Say you were building a game system as a hybrid of two existing systems. I guess like the way Fuzion is Hero+Interlock[cyberpunk], or Icons is Marvel Super Heroes + FATE.
What systems would you pick, which bits would you use and why?

UA's Madness Meter + DC Heroes's resolution mechanics and attributes+TSR Conan RPG's skill system + WHFRP 1e's crit tables + Army of Darkness's Mass Combat Rules+ Godlike's setting

What's the Madness Meter?
And how would you plan to use Conan's skill system (I guess you mean the one where you use a skill category total as a default for untrained use?) with DC Heroes' resolution system?

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;702116What's the Madness Meter?
And how would you plan to use Conan's skill system (I guess you mean the one where you use a skill category total as a default for untrained use?) with DC Heroes' resolution system?

The Madness meter is a sanity system that tracks a character's exposure to certain triggers (violence, self-harm, etc), wherein characters can get 'hardened' against certain stimuli, but in doing so inch ever closer to a psychotic break. It's probably the best published sanity system Ive used, and I think it would ve perfect for conveying the psychological tolls of war.  the Conan skill system would be pretty easy to convert, it would just be a matter of scaling the skill ratings to the point ranges of Attributes and defining what each point level means in general terms. It wouldn't be much different than how I converted it to FASERIP, except that DCHereo's exponential progression would be abstracted a little (though tends to be anyways with the mental/social attributes).

I suppose you could add together all the character point costs for skills, then convert the total back into a skill number ata higher Factor Cost.
I'd be interested in seeing the MSH conversion too, if its not super-secret.

CP2020's resolution and (heavily adjusted) skill system, UA's madness meter, and Exalted's initiative system, the battle wheel.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;702126I suppose you could add together all the character point costs for skills, then convert the total back into a skill number ata higher Factor Cost.
I'd be interested in seeing the MSH conversion too, if its not super-secret.

I just took the concept of Talent Pools and divided the MSH talents into these, then reduced the ratings to a scale of 1-3 (as I had added a Rule of Diminishing Returns so that any Attribute test was only modified by a max of +/- 3, with a few exceptions. This was mainly just to keep modifier-crunching to a minimum).

I don't have my notes from that time because the system's evolved a bit since then, but you can still see the Conan influence.

Currently I use Talents & Specialties, with Specialties indicating specific skills and Talents general areas of knowledge. The Talents/Specialties I currently use are:

ACADEMICS
Anthropology, Archaeology, Geography, History, Law, Linguistics,Mathematics, Politics, Psychology, Sociology
ATHLETICS
Acrobatics, Brachiation, Climb, Parkour, Ride, Skate, (Sport), Swim, Throw
CHARM
Carouse, Etiquette, Grace, Leadership, Savoir-Faire, Seduction,Taunt
CHICANERY
Bluff, Disguise, Hide, Forge, Larceny,Lockpicking, Pick-Pocket, Subterfuge
MARTIAL ARTS
Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, Wind
MEDICINE
First Aid, Herbalism, Pharmacy, Psychiatry, Surgery, Vet
MILITARY
Artillery, Command, Demolitions, Dogfighting, Military Weaponry, Tactics, Tank
OCCULT
Cryptozoology, Demonology, Folklore, Myth, Parapsychology, Theology
SCIENCE!
Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Genetics, Neurology, Physics
SKULDUGGERY
Arson, Burglary, Death Traps, Intimidation, Poison, Torture
SLEUTH
Cryptography, Espionage, Forensics, Observation, Interrogation, Streetwise
SURVIVAL
(Environment), Fishing, Forrestry, Hunting, Mountaineer, Stealth, Tracking
TECH
Computers, Cybernetics, Electronics, Hacker, Mechanic, Robotics
VEHICLES
Astro navigation, Boat, Drive, Mecha, Motorcycle, Navigation, Pilot, Submarine
WEAPONRY
Archery, Fencing, Firearms, Jousting, (Weapon Specialist)

There are also Special Talents, which are things like Bookworm, Circus, Fast-Draw, Gearhead, Jack-of-all-Trades, etc.

