Hmm...

Could you give me an example of how this initiative system would work in a fencing match between two opponents?

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;609506Could you give me an example of how this initiative system would work in a fencing match between two opponents?

I would, but I'll have to do something different... I'll give you an example of how it works under the most recent revision. (I've been discussing Initiative with the playtesters, and have revised Take 2.)

Before I do that, some blathering: I based the Initiative system off the psychological realities of battle. I did research into Boyd's OODA loop, how Initiative (in the military sense) works, and how it underlies all conflicts, even non-military ones.

Take 1.5 reflects all of that... and none of it matters. A game mechanical subsystem has to stand on its own merits. It has to be fun to play on its own, no matter what research underlies it.

This is a common failing of RPG designers, both amateur and professional. (I'm on the amateur side of that line, just to be clear.) We write "realistic" rules that are an overly-complicated mess.

I do not want to do that with Destiny. I am committed to revising and polishing the game mechanics until they're as simple and straightforward as possible. If I cannot find a way to implement the desired Initiative, I'll go with a more traditional approach. I hope I won't have to, but I will.

That said, I think the system is fairly unique (a plus) and I don't think it's complicated. Here's how 1.5 works.

• Sides are called factions. These can be one person, an adventuring party, an individual military unit, an army, a business, a team of lawyers, whatever. (Depending on the nature of the conflict and the scope of this individual engagement.)

• "Initiative" represents one faction having the psychological advantage in an engagement. They are the aggressors, they are driving the pace of the combat, making decisions faster than their opponents. As the combat goes on, their opponents become more and more demoralized and disorganized.

• Any number of factions can be involved in a fight. At any given moment, either none of them has the Initiative or one does. Only one faction can have the Initiative.

• Combat is divided into 10-second rounds. (In basic combat. Round length can vary based on type of conflict and scope.) All participants can act once in any given round. (A change from Take II.)

• When no one has the Initiative, everyone acts in descending order of Dexterity. (In a physical conflict. In a business or legal conflict, this may be Intellect. In a social conflict, this would be Influence.)

• When one faction has the Initiative, members of that faction can act whenever they chose. They can go before everyone, after, or can interrupt the actions of people in other factions. (They lean out of cover to shoot, or stand up to throw a grenade, you shoot them. Some games call this "overwatch".) If two players on the same faction want to act at the same time, use Dexterity. If that's tied, their actions are simultaneous.

• When a faction has the Initiative, they can only lose it when someone else Seizes the Initiative. (There are specific rules for this, specifically the "plan and tactics" rules from Take II.)

• When a faction has the Initiative, each successful attack causes the enemy to become more and more disorganized and demoralized. This is represented by the Advantage bonus. This bonus starts out at +0 (the first round the faction has Initiative) and increases by +1 ever time a member of the faction successfully attacks the enemy (using a Combat Challenge or a Combat Interaction Skill.)

• Each round that passes without successfully pressing, the Advantage decreases. The enemy can regroup, reorganize, recover.

• When the Advantage exceeds the enemy's Morale score, they break. (Morale only applies to extras. Leads, including all PC's, are immune.)

The key to winning battles is to Seize the Initiative and Press the Attack. Go on the offensive, hurt the enemy, keep them disorganized, and continue hurting them until they are killed, surrender, or flee. "Keep up the scare." These rules reflect that.

So, let's do a sample combat, using Take 1.5. Next post.

Before I do the sample combat, some expansion on Initiative (representing my latest efforts at simplification).

Initiative revolves around two central concepts: Pressing the Attack and Seizing the Initiative.

Once a faction has the Initiative, they have an Advantage. The rules for this are located here. Those rules are the same (ignoring the first paragraph), but the definition of Pressing the Attack is different.

To Press their Attack, at least one member of the faction must make at least one successful attack in a round. Period.

“Successful” means “achieving at least 1 Result”. For combat, this is 1 Wound to an enemy combatant, for Combat Interaction Skills, this is a Success.

To Counter a Press (or Counter-attack), at least one member of a faction without the Initiative must make at least one successful attack in a round. The same criteria applies.

