[DM] Sword and Board

[Okiba]

Sword and Board - a DM System

What is this? - This! is my very own Dungeon master system, engineered to land somewhere between the Bloodied blades and other more free style non-rolling DM methods.

Why use this? - Sword and board combines fluid narrative, with a simple turn based roll system, that allows for quick successive combat encounters... all without the bulk of numbers you need to memorize.

Is it strict on the rules? - Nope! its actually very adaptable and I myself often find I alter my own rules/method here and there to make the event at hand work better.

How can it be used? - Sword and board is helpful for all kinds of Dm'ed events. Everything from straight up combat with minor enemies (Bandits), to large heroic foe's like dragons. It can even be used in covert situations, where rolls can potentially decide stealth effectiveness or lock picking. Furthermore, it has potential to be used for non combative events too.

How many people does it work for? - in an ideal situation, five. However, it can work for up to fifteen players using 'waves', Which I will explain later.

Layout.

The system essentially works in this order...

1 - The DM (Dungeonmaster), who is the event co-ordinator, uses raid warning to herald the start of a turn (or new one). This would be done with a promot such as...

/RW Round one - Roll!

2- Every player in the group (or wave), rolls.  (using the /roll command)

3 - When all the rolls are done, it should look something alike to this:

Krogon Rolls 11 (1-100)
Sadok Rolls 50 (1-100)
Rargnasha Rolls 80 (1-100)
Moneyfix Rolls 99 (1-100)

4 - With all the rolls in, The players can begin Writing their emotes in raid chat. Note, these should be written as 'X Attempts to do Y', why will become clear momentarily.

5 - When the first player has written their emote, the DM responds with a Result based on the roll, and relative assessed strength of the enemy. In this scenario, its a  lone bandit. And as 'Krogon' rolled first, he will emote first, while the other participants wait for a result from the DM. Typically I use the emphasis that a roll over 40 is a hit, a roll below 30 is a miss with consequences (the player decides how bad), and between 30 and 40 is a 'nobody gets hurt'. In the end, the following is what should be displayed based on the rolls at point 3:

/RW  Round 1 - Roll!

Krogon: - Krogon attempts to slash his sword at the bandit! -

DM: - Krogon misses, over-extending, the bandit in turn kicks at the old Bladmasters bent knee! -

Sadok says: - Sadok launches a bolt of ice at the bandit! -

DM: - The bolt hits! staggering the surprised Bandit! -

Rargnasha: - Rargnasha slams his shield toward the Bandit! -

DM: - The shield strike hits! sending the bandit over and onto his back in a daze! -

Moneyfix: - Moneyfix launches a fireball toward the Bandit! -

DM: - The Dazed bandit is hit, engulfed in flames! he quickly burns to death! Incinerated! -

/RW End of Round !

/RW Round two! - Roll!


6 - And then a new round would begin against a different enemy, or group, or move onto the next encounter.

7 - HP (Health points) are non existant in this system, its down to the DM's bst judgement as to how badly hurt a particular enemy is and how much damage they can sustain before they go down or die. Likewise, reward players who describe or use their attacks wisely, with strategy, and punish those who very literally walk face first into death.

8 - The player also decides how much damage they themselves sustain. For example, in my above scenario 'Krogon' would likely emote how badly if at all, he was hurt by the bandits counter attack. That is for them to decide, but a roll of '1' should never be a small thing to overlook.

Waves.

Waves allow a group larger than five players to operate in a fashion whereby the DM is not overwhelmed by the size of his group. At best, operating in 'waves' is used for a group of 10 to 15 players. It works as follows.

1 - Each group is a wave. Group 1 is wave 1, Group 2 is wave 2, Group 3 is Wave 3.

2 - Each round, only one wave will roll. For example...

Round 1 - Wave 1
Round 2 - Wave 2
Round 3 - Wave 3
Round 4 - Wave 1
Round 5 - Wave 2
Round 6 - Wave 3

3 - This way every 'wave' gets a go. This is typically best done with large enemies or large groups of enemies, for visual and team work purposes in the narrative, Aka a huge Dragon or a fel Orc warband.

Tips and suggestions.

1 - Use raid markers to give players a visual clue as to where they are fighting, and use descriptive comments in raid/instance chat to indicate what they are, outlining any weaknesses.

2 - Try and ensure raid/instance chat is used only for description, or emotes. This ensures the DM always see's actions.

3 - Keep emotes simple if you can. Over the top attacks/emotes just mean time wasted, likewise keep responses or results brief or simple too. A good idea is to copy paste your attack or even response ready for the player or DM to see, it saves lots of time!

4 - The Rolling below 30 or over 40 thing is not set in stone. However, I've found it to be a fine bench mark for -this- system. Feel free to experiment, but I personally find those numbers to work best.

5 - Plan your events well in advance. Use the terrain, land features, plan for surprises and alternate endings. Nothing is set in stone and players will surprise you.

6 - Experiment. This system is by no means complicated, and has masses of room for developing, adding too or altering.

-------------------------------------------------

And thats all! if you have any questions, do feel free to post them!