Omnificent Role-playing System ruleset free to download
dreamborn:
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It's been a while, but I can't think of any salient differences between this and the example of play from the AD&D1e GM's handbook. I've highlighted some of the phrases that for me trigger that sense of being old-school gaming. The kind of game you are asking people to have is the very first kind of role-playing there was..
Yes I understand what you are saying now. One of the goals of ORS is not to eliminate the GM as the story teller but to assist him in his task. This is just one example of play. If you as a GM have a different style ORS can accommodate your personal style.
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Where you have tried to break away from D&D in the sense of rules -- for example, by removing fixed character classes -- you've fallen straight back in by talking about characters as thief, mage, priest, ranger, and cavalier. The big change from D&D - replacing levels with skills that advance by use -- is basically RuneQuest circa 1978...
I don't have a problem about talking about characters 'generically' in the role they are playing. This is not a class but a role, it is a name, nothing more. The options, skills, weapons, directions in 'virtual life' is not restricted in any way. A character is only limited by his abilities, traits and choices in life, just like in real life. In my opinion it allowed me to quickly describe a character to illustrate an example. Skills that advance with use IS a model of life. Where Rolemaster and possible RuneQuest discretely increase a character's proficiency based on experience points. ORS increases it by time, usage, abilities, and traits, as explained in the ORS rules. Just as in real life the more you practice and work on something the better you become.
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What's not clear to me is who the target audience of this game is, or your larger design goals, or the problem you are trying to solve. Are you trying to convert D&D players to a slightly better form of dungeonbash? Do you want to make your fortune on the iTunes App Store? Are you trying to give computer RPG players a taste of tabletop? A clearer sense of what you're aiming for and what kind of feedback you are looking for would help greatly.
I do not have a target audience as such. I am trying to design a game that models life, learning and behavior, but hides all the mechanics and allows the GM and players to create a consistent story/adventure. The type of adventure the ORS can handle is up to the GM. ORS is a flexible as the GM needs. As I mentioned before I don't care if I make a dime. I am trying to create a system that allows players and GM to create ANY type of game that allows them virtually unlimited freedom to create and act within the GM's world. This, in my opinion, is only possible if you have a complex rules engine BUT those rules have to be handled quickly and consistently by the computer. How it handles the rules can be changed/modified by the GM, after all he is in control.
I am looking for people interested in helping finish this project. THEY can do it for a potential piece of the pie or they can do it for the love of it. In the end I don't care if I make a dime. Four years ago the ORS team started with 5 engineers of various persuasions, 1 mathematician, 1 psychologist, and an artist or two. Life has interfered, people have moved out of state and country, gotten married, had children, etc. No one to date, including myself has taken any percentage, or any money. I am looking for people who want to get involved. The 4 core rulebooks are uploaded now.
Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com
SteveCooper:
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I am trying to design a game that models life, learning and behavior, but hides all the mechanics and allows the GM and players to create a consistent story/adventure. The type of adventure the ORS can handle is up to the GM. ORS is a flexible as the GM needs. As I mentioned before I don't care if I make a dime. I am trying to create a system that allows players and GM to create ANY type of game that allows them virtually unlimited freedom to create and act within the GM's world. This, in my opinion, is only possible if you have a complex rules engine BUT those rules have to be handled quickly and consistently by the computer. How it handles the rules can be changed/modified by the GM, after all he is in control.
I've thought that way myself, too. I found myself wanting to design systems as an engineering problem: where the idea is to start with a set of scenarios and then use those scenarios as 'acceptance tests.' for instance;
* Scenario 1: Open field. Two men with assault rifles. 500 yards away, two guys with spears. Desired outcome: assault rifles win 98% of the time.
* Scenario 2: Open field. Achilles, armed, vs an unarmed leperous child. Achilles wins 100%
* Scenario 3: Open field. Twins. Twin 1 wins 50% of the time.
Enough scenarios and we have a 'fitness function' which gives us the right kinds of expectations.
Then (and this is the tricky bit) get the computer to generate the system itself - say, by using a genetic algorithm. The end result is a computer program which is your system.
All a bit too tricky for me in my spare time, but an indulgence for my inner Simulationist :)
dreamborn:
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I've thought that way myself, too. I found myself wanting to design systems as an engineering problem: where the idea is to start with a set of scenarios and then use those scenarios as 'acceptance tests.' for instance;
* Scenario 1: Open field. Two men with assault rifles. 500 yards away, two guys with spears. Desired outcome: assault rifles win 98% of the time.
* Scenario 2: Open field. Achilles, armed, vs an unarmed leperous child. Achilles wins 100%
* Scenario 3: Open field. Twins. Twin 1 wins 50% of the time.
Enough scenarios and we have a 'fitness function' which gives us the right kinds of expectations.
Then (and this is the tricky bit) get the computer to generate the system itself - say, by using a genetic algorithm. The end result is a computer program which is your system.
You basically, have it. The trick is to incorporate all the other factors in life which can alter the outcome, and do it in such a way as to not interfere with the game play. Those factors include weather, temperature, character‘s encumbrance, entities performing actions nearby, is the character in a melee or non-melee situation, character‘s movement rate, current health and difficulty of the desired action just to name a few.
Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com
dreamborn:
Thanks for the feedback. Where possible I have incorporated your comments into the four rulesets. The updated rules will be uploaded on or a bit after April 1st.
Kent Krumvieda
www.dreamborn.com
ssem:
2 problems I've experienced in games where use and are the main ways of gaining skills and improving stats...
(1) we were playing a game with no levels or classes where no player knew any rules or his characters stats. all he had was a description and knew when he wanted to do something he'd roll 3D6. the gm would secretly increase our abilities as time went on based on what we did. and then one day we finally had some rest without absolutely nothing to do. the GM goes. what do you want to do with your time? some players ask what are our options. Anything you want! this is the 'between adventures' time where you can train to improve whatever area you wish. one power gaming player immediately set to teaching himself powerful martial arts techniques in his striving to beat up everything in combat. I was umming and ahhing about what to do. I didn't know who my character was, his strengths and weaknesses, the nature of the world was still a puzzle to everyone. all I had was my personality for the character, and he didn't come across as seasoned warrior. so i decided to do what I thought was good for an average human with no labels on him. I went out jogging. stating that I will start off slow and slowly build up my jogging pace and keep going until I can't continue. this had an entirely unexpected result. i became the super runner. I eventually exceeded all physical running ability. my speed at running hadn't increased much but my endurance was greater than any gods and the story moved on to a point where I had to keep jogging non stop to hold reality together. it was like I became the embodiment of jogging and infinite stamina.
(2) The other I think was Runequest. my memory is a permanent haze. while the Gm tried hard to run a scenario and get the players to follow the adventure. the players usually only had their characters do something in a skill they wanted to get better at. and so instead of playing a RPG we were 100% focussed on trying to do only those things that increased the skills we wanted. to me that aspect of the game crippled the whole point of gaming.
hopefully these situations wont come up for other gaming groups, and while I really like and agree with the idea of practising to gain skills and stats, I could never implemented it in any of my games. I think Rolemaster and its 500 companions had rules for neglecting stats and skills. or perhaps some other game I saw. where if during the entire adventure you didn't utilise a particular stat or skill it would lose a point or you had to do a roll such as a self discipline based resistance roll to avoid losing the point.
reminiscent Jan
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