That’s Pressing the Attack. As a rule, it’s simple and direct. “Any successful attack.” Done.

Seizing the Initiative.

Seizing the Initiative is a special type of action, a declared maneuver like Hold Action, Charge, or Volley Attack. The player(s) declare they are attempting to Seize, and make an attack (combat, Combat Interaction Skill, FX use). They need to achieve 2 Success Rating (6 Result).

If they do, they have Seized. If they fail, the enemy automatically Presses, even if the attack was otherwise successful.

That’s fairly simple. Some caveats, however: The attack must be against a significant target. (What qualifies varies by the scope and nature of the conflict.) If the faction is a group, at least half the active members of the faction must be involved in the Seize attempt.

With that out of the way, let's fight!

Finally, the fight.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;609506Could you give me an example of how this initiative system would work in a fencing match between two opponents?

Instead of a mask-and-foils, score per hit match, I'm going to do something similar. This combat is a duel between two equally matched swordsmen, Alain and Bayard, who are fighting to the death over an insult Bayard (a provincial) unwittingly offered the cosmopolitan (and easily offended) Alain.

Strength 9 (bonus: +2)
Dexterity 11 (bonus: +3)
   melee weapons (fast): +7, Skill Rating 10.
Endurance 10 (bonus: +2)
Spirit 5 (bonus: +1)
   intimidate: +4, Skill Rating 5.

Rapier (Str +2): damage 11.
Padded dueling suits (End +1): Tou 11.

Attack (for both): 21.
Defense (for both): 21.

(The italicized text below is what a GM might say to describe the results of the die rolling, "in character".)

Round 1: Both fighters start out without the Initiative. They act at the same time.
• Alain strikes at Bayard. Rolls a -3, misses. Your blade whips past his head.
• Bayard announces a Seize Initiative and attacks. Rolls a +1, Attack of 22. 1 Result, doing 1 Wound to Alain. Bayard fails to Seize. Your rapier slashes through his sleeve, and blood seeps from the shallow cut.

Round 2: Neither has Initiative.
• Alain (1W) strikes at Bayard, and announces a Seize attempt. He rolls a +6, meaning 6 Result (6 Wounds and a Moderate Injury). He Seizes. You stab him in the left shoulder, and he gasps in pain.
• Bayard (6W, -2) misses. The pain is excruciating, and your arm is shaking uncontrollably. Your thrust is wide of the mark.

Round 3: Alain (1W) has Initiative, Advantage +0.
• Alain decides to play with his bloodied opponent, and intimidates him. "I will kill you tonight." He rolls a +1, for a total of 6. This gives him 3 Result or 1 Success Rating (meaning Bayard suffers a -2 on his next action) and he Presses. Your opponent appears unnerved.
• Bayard (6W, -2) attacks, rolling a +9. Even with the cumulative -4 penalty, he hits for 5 Wounds (scoring a Moderate Injury to Alain, who is now at 6 Wounds). This Counters the Press. In desperation, you strike out wildly and manage to cut into your opponent's thigh.

Round 4: Alain (6W, -2) has Initiative, Advantage +0.
• Alain decides to finish Bayard off. He attacks, but rolls a +0, missing (and failing to Press). You thrust at his heart, but Bayard flips his blade up and deflects the attack.
• Bayard (8W, -2) attempts to Seize. He rolls a +5, scoring 5 Wounds. His Seize fails, meaning Alain automatically Presses. Alain, however, is at 11 Wounds, -4 penalty, and takes a Serious Wound. His is also faltering, meaning each Action he takes costs him a Wound. You slice into his gut, and he yells, in rage and agony.

Round 5: Alain (11W, -4) has Initiative, Advantage +1.
• Alain attacks, taking a Wound (12W). He rolls a +6 and (thanks to his Advantage bonus) does 5 Wounds to Bayard instead of 4. He also Presses. Bayard is at 13W, -4 penalty, and is now faltering. (He also takes a Serious Injury.) You step inside his defenses, and clout him across the head. Blood seeps from his ear.
• Bayard (13W, -4) steps back and attacks (taking a Wound), but rolls a 0. 0W, a glancing blow. You push him away and swing, but cut no deeper than his padding.

