Dungeon Crawler (Forum game)

[YetiChow]

I'll start things up again soon, I promise, but it wil take some time to figure out how to run this game. I want to add in an AP system so that players have a clear way to make moves, and figure out a clear and concise set of rules as some of Sharpscope's ideas were never really explained as far as I could see.

Also, my internet hookup is not the most reliable, so I may have "technical difficulties" from time to time. One idea I had was to have more than one GM - if anyone is interested in being a GM then feel free to say so - many hands make light work and all that; plus it'll mean more regular updates

[Cruzaeus]

Ahh alright, was wondering there.

I would offer to GM but I occasionally work/life so much that I'm only home an hour before I need to sleep. not too often, but enough. that being said I love to GM but ehh not this time.

[YetiChow]

Ok, I'm gonna start posting the new rules gradually, some before the game starts up again and some as they come up. To start you off: Action Points, Combat Points and Mana Points!

Each player will get a certain number of Action Points (APs), Combat points (CPs) and Mana Points (MPs); which can be used to perform normal actions (walking around, picking locks, looting each others' corpses etc), Combat actions (attacking, blocking etc) and Magical actions (casting spells, as well as some other things) respectively. The number of each kind of points you get is double your statistic in an appropriate area - stamina for Aps, strength and dexterity (combined) for CPs and intelligence for MPs (existing mana pools will be discounted - since I'm the only one who has one, and I've spent it all anyway ). Each time you perfom an action, you must take a test on the relevant statistic. Before testing, you elect to spend a certain amount of Aps/Cps/Mps on it. The more you spend, the greater your chances of success are; each extra Ap spent adds +1 to the value of the statistic you are being tested on. For example, if you try to cast a spell you need to past a test for Int. (I roll a number of dice and multiply them, and if your Int. score is higher than that total then you pass and can complete the action. If you spend 5MPs on the spell, I increase your Int.score by five for the test).

All the existing characters will need to be updated. The new rules for character generation are:

1. players can still choose from the existing character list. Making decisions based on that class' motivations will increase your chances of success (so an archer who tries to snipe their enemies from a distance has a better chance of success than a cleric who tries to learn necromancy)
2. each character has five stat points in each category (strength, stamina, dexterity, intelligence), plus 95 more to distribute however they see fit (so people who want to choose their specialties can, or they can use random rolls to decide).
3. you keep your inventory from an existing character Sharscope rolled; people generating new characters will get an inventory which I will generate.
4. Characters keep their existing HP and any Exp accrued. If you have Exp which hasn't been awarded, I'll award some for you

Levelling Up: you can level up when you reach 100 Exp; the next level will take 200, then 400 and so on. Each time you level up you get 10 stat points to distribute as you see fit, plus a new skill point (more on them in a later post). Each time you level up, your APs/CPs/MPs/ will be replenished, so don't go spending them all at once unless you really need something to happen.

The other way to replenish APs etc, as well as the only way to replenish health, is to go up to the town. You can't make a move for the rest of that cycle or the next one, except things you can do in the town (these are known as Town activities, and include such things as purchasing equipment or researching in the library. I'l explain Town Activities further in another post).

I may also throw in things like healing shrines, tomes of unmeasurable recorded wisdom or potions of extreme buffness, which could do other things to your stat points/APs etc.

That's about it for Actions, be sure to let me know if I've missed something obvious or forgotten to integrate something.

[YetiChow]

Next rule update coming at you - The Magic Revolution

Magic systems have a tendency to either make or break games such as these, so this one has taken a fair amount of thought. What got me started was my idea to use Mage Shield in a different way - In reality if I could create telekinetic barriers I wouldn't just use them to block attacks, but to disable my opponents. I was already thinking of a way to use it as a weapon, and was hoping I'd run into more enemies soom so I could make one inside someone's head and expand it rapidly, with predictably messy results This is kind of a "cheap shot" attack as there's nothing you can really do to prevent or balance it -A magical duel/resistance system is possible, but they tend to get complicated and unwieldy as well as blocking spells which should have no problem going through. Alternatively, spending more on complicated spells is an option, but this can go too far in the other direction; making complicated or powerful spells require huge set-up and planning.

