Flesh and Steel

I haven't really given it much thought beyond the "I wanna do this someday" level until recently, but I kinda have some ideas about it.

The end result would be more of an art-project than an actual thing you'd probably want to olay, it should be playable but it's explicitly meant to be an extremely archaic ttrpg from 1965 and The text explicitly mentions that Rolemaster was a "simpler" game to play by comparison (although this might be a tongue-in-cheek remark from our point-of-view character and not completely literal) so it should be overcomplicated, overengineered, and extremely cumbersome to actually play.

It should also eschew not only modern design sensibilities, but also a lot of *traditional* design sensibilities. Since it's supposed to be a game that predates the original edition of D&D by almost a decade, any concepts invented by D&D should be either entirely absent (preferrable), or visibly independently invented from first principles.

It should be almost entirely table-driven, with most actions resolved by rolling on a table, and probably with most tables directing you to a different table. The text explicitly mentions "hundreds" of tables modified by bonuses from everything from surrounding rooms to recent player actions, so that's going to be fun to figure out.

The creepypasta mentions that the game uses a 6d7 roll plus a coin flip to generate results with an "inverted bell curve" probability distribution. My first idea for this was something like rolling a 6d7 and flipping a coin, on heads keep the highest result, on tails keep the lowest result, but I realized this was probably going to be hard to work with, because it would result in the roll *very rarely* showing anything other than 1 or 7, and a probability space of 1-7 is kind of limiting for a table-driven game. So my idea rn is doing the same but instead keeping the 3 highest or 3 lowest dice depending ok the coin flip, with maybe some special effects for special results such as matching numbers (1 1 1, 2 2 2, etc.) and consecutive numbers (e.g. 1 2 3)

The thing that I think is going to be hardest to pull off is the spawning of the "exit hex", the story explicitly mentions that there are strategies for maximizing the chance of generating it, but that the reason no one has been able to do it is because any attempt to optimize for it also increases the chance of intervention from a sabotaging presence that the game's play culture has collectively personified (and probably unintentionally brought into existence by themselves through decades of houserules) as "the minotaur".

This necesitates that 1) the chance of spawning the exit hex is influenced by a complex web of factors affected by player actions, and 2) that the same web of factors also influences the "minotaur"'s activity.

Brick Wall Erosion Level(not to be confused with other type of wall erosions, would probably effect how legible a note written on it is)

Cave Material Type(limestone has different properties than Granite!)

Wild Animal Intrusion Probability(Probability of an animal from outside the Labyrinth, being inside the Labyrinth)

Cistern Water Clarity (How clear the Cistern water is, directly effects or is effected by, water contamination index)

Corpse Decay Stage (self explanatory)

Surprise Defecation Index (if you shit yourself in fear or through stomach problems)

Malaria Progression Stage (Malaria is a real killer if you end up with it)

Cruelty Level(Self Explanatory)

Panic Attack Chance(chance to have panic attack, cause shit scary)

Iron Breastplate Rust Progression(How rust progression effects an iron breastplate)

Werewolf of London introduced many of the modern common aspects of "a werewolf". They're anthropomorphic wolfmen, and the condition is treated as a form of disease or a physical condition ("werewolfism" or "lycanthrophobia"); the main character catches it in Tibet from a, like, evil Tibetan guy. It is transmitted through bites, and the transformation is induced involuntarily during the four nights around the full moon and can be induced at least partially by simulated moonlight. The transformation be suppressed or undone using the sap of a very rare exotic plant that grows under moonlight, and the werewolf character attempts to use it to self-medicate. When transformed, werewolves are savage beasts compelled to destroy the things they love and only turn back once they kill something, but retain enough intelligence, for instance, to use clothing to disguise themselves. The werewolf is physically fearsome but does not need special implements to kill beyond physical force or a gun; the transformation reverts on death. The impression generally is of "werewolfism" as a very physical, almost scientific thing.

The Wolf Man pivots back to a more mystical take on things. Werewolves again transmit their condition through bites, transform involuntarily, do not control themselves when transformed, and retain no memory of their rampages. The plant element is absent here, and silver is treated as the only thing that can harm a werewolf; this seems to derive from some German legends on the topic. Werewolves also have seemingly designated victims in their hunts, and know them because they can see pentacles on their hands when in their human forms. Magic can be used to temporarily revert a werewolf to human form, and the transformation again reverts on death. There's again an association with "superstitious" "backward" lands, with the idea here being of werewolf legends having a long history in rural Wales and being associated with Romani people also (no, that's not the term the movie uses). This movie is much more successful than its predecessor and is what largely makes the werewolf into a stock horror monster.

We can see the influence of this in the following years, beginning early. "The Werewolf Howls", published in Weird Tales #36-02 (making it November-December 1941, almost contemporary with The Wolf Man) we see much of the same ideas -- werewolves are associated with superstitious foreign lands (this time rural France), have a humanoid appearance, and are harmed by silver. The transformation is involuntary, traumatic, and occurs with the rising of the full moon. Later entries into werewolf movies, besides various Universal crossover gigs, include The Mad Monster (1942, the werewolf is turned into a berserk wolfman by a special serum made by a scientist furious about being ridiculed, does not control himself, dies in a burning house) and The Undying Monster (also 1942, werewolfism is a product of a hereditary curse, werewolf is killed with regular bullets).

So broadly speaking we can say this about what "werewolves" and "wolfmen" are like by the time a bunch of fantasy nerds are sitting down to play customized wargames in the 70s:

Werewolves can range from purely magical (family curses, hexes) to purely scientific (diseases, simulated moonlight, serums).

Werewolfism is highly physical, and dealt with using physical things (special plants, silver, fire, good old-fashioned violence) more often than with magical means. Werewolves are also physical dangers. They won't enthrall you like a vampire or make evil magic like a witch, they'll mainly tear you to pieces. The exception is that-

Werwolfism is infectious. Get bit by one, you're a werewolf too.

Werewolfism is transformative -- its defining feature is turning from one thing to another.

Werewolves are tough and scary -- if you don't have the right stuff to take one down they'll just keep coming.

Werewolfism is not voluntary -- you can't control if or how you transform and often can't control what you do when transformed.

So then, what does our hypothetical werewolf PC look like -- that is, how do these things filter through the intent of creating an overpowered player avatar? I think that we can at least downplay the involuntary elements -- that simply does not seem like something you would want to include if you're creating a deliberately overpowered PC. I will assume that the transformation element remains. Let's say then that this hypothetical character is a berserker sort of figure, remaining human most times and turning into a berserk whirlwind of claws and teeth during battle; essentially he gets to benefit from being an overpowered monster slash combat encounter during battle and from being a regular human character in other contexts.

And then, what does our hypothetical PC-countering-PC look like? The weaknesses of the werewolf are generally understood as being materials or sometimes rites, and often serve to control or reverse their condition; this plant or that spell reverts their form, that metal cuts through their toughness. Werewolf-fighting heroes tend to be posses of gun-wielding characters, but they're usually outmatched by the wolf -- you need to know their weaknesses to really get them. So perhaps our character-meant-to-counter-another-specific-character is built to deny the werewolf munchkin his ability to turn into or stay a wolf, and perhaps also to use silver knives/arrows/whatever to harm it directly if that fails.