Round 5: Alain (12W, -4) has Initiative, Advantage +2.
• Alain attacks (taking a Wound, now 13W). He misses. (And fails to Press.)
• Bayard (13W, -4) attacks (and takes a Wound, now 14W). He also misses. The two of you trade blows in a flurry of steel, but neither can penetrate his opponent's defenses.

Round 6: Alain (13W, -4) has Initiative, Advantage +1.
• Alain attacks (now 14W). He misses and fails to Press. You swing, and Bayard parries neatly.
• Bayard (14W, -4) attacks. He rolls a +3, doing 2 Wounds to Alain. (Alain is now at 16 Wounds, and is dying, meaning he takes 1 Wound every round. He also takes a Critical Injury.) You thrust at him, your blade slipping through his ribs.

Round 7: Alain (16W, -6) has Initiative, Advantage +0.
• Alain takes a Wound (dying) and attacks (taking another Wound). He's now at 18W, -6. He rolls a -3, missing. You swing at your enemy and miss, and blood pours from your wounds. You are starting to black out.
• Bayard (14W, -4) tries to reason with his opponent, while circling him and keeping his guard up (taking a Wound). "There's no need for you to die." He fails his persuasion total. Your bloodied opponent refuses to yield, even at death's door. "One of us will die tonight," he says, then attacks.

Round 8: Alain (18W, -6) has Initiative, Advantage +0.
• Alain takes a Wound (dying) and attacks (taking another Wound). He's now at 20W, -6. (1 more Wound, and he's dead.) He rolls a -1, missing. Weak from blood loss, you strike at your enemy but fail to connect.
• Bayard (15W, -4) Holds his Action. (Preferring his  — obviously nearly dead – opponent's folly do him in.)

Round 9: Alain (20W, -6) has Initiative, Advantage +0.
• Alain takes a Wound, and drops to the ground dead.
• Bayard kicks away his opponent's sword, and calls for a chirurgeon.

That's a sample combat. It demonstrates how the Initiative rules fit together (and how other rules enter into combat, like Combat Interaction skills).

(And, like always, just putting this together has caused me to rethink a couple of rules. Nothing to do with Initiative, so I've left all the examples as-is. But some of those number will be different in 0.2a.)

For a while now, I've been dissatisfied with the name "Destiny". It was alright as a development code name, but as a name that encapsulated what the game was all about, it was lacking.

Then, just this week, I found out there is already an RPG called "Destiny", which turned my mild dislike into a decisive opinion: It's time for a new name.

After some brainstorming, and some discussion with playtesters, I've settled on this:

[/SIZE]

("Infinite Worlds", meaning the game covers many settings and genres. "Action", because... it's an action-movie game. "Infinity" sort of wraps all that up in one word.)

There's at least 3 different RPG's named Infinity (including a miniatures war game, a computer RPG, and a tabletop RPG), but that's okay. The name of the game is technically the Infinity Gaming System, Infinity is just the short version. (Like D&D is the short version of Dungeons & Dragons.)

I like it, not the least because the change from "Destiny" to Infinity isn't huge. So, barring a cease-and-desist letter, my own little action-movie RPG has a new name.

I’ve been looking at the Doubles are Trouble mechanic, and carefully considering the feedback I’ve gotten about it. Given that Doubles happen 10% of the time, and are always bad, I’ve decided to go a different direction. (That’s too much bad, too much of the time.)

Doubles are no longer just trouble. Instead:

Doubles Double-Up

How does this work? Doubles are no longer just problems. Instead, they indicate that something else has happened, in addition to Success, Complication, or Failure.

So, when you make a Challenge (and roll Doubles) you determine Success, Complication, or Failure normally. The GM describes them as usual. Failures Fuel the Action, Complications complicate matters, Success does nice things.

Then you glance at the dice, to see which Doubles you rolled:

Double 1-5: Disaster, something bad happens. A key piece of equipment is dropped (or broken), the character trips and falls, their ammo runs out, etc.

