Recently I've been talking about, what's the shortest character sheet you can get away with, while still having a fully-fleshed out character? There are a lot of rules-light games out there, but most of them are freeform. Of course I enjoy that, but there are times you just want to pick some stuff from a list, yeah? You don't want to buggerise about trying to invent stuff.

So I was talking to people about this, and thinking, if you've a list of skills, what's about the shortest list you can get away with? Less than about 30, it becomes a class-based system; more than 50, you'll end up making a heap of hydra skills (one body, many heads - "Craft: choose any crafting skill") and turn out like GURPS with 300+ skills...

I took S John Ross's "12 things adventurers do," and split them into three skills each; I added six attributes, and then... Well, read on , and tell me what you reckon.

I didn't know what to call it, either...

Incidentally, fonkaygarry intends to use this in his online game of Mariner, as discussed in the Traveller trading game set in modern day.

adventure-story-geek game system


Traits

The traits are attributes, tech, and skills. Each has a level of,

• 0, costing nothing
• 1, costing 1xp
• 2, costing 4xp
• 3, costing 9xp

Attributes

There are six attributes,

• Strength, overall physical bulk and push.
• Agility, balance, manual dexterity and co-ordination.
• Fitness, stamina, resistance to disease and poison.
• Education, book-learning, but also general knowledge and experience.
• Perception, how much you notice, ability to grasp new concepts.
• Confidence, chutzpah, courage, willpower.

each rated

• 0, handicapped or child-like
• 1, ordinary
• 2, good
• 3, impressive

Tech

One tech level, rated

• 0, stone age
• 1, metal age
• 2, industrial age
• 3, space age

Skills

There are thirty-six skills,
   
Acrobatics: tumbling, jumping, and balance
Climbing: from free-climbing to mountains
Swimming: from treading water to crossing the Channel

Brawling: unarmed combat of all types
Fire: ranged and thrown weapons, only firearms and no others at Tech 2/3.
Melee: every kind of weapon

Languages: each level is one language beyond the native
Speech: public speaking, story-telling, persuasiveness
Writing: whether poetic or prosaic or technical

Interview: gaining information by talking, may be hostile (like police interrogation) or friendly (like a first date)
Search: noticing things which can be seen or surmised, and finding things by a physical going-over
Tracking: discovering things about people and animals by the physical traces they leave of themselves, and following them by that means.

Aircraft: all kinds of flying craft, includes spacecraft at Tech 3
Landcraft: all kinds of ridden animals and driven land vehicles, ridden animals only at Tech 1, no ridden animals at Tech 3.
Seacraft: all kinds of powered and unpowered craft which travel on or in liquids.

Engineering: design and principles of all kinds of machinery
Handicrafts: everything from cooking to blacksmith, all things made by hand.
Technician: building and maintenance of machinery; does not grant ability to design.

Burglary: breaking into places, either leaving a trace (quick) or not so much (slow)
Deceit: all kinds of deception, from simple lying, to forgery, disguise and sleight of hand.
Stealth: being a sneaky bugger. Includes covering up after a Search, or avoiding Tracking.

Body Magic/Psi: Powers affecting the body (human or animal) healing, harming and altering it.
Elements Magic/Psi: Powers afecting the elements (fire, water, earth, air, electricity, etc).
Mind Magic/Psi: Powers affecting the mind – telepathy, possession, illusions, etc.

Nursing: first aid and basic day-to-day care. Prevents death on the spot, and helps make the patient comfortable and heal naturally.
Physician: Making the sick better, fixing up wounds, etc.
Veterinary: being a nurse or physician for animals.

Acting: convincingly portraying a person and their emotions, motivations, etc.
Diplomacy: making others comfortable; persuading them is Speech.
Intimidation: convincing others that you are willing and eager to do them harm.

Liberal Arts: history, archaeology, anthropology, literature, etc.
Law & Society: the laws, cultural mores, bureaucratic methods, and important stories of societies.
Sciences: physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the like; applied sciences are called Engineering.

Hunting: knowing the lifestyles of and being able to butcher animals.
Navigation: finding your way about, with or without aids like compasses.
Survival: making do in the wilderness, being able to find shelter, make fire, water, and vegetable foods.


Each skill is rated

• 0, no ability
• 1, able, high school, apprentice
• 2, good, bachelor's degree, journeyman
• 3, awesome, PhD, master

Specialties
Attributes, tech and skills can have specialties. A specialty is a particular ability within that trait. Some examples,

Strength – weightlifter, heavy puncher
Agility – flexible, quick
Fitness – good-looking, stamina
Physician – paedetrician, thoracic surgeon
Fire – machinegunner
Liberal Arts – historian, painter
Handicrafts – blacksmith, woodcarver
Aircraft – Space Shuttle, glider

A player can select a specialty for any or all traits which their character has at least level 1 in. They trait is effectively 2 levels higher when dealing with that area, and 1 level lower the rest of the time. So for example if a character had Fitness 2 (Good-looking), they'd have Fitness 4 when doing things to do with good looks, and Fitness 1 for everything else.


Being a Master
In a realistic game, if a character has a mastery in an attribute or skill, they have to spend an hour a day maintaining it. Six months without doing this, they lose a level.


XP
Each trait costs xp to have or improve. An xp represents about a year of study; this is not a full year, but an hour or so a day of study over that year. Different games will give different amounts of total xp.

• Bastard GM Level, or children and other suffering types, 33xp
• Realistic Level, or average normal people, 66xp
• Heroic Level, or what a lot of geeks think they are naturally, 99xp.

Getting Better at Stuff
The group should award xp for things like hosting the game, showing up on time, bringing munchies, roleplaying well, character deaing with something personally confronting (bravery, but sometimes it's brave to avoid a fight!), and writing journals and webpages.