So, here's what I've come up with in terms of magic use :

Players have access to any kind of magic they can think of, but must specialise in an area of expertise (i.e. necromancy, telekinesis etc). They must provide a name for this specialty which makes sense and ends in the suffix -mancy or -omancy (e.g. fire magic might be called Pyromancy, but calling it Firemancy wouldn't fly with me - this is to prove that players have an idea what they're talking about, because I can't be bothered sorting through spells and having to explain why a water mage didn't manage to cast Raging Inferno). Once you have declared your specialty, you can design (or use existing) signature spells for everyday use, which will have lower mana costs and can accrue skill points to become more effective. Players may also cast "custom spells" - spells designed to do a specific job, like an intense jet of flame melting through iron bars or a telekinetic lock pick. custom spells will cost 5MPs as a base, and will almost certainly require more APs to be used successfully - remember that for each specific thing you want the spell to do, it'll cost an extra AP to add the descriptor.

Furthermore, players who attempt to cast spells outside their area of expertise will incur a -1 penalty to their magic test, or -3 if it's in an area "opposite" to their area of expertise (such as a fire mage casting a healing spell using water magic). The exception to this is an spells using telekinesis - there is no penalty for these spells, as all mages/wizards are assumed to have some ability in this area. You can still have telekinesis as your area of expertise, which would allow you to access more powerful spells more easily.

The point of the restrictions is so that only players who have an idea what they want to use magic for have a good chance of using it - if someone says "oh cool, I have Fire magic" and proceeds to cast "Raise Dead" in an attempt to revive the contents of a whole crypt, that's a bit unfair to other players. On the other had, I do want players to have a lot of freedom with magic precisely because it doesn't have a clearly defined set of rules and is all about imagination and creativity. I will usually be generous, and tests for "standard" spells will usually only be taken on two dice. As a good general rule, I'll add an extra dice roll to the test (an extra amount you'll have to beat, not one in your favour) for every 3 words in the spell/description of the spell - for example, "I cast Firebolt" takes 2 dice (1 for the spell and one for the three words in the description/casting attempt), while "I pick the lock using telekinesis, making sure not to trigger the tamper-proofong traps" would require beating a five-dice test (you'll notice that such a spell will also take five MPs to cast - essentially, each MP equals one dice on your side so you'd still have an even chance without spending any extra points).

Again, let me know what you think of this in terms of fairness etc, and I'm sorry for the long posts but I want to get this thing going and not have to constantly stop and explain rules.

[YetiChow]

Ok, here's the last update before things get going again .

First, PVP:

The only rule is THERE ARE NO RULES! Do whatever you like to each other - if your petty bickering amuses me I might even give out rewards (best back-stabbing award, most inopportune attack on another player award etc)

Actually, if someone's obviously picking on someone I might also make sure that "Karma" gets them back (by Karma I do mean a Yeti - yes, the furry paw of fate is still alive and well even if the game it was conceived for isn't )

Second, Town Activities:

In the town will be an arms dearler, an apothecary and an inn (plus anything else you need - just say something like "I'm going back to the own to visit the ...").
You can spend gold in the town, and can rest in the inn for any number of days if you want to take a break from playing (one day being the time between update posts). Since nobody seems to want to take over my old character, he'll move into the apothecary selling potions, magical enchantments and offering his skills as a healer to anyone with enough gold. For any in-town action, the price will be determined by me rolling two dice and adding the total - that's how many coins you pay. certain actions (or quests) may improve your standing with a particular merchant, translating to discounts or rarer "back room" items.

Finally, I'll only accept moves which have been posted in bold. I'd ask that you please use the code display function to list your sats and inventory to save space, and please list any effects (such as being poisoned) in red before this along with how many turns remain in the effect (if you do anything which changes your stats, effects etc, I'd appreciate it if you'd make a note beside them. It's not neccessary, but it helps prevent me missing anything).

Please note that invitations for new GMs are still open, however I'll be more reluctant to accept people after the game starts. Other than that, the game starts up again on Sunday

[YetiChow]

OOC: Okay, we're back again. As of now things are officially started up I'll just quickly set the scene again, before handing over the character's reins back to the players:

As the shield collapses and the bandits charge fowards, everyone moves at the same time. Cruzaeus stabs the first rogue in the back as he runs past, killing him outright and earning 20 xp. The archer attempts to double-shot the other two, but misses both as the shots fly wide. The bandits are distracted, however, giving Earl time to throw his poison potion at them. The bottle shatters and noxious vapours rise from the puddle of liquid, felling the bandits instanly. They gasp and moan for a few seconds before the poison ends both their lives, turning them an interesting shade of purple. The vapours force everyone out of the room, and there is a general worry that the dungeons are now closed to all adventurers who don't have some kind of superhuman toxin resistance. The group retreats back to the town and everyone checks in to the inn, meeting up in the dining hall to discuss their next moves.