Double 6-10: Breakthrough, something good happens. The player notices a clue they weren’t looking for, they get a bonus to the next Challenge of that skill, unexpected help arrives.

In general, Mishaps are worse if you Failed, and Breakthroughs are better if you Succeeded, but both are entirely unrelated to the Challenge. If you’re shooting, and roll Double 7′s, you don’t shoot better. Instead, something nice happens (whether you Succeed or Fail).

This mechanic means you can Fail, and still have something good happen.  This also means you can Succeed and have something go wrong. (Or gloriously right.) Both are positive changes.

This does necessitate one change to the rest of the rules, however. Specifically the Success Rating chart.

Success Rating

[B]Result Success Rating Description[/B]
-1 or Less 0 SR Failure
0 0 SR Complication
1-4 1 SR Success
5-9 2 SR Solid Success
10+ 3 SR Spectacular Success-1 Result Rating or lower is a Failure. The character failed at the Challenge.

0 Result Rating is a Complication. The character has neither succeeded nor failed at the task. They can try again.

1 Success Rating is a Success. The character barely succeeded at the task.

2 SR is a Solid Success, they did well at the task. Not outstanding, but well.

3 SR is a Spectacular Success. The character did remarkably well, enough to earn compliments or admiration for their accomplishment.

Analysis

Why the change? Previously, the 4th Success Rating (which would be 15+) was defined as “Superior Success, plus something nice”. Now that’s given to the dice, which means we don’t need that Success Rating. (Simplification!)

This streamlines the Success Ratings, allowing GM’s to concentrate on the core “you barely made it”, “you did it”, “you really wowed them!” progression. This also means that Spectacular Success is within reach.

The max you can roll is a +9. If your Skill Rating is equal to the Challenge Rating, that means the max you can get is 9 Result, a Solid Success. You cannot naturally roll a Spectacular Success. (Much less the 15+ you’d need for the 4th tier under the previous chart.) Except…

If you are talented (have a Stunt relating to the Skill), you get a bonus. If you spend an Action Point, that can get you there (and a Trait, plus an Action Point, on top of that can really get you there).

This means that Spectacular Successes are a consequence of being talented, driven, or uniquely qualified. Which is another nice touch of “oh, yeah, the real world is like that…”

The Game World, in Real Terms

Concrete (and relatable) Skill Ratings, concrete Challenge Ratings, and concrete Success Ratings means the game world makes sense. We can easily understand what the game mechanics mean, in terms we are all familiar with.

This makes the game better, more believable and more relatable. The game mechanics present a grounded reality anyone can understand. Which is the entire point: I want to make fictional worlds seem real.

And Doubles Double-Up takes me a little bit closer to that goal.

This is a partial list of the influences and inspiration for Infinity. Many more works could be cited, but these are representative. All are recommended.

Roleplaying Games
Torg, West End Games. (The most proximate mechanical and methodological inspiration. My love of this game knows no limit.)
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0, Wizards of the Coast.
Savage Worlds, Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
Shadowrun 1st Edition, FASA.

Game Designers
Monte Cook.
Nigel D. Findley.

On Being Derivative

All roleplaying games are derivative; the Infinity Gaming System is no exception. In building the game, I’ve taken inspiration from what has gone before.

None of the mechanics of Infinity are directly copied from any of these games (or those listed in Section 15), but they were all influential. I played and enjoyed all of them, and so each deserves a tip of the hat:

On behalf of me and my players, thank you for many hours of enjoyment.


[An excerpt from the final Appendix in the book. Next time, the movies.]

[As an action-movie RPG, it’s no surprise actual movies were a big influence.]

Movies

Die Hard. (The Platonic ideal of the genre, all later action movies are derivative of this.)

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The Expendables. (Pyrotechnics and kinetic action almost obscure the film’s deep themes.)

Inception. (Awe inspiring masterpiece by an amazing director. Proof that action movies can be as thinky as dramas, while still being entertaining.)

The Avengers.

The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises.

Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi.

Iron Man. (Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is pure charm and all heart. From the very first scene, he’s a guy you should hate and envy, but can’t help liking and admiring.)

