I know that every guild has their own variant of trait lists and such, but I’m curious as to how your guys’ guilds have set up their systems. What traits have you got? What skill systems?
I’m asking now if I can post a link to our rule set but it’s a pretty simple system.
We have “classes” like Explorer, Researcher, Socialite etc that come with stock abilities which gives them advantages based on the situation. The first three slots in Dicemaster are usually reserved for the class abilities. So if you’re a socialite and want to befriend that horrible eldritch monster you’d get extra bonus rolls to convince them to be your pal. Then you have your own custom ability based on whatever you can imagine and usually you work with a few folks in the guild to make it works within the system we have in place.
I’m pretty bad at remembering all the deetz so I could be totally wrong but that about summarizes it.
The Mead Hall uses a similar system but it’s much more simplified and easier to get people set up and going. Rufaic or someone would probably explain it better than me since I haven’t gone to a Mead Hall roll event.
The Wolf Cult has a really well done Vampire the Masquerade inspired system for Dicemaster, @Raedolf get in here I’m singing your praises.
Also I should have posted on Juspion but this is the Picks and Pints rule system that Halflan and team came up with.
The Mead Hall rolling system doesn’t use Dicemaster. It’s a straight d20, pick a basic “I’m strong/agile/smart/charismatic” + “I’m a tank/healer/dps” and you’re done. Each one has slight buffs, but it mostly means that you can get advantage on out of combat stuff depending on if you’re strong/agile/etc and some minor numerical buffs depending upon tank/healer/dps.
There is a system that is used by the Dawnforge, and almost all events I run, that does use Dicemaster. It’s called DOS (Dusty Old System, name subject to improvement) which has gone through a couple iterations, but it’s primarily -
1st Trait - Pick an Archetype (Enforcer/Fighter, Spellcaster, Mender/Healer, Face/Talker) which provides some basic stats. Pick a specialization (Enforcer examples: Sword and Board, Dual Wield, Two-Handed, Spellblade, Ranged) which provide some basic stats more particularly suited to your playstyle. We just put both of these in the same trait because they’re simple.
2nd Trait - Something special about your character, and not tied to an item. This is unique per character (if you’re playing homebrew, might as well). This could be straight stats or unique active or passive abilities. An example would be for one of our berserkers - Rage: +1 Strength. Whenever you deal or take damage, gain 1 rage. You may consume rage to gain +2 damage for the round per point consumed. Maximum of 5 rage.
3rd Trait - Personal Item. More than a healing potion, this is your super cool weapon, armor, trinket, etc that your character has. Doesn’t have to be something terribly unique, but it’s more powerful than generic items. An example would be this Paladin’s hammer - Rusted Relic: +3 Strength. Whenever you attack, you may heal 4 HP to yourself or an ally (this healing does not benefit from other stats).
4th Trait - Bag. It’s your bag full of stuff. Five slots, one of which is normally a somewhat personalized stat stick or minor consumable. And each slot can have some small amount of stats on it (your cool but not super cool set of armor, or a weapon that’s a little better than the standard issue sword), or a consumable (a healing potion, a stick of dynamite, a whetstone). There’s a crafting system involved for making these, but there’s also a currency so you can skip all the filler and just buy what you want for mechanical bonuses (for a higher cost than crafting it).
5th Trait - Stat summary. Just makes it easier to have all the totals in one place. Some folks split the Archetype and Specialization from the first trait into the first two traits, so this might not be the stat summary. But I do it this way for ease.
And there’s some other stuff on the side, like professions for crafting, but they’re just bonus.
TLDR: Got some basic “Here’s your standard kit, have the base stats” + two traits for “This is how my character is different/what cool things I can do that others probably can’t”.
We let our players make custom traits for their characters, the “Chapter Trait” being their super duper plus ultra ability. The custom traits can be anything from modifiers or advantages to their characters specific skills or active abilities. This guy has a “Bloodforging” trait which allows him to use the blood of a fallen enemy to forge a new weapon or heal for some HP.
