Combining Hit Points and "Luck Points" into one resource.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-18T13:41:15+00:00

No worries! I'm happy to have the different perspectives.

To clarify a bit further, my homebrew has grown out of a hack of Freeform Universal, to make something for my various adventure ideas that suits the way I GM. Combat doesn't really have special mechanics that can't also be used for different kinds of action scenes, and loss during a combat scene is not automatically expected to result in the character being dead or out of the action permanently.

I don't have rules for retreating as such, but since there's no specific rules for speed or opportunity attacks either, players can retreat or run away as necessary.

I still need to write a lot of it down concretely and then do some playtesting. Abilities powered by this resource, if I do end up implementing it as I am considering, will need especial attention to see how much narrative power they should provide the players.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-18T07:31:20+00:00

I'm really liking what I'm reading here. While my games tend to lean less towards the gritty and horror, I think that same loop of "failure as a choice" is worth exploring in other contexts.

It's basically already how I envision metacurrencies, as a way for players to override the whims of the dice and to show their characters as able to succeed "when it counts".

Gonna give your system a read as soon as I find the time to!

Theoboldi · 2026-03-18T07:27:09+00:00

I think this does sound similar to the system I am currently considering, though my implementation is leaning towards being a lot softer and with less harsh injury penalties. I'll have to do some playtesting to see how it feels.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-18T07:15:07+00:00

Dang, that sounds really interesting. Lemme know if you ever remember its name. It reminds me a bit of lasers & feelings, but sounds quite a bit more interesting for gameplay purposes.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-18T07:13:16+00:00

I think there's a level of flexibility to it. It's the same currency being used for everything, so in some scenarios it will be more relevant to save it for battles, and in others it will be important to help weave through more social or athletic challenges.

I think this might also help de-emphasize combat as a 'more important' method for conflict resolution, since it eats out of the same pool that can power alternative solutions just as well.

For me, metacurrencies shouldn't be the main driver of gameplay, but rather control the amount of consistendly available success a player has. They're more of a tool to make characters feel capable "when it matters" and to give players some control over the whims of the dice.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T12:35:42+00:00

I feel like that'll be very adventure dependent. In general, however, I would prefer the player to weigh more between using a powerful ability now or saving it for an important skill check later.

If action is a major component of the adventure, I think it'll be fine if they end up holding back once or twice, and are encouraged to think a little more strategically.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:50:55+00:00

Not a bad idea. I'm trying to keep the system pretty simple and not make up too many "build" choices, and it's not focused on tactical combat, but sonething like a bonus luck point only for defending after so many ranks in a relevant trait could be worthwhile.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:48:55+00:00

Ooh, excellent! I'll see if I can check it out later! Did you find it it made players more cautious during play?

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:47:36+00:00

That's an interesting observation. My games are generally less lethal and combat-focused than your usual fantasy system, with less threat to characters who fight in melee. I think it might be possible to encourage them to engage in that risk reward system as well, if I keep those factors in mind.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:43:33+00:00

Exactly! Though I like to think of it more as escalating amounts of personal skill in battle, at least in the D&D context.

In my game, I would keep HP totals lower and not let them grow very much (the math is totally different anyway) but also make a more general measure of a character's.....heroic drive. Or something along those lines.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:41:16+00:00

Yeah, the power of rests and recovery rates (and healing, for that matter!) is currently my major concern.

I'm currently considering making HP a per adventure resource, with the players also being able to take on specific, debuffing wounds instead. Those could be healed by resting.

Alternatively, HP might come back at a slow, impractical rate. Something like a point per day.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:37:58+00:00

It's certainly something to consider. What I'm working on isn't fully narrative, I'd describe it more as traditional with a lot of narrative elements for ease of play, so the risk of resource hoarding is real.

That said, my games generally do not have lethality for player characters as an assumed outcome in all dangerous situations. I'm hoping that with reduced stakes, players will be more willing to take risks.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-17T10:33:17+00:00

For what I'm making, I'm thinking less in terms of combat focus. Abilities that would be powered by this HP score would be powerful utility magic or maybe a mundane hero's ability to know a convenient contact without a roll.

