/pone/quest Rules

/pone/quest is a My Little Pony themed RPG in the vein of traditional party-based tabletop RPGs. If you are familiar with these types of games, you'll probably pick things up pretty quickly. If not, then I'll give you the short version of how these things typically work. These games are interactive stories, with a group of players each filling the role of a character in the story. Each player has free reign to make their character to (essentially) whatever they want them to do. In addition to the players, the Dungeon Master (DM) plays the role of the story's narrator, and controls pretty much everything other than the player's characters. In a normal game, the players work together on a team, or "party", to accomplish some goal presented by the story. The story and the presented goal(s) that players work toward are called a "campaign". To make the game more interesting, the actions that players are capable of taking through their characters are controlled by dice rolls and by their own characters capabilities. If you want to have your character perform some non-trivial action, the normal sequence of events is: roll the dice, compare the result to your character's abilities, then succeed or fail the action based on that comparison. That's the basics; the rest of the rules will be explained later on.


ROLLING

In this game, your character's ability to perform certain actions will be based on dice rolls that you make. Unlike in a lot of other tabletop RPGs, in this system, rolling lower numbers is generally preferable to rolling higher numbers. This is because you will normally be trying to roll under a certain amount, as opposed to rolling above a certain amount. Because of this, the concept of the "critical success/failure" found in other games work a bit differently. When you roll to perform a certain action, the lowest possible value (1 on a 100-sided die) will indicate an automatic success, and the highest possible value (100 on a 100-sided die) will indicate an automatic failure. /pone/ currently has dice rolling enabled as a post option, so I would prefer you do all your rolling via posting as opposed to using some other random number generator. This will help ensure nobody is cheating on their rolls.

Note on notation: dice rolls will frequently be referenced in the format "XdY", where "X" is the number of a certain type of dice to be rolled and "Y" is the number of sides on those dice. For example, if you are told to roll "2d6", that means you need to roll two six-sided dice.


STATISTICS

These character traits are called by a lot of different names in different games, but they pretty much work the same way no matter what. These traits represent your character's natural abilities, and therefore do not typically change very much over the course of gameplay. What each statistic represents is explained next to it. Your character's statistics will influence their ability to use their skills where applicable (explained later). Rolls made based on statistics will use a d100. Roll results that are equal to or less than the statistic the roll is based on are successes. If you are creating a character, calculate each of your character's statistics using the formula given in parentheses next to that specific statistic.

Strength (3d6 * 5): your character's ability to use their bodies to move things, stop things from moving, and physical activity in general.

Constitution (3d6 * 5): your character's ability to withstand physical strain and damage.

Dexterity (3d6 * 5): your character's ability to control their physical movements and move about their environment gracefully.

Perception (3d6 * 5): your character's ability to retrieve information from their physical surroundings, typically using their five senses.

Intelligence ((2d6 + 6) * 5): your character's ability to mentally process information and arrive at conclusions.

Education ((2d6 + 6) * 5): your character's knowledge about the world gained through experience or formal education.

Willpower (3d6 * 5): your character's ability to control their own minds and ignore outside influences.

Charisma (3d6 * 5): your character's ability to influence others and be liked.

Luck ((2d6 + 6) * 5): how "lucky" your character is; affects things outside of your character's control.


SKILLS

These represent abilities your characters possess that they can normally get better at performing over the course of gameplay. Your character's proficiency in each skill is rated out of 100 with higher numbers meaning "more skilled". When rolling based on your character's skills, use a d100 and add a bonus to the skill you are using equal to one-tenth of whatever statistic you think would help you perform that skill, rounded down. For example, if you are trying to use the Speech skill and your Charisma statistic is 73, then you would add an effective bonus of 7 to your Speech skill. Roll results equal to or less than your rating in the skill you are using are successes. Every character has a default rating of 0 in every skill, unless specified otherwise. Below are listed some common skills which your characters will probably use. The number in parentheses is the default rating that every character has in that skill. These are not the only skills your character can have, they are merely examples. If you want your character to have some other skill, it will normally be okay as long as it makes sense in the story and it is not too game-breaking. Ask the DM for approval of non-specified skills. When creating a character, you have a total number of points equal to (3 * Education) that you may use to increase any of your skills above their default values.

Acrobatics (15): Jumping, bending, twirling, and other feats of physical agility.

