Possible Post-Holocaust RPG:ing...

[Legionnaire]

I'm currently in the process of investigating a game called EarthAD 2, which seems like an RPG drawing on the themes of Mad Max, Fallout-games and a plethora of literature involving guns, mutants, survival and mayhem!

In the events of acquiring the game, would anyone besides Joe and Mike be interested?

I'd love to run a game or two, possible a campaign if people are interested.

The Swede.

[Legionnaire]

I have now downloaded the first incarnation of the game EarthAD (there's a new edition out though) and I have to say I like it a lot!

- VERY simple rules, but still workable.
- The system is there, the world is yours to create or steal...
- Points to distribute among attributes and skills.
- It doesn't have to take place in the USA! "Cough, UK anyone?"

The choice is yours gentlemen of what kind of setting you'd like. Personally I feel that a Fallout/ Mad Max-thing would float my boat, but here are som options:

- Playing mutated characters (both human and animals!).
- A world after the Cataclysm where you try to survive in a world cast back to the feudal era-thingie, but with guns available.

My preferred option though is that the characters start out in a Vault, leaving them to later explore and battle an unknown world.

Will people please let me know if they're interested? It would be possible to have it up and running with short notice.

The Swede.

[joeoe18]

Well I'm still interested! I'm not sure which of those options I prefer the most though. Hmmmmm...

[Legionnaire]

The system needs only a minor bit of "tailoring" to my specs, done in an hour or so. These following points are going to change.

- Melee/ Hand-To-Hand are going to be Skill vs. Skill, the bigger the difference in the rolls, the more damage is dealt. Simulating both damage bonus and the possible dangers a skilled adversary makes.

- Armour is going to be introduced, on a simple "point taken off damage"- kind. The ones existing only makes it potentially more difficult to score a hit.

-Possibly simple autofire rules (short and long bursts). Probably makes it easier to hit the target ( short burst) and deal more damage with a long burst and shooting on multiple targets.

- Healing is going to more slowly, possibly heals every 5 days of rest instead of every day. I always feel like if you've been mortally wounded and are back to full health within a few days or so, that's a bit rich...

The Swede.

[mike]

Hi Ove

As for exact genre, I leave that in your capable hands (I'll try anything once)

Regard the rules changes, I have one or two suggestions - assuming you don't mind taking a little advice

1/ Skill v. Skill for close combat works well for determining whether or not the hit lands, but I'd shy away from basing damage on it.
I recall the early versions of Traveller did this and it resulted in the silly situation that, if you were good enough, you could blow up a tank with a paper dart.
(An extreme example I'll grant, but it was theoretically possible.)

2/ Armour is good, and the points-taken-off variety (similar to RQ) works well.
I would also suggest that in a modern/post-apoc setting you also add an armour penetration rating for the weapons, defined as the amount armour the weapon simply ignores (this sould be seperate from the damage rating).
After all, a rifle shot inflicts about the same amount of damage as a sword blade but it's a lot better at getting through armour.

3/ For autofire I would apply a skill penalty since the weapon tends to jerk off target with each shot (a small one for short bursts, and a larger one for long bursts).
The pay-off would be higher damage - ideally you would inflict damage for each round that hit the target, but if that's too complex simply increasing the damage rating would work.

4/ Regarding healing - I have no problem with that at all
It really depends on how "heroic" you wnat the game (faster healing = more heroic).

All just advice of course, take it or leave it as you see fit - in the final analysis it's up to you (as GM) to set the rules so the fit the world you want run.

Mike

[Legionnaire]

Thanks for the input Mike!

1) I think that the likelyhood to blow up a tank with a paper dart is very remote, but anyway. The maximum possible damage done in Melee or Unarmed Combat, in one go, will be (assuming the extreme case of the worlds fittest and best swordsman) 10 Damage. That is taking into account that the defendant either missed his or got 0 in difference on his Skill roll. This is put in comparison that the average human can take 10 Damage before he/ she dies. If you take a single hit of equal to or more than your Willpower you're stunned etc. The average stat is 2 for a human. So I think we don't need to worry.

