Sims: Role Playing Game (Version Beta)

A group of friends gathers in a thread. One of them is the Game Master (GM). The GM uses game rules and her imagination to create the game world, be it fantasy, science fiction, horror, or something altogether different. The other players each create a character, which might be a cunning elven warrior, daring spy, steampunk scientist, or any other sort of protagonist suited to the setting created by the GM.
The GM then creates situations in which the players face challenges of all kinds, from dragons raiding the city, to viruses causing a zombie outbreak, to political machinations at the Federation of United Worlds. The players react to these challenges, telling the GM what their characters will do, and rules determine how conflicts are resolved. Dice are used to determine the outcome of those conflicts, be they physical, mental, social, or otherwise.

Over the course of several posts/sessions of play, more challenges are faced, the player characters grow and change, and stories unfold. Every role-playing game or even scene is unique, because every GM and player brings their own imagination and creativity to the game. It's a blend of game, cinema and improv theater that brings people together, exercises the imagination, and provides limitless opportunities for discovery and adventure. The GM can even modify the adventure on the fly to adapt to what the players are doing. The most sophisticated computer game AI can't come close.


Adventures
An adventure is a collection of plot, character, and location details used by the GM to manage the plot or story. It's like a specific "mission," with an overall goal to be accomplished by a party of player characters, and guidelines about the prerequisites for success. It then subdivides the plot into a set of scenes that the characters may go through during the course of play, with descriptions of the locations, details on creatures and other characters that could be encountered, and information concerning potential obstacles and hazards. The adventure will often contain one or more maps that the GM can use to locate points of interest and manage movement.


Campaigns
A campaign is a set of Adventures, typically involving the same characters. The purpose of the campaign is to introduce a further aspect into the game: that of improvement and growth of the characters. A Campaign, moreover, can be suggested, and collaboratively developed, by the players along with the GM, who's said either way to "run" the Campaign. A major difference between an adventure and a campaign in this Beta or experimental version, however, is that, if the campaign succeeded, player characters would have the right to upgrade any of their Qualities one Rank higher. (For example: A Good Boxer would become an Expert Boxer). Campaigns therefore are the main source of Character Improvement in this version.


Characters
There are two types of characters in Role-Plying Games: Player Characters (PCs) and Non-Player Characters (NPCs, also known as GMCs, short for Game Master Characters). Player Characters are the characters the players use in the game and often "act out." The inhabitants of the game-world and all other characters the PCs may encounter in the game, human and non-human, are all NPCs, introduced and played out by the GM.


Qualities
Each PC has 10 attributes, traits, characteristics, or qualities (in this system we call them Qualities). These Qualities may vary from one game to another. The GM can add more Qualities, or even a new set of "attributes" as her game settings require—for example, Virtues, Vices, Spells, Magic Tools, Master Keys, Maps, Weapons, Clans, Tribes, Schools, Temples, Planets, Spaceships, etc. In this experimental version, however, we have only these generic and easily customizable Qualities, eight drawn from four general areas (Physical, Mental, Social and Professional), in addition to two special Combat Qualities:

Physical: non-combat Qualities: athleticism, beauty, comeliness, balance, silent moving, sleight of hand, hiding, lock opening, rope skills, ballroom dancing, etc.    
Mental: education, intelligence, alertness, concentration, intellectual acuity, memory, willpower, intuitiveness, languages, forgery skills, etc.
Social: skills in dealing with people (or the lack thereof), charisma, communications mastery, persuasiveness, negotiation skills, charmingly effusive, intimidating, etc. Also social connections: with Wu-Shen monks, MI6, football teams, the Freemasons, etc.
Professional: knowledge and skills picked up on the job. Perhaps the job itself: Teacher, Martial Artist, Spy, Professional Athlete, Freelance Writer, Bounty Hunter, Mad Scientist.
Combat Qualities: strength, endurance, fast healing, poison resistance, jumping, climbing and swimming skills, speed of movement, Kung Fu and all martial arts, archery and swordsmanship, firearms, etc.


Ranks
"All men are created equal." Maybe. But not in this game. Remember The Matrix? In the very beginning when Trinity was running from the cops and agents, she had to jump from one roof to another. The next building was over 40 feet away, but Trinity's face was perfectly calm, staring at some point beyond the other roof. The cops slowed, realizing they were about to see something ugly as Trinity drove at the edge, launching herself into the air.