Agriculture (0): Raising and caring for animals and plants, normally for food or other produce.

Alchemy (0): Creating magical potions, elixirs, and other substances using magical ingredients.

Arcana (0): The systematic study of magic, its nature, and its applications.

Climb (15): Ascend a surface that is difficult or impossible to travel up normally.

Crafting (0): Making useful items out of raw materials using various tools and techniques. NOTE: You cannot put points into this skill as it is. You must choose a more specialized type of crafting to put points into.

Dodge (Dexterity/2): Avoid an enemy's attack or some other object threatening to come into contact with you. NOTE: You may not apply a Dexterity bonus to rolls based on this skill.

Fighting (20/0): Attempting to damage or harm another creature through the use of weapons or your own body. NOTE: You cannot put points into this skill as it is. You must choose a more specialized type of fighting to put points into based on a particular weapon. A value of 20 is the default for for unarmed combat. Thrown weapons may also make use of the Throw skill if desired.

Flight (15): Performing difficult maneuvers or actions while in the air. NOTE: This skill may only be used by flying creatures. Only flying creatures may put points into this skill.

Healing (0): Healing the ailments and injuries of yourself or someone else using various tools, resources, and methods.

History (0): Knowledge of past events.

Listen (15): Using your ears to detect something in your environment.

Literature (0): Knowledge of the principles and characteristics of poetry, fiction, and other literary arts. The ability to create works of literature.

Lockpicking (0): Opening locks and similar mechanical devices without a key.

Perform (0): Entertaining people using various talents and skills. NOTE: You cannot put points into this skill as it is. You must choose a more specialized type of performing to put points into.

Psychology (5): Discerning people's inner thoughts, reading people, sensing feelings, etc.

Science (0): Understanding the natural world in a systematic way; knowledge of scientific information.

Speech (5): Convincing NPCs to act or think in a certain way through the use of your words.

Spot (20): Using your eyes to detect something in your environment.

Stealth (15): Moving or performing physical actions while remaining quiet or undetected by others. NOTE: Use of this skill is affected by worn items (explained later).

Swim (15): Performing difficult maneuvers or actions while in the water.

Throw (15): Propelling an object through midair using physical force.


RACES

All characters must be one of the three races of ponies from the show: Earth ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. You cannot make a character a dragon, griffon, changeling, etc (at least for now). Each race has certain bonuses that give it an edge over the others in certain areas.

Earth ponies:
	+10 Strength
	+10 Constitution
	+3 hit points
	+20 Agriculture skill

Unicorns:
	+10 Willpower
	Access to magic

Pegasi:
	+10 Dexterity
	Access to flight
	Weather manipulation


SPECIAL TALENTS

Each character has a "special talent", an innate proficiency in one area, field, or ability. In terms of gameplay, this means that each character gets a bonus of 25 on rolls related to their special talent. In addition, you may re-roll one failed roll related to your special talent once per day. Your character's special talent must be approved by the DM. Your special talent cannot be too broad or too specific.


WEATHER MANIPULATION

Pegasi have the unique ability to manipulate the weather. This normally takes the form of the movement of storm clouds, triggering precipitation, triggering lightning, etc. These actions are limited to things that would "make sense", i.e. a single pegasus cannot create a category 5 hurricane on their own.


MAGIC

Characters with access to magic have a maximum number of magic points (MP) equal to 20 + (Willpower/3), rounded down. Magic points are normally expended by casting spells, which expend a number of magic points based on the spell. Magic points recover naturally at a rate of (Max. MP/20, rounded down) per hour. Magic points do not recover while a spell is being cast.


SPELLS

Spells are essentially a list of magical instructions that can be followed by a magic-user with sufficient ability. In order to cast a spell, you must either have access to the spell in written form, be assisted by someone who has "mastered" that spell, or you must have mastered the spell yourself. Mastering a spell means that you are so familiar with the spell that you can cast it unaided. More difficult spells are disproportionately more difficult to master. Your experience with any particular spell starts at 0. You master a spell when your experience with that spell is equal to or greater than that spell's Difficulty Level (DL). When you cast a spell that you have not mastered, roll 1d100 and compare the result to your experience with that spell. If your result is greater than your experience, roll 1d3 and add the result to your experience. There is no need to keep track of your experience with a spell once you have mastered it. Casting a spell that you have not mastered requires time to study the spell and concentrate, meaning that it cannot be cast in stressful situations (such as in the middle of combat).

