Systems Cascade

RPG Systems Cascade

**Three Compatible Game Systems:** A blend of game play styles from swords to skills and spells.  Each game system uses the d20 to resolve conflicts and randomize results.

A successful roll scores below the target number but above any opposing contest rolls.

Each point on the d20 is effectively five of one hundred percent.  A failed roll goes above the target number.

A roll of 1 is a critical success and a 20 roll is a critical failure.  A high success or failure passes or fails with five points or more to spare.

Kenshi combat and skills system

Highcaliber cover and penetration system

Magecraft spell and craft design system

**Three In Game Prompt Checks**

Feat checks, trap checks, alert checks

Reaction checks, morale checks

Weather, terrain and role play checks

**Three Types of Initiative:**  in all cases all players may act at whichever turn they like.  It’s their chosen action that may be faster or slower than another.

recoil initiative: the initiative action is instant and a character’s chosen action has a recoil.  another action cannot be taken until that number of turns has passed.  A character with a dagger rated a  recoil of r1 can act, wait one turn, then act again.  That same character with a sword rated r3 must act, wait three turns and then choose the same or another action.

speed rating initiative: with five turns each round, characters choose their action at the start of the round and then actions are resolved turn by turn.  The r1 dagger is resolved on the first turn but the r3 sword isn’t resolved until turn three.

simultaneous initiative: with all stated actions acting at once, ranged resolution and speed checks become the primary methods of settling who acts in succession.  Both the r1 dagger and the r3 sword act at the same time.  The sword has longer range and thusly is resolved first.  If both combatants are armed with swords then the two roll a speed contest to resolve.

All three flow well once you are used to using them.  My preference is the speed rating initiative since it gives more opportunities to stall or change plans in the middle of the action and simultaneous initiative settles quickly but there are multiple options so that you try them.

**Systems Check**

**Kenshi** A combat and skills system based on players spending XP to increase in the skills and areas of combat they choose as their characters grow in experience.  It allows focused character design, build and advancement that gives the player control of the abilities and tactics that they use.

The original game was made around characters playing variously trained types of swordsmen.

when so many techniques are available The announcement of combat should not be restrained simply to “I attack” when advances in accuracy, damage, recoil and defense make even basic attacks customizable to the individual training of the character.

Resolution of actions uses the d20 damage is calculated using the d6

Endurance in conflict is measured with Hit Points and Negative Hit Points.  When a character’s hp reach zero, they are not dead but defeated- incapable of defending themselves reasonably in combat.  They aren’t necessarily unconscious yet but they’re downed.  Even now they can still act and move if they spend more of their precious and waning hp to make the attempt.  Once all of a characters -hp are expended they themselves have expired on the field.

**High Caliber** The system was made for a futuristic setting with firearms as the primary weapon.  Characters regularly used the stealth and concealment proficiencies using “concealment and cover” mechanics to launch ambushes and hold sieges.

Stealth can get you extra damage, concealment lowers enemy accuracy, cover blocks incoming damage, the player could mitigate the risk reward scale better themselves.

Position on the field, rated range and speed and held actions were important aspects to attaining victory in battle.  Layers of penetration becomes available as defense since firearms have such high penetration rates.  A 9mm has a Pn 9 -well enough to jump right through medieval armor and the “stall and cover” mechanic is answered with the d10 during attack resolution.

Skills may be bundled into a single action in a round.  sprint, leap, acrobatics and attack- make a single roll with a four point penalty and resolve each skill check in succession with the single number.  Skill checks that are not attacks may be resolved with the five fail  states, crit-roll, high-rolled, passed, foiled and fumbled.  The first fumble roll fry ends the chain of action with its resolution.

**Magecraft** Spell crafting allows players to design and build individual and uniquemagic themselves.  Magic, though expensive, is powerful stuff.  Even cheap magic is more powerful than its mundane counterpart.

Spellcasters typically keep a simple elemental attack spell that causes similar damage to a sword, range to a thrown weapon and doesn’t require an attack roll to hit.  Their only real downfall is their low penetration since that’s expensive to write into a spell.

Martial magic users often have hand crafted “special moves”.

Much of a spell’s capabilities are mechanical but unless accounted for in the spell design they shouldn’t affect the game world.  This makes certain spells difficult to truly design but still they are regularly attempted.  These should be dismissed by the narrator until rebuilt or approved.  Large form shifts and time manipulation are two examples.

They are easy to use as story flavor but in combat their mechanics need to be worked out extensively.

Questions arise such as - when you change into a bull, does your weight stay the same?  Do you take up a full bulls space instead of the thin elderly man you just were?  Do you increase in damage with your basic assault or must your bull form use magic to strike with its powerful ram?  Can it gallop with increased speed or still walk like the wizard he is?  Did you record the information you need to do that?

All difficult or expensive to resolve.  spell craft is not easy for everyone.  It can take a lot of math and a whole lot of Xp.

On the same note, crafting mundane items without magic is just as difficult and much less powerful than magic.  It’s just that the parts might be more easily available.

Skills and proficiencies also gain the traits professional, mastery and genius as skill levels.  This let’s a master craftsman build a professional grade item out of reasonable materials with a guarantee of success.

What a professional grade cobbler has to make a successful balance roll for is “fail on a fumble” for a master cobbler.

This same attempt needs no roll for genius skill level cobbler to make a professional level craft item.  To make a master level item he would fail only on a fumble.  To make a genius level or magical item he would need a successful roll on a balance check.  A critical check roll results in an epic item here.  It upgrades the skill level one stage.  Not varying the materials used, their strength or duration may not be improved if that was not the point of their construction though.  Everything has its costs.

This was first used for improving and producing weapons and armor but moved to being used for socially based skill sets.

Blade honing skill which gives a Pn and dmg bonus was often phased out.  skills like stealth, juke and intimidation gave control of the conflict to the wary.  then proficiencies trended toward inspiration, hefty body and alertness as play styles and character builds adapted.

A gnome with a genius level intimidation skill has no problem bluffing off a handful of commoners on a picnic.  They may never come back to this particular hill in the woods again!

Skills like insult and suborn became useful in starting or ending conflicts by pushing or paying foes.

In addition to all this, there is **Ferrovore**, an rpg based in construction, upgrades and repairs of giant mechanized armors and mobile weapons.

The “velocity” mechanic was added once high speed and flight became common.  Calculating movement speed, weapons range and target position is done with measurements and math.  A “Kenshi” character is used as the machine’s pilot the way that 0079 has a pilot at its helm.

**Knowing what I can do** :

Assault assist or flee.  These are the basic three but by no means an exhaustive list of common actions.  Sunder to damage gear or items, snatch, push,  reactions like counter, catch, block, movements like jump dive dash or climb count as actions too since all of your primary attention and form are needed to use them in conflict.

Feat attempts challenge rolls, proficiency checks and ability checks test a roll vs a character score, ability contests compare two characters abilities with a competing roll- price is right rules stand.  Highest without busting wins, situational bonuses may apply.

trap trips allow players to know something is different here.  Ability or challenge checks then put the danger in their faces, multiple fail states and team effects dig them a deeper hole rather than just causing damage and ending the tension.  A trap should require as much thought effort and knowledge to overcome as a simple combat.  It should last five to even ten seconds.  Each player should need to act to change the situation or protect themselves in the “instant of event” as well as over the next two rounds.  Which ability or skill do you use and how do you use it to fend of impending doom this time?

alert checks for allies traps and foes.  Characters with alertness or skills relevant to the threat should get advanced warning.  Their heightened level of expertise should give them more or earlier info on any threat they could possibly avoid.  Impossible threats should be at most alluded to but wary players may attempt to circumnavigate your railroad tracks.

Proficiency and challenge checks for players

Reaction and rapport checks, for npcs and foes

morale checks with damage and rapport changes

Weather checks when outdoors or underground

terrain checks for travel adventures

Notable

Unarmored vs armored defense

Ways to make an extra attack

two weapon combat

Armed vs unarmed combat

Psychological attacks force the victim to play out the role of a changed mind

status effect attacks or prevent action or sensory.Interrupt lose a turn don’t act don’t move blind deaf stumble

**Downed and prone targets:** move at ⅓ their normal rate and cannot deflect or evade danger.  The attack roll against them gains a bonus of 9 points and damage is doubled.

On a critical hit  the injury check will fail unless the victim makes a critical roll stamina check themselves.

**Sneak Attacks** Anyone struck without knowing or being prepared for an assault suffers double damage from the attack.

The sneak attack roll is guaranteed and will only fail on a fumble roll.  Boxcars on a fumble roll results in a hit for normal damage as always.

If the sneak attack roll passes by 9 or better than required, it gains all the effects of a critical hit.m roll.

A critical hit here results in an injury and the stamina roll to avoid it will only pass on a critical check.

a fumble roll to resist results in a blackout.  The victim will remain unconscious each turn until the victim can pass a stamina check.

Sneak attack effects and the initiative action turn make the moment of action often the most important moment of a fight.

Number of players

**One Plus:**

Single player and doubles mode

In a game without a prime narrator the players roll to defend themselves against the monster instead of the narrator or dungeon master rolling for the non player characters.  This can even be done with a prime narrator or a dungeon master in play.  It really just puts all the dice in one player's hands.

Roll the d20.  Get below your target number to succeed, get above his target number to impede.  A “Right On” check results in a “roll off”.  I use 2d6 for the roll off but the d20 works fine..

 If the player rolls the checks he must have the post modifier number available.  If the DM checks he must have all the situational modifiers to be considered.

Playing the One Plus style allows smaller numbers of players to play fluidly.  It also facilitates the DM/PC in a way that can work for everyone willing to stick to the agreed upon rules.  DM/PCs will always turn up when the person who is narrating really wants to play a character as well.  I say let him if he can do it without disrupting the story or play.

**Three And More**-

a narrator and at least two players

The most common style is three and more.  one narrator and two or more players.

**Four Variant**-

narrator dungeon master and two or more players

One player rolls all the dice and runs the tactics and movement in combat for the monsters but is not the primary narrator.  This dungeon master should be familiar with the monsters being used just like a player should be familiar with the character and skills they are using.  This takes a lot of thought and strategy off of the narrators task list and relieves the common you vs us feeling players get toward their narrators.  The dungeon master on the other hand is very specifically trying to take you down.  They’re also running the traps and triggers throughout the dungeon.  The room itself may be out to get you.

The narrator has more arbitration’s to make but it does allow competitive players to PVP in a positive way.

Up six- may or may not use a separate dungeon master from the prime narrator

Roles: Narrator, dungeon master, game master, player, player character, character, non player character, monster, minion, boss

Parts of an adventure- the meet up, the lead up, walking in the door, five room structure, resolutions, and crossroads