From above, the ground seemed to flow beneath her as she hanged in flight. Then hitting, somersaulting up, still running hard. One cop said, "Motherfucker, that's impossible!" The cops then stared, slack-jawed, as Agent Brown duplicated the move exactly, landing, rolling over a shoulder, up onto one knee.

Let's say Trinity, Agent Brown and the cops are all characters in this game. They all happened to choose "Jumping" as one of their Qualities. However, the cops can't jump as far and high as Trinity or Agent Brown. So while all are jumpers, the cups are "Average" or even "Poor" jumpers; Trinity and Brown, "Master" jumpers. 
Thus, every Quality comes in five degrees, or Ranks. These are Poor, Average, Good, Expert and Master. When the game starts, all Qualities are set at "Average" except for two Qualities "Good," and one Quality "Poor." This is up to the player to decide and then inform the GM of their "Poor" and "Expert" choices to apply on their Sims/Character Sheet. (Check Royer's sheet HERE as an example of a complete sheet—Please note this sheet is only temporary and will be deleted later).

Dice
Dice are used to determine the outcome of events, which adds an unpredictability and drama to the narrative. Some role-playing games, called "Storytelling Games," emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat. These types of games tend to minimize or altogether eliminate the use of dice or other randomizing elements. So we can forget the dice, even the rules, and just play out our characters. Most successful role-playing games, however, use the dice to add this very exciting element of "unpredictability" to the game. The GM herself may be surprised by the dice results, and this usually ignites her own imagination, excitement and enjoyment, even though her current plot may be going astray. In some scenarios, an altogether different course of events may emerge, and she has to react quickly to get the game back on track, to somehow "contain" and perhaps even use the new events, or sometimes, to come up with a whole new plot, temporarily or for the rest of the game. 

The dice roll mainly to decide the result of an action or resolve conflicts, especially the controversial or complicated ones. For example: Sandra in her black dress and full glamour is trying to convince Mr. Benjamin to do her some favor. From her Sims Sheet, we know that one of Sandra's Qualities is "Charisma," and that her current Rank is even "Master." Benjamin, on the other hand, from his character's Weaknesses, "Can't Say No to a Pretty Face." So we can easily predict the outcome of their conversation—especially given that Sandra is not "just a pretty face;" she's actually an undercover CIA agent.

But, if Benjamin were indeed Mr. Tony Benjamin, Big Tony, a mafia boss and a man whose first Quality is "Willpower," with the rank of Expert or Master, then the outcome of Sandra's attempt wouldn't be readily clear or easily determined, especially if both players playing these two characters were not willing to give up. In this case, the GM would consider it a "Conflict" and ask Sandra (the "Attacker") to roll the dice to resolve it.

Dice Notation
In order to always remember this notation system and never get confused, just remember that a coin is "D2"—because a coin has 2 faces. So the number that comes after "d" is always the number of "sides." Thus, d6 means a six-sided dice (or die); d10 means ten-sided dice, and so on. The letter "d," obviously, is for "dice."

However, another number may come before the "d." For example, 2d6. This simply means "roll the six-sided dice (die) 2 times." 3d8 means "roll the eight-sided dice 3 times," and so on. If the die is to roll only once, "1" may be omitted: 1d6 and d6 mean exactly the same—roll the six-sided dice once. "D2" therefore means toss the coin once. If 2d2, twice.

Here in this version we use only six-sided dice, so it's always d6, and we "almost" always roll 2d6, but occasionally 1d6, and 3d6, as will be explained in detail in the Rules section below.

In this version, we will use the PDQ Core Rules system, one of the easiest, simplest and most flexible systems for beginners. In fact, we won't even use all of it. We've "modified" and shortened it even more to keep as brief and simple as possible. Most games have voluminous books of rules (or mechanics), so the following, we can confidently state, is the briefest ever in the world of role-playing games, and I sincerely hope that our players will pay adequate time and attention to read and fully understand these rules and thus master this game and guarantee an enjoyable experience playing it.

I'd also like to confirm that we can modify these rules or come up with our own, suggest new techniques or even just roleplay without any rules at all. This last option may not be the best option, because it depends solely and heavily on the players' creativity and imagination, which may not be very reliable or readily helpful all the time. But this at least shows us how flexible this game could be and how vast the range really is from having to follow detailed rules to simply playing out your character with no rules at all.


