About the setting:
Pros
1) The reasoning behind war and the grim darkness is elevated enough where i could really get into playing it. Post apocalyptic abandoned warzone on an alien planet/ Yea things can be done with that.

2) There is reason to have a bunch of techie stuff. Both techie stuff at a distance and techie stuff that can have nigh magical effects.

3) Alien pokemon battles? Yea, I'd do that.

Cons
1) Its too combat focused to allow for a wide range of skills which a system like this must have. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for 2.

2) I'm still against this not being human centered. It seems like most of it is going to be roving packs of personality implanted creatures infecting other personality implanted creatures and I don't think that flies.

Changes I'd make: Coming soon. Too late at night for me to put for the effort. I'll get something together tomorrow.

Quote from: MGuy;567146About the setting:
Pros
1) The reasoning behind war and the grim darkness is elevated enough where i could really get into playing it. Post apocalyptic abandoned warzone on an alien planet/ Yea things can be done with that.

2) There is reason to have a bunch of techie stuff. Both techie stuff at a distance and techie stuff that can have nigh magical effects.

3) Alien pokemon battles? Yea, I'd do that.

Cons
1) Its too combat focused to allow for a wide range of skills which a system like this must have. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for 2.

2) I'm still against this not being human centered. It seems like most of it is going to be roving packs of personality implanted creatures infecting other personality implanted creatures and I don't think that flies.

Changes I'd make: Coming soon. Too late at night for me to put for the effort. I'll get something together tomorrow.

The idea was to leave the reasons behiond the war vague for 2 reasons.
i) The PCs really don't know. They don't have the details of the why they are really at the bottom of this food chain the grunts on the ground so to speak.
ii) From a design perspective the War and the parties fighting it are deliberately vague so the system can be expanded into a generic Scifi game. You will notice that neither side in the war is refered to as Human. The war could be between senient gas clouds and giant insects. The wider setting could be a huge populaose universe of a few systems lined by wormholes or anythgin in between.

On the Cons

1 - I agree. You could easily expand it to include settled groups of noncombatants. Did they build farms, mines, settlements. Did they construct a wider range of creatures for a different series of tasks. Etc. Easy to do. I think the combat focus is still valid. I think the core party is probably a Hybrid squad. Doesn't mean that that squad can't be independed workig for a settlement etc. But at that point you move much close to a post-apoc game style. The way i see it now is there is still a military government even if tis fragmented with no real control. That group still has objectives and sets missions and that is somethign diffetrent to most post-apoc games.

2 - Lack of Humans is deliberate. But the idea is that the Hybrids look feel and act like humans just extraordianry humans. So the Leonine Colonel, is a great visual image with a uniformed lion headed biped walking round a command room smoking a cigar with various other animal headed creatures taking his orders. I don't think you need actual humans so long as you establish the humanity of the Hybrids.
The Abominations are supposed to be monstrous. Giant bulked up critters with cyborg elements, giant octopoids that occupy polluted swamps etc etc
You could add human settlers as a passive population but a bit like D&D the human is the bland option why play a human when you can play a Cheeta-like assassin etc ... what does a human population add to the setting?

Quote from: jibbajibba;567158The idea was to leave the reasons behiond the war vague for 2 reasons.
i) The PCs really don't know. They don't have the details of the why they are really at the bottom of this food chain the grunts on the ground so to speak.
ii) From a design perspective the War and the parties fighting it are deliberately vague so the system can be expanded into a generic Scifi game. You will notice that neither side in the war is refered to as Human. The war could be between senient gas clouds and giant insects. The wider setting could be a huge populaose universe of a few systems lined by wormholes or anythgin in between.

On the Cons

1 - I agree. You could easily expand it to include settled groups of noncombatants. Did they build farms, mines, settlements. Did they construct a wider range of creatures for a different series of tasks. Etc. Easy to do. I think the combat focus is still valid. I think the core party is probably a Hybrid squad. Doesn't mean that that squad can't be independed workig for a settlement etc. But at that point you move much close to a post-apoc game style. The way i see it now is there is still a military government even if tis fragmented with no real control. That group still has objectives and sets missions and that is somethign diffetrent to most post-apoc games.

