Fire Emblem - the Pen-and-Paper Role-Playing Game

[Gone2Ground]

I...believe this is where this goes?

Anyway, I'm a huge Pen-and-Paper RPG fan. It all started with finding my Dad's old copy of the First Edition of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game from the 1980's in the attic, and it's all sort of tumbled down from there. I own 4e DnD, Fantasy Flight Game's Deathwatch and the aforementioned WFRPG.

Because I have far too much spare time on my hands, I decided to take a leap at this. The mechanics are going to be reminiscent of other D100 systems (D100 - roll a 100-sided-dice [Or two 10-sided], and check if it goes underneath a % score]), especially those by FantasyFlight games.

Features:

- A combat system focused on quick and brutal fights

- An engaging dialogue/diplomacy system

- Branched, Three-Level promotions

- Large amounts of parallels to the actual games

Here's a list of the planned 'Chapters', and how far done I am on them:

INTRODUCTION - Completed and POSTED!

PART ONE - PLAYER'S GUIDE - 15% complete in total.

Character Creation: Mostly done, just some classes left and the proper Skill list, not the boring, lazy and incomplete one I have now.

Combat System: STARTED

List of Status Effects: Done, will post with the revamped Combat and Character Creation systems

Diplomacy System (Affects out-of-combat talking-to-people encounters): Vaguely outlined

Item list: not started

PART TWO - DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE

Get Started with DM'ing: 50% done

Creating an Adventure: vaguely outlined

Creating a Campaign: vaguely outlined

Making NPC's: vaguely outlined

Making Level Maps: well outlined, not started

Bestiary: have started catalouging potential enemies

Traps: have outlined classic traps from the series I could include

PART THREE - THE ULRICH CONTRACT (Example mission)

Objectives: Outlined

Dungeon Maps: Outlined

NPC's: Need statted up

Example player characters: See poll

They shall be posted in the order set out above, once completed. What I need from you people is to tell me what Continent the game will be on (I plan to make supplements for all of them in the future, after I've taken a break from all of this), as this will affect any races available for Character Creation and the Bestiary. <br>And, of course, I need people willing to either read over or actually playtest (gaspshockhorror) the individual segments. Example: When the Character Creation system goes up, I'd need someone to see if they can actually make their own character with it...you know, making <i>sense</i>. Any refinements suggested will, of course, be taken. The finished product (If I do finish it) shall be provided in shiny PDF form, for your free downloading and perusal.

Even if I get a grand total of no support on this, I'm going to go ahead with it anyway. After I finish crying in the corner.

So, yeah. Let's go!

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Edited April 25, 2012 by Gone2Ground

[nolongeractivesheep]

I'm not sure if you are aware, but there is a Fire Emblem dice game system already in existence. Though it relies on actual game mechanics, so its probably a bit slow. Anyway, I'm totally on board with this idea.

My suggestion is to make a custom continent in an alternate world, so you have free reign over the history of the world and such. And since FE13 makes alternate realities canon to each other with the dimensional gateway, I think it works out with this!

Anyway, I'd really really love to play in a Fire Emblem roleplay, and this looks like it could have potential. If you need any help in developing ideas, I'd be more than happy to be your girl!

[Loki Laufeyson]

I wanted to make one of these ages ago but my maths skills are in the toilet and....i didnt really have any takers.

FE table top can work with the D20 system or something remarkably similar.

- Branched, Three-Level promotions

In that case, two d20s could do the trick... ;)

If you want to do one on an existing 'verse, best to do it in a packaged campaign deal like DnD does. Making up one's own thing is actually preferable and potentially more fun.

Good luck on this, mate. You will need it.

[Gone2Ground]

I wanted to make one of these ages ago but my maths skills are in the toilet and....i didnt really have any takers.

FE table top can work with the D20 system or something remarkably similar.

Good luck on this, mate. You will need it.

The luck is appreciated. I tried to figure out how to do it with the D20 system, only for it to get out of control and all about the modifiers (Which isn't fun). Then I tried to figure out a Dice Pool system like ShadowRun, but that ended up going down the toilet as well. As fun as rolling buckets of dice across the table is (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!), it gets irritating after you go 'no, no, that one over there was a six too' 'Really?' 'Yeah. Damn. Guess you die.' for the ten thousandth time. I settled with a D100 system as it doesn't require as much Math (The combat system has three steps to figure out how you hit rather than D&D's five), and more people understand it. I'll include a brief overview of how a D100 system works in CH1: An Introduction to Roleplaying.