RULE ZERO
Rule Zero of role-playing is this: Have fun. You don't have to get all the rules right. As long as everyone is enjoying themselves, everything else is secondary.


1. MASTER CHART

As explained earlier, Qualities have Ranks, which indicate increasing proficiency. From lowest to highest, the Ranks are:

Poor [-2];
Average [0];
Good [+2];
Expert [+4]; and
Master [+6].

The numbers in square brackets following the Rank of the Quality show the Rank's "Modifier"—how much is added to or subtracted from a 2d6 dice roll (see below).

Characters have some things going for them (two Qualities at Good [2]), and at least one thing working against them (One Quality Poor [-2]). At everything else, characters are neither noteworthy nor inept—that is, they're Average [0].

Characters also have Strengths and Weaknesses. Although these attributes have no "modifiers" and don't directly influence the outcome of an action, they help develop the character and shed more light on its tendencies and attitude. For your Weaknesses, a word of advice: pick something that will be fun or entertaining (for you the player, not necessarily you the character) to flub at and mess with! Come up with a word or a phrase to sum up the Weakness. Examples here include Glass Jaw, Bad Credit Rating, Slow as Molasses, and Wallflower.

(Note: Never hesitate; if after play begins a particular Quality sees no use and doesn't really add to the characterization of a PC, a player should feel free to change it to something that fits better, but only after talking to the GM first).



2. TASK RESOLUTION
When your character tries to do something, the GM will determine if the situation is simple, complicated, or conflict. Let’s take each in turn.

Simple Situation
In simple situations, the task is clear-cut, there are no outstanding issues interfering with the attempted action, or randomness would slow down the game. In a simple situation, the GM looks at the Master Chart (above), and determines the Difficulty Rank of the task. Then, the GM compares that Difficulty Rank to the character's most appropriate Quality Rank. The higher Rank of the two "wins." If the Difficulty Rank of the task is equal to or higher than the character's relevant Quality Rank, the task becomes a Complicated Situation (see below).

Example 1: Neo wants to climb a wall using his Good [+2] Outdoorsman Quality (he successfully convinces the GM that climbing a cliff face is similar enough to climbing a wall for it to count), he'll automatically succeed in scaling Poor and Average Difficulty walls (because his Rank "Good" is higher).

If Cypher wanted to climb a wall, he has no applicable Quality, and so would have the default Quality Rank of Average [0]. This means he can only automatically succeed in climbing Poor Difficulty walls.

For Neo, Good or higher Difficulty Rank walls are complicated; for Cypher, Average or higher Difficulty Rank walls are complicated.

(NOTE: In addition to the in-line examples here, two detailed examples—with all the bells and whistles—appear at the end of this thread).

Complicated Situation
Dice rolls are made in complicated situations where comparisons of Rank are inconclusive or when randomness is desired. It's also a complicated situation when Quality and Difficulty Ranks are tied, or when Quality Rank is lower than Difficulty Rank. To attempt a complicated situation, the PC rolls two regular six-sided dice (2d6), and adds the Modifier of his Rank. To succeed, the PC must match or roll higher than the Target Number of the task's Difficulty Rank.

Example 2: Neo is trying to climb a Good Difficulty wall using his Good [+2] Outdoorsman Quality. The Target Number of Good Difficulty is 9. Neo must roll 2d6 and add his Modifier +2, trying to match or beat a 9. He rolls a 3 and a 5, giving him 3+5+2 = 10! He succeeds in climbing the wall.

Cypher wants to follow Neo up that Good Difficulty wall: again, he has no applicable Quality, and so must use the default Quality Rank of Average [0]. He must match or beat a 9 when rolling 2d6. He rolls exactly the same thing that Neo did: a 3 and a 5, and since Average Rank Qualities have no Modifier, that's a total of 8. This is below the Target Number of the wall, so Cypher fails.

When a character's Qualities are set against the Qualities of other characters, this isn’t just complicated, it's a Conflict Situation.

Conflict Situation
Conflict situations involve active resistance by another to a character's attempts to perform a task: trying to punch a guy in the face, out-thinking a chess player, running a race, or convincing a cop that you weren't really speeding. Conflict situation include more than just the immediate success or failure of an attempted action; here, conflict includes the back and forth of an active contest, out-maneuvering the competition, and wearing down an opponent's resistance. Examples of conflict situations include combat (physical conflict), seduction, haggling, debating, and so forth. (Note that some groups won't necessarily want to use the conflict situation mechanics to resolve social interactions, and will want to rely on pure roleplaying instead; this is fine—the rules structure is there if a group wishes to use it.)