True Lies. (Probably the best Arnold Schwarzenegger movie made. Brilliant.)

Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Aliens. (The proximate inspiration for approximately 80% of all geek culture, from movies to video games. Even so, an incredible film.)

Big Trouble in Little China.

Predator. (The quintessential horror/action film.)

The Road Warrior. (Another landmark film. Everyone steals from this movie.)

The Matrix. (Copied so relentlessly, it’s hard to remember how stunning its action and effects were.)

Tombstone.

Bad Boys. (Sneer at the man, but Michael Bay knows how to put together a thrilling action movie.)

John Rambo (aka “Rambo 4”). (Beginning with Rocky 5, Stallone made a series of incredible action movies. All are worth seeing.)

The Fifth Element. (Luc Besson has more misses than hits, but this hit is marvelous.)

Taken. (“What I do have are a very particular set of skills.” That’s an action hero.)

[It may seem strange for an avowed action-movie RPG to include novels in its list of inspirations. Yet action heroes are found in books as well.]

Novels

Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein. (Badasses in power armor, fighting a remorseless enemy.)

The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy.

Without Remorse, Tom Clancy. (A dark tale of revenge and retribution.)

Lightning, Dean R. Koontz.

Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry. (Joe Ledger is the quintessential action-movie hero. Plus, zombies.)

The Dresden Files (series), Jim Butcher. (Harry Dresden is John McClane, with magic: a guy in over his head, desperately trying to fight evil and defend innocents.)

Doc Shidhe, Aaron Allston. (Pulp fantasy. Pure fun.)

Lucifer’s Hammer, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

The Lies of Locke Lamora & Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch. (A rogue to end all rogues.)

The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man’s Fear, Patrick Rothfuss. (Oh, my God.)

The Last Centurion, John Ringo.

Infinity player characters are action-movie heroes. They are the headliners, the leads, those who fight evil and kick its ass.

But what is a hero? Let’s look at Audie Murphy.

Audie Murphy

5’5”, 110 lb. Audie Murphy, from Kingston, Texas, enlisted in the US Army in  June 1942, at the age of 16. He’d previously been rejected by the Navy, the Marines, and the Army Paratroopers for being severely underweight. Even after enlisting, he had to fight to be allowed in combat (where, during the invasion of Sicily, he contracted malaria, a permanent condition).

After seeing action on the continent, he was field promoted to 2nd Lt. and given command of a platoon. Shot by a sniper, he was sent to the hospital. After convalescing he returned to his platoon, still wounded, and entered combat the next day.

During that battle his company came under fire from German troops, who killed or incapacitated 109 out of 128 soldiers in his unit. Fighting in below freezing temperature (14 °F) and 24 inches of snow, the wounded Murphy sent the survivors to the rear, then attacked the Germans with his M1. Running out of ammo, he climbed aboard a burning M10 tank destroyer, and used its .50 cal to fight advancing German infantry (who shot and wounded Murphy).

While atop the burning vehicle, Murphy single-handedly fought off six German tanks and dozens of infantry, for almost an hour.

During that hour, he kept up the battle with the German forces, calling in artillery strikes with a phone, and only stopped when German artillery cut his own phone line. Thereafter he organized a counter-attack and drove the Germans from the town, winning the engagement. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

During his two years of combat service, Murphy received 10 US citations for valor, plus two medals from the French and one from Belgium. He remains the most decorated US soldier of all time.

After the war, he became an actor, even portraying himself in an autobiographical movie. For the recreation of the described battle, Murphy was forced to tone down his real exploits, because the audience would find them unrealistic. He would go on to star in 44 movies (mostly Westerns) and die at the age of 46, in a plane crash.

Heroes

The exploits of action heroes are not necessarily unrealistic. Extraordinary individuals have done incredible things, and it’s those real life heroes who are the template for Infinity PC’s.

The stories of real heroes share many common elements, the most important of which is their sheer determination and drive. Heroes never quit. (This is equally true of both wartime and peacetime heroes. Those who would succeed must persevere.) In game terms, this drive is known as Resolve.