We don’t use the stat sheet because we favor the simplicity and customization of the custom traits. Lets people feel cool without getting too involved in the numbers.
Other than that, we make heavy use of the unit frames and make enemy mechanics into buffs so they’re easy to see at-a-glance-- I.E. “Tank Buster: This unit ignores all defense modifiers when attacking.”
We use a very simplified d20 system, where hit/damage are all in one. Basically, if you roll a 1, you miss completely and did no damage. If you roll 10, you hit and do only a little damage. So on and forth until rolling a 20 isn’t just a hit with the highest damage, but also a reroll for possible bonus damage.
Healing is handled the same, only instead of doing damage to a target, you remove it from the target. Buffing/Debuffing is handled the same, only instead of dealing/healing damage, you’re giving a bonus/penalty to your target’s next roll.
Other actions are generally just opposed rolls or made against a target number.
We have general roles. Tanks get a little extra HP. DPS deal a little extra damage. Healers heal a little extra damage. Social characters get a bonus in non-combat related situations.
Things are left vague and not too crunchy on purpose so we can focus on the RP and not have to quibble over modifiers or explain rules to people just jumping in.
The general exception is each character’s “Special Ability/Rule”. This is where most players get to show off their character’s big gimmick and show what makes them special. What exactly that ability is gets worked out ahead of time to ensure it has impact without generally trivializing things.
Tam here usually fills the Social role, most often uses the buff/debuff action in combat and has “Damsel in Distress” special ability, wherein she can redirect attacks from herself to a nearby friendly target. In exchange for that ability, she has lower than normal HP and deals greatly reduced damage.
Here’s ours - TraitforgeD20! There should be a link to the guides within:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/traitforge-d20-battlestein-company/491952
If not, here you go!
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ku8qF5FktfUFJlLMKCXrS7-8rqXLEVaN?ths=true
Edit: We actually have some rules that need updating, including an overhaul of our vehicle system. We’ve had this system in play since Jan. 2018!
Oh wow this is a whole tabletop system. Very interesting stuff and very nice graphics too. I appreciate everyone else’s shares too!
The more inspiration material the better though. If anyone has a dicemaster system for WoW, please share it!
Vol’kar has a spreadsheet of traits you can pick. They are divided into 6 sections. STR, DEX, INT, WIS, Items and Civil.
You can only pull from 2 of the 4 stats at a time.
At least 1 trait must be from Civil or Items.
Limit 1 trait that is marked as an ‘active’.
Combat is pretty standard d20 rolls, but your traits work in for good flavor. Not every trait is meant for combat.
When my guild used it, I made up a system about improving your abilities.
We had levels. Every time you levelled up, you got a stat point and a spell point. Stat point was pretty basic.
You had 4 regular spells and an ultimate. The regular spells built charges, and the ultimate spent the charges. Each spell had a level 0-3.
The way it worked is each ability/spell worked was players could design the name and aesthetic of their spell however they wanted. But, mechanically, each was based on a template: direct damage, DoT, direct healing, etc. Each template was pretty basic. For example, direct damage would be “Roll 1D8 + Attack Stat for Damage, Generate 1 Charge”.
However, players could expend a spell point to improve their spells/abilities with modifiers. Modifiers could be “add additional dmg dice”, “improve dmg dice from D8 > D10 > D12”, “add 1 Dmg/turn DoT on hit”, “buff your primary stat by 1 until combat ends”, “increase charges generated by 1”, etc. Each spell could have up to 3 modifiers except the ultimate.
The ultimate could have as many bonuses as you wanted, but each bonus you added increased its charge-cost by 1. So, you could have an uber-powerful ultimate that took a lot of charges, or a weaker one that you got to cast more often.
ricemaster is the name of my rice cooker send tweet
Yep! Thanks for giving our Firebrand system a shoutout. The unique combat rules are by far the best part in my opinion, er, the ‘Special Ability/Rule’ you mentioned, Tam.
For those interested in the specific set up, most profiles look like this:
Elite/Chapter Trait (Golden Dragon): Opt-in Role.