There are various ways to resolve conflict situations, but here in this version, we'll simply treat them as Complicated Situations. That is, instead of having characters roll using their Qualities against each other to determine success, simply treat their Quality Rank as a Difficulty Rank. Then, the attacker uses the Target Number of that Difficulty Rank to roll against for success; the difference between roll result and Target Number settles the conflict and gives the "Damage" Rank (see below).

Example 3: Draco has gotten to the treasure chamber of a Ninja Hut. His path is blocked by a Henchman Ninja (Average Henchman). Draco attacks the Ninja and rolls his Good [+2] Cutlass Quality against the Ninja's Target Number of 7 (because as a Difficulty, the Average Rank requires the Target Number 7). He rolls a 3 and a 6, plus 2 from Good [+2] Cutlass, giving him a total of 11: Eleven easily beats 7, so Draco slices the Ninja from stem to stern in one blow and continues walking toward his prize.

However, if Draco rolled a 1 and a 2, plus 2 from his Good [+2] Cutlass, that would be 5, less that 7. Draco loses.

(Note: if Draco rolled 7 in total, equal to the Target Number, the characters are then "tied," neither gets hurt, and we roll again).

Example 4 (non-combat example): Sandra (the undercover CIA agent), having now traveled back in time, wants to use her Seduction Quality (Expert [+4]) in her next meeting with Nazi General Ernst Eichmann, the only man who can open the door for her to meet with the Fuehrer—Adolf Hitler in person. Eichmann (the player or the GM) will use his Analytical Thinking Quality (Expert [+4]) in his defense. Is this a relevant Quality? Can this Quality really help in this situation? It is, and it can, so Sandra will have to roll the dice (whether because they both are "Expert"s [complicated situation] or because of the mutual resistance [conflict situation]).

As a Difficulty, "Expert" requires the Target Number 11 to be overcome. Sandra rolls, gets a 2 and a 4, and with her Seduction Rank (Expert [+4]) the total is 10—still less than 11. She loses.



3. ATTACKER - DEFENDER
In Conflicts, the character whose turn it is will be called the attacker; the character who is the target of the attacker's action is called the defender. The attacker explains what his attempted action is, and the defender explains how he'd try to counter that action. In this version, the defender is always a "Difficulty" and therefore requires a Target Number to be overcome; the attacker on the other hand always rolls 2d6 for his relevant Quality and adds the Modifier of the Rank. He wins only if his total is higher than the Target Number of the defender.

If the attacker is successful, "damage" is applied to the defender; if the attacker fails, no damage is done. A tie is just that—nobody wins, nobody loses. . . but they both muss each other up a little.

Example 5: in the example above, Sandra was the attacker, because it was her turn and initiative; General Eichmann therefore was the defender and was dealt with as a Difficulty. In some game systems, both players should roll, but in this simple version we'll always deal with the defender as a Difficulty and always roll against a specific Target Number.


4. UPSHIFTS - DOWNSHIFTS
An Upshift means that for the action in question, the PC rolls as if his Quality were one level higher (essentially giving him a +2 to their roll). Upshifts come from two sources that will be discussed later, namely playing "Full Attack" and "Being Badass."

(Note: if the PC is using a specific Quality during "the action in question" and his rank is already Master—meaning the character can't Upshift the rank anymore, because there is no rank higher than Master—the player then rolls 3d6 instead of the usual 2d6. This is the only case we roll 3d6 in this system).

A downshift is the opposite: it means that, for the action in question, the PC rolls as if his Quality were one level lower (essentially giving him a -2 to their roll). Downshifts also come from two sources: if a combatant decides to play "Full Defense," or if the character generally takes any Failure or Damage Ranks (see below).

(Note: The GM may give a Downshift as a penalty for the character's awkward behavior especially in social interactions).


5. DAMAGE
Damage (be it physical, mental, emotional, or social) is the loss of capability. As a character takes damage, he is less likely to be able to perform at peak efficiency. This is shown by a temporary Downshift applied to the character's listed Quality(s), called either a Failure Rank or a Damage Rank, depending upon the nature of the conflict.

