A compilation of our current rules

In the interest of newcomers and oldies alike not having to dig through pages and pages of stuff to see the active rules, here's a thread in which to compile everything we've got so far.

Stats:
Starting stats for characters will be determined by the Morrowind method. Base is 40. All racial adjustments will be applied to that base, and racial adjustments are those from the Morrowind versions of each race.

Each stat has a Stat Bonus equal to 10% of that stat.

Health is Str+End/2
Fatigue is End+WP/2
Magicka is WP+Int/2

You may spend up to 10% of your current magicka each turn without subtracting any magicka from your total. Any further expenditure is subtracted as normal.

You gain actions per round equal to Speed/25 plus one. (rounded down)

Your Speed Bonus is how many map units (feet, yards, hexes, squares, whatever) you move when you spend an action moving.

Your Agility Bonus is added to the target number of all attack rolls (improving the chance of hitting your target by that amount).

Your Strength Bonus is added to the damage of all physical attacks.

Your Wisdom Bonus is added to your To Hit roll with targeted spells. *

Your Intelligence Bonus is added to the damage or healing of all magical attacks. *

Your Personality Bonus influences the initial reaction of NPCs you interact with. *

The last 3 have not been made official, but seem to make sense to me, so they're in unless someone has a problem

Magicka
There are 6 main schools of magicka, divided into two categories. There are also crafting skills that can be used to imbue items with magical properties, but those are as yet unworked-on.

Gross Magicka: Gross Magicka is a style of magicka that includes Conjuration, Alteration, and Destruction. These spells run roughshod over physics and logic. They make water breathable as air, summon beasts from alternate worlds, and manipulate elemental forces.

Subtle Magicka: Subtle Magicka includes the schools of Mysticism, Illusion, and Restoration. These deal much more with the body, the mind, and perception. Restoration can't make an object lighter, but it can bolster your strength. Illusion can't put out your enemy's eye, but it can blind and deafen him. Mysticism can't bring a creature to the world from Oblivion, but it can show you the dark corners where such creatures lurk and get you home from those dark places in one piece.

Magicka, as stated before, is found by calculating WP+Int. I think it would be far more balanced to have the Magicka-boosting birthsigns increase your magic by a percentage rather than by a flat total the way they did in Oblivion, because a level 1 character with 150 Magicka is gonna be able to cast amazing spells all the time with no balance whatsoever.

Spellmaking is an as-yet-undetermined construction process. Most likely, dice will cost a certain number of points per die, with factors like range, target, and area of effect multiplying that base cost.

Currently, players begin the game with knowledge of one spell per 10 points in a given spell skill. So let's say we have an Altmer. His racial adjustments are +5 to all Subtle Magickas and +10 to all Gross Magickas. with all three Gross Magicka skills as major and all Subtle Magicka skills as minor, he would know 4 spells from each Gross Magicka school and 2 from each Subtle Magicka school. You may only start the game with knowledge of spells of a skill level equal to or lower than your own. Therefore, a mage-type who starts the game with 45 Conjuration can know spells of up to Apprentice level.

For each skill level above you that a spell is, subtract 10 from the target number to cast your spell. for each skill level below you, add 10.

When targeting a spell, your casting roll includes both your chance to cast correctly and your chance to hit. There is no need to roll separately to cast, and then to hit your target. When targeting an unwilling target with a spell, add your willpower bonus to the target number and subtract the target's.

Intelligence is added to the damage of attack spells.

Skills:
We have, at current, 36 Skills. Each skill starts at 5. At character creation, select 5 Major skills, which receive a bonus of +30, and 5 Minor Skills, which receive a bonus of +15.

The Skills are divided into 12 groups. Your synergy bonus for each group is 20% of the highest skill in that group. That bonus is added to any skills lower than your highest, but a synergy bonus can not raise a skill above the skill providing the bonus. Therefore, a long blades skill of 75 would provide a bonus of 15 points to short blades and block, but could not raise those skills above 75.
Skills are advanced only by use.

Skills are increased through use. The currently popular system is to mark each skill used during an adventure and then increase a certain number of those marked skills based on experience. A proposed refinement of the system is that skills require one use per 10 points of the corresponding skill, and skills can level up once per session to prevent excessive skill gains from, for example, a particularly strenuous fight.

Skills will have perks that can be accessed once a character reaches Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, or Master skill level.
These are extremely unrefined and are among the things most in need of work.

Subtle magicka -
Mysticism:
Permanent Detection effect up to a short range.
Permanent Telekinesis effect up to short range
Able to Soultrap without casting a Soultrap spell
Faster/cheaper/easier teleportation

Illusion:
Illusory servant
Permanent night-eye
Create light at will

Restoration:
Ability to heal at will
Innate regeneration
Innate resistances

Gross Magicka -
Conjuration:
Increased duration of summons
Access to more powerful summons
Permanent lesser Daedric servant

Alteration:
Permanent Feather
Constant effect Alteration spells (water walking, levitation, feather)

Destruction:
Amplify damage
Flame touch at will
Elemental resist innate

Crafting -
Enchant:
Squeeze more juice from soulgems
Squeeze more enchantment into an item
Squeeze more charge from enchanted items
Ability to enchant constant effect

Alchemy:
Yield more potion
Fewer ingredients/ingredient substitution

Armorer:
Fix enchanted items
Craft enchanted gear
Modify armor (Make it lighter, reduce casting penalty)

Crime -
Stealth:
Hide in plain sight
Spot hidden things

Security:
Don't break tools
Scavenge parts from traps (valuable metal, scrolls/wands for magic traps, etc.)
Never jam locks
Reduced trap damage

Backstab:
Boosted chance to crit with any attack
Weapon encumbrance treated as lighter for backstabbing
Backstab non-humanoid foes (Some daedra, animals, Dwemer steam-creatures)

Marksmanship -
Archery:
Multiple shots
Extra shot distance
Boosted bleed damage

Crossbow:
Faster reloads
Penetrate armor

Thrown:
Use thrown skill to melee with thrown weapons

Martial arts -
Hand-to-Hand:
Stunning blow
Deal normal or Fatigue damage
Deal normal and Fatigue damage
Disarm (vs. enemy weapon skill)

Unarmored:
Damage resist
Innate defense bonus

Acrobatics:
Leaping attack

Brute weapons -
Axe:
Hew armor
Hit multiple foes

Blunt:
Ignore shields
Knock enemy back/down

Polearm:
Gain shield bonus with 2-handed polearm
Extended reach
Bonus attack with spear butt
Bonuses against mounted targets

Finesse weapons -
Long Blade:
Wield 2-handed blades as 1-handed
Bonuses against single opponents
Bonuses while mounted

Short Blade:
Bonus attack
First attack of the round takes place sooner

Block:
Block more damage
Block spell damage
Block even if not facing enemy

Speechcraft -
Etiquette
Reduced negative reaction for social faux pas

Streetwise
Increased or decreased reaction with major crime elements, depending on overall reputation
Increased chance of finding hard-to-get items
Bonuses to intimidation

Mercantile
Better idea of prices
Poor Reaction does not affect good prices

Armor -
Heavy Armor:
Bonus DR
Ignore armor penalty when rolling against fatigue

Medium Armor:
Further reduced encumbrance

Light Armor:
Reduced spellcasting penalties
Reduce armor penalty

Adventuring -
Athletics:
Regain fatigue level
Max Fatigue increase

Medicine:
Treat Disease
Treat Blight disease
Treat poison

Survival:
Track Stealthing creatures
Max Health increase



I stopped having fresh ideas toward the end (and it's late) but I'll revisit this and continue work on it tomorrow.

THE BASIC ROLL SYSTEM
The default system for rolls looks like this:
Player Skill + bonuses - penalties = target number.

