Development Update 10/1/13

I just wanted to give an update on what I've been working on since the play-test ended.

I've been statting up opponents!

Here's what I have written up so far.

Creatures

• Anator
• Bula-Kaa
• Cobalt Catamount
• Dankana
• Darth-Thorn Bush
• Devil-Wolf
• Vorm of Flame
• Flesh-Worm Swarm
• Girah
• Go-Atan
• Ko-Lop
• Ku-Bawa-Mavu
• Larvae
• Mutoran Serpent
• Oso
• Sand Squid
• Spiny Spider
• Strangle Vine
• Swamp-Worm
• Terax
• Tonbo
• Toxic Ant Warriors
• Trapactus
• Tyrant
• Viper, Giant
• Warhawk
• Wolf Locusts
• Wooly Munglor

Aya

• Ith
• Aya Zombie
• Cin
• Sikinti
• Shabeeha
• Jann
• Gravel Ghost
• Marid
• Blade Guardian
• Celestials
• Primordials

Intelligent Humanoids

• Bakari Traveler
• Nilian Deathstalker
• Dakazi Outcast
• Deru Scout
• Guzi Warrior
• Knorr Hunters
• Loracz
• Malusian Overlord
• Malusian Soldier/Guard

Here's what I still have to finish.

• Naxarian Brood Mother
• Brux Laborer
• Feral Brux Smasher
• Jinx Pickpocket
• Feral Jinx Bandit
• Slimeskipper Warrior
• Orix Warrior
• Feral Orix Raider
• Kronk Hunter
• Targ Savage
• Trox Rampager
• Phanosian Agent
• Quorian Diplomat
• Roshu Scavenger
• Tintazi Scout
• Tintazi Warrior
• Ts'emekwes Savage
• Vark Slaver

All the Human NPCs

• Aero-Pirate Captain
• Aero-Pirate Crewman
• Barbarian Chieftain
• Barbarian Warrior
• Barbarian Shaman
• Savage Cannibal
• Cult Acolyte
• Cult Leader
• Guardian Healer
• Guardian Sage
• Guardian Warrior
• Guardian Shaper
• Military Officer
• Military Soldier
• Personal Guard
• Artifact Hunter
• Zephyr Pilot
• Bandit
• Constable
• Drifter
• Drover
• Gladiator
• Hunter
• Inquisitor
• Kataris Assassin
• Noble Adventurer
• Al-Muahat
• Evoker
• Saahir of Kahn
• Spy
• Techno-Heretic
• Thief
• Thug

Phew! That's it, assuming I don't think of more creatures. I'm already thinking of having different ecological "theme zones" in western Markania. The deserts of Eris and Narvus are home to reptiles, lots of giant reptiles. The poison jungles of Dushan are filled with giant insects. The icy wastes of Sakata are the home to wild robotic creatures and artificial life forms. The plains east of the Loka Loka mountains are where you find the mammals. There is some bleed over of course. You're going to find giant insects and robot bears in the deserts of Eris too. 

Anyway, here's a sample.

Spiny Spider

Spiny spiders are man-sized tarantula-like spiders covered in needle-sharp quills. Spiny spiders are carrion scavengers like hyenas or vultures. They follow other predators hoping to let other creatures do the hunting. They move in after a kill has already been made and hope their quills keep the other carnivores away.

Level:	2	Size:	Medium
Physical:	+3	Dynamic:	+3
Mental:	+1	Psyche:	+1
Armor Value:	4	Hit Points:	12
Move:	12m (6)

Skill	Bonus	Specialties
Athletics	2
Awareness	1
Evasion	2	Evasive
Influence	1
Insight	1
Resistance	1
Subterfuge	2
Unarmed Fighting	5	Bite
Wilderness	2

Characteristics

Unarmed Parry: The spiny spider takes no damage from performing the Unarmed Block reaction against a melee attack.

Quills: The long body quills of the spiny spider make it difficult to fight in personal combat. Anyone making a hand-to-hand or melee attack must succeed at a skill test [Agility + Evasion +1d20 vs 15 (Difficult)] as a free reaction to avoid the quills and make the attack. Failure means the attacker could not get close enough to make the attack or made the attack and took 1D6 damage (attacker’s choice). Alternatively, the player may ignore the skill test and make an attack anyway but will take 1D6 damage.

Attacks

Bite: Major; 2m (1); +7 melee attack; 1d8+3. 

Play-test Update 8/14/13

I just uploaded a new version of the play-test document to Google Docs. This is the 8/14/13 revision.

This revision has several big changes.