[More on Resolve, next post.]

Comics
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller. (Dark, brutal, and engrossing.)
Batman: Year One, Frank Miller.
Batman, The Long Halloween. (Follows after Year One, but not afraid to do its own thing. Visually and textually striking.)
X-Men, The Age of Apocalypse.
Astro City, Kurt Busiek. (Truly excellent. Well worth buying and reading.)

Video Games
Bioshock, Ken Levine. (A highly personal game. Evinces a deep understanding of the limits of human nature and ideology.)
Fallout 3 & New Vegas. (Nothing beats prowling the ruins of DC with a sniper rifle, picking off brutal Super Mutants from blocks away.)
Skyrim. (A new benchmark in open world gaming.)
Halo: Reach.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Crackdown. (Prime superpunk setting.)
Left 4 Dead. (Killing zombies was never so fun as this.)
Gears of War 1, 2, & 3.
Just Cause 2. (Open world crack.)
Metro 2033. (Flawed, but compelling.)

[Updated with commentary.]

Resolve (first introduced here) is a renamed Action Point mechanic. For the most part, the mechanics are the same. The concept and feel behind it is different.

Resolve reflects a character’s determination and drive. Spending a point of Resolve means you are utterly focused on the task at hand, exerting all your effort to try and succeed.

(“Don’t people do that all the time?” No. We don’t have the energy. Even in extreme circumstances, we can’t go all out on every task all the time.)

People who throw themselves into a task can accomplish something incredible. (John McClane, jumping off the roof.) Resolve allows them this chance, but only a limited number of times a session.

Spending a point of Resolve gives you a +3 to any Skill, Combat, or Characteristic Challenge. Spending a point of Resolve on the actions covered by a Distinction Trait gives you a +5 bonus, because Distinctions are (by definition) something the character is unusually gifted at.

Distinctions

Distinctions are a specific kind of Trait, one that is almost always beneficial. These represent innate talents (Violin Virtuoso, Born With a Gun In His Hand), inherent advantages (Voice Like an Angel, You Gotta Love ‘Im), unusual training (My Uncle Was a Wizard, The Necronomicon is in My Backpack), or anything else that gives the character an edge. Characters can have up to 3 Distinctions at character creation.

Each Distinction has one, and only one, area of applicability. Light Fingers, for example, could give a bonus to picking pockets with the prestidigitation skill, but not to palming a coin. The player chooses what benefit the Trait gives when they choose the Trait. (As always the GM has final say.)

Using the Trait costs a Resolve point. As noted above, this gives the character +5 on an affected Challenge.

[More on Resolve, next post.]

Damage and Healing

In the first playtest, I allowed people to "buy off" damage (reduce the number of Wounds they would take from a single attack) using Action Points. However, I ran into the same problem one always runs into with this sort of mechanic: instead of being the "I can succeed at a nearly-impossible task" markers, they are ablative hit points. You have to shoot through the Action Points before getting down to the real combat. This is problematic.

So, a couple of changes. First, the streamlined Damage chart.

[B]Wounds Injury Description[/B]
1-4 None Scratched
5-9 Moderate Hurt
10-14 Severe Faltering
15-19 Critical Dying
20+ Mortal DeadFaltering and dying mean the same thing as before (see the playtest pdf for details). What's changed is the potential penalties, and the source of those penalties.

Injuries are abstract measurements of Damage. The gamemaster decides what each Injury is, and where it's located, based on the attack. A broken bone, a punctured abdomen, being blinded by a flashbang, whatever.

If an Injury affects any Challenge the character attempts, they receive a -5 penalty to that Challenge. If more than one Injury affects a Challenge, they receive a -5 per each Injury that comes into play.

Example: A character has a Moderate Injury (burned hands) and a Severe Injury (sprained ankle). If they attempt to shoot from a prone position, they have a -5 to all firearms Challenges — burned hands make it hard to shoot. Shooting while moving suffers a -10 penalty, -5 for the Moderate Injury and an additional -5 for the Severe Injury.

