[RFC] YAPPY d8 game engine

[classicdrogn]

(see the revised text in reply #6)
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

Yes, Haul, Heft, and Hurl need benchmarks, as does Run for speed. Hurl is range and damage, while Aim is accuracy (throwing and shoooting).

I was very tempted to include the ability to gain 1p or 1d of PZA for immediate use by giving the DM an extra slice of pizza or ordering one for the whole group, but succeeded at my GUTS check.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Foxboy]

Going for a Beer-and-pretzels game type like TOON or Teenagers From Outer Space, perhaps?
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[classicdrogn]

Pretty much, yes. The kind of thing that can be a pickup game at the FLGS when the normal GM can't run, your character sheet is one side of a 3x5 index card, and there's just enough crunchy bits to give a framework to copy the hero from whatever anime/movie/etc. you saw last week rather than make up a detailed character background without degrading into total chaos, whether the GM has also seen it or not. Easily broken by That Guy, but what isn't?

It's also a bit of a grognard political statement, by explicitly not including the traditional "dump stats."

I'll probably end up writing twice as much to deal with vehicles and mecha... though maybe not, a speed code, a health code, and an armor code plus a list of any weapons with their accuracy and damage leaves enough space on a second index card to write a description and note passenger and cargo capacity, leaving the back side free for a sketch or floor plan like the character sheet card.

Edit: One important thing not mentioned so far: the base NTG regenerates every turn, while Reserves refill at the end of a scene. EAT is the maximum effect possible with a single round's casting action. PZA refills at the end of a game session or by fiat if there's a long IC break.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Foxboy]

or if the player dashes out and gets a pizza?B-)
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[classicdrogn]

Well, it's better than trying to EAT RAT like a CAT, or Brains and Guts like a zombie feeling a little low on Energy...

Also, Yay, I get to include a table! It's for phased actions per round, largely ala HERO system, but you can't have an RPG without any tables - it would be like not having a reference to Page XX. Just wouldn' be propah!
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

YAPPIE RPG
Yappie's A Pip Powered Indie Engine Role Playing Game

Revision 2

The Basics:
Assign a pool of d8s or pips to the four primary stats, Brains, Footwork, Strength, and Guts, where 1d = 4p. This will determine the number of dice available to distribute among skills, one of which will add to the dice pool when making a relevant check. Pips are totalled before dice when determining what to roll, so a stat of 3d2p with a skill rated 1d3p equates to 2p+3p=1d1p, 3d (stat) + 1d (skill) + 1d (converted pips) + 1p (remaining pips), so you'd roll 5d8+1. Difficulty break points are at multiples of 5. When it's neccessary to round a half-pip, do so in favor of the player.

Crazy Eights: when an eight is rolled, add it to the result total and roll again. This effect may continue indefinitely until a number that is not an eight is rolled, and is not subject to Wimpy Ones.

Wimpy Ones: when a one is rolled, drop the highest other die in the pool. If that die was an eight, you still get to roll the crazy dice but lose the original eight from the result total.

Automatic successes: 2p for each die plus 1/2 of any "loose" pips may be added up to find a minimum target number; any task whose difficulty falls below this number will automatically succeed. Note that situational bonuses or penalties still apply: It's a lot harder to thread a needle with a wounded team mate in front of you, bullets flying by, and explosions going off all around than it is sitting at the table in your sewing room.

Totals below 1d: At very low power levels it is possible to have a total stat+skill amount to less than 1d. In such cases, subtract the available pips from 4p, and use th eresult as a penalty for one die. Example: A preteen child only has 2d to distrubute among all four stats, making for an average of 2p. Needing a check an a skill that only has 1p in it gives a total of 3p, which is less than a single die. 4p-3p=1p, so roll 1d-1p to determine the result total. Crazy Eights trigger from the raw, unmodified die roll, with the penalty applied after adding up the total of the roll, while Wimpy Ones are an auromatic failure since they leave only the negative modifier after eliminating the only die rolled.