1. I introduce a new kind of "Pre-Hit Points" called Luck Points. I got feedback that there weren't enough hit points for a heroic game, so I added Luck Points, which represent NOT getting hit (what D&D hit points are technically supposed to represent). You can also spend Luck Points on modifying your attack rolls. Once you run out of Luck Points, you take damage to your Hit Points as wounds. Luck Points are also easily recoverable in between fights. The basic idea originated in d20 Star Wars Vitality Points and Wound Points, but it was something I've been thinking about for D&D Hit Points for a long time.
2. I introduce two new "character types", essentially frameworks for spending skill points. I could just open it up and say "you have 16 skill points, buy whatever you want". Instead, I like putting structure and restrictions. The original "character type" gave you one primary skill, max level 4-8, four secondary skills, max level 2-6, and unlimited tertiary skills,  max level 1-4. I have now introduced the "specialist" which has one primary skill, max level 5-12, with no secondary skills, and the "Jack-of-all-trades" with no primary, but eight secondary skills, max level 2-6.
3. I removed the hard cap on Reactions. Now you get a number of Reactions equal to your Agility bonus with no penalty. Every reaction you take after that suffers a cumulative -2 penalty. 
4. I added teratic potions to the equipment list.
5. I listed all the specialties in the skill list for ease of reference.
6. I changed the name of the genetic engineer alchemist. I know, AGAIN! I like the Arabic origin and exotic sound of this new name.
7. I changed how I express heroic tasks to be a bit more formulaic and shorter.
8. I re-expressed the combat rules to be a little clearer, making use of the new standardized format.
9. A few other minor revisions, changes. 

As always, I appreciate comments, feedback, and suggestions. I can't wait to play-test these changes on Friday night. 

Playtest Update, 7/30/13

We played a second playtest session last Friday. Two new players made characters: a brux scoundrel and a cyberdroid hunter/tracker.  Chargen went well and quickly for them.

I ran the group through a randomly-generated dungeon I made online. I substituted Cydorian equivalents for the D&D monsters and used my quick-and-dirty opponent rules.  The story was that they had to recover a stolen item kept in a bandit stronghold located in an ancient bunker dug under a mesa. 

The first character who opened the door rolled initiative and failed and took three crossbow bolts (I rolled two 19s to hit and another high number). He backed up and said, "I'm out. I'm walking back to town."

The other characters had a devil of a time digging the four Jinx crossbow snipers out of their cubby holes and killing them. The players only had to roll a 12 or better to hit them, but they just couldn't! The Brux wound up killing almost all the jinxes. They finally got them out but they were hurt bad!

Lesson learned: my jinxes had WAY too many hit points. They each had 16 HP, which is 3 more than the average 13 of a player character. Minor NPCs should not have the same hit points as player characters. That has been adjusted. Though I'm considering giving PCs more hit points instead. 

I gave them morphic potions which gave them regeneration for 1d8 turns. They were back up to full and able to continue.

After that, the PCs were a little more circumspect regarding rushing into rooms. They set off two traps, one of them poisoned. They also avoided a room and the fight therein because it wasn't a part of their mission.

So, not too many changes as a result of this session. I made bruxes large creatures, which gives them more hit points but makes them easier to hit, and likewise jinxes and deru are small creatures with less hit points but harder to hit. I also clarified area effect attacks and re-worded some other small bits here and there for better clarity.

I added a first draft of some gadget rules for guild technicians and techno-heretics. 

I converted the rules for creating forgeries from the original game.

I also added a first draft of the opponent creation guidelines, which won't be in the final rules but are useful for creating bad guys and creatures to fight. 

I still need to finish the wilderness survival rules, then add morphic potions and convert the artifacts.

Check out the PDF of the current revision of the playtest rules up there to the right. I welcome feedback and suggestions. It's a living document and will be updated weekly.

Edit to Add: I am considering removing the limited reaction rule and welcome opinions about that.

Playtestable Version of Exiled in Eris Now Available for Download

The first draft of the play-test version of the new rules system for Swords of Cydoria: Exiled in Eris is available for download.

edit: I'm learning how Google Docs works. The document should be available to the public now.

I'm looking for feedback and comments and suggestions.

Be aware:

1. These rules are heavily inspired by d20, 4E, Savage Worlds, and BRP.
2. Don't expect a lot of ground to be broken or innovative game design. I wanted a simple utilitarian system.
3. This is not the final product! There's no art and rudimentary layout.
4. The final product will include more setting, intro adventure, monsters and opponents, artwork, layout, etc.
5. I'm not looking for proofreading. That will come later.

I'd like to hear feedback from people about character creation. What was it like? How easy was it? How intuitive? Is the power level right?

