#offbeat rpg

This post is copied from the new page on the blog labeled "Offbeat RPG System". Whenever ORS gets updated, that page will also be updated.

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A Master List for all of the currently revealed information about Offbeat RPG System.

Most Important Stuff

Tag: All ORS posts are tagged "Offbeat RPG".

TESTING INFO: If you’d like to be an alpha/beta tester for ORS, please read this post!

Game Info

Introduction Post: the original announcement for the game!

Update 2 — Electric Boogaloo: Attribute rundown, Alchemist Base Class write-up.

Update 3 — More Base Classes: Class build explanation. Base Class write-ups:

Barbarian

Bard

Paladin

Pirate

Medic

Secret Midnight Post: Magic system un-announcement. Base Class write-ups:

Psion

Shaman

Warlock

Druid

I will get right on that when I’m less exhausted. It’s on my list!

Enemies are going to be constructed in relatively the same way as classes, at least with regards to having a Phys/Ment/Soc set of scores. Every character controlled by the GM does not have a Meta score, because the Meta roll is to be used specifically to alter the story, which a GM can pretty much do whenever they want. Most enemies will have a set of scores slightly lower than your character’s skills, as well as a few moves to highlight their specialties and at least one flavor or motivation to give them an edge when they really want something.

It's Friday! Let's talk class building.

Variations on a Theme

So the most important feature of the base classes is the idea of balance. You start everybody off at the same level, with a certain number of abilities and a certain level of stats. Meta stats are simple: almost always d4 (we'll get into when it's not d4 later). The core three, however, were a little trickier to start. I knew that I wanted the average skill (at least at the heroic level) to be a d8, so the easiest way to start finding different builds resulted from adding 2 to one die and subtracting 2 from another. I noticed that this left the total sum of all three stats at 24, and this seemed a good number to build around.

Eventually, I came up with 5 different builds with a base total of 24.

d12, d8, d4 -- "Top-Heavy"

d12, d6, d6 -- "Specialized"

d10, d10, d4 -- "Dual-Talent"

d10, d8, d6 -- "Talented"

d8, d8, d8 -- "Balanced"

Let's explore the justification for each of these different builds, and even see some preview classes!

Lonely At The Top

The "Top-Heavy" build (d12, d8, d4) is intended for classes that are extremely focused on one of their attributes in such a way that it becomes a detriment to one of their other attributes. The middle attribute is either unhindered by this focus or works better in some ways than others.

== BARBARIAN == Phys: d12 Ment: d4 Soc: d8 Meta: d4

|| MOVES || Crush Your Enemies: Roll Phys+1 to smash a foe. See Them Driven Before You: Roll Phys+1 to send your enemies cowering. Trust Your Sword: Roll Ment+1 to find the nearest weapon. Hear Their Lamentations: Roll Soc+1 to make someone very upset.

|| FLAVORS || -- Pick one (1) of the following -- No Tongue For Prayer: +1 to all rolls made in spite of religion. Valor Pleases You: +1 to all rolls that get you closer to your next fight.

The Barbarian is all about being able to deal and take hits in equal measure. This leads them to completely disregard most common sense, and using their head as anything other than a battering ram isn't really in their wheelhouse. However, they command a reasonable presence in a group, and while they aren't quite subtle, they can affect people through speech effectively.

Well Aren't You Special

The "Specialized" build (d12, d6, d6) represents a class that focuses almost exclusively on one of their attributes to the degradation but not complete exclusion of the other two. Classes with the Specialized build just aren't as enthused about two of their attributes.

== BARD == Phys: d6 Ment: d6 Soc: d12 Meta: d4

|| MOVES || Power Chord: Roll Phys+1 to assault your foes with sound. Lucky Guess: Roll Ment+1 to talk your way through an explanation. Sweet Tongue: Roll Soc+1 to gain someone's sympathy through song. Live Performance: Roll Soc+1 to gain the favor of a crowd by performing.

|| FLAVORS || -- Pick one (1) of the following -- All About Me: +1 to all rolls that draw attention to you. Starving Artist: +1 to all rolls that get you closer to your next gig.

The Bard loves being in command of a social situation, on stage or off. They're often quick-witted but they work by the seat of their pants more often than they'd make a plan before going in. They're mostly capable with a weapon of some sort, but really they're all about the music. They don't completely ignore their other abilities, but they don't really keep track of them either.

