I want to try out a free roleplay system I found that I think would work really well on a forum like this. I'll post enemy CSs and, assuming that no one meta games with it or cheats by rolling until things go like they want, you can roll for both sides. I'll declare what they want to do at the beginning of each round and you can write out how it went for them.
Basic rules of the system:
1) Rolls are three dice + number of dice in a skill or proficiency. For combat rolls you also add your stat points. For skills you also add the stat it's based on. 4,5,and 6 are successes, 1,2, and 3 are fails. If you get more success than your opponent you win that round, if you get more successes than the challenge level then you win a skill check.
2) Skills can be assisted with up to one other skill or vocation. This is narrative based, so it has to make sense with what you are doing. Ex: Your character rolls to get behind cover. This could assist a stealth or dodge roll by using acrobatics or a gymnast vocation.
3) Destiny points can be used to add an extra success to any roll that helps you meet your destiny/goals. This includes surviving, as everyone needs to survive to fulfill their goals. You earn destiny points my moving closer to your ultimate goal, at GM discretion.
4) Commerce points are a simplified money system. Roughly speaking, one point means you have a modern $10 worth of purchasing power, 2 means you have $100, etc, with each level 10x larger than the one before. If you buy something worth all of your points, your number of points goes down by 2. If you purchase something worth 1 below the number of points, it goes down by 1. Things that cost less than that don't effect it unless you buy a lot of them. ex: a rich character buying a sword wouldn't lose any, but if he bought enough for the army, it would.
5) Injuries take their value in dice off of combat rolls. You get them by rolling fewer successes than your opponent in combat. A level 1 is a minor wound, a level two is serious, a level 3 will be fatal if not treated in an hour of so, a level 4 is fatal if not treated within minutes, and a level 5 is instantly fatal. You can use you strength to ignore damage when it's taken at 1 point per level of injury (say to step down the severity of an injury), but only up to a total of your strength.
6) Zero points in a stat is average, one point in a stat is professional level, two points is Olympic/elite level. You can take a -1 in a stat if you want to be below average and use that point in another stat. Stats are limited to 2 unless there is an in universe reason (magic, tech, mutation, cybernetics, drugs, etc) for it to go beyond that.
7) Rolling for a disabling characteristic (d20) will get you 2 extra points to put in skills, vocations, or proficiencies (combat skills), but you can choose them for 1 extra point.
8) Sometimes I'll roll a "destiny die" to randomize events, with 11-20 being in the characters favor and 1-10 being bad for them. 1 is the worst that can happen, 20 is the best. I might also use this to move through situations faster if the players don't mind (ex: watching a battle unfold).
Now for the RP Idea.
We are pirates living in the Northern islands between the Old Kingdom and the New Lands. The King of the Old Kingdom is corrupt, and oppresses his subjects. The people of the New Lands fled from his rule, but he has followed and is demanding taxes. Most of the territories in the New Lands refuse to pay, which causes serious problems between the King's men stationed in those territories and the people that live there.
We make our living hitting the King's ships as they sail East to the New Lands. We then sale what we don't need to the people in the New Lands. We are not exactly evil pirates, and will let them go if they meet our demands, but we're not above killing the kings men if they don't hand over their goods. After all, they work for a man that does worse to his own people. They don't really deserve better treatment.
Magic exists, but only nobles may legally be mages and only clerics and paladins of the official religion may legally use holy magic.
We will be ashore at a city in the New Lands when the RP starts, and we get a message from a prominent merchant in the area saying that he wants to hire us.
Basic rules of the system:
1) Rolls are three dice + number of dice in a skill or proficiency. For combat rolls you also add your stat points. For skills you also add the stat it's based on. 4,5,and 6 are successes, 1,2, and 3 are fails. If you get more success than your opponent you win that round, if you get more successes than the challenge level then you win a skill check.
2) Skills can be assisted with up to one other skill or vocation. This is narrative based, so it has to make sense with what you are doing. Ex: Your character rolls to get behind cover. This could assist a stealth or dodge roll by using acrobatics or a gymnast vocation.
3) Destiny points can be used to add an extra success to any roll that helps you meet your destiny/goals. This includes surviving, as everyone needs to survive to fulfill their goals. You earn destiny points my moving closer to your ultimate goal, at GM discretion.
4) Commerce points are a simplified money system. Roughly speaking, one point means you have a modern $10 worth of purchasing power, 2 means you have $100, etc, with each level 10x larger than the one before. If you buy something worth all of your points, your number of points goes down by 2. If you purchase something worth 1 below the number of points, it goes down by 1. Things that cost less than that don't effect it unless you buy a lot of them. ex: a rich character buying a sword wouldn't lose any, but if he bought enough for the army, it would.
5) Injuries take their value in dice off of combat rolls. You get them by rolling fewer successes than your opponent in combat. A level 1 is a minor wound, a level two is serious, a level 3 will be fatal if not treated in an hour of so, a level 4 is fatal if not treated within minutes, and a level 5 is instantly fatal. You can use you strength to ignore damage when it's taken at 1 point per level of injury (say to step down the severity of an injury), but only up to a total of your strength.
6) Zero points in a stat is average, one point in a stat is professional level, two points is Olympic/elite level. You can take a -1 in a stat if you want to be below average and use that point in another stat. Stats are limited to 2 unless there is an in universe reason (magic, tech, mutation, cybernetics, drugs, etc) for it to go beyond that.
7) Rolling for a disabling characteristic (d20) will get you 2 extra points to put in skills, vocations, or proficiencies (combat skills), but you can choose them for 1 extra point.
8) Sometimes I'll roll a "destiny die" to randomize events, with 11-20 being in the characters favor and 1-10 being bad for them. 1 is the worst that can happen, 20 is the best. I might also use this to move through situations faster if the players don't mind (ex: watching a battle unfold).
Now for the RP Idea.
We are pirates living in the Northern islands between the Old Kingdom and the New Lands. The King of the Old Kingdom is corrupt, and oppresses his subjects. The people of the New Lands fled from his rule, but he has followed and is demanding taxes. Most of the territories in the New Lands refuse to pay, which causes serious problems between the King's men stationed in those territories and the people that live there.
We make our living hitting the King's ships as they sail East to the New Lands. We then sale what we don't need to the people in the New Lands. We are not exactly evil pirates, and will let them go if they meet our demands, but we're not above killing the kings men if they don't hand over their goods. After all, they work for a man that does worse to his own people. They don't really deserve better treatment.
Magic exists, but only nobles may legally be mages and only clerics and paladins of the official religion may legally use holy magic.
We will be ashore at a city in the New Lands when the RP starts, and we get a message from a prominent merchant in the area saying that he wants to hire us.