FIGHTING MEN

FIGHTING MEN

Sometimes you want complexity. Sometimes you just want to hit things real good. I've also found that interesting equipment is the calling-card of creative, insightful, and downright entertaining gameplay. Hence, I've mushed all these things together into a level-less, mono-classed way to play GLOG. It hasn't been playtested as a whole yet, but each individual part works rather well. I'm also not quite sure how hard it'll be, hence a few "easy mode" options have been included to lighten a little of the load.

Each Fighting-Man starts with a main weapon, a special move cribbed from the original Notches move-list, a backup plan, a useful item and a "bizarre circumstance" which range from mild supernatural powers to nails torn from the throne of God (maybe). The stats are inspired from Dungeon Robber but are entirely optional. Since Wisdom is capped, it's entirely reasonable to use these initiative rules, where each player will have between 1 and 3 cards on the stack.

I'm quite fond of the progression system, but haven't yet had a chance to test it out. Fighting-Men that fight will get better at fighting, those that stay home and start making shoes for a living will not. The DM should keep an eye on what constitutes a threatening enemy, but anything that has dealt significant damage should count, no matter how lowly. In addition, the world should be threatening, chaotic, and unstable. A bunch of off-duty mercenaries/deserters, fleeing home through a battered foreign country should make for an appropriate setting.

I would put caps on the stats, but expecting each Fighting-Man to survive into old age is a moot point, as fighting is a trap. Still, flashy kills increase your Attack, getting smacked around and telling everyone "you shoulda seen the other guy" increases HP, and breaking apart ancient burial mounds to drink the ancient golden marrow increases your Save, all things that are good and proper. "Clearing" a dungeon doesn't mean subterranean omnicide. You only need to do two things: deal with the boss somehow, and have established a safe route/outpost deep inside. When you can say "this is ours" with considerable confidence, gain +1 Save.

A lot of this is written in my own shorthand, but I hope the above wall of text will help explain some of my choices and/or ramblings in a satisfactory way.