In mental, social, and some physical conflicts, loss of capability is usually temporary, and is represented by Failure Ranks. Examples include a chess match, witty repartee, or running a race.

In many physical conflicts (and even some physical complicated situations), loss of capability is more enduring, and is represented by Damage Ranks. Examples here include combat, running through fire, or falling off of a wall.

Environmental damage
Like that taken from falling, jumping through a fire, drowning, or other complicated situations – works by comparing the Target Number of the task against the total of the character’s failed roll. The difference between roll and Target Number is the Damage Ranks taken.

Example 6: Say that in the example above from Complicated Situations, where Cypher wants to follow Neo up a Good [9] Difficulty wall, Cypher is instead trying to follow Neo down the wall. As he has no applicable Quality, he must use the default Rank of Average [0], and match or beat a 9 when rolling 2d6. He rolls a 3 and a 5, for a total of 8. This is below the Target Number of the wall, so Cypher fails, falls, and takes 1 Damage Rank from the sudden stop.


6. OUT OF THE SCENE
When "any" one of a character's Qualities drops below Poor Rank, the character is out of the Scene—that could mean they've totally messed up their seduction attempt, been knocked unconscious (or killed) in combat, or run out of test-taking time and must put down their pencil. The GM describes how and why the PC is out of the Scene, and lets the player know if/when they can return (see below, Recovering from Damage).

Out for Blood?
For physical conflicts, the default assumption in this system is that characters can only be killed once they are unconscious or otherwise helpless (below Poor Rank/out of the scene). This requires no roll, check, or action, simply a statement on the attacker's next turn that he wishes to kill the victim. (GMs should feel free to change this rule if they desire. Perhaps characters pick whether they are doing "bruising" damage or "killing" damage at the beginning of a conflict situation).


7. RECOVERING FROM DAMAGE
Once a Scene ends, the injured character will begin to recover lost Ranks. How many he gets back depends upon whether he was in momentary danger or is still in continuing danger.

Momentary Danger: If nothing else is going on, and the character is otherwise safe, relaxed, and lacking any time constraints. Examples of momentary danger include playing Go Fish with a six year old, a car chase (though some Environmental Damage could happen), or a seduction attempt. At the end of the Scene, all Failure or Damage Ranks are removed, restoring Qualities to their appropriate levels.

Continuing Danger: Danger is continuing if the overarching situation that the conflict happened in is risky, stressful, or under deadline. An example of continuing danger would be playing poker in a seedy bar with three Mafiosi. Characters will recover 1d6 lost Ranks of Quality at the end of the conflict Scene. The player selects which Qualities' Ranks are restored. However, the character will not recover any more Ranks until the GM tells them to roll again.

Example 7: Soren's been beaten up and stuffed in a garbage can by a zombie. At the end of the conflict, all of his Qualities were Downshifted to Poor, except for Pirate, which he had zeroed (below Poor). Since this happened in a bad part of Zombietown, he's still in continuing danger. He rolls for damage recovery and gets a 3. He puts 1 Rank into bringing Pirate to Poor [-2] (now he's conscious), and uses the remaining 2 to get Toughness back to Good [+2], (from Poor to Average, then from Average to Good), since he figures it'll be the most useful Quality if someone else jumps on him.

Example 8: Back to Draco and the Ninja in the Conflict Situation section. Why could Draco so easily kill the Ninja when he rolled 11? Because the Ninja was a secondary NPC that the GM introduced as an Average Difficulty (Target Number 7). The Ninja therefore, we may imagine, took 4 Damage Ranks (11-7) and was immediately "Out of the Scene." Had the Ninja been another PC, or a major NPC with as many Qualities as the PCs, he'd have probably endured the 4 Damage Ranks, "distributed" them on his different Qualities, then in his turn hit back and perhaps even won.



8. CONFLICT STRATEGIES

Full Attack
An "attacker" strategy: The attacker flips out all over the target, making strong attacks (physical, mental, or social) without much heed to defense. A Full Attack grants an Upshift for the attack (and any subsequent damage the defender may take) and a Downshift on all defensive reactions and other non-conflict-related actions until his next turn.