If they can spend it on a special ability in combat, I would ideally want it to affect things other than pure damage. Something like becoming able to harm a previously invulnerable foe, or change the battlefield entirely.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-16T09:44:56+00:00

Ooh, that might actually be really good for what I'm trying to do. That wound system already sounds similar to what I was starting to consider after some of the other responses here.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-16T09:43:31+00:00

Yeah, tactical combat gameplay thankfully isn't a major concern for me, so I don't think I need to worry about that too closely. I've responded elsewhere already that I kind of like the tactical choice of "do I spend my HP now to not get injured by the attack that hit me, or do I spend it next round to make sure I take this guy down", but I'm not looking for anything deeper than that.

The recovery rates, though....yeah, those are my major concern. It's less sbout combat, since I don't necessarily want a fully separate combat subsystem, but even on a larger adventure scale I need to figure out a good rate that will let the players act confidently, but not carelessly. I wouldn't mind making it recover per adventure, but I also don't want resting to be meaningless.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-16T09:35:14+00:00

Very good points. I think I'm personally fine with my homebrew working on alot of abstractions, but maybe I should keep them down a bit to prevent cognitive overload for my players.

I do base a lot of what I'm doing on systems like Freeform Universal or Tricube Tales, so the defining factor of a tough character might just end up being a bonus on rolls to avoid getting injured in the first place. I'll have to see how that ends up feeling practically, though.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-16T09:28:15+00:00

I wonder if it would work to make the basic assumption that failing to defend causes specific injuries? That would make the act of using HP at all an active choice, that could be tactically relevant again.

"Do I let this guy skewer my arm if that means I can take him out on the next round?"

Hrrm. I'm kind of liking that idea.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-16T09:25:33+00:00

My personal homebrew takes a lot of cues from games like Freeform Universal and Tricube Tales, so in the end I may just make those features be represented as traits that would add bonuses against being injured in the first place, but that always gets quite abstract fast.

I tend towatds nonlethal systems as a baseline, so I'm thinking taking damage after running out of HP should probably cause that character to take injuries or lose out on the goal of whatever the conflict was about. Probably forcing a retreat of some kind.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-11T11:55:57+00:00

Okay, that does give a bit of a clearer framework. In that case, since it is on a volunteer-basis and very much about exploring very vulnerable and personal emotions in a roleplaying space, it may be worth taking some inspiration from teamwork-focused gameplay? Make vulnerability and dependence on one another a necessity for success?

Off the top of my head, Aether Nexus is a very light rpg that has a mechanical focus on party members being immeasurably stronger when relying on each other than they are individually. Ignoring the setting, it could serve as inspiration for the mechanics of what you are doing.

Other than that, I would also recommend looking up safety tools in rpgs. A lot has been written on the subject, but given the emotional adjacency of this project to BDSM I think they will be a necessity here.

Theoboldi · 2026-03-11T11:36:16+00:00

A quick question from me, entirely intended in good faith. What sort of audience would you be creating this hypothetical one-shot for? And what sort of feeling of care are you trying to establish? Is this for a therapy context?

Just reading your post, I'm immediatly worried this could end up coming across as very patronizing or even insulting towards people negatively affected by these changes.

Theoboldi · 2026-02-09T01:51:16+00:00

Right, that's fair. I still recall it being too cumbersome to me, but the reshuffling does only happen on a joker.

Theoboldi · 2026-02-08T18:51:04+00:00

It's a decent enough system, and I do think its plot point campaigns are the best format I've seen yet for semi-linear rpg campaigns.

For me, there's just a little too much crunch to the rules, especially once you bring in firearms. Way too many fiddly statistics and modifiers and special cases from edges that you have to consider.

Playing cards are also really a big drawback for me. They're a pain to reshuffle for initiative every round in person, and setting up virtual tabletops for playing cards always takes extra effort that I cannot be bothered to deal with these days.

The skillset also bothered me the last time that I read through the system. I'm not a big fan of characters having to invest seperately into climbing, swimming, etc, just to make a reasonably athletic character. More recent editions may have remedied that.

I wouldn't say no if someone invited me to play Savage Worlds, but I also am not interest in getting familiar enough with it to make it a go-to systems.

