| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Two months ago, I started thinking about doing a fan-made RWBY RPG based on the d20 system. With the help of my friends, I did some basic work on concepts and classes, and had hoped to get it picked up by RoosterTeeth if it went well.
Of course, the events of yesterday changed everything. Like Matt Hullum posted on RoosterTeeth this morning, I feel that the best way to honor Monty's memory is to engage in a large creative endeavor. As such, I am dedicating this project to Monty's memory, and opening it for public contribution.
Those who are interested, please post here and I will send you the Google Drive folder that contains the documents worked on so far.
RIP Monty, if there is any kind of afterlife, I'm sure that they're about to learn quite a bit about being amazing.
As it would happen, I too have been toying with a similar idea for a while and would like to coordinate some ideas. There is a wiki out there (i think) somewhere that has some rwby roleplay info as well.
In other words: You have my axe! (that's also a gun)
I've never done something like this before, but I'm a huge RWBY fan and would love to help.
And my Sword (that's also a bazooka)
Currently having technical difficulties sharing the drive folder. I'll do what I can to share it before the end of the weekend.
When you get things figured out, I'd definitely like to help any way I can.
Currently GMing a very shoddily put together RWBY game using some homebrew stuff for Pathfinder, so I've got tabletop RWBY on the brain.
Apologies for the double post, bit since it's a bit after the weekend, I was wondering if there was any update on this?
Sorry, I had some issues with other things, here it is:
https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B5TFJUGif5EoSlRweHhyZFJKVWM&usp= docslist_api
Dot, because I love RWBY but I'm skeptical that a d20 3.x/PF system is a good way to capture the cinematic nature of action in the show. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
Definitely, like Zavas said, off to a great start. I'm going to think on it for a little bit and see what input and ideas I can come up with.
One quick question, have you decided or even thought about how you are going to handle the use of gun recoil for various actions? Such as how Ruby uses it to enhance attack power and how both she and Yang use the recoil of their guns to move around.
@Zavas: Probably still too early to make a character. None of the classes are actually finished from what I can see. As well, most of the major pieces such as Aura, feats and weapons are also not finished from the looks of it. You should wait till more work is done before trying to properly build a character.
Definitely, like Zavas said, off to a great start. I'm going to think on it for a little bit and see what input and ideas I can come up with.
One quick question, have you decided or even thought about how you are going to handle the use of gun recoil for various actions? Such as how Ruby uses it to enhance attack power and how both she and Yang use the recoil of their guns to move around..
I've been trying to figure out the weapons and such, including stuff like recoil,but I'm currently stumped. Help would be very much appreciated.
Well, a basic idea on weapons like Ruby's, Yang's and Nora's, who specifically utilize their gun's to enhance their melee attacks. Others do this, but these three are some of the most prime examples. You could do something like, spending an immediate action, or free action depending on preference and how things balance out mechanics wise, to add your weapon's firearm damage to a melee attack.
Using recoil for movement could be something like spending an immediate action, or free action depending on preference and how things balance, when making a firearm attack, move X-number of feet. Or when moving, expend a round of ammunition from your firearm to increase your movement by x-number of feet.
Just some basic concepts that came to mind when thinking about recoil stuff specifically.
Dot
Chaotic Angel: It's not really a character, per-say, but the general use of game mechanics that I'm trying to get a grasp of... Building bits and parts of characters helps with this.
The point is that the mechanics are FAR from being in a playable state.
I'm dotting this because I really love RWBY and am sad to see Monty Oum go.
Also, there should be some form of super ridiculous ability for late-end game called "The Full Monty". It should be both really cool looking and at least moderately effective for the investment to get it. Also it sounds like a fine homage to his contributions to animated badassery.
I'm a fan of RWBY, and a big fan of the d20 System, but I honestly don't think that the two are a good fit.
Simply put, an RPG system that attempts to closely regulate issues regarding the exact number of attacks that can be performed, how movement is handled at the tactical level, and standardizes what special abilities or other "tricks" can be performed, is going to have a very hard time modeling the fighting in RWBY; trying to measure everything that in a typical RWBY fight will strain such a system to its breaking point.
A far better approach would be a game where combat statistics are comparatively light, where PCs have some sort of limited "pool of points" mechanic that allows for players to spend points to assert some sort of narrative-control over the context of the fight (especially if other characters, including major NPCs, can also spend points to counter-narrate a quick reversal of fortune in the flow of combat).
I would like to respectively disagree, as a long time player of a couple very very well put together d20 conversions of shounen style anime, I've found d20 can work just fine for fights like this, you simply need to go about it the correct way. Is it harder to make that style fit into d20? Certainly, but I find that there in lies the fun of making it, it's challenging. As well, d20 tends to be one of the systems most people are really familiar with, so it is often the most easy to homebrew something for.
What about savage worlds or mutants & masterminds? There are also a couple of Anime rpgs which could work as well.
Big Eyes, Small Mouth?
I haven't played it enough to know, but it had a good rep.
That is one possibility, yes. I have a fondness for it. I have also heard generally positive things about OVA.
I personally enjoyed Exalted's stunt system as a mechanism for over-the-top combat shenaneigans.
Basically, on your turn you narrated your attack/action, and the bigger and cooler the stunt (within the limits of your abilities, of course) would give you bonus dice to help succeed at that action...
Wait! Actually, there's a mechanic that does this already, though in more limited functions. Mythic Surge.
So you can re-fluff the Mythic surge, and perhaps instead of basing it on Mythic power base it on the creative stunts the characters are pulling off. The better the stunt, the bigger the surge die. (With Min/Max limitations of course)
I personally enjoyed Exalted's stunt system as a mechanism for over-the-top combat shenaneigans.
Basically, on your turn you narrated your attack/action, and the bigger and cooler the stunt (within the limits of your abilities, of course) would give you bonus dice to help succeed at that action...
Wait! Actually, there's a mechanic that does this already, though in more limited functions. Mythic Surge.
So you can re-fluff the Mythic surge, and perhaps instead of basing it on Mythic power base it on the creative stunts the characters are pulling off. The better the stunt, the bigger the surge die. (With Min/Max limitations of course)
That seems like a good idea to me, i've been trying to design a stunt system, but havent had the time to sort out the details.
Yeah you can just use the mythic surge feature, just rename it and base the Die-type boost that it provides to a standard of stunt awesomeness.
Usually in exalted the more cool it sounds, and the more it involves the environment, the more dice they could earn, up to 3.
Oh right. Also succeeding at a stunt gave them back some of their expended resources (like pool points, which they called essence) equal to the number of dice they snagged. So like, if there was a "Aura" pool the RWBY characters use, then perhaps succeeding at a stunt gives them a surge of confidence and restores one to a few points of Aura.
Since
Oh right. Also succeeding at a stunt gave them back some of their expended resources (like pool points, which they called essence) equal to the number of dice they snagged. So like, if there was a "Aura" pool the RWBY characters use, then perhaps succeeding at a stunt gives them a surge of confidence and restores one to a few points of Aura.Since
That seems like a good idea. Most of the classes also have their own pools of points for class abilities, which might work better since aura also works as temporary hp.
Yeah but not all of them do...
Actually, after having watched the show through to the end of season 2 again this weekend, I think I'm onto something about the different character styles and potential classes they'd be.
After having looked at the different characters I can establish the following: There is a large emphasis on unique weaponry, but as the saying goes, there's only so many ways you can skin a cat.
We have three different core approaches.
>Those who use their abilities to dish out strong blows and take hits. This is characters like Yang and Nora, as well as a few background characters like Sun.
>Those who are a 'technique' style of fighter that blends their combat ability and their aura usage. These are characters like Ruby, Blake, and especially Pyrrha.
>Those who are very good at using their aura to make up for any inadequacies in combat. This is most easily seen in Weiss, Glynda, and Cinder.
But that doesn't mean there aren't varied ways to build based off one of those three core approaches. We have Technician Blake who really builds like a ninja, while Technician Ruby uses a faster speed technique to make up for what would otherwise be a bulkier and slower large two handed weapon you'd usually see in the hands of a fighter like Nora. Glynda uses kinetic force as her primary motivator, while Cinder uses elements (most notably fire, I know about the whole dust-clothing thing, but since we've yet to see what her shtick is gotta go with what I know.) Yang uses fists and two weapon fighting while Nora really does just hit friggin' hard.
I would probably list any of these 'classes' as a separate access pool. You know how current classes use arcane, divine, ki, panache/grit/luck, psychic etc. I would say that Aura would be another access pool to doing badass things. Maybe it's what lets you bend the laws of physics, heal wounds, take hits that shatter buildings, and control your complicated transformative weapon without needing to do more than a simple flick of the wrist. (For the sake of argument I would suggest doing away with certain 'cinematic' tropes like the arbitrary clip size)
And the last thing that being an Aura using class gives you is the ability to stunt. It works as described in the prior post, but mechanically its dice boost award is either D4, D6, or D8. Succeeding at the stunt returns 1, 2, or 3 points of aura, but cannot raise it above the maximum.
I am just spitballing here, since it's also 5AM and I haven't slept for a day and just got back from a 10 hour shift on the busiest day I've seen in my year of working there. So if there's any obvious bits I'm missing please just point em out, I'll review this again when I get something resembling sleep.
I swear to god, if I ever get a mythic tier IRL I know the first path power I'm taking is sleepless. :p (I'm lying. I probably would take the power that lets worshiping me grant domains and spellcasting. :D)
Yeah but not all of them do...
Actually, after having watched the show through to the end of season 2 again this weekend, I think I'm onto something about the different character styles and potential classes they'd be.
After having looked at the different characters I can establish the following: There is a large emphasis on unique weaponry, but as the saying goes, there's only so many ways you can skin a cat.
We have three different core approaches.
>Those who use their abilities to dish out strong blows and take hits. This is characters like Yang and Nora, as well as a few background characters like Sun.
>Those who are a 'technique' style of fighter that blends their combat ability and their aura usage. These are characters like Ruby, Blake, and especially Pyrrha.
>Those who are very good at using their aura to make up for any inadequacies in combat. This is most easily seen in Weiss, Glynda, and Cinder.But that doesn't mean there aren't varied ways to build based off one of those three core approaches. We have Technician Blake who really builds like a ninja, while Technician Ruby uses a faster speed technique to make up for what would otherwise be a bulkier and slower large two handed weapon you'd usually see in the hands of a fighter like Nora. Glynda uses kinetic force as her primary motivator, while Cinder uses elements (most notably fire, I know about the whole dust-clothing thing, but since we've yet to see what her shtick is gotta go with what I know.) Yang uses fists and two weapon fighting while Nora really does just hit friggin' hard.
I would probably list any of these 'classes' as a separate access pool. You know how current classes use arcane, divine, ki, panache/grit/luck, psychic etc. I would say that Aura would be another access pool to doing badass things. Maybe it's what lets you bend the laws of physics, heal wounds, take hits that shatter buildings, and control your complicated transformative weapon without needing to do more than a simple flick of the wrist. (For the...
Each class is based on one of the eight main characters. (Ruby got two due to us having difficulty encapsulating her fighting style into one)
It would probably be better to simplify it. That way the conversion doesn't have a really intimidating entry level. Too many things can lead to people not wanting to get into it because it's too complicated.
Of course that's just my 2 cents of design aesthetics.
I would suggest 3 classes, and then have each let the player choose from 3 fighting styles.
To be honest, i agree with and enjoy the concept of the idea of the eight classes. It's no more intimidating than regular pathfinder and its many classes and archetypes.
Dot. I agree that a simpler system would probably work better, but d20 could be fun.
Hey, so I was wondering. Since it's hard to tell due to lack of abilities at the moment, which classes represent which characters?
I kinda think this is going in the wrong direction. I agree with rungok, it would be easier to create a subsystem based on aura and dust and then create two or three classes based on that system and then use archetypes to mold closer to each character. Maybe some archetypes to normal classes too, Blake could easily be a Slayer or Ninja using an Aura archetype and Yang could be a Brawler or Monk archetype.
So what do we know about Aura?
It passively increases your strenght and speed while it's on. Either have this passives as part of the class features or maybe something like spending a point activates aua for a minute and then you get the passives during this minute.
It gives you a defensive aura, but any damage you take drains your aura. Having Aura active gives some temp HP but if those temp HP are consumed you start losing Aura points, maybe?
It fuels your semblance, which can be anything from healing to superspeed, to magic. The aura based classes could have a list of normal semblances maybe with some advice for the DM on how to create other semblances. Archetypes would be basically having that class as a semblance, so an aura using barbarian is actually someone with a semblance of Rage (Yang would then be an Aura Barbarian with elemental powers and using an unarmed style, maybe multiclassing with Aura Brawler or the Aura Warrior class), the archetype of ninja that replaces Ki with Aura is the semblance of Stealth or the semblance of Shadows (Blake) and the archetype of Magus that uses Aura togheter with Arcane Pool has the semblance of Magic (Glynda) (Maybe a fullcaster? not sure) and the paladin archetype has a semblance of Healing or of Good (Jaun, at least according to fanon).
Here's a rough draft:
Aura (Su): At level 1 you gain a pool of aura points equal to your constitution modifier + your level. As a ??? action you can spend an aura point to activate your aura granting +2 morale bonus to strenght and dexterity and 5 temporary HP per level. Your aura lasts for one minute or until you lose all you temporary HP. If your aura is deactivated through damage you can spend an immediate action to reactivate it. You need your aura active to use your semblance.
Greater Aura: At level 10 the bonuses to strenght and dexterity from having an active Aura increase to +4 and the aura lasts for ten minutes unless you lose all your temp HP.
Infinite Aura: At level 20 your Aura is always active unless you lose your temporary HP. You still have to spend an aura point to restart your aura in that case. Your bonuses to strenght and dexterity increse to +6 while the Aura is active.
Semblance (Su): At first level you select your semblance. A semblance works only while your aura is active. Spending an aura point to use a semblance ability is a free action unless stated otherwise.
Semblance of Speed: You gain a +10 feet increase to your base speed while your aura is active. This increases by +10 feet at 8th and 16th level. You can spend an aura point to double your speed for one round. At 4th level you can spend an aura point to make a turn as part of a charge. At 8th level you can spend an aura point to gain the Light Steps class feature like a ninja of your level for as long as your aura is active. While using this ability you can also run on walls and ceilings but you still must end each turn in a vertical surface capable of holding your weight. At 12th level you can spend an aura point to gain the benefits of Haste or Air Walk as if cast by a wizard of your level. This spell is dispelled if your Aura is deactivated. At 16th level ???. At 20 level ???.
Aura Stunt (Su): At 2nd level you learn to use your aura to subtly bend the laws of reality in favor of awesomess and style. As a free action you can spend an aura point to add 1d6 to the result a d20 roll. This can be a skill check, ability check, attack roll or a saving throw. You can only do this once per roll. When using an aura stunt you must describe your action in a properly awesome, badass or stylish way.