Example 9: Let's get back to Sandra, the CIA agent. She rolled total 10 (2+4+4) and lost her attempt with General Eichmann. Let's say she instead played Full Attack. Full Attack gave her Upshift and she became a Master [+6] in her Seduction Quality. Eichmann used his Analytical Thinking as his defense Quality (Expert [+4]), and as a Difficulty this required the Target Number of 11.  When Sandra rolled she got 2 and 4, but now with her new Rank (Master [+6]) the total would rather be 12. So she'd won, even give Eichmann "two" Failure Ranks (because Failure/Damage is Upshifted in Full Attack).

The downside of this strategy, however, is that Sandra Downshifted all her other Quality(s). If she got attacked by another character, or by any means involved in any other action during this scene, she'd react with a lower Rank in whatever Quality she may use.

Full Defense
A "defender" strategy: The defender plays Full Defense for safety by not taking any chances, holding back in the conflict. Full Defense grants an Upshift for all defensives reaction and a Downshift on all the character's non-conflict-related actions until their next turn. Unfortunately, Playing Full Defense means that the character's next attack action will suffer from this Downshift.

Example 10: Back to Draco and the Ninja. If the Ninja (Average, Difficulty 7) played Full Defense, He'd be Good (Difficulty 9), and he'd "endure" Draco's attack up to 9. However, in his next attack, the Ninja Downshifted as an "attacker," so he'd be even less than Average; he'd be Poor (Difficulty 5)

Being Badass
If the player describes his character's attempt to perform an action in a graphic, flavorful, and entertaining way, the GM can give them an Upshift. So, rather than "I hit the sailor" (or "I haggle with the merchant"), the player says something like "I grab the sailor's shirt with one hand and pull him closer to punch him in the face with my other fist–arr, matey!" (or says, in character, "May the fleas from a thousand camels infest the beds of your children if you try and rob me in this way!"). If the PC had a Good [+2] Pirate (or Bargaining) Quality, this would change his roll in attempting to hit the sailor (or haggle with the merchant) from 2d6+2 to 2d6+4, as if he were Expert [+4] Rank.


9. USING MULTIPLE QUALITIES
If the GM agrees that more than one Quality can be brought to bear on a task, simply combine the Modifiers for the relevant Qualities. Furthermore, this case includes not just the Qualities of a single character, but also if multiple characters team up to perform a task. If multiple characters are joining forces, only one of them needs to roll.

Example 11: Standing on the roof of Le Cafe, Adi sees some zombies attacking his friend Posay on the ground floor. He decides to join the fray. He can combine his Good [+2] Cutlass and Good [+2] Judo Qualities (as well as his Average [0] Pirate Quality) in his attack on one of the zombies. He'll be rolling 2d6+2+2+0, or 2d6+4, for this maneuver.

Example 12: Lunar (Expert [+4] Marketing Exec) and Kazoo (Good [+2] Rockstar) decide to work together in a pitch meeting to try and convince a Record Company Exec (Expert - Difficulty 11) that Kazoo is worth signing. Lunar will roll 2d6+4+2. She rolls a 3 and a 5, for a total of 14. Lunar and Kazoo successfully convince the NPC that Kazoo's career is promising!


10. USING A QUALITY AGAINST MULTIPLE TARGETS
If it's necessary for a character to take on multiple targets simultaneously in a single action, he can split his attention (and relevant Quality Ranks) between them. Of course, this leads to a commensurate decrease in effective skill. For each additional target selected, apply a Downshift to the Quality Rank.

Example 13: Say that Armine (Expert [+4] Kung Fu) is fighting two Samurais. If she tries to take them both on, she'll only be at an effective Rank of Good [+2] for her attacks on each. If there were 3 Samurais, she'd have an effective Rank of Average [0]; if 4, Poor [-2]. If there were 5 Samurais, she'd automatically fail all five attacks, since his split Rank would bottom out with another Downshift. Better to take them on one or two at a time, Armine.

But wait! Armine has Chef at Good [+2]. Perhaps if the fight took place in a restaurant kitchen, the GM might agree that Armine could add in her "culinary" know-how (grabbing cleavers, throwing pots and pans, creative use of the fryer, etc.) This circumstance would allow Armine to take on 2 Samurais at Expert [+4] (Downshifting only her Good Chef to Average [0]), 3 Samurais at Good [+2] (now Downshifting her Expert rank), 4 Samurais at Average [0], 5 Samurais at Poor [-2], and auto-fail only when facing 6 Samurais in the kitchen at once.