Two-Trick Ponies

The "Dual-Talent" build (d10, d10, d4) is a bit of an oddball. For starters, there's no d12, but there is a d4. This means that there's no one skill that the Dual-Talent class is astoundingly good at, but there is a skill that suffers. How to justify this? Well, there are three classes that use this skill tree, and each one is very strong in two of the three attributes, but they also have a story-based source of assistance. This manifests as a d6 for their Meta die. Weird, huh? Let's look a little closer.

== PALADIN == Phys: d10 Ment: d4 Soc: d10 Meta: d6

|| MOVES || Grant Me Strength: Roll Phys+1 to smite a heretic or enemy of the faith. Grant Me Clarity: Roll Ment+1 to identify someone's true and faithful allegiance. Grant Me Wisdom: Roll Soc+1 to petition your deity for a boon by your faith. Grant Them Courage: Roll Soc+1 to command a believer into faithful action.

|| FLAVORS || -- Pick one (1) of the following -- Hand of Justice: +1 to all rolls made to exact justice or vengeance upon someone. Hand of Mercy: +1 to all rolls made to extend kindness or mercy to someone.

Obviously, the Paladin has a great source of deus ex machina... emphasis on deus. This helps to offset the fact that they are less likely to defeat the most difficult enemies even with their toughest skills unless they can justify it through their moves. The Meta boost is given as an incentive to play these classes despite having one of the lowest scores and none of the highest scores.

Show of Talent

The "Talented" build (d10, d8, d6) is the most common build by far. It doesn't have a d12 for a heavy hit, but it also doesn't have a d4 for a debilitating weakness. This represents a class that prefers to use a particular skill set but is mostly competent in other areas. They don't discount any of their skills, but they still lean more heavily to one skill than another.

== PIRATE == Phys: d8 Ment: d6 Soc: d10 Meta: d4

|| MOVES || Buckle Those Swashes: Roll Phys+1 to combat an opponent with a cutlass and a lot of flair. Eye For Treasure: Roll Ment+1 to assess the value of something, literally or figuratively. Master of Parley: Roll Soc+1 to strike up a deal with someone in your favor. You Fight Like a Dairy Farmer: Roll Soc+1 to quip at an opponent and make them slip up.

|| FLAVORS || -- Pick one (1) of the following -- For Fun: +1 to all rolls made for your own enjoyment. For Glory: +1 to all rolls made to increase your notoriety and wealth.

The Pirate is a good example of a Talented build. Pirates are notoriously shrewd dealers and famously showy in the realm of fiction. They are competent fighters and ruthless when need be, but they're not ones for in-depth consideration when there's adventure and gold to be had.

Hanging In the Balance

The "Balanced" build (d8, d8, d8) is prestigiously possessed by exactly one class. This class needs all three skills in equal measure, and is the only class that can roll reliably well for each skill in a low-pressure situation.

== MEDIC == Phys: d8 Ment: d8 Soc: d8 Meta: d4

|| MOVES || Practice Makes Perfect: Roll Phys+1 to apply a medical treatment to someone. Routine Check-Up: Roll Ment+1 to assess the current well-being of someone. Trust Your Doctor: Roll Soc+1 to convince someone that you are speaking from medical expertise. Don't You Die On Me, Dammit!: Roll Meta+1 to keep a character from dying.

|| FLAVORS || -- Pick one (1) of the following -- Hippocrates Would Be Proud: +1 to all rolls made to prevent harm from coming to someone. Hypocrites Aren't So Proud: +1 to all rolls that abuse your status as a doctor for your own gain.

The Medic uses each skill on the job, and has an equal focus on each skill in the field. Obviously, three d8's aren't quite glamorous, and don't leave the Medic with a strongest skill to get two moves for. So: the Medic gets a Meta skill! The Medic is the only class to get a Meta skill, and it can only be used in times of dire need, so it's roughly balanced enough to warrant but not require the inclusion of a Medic in your party.

Why We Build 'Em All, My Children

The builds seem like a lot of hassle to go through for a game that is intended to be modular and specialized for each playgroup's needs. The importance of the builds is this: a balanced starting point leads to a better out-of-the-box experience, and sets a good precedence for later expansions. By setting up a system now, we can easily add new base classes later, and those classes will fit in perfectly with the system we set out to make in the first place.

Hey there guys! I'll be reblogging this in the morning, but I thought I'd give out the call now.