You cannot perform spells that are unrelated to your special talent. All magic-users begin the game with one spell related to their special talent mastered. When casting spells, unicorns' horns will glow faintly. Any physical object under the effect of a spell will glow as well. This glow is bright enough to be noticeable at a reasonable distance in lighted areas and further in darker areas. If a spell has a specific target, there does not have to be a line of sight between the target and the horn of the unicorn casting the spell. The caster does need to be aware of the target's location through non-magical means when initially casting the spell. The list of spells can be found here: https://pastebin.com/D4PvSwuL. If you have an idea for a spell you'd like to see in the game, ask the DM.

NOTE: I may tweak this system a bit more. I ran the numbers on how long it would take someone to master a spell of a certain DR on average. Let me know if you think these numbers need some adjusting.

Spell DL		# of casts
10					~5
25					~14
50					~34
75					~68
90					~112
100					~260


HIT POINTS, DAMAGE, AND COMBAT

Your character's maximum hit points (HP) are 5 + (Constitution/10), rounded down. Anything that injures or otherwise adversely affects your character's health will lower your character's hit points. When your character's hit points reach 0, they are dead. Your character will recover hit points naturally at a rate of 1 per day. Use of the Medicine skill can increase this.

Combat is turn based. The order of turns is determined at the beginning of combat by an initiative roll (1d100 + Dexterity/2 rounded down) made by everyone involved in combat. On your turn, you may attack an enemy, use an item, run away, or perform some comparable action. Spells may not be cast during combat unless they have been mastered. Movement and positioning do not play a significant role in combat (similar to a JRPG). When attacking, you make a roll based on the Fighting skill to determine whether your attack hit. When you are attacked (regardless of whether the attack hits), you may either attempt to dodge the attack, or counterattack. Dodging is performed by making a roll based on the Dodge skill. Flying creatures may choose to use the Flight skill instead of the Dodge skill if they are in midair. If your roll is successful, the attack misses (regardless of whether the attack would have hit). A counterattack is performed in the same way a normal attack is. A counterattack cannot be dodged or counterattacked in turn. You may only perform a counterattack in response to a melee attack. You may only perform a counterattack with a melee weapon. Below is a list of possible attack/reaction combinations and their results to help illustrate.

-Person A attacks and hits => Person B counterattacks and hits => both take damage

-Person A attacks and misses => Person B counterattacks and hits => Person A takes damage

-Person A attacks and hits => Person B counterattacks and misses => Person B takes damage

-Person A attacks and misses => Person B counterattacks and misses => neither take damage

-Person A attacks and hits => Person B dodges successfully => neither take damage

-Person A attacks and hits => Person B dodges unsuccessfully => Person B takes damage

Damage (DAM) is based on what weapon is being used to attack. Unarmed damage is Strength/35, rounded down. Additionally, characters can wear armor, which decreases the damage they take from attacks. The Damage Reduction (DR) is based on the type of armor being worn. A Critical Hit occurs when a critical success is made during an attack; any damage reduction from armor is ignored and the resulting damage is doubled.


SNEAK ATTACKS

If you have successfully used the Stealth skill to move into a position from which you can attack an enemy, you may perform a Sneak Attack. This attack functions the same way a normal attack does, except that it cannot be dodged or counterattacked. In addition, the bonuses for making a Critical Hit also apply, meaning that armor is ignored and damage is doubled.


ITEMS

Different types of items do different things. All items have a Cost, given in bits. Armor and Shields have Damage Reduction (DR). Armor and Shields also have a Stealth Penalty (SP), which is a penalty added to your roll whenever you use the Stealth skill. Weapons have a Damage (DAM) given as a dice formula. Magic robes have a Magic Point Bonus (MPB), which increases the rate of MP recovery. When creating a character, you have 250 bits to purchase starting equipment. See here for item list: pastebin.com/giZ3L5Fx


LEVELING UP

When the DM judges that you have done enough to warrant leveling up, you will be allowed to do so. Upon leveling up, you may choose one skill to advance. Roll 1d100 (do not apply any modifiers) and compare the result to the skill. If you roll beneath the skill's value, the skill does not increase. If you roll above the skill's value, roll 1d10 to determine the amount by which the skill will advance.