How about the combat rules? Any comments?

Status of New Version

I am working on a new version of Swords of Cydoria. This new version will incorporate several goals:

1) It will use its own custom system. I am 90% done with the writing the character generation and combat rules. Once its ready, I'll start play-testing and I will make the system available here for anyone to playtest and provide feedback.

2) It will incorporate some setting changes. Some of the changes are cosmetic, name changes to make things sound cooler. Some are more intrinsic.

• the Oudh is no longer a force field, it is still a field surrounding Uruta but it is no longer keeping Rhakadians out. This allows me to have meteor storms and more smugglers. I will provide other reasons to explain why the Rhakadians don't just invade or bomb them from orbit.
• I'm pushing the tech level forward a little bit to make the setting more dieselpunk.
• I'm bringing aya to the forefront a little more, making them more common and fantastic.
• I have completely re-written the Nazarians and the Xoog.
• Nazarians are now Axarians
• Xoog are now Xarian.
• Zorin is now Xorin.
• The Axarians are no longer human.
• Xoog are no longer slave races. The Axarians are now four races divided into castes:
• Yedrix, the thinkers and artists
• Jinx, the servants and craftsmen
• Orix, the warriors and guards
• Brux, the laborers and heavy warriors
• Several barbarian and non-human tribes are graduating to full-blown kingdoms with their own technology.
• I am adding several new kingdoms.
• Arus is now Eris.
• Daka are now Dakazi.
• The Dazumi Pirates are now the Sky-Pirates of Rakar.
• Aero-ships are now called Zephyrs.
• Zephyrium is now called Anemoi.

3) Another big change will be that of focus. I am focusing in on the frontier of Eris and adventuring there. The city-states are remote, distant. All the action will take place out on the borderlands.

4) The core book will be less than 100 pages. That's the hope anyway. I want to keep it small and focused. I can expand the focus in future sourcebooks (see my previous post about the ambitious plan). The focus will be on artifact hunters in the land of Eris.

5) The central location of the setting will be the Free Trade City of Ravaga, a wretched hive of scum and villainy. One part Mos Eisley, one part Las Vegas, one part Casablanca.

More updates are forthcoming, including rules excerpts!

New System?

After I finish the Norukar Adventure and the Quick Start Adventure, I was thinking of creating a new custom system for Swords of Cydoria.

I'm currently thinking of a hybrid between d20 and BRP.

Stats: generated same as BRP, but each stat generates a skill bonus equivalent to stat / 5 (+0 to +4)
Hit points = same as BRP
Armor and weapons = same as BRP
Skills: rated +1 to +20, essentially the BRP percentile divided by 5.
Resolution: stat bonus + skill, target = easy (10), difficult (20), hard (30), impossible (40).
Combat: stat bonus + skill vs. 10 + target stat bonus + skill
Damage = same as BRP

For stats, I have created a working list:

Physical

Physique: strength, muscles, and power.

Agility: adroitness, dexterity, and reflexes.

Mental

Intellect: critical thinking skills, deductive ability, and memory.

Wits: intuition, perceptiveness, and common sense.

Personality

Charisma: charm, personality, and allure.

Presence: bearing, countenance, and aspect.

Fortitude

Willpower: resolve, perseverance, and discipline.

Endurance: stamina, constitution, and resilience.

I'll be creating a custom list of skills and not relying on the BRP list. My list will be shorter and will reflect the needs of the Cydorian setting.  My current list looks like:

Archery

Boating

Climbing

Debate

Deduction

Discipline

Driving

Gambling

Healing

Insight

Intimidation

Jumping

Knowledge

Mechanics

Melee Fighting

Notice

Persuasion

Piloting

Resilience

Riding

Running

Shooting

Stealth

Streetwise

Subterfuge

Survival

Swimming

Taunt

Technology

Throwing

Tracking

Unarmed Fighting

Or I might reduce it down even further:

1.       Academic                                            Intellect

2.       Athletics                                              Physique and Agility

3.       Awareness                                         Wits

4.       General Knowledge                        Intellect or Wits

5.       Guild Secrets                                     Intellect

6.       Healing                                                 Intellect and Agility

7.       Influence                                             Charisma

8.       Insight                                                  Wits

9.       Melee Fighting                                  Agility

10.   Ranged Weapons                            Agility

11.   Resistance                                          Willpower or Endurance

12.   Riding                                                    Agility

13.   Subterfuge                                         Agility or Wits

14.   Unarmed Fighting                            Agility

15.   Vehicles                                               Agility

16.   Wilderness                                         Intellect

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.