I used the old system (roll a dice and say something appropriate) to decide how the combat with the bandits went down, but after the characters are updated I'll move to the new system. For example, the archer (sorry I forget what they're called ) rolled a one for their double shot, but Earl the alchemist rolled a six. The cloud of poison will last for 1d3 turns after you have rested in the inn (i.e. someone wil have to go down and check whether it's dispersing, and I'll roll to see how long it takes to disperse). You'll have to stay in the town for that time, so I suggest you figure out your next move, rest and heal any wounds, visit the forge to customise your equipment etc. I have no objection to discussing your moves either in this thread or via private messages, so if you want to form parties and decide your skills to work with/complement others then feel free - I already have some nasty ideas which will require either excellent teamwork of obscene amounts of luck to get through ).

[Capt_Kiwi]

OOC: I've just read over most of this thread and I really like this idea. Is there any way I could join in?

[Aduvash]

Two things:
First: Can you make an abridged form of the rules?
Second: I thought I said not to throw it... And I thought it was poison; not a bio-weapon... It is made of venom and old cheese.

[Jon_jon13]

OOC: My char's name was Jondel Cornu And i guess you can join, capt. kiwi, just make a character and come to the dungeon! Or... the Inn, as the dungeon is currently in quarantine...

Now, to character updating...
I assume we can have 115 points (5 + 5 + 5 + 5 base, and 95 more to distrubte adds to 115) to spend, with a minimum of 5 in each stat. What i'm not really sure is what each stat makes, apart form giving you more action, combat, and mana points. I'll guess that each stat will affect when we do certain actions: dex will affect succes chance when trying to dodge or sneak, int when trying to solve a puzzle, str if we try to break something or move a heavy object, sta how we can endure the pain or resist poison, things like that. If it has no impact on actions I don't see the point on having dex and str as separate stats

Anyway, I'll go with this and hope it all goes fine... XD

Code: Select all

Name: Jondel Cornu
Current Status:
45/45 Health points (as given at the start)
100/100 Combat points (str + dex x 2)
80/80 Action points (sta x2)
50/50 Mana points (int x2)
0 Experience points. (I haven't done much yet, just missed a double shot, so i'm guessing i don't have any xD)

Base Statistics:
Str- 10
Dex- 40
Int- 25
Sta- 40

Skills:
...

Inventory:
Simple Bow- Normal QL
23 Arrows (substracted 2 spent on the missed double-shot)
Quiver- 30 Arrows capacity
Iron Shortsword- Great QL
75 Coins
Minor Health Pot X2
Minor Mana Pot
Basic Archery Clothing

Trivia: Jondel Cornu is... an elf? He looks like so, but nobody is sure enough, not even him. Maybe he's semi-elf, or just a weird normal human... He doesn't know his parents, as he has lived alone in a forest for many years, since very young. He's always in company of a small owl named Mussol.

As per skills, apart from the typical bow skills and that, and some agility-related to try to keep the distance from the enemy, I thought of having a bit of nature-based magic. Like basic first-aid using some plants or moss growing on the dungeon, animal communication... not talking like "hey hello, how was your day?" "woof woof" "oh, that's a shame, how did that happen?" etc., but being able to try to calm an animal if it's attacking us for no reason, maybe understanding if either it's hungry and just wants to eat us or is just protecting its territory, and that kind of communication. Maybe some kind of trapping skills too. It kinda fits the forest-child background If you want to name it something, lets say "naturomancy"

I'm not putting it in the code yet as i expect a bit of feedback, i don't want to design anything unreasonable or a really OP character.

As the group goes back to the town, Jondel speaks: -"Well, I guess we can't go back down there for some time. We should get together later at the Inn if you want, so we can plan future incursions on the dungeon. We barely know each other, but it might be fun, who knows! See ya." And with that, he's gone. He heads to the stores, looking for any good quality arrows (for a good price, he's not swimming in money!) he can find. He also wants a small and cheap dagger that he can always have at hand, it might come in handy eventually...

Yay, shopping time!

[Jon_jon13]

Two things:
First: Can you make an abridged form of the rules?
Second: I thought I said not to throw it... And I thought it was poison; not a bio-weapon... It is made of venom and old cheese.

Well, you got a 6, so you just went massive-destruction-and-screw-my-friends mode... xD I guess the GM just needed an excuse to gather us back to the town so we can kind of restart from the beginning