Welcome to My (Flat) World

[Legendary Sidekick]

You don't need to specify every arrow. My thinking on the 20 was to let players do what I always did with sidekicks: make up a special move! There's only a 5% chance you get to do that, so it may as well be overpowered.

That's not to say we can't have a few special arrows (like the phoenix arrow which heals) or other one-use items, but I don't think there's a need to keep track of arrows and dollars and other things you'd have a lot of.

That said, I've got nothing against allowing other minor effects if you roll in the teens instead of just combos. My original thought was to give you a choice: hit harder or hit more enemies. Now I'm thinking there could be more to it than that. For example, Mariya uses the stun effect a lot with thunder. So maybe rolling 13-19 should offer a choice:

* hit harder (default if the player attacks without specifying an effect)
* do a combo
* stun an enemy
* gradually damage an enemy (poison, fire, etc.)
* if you think of another effect, maybe we can add it to the list

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Come to think of it, Ireth… I REALLY like the idea of giving you a bunch of "legal" effects that you can add to a "strong" attack.

Let's stick to the old numbers that had 16-19 as "strong" and 20 will be the "make up a skill" thing I already mentioned. For players who don't specify an effect like combo or stun or whatever, the attack will simply do more damage.

The huntress will be the only class that can use combo, stun and other effects with a non-magic ranged attack, so that'll be her special advantage in battle.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Aspasia,

Here's Lily showing Dila how to attack:

Just roll the default (1d20) and post your actions. Since Lily's a Huntress, I'm going to have her whip out her throwing spears. She rolled a 14. Usually, if you're in the teens, you hit. 10-15 is considered NORMAL strength. So Lily just throws her spear.

On her next turn, she only rolls an 8. You don't really know if a 12 or less will hit until the GM post, though 8 is often successful for a Huntress. (I'll post class bonuses later, but Huntresses have good aim, and we'll say that Dila the merc is a Huntress' equal.) Single digit numbers are weak attacks, so Lily just grade her enemy this time.

Wow, that sucked. Lily won't be surprised when her throwing spear ends up in a tree. You can expect a 5 or less to miss.

Now, Lily's making up for looking like a fool! The 16-19 range is a strong attack. You get choices:

* POWER - hit harder
* COMBO - hit twice
* STUN/FREEZE - disable an enemy for 1 turn
* BLEED/BURN/POISON - hit an enemy in a way that he's gradually taking damage every turn
* DISARM - if you want to shoot the weapon out of an enemy's hand, go for it
* KNEECAP/HAMSTRING - if you want to make sure an enemy won't run, you can
* WHATEVER - you're not limited to what effects are on the list, as long it's not something like "decapitate" and it's feasible to recover from (meaning you could have BLIND, but it could blinded by a blood spatter for one turn as opposed to having a 25% chance of shooting both eyes out)

Lily wants to have her spear pin the donkey-man's tail to the wall. The GM interprets that to be a STUN-like effect.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Rolling a 20 means you get to make up your own special move (or ammo if you're shooting)! This is new for players, but I've been doing this with NPCs for quite some time.

Lily wants to throw her spear and skewer 3 guys in a row.

Had she rolls 16-19, she'd have the option to hit two enemies (preferably with two spears), so while this attack is silly, it isn't overpowered damage-wise. The damage of a 20 should beat the damage of a 19. (I decide damage, so if the player comes up with a weak move for a 20, I just make it hurt a lot.)

It happens that the map has three guys in a row and a fourth guy to the side. I think Lily's idea for the 20 feels a bit weak because I happen to know what she doesn't: all three targets have only 1 HP. So in the GM post, I have the three get skewered and die. They tip over dead pinning the guy beside them to the ground. So the player asked to kill three enemies and I decided a fourth would be stunned because the player's idea was reasonable in terms of damage, even if the attack itself was bullshit.

Likewise, if Lily tried to skewer three guys with full health, I might not agree to impaling them since impaling without killing doesn't seem right. In that case, they might all get grazed… then to make up for the implicitly low damage, they all take a stun effect just from being surprised that they were all hit by the same spear.

Basically, with a 20, the player attempts something somewhat overpowered, and the GM post tells how it worked out.

 

[Ruby]

Hi everyone on Flat Earth,

I've just put Fenella back in the game, but I've reverted to the old system in the dice room. I hope that's okay?

This system is so much simpler, it's a real pleasure and I'm sure I can do this and NaNoWriMo.

My worst moment using the other system was when Fenella attacked the orcs before she was supposed to and inadvertently started the battle!

