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View Full Version : Diceless wushu for pbp???



BlaqueSaber
2008-02-13, 02:24 AM
Have any of you played a pbp game under the wushu (http://wiki.saberpunk.net/Wushu/WushuOpenRules) rules?

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Diceless WUSHU
The latest and greatest WUSU there is…


Dice Don't Rule – This system gives the players complete control over the action... by taking control away from the dice! You're probably used to phrasing your actions in terms of "I try to hit him" and then waiting for the dice to tell you whether or not your succeed. Well, stop trying to hit him, and hit him! Don't get hung up on the dice; they're just there to set the pace and introduce an element of risk. The goal isn't to "win" against the GM, it's to entertain each other with a few hours of creative, improvisational violence.

Introduction

Traditional RPGS penalize players who want to, say, kick the crap out of seven other characters with one spin kick by piling negative modifiers onto their roll, which makes them less likely to succeed. The inevitable result is that smart players stick to simple, boring actions and take a tactical approach to combat. This system breaks up this insidious alliance with a core mechanic that rewards players for vivid descriptions and over-the-top stunts by making them more likely to succeed, each and every time.

Traditional role-playing games segment time into rounds of only a few seconds. In role-playing games, players are usually limited to one action per round, and they only get enough time for one swing, punch, or pull of the trigger before the next player's turn.

This system takes the back-and-forth pacing that's essential for exciting fight scenes and stabs it straight through the heart!

In this system, players are encouraged to make as many attacks, leaps, dives, parries, and ripostes as they like. Each "round” is divided into three parts. The first portion provided by the GM, then everyone completes the final two portions at the same time.

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First, you start with character creation (and character traits with assigned point values for each), then the GM assigns a Challenge Rating to the objective, or round of game play.


Creating Characters

All a character needs to be ready to rumble is a set of Traits. They can be anything from a profession (Cop, Hacker, Chef) to a simple adjective (Smart, Charismatic, Stinkin' Rich). It should go without saying that every character should have a combat Trait (Shaolin Master, Hit Man, Brawlin', Gun-Fu, etc). If you have any cool powers (Telekinesis, Voodoo, Undead), they'll need a Trait all their own.

Each Trait starts at a default rating of 2; your GM will give you 5-8 points to spend on raising them, up to a maximum rating of 5. That should be enough for 3 Traits, give or take.

Finally, you're character needs a Weakness, which has a Trait rating of 1. This could be a love interest who's always getting them into trouble, some kind of special vulnerability (ie. wooden stakes and sunlight!), or a tragic flaw (Drunk, Egotist, Can't Refuse a Challenge).

Second, the group (player by player) Describes the scene; this is the important part because their narration determines what actually happens in the game world. The more description, and action In your narration, the better for the game, as well as each round.

Third, they Resolve their scene by adding up the pre determined scores of each trait the character used In his or her scenario to accomplish their goal. That final number Is subtracted from the pre determined Challenge Rating for the round.

Once it reaches 0, the challenge is overcome (there Is an example at the end of the post).

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Things You Don't Need

Your characters need a lot of things: skill, courage, wits, a high tolerance for pain. Two things they don't need are Gear and Advancement.

Gear - Generally speaking, you should assume that player-characters have on their persons any gear they need to use their Traits. Burglars should have lock picks, swordsmen should have swords, and ninjas should probably have both. In fact, making up gadgets and weapons on the spot is a great way to earn dice!

Advancement – Your characters start out bad ass and stay that way. You should let your players shuffle their Trait points around between sessions, if it helps them get the most out of your game, but characters should develop via their interactions with the game world, not via the accumulation of experience points. (After all, no one just gets better and better at things all the time.

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Notes for Veteran Role-Players

Those of you who have played other role-playing games may have been expecting a few more rules. Their absence is no oversight. Take the following lessons to heart...

No Weapon Damage - A character's weapon of choice should have more to do with their personality than tactical advantage. This system has no rules for weapon damage; getting kicked hard in the chest hurts just as much as getting stabbed through a lung. This frees players to select weapons that say something about their characters, without giving better armed enemies an unfair advantage. However, your players can still benefit from their weapons by using them as inspiration for Details: blood dripping off the tip of a spear, the angry muzzle flash of a Desert Eagle, the way your rope dart whistles as you whip it around your head, you get the idea.

No Initiative - Just to be explicit, there are no rules for initiative. Who acts before who is irrelevant most of the time and, on the occasion when someone does want to cut in, they can just ask! As long as it's for a cool stunt, nobody will mind.

Dice Don't Rule – This system gives the players complete control over the action... by taking control away from the dice! You're probably used to phrasing your actions in terms of "I try to hit him" and then waiting for the dice to tell you whether or not your succeed. Well, stop trying to hit him, and hit him! Don't get hung up on the dice; they're just there to set the pace and introduce an element of risk. The goal isn't to "win" against the GM, it's to entertain each other with a few hours of creative, improvisational violence.

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Example of play

1a.) Challenge Rating

Scene: Rescue kidnapped twins from runaway subway car.
Challenge Rating: 11

1b.) Character Example

Shade Knight (Played by Jon Smith)
Pugilist 3 Journalist 2
Mutant 2
Teleportation 4 Addict 1

2.) Players actions in scene:

As the clock strikes 11:52 a.m. (eight minutes to deadline) Francis Mallard (aka Shade Knight) cracks the code hidden away in the Daily Sentinel’s cross word puzzle. Climbing into his street armor, Shade Knight teleports to the East Gate subway station just as the F train rockets through the tunnel. Shade Knight uses his powers to dissipate into a misty vapor reforming between the two armed guards stationed on the roof of the train, each with a semi-automatic weapon at the ready (insert incredible fight scene here).

Shade Knight grasps the twins, one under each arm, and teleports away just as the F train crashes into ten feet of solid rock at the end of the subway line in a fiery crash.


3.) Player actions resolution:

Remember, a challenge rating of 11 was set to begin with.

Player Jon Smith gets to use 3 points (11-3 =8) for PUGILIST due to the incredible fight scene in his narrative, 2 points (8-2=6) for JOURNALIST due to figuring out the mystery in his narrative, 2+4=6 points for being a mutant teleporter (6-6=0) and using his powers in the narrative, and the math equals out to zero so the operation was a success.

NOTES:

Of course, you can’t use inserts like I did for the example.

Your character may not have powers, instead, he may carry a cache of exotic weapons and vehicles.

If it is so desired, any character with super powers could be forced to take on a second, or stronger, weakness to even the odds.