Dinosaur Cowboys skirmish game
bosky:
So I ended up calling the differences Breeds instead of Allegiances, just for that bit more flavor. They are distinguished on the roster in the same manner though so that helps consistency. I went for the following:
Trained
Trained dinosaurs are born in captivity or raised in a human environment soon after birth and make ideal companions. They are disciplined mounts well versed in accepting a rider and carrying them safely through battle. However they are slightly gentler after having their primal instincts suppressed.
Effect: +1 DIS, -2 HP
Untrained
Untrained dinosaurs have some exposure to humans but not enough to be fully broken into a saddle and harness. This majority of dinosaurs are this type of breed, and such an upbringing has no positive or negative effect on their performance.
Effect: None
Feral
Feral dinosaurs are wild and free and roam through the jungles and deserts of the world. They tend to be tougher and less disciplined and think more with their stomachs than brains.
Effect: -1 DIS, +2 HP
Plains
Plains dinosaurs roam across the flat scrub land, desert, and dust bowls outside the volcanic jungle. As a result they are exceptionally fast and agile, but are less competent in a fight because of their tendency to outrun foes instead.
Effect: +1 MV, +1 MMC
Thriff:
Bosky,
I like your setting, and specifically how it meshes with the system. Dinosaur Riders? All right!
Your "Breeds" solution is very clever and effective. The narrative explanation for the stats significantly adds to the authenticity of the game. This may help players form a back story for their characters. Well done!
T
bosky:
Thanks! I'm hoping to write some short story fiction for Nanowrimo in November to really had some more depth to the setting and background.
Glad you like the different Breeds, I'm really happy with how the system turned out and think it works well because it parallels Allegiances for humans, but with just enough of a flavor change to further make dinosaurs unique.
bosky:
Changing gears here to another topic: Hitpoints.
Currently Dinosaur Cowboys uses low levels of Hitpoints (default value of 8, but it can easily be modified to 6 or 10 by Allegiance. Highest is 37 HP for a Longneck Dinosaur). I had toyed with the idea of using a Knocked Down / Stunned / Out of Action system like Mordheim, but ended up staying with my RPG roots and using Hitpoints. Normally it takes 2-4 hits to kill someone, although with powerful enough guns and a weak enough target it can be done in a single shot.
I was reading about alternative systems today, and came up with an idea that I think would be pretty neat:
Hitpoints are replaced with a stat called Grit, which is a die type (D4 [worst], D6, D8, D10, or D12 [best]). Whenever an entity takes damage they roll a "Grit Save" using their die type. If their roll is greater than or equal to the incoming damage it's negated.
Example: Take 5 damage from a Six-Shooter, roll my Grit Save of D6. If I roll a 5 or 6 the damage is ignored.
If the Grit Save is failed (if I had rolled a 2 in the above example) or impossible (like if I only had D4 Grit in the above example) then I must take an Injury. To track Injuries I would add a small checkmark underneath the MV, AR, RMC, and MMC fields on the Posse Roster for each character, and then when taking an Injury the player who took the damage would check off one of these stats. Doing so modifies it negatively by 1 to represent getting hit in the legs, torso, or either arm respectively. For example if I suffer an Injury on a fast character I might sacrifice some Movement by checking their MV score, which would reduce it by 1. Then to "kill" a target you'd need to cause 4 Injuries. Obviously fields that are already checked couldn't be re-checked a second time.
What do you guys think? I kind of dig this system as it's a bit more flavorful and requires marginally less bookkeeping. I think I might end up making it an Official Variant Rule though.
Hope to hear some feedback!
sumonkhan44:
I have some background information of WHY there are cowboys and dinosaurs, but more or less the year is 2285, society collapsed and was rebuilt, and dinosaurs escaped an "underground vault" at Yellowstone. The science doesn't really have to fit, all I wanted was an excuse to have laser six-shooters.
Originally I designed it as a rules-light RPG with skirmish elements, and then after playtesting a few campaigns I realized the system was doing neither very well. So instead I dropped the majority of the RPG elements and went pretty much pure skirmish. This was back in November 2010, and since then I've been a busy bee crafting rules, stat sheets, etc. I'm now at the playtesting stage, and thankfully the game is feeling finished enough that most of my playtests are just "plays", where I realize I'm not changing much between each game and instead just enjoying playing it.
led lighting systems
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