TRPG General Chat

1:09 AM

Does exists any Combat-action-oriented-RPG (like D&D) which doesn't have hitpoints (not like D&D) and preferably still is sword and magic style (high fantasy)? I mean, a health system like Apocalypse World (which PC only has "6" HP, not like D&D that has like 100) or preferably Fate (which has stress boxes and consequence slots).

Mike Q

Dungeon World, Mutants & Masterminds (with some re-flavoring), maybe some of the World of Darkness modules

Ender Look

@MikeQ Dungeon World doesn't use Hitpoints?

Mike Q

As far as I'm aware, each PC has a small amount of "stress points" they can take, so it's like hit points but a small number

Ender Look

@MikeQ Ahh, that may be possible, I've only read a bit of it.

BESW

1:51 AM

Fate has multiple high-combat trad-fantasy iterations.

Off the top of my head, Shadowcraft, Tianxia, Knights of Invasion, Fate of Agaptus, Masters of Umdaar, Three Rocketeers, Dungeons of Fate, High Fantasy Magic, Freeport, Hunters of Alexandria, Legends of Anglerre....

2

@EnderLook Dungeon World is an Apocalypse World derivative, so if AW's hit points work for you then DW's probably will too.

But what is it you're looking for, that you think a low/no HP engine will help you achieve?

Because Swords & Scrolls would fit the bill but I somehow doubt it's what you're looking for.

Ender Look

2:09 AM

@BESW I was just thinking that HP in D&D is very irrealistic. I mean, a shortsword does 1d6 damage, at lvl 1 that is a lot of damage (you have between 6-12 HP + CON), but at level 20 it is nothing (86 - 152 + CON*20), "mundane" weapons became useless. Also, unless an attack kills you, being more or less wounded doesn't affect (you don't have a disadvantage if you are low of HP or something like that).

I just was wondering if there are combat fantasy RPGs which use a more realistic health system, or at least different than the traditional HP, just interested in reading how other games handle health. I found Fate stress and consequences very interesting after reading that, but I didn't find useful the Fate mechanics itself (sorry, but it gets a bit short in mechanics to have D&D equivalent wizards).

I will look for that games you post here. Thanks

BESW

All the ones I listed above in that block are Fate variants.

5

Q: Heroic, HP-less, Simulationist RPG Suggestions

I am looking for an RPG which has the following: This game has "heroic-style" play. This means the characters are special because of the situations they're in, not because of some ability to do stuff. All enemies, even smaller ones, can be deadly unless directly and immediately dealt with. A we...

You may find the answers to this question helpful:

11

Q: Looking for a system that effectively models endurance and fatigue

I am looking for a (fantasy) role-playing system that includes a believable, usable method for tracking the effects of fatigue and determining how they influence capabilities. To provide context for the question: I come from a D&D 3.5 background, where abilities can usually be used at-will (like...

game-recommendation

KorvinStarmast

@EnderLook yes, Runequest, if you want to get down into the nitty gritty. Go for it.

BESW

6

Q: What is the best RPG system for realistic combat?

I'm a fan of D20 systems, but the way hit points works always seemed kind of odd. The characters obviously can't develop an ability to take more stab wounds as they gain experience. So that means that all these "hits" are really misses. So what's the difference between a "hit" miss and a "miss...

game-recommendation combat simulation

KorvinStarmast

From what I remember, your armor took damage so that you would not, to a point, and then it no longer protected you. But it's been a few years, details would need a rules refresh, and I don't have my original runequest book anymore.

Glazius

@EnderLook Dungeon World does use hitpoints, but they don't go up with level. Their use as opposed to the 6-HP "harm clock" reflects a couple of things:

- 1) fantasy adventurers get into great whacking battles more than the apocalyptos, and taking a knock here and there is to be expected

- 2) fantasy adventurers have pretty involved fights, and HP allows for multiple swings incoming and outgoing

KorvinStarmast

2:19 AM

heck, if you want lethal combat, I recall traveller, original, being pretty quick and lethal... but that's a space game not fantasy

Glazius

- 3) when people are at full, there is pretty close to no amount of damage you'll roll that will kill them outright, making it an excellent way to establish a threat without, y'know, killing someone outright.

