is.  
   

Iron Kingdoms
Iron Kingdoms was originally published by Privateer Press in 2004 under the d20 System.  They released a new version in 2012 that changed the rules to a d6 based system that was much closer to their miniature games Warmachine and Hordes.  Although the Wikipedia entry for Iron Kingdoms does provide some general information, anyone interested should really check out the details at the Privateer Press page for the game.

Jamie Hardy: This is a fantasy rpg, but if you count Eberron, then you should count this as well.
 

Lady Blackbird
Lady Blackbird seemed to generate a decent amount of buzz several years ago.  If I remember correctly, it was an entry in the 24 hour rpg contest one year;  of course, I may be mistaken.  Does anyone reading this know for sure?  Lady Blackbird is set apart by the fact that is basically a steampunk game in a condensed form - there is very little prep time because the game comes with pregenerated characters, setting information, and a starting situation that will provide the details necessary for one or several sessions of play.  Lady Blackbird is available for download at the One Seven Design home page.

Leagues of Adventure (mentioned by Jamie Hardy)
Leagues of Adventure is pulp instead of punk, but since a lot of Steampunk is defined
on aesthetics this might count.  More information can be found at the page on Triple Ace Games web site.   
 

Machinations (accidently omitted from original post by me)
Machinations is a free to download one page game with 4 one page supplements.  Machinations and the supplements can be downloaded at Gawd 'Elp Us Games.

Pax Britannica
Pax Britannica is a pen & paper steampunk rpg set in a world described on the website as "an alternate present in which faeries are real, alchemists transmute lead into gold, the world runs on steam power and the sun never sets on the British Empire".  If this sounds like an interesting setup to you, there is more information available - including the game as a free download - at Pax Britannica RPG.  It seems that they are updating the rulebook but the progress has not been updated in some time.

Space: 1889 (mentioned by freddyboomboom, Jamie Hardy, &Studio Arkhein)
Space 1889 was actually the first well known steampunk rpg; it was published from 1988 to 1991.  More detailed information can be found at the Wikipedia entry.  There is also much more information at http://space1889.org/.  Apparently, Heliograph did some reprints in the 2000 - 2001 area and information can be found at Heliograph's Space 1889 Resource Site. Finally, there is a kickstarter going on right now to get Space: 1889 reprinted and it has raised just over 3 times the amount they were seeking.  Interested parties should go read the Space: 1889 Kickstarter page. 
 

SteamCraft
SteamCraft is the latest offering from Perilous Journeys Publishing and is the only steampunk game that I own.  The SteamCraft page on their web page describes the setting as "a universe that mixes the scientific wonder of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells with elements of gritty, futuristic cyberpunk...a world inspired by a 19th century Earth...where both the industrial and informational revolutions occur at the same time.".  The book is well made and is all you need to play the game.  There is a wealth of world information on nations, religions, events, etc. without the reader being overwhelmed.  SteamCraft is available in pdf or print form and there is a free GM screen available.  An expansion is planned for later in the year.  I regularly talk with the author of the game and have probably bogged him down with all sorts of silly questions related to the business side of gaming but he always answers pretty quickly and eagerly.  SteamCraft is also supported by a message board on their site and I am a regular poster at those boards.

Steampunkfitters
Steampunkfitters is described as "steampunk your way" on their blog which has been  active since late 2011.  The game is available for download and there are updates to the rules in the blog posts.  The art is appropriate but definitely has an "indie feel" or "indie look" to the illustrations on the blog.  I have downloaded the rules but I have yet to give them a thorough read through.

Tephra
Tephra is the result of a hugely successful kickstarter campaign done by Cracked Monocle.  Their home page is full of information related to the game.  I do not own the game so I can not give any thoughts on the system or world but there was a recent post at Rather Gamey that does a fine job detailing the poster's personal experience with Tephra.  Please, read his post because I got nothing over here but a link to the designers.

Jamie Hardy added: Tephra has its fans, but people should really look more into the system besides the d12 as well as the setting.  You can read about the combat system and some of the mechanics here:
 < http://atoolongurl.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-tephra-steampunk-roleplaying-game.html>  

If you want to read about the setting you can check out this review:
< http://steampunkchronicle.com/ArticleView/tabid/238/ArticleId/289/Playing-in-the-Clockwork-World-of-Tephra.aspx
>  

I would like to note that the last review indicates that Tephra has fantasy elements.  The creators do not believe this to be the case.  The non-human races are mutants that have something to do with I guess some type of contamination from toxic waste, or bombs or something like that.  There is no magic in the world.  In other words, while there are fantasy trappings, they really do not think of the game as fantasy and have rejected things like magic.   

One final note for those interested in purchasing the game.  The game was funded in February of 2012.  They have yet to fulfill all of their kickstarter rewards. You can see this for yourself in the comments section of their kickstarter page.  They still owe most of their international backers books.  The indication from the October update is that they do not have the money to send the books out.  Further, they are still obligated to produce another book which seemingly they do not have the money.   

