For King And Country! was nominated for best RPG of 2009 over on Story Games, Dan! Best get cracking!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;348084For King And Country! was nominated for best RPG of 2009 over on Story Games, Dan! Best get cracking!

-clash

Ha! Yeah, i've just posted a reply over there.

To answer BedrockBrendan, there are no core mechanics as yet. They'll take shape as the thread rolls along and hopefully you'll be able to follow the process. I did the same with Stone Horizons on this forum (which is now within touching distance of completion!)

First off this sounds really ionteresting to me. Its going on the list as a future gotta have. Secondly I have a question. Is there a particular time period, as in year specific that you are shooting for? Next question which may be answered by the first. Will there be cartridge firearms such as the Martini-Henry? Or will it be muzzle loaders such as the Brown Bess?

This sounds interesting. I like the entourage concept. How do the core mechanics work?please answer my question as soon as possible.

Right.

I haven't got time to post it now, but i've got the basic mechanic worked out. I'll try to get it typed tomorrow.

Quote from: One Horse Town;357447I haven't got time to post it now, but i've got the basic mechanic worked out. I'll try to get it typed tomorrow.

Yay! I've been missing this thread!

-clash

Looks very fun, keep at it!

Any room for womenfolk in there? Perhaps typists may not go off on adventures but flower/matchstick/(otherbasketseller) girls might and if the plant closes, the factory girl may have nowhere else to go. (hey I've been reading Elizabeth Gaskell) Maids et al. Shop girls are a bit higher class but shops do close.

There's an enjoyable YA series about Sherlock Holmes' younger sister, Enola Holmes for more upper class adventuring. Corset+1 & Bustle of Concealing!

Also there's A. J. Raffles, Amateur Cracksman. Somewhat like an inverted Sherlock Holmes if done by Wodehouse. Hrm, is Lupin from this time period? (the original not say Lupin III anime)
Texts (and gaming info) here: http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/ff6/raffles1.htm
Free Audiobooks here: http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=&author=E.+W.+Hornung&action=Search

My internet access is fucked! Took me 15 minutes to load 3 pages...

So here it is.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction

Country

The trappings of civilisation are legion. Within the country there are fat cigars to smoke, fine wines to quaff, pugilism bouts to bet on, influence to exert, rich dowagers to woo, regimental dinners in which to hold court, patrons to bilk and last but not least willow to swish and tea and crumpets to enjoy at the local cricket pitch. Life is good. In the Country a man may make a living.

Out There

Beyond the Country are vast tracts of land filled with Johnny Foreigners, unwashed savages and although you don't like to admit it, quite possibly the French. Out there are savages to civilise, land to claim, resources to collect, big game to shoot, harems to raid, discoveries to be made and fortunes to be made. Life is cheap. Out There a man may make himself for life.

For King and Country! is a role-playing adventure game inspired by the works of Rudyard Kipling and George MacDonald Fraser.

Level

There are 3 levels of play in FkaC. They are – Noteworthy, Experienced, Celebrated.

Stats & Skills

These are rated in 4 ways.

1
2
2 (+1)
2 (+2)

Stat & Skill Improvement

Once a stat or skill reaches 2, there is only one way for you to increase your dice pool – spending experience to buy Skill/Stat Expertise (expressed as (+1)) and Skill/Stat Mastery (expressed as (+2)). Expertise can only be bought by characters of Experienced level and Mastery can only be bought by characters of Celebrated level.

Dice Mechanic

The dice mechanic employed in FkaC is a dice pool system. When confronted with a test, you roll a number of d6 determined by the relevant statistical or skill rating against a target number. Target numbers range from 3 to 9. If you equal or exceed the target number, you gain a success. However, to gain multiple successes you must split your dice pool. Multiple successes have a number of effects. For each additional success beyond the first you can choose one of the effects below.

1.   You can duplicate the effects of the original success.
2.   You gain a Free Action (see Free Actions).
3.   For actions that take longer than 1 round, you halve the time needed (round down).
4.   You regain 1 point of Perseverance.

Splitting Your Dice Pool

As can be seen, dice pool sizes in FkaC are quite small. However, the effects of gaining multiple successes often mean that it is desirable to gain more than 1 success. The only way to gain those extra successes is to split your dice pool. Obviously, you need more than one dice in your pool in order to do this, so this is only an option when your dice pool contains 2 dice. If the target number is 6 or below, multiple successes are achievable with 2 dice, however, TNs of 7, 8 or 9 are beyond a split dice pool of 2.

However, this is where purchasing Stat/Skill Expertise and Mastery comes in. Expertise gives you an additional dice for your pool only when you are splitting it. So you could have 3 pools of 1 dice, or 1 pool of 2 dice and 1 pool of 1 dice. Similarly, Mastery gives you 2 extra dice for your pool when you are splitting it. So with Mastery you could have 4 pools of 1 dice, 2 pools of 2 dice or 1 pool of 3 dice and 1 pool of 1 dice. In this manner you can gain multiple successes in tests.

You can also affect dice pools by purchasing a Perseverance Dice.

Perseverance Dice

Perseverance Dice is what sets player characters apart from the masses. They have reserves of strength and determination that lesser folk do not. When attempting a test, the player can purchase a Perseverance Dice for the attempt. This dice can be used in any way with the test, so even if you cannot normally split your dice pool (because your pool is 1 dice) purchasing a PD means that you can roll 2 pools of 1 dice or 1 pool of 2 dice.

It is preferable that your PD is a different colour to your other dice, because what you roll on this dice is subtracted from your current Perseverance total.

You may only purchase 1 PD per round.

