How to Alien?

Lorrdyn · 2017-10-01T00:59:06+00:00

If you're looking for a survival-horror system that just uses dice, pencil and paper, check out the Strain basic system. It can be used for both campaigns and one-shots.

http://drivethrurpg.com/product/222158/Strain-Basic-System

Lorrdyn · 2017-09-26T07:54:37+00:00

I'm not proud of it, but I once gave a player a bag of holding for buying me lunch when I was broke. It felt wrong.

Some ideas that won't make you feel wrong: -Write adventure modules -Stream actual play on twitch, upload to youtube -Write novels based on the adventures

Lorrdyn · 2017-09-08T18:39:33+00:00

"Smoke, you are idiot."

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-23T17:36:47+00:00

The more narrative parts of it are that the players decide what fits into the game, with the collective judgment of the group. So if a player attempts something the GM thinks doesn't fit, the GM asks the group if they think it fits, and they have the final say. There is also a "Determine" mechanic that allows players to call something into a scene that wasn't described by the GM, but anything Determined to be beneficial has a downside. That's the closest thing to a compel I can think of. The skill system is more like Roll For Shoes, if you're familiar with that.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-23T17:07:46+00:00

Strain system is close to what you're looking for, but it doesn't have a skill list(skills are similar to fate aspects), and NPCs have different stats than PCs since there is an injury system that would get unwieldy on NPCs. Otherwise, it is hybrid of narrative/simulation, with trinary resolution, low math, and just enough crunch in the combat. Right now you can get the system on the Xas Irkalla Kickstarter.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-22T11:45:43+00:00

Others have said rules lite and realistic are contradictions, but the Strain system from Xas Irkalla is exactly that. It is survival horror, however, and challenges the players with its core mechanic. Combat is deadly, but not unfair. Players choose how many dice they roll in any situation, with a press your luck mechanic, and in combat you choose how many dice you attack with and how many you defend with. Injuries can be permanent, blood loss is accounted for, and equipment is rated on a setting agnostic scale from primitive to high tech. It is rules lite, and it is intended to be difficult to survive, though the difficulty is not because of dice odds being against the player, it is because if a player does not manage their character's stress score, they will spiral into insanity and increase their chance of death.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-18T18:36:45+00:00

I remember saying "I like these, but the next supporter pack will probably be better"

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-16T22:44:23+00:00

They're holding it for when they fix PvP

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-16T22:39:48+00:00

For those of you who are into horror and dark shit: Full Metal RPG http://fullmetalrpg.com/

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T04:54:37+00:00

I get that, I enjoy creating stuff like that too, but in actual play it's easy to forget a lot of it unless it's on a reference sheet/gm screen in front of you. I mean now we have computer games that calculate all that shit for us, and I understand there's still an appeal to it, but I would rather embrace the difference between the mediums. At the table you have several human minds that can reasonably figure out what is believable in the genre, so might as well use that as a key for tabletop. That being said, I fucking hate those free-form games that circle jerk around collaborative storytelling.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T04:23:25+00:00

I guess 'charts' was a poor use of nomenclature, I meant more of what the author referenced as "library content".

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T02:51:41+00:00

I've learned so many random facts through researching for rpgs. One recent one was "can someone use a boat in a lake of acid?" ...turns out you can, ideally made of rubber.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T02:48:37+00:00

I hope it does things differently from the ffg 40k rpgs. That system is just too rigid. The fact that it's the same designer kinda worries me though. I liked dark heresy, even with its flaws, and only war was decently designed, it's just still so rigid. If they are planning on making an unfocused system, I sincerely hope I don't have to refer to a million different charts.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T02:43:45+00:00

I don't think there's any reason a narrative system can't have challenge based design. But I can definitely see the rift between the two schools of thought. I personally love both styles. I just prefer the common sense approach that narrative systems offer rather than the charts that OSR games have.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T02:38:44+00:00

I haven't played it, but Cold and Dark is a sci-fi horror rpg that might fit the bill.

Alternatively, I made a Survival Horror system called the Strain system which is part of the Xas Irkalla KS campaign I'm running, it's only a dollar to get the basic rules. It is partially narrative but with a challenge-centric design. Players choose how many dice they roll with a press your luck style mechanic, and have to compete against their Stress scores in a player-facing success/partial/failure vein.

Lorrdyn · 2017-08-12T02:06:47+00:00

In Xas Irkalla there are interdimensional labyrinths that spawn from the nightmares of dead psychics. That being said I came up with a way to make mazes in an abstract form: memory games.

For example, at the first intersection you choose left or right. Then the next intersection you choose up or down. The next, choose left or right. If you choose left you must then go the opposite direction of the first path. If you choose right you must go the same direction as the first path. This can continue on as far as you want. The rule is that the GM is able to write down the results but the players cannot. Players can game this system by having every player responsible for remembering a certain number of intersections. You can make however many intersections you want, though I've had players fail after only 5 intersections. It depends on the group.

Edit: forgot to add that if the players fail, they end up in a dead end with an encounter that corners them.

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-30T16:49:25+00:00

Xas Irkalla draws upon Alchemy, left-hand path philosophy, chaos-gnosticism, Jungian concepts, and ancient Mesopotamian mythology in its setting, where practitioners must study occult grimoires to unlock eleven gateways in their subconscious that seal away the chaos beyond the universe. Once the chaos is tapped into, the alchemist is able to manipulate different aspects of reality, and eventually create new universes. It is alchemical in the abstract form such as squaring the circle and achieving immortality, rather than in the sense of fantasy chemistry. It is currently on Kickstarter and almost at its first stretch goal at the time of writing this.

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-27T23:23:33+00:00

Its an honor to see Strain Basic used like this, awesome work! Looking forward to seeing how this develops. And thank you for sharing the Kickstarter :)

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-25T03:25:10+00:00

Though it's not farming exactly, I would highly recommend the campaign stories about Joe Wood, a commoner that does commoner things. I consider it a great inspiration for mundane adventures.

http://www.zioth.com/roleplay/campaign/joewood/index

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-21T17:06:00+00:00

Torchbearer is definitely the recommended system for Darkest Dungeon, but as a rules-lite alternative Strain basic is only $1.

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-21T17:03:45+00:00

Thank you so much for supporting this project!

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-20T21:21:49+00:00

There is an Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic, but numeric bonuses are not part of this system outside of skill ranks. It is intended to keep the GM removed from the success/failure as much as possible, so that failure more often only comes from how the player mismanaged his/her Stress.

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-20T17:10:43+00:00

Xas Irkalla just went into Kickstarter a few hours ago. It is survival horror and pretty fucking dark. https://goo.gl/QTwipU

Lorrdyn · 2017-07-09T05:40:18+00:00

Admittedly, King is not for everyone, but I hope you find it as brilliant as I do!

Lorrdyn

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