This places consumers in a quandary.  Do you purchase the game and help them out so that they can get the books to their backers?  Or do you not want to support people who cannot meet their kickstarter rewards after 18 months and yet still spend money to travel to conventions to promote the game?  I can see people going either way on that.  Helping people out who are in over their heads, or
wanting to stay away from them.  Since people not fulfilling their KS rewards is an issue among gamers, this is something people should be aware of. 
  
Uber RPG: Steampunk (accidentally omitted from original post by me)
The tagline for Uber RPG: Steampunk is "welcome to a world of mad, inspirational wonders and wild scientific theory wrapped in fog, run by gears, and lit by gaslight".  If that catches your interest, then you need to visit the Uber RPG: Steampunk web page; it was down for maintenance earlier but you can also get more information at the Amazon listing.

Victoriana (3rd Edition) (mentioned by Jamie Hardy)
Victoriana is currently in the third edition of the rules.  The first two versions were Victorian and not so much steampunk, but the third edition in tone, layout, art, and tweaks to the game world has jumped on the steampunk bandwagon.  I think seeing the success of other steampunk rpgs they have decided to push that angle.  The last couple of  supplements for 2E were about convincing people that the game was steampunk. The fantastical creations, however, still rely on magic to make them work as in the previous 2 editions.  More information can be found on the Cubicle 7 web page.   

Wolsung (mentioned by Jamie Hardy)
Wolsung describes itself as Steam Pulp.  It is a Polish game that was translated and brought to the US.  I read that is has 100 pages of character creation, but I haven't seen it in a game store to verify that.  More information is available at their web page.  You can get a free test drive of the rules and world tour of the setting pdf from their site.     

 

Well, that is it for the listing of steampunk role-playing games.  Of course, with any list such as this there is a possibility of overlap or omission so if anyone has any additional thoughts or would like to correct something then please do so in the comments. 

The list of steampunk role-playing games is much more complete now.  I would like one more round of feedback from anyone reading this. 

Is any of the information above just completely wrong?

Are there any games I should have included?

Are there any games that I should NOT have included?

 

OPUS: One Page Universal System

In my wanderings on the old internet, I ran across the OPUS role-playing system.  It is supposed to print out with rules on one side of the paper and the character on the other.  It looks pretty smooth and adaptable to me.  For those interested in a quick playing, easy going go then I would suggest taking a look at it.  If you are interested, there is also a yahoo group focused on the game.

2D6: Class, Role, etc.

After a player selects the race of their character and generates the attribute ratings, the next step in the character creation process is the selection of character class or role.  In my 2D6 system, this class or role will basically be a bundled together group of talents and a few other options that help to mold the character into a more focused direction.

I am attempting to detail the classes or roles in a manner that does not straight jacket the character into being useful in only limited situations.  Yes, I want the characters to be "better" or "best" in certain situations BUT I also want there to be situations where other classes would better handle the situation so the team aspect is encouraged.  

My initial impression on how the class or role information will be formatted is detailed below.

Name: The name of the class or role followed by a few sentences explaining the functions of that class.

Talents: The bundle of talents that will be the core building blocks of that class or role.

Other: A short list of special abilities, bonuses, and penalties related to characters playing this class or role.  This will include stuff like clerical healing, the ability to detect evil, or other similar abilities.  (This should be where the difficulty columns of the Action Result Table get the most use.  For instance, on a successful roll in the Hard column against knowledge, a mage can decipher a magic scroll.)

I would like a healthy amount of variation among the classes or roles so the players will have plenty of options to choose from.  A few ideas for the list of classes or roles are listed below:

Barbarian: a warrior of the wild that is prone to fly into an uncontrollable rage during combat.

Bard: a traveling minstrel type character desiring fame and fortune.

Cleric: a warrior-priest.

Druid: a nature priest.

Elementalist: a mage that uses the forces of the elements to aid him.

Knight: a noble warrior.

Mage: a worker of arcane magic.

Monk: a spiritual warrior that commonly groups together in a monastery.

Paladin: a holy warrior.

Ranger: a warrior of the woods; typically prefers bows.

Thief: an adventurer typically from the "wrong side of the tracks".

Warrior: a typical sword for hire.

Witch: a misunderstood magic user that is often thought to be evil.

That is just a basic list showing the general idea; not much detail yet and I am sure that much of it will eventually change.  I just needed to get it out there.  Besides, I still have a list of talents to complete.  More later...

A Single D6... (Part 2)

After my earlier post and the comments left by some readers, I had some more thoughts come to mind about  a role-playing game designed around using a D6 for all task resolution during play.  Some of these ideas are mine and some were taken from the comments left on the other post; no worries, I will give credit to any and all who contribute ideas in this continuing brainstorm process.

Inspiration and Concept

The inspiration and concept for this idea came from this comment on my post with the idea of using LEGO Heroica dice in an RPG:

Eldrad Wolfsbane said, "What about an entire RPG based on a single D6? Could it be done?".

After reading the comments on my original post and reading the suggestions made about such a design, I got a few more ideas of my own and decided to move forward with a little more design work on this game.  An additional design goal is for the number 6 to be important to the game in other areas of the game also.  For instance, I want the core rules to be done in 6 pages and all supplemental material to be done in 6 pages also.  I know that goal is limiting but it should make for a fun and interesting design challenge deciding what gets included and what gets removed.