We don’t require Dicemaster for our events, but those who opt-in select 1 of the 3 abilities, Damage, Social, or Soak.
-Damage: +2 to Attack Rolls (not Heal rolls).
-Social: +2 to non-Combat Rolls.
-Soak: +1 HP.
Trait Four (Next to the Chapter Trait): Unique Combat Rule.
Not everyone who opts in has a unique combat rule, its optional as well! As Tammy put it, she has one, and I have one. To note the differences, Senilna’s is the following:
Halz’aka’s Wisdom: Thrice per scene, Senilna may, regardless of role, make an Attack with +1 Damage, Heal with +1 Healing total, OR take 2 less damage from a single source.
Dicemaster setup-wise, we’re done, although myself and others have used the last 3 slots to put ‘Role Preference’ selections, as for every event Firebrand has we can, at the event, select 1 of 3 roles: DPS, Tank, or Healer. To be specific on what they do tho…
DPS: Can reroll 1 critical fail per event.
Tank: Can nullify 1 hit on them per event.
Healer: Can choose to make Healing rolls at +1 to the result.
Love seeing Traitforge though! I’ll have to read up on the newest changes.
Bloodforging sounds really cool! In Firebrand’s system, I actually use a similar ability for my Death Knight in the guild for her Unique Combat Rule.
Paid in Blood: Thrice per scene, Tuesri can sacrifice her own health, adding the amount chosen to call on ‘Bloodfire’ for her next attack, or allowing her to heal another player as a non-healer with a bonus to the roll equal to half the health she sacrifice (rounded down).
We use a really fast-paced and kinda neat d6 system. Basically the core philosophy behind it is to give the players choice and agency in terms of what to do with their rolls, while still making the process meaningful. I’ll post it below!
Basic Rules
You each have 5 Vitality, which represents your Will To Fight. This could be literal health, your mana reserves, your ammunition, your psychological capability, or your plain ol’ luck. Five is your natural state, you can increase it to 6 with choices on rolls.
To perform any action in combat or in risky circumstances, you spend a point of vitality, representing the toll of combat and danger on your character. Then, roll d6. On a 1 you get one point to spend, on a 2, 3 or 4 you get two points, and on a 5 or 6 you get three. You can spend points to:
-Deal 1 vitality damage to someone you are in a fight with
-Heal 1 vitality damage to someone your character has the ability to
-Avoid taking vitality harm from your action
-Do something cool your class/character can do (vanish, taunt, stun, move someone, confuse their brain with spells, seduce, be creative as you like with this)
If an NPC reaches 0 Vitality, if they are in melee or clear line of sight for a ranged character, they’re dead. If not they are convinced they cannot fight and run away. They are immediately gone.
If a player reaches 0 Vitality, they are out must come up with a narrative reason why they are unable to fight (i.e. badly wounded, disarmed and winded, out of ammo, shell shocked, oom, not sure the enemy is worth fighting, just sucks too much).
Generally you only should have to use a point for movement (i.e. doing something cool your class can do) if moving to where it is in some way perilous or uncertain, like if you’re currently in melee or if your target has other people or obstacles in the way. If it’s just for flavour then whatever dog. Do that cool charge or sweet flip.
Example Cool Things Your Character Might Be Able To Do
Stun/Confuse/Bind: Take 1 point an enemy gets to spend next turn away
Stealth: your next attack against an enemy who can’t see you doesn’t need to spend vitality
Taunt: That jerk will attack you next turn
Forcibly move: Do you want someone over there? They’re over there.
Shield/Protect: Prevent the next point of incoming vitality damage on target
Poison/Curse/Sicken: Prevent 1 point of vitality healing. This can accumulate to five.
Create Obstacle: Make someone need to use a point to move through the target area.
Nonlethal Finish: Capture an enemy as you reduce them to 0 instead of killing them
We don’t really have a “system” persay. Ours is completely opt-in in case folks don’t want to fool with it, and then on an honor system with traits and abilities. Our officer corps looks them over before we allow them use in events to make sure they’re not too OP, but it’s worked out well so far.