Opposed skills use a different formula:
(Player Skill + bonuses - penalties) - (Target skill + bonuses - penalties) = target number.
In opposed skill checks, each side adds their relevant Ability Bonus (so AGI for fighting, Per for talking, etc.)
Bonuses include those from superior equipment, advantageous information, magical enhancement, etc.
Penalties can be anything from a baseline penalty for a particularly difficult task, to trying to pick a lock with a hairpin and a screwdriver instead of a proper set of lockpicks (cough fallout3 cough).

When players are of roughly equal level, it looks like the chance for success of an opposed action hovers between 20 and 30%. There are, of course, variations - a mage swinging a stick at a trained warrior will have little luck; the same warrior will likely clobber the mage with ease.

For a social example, a rogue-type using Streetwise to bluff his way past a small-town guard will probably get by no problem. If he tries to bullshit his way into a royal palace, however, the sentries are much more on their guard - and much nore experienced in dealing with CRIMINAL SCUM.

It looks like these are the attributes to which each skill will be tied.

Mysticism - WP
Restoration - WP
Alteration - WP
Enchant - WP

Conjuration - Int
Destruction - Int
Alchemy - Int
Medicine - Int
Security - Int

Stealth - Agi
Backstab - Agi
Archery - Agi
Crossbow - Agi
Thrown - Agi

Hand-to-Hand - Spd
Unarmored - Spd
Short Blade - Spd
Light Armor - Spd
Athletics - Spd

Axe - Str
Blunt - Str
Polearm - Str
Long Blade - Str
Acrobatics - Str

Etiquette - Per
Streetwise - Per
Mercantile - Per
Illusion - Per

Heavy Armor - End
Medium Armor - End
Block - End
Survival - End
Armorer - End

We have 33 skills. Right now, the problems I see are:
1) that there are only 3 Personalithy skills, which means that it will probably be harder to level up Personality in the long run. [edit] I moved Illusion to Personality and Security to Intelligence, so now we have either 4 or 5 skills in each category. Evens things out a wee bit.
2) The overlap in several of the attribute/skill lists. INT and WP are almost exclusively casting, Str is almost entirely combat, Per can only be increased by social interaction, which means that all those fancy combat skills are probably going to waste.

Races:
Every race adds and subtracts from your attributes. The net adjustment is -10. Every race also has three skills to which you gain a +10 bonus, and three to which you gain +5.
I'll be defaulting to the Oblivion stats for races except where I deem it better to use older stats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Altmer:
Male:
+10 Int
-10 Str, Spd
Female:
+10 Int
-10 Str, End

Skills:
+10 Alteration, Destruction, and Mysticism
+5 Alchemy, Conjuration, and Illusion

Abilities:
Resist Disease 75%
Weak Shock, Frost, Fire 25%
+100 Magicka
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Argonian:
Male
+10 Agi, Spd
-10 WP, End, Per
Female
+10 Int
-10 End, Per

Skills
+10 Athletics, Security, and Polearms
+5 Alchemy, Illusion, and Mysticism

Traits
Resist Poison 100
Resist Common Disease 75
Water Breathing constant self
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosmer
Male:
-10 Str, WP, Per
+10 Agi, Spd
Female:
-10 Str, WP, End
+10 Agi, Spd

Skills:
+10 Alchemy, Marksman, and Sneak
+5 Acrobatics, Alteration, and Light Armor

Abilities:
Command Creature level 5 60 sec Target
Resist Common Disease 75%
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Breton
Male:
+10 Int and WP
-10 Agi, Spd, and End
Female:
+10 Int and WP
-10 Agi, Str, and End

Skills:
+10 Conjuration, Mysticism, and Restoration
+5 Alchemy, Alteration, and Illusion

Abilities:
Shield 50 self 60 sec
Resist Magicka 50%
+50 Magicka
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dunmer
Male:
-10 Per
+10 Spd
Female:
-10 End
+10 Spd

Skills:
Destruction, Light Armor, Short Blade +10
Athletics, Backstab, Mysticism +5