Name
I still have not settled on a decent name for the underlying rules system. Some of the labels I came up with for this project include uno6, single6, unoDie, solo6, just6, and simple6. I am not sure if any of those are near as "cool" as I would like but they do get the point across.  I am probably leaning towards just6 or simple6 but I am still officially undecided.

Format
I am designing the rules with the intent of each rule book being no longer than 6 pages; in fact, if I can ensure that all rules and supplements are exactly 6 pages of content then that would be extra neat.  My plan is to do a core rule book, maybe a supplement of left out or optional material, a fantasy book, fantasy expansions, and then stretch out to other genres.

Core Rules

Since the goal is only 6 pages of rules the focus should be on including only what is essential to the game.  I think it might be best to have a player book and a game master book for the core rules.  I just do not think that character creation, combat, and gm stuff can all be included in just 6 pages.  If I discover otherwise, then I will go with a six page consolidated core rule book.

Characters
I would like character creation to be limited in detail but still offer a little bit of variety.  This is probably not a game system where campaigns could could last years unless advancement was slow.  It would be best to keep the defining aspects of characters to a minimum.  Something like this might work:

races: human only in the core rules.
stats:  Physique (physical power & toughness), Reflexes (balance and dexterity), Intellect (smarts), and Will (mental toughness).
talents: simple and broad skills that might pertain to play of the game
boons: advantages
banes: disadvantages

Task Resolution
Again, Eldrad Wolfsbane suggested doing a tiered set of values to show expertise and strike chances:

Unskilled 1 in 6
Average 1-2 on 6
Skilled 1-3 on 6
Very Skilled 1-4 on 6
Expert 1-5 on 6

Combat
Of course, combat would be handled with rolls of D6 also.  Ideas by Eldrad Wolfsbane include:


1 What you were trying to do goes very wrong.
2 What you were trying to do goes wrong.
3 What you were trying to do barely succeeds.
4 What you were trying to do succeeds.
5 What you were trying to do goes very well.
6 What you were trying to do goes far better than expected.

MODIFIERS

Hand to hand subtract -2
Clubs -1
Blades and Bullets
Large Blades and Bullets +1
Explosions +2

Armor
Light -1
Heavy -2

Agile -1
Very Agile -2

Talent level would also add subtract.
Unskilled -1
Average 0
Skilled +1
Expert +2
Master +3

This version of combat is completely simple BUT it would make the players and enemies think twice about combat.


A few sample enemies

-Town Guard with Spears and Muskets wearing Light -1 Armor.

-Expert +2 Assassins with Two Handed Swords +1 Wearing heavy Armor -2. That would be a total of +3 to hit and -2 to be hit.
Everyone gets six skill points. You may only put 3 in one skill only. After 6 adventures you get 1 point, then after 7 adventures you get another point and so on.

I kinda played with this system above.

Very deadly but kinda fun.

Blood everywhere!

Two normal guys Fed and Barney going at each other with swords both roll the highest get first hit a natural 6 (Fred) and the looser gets a 3 (Barney). Barney dies in a pool of blood as Fred cheers!

One roll to determine to hit, initiative, and damage. Very fast system!

There could be a simple speed modifier that adds to the roll only to determine if the character goes first and not for damage purposes.

Quick +1
Very Quick +2

On the roll above Barney's effective place in the round would have been a 5 if he were Very Quick. Still too slow for Fred's quick hit with a sword.

Armor and Agility BTW subtracts from the attacker's dice roll.

Fantasy Rules
Three races covered in base fantasy rules - dwarf, elf, and half-elf.

A set of classes to include warrior, mage, rogue, and maybe a few others.

Weapon damage would be handled as suggested by the Zenopus Archives:

short weapons 1d6-1
med weapons 1d6
long weapons 1d6+1
two-handed weapons 1d6+2

Other areas that would need detailing for a fantasy version would be monsters, magic, and treasure.


Other Genres
The base stuff could very easily be used for most genres with no problem but then you run into problems such as how do you have firearms all use D6 and all choices still be viable?  That is definitely something to consider.  I would like to maintain the 6 pages of rules - no more or no less - in each rules pamphlet.  You might need several pamphlets for one genre, though.  For example, you might need Fantasy, Magic, and Campaign Setting pamphlets to play in a fantasy setting.  All of them would be 6 pages each so the rules would only total 18 pages for fantasy and 6 for core.


Next?
I am going to try and consolidate all of these ideas together into a coherent set of core rules and maybe some fantasy rules to follow...

I Made Thinker

In the past few days I have had a spike in membership and I would like to thank all of those those have recently joined and those that continue to follow and read this blog.  With my current number of followers at 42, I have moved up to fifth level according to From the Sorcerer's Skull.  I am enjoying the blogosphere tremendously and hope to continue to contribute my little part.  I am basically flying by the seat of my pants on this thing.  There is a little bit of planning - and I do mean very little - to these posts but I do seem to have hit some sort of stride where it is much easier to come up with post topics.  With that being said, I gotta go check out some of YOUR blogs now.