2 - Lack of Humans is deliberate. But the idea is that the Hybrids look feel and act like humans just extraordianry humans. So the Leonine Colonel, is a great visual image with a uniformed lion headed biped walking round a command room smoking a cigar with various other animal headed creatures taking his orders. I don't think you need actual humans so long as you establish the humanity of the Hybrids.
The Abominations are supposed to be monstrous. Giant bulked up critters with cyborg elements, giant octopoids that occupy polluted swamps etc etc
You could add human settlers as a passive population but a bit like D&D the human is the bland option why play a human when you can play a Cheeta-like assassin etc ... what does a human population add to the setting?

Didn't know the hybrids were actually bipedal. Generally it doesn't need to be "humans" in the setting but some analogue close enough that I and other players can super-impose themselves onto. If they are just "furries" then that'll do. With the rest, sounds good. Still going to post somethign to help setting wise after I finally get some sleep.

So - what stats would the PRISM itself have ?

Quote from: Sean !;567167So - what stats would the PRISM itself have ?

So I figure a PRISM contains all your skills, memories and "mental" stats. Since we haven't defined them yet its hard to say much more.

From a game perspective it means that you build the character in 2 halves. There is no concept of playing a mental character or a physical character of putting stats into Strength or Intelligence doesn't happen.

The idea I had was to generate a 'meat' build using random rolls off a template. So you use the Leonine template or the Bovine template or the Simian template. That gives you the physical stats.

Then you determine your mental stats (random or point buy, I prefer random ) and your skills. those parts form the stuff that gets recorded on a PRISM.

Now in play this is going to be interesting because you might decide you want to play a simian science guy, think Cornelius from Planet of the Apes, then due to combat whatever you end up getting smoked and IMPed into a tentacled abomibination with hyped reflexes and 5 arms or something.

From what I can gather thus far the system involves rolling 1D10, plus stat, plus skill, to equal or exceed target number for success.

As for extra successes:

Rolling what, equal tn to +2 is 1 success
Rolling +3 to +5 is 2 success
+6 or more, 3 success

Successes could be used to reduce time for most tasks, and to either inflict more damage or hit in a specific place in combat.

Example:

Climbing a cliff takes ten hours for 1 success. For each additional success remove 2 hours from the time taken.

Decoding a door lock takes five minutes for 1 success. Every success after the 1st removes 2 minutes from the time taken.

In combat, 1 success with a sword inflicts a wound on a limb, damage as usual. 2 successes inflicts a more serious wound, with either a penalty to actions or losing hit points per round, the victims choices. 3 successes inflicts a nasty injury with penalty to actions, loss of hit points per round AND some lasting injury - a scar or limp, for example.

Depends on how nasty you want combat to be.

Possible setting suggestions:

• The far future. Mankind has spread through the stars, and the far flung colonies have turned resentment at the far off seat of Empire into open rebellion. Fight for the glory of the empire, and rise from a lowly legionary to a Centurion, Legate, or higher, whilst sidestepping or participating in the political intrigue and backstabbing. As a rebel, you are outgunned, have uncertain allies with families, homes and crops to tend, and face death if caught, as an example to others to be vigilant, be loyal, and behave, in the Emperors name. You have no choice - fight, win, or die!


• Mankind first encountered Alien races over 100 standard years ago. The first encounters were nervous, sometimes disastrous affairs. Over time, the exchange of language, technology and culture took place, before the warlike humans killed everyone and took their stuff. Now, the aliens, facing extinction or subjugation, have only one thing to decide - bow to the Humans, or fight back? Players pick from a choice of alien races, or play as the bad guys (humans) with a choice of cybernetic enhancements and genetic tampering to increase their chances of purging and burning in the name of humanity!


• We thought we were alone. We paid for that naivety when the colony on Therus Prime squawked a hasty mayday, and described hordes of insectoid creatures overrunning the peaceful mining settlement. The mines supply Tribillium, a vital fuel source, and there is a significant credit value attached to the installation. A fear unvoiced is that the Aliens will use Therus Prime as a staging post to spread their hives deeper into human colonies, until it's too late to fight back! The marines are despatched to investigate, thinking they'll have a holiday with what they regard as a 'bug hunt'. They will find out they are wrong, and they'll need bigger guns...


• People sang and rejoiced in the streets when scientists discovered another planet suitable for human life. Now, after hundreds of years in stasis, the colonisation fleet nears its destination. The planet, nicknamed Eden, is everything it was promised, and more besides. With genetic modification, the population in 20 years will become self supporting, and life will begin anew for the human race, and the 10,000 brave colonists who said goodbye to life on Earth. However, Eden is already home to a race of sentient and they aren't happy about the newcomers... lock and load! It's all out WAR!