If you like a cinematic game, let players spend an xp to get a +1 on a quickie or fight (see below).



Doing Stuff & Effort
You do stuff by adding an appropriate skill to an appropriate attribute, and rolling a d6. For your effort, you can Sleep Through It, Cruise It, Push It, or Bust It.

Sleeping Through It: don't bother rolling, you'll always get 0. You cannot sleep through a Fight, only a Quickie (see below)


Whenever you do stuff, both you and whatever you're working against roll. Whichever side gets highest, wins. Competitions are quickies, or fights. NPCs always Cruise It.

Attributes without skills: If you have 0 in the skill, you can still try it with the appropriate attribute.

Quickies
If you win or lose a quickie, that's that, competition over. This is used for things which are pretty simple or not very important to the plot.

   For example, JimBob the Geek has met a h4wt chixxorz at the pub and thinks he's got lucky. He goes to the toilet to clean up and get a condom from the vending machine there. He selects "studded lurv" and pops his two bucks in, and turns the knob. He hears a click and jungle as it swallows his money, and a shuffling inside – through the glass he sees his condom has fallen halfway down the chamber and is stuck!

"This is a quickie competition," the cruel GM says, "what traits are you using?"

"Er... I guess using a simple machine like this requires Perception, and probably a Technician. That's good Perception and no Technician, for 2."

"Rightyo, this is machine which is has good Strength, for 2."

"Bugger. So I'm using my basic brains, my perception, to figure out how to bypass its strength, holding onto my condom. Bastard machine!"

"How much effort and risk will you take?"

"Well, okay, this is a strong thing, I need a decent performance... but if I fail, I fail, so I may as well go all-out. I'm going to push it!"

"Roll. 1, that's a -3, more than that will be better."

"I roll... 2. Crap! That's 0."

"And the machine rolls... 6. That +1. So the machine gets a total of 3, and you get a total of 2. You lose! Poking and probing at the vending machine, the condom remains stubbornly stuck in there. But hey, the next guy who comes along will probably get two now!"



Fights
It's a Fight when it's important to the plot, or when someone is pissed off enough with the result of a quickie to keep going with it. Fights are either physical or mental. Whoever initiates the fight gets to decide which it'll be. Between two people, fights can escalate from mental to physical if one side decides it, or go from physical to mental if both sides consent

In a physical fight, the loser in each round loses a level off one of their physical attributes – Strength, Agility or Fitness. In a mental fight, they lose it from their mental attributes – Perception, Education or Confidence.

In each round, the loser decides which attribute to lose a level from. When all three physical, or all three mental attributes have dropped to zero, the loser should give up, lying there crippled. At this point they're at the mercy of their foe.

They can fight on if they wish, going to negative levels, but each negative level is a lasting loss from that attribute – some kind of crippling injury. If taken to the negative of their attributes, the character drops dead (physical), or has a nervous breakdown (mental).

   For example, enraged at the condom vending machine and determined to have the means to make good his seduction of the h4wt chixxor, JimBob the Geek's player says, "Alright, then, condom vending machine, time to fight!"

"Okay, for a fight, it has to be either physical, or mental. Which will it be?"

"Physical! I'll smash it! Good Strength and able Brawling. That's 3. And I'm going to Push It."

"Alright, this thing is tough, can't move, and is not very durable. It has good Strength (2), no Agility (0), and able Fitness (1). It has no skills. So it's just its Strength vs yours."

"I roll... 3. That's 0, so altogether I get 3."

"And the machine gets... 1, that's -1 for 2 altogether. You win. It loses 1 off its Strength. The glass cracks under the pounding of your fist."

The fight goes on, until the machine reaches 0 in all attributes. The GM says, "Okay, the machine decides that it doesn't want any permanent injuries, and gives in. Its little door hangs open on its hinges, all the contents open to you. You can do what you want to it."

"I stuff a fistful of condoms in my pocket, cackling with glee."

"By the way, you made quite a bit of noise, a big bouncer walks in and says, "what the fuck are you doing?" He has impressive Strength. He's going to grab you by the ear and toss you out of the bar. Will this be a quickie or a fight?"

"Er..."

You overdid it, JimBob
If, during a Quickie or Fight, you get a final result of less than 0, then you lose a level of an appropriate attribute, exactly as you normally do during a losing round of a fight; so that in a Quickie, you've hurt yourself, and in a Fight, you could lose up to two levels. This is why people don't Bust It all the time – they might bust themselves.


Modifiers
Players should get modifiers to their characters' traits according to the situation. Basically, those modifiers are -3 to +3. A malus should come about from lacking equipment (hard to Club without a club), and a bonus should come about from good equipment (a studded club), and from evocative descriptions which make people laugh, cry or gasp – reward people for entertaining you.



Healing Up

After you get injured in a fight, you'll need to heal up. Temporary injuries heal at the rate of 1 level per day, lasting injuries at 1 level per week. Nursing skill against a difficulty of 3 heals 1 level instantly, and doubles healing rate. Physician skill against a difficulty of 6 heals 3 levels instantly.

Quote from: JimBobOzRecently I've been talking about, what's the shortest character sheet you can get away with, while still having a fully-fleshed out character? There are a lot of rules-light games out there, but most of them are freeform. Of course I enjoy that, but there are times you just want to pick some stuff from a list, yeah? You don't want to buggerise about trying to invent stuff.

For very simple characters that aren't freeform, I quite like this.  There's only 12 skills, but that's probably sufficient for a one-shot game, or even a few sessions.
 
I've also thought about taking the rules from Over the Edge, but adding a fixed list of genre-appropriate central/side traits.