Hi, my name is Alexander, a DM who has been running campaigns for 8 years. I am posting this in search of play testers for my ttrpg system I am trying to get published. It is a system inspired by boy scouts, camp slasher movies, and cyptids. The system uses the same action economy and d20 base system as dnd. Instead of classes that let you gain ability's, your abilities are based on the merit badges you taught over the summer. I know there are a lot of questions so I will try to post some that my other playtest group has had
are the stats the same as dnd or no?
They are not, instead of your core 6 they are different for this system, the stats are as follows
Physicality - physical ability, think a PR in weight lifting or your fastest sprint comes from physicality
Mentality - your ability to hold your composure in stressful situations as well as resist fear
Endurance - your ability to do physical things for a long time and be generally durable
Intellect - your memory, and your general ability to understand concepts and learn how things work
Observation - your ability to see your surroundings and know what's around you
Charm - your ability to act and convince others
In a similar vein to dnd your stats go from 1-10, and every 2 in a category you get a +1 to that stat. However unlike dnd where your stats can increase by leveling up, you instead get a +1 in a stat when you crit a roll with that stat. So if you were trying to push a monster back and you crit a physicality roll you feel stronger because you are. However, in turn a natural 1 causes your stats to decrease, though your base stats are as low as the decrease will allow.
Will we be hunting down the monster at all?
that depends on the goal you set at the beginning of the campaign. When planning the campaign you and other players need to set what to be the win condition goal. So far there are 3 win conditions and you choose which one you would prefer.
Kill - trough effort and a lot of force you must kill the monster to be free from them
Escape - the camp is a lost cause, you must flee without dying
Time - help is bound to come, so all you need to do is bunker down and try to survive.
Each have there own benefits and caveats, but once you choose a type the game changes slightly. For example with a kill goal the monster might be a bit beefier but still be killable, while in other goals it might be able to be stopped for a time but not really killed. The changes are also based on the difficulty you choose at the start of the game.
What's that about difficulty?
The system is designed to let the players shape their experience up front before the first session. This is mainly achieved by the difficulty that can change what the DM can and can't use. This includes things like monster types, disasters, and even subgoals. The 4 difficulty's are easy, medium, hard, and nightmare
What are the monster types?
The monster types are a vague overview of what a monster is good at and can dramatically change your experience with them. Some monsters can also have sub types to limit them to certain difficulty's. In total there are 10 monster types.
Big - the big monsters that are imposing not just from size, but also strength, speed, and a plethora of other factors
Smart - what's worse than a monster, one that's just as smart as you are, traps, trickery, and other things are this monster's bread and butter
Mental - monsters that can break you both physically and mentally, illusions, nightmares, and more are this monster's tool of the trade
Swarm(Medium+) - monsters that are known to travel in groups from 50-100,000 depending on their size.
Infection(Medium +) - monsters that start off weak and not dangerous, the more they infect the stronger and more dangerous they become
Mystical(Hard+) - monsters that can tap into the magics from their home realm to attack
Demonic(Hard +) - monsters that are demonic in origin, often having power over elements of the world around you
Kaiju(Nightmare +) - what's worse than a big monster? Its one that's even bigger
Curse(Nightmare +) - a monster that is unrelenting and held back, only by the rules of their curse.
Your monster is your experience and shapes your entire campaign, so be aware of what you choose.
How would you describe the vibe of this system?
I have been told it is like a game called death road to Canada, where Resources need to be managed, strategy's need to be set, and death is frequent without preparation. If you try to rush the monster banking on good rolls, your going to be food in the next few minutes, but strategy, and using what you have will keep you alive and hopefully let you survive.
How do the merit badge part work?
You get a set number of merit badges depending on the difficulty
easy-1
medium-2
hard-3
nightmare-4
Badges are in 2 types, perk, and point. Perk badges give you an ability based on the badge as well as an additional 2 points in one stat and 1 in another. These perks are your main way of survival and what give you a fighting chance to survive. Point badges instead of giving a perk give 3 points in two different stats. So your badges really make your character. You can also have perk synergies, as some perks work together to grant an additional perk. So if you are looking for something like that, try taking similar badges to see what fuses.
This seems complicated, how are we doing character sheets?
The sheets are made with a custom roll20 code that I have worked on extensively to make it as polished as possible. It includes everything you will need including a guide to the system itself, a guided character creator helper, and more. It is designed to make everything as easy as possible to understand and work with
I know there are probably more questions that people have about the system but I think those are some of the main ones. Below I have posted the time, dates, and my discord to DM me if your interested and answer the questions below. I want to thank you for getting this far and giving my passion project of a ttrpg a chance.
time - 10-12 PM EST Saturdays
maps - roll20, discord for audio
Discord - cassinoman
Questions
Name:
Age:
Experience with TTRPG's:
Experience with Roll20:
favorite horror movie:
Favorite cryptid:
Order of which you prefer(exploration, roleplay, combat):
Questions about the system:
Interesting thing about you: