Magic is a force of nature, like the ocean; chaotic and unpredictable. However, the forces of nature, including Magic, can be channeled, by “Lords of Chaos”, or, “Rollers”, as they now call themselves. With their Divine Dice and Avatars, the Rollers wield incredible power. Though they come from all walks of life, and pursue any number of goals, they are also driven to compete among themselves, strive to become as powerful as possible, and be remembered as “High Rollers”!
But, all is not good natured competition; An evil Roller has arisen, so powerful, many other Rollers have aligned themselves with him, in the interest of forming a Roller Empire! For now, they are little more than a criminal syndicate, but are quickly gaining ground…
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The game will actually start in a "real world" setting, where "Dice World" is a popular game! An event, however, will take hold of several people (the player characters) and spirit them away to the world within the game! There, the characters, both experienced and new, imbued with power to truly live out the game, will be forced to embark on a series of adventures to save Dice World, and try to find a way back home!
For now, there's no set limit on characters, just one Avatar per Character, one Character per player. Players can be from the normal world, or natives of Dice World. Players can side with good, or evil, just know that neither of these choices need be permanent, and should make sense for the character. No firearms, to the setting, light presence of machinery, otherwise no rigid template for the world setting and it's aesthetic. Feel free to use your imagination, within reason.
Because the subject matter, especially combat, is meant to be heavily reliant on dice, I'll be handling dice rolls with the dice system, here. It'll be very easy to check that I'm being honest with the results, and of course, within the rules I've made, the players will still make the decisions on what dice to roll, and how to work with the results, but having to do all the rolling myself, you'll need to be patient.
- Be advised, players: I may not have set this at 18+, and the GM is not the players' enemy, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pull any punches. Make of that what you will.
PM me with completed characters only, please.
Initial Build for Rollers and Avatars
Implementing a point buy system; players start with 30 Build Points to distribute between Avatar Characteristics, Special Abilities, and Roller Synergy. The cost of each level is the level itself; so starting a characteristic at 3 would cost 6 build points, for example. 1=1, 2=2, and 3=3, 1+2+3= 6. Special abilities cost 5 build points, each.
The focus should be on building your Avatar, but don't forget to save some points for your Rollers' Synergy. Synergy points cost the same at this stage as Avatar Characteristics.
Leftover Built Points convert into Exp, at a 1:1 ratio.
Rollers Those who have an ability to draw upon magic, and manage to do so, are gifted by the gods with a set of mystical dice that immediately form and appear to them. From that point, regardless of their occupations, they become known as “Rollers”! Rollers can be any age, and come from any background. whoever these gods are, they seem to be gods of chaos. A Rollers’ powers are inseparably bound to and controlled by the dice; whether they compete against each other, or “mere mortals”, they can’t just draw upon their power as they please, but must call up an Avatar that acted on the Rollers’ behalf. Calling forth their Avatar is the only thing they can do without the use of their dice.
Magic in High Rollers Magic is a force of nature, in the world of High Rollers! As such, it’s regarded as that, as well as the source of magic, itself. For this reason, as well, though, Magic is not a structured practice. It’s trainable, but not in any organized capacity; there are no dedicated schools or anything, nor is it compartmentalized- Avatars may be split up by elemental alignment, but Rollers are just Rollers, regardless of element. Example: A Roller with a Flame Avatar is still just called a Roller, not a “Flame Roller”.
Because there is no real structure to Magic, there are no spell lists, so the only real limitation is Element, Environment, Chaos Points, and imagination. A Roller could do virtually anything with their element as a part of working their magic, so long as they can think of it, and put in enough effort via investing enough Chaos Energy. This is the same energy that Avatars use for special attacks and abilities, so while it can be replenished, and has no limit, an Avatar will perform very poorly in a Challenge if their Roller expends it all on work, or leisure.
No structure doesn't mean there aren't some rules, however. There still seems to be some governance based around the natural world; Rollers aligned with Tide struggle in dry places, Flame aligned Rollers can't create fire from thin air, and a Roller that draws their power from Moon are out of luck at Noon. The environment around them is very important, and a diverse player group will not only be important for group play, it will make for interesting dynamics in the group, as their may be tensions, while still depending on each other.