If you have a regular tabletop play group that might want to try out Offbeat RPG System, please shoot me an email at [email protected]!

Please include the following in your email:

Size of your playgroup (on average)

Location (State is fine in the US, country if otherwise, you can give city if you're comfortable with it)

Types of games you typically play

How often you meet

Types of gamers in your group (are you more casual or hardcore)

A picture of a small frog

Hey gang! It's Friday, and that means it's time to talk about what I've been working on for Offbeat RPG System. I'd like to apologize in advance for not having more for you guys as school kinda knocked me on my ass this week. I'll be working on this some more once I get into an academic groove. But for now, I can give you a few more details on the style of play and some planned features before the first alpha test!

Let's Talk Synergy

ORS as it stands is an amalgamation of ideas from games that have been well-received on the blog, including Crab Truckers and Dungeon World. Obviously, these games aren't 100% compatible at first blush, but through a little bit of tweaking, they play with each other in a way that works well with the nature of the classes on this blog. Crab Truckers encourages limited complexity and simple pass-fail mechanics, notably with no penalties or bonuses for critical rolls. Dungeon World encourages mechanics that reflect the personal interactions between characters, and keeping story as the guiding force for mechanic use.

These two systems form the biggest inspiration for the mechanics of ORS. Simple, story-based mechanics that encourage staying in character and don't let the dice get in the way. Let's see how those guidelines played out in initial design.

Growth of a Game

I started with the basic mechanic from Crab Truckers: 2d8 for all rolls, add dice and take the highest two for bonuses, add dice and take the lowest for penalties. I knew that I wanted the actions that the players would take to be separated into categories. Nobody does everything on the same level. So, I divided the rolls into Physical, Mental, and Social. Physical correlates to Str, Dex, or Con moves in the traditional six-attribute system. Mental corresponds roughly to Int and Wis, and Social correlates to Cha. So now we've got three types of rolls to work with!

There are a few ways to denote different levels of skill, including giving automatic dice bonuses or penalties to the assigned stats, but I wanted to save that for the specific actions taken, similar to Moves in Dungeon World or the "Verb!" skills in Crab Truckers. Instead, I devised a very simple dice scale that kept 1d8 as the average middle ground. Behold!

d4 < d6 < d8 < d10 < d12

Each class can now have its own combination of P/M/S attributes with a mixture of dice types, which will determine what types of actions are easier or more difficult for each class. But there's something missing.

In Crab Truckers, the dice rolls could trump anything. ANYTHING. Another player calls your bluff? Roll higher and knock 'em down a peg. The GM says you're hit by the monster and die? Roll dice. Get up and smack it. Locked in jail? Roll dice. Get outta jail free. This is great, and encourages low-tension games that let the players have a say in the story, and while I don't want it to be a reliable way to steal the scene, I also want to include some form of it in the end state of this game.

I Meta Man With Seven Wives

There are actually four stats in this game: Physical, Mental, Social, and Meta. P/M/S are rolled against either a player or NPC roll of the same type (Physical rolls may be rolled against 2d8 from the DM as a hazard) and cause a regular effect on the characters and story. Meta is rolled ONLY against 2d20 from the DM, and is usually a stat of 2d4 or 2d6. The reason for this is because if you succeed on a Meta roll, you can basically invoke a deus ex machina. The limit of this is going to be hammered out in playtesting, but the goal is to make the Meta roll one of last resort, to give a stroke of luck to characters in a serious bind.

The Meta attribute is just one of the ways that ORS is attempting to be a more casual system that is more worried about interesting character interaction than keeping track of the numbers involved. But more on that later! Let's round up the last bits of the core mechanics.

Keep It Classy

Classes are the core of this blog, so the PMSM stats had to be tied to the class. But there are over 200 Offbeat Classes already rolled, and writing up a unique set of stats for every one would be a waste of my time and yours. The "base classes" that we use to roll up your Offbeat ones are a much better candidate to start with for two reasons: the first being that they are more simple and have stats that can be drawn easily from existing sources of inspiration, and the second being that there are just some things that all Offbeat Classes of a particular type will do. All Clerics drawn strength from their deity. All Warriors like to beat the crap out of things. All Bards use music somehow. These things can be templated in the base classes and then extended by the Offbeat Classes.