Ender Look

Interesting, it seems there are a lot of games that I will must to read their guides

@Glazius That is a problem I found looking for the health system. Adventurers games (which I like) are very combat focuses (which I love), that means they must have HP to take all the incoming damage (which I was trying to avoid) and not a health clock or stress level (because they would take out PC very quickly from fight)

trogdor

2:32 AM

There's a whole world of "not D&D" out there

3

Shalvenay

@EnderLook the other option is that most of your resources are spent avoiding damage in a fight

trogdor

@EnderLook also, I don't know if you looked at it already, but if you like Fate but just aren't using it because it doesn't have a magic system, Dresden Files Fate RPG actually does that

Glazius

There's also Fate Freeport for that more traditional flavor.

trogdor

Yeah DFRPG is set in modern day which is a problem for what you want

But if the magic system works for you you can ignore the rest of it

But yeah if Freeport's setting works that may be better

Ender Look

Ok, thanks. I'll see them tomorrow because here it's quite late and I was going to sleep. My brain doesn't work at this hours to read a guide. Bye, and good night/morning/afternoon/whatever from your UTC time!. I don't know why but I always ask things at very late hours in this chat :)

trogdor

2:42 AM

I assume it has rules for swords and such

Glazius

For all that we talked about how Fate's got a settled core, equipment isn't really part of that yet. Lemme pull it off the shelf...

BESW

There's a dozen different great ways to incorporate equipment into Fate Core, depending on what role equipment is going to play in your game.

Glazius

Hmm, lessee. Basic offense stat is Strength(Forceful) and you say if your weapon is martial (weapon:1) heavy (weapon:2 slow) or finesse (use Dex/ pick your attack approach)

Armor is 1/2/3 free invokes to defend yourself per session (CAA during downtime for more), a shield is 1/scene.

Gun'sbrasters are martial or heavy, can be shot 1/scene, and ignore armor.

For everything else, there's Stuntstercard.

trogdor

@Glazius ah I kinda didn't mean just equipment, my bad, I also meant like, setting, because DFRPG is modern day so you can expect maybe computer hacking or goons with guns to show up in it as well as all the magic creatures and wizards

Glazius

2:59 AM

All the same, it's not an expectation that a Harry-adjacent person is going to just... have a sword. You pull a sword in Chicago, it says something important.

nitsua60

@DavidCoffron Yes, requires attunement.

Glazius

You pull a sword in the Whistling Pig, it says you harbor deep suspicions that "eggcups" are even a suit of cards you can have a flush in, but the sword itself is just your personal spice.

trogdor

@Glazius tis true, it usually means you are one of a very small group of people

nitsua60

@ColinGross yuppers

nitsua60

3:12 AM

@GreySage "...my work computer (where I do most of my DnD idea generation) nor my laptop (which I use when running games)." Sounds like you need a work laptop =)

Ben

I need to figure out the maths for my Corruption system, and what can contribute to it.

For example, if I give items that can contribute to corruption, do I give abilities that can accrue, or do I only trigger it on a crit, or only accrue corruption on a fial?

Decisions, decisions...

nitsua60

Individuals are limited to 2700 corruption points per target per encounter.
Organizations cannot contribute corruption points to a target, but can contribute unlimited corruption points to Private Accounts for Corruption, which can then use unlimited corruption points to influence the environment and actors around the target.
On your session-survey you'll be given an option to check a box and donate 3 corruption points to a general "corruption pool" which, applied equally to all targets, it can be assumed corrupts nobody differentially.

Miniman

3:32 AM

Also, casting Wish automatically gives you an infinite number of corruption points.

Mike Q

Whoever has the most Corruption points wins?

Peter Cooper Jr.

D&D 5E, A donkey and mule are hauling a cart full of supplies. Fireball happens, which doesn't ignite objects "being worn or carried". I'm trying to figure out what the limit is of what the animals are "carrying". The harness or whatever seems like it would be exempt, but should the cart, too? The entire contents of the cart?

nitsua60

@PeterCooperJr. Wait, wait, wait... a donkey and a mule? Don't they have, like, seriously different stride-lengths!?

(he he he)

Peter Cooper Jr.

No, they have exactly the same stat block :)

nitsua60

@PeterCooperJr. In my world the harnesses would be fine, the cart would probably be fine, but the contents of the cart are fair game. (Carts in the nitsuverse are made of PT lumber.)

@PeterCooperJr. touche

Peter Cooper Jr.

3:36 AM

I had ruled at the time that the cart was on fire, which makes sense, but in some ways I wouldn't mind retconning that so that I don't have to figure out what exactly happens to each of the bazillion pieces of equipment the party was carrying on it.

Fireball just saying that objects "ignite" rather than saying that the objects take fire damage means results are a lot open to interpretation. Which I know is an intentional designer choice, and probably the best way to handle it for gameplay sake (like the arbitrary not-worn-or-carried restriction is), but I just have no concept of how I should be interpreting it.