Thanks for the support!

Edited April 18, 2012 by Gone2Ground

[Baldrick]

I'm kind of on the fence here, I'll show cautious support for now.

Voted Archanea bc it needs more love, but any world could work.

[Anouleth]

D100s are lame. D20 is easier.

The combat system has five steps to figure out how you hit rather than D&D's five

lol

[Gone2Ground]

INTRODUCTION

Using this Rulebook

This rulebook includes all the material you will need to play a game of the Pen-and-Paper RPG based on the venerable Fire Emblem franchise, except the dice and some optional play-aids. It is a game largely built from the imaginations of its players, and needs few physical components. As you read these rules and play your first games, you will begin to appreciate how it works and what additional help you will require.

This rulebook is set into three major sections, split into individual chapters. Each section then breaks down into a number of different topics, with headers like the one at the top of this post. Using these topic headings, you ought to be able to find a specific rule or piece of information without difficulty.

Just to make it truly easy, there are also quick-reference topic listings at the end of each chapter, which will also be collected at the back of the PDF edition for quick access.

What is a Roleplaying Game?

A roleplaying game is an adventure, in which you have the leading parts to play. You can compare it to a play or a film, in which actors play the roles of characters and act through a preordained plot. In a roleplaying game, each player takes the role of a character, a fictional personality who may be very different from the player himself. However, unlike in a film or play, in the roleplaying game there is no fixed plot. Instead, the players decide exactly what they want to do in any given situation, and then must discover if they were successful.

To decide what the players can or cannot do, whether they succeed or whether they fail in any action, there is the Gamesmaster (GM). The GM controls the world in which the characters live - he is the final arbiter whose word cannot be disobeyed. To help the GM decide what is possible and what is not, there are the rules you are reading now. The GM will use these rules to present a balanced setting in which the fictional characters can adventure. He will make the adventure seem real. But the rules are only guidelines, and when the GM feels he has to change them, he will. You have to accept that what the GM says are the rules of this game.

You will have realized by now that in order to play this game, you will need several people. You will need a GM and you will need players. The minimum number of players is two and the maximum practical number of players is probably about six, although more is possible (But starting to stretch it).

The Playing Area

Unlike a conventional board game, there is no formal 'board'. All of the information needed by the players is written down by them before the game using scrap paper or the special charts given to them in this book, called a 'character sheet'. A pen, pencil or word processor will, of course, be essential, as will scrap paper. The only other things you must have are dice, and even then a Random Number Generator will suffice. Roleplaying games normally use a variety of dice, but this one only uses the humble ten-sided dice - two of them, to be precise.

Sometimes the players' characters will become involved in fighting - the various continents of Fire Emblem are violent places, and this will happen quite often! On such occasions it helps everyone to picture the scene - to know the exact positions of characters relative to each other and to scenic features, such as doors, walls, windows, etc. - if the GM draws out a map or places a scale plan on the tabletop. Positions of characters, or of other features, can then be indicated. Most players prefer to use models to represent their characters, although counters work fine.

If you are playing through a livechat, or don't have access to models/tables, the GM can just say where each character is, and roughly how far away they are from everything else. This is why the rules don't just use 'squares' or 'spaces' in the combat descriptions, but 'meters' as well. If you are going to use a map or square grid, one square is considered to cover a space of four meters cubed, although you can change it if you wish.

The Action

All the players have to do to play the game is to make decisions about what their characters are going to do and how they are going to do it. This is quite easy. The players simply pretend to be their characters, and use their imaginations to guide their actions as if they were really in the world described to them by the GM. The more the players believe in their roles and the more involved they get in characters' the more rewarding the game will be. Players should always try to forget about the 'rules of the game' and attempt to act the part of their character as realistically as possible. A a character who is a sailor should act and speak like one, complaining about "Land Lubbers" and calling their superiors "Cap'n", while Nobles use long words and are stiffly polite.

The task of controlling the players and their characters falls upon the GM. This is a fairly weighty responsibility. The GM needs to be familiar with all the rules of the game and he needs to be able to apply them in a fair and even-handed fashion. He also needs to know when not to stick to the rules, but use his own judgment. Knowing when not to stick to the letter of the rules is a sign of a good GM, and is something that only comes with experience.