Initiative, Rounds and Actions:
Each combat round lasts six seconds, and a character may act once plus as many times as they have full dice in Footwork each round. One action plus one for each two full dice in Guts may be used to move their full Footwork + Run allowance, up to their maximum number of actions per round. As actions per round may vary widely between characters in higher powered games, each character should take one action by turns in initiative order (high to low on 1d8, with higher Footwork and then PCs before NPCs in case of ties) until all of their actions per round have been used. This gives eveyone a chance to get the first hit in, though the player may also choose to hold any number of actions until later in the round if desired, for example a healer character might want to wait to patch up damage taken by the rest of the party during the round.

Table of Primary Stat Dice & Equipment

at character creation by power levels:

Toddler: 1d1p, 2p equipment
Child: 2d, 1d equipment
Weak: 3d, 1d2p equipment
Mundane: 4d, 2d equipment
Competent: 6d, 3d equipment
Street-level hero: 8d, 4d equipment
Action hero: 10d, 5d equpiment
Pulp hero: 12d, 5d equipment
Low end comics: 14d, 6d equipment
High end comics: 16d, 6d equipment
Mythic hero: 20d, 6d equipment

The maximum allowed to any Primary Stat at character creation is 1/2 the total dice. Stat dice may be used to buy extra equipment dice instead, gaining a bonus +1p per 3p converted to equipment dice. As the character adventures and gains experience, their equipment may also be improved, at a cost of 3xp per 1p. Types of equipment and how their stats affect the character are covered in more detail on page XX - just remember that equipment can be lost or destroyed, even if the character will be able to replace or recover it once the immediate events are over.

Primary Stats:
BRN Brains = problem solving/memory
FWK Footwork = speed/reflexes
STR Strength = lift/carry
GTS Guts = willpower

(((sidebar)))
"What, no Appearance or Presence?" you ask. Nope, no dump stats here! What you look like is part of the character description, and interaction with other characters depends on roleplaying. Or mind control if you want to be a douche, but remember that no one likes a mind-controller if you get caught at it. If a player who's truly terrible at such things wants a charater who is good at them, the GM may allow rolling on base PZA (and spending current PZA if desired) vs the opponent's Brains.
(((end sidebar)))

Derived Stats:
RAT Brains + Footwork (+Aim)= ranged attack
NRG Brains + Strength (+Exceptional Energy) = energy capacity (4x = reserves)
EAT Brains + Guts (+relevant Energy skill) = energy attack (1d NRG per 1d effect)
DEF Footwork + Strength (+Dodge) = defense
ENH Footwork + Guts (+Exceptional Health) = endurance/health
CAT Strength + Guts (+Strike) = close attack

Base NRG refills each round, while a character's Reserves recover at the end of a scene. EAT represents the maximum power of an effect that can be channelled in a single round's casting.

ENH covers two damage scales, Endurance which covers bruising or fatigue and Health which equals actual wounds and severe sickness or poisoning. At 0 Endurance, the character must make a Resist Fatigue or Resist Pain check (whichever is lower) each round with any Health damage taken applied as a penalty or fall unconscious, with the penalty doubled after 0 Health. If their Health is reduced to 1/2 its maximum below zero, the character will die rather than merely passing out, and at full negative hit points has been completely torn apart - no amount of Guts can keep them from death at that point. If ressurection energy effects are allowed at all it will be significantly harder than usual, if not impossible to restore a character so thoroughly, absolutely, really quite sincerely dead to life. Most forms of armor convert Health damage to Endurance points and allow the wearer to shrug off Endurance damage. Armor is rated by the number of points of each type it can affect.

