Sunday, September 12, 2021

Kevin's Quest

The Year of GADD
This must be the year of gamer's attention deficit disorder (GADD). So far, I've started and stalled out on projects with chariots, galleys, horse & musket skirmish, Byzantine skirmish, and African exploration. This week, I turned back to RPGs.

Me and RPGs
I have a long history of experimenting with roleplaying games. A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I was toying with running an online campaign with my brothers. At the time, I was pondering which system to run. Unhappy with the commercial options, I did a short experiment with a 2D6 system. I've played around with 2D6 before (here are some examples).

Kevin's Quest
I had a burst of inspiration this week and began jotting down rules for a 2D6 system. I began calling the rules Kevin's Quest.

Origins of KQ
These rules are certainly not original. They have many inspirations. I drew on a number of rules that use a 2D6 system, such as
  • Traveller
  • Barbarians of Lemuria
  • PDQ
  • QUERPS
Furthermore, old school D&D has an influence. I may gripe about D&D (and there are quite a few flaws worthy of griping about) but the basic structure is very solid. 

  • Some positives about old school D&D:
  • Character creation is straightforward
    • Roll attributes, pick a class, roll hit points and gold, then buy equipment.
    • The BECMI edition added some general skills, which I like.
  • Combat is straightforward
    • Roll to hit, then roll damage if successful.
Some Features of KQ
  • Characters are created by determining
    • attributes (strength, dexterity, intelligence, charisma),which range from -1 to 5 with 0 representing the average
    • race and profession (similar to D&D)
    • combat skills (fight, shoot, and magic, health) determined by profession, and
    • general skills.
  • Health starts low (average around 5) and remains low across levels. I want to avoid hp bloat.
  • To give some staying power to PCs, I give luck points, which can negate hits.
  • Combat is based on 2D6 + modifiers >= Difficulty. Average difficulty = 7.
  • Monsters do not roll to hit. Instead, players roll to defend their characters from damage.
  • While shields affect the difficulty of hitting, armor does not. Instead, it absorbs damage.
The Experiment
Rather than try out a full-blown dungeon, I decided to experiment with a handle of encounters. I rolled up 2 characters - a ranger and a warrior.

Here are their fights:
  1. 8 giant rats. The PCs managed to kill 3 rats but were themselves overwhelmed.
  2. Reduce to 4 giant rats. This time the heroes win. The warrior takes a hit, but negates it with luck. OOPS. I just realized that I forgot to reduce damage due to armor!
  3. 2 orcs. The heroes kill the orcs but the warrior takes a light wound.
  4. An ogre. The heroes roll real well, and manage to win unscathed.
In general, I think the rules work. I don't plan on using them for solo RPGing. MicroQuest, my RPG version of MicroBattle, works better for solo play. However, I would like to use KQ if I run a game with my brothers.

Oh, nearly forgot. I need to work on magic rules.

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