One final point. Throughout these rules I tend to use the word 'he' whenever talking about a singular player or character. Needless to say, you can replace it with 'she' just as easily, and no discrimination was implied or intended.

That last paragraph was courtesy of the Girlfriend.

The World

The world of Fire Emblem has had many great settings before, and I will visit them in the future (I may even ask permission to visit a few other fan-created worlds). For this game, however, I shall be making my own continent. The continent of Candrum is a strange and mysterious place, with mankind only just striking out and carving their way into the wilderness. Much of the land is forested, mountainous or otherwise wild and dangerous, with the few villages and hovels little more than a collection of farms constantly raided by bandits. What cities there are, however, are large walled bastions of peace and tranquility, until you get involved in local politics.

Players will soon find themselves faced with wild beasts, bandits, assassins, rogue military groups, and evil cults of necromancers. In the deep woods the monsters rule, and high in the mountains Wyverns await those brave enough to try and tame them, becoming one of the worlds famed Wyvern Riders. Hills and trails are dominated by bandits, and cities are ruled by tyrannical bureaucrats out to make a quick penny, their own personal armies behind them.

For the moment, the players need know no more about the world than where the characters live. The world shall be introduced to them by the GM, and a coherent picture of its peoples, geography and history will unfold during the course of its play. Remember - a certain amount of ignorance about their own environment is to be expected of novice adventurers, many of whom will be uneducated and (as yet) innocent of the ways of the world.

See the World of Candrum section for more information about this fanmade continent.

The Scenario

The world scenario is widely used to describe a self-contained adventure. It might begin with the player's characters having a quiet drink in a local tavern, or entering a small town in search of a bed for the night. It could even be as exotic as them all awakening on a pirate ship, captured to be their oarsmen!

Any of these scenarios may lead into a quest to recover a magical sword, or to defeat an ancient monster deep in the woods. The scenario is the stage for the adventure itself, which the GM must have prepared before play can begin. To show what is expected, I have included a specially created scenario in this rulebook called The Ulrich Contract.

The Ulrich Contract is a ready-to-play adventure, in which all the necessary details have already been worked out. A GM is still required, but there are extensive notes to make the GM's job easier.

Designing scenarios and running games is discussed in greater detail in the DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE section.

Winning and Losing

In a roleplaying game there are no individual winners or losers. The players act together to try and overcome problems presented by the GM. Only by co-operating will the characters survive the dangers they face.

The object of the game is not only to survive (Hard enough on occasions), but to survive IN STYLE! Characters in the game must earn money to live, and acquiring money will become quite important to them. Characters may have other aims too, reflected by improving gaming abilities, such as the acquisition of new and useful skills. The best goals, however, are personal goals the characters set forth - an example is Inigo Montoya's search for the Six-Fingered man in The Princess Bride.

The GM cannot 'win' as such. His aim should be to provide an interesting and demanding game for the players. Because of his unique position, the GM could kill off a player's character at any time, but that is not the idea of the game and should not be the aim of the GM.

Creatures and Characters

During their adventures, the players' characters will meet other characters, other actors in the drama, as it were. These extra characters may be friendly or hostile, but whatever their attitude they will be controlled by the GM. They are referred to as non-player characters, or NPC's for short.

The word Creature(s) is used in the game to refer to all other living creatures, which are normally not sentient, such as Wyverns, the monsters in the forest, and Skeletons.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Gone2Ground

[Rehab]

Could be cool! A friend got together a different take on this in early high school, though it was less traditional RP than literally a poor man's Fire Emblem. I'd be happy to playtest, though my RP experience is relatively lacking.

At first I thought this would have less focus on utility characters than being basically pure combat, but there could of course be some room for thieving and diplomacy, too. And maybe breaking down walls, trees etc. And using terrain. And crossing water. And and and

I'm not sure which of the continents/worlds would make for the most interesting RP; Magvel might provide the most variety with the monsters and the darkness an the bibbity bop, but I really like Jugdral and Elibe's nations, and the holy blood thing could be interesting. Thinking out loud, if peeps want Tellius but you really don't want to patch a Laguz system together, you might make them all enemy/NPC only, and have them transform appropriately at the plot's convenience. If you have your own kickass world in mind, though, I'd love to hear it.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Rehab

[Agro]

I'm not sure if you are aware, but there is a Fire Emblem dice game system already in existence. Though it relies on actual game mechanics, so its probably a bit slow. Anyway, I'm totally on board with this idea.