(I think that was on her first move! )

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

That's fine, Ruby. Let's just roll d20 from this point on. Since Ireth and Noma already rolled the old way, I converted based on the natural roll:

+4 = 20
+3 = 18-19
+2 = 16-17 … Mariya rolled 17 and can choose to hit hard, stun or hit the two guys close together.
+1 = 13-15
0 = 9-12
-1 = 6-8 … Airel rolled 8.
-2 = 4-5
-3 = 2-3
-4 = 1

 

[Noma Galway]

Hit hard is the option Mariya will go for

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I'm curious about what you'll come up with for a 20. For Mariya to summon a thundercloud (that stays in the area and randomly zaps enemies for the rest of the battle) would not be out of the question.

I'll post the abilities for each class at some point. For ladies in the play-test, pixie = magic, amazon = hits harder, huntress (or merc) = can add affects to a shooting attack when rolling 16+. (She also uses a silent shooting weapon, allowing her to shoot in Stealth Mode without breaking silence.)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Spiky Castle! Very Dangerous!

Q: Could this be the scene of the next boss fight?

A: No.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Just a note…

The long thread that shows damage and such is to basically show that, yeah, there are rules and stuff. But as I said earlier, I want all the math to remain behind the scenes.

The final version will be more like: "Amazons inflict extra damage. Brawler attacks may stun or KO. Fighting nuns may hit more than 2 enemies when using a combo attack." And so on.

For magic, I think it's worth noting that charging the spell will widen the area of effect. A level 3 charge rolled at 16+ will be like the elusive Nuke spell—but with no friendly fire!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I made another update to the d20 page. Basically, you're either fighting, shooting or using magic, and anyone can attempt to "combo" (hit 2+ enemies) or stun.

But here's something I wanted to call attention to:

Rolling in the Teens (13-19)
Non-magic characters get a bonus for rolling a 13+. The higher into the teens you roll, the more impressive the bonus.

• Amazon: RP an impressive battle cry for greater damage!
• Brawler = Describe an awesome unarmed attack to stun your opponent!
• Fighting Nun = Position yourself in a path to combo 3 enemies… though you may strike a 4th or even more!
• Huntress = Pick a place on the map to set a trap!
• Pirate = Be a "swashbuckling swordsman," and disarm your foe with rapier-wit or the blade itself!
• Preacher = Call on your god or goddess to grant strength or healing to your friends. Ask, and you shall receive!
• Shield Maiden = Counterattack, stunning anyone or everyone who struck you, your shield, or the one you protect!
• Samurai = Draw your sword and unleash an Advancing Seitei Attack!

I was thinking of having an "automatic" bonus kick in with a roll of 13-19. And, in fact, I'm fine with still doing it that way if players prefer that. But I thought it might be fun if the player's description or RP helps to enhance the bonus or give it a visual.

I don't want to add stuff if it just makes the game become complicated, but we can have this in the play-test as an option, and if you like it, it's a keeper.

 

[Ireth]

I can't seem to access Rolz on the computers in the library, which makes attacking difficult both here and in DE. :/ I might be able to try on my Dad's laptop, but he's only here on weekends. Boo.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Thanks for posting, Ireth. I believe aspasia is offline now (or at least hasn't been on this site for a couple weeks). I'm not sure who is temporarily out of this game and who's out permanently.

We all have our projects, NaNo and the holidays are coming, so I'll understand if there are people who want to play but not now. As long as players keep this game going, I'll keep running it. If we don't end up finishing the game due to lack of players, no worries.

 

[Noma Galway]

I can post tomorrow

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

As I said, no worries, Noma. As long as the game gets played, I'll keep it going. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Ireth]

Happy Thanksgiving to those in or from America!

 

[Aspasia]

Ugh. Again, sudden disappearence.

I'm back and I'm going to post tomorrow, as today is Thanksgiving. I'm really sorry about how many times I keep dropping out -- seems that college, NaNo, and life in general is pretty against me staying involved. I pretty much dropped off the internet everywhere. I can say for sure I'm able to post once a week now that the last avalanche of assignments has passed, probably over the weekend. I really want to stay involved, it's a lot of fun and I'm really enjoying the game. Unfortunately this set of classes turned out to be a monster I didn't expect -- but it's almost over now, and I can start getting back into stuff. Winter should not be nearly as bad, or so I hope.

Definitely going to jump back in tomorrow!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

No apology necessary.

One comment you made (which I took to be a really great compliment) was that you liked the lightheartedness of the game. The attitude to running the game is also lighthearted. The game goes on as long as people play it, and no offense is taken if people are too busy.

I'll hold out on any GM post until at least you and Noma have posted.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

@Aspasia, combos and effects are still in a play test state, but basically, you can always attempt to hit more than one target and you can always attempt to stun or something. Higher rolls make that more likely to work.

If you don't try to stun or combo, the default is you hit harder.

 

[Ireth]

Just rolled a natural 20! Now I need to think up a special move for Ariel... hmmm...