I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to forums, and even more of a novice when it comes to LAF; so forgive me if I'm doing this wrong. You know; wrong place, wrong time, wrong topic.
I've been working on a set of small-scale (4-12 models) tabletop gaming rules with Aggro84 that I think work well enough to share with others. We've got bigger ideas for it, but the rules set has been pared down to a "Basic Rules" document that I've tried to make concise and clear. So that's why I've posted here; I need some reality checks, and so I'm soliciting for beta-testers. These are those generous, brave, heartless, incisive, souls that can see the fun through the rules and tell me how to fix things.
The basic rules utilize a game engine known as "Matter. Energy. Space. Time." or "MEST" which is pronounced sort of like "mist" as in "the misty mountains". Honestly, I got this from NASA about thirty years ago but never realized that they used a different arrangement of letters S-T-E-M. Too late for me.
Anyhow, if MEST can be demonstrated to be solid, it can be used as the foundation of many genres. Since I happen to like Pulp, I started with that genre first ... well, that genre and a couple of others.
The key concept is that we use opposed tests using dice-pools but with three different colored dice. Bonus dice are received via traits and by way of situational modifiers such as attacking from higher ground, or performing an aimed shot.
Dice generate successes which are added to a fixed attribute value to get what is known as a "Test Score". This differentiation allows for some interesting dynamics. The fixed values are essentially guaranteed successes because dice only score successes half the time; which is when their face-values show 4 pips or more.
There are also some traits that leverage the face-value of the dice. For example, a modern bullet does 4 damage, but and older musket-ball does 2 + 2 dice. Furthermore, dynamite does 1 + 3 dice but has the Stun trait which generates "Stun damage" for every pair of face-values generated on the dice.
All dice generate a success on a face-value of '4', '5', or '6' but what is known as the Base dice generate two successes on '6' and the Wild dice generate three successes on '6'. Combat is two separate opposed tests; one for Hit and one for Damage. Critical hits are simulated by the concept of "cascades" and "carry-overs". Cascades are the difference in test scores between the Attacker and the Defender players; for every 3 points difference, the Attacker receives a bonus Modifier die for his very next Damage test. Carry-overs are dice that become available again to be added as bonus dice for the damage test. Modifier dice carry-over whenever their face-value is '6'. Wild dice carry-over whenever they score a success; so on a face-value of '4', '5', or '6'.
Lastly, to keep the number of dice rolled to a minimum we have these rules. Penalty dice are awarded to the opposing player. Dice of the same color cancel each other out. And, when performing tests the players will always roll at least two Base dice.
What we've discovered during our play-tests sessions is that the number of dice each player rolls at any one time is usually about 2 or 3. With some planning or with some advantageous traits, this number could go as high as 4 or 5 but it's a bit rare. This is a good thing because what I discovered with dice-pool mechanics in general is that the more dice you roll for an opposed test, the more likely you'll encounter ties. Well, we also make it so that ties cause the Attacker to win with a single success. As a result it seems that our dice mechanic is pretty solid.
I'm sure there may be some people that are turned-off by one or more of the following; dice-pools, different dice-types, and opposed tests. But I'm hoping that even so, I can get some good feed-back.
Right now, the rules are available at my Google Site
http://sites.google.com/site/mesttactics/downloads and I blog about my game development at my Noble Pursuits site on Blogger here
http://matter-energy-space-time.blogspot.com. If any of you have already seen these rules from an earlier invite by Aggro84, please know that I've nearly doubled the number of pages by adding extra goodies such as many illustrated examples, play-aides, and the occasional rules clarification. The rules are now Beta 1.1
Please feel free to download a copy and try out the basic rules and tell me what you think.
Thanks for your time.