PZA average all stats = Pizzaz (Luck pool)

4p from PZA will allow rerolling any one die before wimpy ones or crazy eights are applied, or pips may be spent to add directly to the result, at a rate of 3p PZA for +2p. Spending 12p gets +8 and is counted as a crazy eight. Unlike the other derived stats, extra pips in the permanent base Pizzazz can be bought, at a rate of 2p=1p at character creation or 24xp=1p during play. Such increases shoiuld be noted along side the derived total of the main stats, to avoid confusion when calculating the effect of raising other stats by increasing their skills or having them reduced due to acts of plot.

Pizzazz is generally not affected by blessings or curses which affect the stats it is derived from, though ones which target it specifically are certainly possible.

Size: Size codes are used for very large or very small characters and equipment, with human-sized as the base and 2p per halving or doubling of overall size being a rule of thumb. For small subjects, this represents a penalty for attackers to hit them, a bonus to attacker's damage against them, a bonus to hit larger targets, and a penalty to damage larger targets or the Haul, Heft, and Hurl skills and is expressed as a negative number, while large subjects have the effects reversed and has the code expressed as a positive number. For even wider mismatches where plus-size and minus-size characters or vehicles are trying to affect each other, the benfits and penalties stack to either side of the baseline, so a yappie dog (1/4 human size, -4p= -1d) trying to bite a tiger's ankle (2x human size, +2p) would have +1d2p to hit but suffer -2d1p to damage. Due to the inconvenience of being particularly large or small, a small bonus of 1p per 1p after the first in either direction is gained to the character's Primary Stat dice if a character is of unusual Size. The yappie dog from the previous example would gain 1p for being two Sizes smaller than human, while the tiger is not enough larger to recieve that bonus.

A different Size baseline may be used to reduce the need to calculate modifiers in combat if desired, for example if a group of space fighters at +2d Size are attacking a ship that's +5d, dropping 2d from all of them (leaving the fighters at the new baseline and the ship, +3d) is fine as long as everyone is aware that the change is in effect.

Skills:
Each Primary Stat is associated with several skills, though some actually use derived stats as the base when rolling for a check. During character generation, each pip of that Primary Stat is equal to a full die (4p) that can be distributed among its related skills. Character advancement works in reverse, with each full die added to the connected skills adding one pip to the connected stat. Each skill pip bought in this fashion costs 4xp.

Brains Skills:
Abstract Energy Effect - Imagining illusions to be projected, Telepathic sending, or effects requiring lots of IC mental effort to implement such as point-to-point teleportation compensating for relative motion or freaky conceptual stuff.
Art/Composition (specify)
Dissemble & Prevaricate
Expert Knowledge (specify)
Game Theory
General Education
Military Strategy & Tactics
Read People

Footwork Skills:
Aim
Catch
Complex Energy Effect - If it requires combining effects from other categories in just the right way, timing and accuracy becomes the biggest challenge.
Dodge
Fine Craftsmanship (specify)
Prestidigitate
Run
Sneak

Strength Skills:
Climb
Haul
Heavy Duty Craftsmanship (specify)
Heft
Hurl
Jump
Physical Energy Effect - Because energy must first be channeled through the body before it is projected outwards, effects which are intended to change materials or inflict damage in the physical world require a degree of toughness from the user to pull off correctly. Telekinesis and force fields, however, are considered Guts based.
Strike

Guts Skills:
Exceptional Health
Exceptional Energy
Mental Energy Effect - Using or resisting mind control, blocking out telepathy, and as previously mentioned, telekinesis and force fields (as opposed to conjuring some material object as a barrier or using an energy blast to deflect an incoming one) are governed by Guts.
Persuasion
Poker Face
Resist Fatigue
Resist Pain
Resist Persuasion

Energy Effects:
Energy manipulation is divided into one skill for each stat, and checked against the one which represents the main intended effect, though occasionally it may make sense to use different aspects to project it and to resist. Some examples are provided, but mostly it will be up to what the player can talk the GM into approving. Whether you call it Magic, Psionics, Chi flows, the Force, or Sympathy with the Great Will of the Macro-Cosm, it uses the same mechanics and is referred to as casting, channeling, manipulation, or projection without distinction in these rules. Channeling energy to boost a skill is, naturally, based on the same linked stat. Whether such effects are available and how versatile they are depends on the setting and character concept. It may be possible to use the Energy skill linked to a different stat at some degree of penalty, such as setting fires with your Brains or mind control via head trauma using Strength.

There are six duration categories for energy manipulation: Instant, Action, Maintained, Scene, Constant, and Permanent.

Instant is things that can be cast as a reaction, like a counterspell to unravel an incoming effect, or rendering the character as light as a leaf on the wind to avoid falling damage. They are generally very specific in purpose and useless otherwise.

Action duration covers most combat magic, where you channel the power and it's done in seconds at most. Charge times can brush up against the next category, but the spell itself only lasts a moment once cast.

Maintained spells are where most self-enhancement effects (buffs and defenses) or summons/animated objects are at - cast and then fed energy without requiring another action every round as long as you want them to last.

Scene is where most targeted enhancements fall, channeled once and then lasting until enough time has passed that the action has moved on or a dispelling condition is met.

Continuous powers are effectively up all the time without depleting the character's energy, but require a bit of downtime effort to keep going - wardings or blessings that last a few days each time, or summoned/animated minions that require periodic upkeep. They will typically require several minutes of casting plus all of the character's reserves to manifest if doing so on camera becomes necessary.

Permanent effects are cast once, often with considerable effort and/or a physical anchor object, but then become self-sustaining unless dispelled, also often requiring considerable effort or specific conditions. This is your magic sword, sleeping princess, turned into a toad type stuff, old school blessings and curses that have to be specifically negated, not just waited out while a cool-down timer ticks over.

Note that these categories cover the duration that the spell is active, not necessarily how long the effect persists - aside from the obvious combat spell infilcted damage remaining until healed, effects which conjure or animate solid matter such as stone or plants will usually leave it behind when they run out.

Spreading the result of an Energy Effect between multiple targets or throughout an area is also possible. To split between multiple discrete targets, subtract 1d of effect from the total for each additional target after the first - the character will also need to make a roll to hit on hostile targets with similarly reduced Aim or Strike checks.

Summoned and Animated creatures:
Maintained summons or animated objects cost dice of effect for their stats, the main difference being that animated minions can only act using their controller's actions, while Summons have their own mind and actions each turn. Summons also cost an extra 1p per 1d to bring the being to the summoner's location from wherever they normally reside, and those with intelligence enough to understand the concept will often require some form of contracted payment before agreeing to obey. Such payments may be as simple as additional dice of effect in raw energy to add to their own power, to a fraction of the summoner's power permanently in the form of XP, a bottle of top-quality hooch or the sacrifice of precious items, blood, or lives.

Continuous or Permanent summons or animation are also possible, but require commensuratly greater resources to cast and often an ongoing payment to summoned beings. Animation of a construct which has a mind of its own should be treated as Summoning, whether because a spirit of some sort is in fact summoned to guide the mage's creation or because the process by which it is imbued with a guiding intelligence simply requires extra power or some other consumable resource.

Equipment

Mundane Equipment:
In general, anything which does not provide an overt game effect such as clothes or possesions normal to the surrounding society does not have a dice cost - but such items can be permanently lost or destroyed at the whim of the plot. Characters in the military or police forces may even be outfitted with free weapons, armor, vehicles, etc. - but only so long as they remain members in good standing of the organization which provides them! Customizing such equipment may be allowed, but if so the pips invested to improve it should be tracked separately so as not to be lost if the situation changes.