Example 1
Doctor John Carlisle is treating a tropical disease. To set his patient on the way to recovery the GM sets a TN of 4. John's Doctoring skill is 2, so he has options. As his patient is in a bad way, John wants to gain multiple successes. He splits his dice pool into 2 pools of 1 and furthermore he purchases a PD, so further splits it into 3 pools of 1 dice. He rolls a 4 and 5 on his fist 2 pools and his PD comes up a 2. John gains 2 successes and although his PD came up a failure he subtracts 2 points from his current Perseverance. With his extra success, he duplicates the result of his first success. Therefore, instead of his patient regaining 2 points of Perseverance, he regains 4 points (2 from the first success and 2 more from the duplicate gained from the extra success).

Example 2
John is later in need of extra Porters when preparing for an expedition. He attempts a Charm test to employ them. The GM states that he needs 6 hours to do this. John hasn't got that time as a rival expedition is all but ready to go. His Charm Statistic is only 1, so he cannot split his pool to bring the time down. He purchases a PD and rolls 2 pools of 1 dice against a target number of 3. His first roll is a 2, but his PD roll is a five. He only gains 1 success, loses 5 points of Perseverance and still takes 6 hours to gain his extra Porters. Grrrr

Example 3
John's companion Edward Fairfax is a crack shot with his pistols. This comes in handy when the camp is attacked at night. With the darkness, the TN for hitting the attackers is a whopping 7, beyond the inexperienced. Luckily, Edward's marksman skill is 2 (+1) meaning that with the judicious application of a PD he has a chance of gaining 2 successes even in the poor light, or is he doesn't want that expense, he has a good chance of getting a single success. He chooses to spend a PD and does indeed gain 2 successes. He chooses to duplicate his success – in this case, his weapon damage. Pistols cause 5 points of Perseverance damage, so duplicating that results in the unfortunate attacker taking 10 points of damage which is beyond the total of a mere member of an Entourage and he drops stone dead. Crack shot!

Example 4
Later in that same combat, reinforcements arrive and Edward is a bit of a sitting target, yet unable to run unless he wants several spears in his backside. He again purchases a PD and rolls 2 pools of 2 dice, hoping to gain 2 successes. He does! He inflicts 5 points of damage on his target and chooses the Free Action option for his additional success. He takes cover as his Free Action (see Free Actions for full list available).

Example 5
Doctor John is having a hard time in the same ambush. He's a healer, not a fighter. He doesn't even have a weapon skill. But he can dodge, aha! Sadly, he only has 1 dice and just as it's hard to attack in the dark, it's just as difficult to see them coming. The TN is still 7. He has no chance unless he purchases a PD or relies on his attackers missing him due to the conditions. Sadly, he is hit by a spear, which forces his hand. He buys a PD and rolls a single pool of 2 dice, hoping for success. He gets it! Unfortunately, he still takes Perseverance damage from his PD, but only 1 point (he rolled a 6 and a 1). His gamble paid off this time, but he can't keep burning up Perseverance like this. He puts his fate in God and hopes that the spear damage coming his way turns out less during the rest of the fight than he would take in keep burning up Perseverance through using PDs.

Example 6
Eric Mable, the chancer from the city is trying to pick the lock of the local lock-up to free his partner in crime. The lock is simple and the TN is 3. Eric has a Larceny rating of 2 so he splits his pool. He rolls a 3 and a 4. He opens the lock and as he's had a rough night he chooses to regain 1 point of Perseverance from his additional success. Nothing perks you up more than the sweet smell of success!    

Qualities & Personality Traits

A PCs Qualities and Personality Traits can also affect his dice pool, Target Numbers and the use of Perseverance Dice.

Example 1
Edward has the Personality Trait Belligerent. The description says that when he is using his Charm Statistic to cow, bully or intimidate enemies, he rolls any purchased PD twice, keeping the result that he prefers. Unfortunately, the drawback is that his Society Score is lowered by 2 when dealing with Upper Class Twits.

Example 2
He also has the Quality Not on My Watch, which lowers the TN of Perception test by 1 point.

OK - I love the system, Dan! It has an element of risk in it, which is perfect!

What about Casey's comment?  Can you leave female PCs as unavailable? I am wracking my brain trying to think of a female that could be called a PC character in the source material, and can't, yet it's a big gap.

-clash

I'd never even considered leaving the ladies out! I must confess that the source material does tend to have few role models.

That's one of the good things about being inspired though, you don't have to follow slavishly. Although i mentioned the French in the introduction, i'm not really intending to have the game be either historical or even 'real world'. Much like Stone Horizons, it'll just be 'a place'.

Gender roles do need some thought though. :hmm:

Quote from: One Horse Town;357606I'd never even considered leaving the ladies out! I must confess that the source material does tend to have few role models.

That's one of the good things about being inspired though, you don't have to follow slavishly. Although i mentioned the French in the introduction, i'm not really intending to have the game be either historical or even 'real world'. Much like Stone Horizons, it'll just be 'a place'.

Gender roles do need some thought though. :hmm:

How about the Eagle Rider of Circassia? Annie Oakley from America? She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed?

These are, of course, not Proper Women. For the life of me I can't think of an English heroine who isn't frail and consumptive or flat out boring.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;357619These are, of course, not Proper Women. For the life of me I can't think of an English heroine who isn't frail and consumptive or flat out boring.

-clash

Make them all Eccentrics !

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David R;357670Make them all Eccentrics !

Regards,
David R

That just might work, David! They would be eccentric by definition, wouldn't they?

-clash

Quote from: One Horse Town;357606I must confess that the source material does tend to have few role models.

I wouldn't worry about that.  The most notable women, like their male counterparts, are the exceptions to the rule, the ones who dare to live by their own standards.

!i!