Vagari RPG 1.2 Update

Happy New Year, everyone! 

The end of 2023 was quite busy for us at Moira Games: we launched a podcast, a blog, made our social media a bit more active, and (last but not least) received an award! As some of you already know, our one-page dungeon titled "They Dug Too Deep" made it to the Winners’ Circle of the One Page Dungeon Contest 2023! Yay!

All of this slowed down the updates (and playtests) for Vagari a bit. That said, a good number of changes are coming.

First of all: bonuses and modifiers. In a roll-under system, I've noticed that explaining to players that they should "subtract 2 from the target number for the Intelligence check" and that this is a "good" thing has become a bit complicated. It's amazing how the human mind works: 10+2+1d20 to reach a high number? No problem! But the moment you add a small subtraction, it seems like all our childhood school traumas come back and leave us paralyzed. This, and of course, the natural tendency to associate d20 games with "high rolls," as widely propagated in the post-D&D 3e era.

Anyway, about modifiers: we're abolishing them from the game in this version. Instead, we'll use the "advantage" and "disadvantage" approach: less granularity, fewer explanations needed to grasp the basic mechanics of the game. I don't consider it the best solution, but in practice, the good outweighs the bad.

Another change that has been in the works for a while: XP for exploration. As the name of the game suggests, "Vagari" - a Latin word meaning "to wander" - is a game that aims to encourage exploration more than combat (or even treasure collection, as is common in retroclones and the like). Now you receive XP for newly explored hexes (or new areas).

XP for gold remains for now but with some changes to simplify it. XP for gold still seems quite useful to me, as it helps measure the amount of XP received if we're playing a classic module and/or playing sessions in an OSR vibe.

Thinking about changes to XP for gold also led me to invest even more in abstract mechanics for handling equipment. Now "gold" as a "resource" in the game is also abstract. The current conversion is as follows: 200 pieces of gold = 1 slot = 5 xp. When a player loots a treasure, the GM must make an approximate conversion into "inventory slots." When the player wants to "cash ou" to buy something, it works as follows: every 1 treasure slot buys 3 equipment slots. Thus, the gold/equipment system becomes even less detailed (and also aligns with the current character creation rules, where the player simply fills inventory spaces instead of worrying about their monetary value).

Now, onto the controversial part: attack/damage rolls and social interaction. In summary: we still stick with attack rolls only (going against the current trend of games like Into the Odd where there are only damage rolls). Just a hit roll with fixed damage isn't very exciting. It's true. That's why we're testing a different approach: now the player deals extra damage if they roll a hit whose value is equal to or less than their attribute -10 (e.g., with strength 13, rolling 3 or less on the hit, you gain a benefit). I still plan to test whether it will be applied as simple extra damage or if we'll make a narrative addition (like Dungeon Crawl Classics' "mighty deeds").

Well... and, to wrap it up, I'd like to talk a bit about my idea for the social interaction procedure. Before you throw your stones and rotten tomatoes at me, hear me out! What if I said it's a very simple system that still maintains the OSR precept of "challenge the player, not the character"? Still uninterested? Yeah, I expected that. But for the (few) of you still here with me, here it goes: to summarise, the GM makes a reaction roll using 3d6, with low numbers indicating positive reactions. Players have a set number of interactions defined by their charisma value and modified by the reaction before making their Proposal to the NPC. During the interaction, the GM adjusts the NPC's Reaction value according to the character's attitude (decreasing the value if their words please the NPC and increasing it if they don't) and, when their number of "interactions" is up, the GM determines whether the NPC accepts their proposal or not. If in doubt, the player makes a charisma check: if they pass the check and their result is higher than the NPC's reaction value, they succeed in their proposal. If they succeed but rolled a result higher than the reaction value, the NPC can make a counterproposal or accept but demand something in return ("success with consequences").

Anyway, these were the changes to the system. Phew. I feel a bit lighter finally being able to put them out there! Unfortunately, Vagari tests should proceed at a slower pace from now on, at least until I settle into the new production dynamic (things are tighter now: the final stretch of my PhD, podcast, blog translations, maybe continue to host RPG events on Discord... may the gods help me in 2024!)

Happy 2024 to everyone and happy gaming!

General:

• Advantage and disadvantage instead of modifiers
• Extra damage: rolling a value equal to or less than your attribute -10 grants extra damage or extra effect.
• Armors absorb attacks and are more modular (shields provide defense)
• Gold is now accounted for in an abstract way: 200 pieces of gold = 1 slot = 5 xp
• Spending 1 "Treasure" inventory slot allows a character to buy 3 equipment inventory slots. 
• Experience for exploration: each new explored hex grants 2xp, and finding a new adventure location grants 5xp
• Social interaction procedure: rules for "Reaction," "Disposition," and "Proposal."

Classes:

• Class abilities now grant "advantage" instead of numerical bonuses
• With the new "extra damage" rule, the Warrior loses their homonymous ability.
• Armors absorb attacks and are more modular (shields provide a defense bonus).