In game, Chaos Points can be earned by the Roller explicitly taking time to absorb it; meditating, or otherwise trying to deliberate take in that energy. There are also more natural ways for Rollers to gain some additional CP, and that comes down to the Players being rewarded for playing in character.
In terms of game mechanics, the players’ Synergy rating controls how much Chaos energy is replenished. At a rating of 1, for example, the player rolls the Chaos Die once per turn spent on it, and regains the result in Chaos Points. At higher levels, that result is multiplied by the Synergy Rating; at level 2, than, the result would be multiplied by 2, before bonuses (only applies to combat).
Synergy, like Avatar Characteristics that can be increased with Experience Points, doesn’t have a cap, but can’t start any higher than 4. Raising it a level cost’s Experience points equal to the new levelx10. So, raising a Rollers’ Synergy Score from level 4 to level 5 would cost 50 Experience. It can only be raised a level at a time, and the cost for each level HAS to be paid, before another level can be purchased.
There’s no cap on how much Chaos a character can have in reserve, but, it spends easier than it regenerates, so use it wisely.
The cost of magical feats from a Roller is up to GM discretion, but Avatar Special Attacks and Abilities will have a fixed cost at start of game, determined during creation. The cost of them will also increase 2 points for every 1 point increased in a relevant Characteristic.
Chaos Points are spent on: - Replenishing an Avatar’s Power Level during a Challenge (one point for each point healed based on the result of the Recover Die)
- Using a Special Ability/Attack
- Using a Rollers’ magical abilities in accordance with their Element (outside of combat)
- Doing more in a turn during a Challenge; adding more dice to the dice pool
Avatars An Avatar usually corresponds to their elemental power and reflect the Roller. Rollers’ dice rolls control how effective their Avatar, or other abilities, are.
Elemental Advantage Avatars that successfully deal damage when they have advantage deal an additional 25% damage (rounded down, where necessary)!
Sun and Moon are very effective against each other, While the mortal elements (Tide, Flame, Wind and Earth) have a cyclical relationship to each other; Tide is more effective against Flame, and so on until you reach the end, where it jumps back- Wind is more effective against Tide. Chaos, the third of the Celestial Elements, tends to be more powerful, like the first two, but, is arguably the most powerful. It’s extremely rare, but, when a Chaos Avatar is challenged, they’ve displayed the ability to work with Multiple Elements! So, not only are Chaos Avatars more powerful for being aligned with a Celestial Element, but potentially also have an advantage via their attacks against Mortal Element aligned Avatars! In terms of mechanics, this means the GM is unlikely to approve a Chaos Avatar, in the first place, without some serious justification.
Avatar Characteristics - Proficiency (Bonus to Action roll) - Potency (Bonus to Burst roll) - Stamina (Bonus to Power Level at start of Challenge) - Favor (Further Bonus to a specific Characteristic, that is not Favor, chosen at character creation) - Prowess (Bonus to Attack/Defense roll) - Medicine (Bonus to Recover roll) - Enlightenment (Bonus to Chaos roll)
Avatar Characteristics and Their Rating These work similar to a Rollers’ Synergy Score; each point in a Characteristic gives a bonus to the corresponding Ability. A score of 1 gives a +1, and so on. Experience Points can be spent to improve them, but at the start of game no Characteristic can be higher than 4. They can only be raised one point at a time, and each level must be paid before raising another. The cost to raise a Characteristic score a level is the new levelx5; so, raising a Characteristic from 2 to 4 would cost 35 Experience (15 for level 3, than 20 for level 4).
Favor is an unusual Characteristic, in that it only affects another Characteristic. That other characteristic must be selected at Character Creation, and only if you are putting points into Favor. A reason to do this, as an example? If you're creating an Avatar that's meant to be particularly proficient at normal physical attacks, putting points into Favor and designating Prowess as the boosted Characteristic is a good way to do that.
Special Abilities Many Avatars have special abilities; some extraordinary aspect to them that can give them a particular advantage, when called upon.