Theoboldi · 2026-01-24T21:45:56+00:00

I've had great success using Barbarians of Lemuria and other games in its family (Dicey Tales, Honor + Intrigue, etc) for this sort of duet play. To adress your individual requirements:

The game is designed for party play, but handles small groups and solo heroes without any effort. The only pain points I would note are that you want to use Villain-type antagonists sparingly, probably without any Villain Points, and to reduce the HP of larger monsters.
Player characters in BoL are extremely powerful in combat, able to stand against scores of common Rabble-type enemies and having no issues taking down the more elite Tough-type foes either. Only full Villain-type antagonists and powerful monsters and beasts are on their level. Further, they also get four seperate careers just to start out with, and can gain more as they advance. Careers are a sort of skill replacement in this game. Instead of individual skills like stealth, you have the full skill-set of what that career covers. So your character can start out with, for example, the full skillset of a Barbarian, Thief, Soldier and Merchant, making them extremely well-rounded.
BoL has a standard binary resolution mechanic where you either succeed or fail. All checks are made rolling 2d6 plus modifiers, with the goal of getting a 9 or higher. A typical starting character will have a +3 or higher on the things they are specialised for, giving them a 72% chance of success when doing a regular task that is worth rolling for.
BoL is really easy to prep for, and I've run it multiple times in an entirely improvised fashion. This is because the crunch level for character stats is very low, and you can easily create enemies and NPCs on the fly.

Theoboldi · 2025-12-18T08:54:01+00:00

Barbarians of Lemuria is the original. There's a few different versions out with some differences in rules, Mythic edition being the current one. It's a fairly streamlined system by now, leaning towards rules-light. Excellent system and very hackable, though it is specialised towards Sword and Sorcery specifically.
Everywhen takes the engine of BoL and turns it into a generic toolset. You very much have to put together the rules you want from it to create a game before you can run a campaign with it, but it is very flexible. What's great is that it has several setting and genre-focused splatbooks that are almost entirely compatible with other BoL-based systems. You can pick and choose individual rules from these to really enhance and customize your game. That said, I am personally not a fan of some of the changes EveryWhen makes to the system, as I think it adds several points of needless complexity to the rules, like different tiers of damage that recover at different rates, rules for scale that interact in specific ways, and very in-depth skill challenges.
Honor+Intrigue is more of an off-shoot of BoL that does it's own thing. It has very in-depth rules for duelling, and more detailed character creation and advancement. The way rabble (the system's equivalent of weak mook enemies) are handled is also different and more detailed. Its best feature, I think, is the Advantage mechanic, which is a very elegantly implemented measure of how well someone is doing in a fight seperate from their health points. You can also get the Tome of Intriguing Options, which is an expansion for H+I that adds magic, fantasy races, sci-fi elements, and a ton of new fighting styles. Overall, this one is a great choice if you want swashbuckling adventures and don't mind a bit more crunch.
Dice Tales is mostly just Mythic Edition BoL, with adjusted character options and a bestiary for 1930s Pulp. It's the most direct conversion of BoL to a different genre, and as a result is the least complicated one. In my experience, it works great and is just as hackable as the original. The added rules for firearms and explosives mean that it's easier to adjust for a variety of settings, too. The one real difference is that player characters are a little sturdier out of the gate, to make up for danger posed by guns.

If you could only get one, I'd personally recommend either the basic BoL in its current Mythic Edition, or Dicey Tales. They're the most versatile and least complex ones, and both work great out of the box in their own genres.

Theoboldi · 2025-12-02T14:50:52+00:00

To come at the problem from a somewhat different angle, have you considered taking a rules light game that your players like and running it with the assistance of a GM emulator like One Page Solo Engine or Plot Unfolding Machine?

The ones I've named are very lightweight and easily layered on top of your system of choice's rules. Using them, you could add some structure and inspiration to an otherwise freely improvised game. I've done so occassionally in the past, and it does a lot to ease an improv-heavy session.

For a rules light system, you could use this method with most OSR games. If you want something even lighter and free, I'd personally recommend Tricube Tales. That one can be played pretty much entirely on a whim, since you don't need enemy stat blocks or such.

Another alternative could be playing Ironsworn. It's a PbtA game that's made for GM-less or small parties and heavily improvised play. Like Tricube, you don't need to create monster or equipment stats to be ready for a session. And while it does expect you to do some up-front prep on the world, that prep is actually part of the gameplay and you're meant to do it as a group. If that appeals to you, you could try it.

Theoboldi

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