So the class determines the stats and the stats are used to better encapsulate the class. But there are a finite number of combinations of dice types, and classes are more than just the numbers. Two classes may both have a d12 for their Physical dice, but use their strength or dexterity in very different ways. There are two functions of the class to express these differences: Moves and Flavors. Moves direct the actions that a class is good at, and Flavors represent different things that the character might care about that relate to the class. Let's look at an example.

== ALCHEMIST == Phys: d6 Ment: d10 Soc: d8 Meta: d4

|| MOVES || Shake It Up: Roll Phys+1 to hurl a potion or bomb of your own making. Brew It Up: Roll Ment+1 to brew a standard healing potion. Mix It Up: Roll Ment+1 to combine chemicals to attain a desired result. Try It Out: Roll Soc+1 to convince someone to use one of your creations.

|| FLAVORS || -- Pick one (1) of the following -- Big Bada Boom: +1 to any roll used to ensure a bigger explosion. For Natural Philosophy!: +1 to any roll used to encourage experimentation.

This is copied directly out of the working document for the game. Enjoy this first sneak peek! Let's break it down.

Stats: the alchemist isn't as squishy as a wizard, maybe, but they're no Hercules. They're fairly brilliant, though, and while they're not particularly gifted in personal interaction, they're not really disadvantaged at it.

Moves: Each class gets two moves relating to their best attribute and one move for the other two. Most classes do not get any Meta moves.

Flavors: Each class has two (for now) flavors that represent different types of that class based on what the character wants. Are you an alchemist that revels in scientific discovery, or do you just want to make bigger and bigger explosions? Are you a white hat hacker or a black hat hacker? What sort of general outlook do you have? When you're doing what you believe in, you're going to do it better.

Behold! An in-development tabletop system that will allow you to use the classes you roll as actual characters in a fantasy, sci-fi, or other world of your own design! Offbeat RPG System!

What Is This Madness?

This madness is (hopefully) the answer to a commonly asked question: what the hell am I supposed to do with all these rolls? It's a tabletop game system not unlike the games featured on this blog (Crab Truckers, Dungeon World) that will encourage unique character building opportunities with engaging but simple mechanics.

Am I Gonna Have To Pay For This?

Nope. Offbeat RPG System will be released for free on the blog. The rules, the classes, the extra goodies, all free. I'll be releasing other sorts of things that you all can buy, though, and it'd be a grand help and a way to ensure that the game gets made if you threw a buck or two my way.

What Sort Of Game Will It Be?

Now there's an interesting question! There are a few goals I'm aiming towards for Offbeat RPG System.

Rules Light: This isn't a competitive RPG, this is a story machine. The less time spent flipping through rule books, the better.

Numbers Light: I love math! I think it's great. I also think that it can get in the way of the characters at times. When the player is doing more calculations as a player figuring out damage than as a character assessing and responding to a situation, there's a problem.

Dice Heavy: I love dice! I think they're great! I want to roll lots of them! Preferably at once!

Character and Story Focused: The mechanics of the game should reflect the fact that the player characters are people with wants, needs, and goals, and should encourage good role-playing and entertaining storytelling.

Make It Offbeat!: Offbeat Classes are specifically designed to be unusual choices for character development, and the game should revel in encouraging the players to do weird things in the name of storytelling and fun!

I hope that those goals can get you all excited about this project. I recognize that this isn't everyone's kind of game; some people would much prefer a big ol' rulebook with lots of tables for all sorts of special details, and that's fine! I'd love to make a crunchier version of ORS at some point after it's finished. But for now, I'm sticking with the style of game that this blog is known for praising: simple mechanics that lead to effective stories.

How Far Along Is The Game?

The system is currently in pre-alpha, which in layperson's terms means that I'm still hammering out the roughest sections of it before we start really testing it out. The base classes (seen in the tags list) are being prototyped as we speak, and they'll form the backbone of the game's structure. The Offbeat aspects will be extensions of the base classes, just as the snippet posts are built off of the list of base classes. Additional customization options will be explored as the game progresses in development, and you'll have to wait and see what we've got in store!

Henceforth, Friday will be reserved for progress reports on the game, and will eventually give way to alpha updates and invitations to test the game out with your playgroup of choice. That's the part I'm really looking forward to: getting the game into the hands of players and fine-tuning it to make it something really special! After the game is finished, Friday updates will include new game content to add to your playing experience, including the conversion of many existing classes to the Offbeat RPG System!