If an Injured character is attacked, and their Injury is a factor, the attacking character gains a +5 bonus per each Injury that would figure into the attack. In the example above, a melee attack against the Injured character would have a +10 bonus, because it's hard to fight hand-to-hand when you can't walk right and your hands are badly burned.

So, since all Injuries apply the same penalty, what is the difference between a Moderate and Severe Injury? Healing time.

I'll discuss healing (which also ties into a solution to the "ablative hit points" problem) next post.

Design Note

As implemented, Injuries allow me to solve some very complex problems (hit location and damage typing) in a very simple ways. And, despite the fact that this wasn't deliberate, they are no longer story-game mechanics but rather somewhat OSR-inclined. (Those who know what the OSR is will understand.)

Injuries are endlessly configurable, depending on what the gamemaster judges the outcome of an attack to be. Did a specific shot catch the character in the shoulder, the leg, the gut? All up to GM's call at the time of the attack. "Rulings, not rules."

Instead of a "wound location" table, the GM makes a call, based on the situation. Instead of numerous different kinds of damage (taser shock, fire, tear gas, blunt impact, bladed weapons, impaling damage, flashbang explosions, and on and on) there is a Damage Value, a Toughness, and how many Wounds you got.

Simple. Streamlined. Clear.

There are three — and only three — questions any damage system needs to answer:

How damaged am I?
What penalties apply?
How long does this last?

Wounds and Injuries answer these questions clearly, simply, and yet specifically. Instead of cascading rules complexity, I call upon the strengths of a living human mind to decide what Injuries occur and when they hamper the Injured character.

It's not Old School (as a mechanic). But it is oddly reminiscent of it.

Healing

A full day of rest allows a character to recover (not heal, but recover) a number of Wounds equal to their Endurance. It also allows them to heal one Moderate Injury (assuming they currently have no Wounds).

(Yes, you can have more than one of the same severity Injury at a time. You can have bruised ribs, a sprained ankle, and burned hands all at once, all of which are Moderate Injuries.)

An additional week of rest allows you to heal a Severe Injury. And a week of treatment (convalescing in a hospital, for example) allows you to heal a Critical Injury. (If the campaign world lacks the means of treating a specific kind of Critical Injury, the character will be injured permanently.)

After an hour's rest, a character can spend a point of Resolve to gain a Wound recovery: they recover a number of Wounds equal to their Endurance. This represents them gritting their teeth, and fighting through the pain. They can do this once per day.

Analysis

What are the benefits of this approach? It streamlines the Damage Chart, making it much simpler to keep track of Damage and the penalties therefrom. It solves the "ablative hit points" problem, making Resolve into something more meaningful. It also makes spending a Resolve point on Wounds something significant: you recover a number of Wounds equal to your Endurance, not just 3.

It makes combat more risky, increasing the tension of fighting. But after combat is over, you can rest and recover. That's a positive dynamic.

It also deals with the "shoot me in the head, I don't care" problem that cropped up under Torg. After playing the game for a while, my players realized that they were nearly invincible, by the rules as written. They could be shot in the head, while handcuffed in front of an enemy, and survive. After that point, combat offered little challenge and no danger. A player literally told me "let him shoot me in the head, it doesn't matter". That's a problem.

This rule allows for characters who recover quickly (quite cinematic), but who still have to fear being shot. Combat is (potentially) deadly, so players have to be canny, take cover, use tactics, and behave intelligently.

This also solves the "Why would you spend Action Points on anything but buying off damage?" question. Under these rules, you can't. You can recover after a battle, but not during.

In all, it seems like a great approach. On to playtesting.

[Influences on the game.]

Television Series

Supernatural, Seasons 1-5 in particular. (A deeply personal story of a family of monster hunters. Reached its apex in Season 5. The subsequent seasons have been disappointing.)

Chuck. (Excellent series about a geek super spy, marred by a sucker-punch ending.)

Breaking Bad. (Part of the new Golden Age of Television. Movies have bigger budgets and bigger names, but few are as consistently compelling as this show.)

Firefly.

Revolution.

Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. (One of the best.)

The Walking Dead.

House, MD. (The biggest jerk in medicine, but so much fun to watch.)