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: Which system sounds best?
Stats 3 75.00%
Skills 1 25.00%
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  #1  
03-24-2016, 06:17 PM
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Which mechanics would work best for this?

So I'm still putting together a possible new Oddworld RP. I've posed some ideas for thread organization in my original thread here in post #24, but now I need some advice.

I'm thinking of implementing a hopefully very simple dice-and-stat system, where (at least in plot-important threads) player characters can make attempts at performing critical actions, sorta like you'd find in a tabletop game. I'm still figuring out how exactly it would work, but I'm thinking players would make a statement in their post that they're rolling to do whatever action, then I would use random.org's dice roll feature and make a post explaining whether or not they were successful, and what happened. This would possibly be used to solve challenges or puzzles that I throw at you all and progress/change the overarching story, as well as for performing actions that could be considered godmodding otherwise, as the dice provides a measure of uncertainty.

But I don't want to leave it all up entirely to chance. Depending on background or species, certain characters would obviously be better at some things than others. A native-born Mudokon would be much more nimble than an industrialist Slig, but the Slig would have better skill with a firearm. I've come up with two possible methods to represent these specializations, along with what pros and cons I can think of, though I'm open to any other ideas and feedback:

Stats - Characters would have player-allocated numeric-value stats such as Strength, Intelligence, or Agility, and all challenges/puzzles/anything else that requires a roll would be classed in one of those fields. When making an attempt, that stat would be added to the dice roll. Stats could be raised by spending XP, which would be gained by completing and finishing threads, and there would be a maximum value each stat could achieve.
Pros - Probably the simplest version, since there would only be three or four stats total.
Cons - It's possible that not all challenges/actions would fall into these terms.

Skills - When creating a character, players would be able to choose from a variety of skills for that character to have (probably three or four to start with). Those skills can then provide a roll bonus when attempting a critical action. For example, a character with the Diplomat skill would be good at smooth-talking or negotiating with an NPC, someone with the Ranger skill would be good at hunting and tracking, and someone with the Marksman skill would be talented with a gun or bow. Each skill would have three tiers, with each tier providing a bigger bonus. XP would be used to either raise a skill's tier or unlock a new skill.
Pros - Allows for more character specialization and flexibility.
Cons - I'd have to make sure I cover every possible attempt/action.
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  #2  
03-24-2016, 06:54 PM
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lots of racism based traits would be great, so muds hate anyone who isnt them, glukkons hate muds for thinking they're superior, and so on
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  #3  
03-24-2016, 06:58 PM
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Characters will be grouped into factions - Industrialists (land muggers), Natives (tree huggers), and Free Agents (bounty hunters and outlaws and whatnot), and obviously there will be animosity among the groups, especially since this RP will likely be set admist a background of Industrial-Native war, which also ties into the overarching conflict and little twist I have planned. Aside from faction relations, though, people will mostly be free to write their characters as they see fit (although any characters that aren't in their "typical" faction, such as a Native-aligned Slig, would need a good reason for it in their application).
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  #4  
03-25-2016, 03:42 AM
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Do you know what style of play you want to commit to yet? I used to be active on a very popular Fallout Fan RP forum where we had a PbP post system and at the end you got rewards based on how good your playing was. Erm, you were encouraged not to god-mod and act above your stats, if something really significant was about to go down, the DM would do a stat roll based against the character's stats. You then had to play along the lines of whether you passed or failed that roll. I don't know, it seems like before you go any further with this you need to work on a rulebook, a structure for play. If you don't plan it properly you'll run into more problems as soon as it starts.
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03-25-2016, 05:39 AM
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It'll definitely be PbP, and so far that Fallout RP's system sounds pretty similar to what I have planned. You'll get XP for completing threads (plot threads reward a bit more than regular threads) but everyone in a thread will likely get the same amount, unless you think awarding points based on RP quality would encourage people to write the best they can.

The rulebook/structure is what I'm trying to solidify right now xD Once I've settled on a plausible system, then I can actually get into the fun stuff.
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03-25-2016, 06:02 AM
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If you want any help, hmu.
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Oh yeah, fair point. Maybe he was just tortured until he lost consciousness.

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03-25-2016, 06:08 AM
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Thanks! I'll be running some ideas by you later, possibly.
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03-26-2016, 03:23 PM
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Sure, and I think rewarding positive, contributory and well-written posts should be deserving of some sort of valuable reward, be that better weapons, stats, perks, etc.
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  #9  
03-26-2016, 06:40 PM
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Sure, and I think rewarding positive, contributory and well-written posts should be deserving of some sort of valuable reward, be that better weapons, stats, perks, etc.
STM has a published book and is a professional writer, therefore voiding him from all rewards due to unfair competition. (Unless he writes something nice about my character (◡‿◡✿) )
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