Just a few top of the head things. All will be familiar in some way or another from books, films, comics and so on.

My thought is if we want stuff like degrees of success/success counting and hit location that is fine, but  even though those seem like small things, I feel they are pushing us well out of the realm of rules light. Tabulating successes can be especially time consuming when you have multiple characters doing things. I would suggest a simple system of critical failure, failure, success and critical success. To keep it very simple just go with a natural one is crit failure, natural 10 a crit success (regardless of you modifier).

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;567201To keep it very simple just go with a natural one is crit failure, natural 10 a crit success (regardless of you modifier).

I think giving the PCs a 1 in 10 chance of crit failure each roll is too slapstick unless the game is set to gonzo gritfest, especially if their foes have 1 in 10 chance of crit success in combat.

But - If this is what you want then go for it :cool:

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;567140I don't quite get what you mean by 'simultaneous rolling over and under' sorry? Example maybe?
IIRC the plan was that its possible to capture abomination bodies, and that would be a sort of 'treasure' you can get during play.
(EDIT: scooped by jibba)

Think how roll under works. Now to adjust difficulty you apply penalties, right? Instead of subtracting you can tell a person to roll over what would be a penalty.

So a guy's skill is 15 and the difficulty of the task is 7. He has to roll over 7 and under 15 (instead of subtracting and rolling under . The odds are identical. This method just uses no math. Ever.

The other part of what I suggested was pretty much used in Unknown Armies. You roll under your skill to determine hit or miss. That roll plus weapon damage is the damage total. Works pretty well there.

Quote from: Sean !;567211I think giving the PCs a 1 in 10 chance of crit failure each roll is too slapstick unless the game is set to gonzo gritfest, especially if their foes have 1 in 10 chance of crit success in combat.

But - If this is what you want then go for it :cool:

I'd agree with that.
You don't need a critical failure mechanic

Quote from: jibbajibba;567248I'd agree with that.
You don't need a critical failure mechanic

I am fine with no crit failure. I personally dont have them in my own systems. I think 10% for a crit success is okay though. Especially for a more lethal game.

Quote from: jibbajibba;567248I'd agree with that.
You don't need a critical failure mechanic

Well, if you are talking about a game with firearms, especially salvaged firearms, there probably should be some kind of mis-fire or jam chance.  Maybe treat it like a critical hit in D&D, where you roll a 1 or something, then have to roll again and get above a certain number based on the weapon to avoid a jam or mis-fire.

Quote from: StormBringer;567353Well, if you are talking about a game with firearms, especially salvaged firearms, there probably should be some kind of mis-fire or jam chance.  Maybe treat it like a critical hit in D&D, where you roll a 1 or something, then have to roll again and get above a certain number based on the weapon to avoid a jam or mis-fire.

It is set in the future though, so the problem of jamming may well have been solved.

What kind of weapon tech are we looking at in this setting?

Quote from: beejazz;567230Think how roll under works. Now to adjust difficulty you apply penalties, right? Instead of subtracting you can tell a person to roll over what would be a penalty.
 
So a guy's skill is 15 and the difficulty of the task is 7. He has to roll over 7 and under 15 (instead of subtracting and rolling under . The odds are identical. This method just uses no math. Ever.

Ah, I see! I don't think I've ever seen that before! (have to add that one to my design archive somewhere).
Simplicity aside I personally hugely prefer systems where higher roll means you've done better consistently- or failing that lower roll is better consistently (instead of some low numbers are good, or every digit ending in 5 is a crit, or blackjack higher is better unless you go over, or all even numbers are misses, or whatever.). I don't know that its a rational dislike on my part that I can really explain, though.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;567364It is set in the future though, so the problem of jamming may well have been solved.

What kind of weapon tech are we looking at in this setting?

I don't see jamming as the issue.

I can see that salvaged weapons may benefit froma failure mechanic but 1 in 10 is way to high, 1 in a 100 is way to high to be honest.... but maybe an optional rule is on a 1 you roll a % for chance of gun failure.

I can see 3 sorts of weapons.
i) Balistic - fires, a probably caseless, round with a number of different properties
ii) Energy - a phaser/laser type weapon could be a straight hard fi laser or a soft fi blaster
iii) some neural disruptor that renders the target incapacitated but preserves the meat for reuse.

Of course this would be in my suggested setting if we go elsewhere then all bets are off .

Talking of which BSJ you need ot make a few decisions and start workign out the next steps.