Traits:
Summon Ancestor Guardian 60 secs
Resist Fire 75%
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imperial
Male:
+10 Per
-10 Agi, WP
Female:
+10 Per
-10 Agi, Spd

Skills:
+10 Mercantile, Speechcraft and Heavy Armor
+5 Short blade, Streetwise, Thrown

Traits:
Absorb Fatigue 100 Touch
Charm 30 Target 30 sec
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Khajit
Male
+10 Agility
-10 Willpower and Endurance

Female
+10 Agility
-10 Willpower and Strength

Skills
+10 Acrobatics, Sneak, and Hand to Hand
+5 Athletics, Light Armor, and Security

Traits
Eye of Fear greater power: Demoralize up to level 25 30 seconds Target
Eye of Night lesser power: Night-Eye 30 seconds Self
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nord
Male:
+10 Str, End
-10 Int, Agi, Per
Female:
+10 Str, WP
-10 Int, Agi, Per

Skills:
Axe, Blunt Weapon, Medium Armor +10
Armorer, Heavy Armor, Survival +5

Traits:
Resist Shock 50%
Resist Frost 100%
Shield 10 self 60 sec
Frost Damage 25 touch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Redguard
Male:
+10 Str, End
-10 Int, WP, Per
Female:
+10 End
-10 Int, WP

Skills:
+10 Long Blade, Block, and Athletics
+5 Light Armor, Heavy Armor, and Medicine

Traits:
Adrenaline Rush - +50 Agi, Spd, End, Str, +25 HP self 60 sec
Resist Poison 75%
Resist Common Disease 75%
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Orismer
Male:
+10 WP and End
+5 Str
-10 Int, Spd, Per
-5 Agi
Female:
+5 Str, WP
+10 End
-5 Agi
-10 Spd
-15 Per

Skills:
+10 Armorer, Block, Blunt
+5 Heavy Armor, Crossbow, Athletics

Abilities:
Resist Magicka 25%
Berserk 20 Health, 100 Fatigue, 50 Str, -50 Agi 60 sec

That is all?

If I weren't almost dead from alcohol poisoning this would have been so dperessing.

This isn't all. I'm just not done compiling yet. And keep in mind, this is the result of a lot of discussion and deliberation and changing of ideas and scrapping and rewriting systems.

I know. Terribly sorry. Won't happen again for at least eight hours.

No worries. Frustration and "oh shit is this all we have" are part of the process.
And you should never have to apologize for the things you do while drunk.
NEVER!

So the inconsequential "ability bonuses" got in, I see.

Apart from that, two things:
1)Movement speed. Unless my reading comprehension fails me, somebody with speed of 50 will be able to move 50 units per action? This can't end well, no matter how I turn it.
2) Fixed magicka bonuses for altmer and bretons. It might be an issue that a starting altmer mage gets three times the magicka of a starting dunmer mage. We'll have to playtest to see how drawbacks are balancing this (lol what drawbacks, says the breton).

I wish there was more than two of us here, there's so much work to be done.

Slotha Sil wrote:So the inconsequential "ability bonuses" got in, I see.

Apart from that, two things:
1)Movement speed. Unless my reading comprehension fails me, somebody with speed of 50 will be able to move 50 units per action? This can't end well, no matter how I turn it.
2) Fixed magicka bonuses for altmer and bretons. It might be an issue that a starting altmer mage gets three times the magicka of a starting dunmer mage. We'll have to playtest to see how drawbacks are balancing this (lol what drawbacks, says the breton).

I wish there was more than two of us here, there's so much work to be done.

Move Speed is based on your Speed bonus, not your base Speed. So a baseline speed is 3 units per action. A Steed with Speed as a favored ability will go 5 or 6 units per round.

I think I'll want to lower the starting magicka bonuses by a LOT for races and birthsigns (except maybe the Atronach) because with +100 magicka a starting character would get +10 to their magicka allowance per round as well, which would get out of hand VERY fast. Ten or twenty sounds more reasonable. The Atronach, however, should rightly grant a big magicka bonus, because you only recharge by being cast at.