Along with what exactly is a "flammable object"? I mean, a torch certainly is, and a shortsword probably isn't. Is a spear? Leather armor? A sack of rations? I don't suppose there's a list anywhere.

Ben

@MikeQ … [cough] Yyyyeeeeessssss………

nitsua60

@PeterCooperJr. Nope. Ask your players what sort of damage they imagine fireballs doing and go with it.

Ben

3:58 AM

@MikeQ you get a pretty red gem.

Ben

4:48 AM

And for that, I think I deserve a cookie.

Always a good feeling when you fix your program after a day's worth of debugging. Lol

Now I'm gonna head home and work on my game :D

Cyanic

7:15 AM

hey so, I'm still not quite familiar with stackexchange's features, but I remember before being told that I should put questions of balance into chat. It's related to a specific question though (this one rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/136742/…) should I just ask about that here?

Mike Q

Sometimes questions about questions can go to the meta

@Cyanic But there's no harm in asking in chat

BESW

@Cyanic You can always ask in chat and we'll say if it'd be good on the mainsite!

Cyanic

alright, thanks for the tips

kviiri

8:21 AM

Chat is a better venue if you want easy feedback rather than a full-fledged analysis

Or opinions

SmokeDetector

9:10 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, blacklisted website in body, pattern-matching website in body, potentially bad keyword in body (295): It does two important matters for the body by gbfddfnd on rpg.SE

kviiri

10:41 AM

I'd send you a picture from where I work if it didn't violate the NDA, but I can tell you this much, Barovia ain't got anything on this fog

It's 12:40 PM here and it's only vague bluish gray outside

David Coffron

@nitsua60 Thanks, but I also texted my book-owning friend, so he beat you to it. XD

Anaphory

11:45 AM

@kviiri Your NDA includes your workplace? Is that normal?

kviiri

@Anaphory Not very common for direct employees, but I work in consulting so my workplace is actually more like my client

Anaphory

Ah, makes sense.

nitsua60

1:39 PM

Here's a meta.se request that inclined users fill out a survey to help SE improve your user profile page.

2

NautArch

@nitsua60 top o the morn! WIth the addition of 'suggested edits', is this question becoming more like idea generation?

KorvinStarmast

@NautArch Yes, it seems that way, although a few of the answers look like a good fit/answer.

NautArch

@KorvinStarmast Both answers are basically frame challenges, which is fine. But it suggests this question isn't ready for primetime...

NautArch

2:31 PM

Is it wrong to undelete duplicates? mounted combat/sanctuary question

Rubiksmoose

2:43 PM

@NautArch I think that our general attitude is that we don't undelete unless there is a pretty compelling reason; usually leaning towards respecting the wishes of the user as long as it doesn't really affect anybody else.

That being said I hate when it happens.

NautArch

yeah, that was my feeling. OP deleted it so should probably leave deleted.

but i bet it's more that they don't realize dupes are encouraged

Rubiksmoose

I also dislike when a new user does it and us normal users can't message them and let them know it is unecessary.

NautArch

well, maybe not encouraged, but you know :)

Rubiksmoose

(I've occasionally flagged for a mod to message them to let them know in the case of new users though I'm not sure I've ever seen them undelete as a result)

Yeah which is understandable
honestly.

NautArch

totally

KorvinStarmast

2:55 PM

@Rubiksmoose If someone wants to do that, I take it as a sign that they are not interested in our processes/format, or, they are having a bad day and this particular piece of it let them vent their frustration by exercising an option. Either way, I let it go.

Rubiksmoose

@KorvinStarmast mhm. The system already blocks or restricts any kind of impactful deletions so that is indeed the best policy the majority of the time.

Xirema

3:11 PM

@KorvinStarmast Possibly overlooked: other stacks (especially SO) will downvote dupes with extreme prejudice. OP might have the impression from those other stacks that duplicates are generally hated.

Rubiksmoose

Too broad or not?

3

Q: How can a spell caster increase the probability that they can cast a spell from a scroll that is a higher level than they can cast?

From what I understand, even a level 1 Wizard can try to read a wish scroll. But how can an adventurer increase their likelihood of doing so? To be clear, this does not necessarily mean in what way can a level 1 Wizard increase their ability in such a way. This question is in hope for a more con...

dnd-5e spells magic-items

@Xirema that seems...kind of odd. I mean I guess they could say it shows lack of effort, but some of the dupes are really hard to find. Some of them involve a greater understanding of the question (and answer) than the poster would even have.

KorvinStarmast

I don't think so.

Rubiksmoose

I'm also inclined towards "no"

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