Most have to be explicitly called upon, as per the rules of a Challenge and the system to building the Dice Pool. Some special conditions or effects bypass this, and not all of them are exclusive to attack; some can affect the opponent without doing damage, but making them less effective in the Challenge, some deal damge over time, and same reduce damage! These abilities usually play to an Avatars' strengths, and exaggerate them, so Players should keep that sort of thing in mind when creating abilities, but also consider: Your Avatar doesn't have to have Special Abilities! They're certainly useful, but plenty of strategies can be pursued without them.
Divine Dice
- Action (D20, determines success of a given action) Determines the success of an action. Combat actions are simply a matter of rolling higher than your opponent, either to attack, or defend. Non-combat special abilities and actions are not opposed, but still have a chance to fail, so one must roll a 15 or higher to succeed, with bonuses.
- Burst (Special attack/ability, D12) When used for attack, a Burst Die (with bonuses) translates to damage. When not an attack, or otherwise dealing damage, the affect can vary, but typically succeeds with a successful Action roll AND a Burst roll of 6 or higher (before bonuses)
- Power Level (Health, Percentile) Also known as "D100", this is rolled at the beginning of a Challenge to determine the starting Health of your Avatar.
- Surge (Bonus to a Die roll, D10) Unlike the rest of the Dice, this isn't a numerical effect itself, but effectively, an extra bonus!
- Attack/Defense (Physical Attack/Block, D8) This determines the damage of an attack, or how effectively you defend from one.
- Recover (Healing, D6) The result is the points restored to an Avatars' PL, and the further cost in CP.
- Charge (regenerate Chaos Points D4) The result is the number of CP's restored.
Building Your Dice Pool In a Challenge, the first Action Die and Support Die (Attack or Burst) are free. Any additional Dice added to the Dice Pool cost 2 CP each. The only exceptions are the Surge Die, which costs 4 CP per Die, and the Charge Die, which is free, but limited to 1 per turn, the same as the Recover Die.
How a turn works in a Challenge (A fight between Avatars, and thus Rollers, by extension)
- Determine who goes first; either the challenger chooses, or they roll the Action Die(D20); highest result get’s to choose/go first.
- Each Roller rolls their Power Level Dice (percentile) to determine the Avatars' starting Health (minimum 50)
- On your turn, You have to designate an action/actions. You can either pass, choose to Attack, or use a Special Ability.
If you pass on your turn entirely, you automatically Charge. You can still Defend from your opponents' attack on their turn.
If you're planning to attack, be it normal or special, you can spend Chaos Points to include support dice; that is, at 2 points each, you can add a Surge Die/Dice, a Burst Die/Dice, an additional Attack Die/Dice, a Regeneration Die, or all of the above. The limit is your Chaos Points, mostly, so, try to spend with a strategy.
Your full dice pool has to be decided on prior to rolling, and you cannot add to it once you’ve rolled. Charging is the only Die that doesn't cost CP, BUT, you can only have 1 Charge Die in a turn. Just like non-combat abilities, you need to roll a 15 or higher (with bonuses) on the Action Die. You can only have 1 Regeneration Die in a turn, same as the Charge Die.
- Roll all your dice at once; an Action Die for every other Die being rolled, so depending on how freely you expend your CP, you could be rolling a lot of Dice (good thing we're doing this digitally :P)
- Plan the order of your turn based on the roll results, matching Action Dice with other Die, dependent on which are successes, and which Support Die you want to prioritize happening. Sometimes you'll have to accept a fruitless expenditure of CP, as not all Actions are going to be successes. Prioritize which Support Die make it through this based on what best serves your strategy.
- Resolve the results, and effects, clear your dice, and end your turn.
- On your opponents turn, if they attack, you automatically get a chance to defend. If you choose to defend, roll an Action and Defend Die (the same as Attack). If your Action die rolls higher than the attackers, you successfully defend, and your opposed Defense Die subtracts from the damage they deal to you. To defend against additional attacks, Chaos points have to be spent (1 per die) to defend as many times as necessary.
