The Rulestuff

The Rulestuff.

What I'd point someone towards if they asked me "what happens behind the GM screen?"
I'm just re-hashing old ideas + re-inventing the wheel + other people did bits of everything + this shouldn't be interesting to you go read fiction instead + ratio + I'm not posting this one so only True Followers will see this blogpaste. What are you gonna do about it? My blog, my rules.

It looks like Skörne. Because it looks like Any Planet is Earth. Because it's Classic Traveller.

It's just Classic Traveller, seriously.

Saving Throw
To Avoid Risks, 2d6=9+ to Save, 7+ with Advantage (such as Class/Skill/Excellent Equipment, etc.)

Procedures for Character Generation
If everyone is an Adventurer, then roll Ability Scores as per Skörne. STRength, DEXterity and WILlpower are the most universal and functional descriptors and one will tend to default to these ones. Arguments can be made for replacing WIL with CHA if the game features no magic nor "sanity" mechanics. Here are some alternatives:

MEAT, NERVes & BRAINs (Biopunk, Skörnenberg, etc.)
BODy, REFlexes & MOXie (Cyberpunk/Shadowrun, Noir, etc.)
Replace WIL with GRIP for a stronger emphasis on mental health stuff, like Call of Cthulhu.
You can also give HITS but tied to WIL/GRIP (4 to 6 max GRIP is good). Later I talk about how we use Hits, you can do the same thing with GRIP, except instead of injuries it's "act out X symptom of panic/fear or take Y Hits to your GRIP", and at 0 GRIP your character becomes an NPC until they can be taken care of, or ideally you just play with a different agenda (cause mayhem, be disruptive, etc.)

ROLL (ABILITY SCORE)
2-3 (-2)
4-5 (-1)
6-8 (0)
9-10 (+1
11-12 (+2)

Ability Scores are Optional and mainly add to the game if you want to distinguish characters that are broadly similar in current career path (ie: your typical band of dungeon-robbers if they're all mundane people rather than archetypes of "wizard", "thief", "warrior" etc). If you can use archetypes instead, do that. Write 3~ words Backgrounds and use that to figure whether throws have Advantage or not.
No, it's not a big deal to go from -2/+2 range of Modifiers to no Modifiers to Throws, it won't change much. I actually like having characters' backgrounds kept vague and undefined when we can get away with it, like dungeon exploration, so it justifies ability scores. But if I'm running Shadowrun or Call of Cthulu, having just an Archetype/Class description can be enough. You can also keep both and have more precisely defined PCs, it works well for campaigns in particular, though can be a bit redundant for one-shots IMO.

Procedure for Encounters
Always assume the "unless obvious" clause, context always informs interpretation of results

1. Is one party Surprised? d6 vs d6 (+mods?) = beat by 3+ to achieve Surprise*
* : choose whether to Ambush (keep surprise until it is lost, not just "one free round" etc.) or Avoid
Ex mod: small party of adventurers would get +3 against a massive orc army if there is cover.

2. Determine Encounter Distance by taking the total of the above dice, x10 feet (indoors)/yards (outdoors).

3. If the Encounter happens and Reaction is uncertain (or to determine whether an NPC accepts an offer),
2d6=2-3 Hostile, 4-6 Aggressive, 7-9 Cautious, 10-11 Neutral, 12 Friendly

4. If Violence has already broke out, or if orders indicate it should, but Morale is in question
(ie: the retainers or enemy forces are unsure about their willingness to fight, especially to the death),
2d6=2-3 Break, 4-6 Retreat / Surrender, 7-9 Defensive / Hold Grounds, 10-11 Press / Charge,
12 Charge, Will Fight To The Death! (if they have to...)

Procedures for Violence

1. Declaration of Intent (ideally, slowest characters/party declares intentions first).

2a. Simultaneous Resolution (realistically/practically, resolve in any order but ALL involved get to resolve their action within the Round, even if another action puts them out of action. Better for more tactical/grounded games where violence is a fail-state).

2b. Classic Initiative (1d6 vs 1d6, ties are still simultaneous: each party rolls. Adds a TON of tension for very little added crunch, although it adds a major aspect of luck in combat. Especially chaotic if you roll for every round, meaning sometimes a party might act twice in a row).

3. Attacks deal HITS. An improvised weapon or untrained combattant deals 1 Hit. A dangerous weapon (like a knife or a sword), or a trained combattant deal 2 Hits. A very dangerous (like a pistol) weapon or fighter deal 3 Hits. A lethal weapon (like a rifle) or foe deal 4 Hits. Automatic weapons fired in long bursts (like an SMG or Assault Rifle full-auto fire) deal +1 Hit. Normal People have 4 Hits. Armor or a Shield adds 1 Hit. Full Armor adds 2 Hits. If your Background would make you particularly tough, add 1 Hit. Also add 1 Hit if you have some form of military training or a violent lifestyle. So a thief or magician would have 4 Hits, while a warrior archetype would have 6 Hits. Use these as a guideline. A Shadowrun Troll might have like 8 Hits.

4. When reduced to 0 HITS, you DIE (or Save vs Death. 6- Dead, 7-9 Permanent Disability, 10+ OK).
Alternatively, at 0 HITS, whoever inflicts harm upon you is free to do whatever they want (capture you, knock you out, decapitate you, etc - dictated by context, intent and ability). The important bit is this: every time someone attacks you, they can try to force a descriptive condition on you (typically, an injury, but knocking you down or disarming you are valid options too) and make you PICK between losing X HITS or suffering the effect. How many Hits correspond to what kind of effect is kind of an on-the-fly ruling the GM figures out. It feels pretty obvious to me after doing it exactly twice. Sam has written about it. Cosmic has written about it. It's not a new idea either. This is an EXCELLENT rule though so I had to talk about it, if only to empathetically encourage you to try it. My own experiences with diceless and near-diceless generally led me to the conclusion that the no-to-hit, no-damage-roll method is ideal and, well, just better (see my Blog's subtitle header). With this addition, it goes from excellent to basically all I need and want from a combat system. Gritty, brutal depictions of violence that affects the fiction/context, difficult tactical decisions and consequence-heavy combat. And you can always adjust the conversation to make it more heroic, or say, use it to run super intense kung fu fighting action, so it really has all the versatility of OD&D's core combat mechanic, with less gambling and more decision-making.

Dungeon & Wilderness: Literally just use Yochai Gal's Cairn 2e Stuff it's excellent.
If I'm using these procedures, it also means there is an Inventory system. Ten Items is a good number.
Heck. I'd basically just use Cairn stuff with the above as "house rules" for classic fantasy stuff. Maybe I'm gonna do just that. Pepper in some Maze Rats tables for flavour and voilà, instant fantasy adventure.

Now somebody should make a fun and easy TRADE game ala Into the Odd 1E Investment/Business rules to do Classic Traveller Trading but interesting and less number-crunchy and we'll have EVERYTHING. No more rulestuff required. Stop writing them. STOP WRITING RULESTUFF.

Go read a book. Like Book of the New Sun, or Dune, or Hyperion, or freaking Lord of the Ring.