2) As the rules are very simple but nice, I've already worked out a system. As the opposite is also true (kevlar has a tendency to protect not so well against stabs with knife or a bayonet), the easiest way is to have one level of protection against Melee and one against Firearms. I had in mind 5 or so very general types of Armour. In my own game I had been mucking about with a Subdual Damage system as well, blunt trauma and shots that don't penetrate the armour, but that would be to complicated in this game. Let's keep it simple and enjoyable.

3) I missed the Burst fire rule on my first skimming of the rules, and that seems easy enough to implement.

4) I don't want characters to be taken out of the action for years and years, but I certainly want them to experience what happens when you get hurt. Convalesence....

The Swede.

[Stephen Mawson]

I'm also quite happy to have a go at any game system. Haven't played a non fantasy oriented RPG for quite a while, so something like this would be a nice change of pace.

The melee, armour and autofire rules sound reaonable to me. But I'm not to bothered about the rules as such, more on their impact on game play. Provided the combat rules run reasonably quickly that's all that's important to me, any system that requires more than a couple of rolls per player per attack tends to slow the game down in combat. Especially if there are a lot of potential options for players.

The healing could be more of an issue, depending on how frequent you are intending the characters to get into firefights. Realism is fine, if you are shot there should be some lasting effects. However spending a week recuperating from each one can take all the pace and interest of the storyline.

The effect of all this rather depends on how the world the characters are in is set up. If you are talking about a world of wilderness with scattered oasis's of safe settlements, then rest periods after combat isn't a problem. You return to your local settlement, or whatever, heal up and only head back into the badlands after you're all better. If that means there a gaps of several weeks between trips that doesn't matter as nothing much happens in game terms while you are doing so.

If it's more a case of you're in this lawless wilderness and there are no absolutely safe areas, then time spent recuperating can't be skipped over so easily, which means players spend more time looking for secure locations and defending them while they heal, and it means that a stronger emphasis on placed on avoiding combat rather than shooting it out with every potential enemy you come across.

My personal preference here is for fast healing hero's who shrug off gun fire reasonably quickly as it means more game time is spent in the action, and less in the hospital.

If not then the at least having a base or home or whatever that you can retreat to and be absolutely safe is best, as again it keeps the game focused on the action.

[joeoe18]

I think the healing issue is also dependent just how much combat there is going to be. If combat is a relatively rare occurance, that's to say the story/game is driven by other things, then then second situation stephen described would be less of an issue.

Just another thing to bear in mind

[Legionnaire]

Thanks for the interest showing gentlemen. A little about the system (mostly directed at Stephen...). Your main Attributes range between 0-5, with a possible 6 and Skills between 0-10, but you may not start with a skill higher than 6. You assaign a number of points between them in the creation. You can train your Attributes and Skills with experience.

You add your Attribute and Skill and basically roll 2D6, if under fine, over miss. A roll of double 1's is always a Triumph (Critical) and a roll of double 6's is always a Failure. If the task is easier you ADD a numer of D6, but pick the LOWEST values. If it's more challenging you also ADD a number of D6 but pick the HIGHEST values. In general one roll is sufficient to determine if you succeed and how well, in combat if you hit and how hard. Simplicity itself Watson.

It seems like people are pretty happy to go along with whatever idea I have, so here's the lowdown:

About a mans-age ago the world went into upheaval, it was going to be called THE CATACLYSM. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes etc. ravaged the globe, coupled with total insanity of missiles, atomic weapons and general mayhem. Out of this chaos crawled the people who survived (more or less), trying to rebuild and eke out a meaningful existence.

Anyway, nowadays, giving the nature of the world, the countries and their borders don't exist, at best there's some kind of feudal lord who reigns over a region. Communication with the outside world is sparse, exploration and travel is dangerous due to the twists in nature that has occured and your fellow man.

I probably will place the characters in a Free Settlement, allegience to none, but many interested parts, which should provide ample opportunities for the different tastes (intrigue, spying, warfare etc.)

The Swede.

[mike]

This is looking better the more I read - count me in

We're roleplaying this Monday anyway, so if you want to pinch a little time to go through the basics that's fine by my