If the Attackers' Action roll is higher than the Defenders', the latter's Avatar takes the full damage dealt from the attack; better luck next time.
This continues, back and forth, until a Roller submits, or their Avatar is defeated.
(important note: Avatars do become injured over the course of a Challenge, but do not die- they’re immortal, and can be called back easily, just not right away- how soon is random, it’s just never soon enough to be a bad sport and keep the Challenge going indefinitely)
Roller Character Sheet Name: Age: Occupation: Description: Element: Synergy: Synergy Trait: This is an activity that the player can determine at character creation. Leave it blank? it better stay blank, no fudging it when it's convenient. This is an opportunity for additional reward for good roleplay, in addition to Exp. AS described later in the rule book, what does your character do to relax or "recharge"? Chaos Points: (I'll assign random amounts of CP upon approving a character, minimum 50, though) Background: Exp. Earned: Exp. Spent:
Avatar Character Sheet Name: Element: Power Level: Proficiency: Potency: Stamina: Favor: Prowess: Medicine: Enlightenment: Description: Special Abilities: Max 3
just made an adjustment; I had no space for Health on the Avatar character sheet, and corrected that. Also included determining starting health for combat, which was not, previously.
in this case? nobody else choosing one before you do. It sounds like something that shouldn't have to be addressed, and stupid to do so, but in my experience, it absolutely is. To an extent, it's also useful as a "green M+M's" clause for my rp's; thank you for showing me you actually read this.
But, that's the long and short of it; I identified it as rare, thus, not everybody should try to have one. Knowing that string of logic is somehow not universal, though, I made it clear I don't want to deal with that.
That is as "unsalty" as I can be about it and still answer the question without breaking some rules about my own conduct, here.
ok, got some play-testing done on my combat system, seems pretty solid, just a couple tweeks necessary, which I'm making directly to the rule book in the OP. I recommend those who want to seem like they already have a solid grasp on it? contact me for some practice, if that ends up being everybody, well, someone will have to roleplay being the "Joey Wheeler" of the group and pretend they don't know anything :P
Come one, there's always one, at least, in these plots :P
in this case? nobody else choosing one before you do. It sounds like something that shouldn't have to be addressed, and stupid to do so, but in my experience, it absolutely is. To an extent, it's also useful as a "green M+M's" clause for my rp's; thank you for showing me you actually read this.
But, that's the long and short of it; I identified it as rare, thus, not everybody should try to have one. Knowing that string of logic is somehow not universal, though, I made it clear I don't want to deal with that.
That is as "unsalty" as I can be about it and still answer the question without breaking some rules about my own conduct, here.
Anyway, posting the test Avatars that were used in the combat testing done yesterday. There have been multiple questions about examples, for clarification, so, here they are.
Name: Hydroid Element: Tide Proficiency: 1 Potency: 2 Stamina: 2 Favor: 1 Prowess: 2 Medicine: 1 Enlightenment: 1 Description: A green polywog, the size of a small bear, eyes like an actopus, and lightly spiked armor. Special Abilities: - Tidal Wave (Attack) (5 CP) - Undertow (Ability; Roll the Burst Die. The result determines a negative to opponents’ next Action Die roll. 1-3= -1, 4-6= -2, 7-9=-3, 10-12=-4, Potency Bonus doesn’t count) (3 CP)
Name: Infernoid Element: Flame Proficiency: 2 Potency: 2 Stamina: 1 Favor: 1 Prowess: 1 Medicine: 1 Enlightenment: 2 Description: A black wolf with a flaming mane and tail Special Abilities: - Wild Fire (Attack+Ability; continuous effect: deals 1/3 of original damage each turn after the initial attack, costs additional 5 CP per turn it’s kept up, can’t defend/charge on a turn this upkeep is performed. Effect wears off immediately on a turn where upkeep is not paid, cost must be paid before damage is done, cost must be paid at beginning of turn) (10 CP)
establishing the stats is explained in the rules, players get to set their Avatars' stats within reason, no rolling, no point buy, but, if you all think it would be easier, I can work up a point buy system for setting Avatar stats. What do you all think?