My suggestion is to make a custom continent in an alternate world, so you have free reign over the history of the world and such. And since FE13 makes alternate realities canon to each other with the dimensional gateway, I think it works out with this!

Anyway, I'd really really love to play in a Fire Emblem roleplay, and this looks like it could have potential. If you need any help in developing ideas, I'd be more than happy to be your girl!

SPOILERS OH DEAR GOD WHY

[Gone2Ground]

Could be cool! A friend got together a different take on this in early high school, though it was less traditional RP than literally a poor man's Fire Emblem. I'd be happy to playtest, though my RP experience is relatively lacking.

At first I thought this would have less focus on utility characters than being basically pure combat, but there could of course be some room for thieving and diplomacy, too. And maybe breaking down walls, trees etc. And using terrain. And crossing water. And and and

All characters have the ability to try anything they do - some are just better at it (Thieves have skills that give bonuses to Picking checks, for example). It's all up to the DM. If someone wants to try and, I don't know, jump onto the chandelier and bring it crashing to the ground, that's their decision. The utility characters are there, even the Priests and Clerics, although I have given them a bit more combat utility as most parties are four people rather than fifteen, with less of them to protect the healer.

Thanks for the support!

[nolongeractivesheep]

SPOILERS OH DEAR GOD WHY

So stating the manner by which you obtain DLC weapons and characters and players from other people's games come into your game is a spoiler?

[Agro]

So stating the manner by which you obtain DLC weapons and characters and players from other people's games come into your game is a spoiler?

You sounded like you knew for certain that the gate acts as a world-bridge, which is something that I didn't really want to know. You made the gate sound like a plot-point - I knew that it was a gameplay mechanic, but saying "FE13 makes alternate realities canon to each other with the dimensional gateway" is an important plot point which I wish you hadn't said.

[BBM]

Sounds cool, I'd play. I voted for Jugdral because as someone else said, the Holy Blood would make it interesting.

However, can we just RNGs instead of 10-sided dice, because I have no idea where I'd find those.

[Agro]

However, can we just RNGs instead of 10-sided dice, because I have no idea where I'd find those.

It's meant to be "pen-and-paper", not "pen-and-paper-and-computer"...

[AMCC4728]

It's meant to be "pen-and-paper", not "pen-and-paper-and-computer"...

But.... people wouldn't be able to participate in this topic if it weren't for a computer....

[Gone2Ground]

Sounds cool, I'd play. I voted for Jugdral because as someone else said, the Holy Blood would make it interesting.

However, can we just RNGs instead of 10-sided dice, because I have no idea where I'd find those.

RNG's work fine, but you should be able to find D10's at any hobby or games store.

[Agro]

Actually you could just RNG 1-10 if you can't be bothered getting a D10 die, I guess.

[Komeiji Koishi]

If i knew how to play these games i would give this a go

Do this thing, because the end product will be several types of awesome.

[Rehab]

Here is your RPG dice rolla

[Laureola]

I swear I had a pdf of a paper version of Fire Emblem somewhere, fuck I want to give it to you to help.

[Gone2Ground]

I swear I had a pdf of a paper version of Fire Emblem somewhere, fuck I want to give it to you to help.

Thanks for the offer, but honestly? I'm better off working from scratch-ish. It's basically turning into a fusion of Fantasy Flight Game's roleplay system and the video games. Any other sources are just going to mix me up.

Unless it turns out crap, at which point it'll be appreciated. But hey, we'll see if it's crap when that happens.

[Loki Laufeyson]

But wouldnt the point of dice rolling actually replicate RNG in a way? Especially if there was a base number for hit rates and shit just like in the games. I mean...isnt that kinda the point?

Ahhh dont mind me...

[Rehab]

But wouldnt the point of dice rolling actually replicate RNG in a way? Especially if there was a base number for hit rates and shit just like in the games. I mean...isnt that kinda the point?

Ahhh dont mind me...

Exactly! Imo.

[Gone2Ground]

Daily Update for April 19th

- Poll updated

- Layout changed

- More progress made on the Character Creation chapter.

[Rehab]

The poll seems to be acting a little oddly, being told to answer more than one question but see one. Voting; Thief, Pegasus Knight, Cleric/Priest and Pirate, to highlight their uniqueness/see how it would work.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Rehab