Specialties are rated as follows:
     -Journeyman - The degree of competence of a professional
x2 - Master - Leader in the field
x3 - Grand Master - Best in the world

Talents are rated as follows:
     - 3 or more levels of Specialties
x2 - 9 or more levels of Specialties
x3 - 27 or more levels of Specialties

If your familiar with MSH, Talents provide a Shift bonus, so that you count an Attribute as 1 or 2 ranks higher on the resolution chart, which provides 1 of 4 colour results indicating degree of success.

What I've done is made it so that Talents/Specialties provide an Active Bonus, when used uncontested, or Passive Bonus in contested rolls/combat.

A Passive bonus provides a shift just as in MSH, from 1 to 3 ranks based on the combined Talent + Speciality. The Law of Diminishing Returns applies, but extra levels can offset negative modifiers.

An Active bonus, otoh, alters the colour result from 1 - 3 "phases".

If a character has a Talent but not the relevant Specialty to the task, the Talent always provides a Passive bonus.

Percentile skills with dice pools, in a more elegant (I hope) way than the one chosen by the developers of CoC 7th ed.

Quote from: TristramEvans;702451If your familiar with MSH, Talents provide a Shift bonus, so that you count an Attribute as 1 or 2 ranks higher on the resolution chart, which provides 1 of 4 colour results indicating degree of success.

What I've done is made it so that Talents/Specialties provide an Active Bonus, when used uncontested, or Passive Bonus in contested rolls/combat.

A Passive bonus provides a shift just as in MSH, from 1 to 3 ranks based on the combined Talent + Speciality. The Law of Diminishing Returns applies, but extra levels can offset negative modifiers.

An Active bonus, otoh, alters the colour result from 1 - 3 "phases".

If a character has a Talent but not the relevant Specialty to the task, the Talent always provides a Passive bonus.

Vaguely familiar with MSH (have run one-offs of it about three times). Enough that it makes sense, thanks for the enlightening

Quote from: MatteoN;702463Percentile skills with dice pools, in a more elegant (I hope) way than the one chosen by the developers of CoC 7th ed.

Interesting. Two core mechanics at once? I haven't seen the new CoC edition so can't comment there.

Its not quite a simple as taking the rules wholesale, but the current game I am working on is essentially a d20 game, with Advantage/Disadvantage from Next, Initiative from Savage Worlds, armour from d20 Conan, sword styles from Honor + Intrigue, careers from Witch Hunter: The Invisible World and Damage resolution from 7th Sea. I am probably forgetting a few influences.

It is all based on what worked really well at the table for the group from playing various games.

I've been toying around with something that's sort of GURPS + DC Heroes.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;702474Interesting. Two core mechanics at once? I haven't seen the new CoC edition so can't comment there.

My idea is to have broad abilities rated 0 to 99 and narrow "binary" specialties. Abilities are checked with a roll of 2d10, used to generate a number in the 0 to 99 range: if you possess the appropriate specialty, the ten's digit is the lowest result rolled on the dice, otherwise it's the highest result. If the number thusly generated doesn't exceed your ability's rating the check is successful. A "double", that is a result of 00 or of a multiple of 11, determines a critical success or failure.

When the action attempted is particularly easy, you roll 2d10 and one or more bonus dice (d10s) and pick the two lowest results; likewise, when the action is particularly hard, you roll 2d10 and a number of penalty dice and pick the two highest results.

When it's important to know the "margin" of a character's success, the roll is subtracted from the ability's rating ("blackjack" rolling wouldn't work). This is the only arithmetical operation that may be required to resolve an action (well, except adding 2d10 + nd10).


If I'm not wrong, in CoC 7th ed. sometimes you roll a single one's die and several ten's dice, picking the the highest or lowest ten's digit.

Never seen that one before. Hmm, doesn't seem that its possible to have a straight d100 roll result from the system?

Maybe you could just have Specialty directly reduce difficulty [potentially from hard to normal or normal to easy] - currently, if I understand it, seems you could often be taking the lowest of the two highest as the tens place or vice versa.

Quote from: J Arcane;702479I've been toying around with something that's sort of GURPS + DC Heroes.

A version of GURPS that scales up and down well, that would be great.