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« on: February 06, 2003, 05:42:51 PM »
Ok, we've been talking about flinking around with d20 systems, and I've been thinking about something.
Primarily this thought came from the inherant problems with Horror gaming. You can't really terrorize people when playing D&D or CoC when the dead walk because they already know they're to expect that.
Example:
(wrong:)
"Ok, we're playing Call of Cthulu. You feel a sense of dread, suddenly, a sickening mockery of the human form appears in the mist, accompanied by a shrill chant. Out of the horrid thing's mouth a tentacle gropes toward you."
"AIEEE! I run in fear! I never expected a tentacle monstrosity in Call of Cthulu!"
(right:)
<DM says the same thing:>
"OK, well, I guess we'd better make our fear checks. Look, I passed, I get to keep my sanity. I pull out my shotgun. Hopefully a couple blasts will knock it down and we'll be able to get away." (said while rifling through the popcorn bag to get the half popped kernals)
So, I had a big issue. How could I run a game where Nyarlathotep shows up and scares and surprised the bejezes out of my players? You can't have them make characters from the PHB. Nor from CoC. These will give away the theme, which I want to be a surprise. One answer that lacks flair is to have them make d20 Modern characters then throw in some Great Old Ones, keeping track of their sanity myself, and hope that works. I don't think that works so great, because that game is very cinematic, and they'll expect to beat it (they'll be wrong, of course, but it still doesn't generate fear).
Another alternative is to make standard characters from a system like GURPS. You never know what's going to happen in GURPS, and you could even make cyberpunk characters and spring the horror on them. But the system is a bit slow and I don't know many people who are already familiar.
So what other choice do I have? One solution I'm tossing around is very modular. I'd have something like two tracks, with no multi-classing. You either get an offensive track, like CoC, and get a +1 combat bonus at each level or a defensive track, which has advancement more like a Wizard in D&D. Saves would also progress differently. THe Defensive track gets +2 points to saves to distribute to any saving throw bonus. He could, for example, have +1 to Fort and +1 to reflex; or he could just have +2 for will. At odd numbered levels he'd get 2 more points. At even levels he'd only get one. The Offensive track would only start with 1 point to saves each level, but every THIRD level gets 2.
(An alternative version says you get 2 points each level, add it anywhere, to attack bonus, to Will, FOrt, or to Reflex, you choice, there are no tracks).
Now, I think that's workable, some people will be highly balanced and at every other level they'd even out. Other people would focus on one or two areas and be weak in all others. Skills would be a standard 4 points per level (plus Int bonus) and one feat every third level. Characters also get their bonus attribute point every fourth.
Now, I think that works straight out for a modern campaign, where people don't magically know how to block arrows or cast spells. Spells, if they need to be incorporated, can be added a la CoC, you have to find books and lose some sanity to get/cast them. Ta da!
But what if I want to do a horror-fantasy? In fantasy, I'd like to get characters with magic. Possibly give them some other abilities. I'd like some feedback on that.
I have some initial thoughts, of course, one is to eliminate classes to give a generic feel to the fantasy and have several "special ability progression" tables, which you could choose like class levels in D&D. This might be much more trouble than it's worth, depending on how successful it was in removing the D&D "feel" from the game. Because that's the real issue. How can I make a high fantasy game where seeing the dead rise scares the heck out of the players? Especially when the PHB has a description of abilities that deal with the living dead.
The closest I've seen anyone do this was EUOL. He started us out as 0 level peasants. But that wasn't scary so much as frustrating. What was scary was when, before our first level still, a LICH confronted us. A frickin LICH! Now, it was a gimmick to force one player into choosing a clerical path. The game itself wasn't horror. What was scary was that I already KNEW what a lich could do, and I knew there was NO WAY five 0-level characters could do ANYTHING to it. This, while fun, isn't what I have in mind.
So, now that I've talked your ear off, anything to say?
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