Weapons:
Weapons have values for Accuracy which adds to the Aim or Strike check to hit, and Damage which adds to RAT or CAT to determine damage, or the maximum effect per Action if the weapon improves EAT. Weapons typically do 1/2 of their rolled total after Defense as Endurance damage and the rest in Health damage; if the weapon does only Endurance damage it recieves an extra +1p per 2p spent on its Damage rating. Exceptionally powerful weapons which do their full damage to Health cost 3p for each 2p of Damage rating, however. The effect of Armor to reduce the severity of damage inflicted is applied after determining how weapon damage is split between Endurance and Health. Weapons also have a Durability value equal to their total Accuracy + Damage, which loses one pip each time the weapon is successfully targeted by an attack and which may be increased if desired for 1p per +2p Durability.

Acid, Burns, and Poison:
Weapons which apply a secondary effect are also possible. Extra damage to Endurance costs 1p per 1p of extra effect, plus 1p for each round the extra effect persists to be re-inflicted after the first. Extra damage which is split between Endurance and Health costs 2p per 1p of effect, while extra damage applied directly to Health costs 3p per 1p of effect.

Armor:
Armor is rated with dice codes for the protection it provides to Endurance and Health, and by the penalty imposed to Footwork. It may be bought as an integrated suit, or as however many piecemeal segments strike the player's fancy, but the value of all parts are added up into a single dice code for each rating for ease of play.

Endurance protection allows the character to ignore that number of dice or pips of Endurance damage from attacks after Defense, and costs 1p per 2p of effect. Health protection converts that number of dice or pips of attacks into Endurance damage instead, and costs 1p per 1p of effect. Armor imposes 1/4 the combined Endurance and Health ratings as a penalty to Footwork, but this can be reduced at a rate of 1p per extra 1p of cost. Armor also has a Durability value, equal to the total Endurance + Health rating x2, which loses one pip each time the character is successfully damaged and which may be increased if desired for 1p per +1d Durability and -1p Footwork.

Powered & Enchanted Armor:
It is possible for Armor (or any piece of equipment, with the right Energy Manipulation effects) to increase the user's Skills or Stats directly. Increasing a Skill costs 1p per 1p of effect, a Derived Stat costs 2p per 1p of effect, and a Primary Stat costs 3p per 1p of effect. For powered armors which supplant the character's Stats entirely, see the section on Mecha below.

Vehicles and Mecha:
Vehicles are rated with dice codes for Armor, Health, Speed, and Size, with an additional listing of any weapons or special systems as well as the number of pilots/passengers or amount of cargo (by way of volume and/or Heft and Haul ratings) they can accomodate. Vehicles will generally require +2p of Size per human they can carry, though exceptionally light ones such as a unicyle or skateboard would likely be -2p to -1d Size, making targeting the rider an easier task than the vehicle itself. More detailed rules for cost and construction are yet to be determined, so GM discussion and approval will have to suffice for now.

Animals & Minions:
A secondary character with 1/2 the player character's total Primary Stat dice costs 1d of Equipment, +1p per full die above 1/2. Such secondary characters may not have total Primary Stat dice above 1.5 times the main character, and must have at least one Primary Stat which is a full die or more below the player character. They are built in the same way as normal characters in all other respects and may even have Minions of their own subject to GM approval, but all Animal or Minion equipment must be bought at the normal rate by the original primary character.

(((sidebar)))
Dependent NPCs:
Secondary characters or animals with less than 1/2 the player character's total Primary Stat dice may possess some useful abilities, but are unlikely to have what it takes to contribute in a combat situation and are ever attracting the attention of enemies as a way to indirectly weaken the character. As such, they yield a small amount of bonus Stat pips, which unlike ordinary Equipment dice may be used on the character's own Primary Stats or converted for equipment at the usual 4-for-3 rate. For each full die their total is below 1/2 the player character's, add 1p to your Primary Stat dice. (Yes, a DNPC who does not progress will give a greater bonus as the main character advances.) DNPCs can be improved just like Minions, but the bonus pips recieved from them must also be re-bought for 16xp each as they close the gap in strength.
(((end sidebar)))

EOF
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows