What have wargames been up to?

Common knowledge: RPGs are an offshoot of wargames.

Chit: A wargame specific term for a counter or token.

We should steal all the knowledge they have hoarded and fold it back in to their bastard child. So to that end, have Chit-Pull for Lamentations of the Flame Princess:

Chit-pull Initiative

Each participant in a battle has a specific chit assigned to them. Players might have long standing, unique ones, while enemies will be numbered arbitrarily. Alternatively, just number everyone in a list.

Example:


  1. Bob the paladin
  2. Frank the wizard
  3. Suzy the thief
  4. orc A
  5. orc B
  6. orc C
  7. orc D
To determine whos turn it is, draw a chit. Whichever character is associated with the chit pulled gets to have their turn.

Example:
The GM pulls out a 5, so orc B takes a turn. He then pulls a 3, indicating that it is Suzy's turn.

This process continues until the chits are exhausted, at which point you pile them all in again, minus anyone who died.



Chit-pull Injuries

Remove hitpoints. Instead, when your AC is beaten you pull a chit from a bag of 20 possible results, as follows:

Stunned (x2) vs. paralyse 
Character can't take any further actions until he recovers. 

Killed (x1)
Character is dead. Make another.

Pressed (x5) vs. breath
The character is pressed and on the defensive. May not move or escape, though he may fight. 

Shaken (x2) vs. magic
-1 AC until recovered.

Unnerved (x2) vs. best save
No effect. 

Panicked (x2) vs. poison
+1 AC and cannot attack until recovered. 

Overwhelmed (x5) vs. breath
Character is overwhelmed by the assault. -2 to attack rolls.

Berserk (x1) vs. best save
The character is incensed, gripped by the thrum of battle. +2 AC, +2 attack.

A character may hold 2+conMOD chits without dying. Once this number is surpassed that character is dead.


Chit-pull injuries - Recovery

The player may spend a turn taking an appropriate action related to an injury chit upon him, be that stopping bleeding or shaking himself out of it. To do so he rolls the related save. If this is passed they may remove that chit. At the end of a battle they may remove all chits as long as they rest for 10 minutes. If a fresh fight starts before that time they may attempt one recovery roll for free.



How Weapons Are Still Different


  • One handed swords give +1 to all attack rolls
  • Axes ignore shield bonuses
  • Polearms never need to roll higher than 16 to hit
  • Two handed swords are either polearms or swords, as desired.
  • Maces always hit on an 18+
  • Bows get +-dexMOD +-strMOD
  • Crossbows only get +-dexMOD



Ways to make a chit pull pile
Card are pretty easy to use, though not ideal. Shuffling is tedious. Numbered tiles can be bought easily, throw them in a bag and you're good for initiative.

The injuries require either writing on some cards or custom tiles. The rules could be written directly on them, which is handy.




Why the chit-pull system is excellent and we should steal it from those cunning wargames

It's not readily replicatable in any other way. Tables are close, but they don't have the self eliminating aspect of the chit pull; once a result, say an injury, is drawn it is out of circulation until it is dealt with or the owner dies. As a fight continues, longer and longer, there is an escalating risk of the instant death chit coming out, creating tension without any manual tampering. End your fights quickly or someone will lose an eye. 

8 comments:

  1. This legitimately sounds really fun. I like the added tactile aspect of the game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's nice ! The D&D boardgame used a similar initiative system, although all the monster were grouped. One question : each character : monster has its own bag of chits ? Wouldn't that system be a little bit heavy to track monster's hits ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everyone draws from the same bag of injuries, so the more violence is being served up the more dangerous things get.

      Delete
  3. Problem is that it works both way. If the Instant Death chit is taken first, everybody is safe until replacement. And the fight becomes less dangerous, not more.

    Taking chits without replacement works well for initiative, but it would only work for wounds if every PC has his own bag (NPCs could share a bag if it contains the same number of Instant Death as there are NPCs).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The instant death chit, along with anything else on the character, goes back in the bag. So the death chit is always in circulation.

      Delete
    2. To clarify: there is a single injury chit bag, shared by everyone

      Delete
  4. This is very smart. Really looking forward to Troika (whether chits make it in or not).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a development community on the old G+ if you want to see the sausage get made: https://plus.google.com/communities/100254427268005900349

      It's only private so I can plagiarise in peace.

      Delete