11. CHARACTERS IMPROVEMENT
Characters can upgrade their Qualities as a reward for their successful campaigns, or for special, probably critical missions assigned by the GM to only one or more characters during the game. In the latter case, the GM should announce in advance that the mission in question is an Upgrade Mission. When a character reaches Master Rank in a Quality, this Quality cannot be improved further. The player may then apply the new upgrades to any of the character's other Qualities. However, Masters in at least three Qualities have other options:


12. MASTER +
If a character is Master in at least three Qualities, the player, in the next upgrade, may ask for a Master+. This gives his character two more new Qualities, both ranked Good [2], increasing his abilities and rolling results in any area of his choice. However, if the player didn't take Master+ and waited until his character became Master in six default Qualities, the player may then ask for "Rebirth."


13. REBIRTH
If a character is Master in six Qualities, and has no Master+ Qualities, he or she in the next upgrade may ask to be reborn. Rebirth is just rebirth: starting all over again: A whole new character sheet with a whole new set of Qualities. This time, however, the character will have in addition 4 more Qualities, all Good [+2], one of which could be psychic or extraordinary.


14. BEHIND THE SCENES
During the game, both the GM and players can communicate privately. A GM may even have a "mole" among the players. He could even be a spy undercover, and he may at any moment receive "new orders" from his Command Center and just begin shooting and killing his own team. Actually the GM, privately, would still write to him in-character. For example, if we were playing WWII, the GM would write to this specific player as an officer in the Gestapo would write to an agent under his supervision—although nothing in the events or the plot provided in public ever mentioned or even referred to the Gestapo or the Nazi secret police at all. Not yet at least

For a better scenario, however, clever clues should be given every now and then, as to raise at least the attentive players' suspicion. For example, this character should "seem" to know too much about the Nazis. Or, he never shares in any dialog against Hitler or laugh at any joke about him. And so forth.


Finally, there are literally dozens of books and hundreds of tips, blogs and web pages on this game; however, these two short PDF files from Greg Stolze (American novelist and writer and prominent role-playing master) are relatively brief but very interesting and will definitely help you get the feel and take you one more step further. Happy roleplaying!

• How to Play Roleplaying Games - For Players
• How to Run Roleplaying Games - For Gamemasters


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- This post was prepared and written by Royer Blaze and Lotus.

1. Normal Dialog

Jordan (the GM) is running a swaggering sci-fi game for three players. Carlos is playing the role of Duster, a combat veteran who was kicked out of the space marines for "discipline problems;" Teri is playing R’hann, a shapeshifting alien private investigator; and Mitesh's cyborg character RX51 (aka Rex) considers himself the best pilot in the quadrant.

Jordan: The trip to Orem IV was uneventful, and once Rex lands the ship at Dock 14, you all get your first breaths of unfiltered air in many weeks. It's summer weather. You don't need enviro suits, because the air is breathable, and the temperature is warm but comfortable. The sky is clear, and it's a perfect day to explore the city.

Carlos: Hah! A perfect day to find a good bar, in other words.

Teri: (R’hann looks over at Duster) You know, ordinarily I'd say you're nuts to be talking about going inside on a day this gorgeous, but I've seen more than enough of your two ugly mugs, and I could do with some socializing. Uh, no offense.

Mitesh: None taken. As you know, I have no need of libations, but I certainly wouldn't mind a change of pace.

Jordan: OK, so you all start working your way through the docks area in search of a pub. It doesn't take you long to find The Rusty Spanner, a small, dark, dilapidated place that smells like a mixture of hydraulic fluid and whiskey. As you walk in, you are startled to see Vikus, with two of his goons. They're sitting at the bar drinking. As you open the door and walk in, their heads swivel, they lock eyes with you, and... what do you do?

Teri: Grr... I thought he was destroyed with his ship during that altercation on Wenschall Prime. I'll probably need to shapeshift, so I scan the room for the biggest, nastiest looking lifeform I can get to in three or four steps. Once I touch it, I'll be able to mimic its form.

Mitesh: (I smile) "Vikus, you are surprisingly adept at staying alive, especially for a human." (I reach for the blaster at my hip holster).

Carlos: (laughing) Oh man, this is going to be interesting. I activate my personal force field and draw my katana, looking as menacing as possible.

Jordan: OK. Vikus looks at each of you in turn, making no move to reach for a weapon. His goons look up from their drinks, scowling at you. Vikus tut-tuts you: "What kind of a welcome is that? Look, I've got a deal you wont be able to resist. Why don't we all just sit down and discuss it like reasonable folks." The scar above his left eye twists a bit as he smiles with excessive sincerity.


Jordan is using Vikus as a way to draw the player characters into an adventure. As the action continues, they will have to use their skills to do things such as negotiate with Vikus, intimidate his underlings, run away, or fight him. The mechanics differ from one game to another, but pretty much any time the characters attempt to do something difficult, they'll have to roll dice to determine whether they succeed or not.

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2. Conflict


Let’s say that Kristov (Good [+2] Dirty Fighter) and Jefferson (Expert [+4] Biker) get into a fight. Jefferson's going to go first, since his fighting-relevant Quality Rank is higher than Kristov's.

JEFFERSON: I punch at the little jerk.

KRISTOV: I'll try to duck under the big moose's punch.

JEFFERSON (rolls 2d6+4; he rolls a 3 and a 1 for a total of : Eight!

KRISTOV: Ha! I'm a Good Dirty Fighter, Diff. (Difficulty) 9. You need at least 10 to beat me.

GM: Kristov bends down, and Jefferson's punch misses the mark. Kristov's turn.

KRISTOV: I come up and try to sock him one in the nuts!

JEFFERSON: OOoooh, not cool, dude. Why do you always go for the low-blow?

KRISTOV: My Quality is Dirty Fighter, sport.

JEFFERSON: Well, I'll try to parry his punch away from my groin.

KRISTOV (rolls 2d6+2, he rolls a 3 and a 4 for a total of 9): This one goes to nine! Heh heh heh!

JEFFERSON: Wait, I'm Diff. 11. Guess it’s not your lucky day!

GM: Jefferson knocks Kristov's low-blow aside, easily.

KRISTOV: Gulp.

JEFFERSON (miming cracking his knuckles): This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it hurts me, buddy. (to GM): I’m gonna grab his shirt, throw him into the wall, and wind up my haymaker. When he bounces back, I'll connect. Hard.

KRISTOV: Hey, that's more than one action! (looks at GM)

JEFFERSON: Nope, it's Being Badass. (looks at GM)

GM (ponders): Yeah, that's pretty badass. Jefferson gets an Upshift on the attack.

KRISTOV (buries his head in his hands): This is gonna hurt.

GM: What's your reaction to the attempt going to be?

KRISTOV (has a bright idea): I’m gonna play Full Defense.

GM: You know that'll screw up your next attack.

KRISTOV (ponders): Nah, it’s not worth it. I need to tag this guy a couple times, and I'll need all the bonuses I can get. I won't play Full Defense.

GM: Alright, Jefferson's rolling as effective Master [+6], or 2d6+6. Go for it.

JEFFERSON (rolls 2d6+6; he rolls two 6s for a total of 18): Sweet eighteen, baby!

KRISTOV: Dammit. No go.

GM (calculating, 18 minus 9 [Kristov's Difficulty Number] is a total of 9): Jefferson throws Kristov against the wall and clocks him on the return for 9 Damage Ranks.

JEFFERSON: Take that, little buddy. Should’ve played Full Defense.

KRISTOV (glumly looking at his character sheet): Well, I could drop all my Goods to Averages, that's 3 Damage Ranks. Drop them all to Poors, that's another 3. Three more... okay, I drop my Average Rockstar and Golfer to Poor. That leaves one Damage Rank, and everything I got is at Poor now. Crap. I’ll take it on Dirty Fighter and bottom out. I’m unconscious.

GM (to Jefferson): Now what do you do?

JEFFERSON: I have a beer and wait for him to wake up, so he can take back what he said about my momma. Or else.

GM (to Kristov): After a couple minutes, you come around. You’re still in continuing danger because Jefferson could stomp your ass again. Roll 1d6 for Damage Recovery.

KRISTOV (rolls 1d6; he rolls a 5): Five Ranks back... Hmm, I'll put Dirty Fighter back to Good, that's 1 to hit Poor and 2 more to get to Good, total of 3. Golfer back to Average, that's 1. Rockstar back to Average, that’s 1. There, that should do it.

JEFFERSON (to Kristov): Apologize for what you said about my momma.

KRISTOV: Sorry! Don't hit me again, okay?


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- This thread was prepared and written by Royer Blaze and Lotus.