Roleplay System: Introduction and Building a Character
Introduction: Why do we have a Roleplaying System in an MMORPG
Sometimes during an RP session, stuff happens that can’t easily be resolved by talking it out. Perhaps two characters were at each other’s throats and have turned to violence to solve the problem. Perhaps there’s a particularly nasty puzzle that needs solving, and creativity is only carrying the party so far. In these scenarios, its helpful to have more mechanics than ESO naturally provides.
For these reasons, the Crimson Silver Company uses a bare-bones RP system that is focused on leaving the emphasis on player decisions, writing, and problem-solving, stepping in with numbers and rolling only if strictly necessary.
Generally speaking, characters will have a set of skills, and use those skills to do things. If a roll is warranted (which is most likely going to happen in combat, but could happen in other scenarios if simply comparing skill ratings isn’t sufficient), then the player(s) will use a d20 to roll. This can be done in our discord server, or in-game using an add-on like Joker.
The general rule of thumb when you use a roll to do something is:
If you can justify why it works, you can use it.
Building a Character
Each character can choose as many skills as they would like, either by using the example skills provided at the bottom of this page or by working with a council member to come up with skills that work for their character. Each skill has a rating from 0 to 10.
When you make your character, you will get 70 points to spend on your skill ratings. Each character can only have 2 skills with a rating of 10. Most of the time, you won’t roll dice, but if you need to roll a die, you will roll a d20 and add your rating in the skill you are using.
Most skills are general skills, used only for flavor and in some edge cases where a roll may need to be made. Some skills are “offensive” and are used in combat to make attacks, while others are “defensive” and are used in combat to defend against attacks. See the Combat section for more details on how this works.
Any skill can be designated as offensive or defensive, however, just like with custom skills, if you’re using an offensive or defensive skill that isn’t on our example list at the bottom of this page, contact a council member to discuss if that makes sense and get it approved.
Summary
Each character can choose as many skills as they want to add to their character sheet.
Each skill can have up to 10 points allocated to it to increase its rating, and each character has 70 points to spend.
Each character can have no more than two rank 10 skills.
When a character makes a skill check, they will roll 1d20 and add their rating.
Characters can either choose skills from the list below, or use their own skills if none of the ones below fit their character description. If you come up with your own skill, you must get it approved by the council. (We like approving things we swear!)
You can designate any skill that would reasonably be used for offense or defense as an offensive or defensive skill. We’ve gone ahead and provided some standard offensive and defensive skills, but if you have something that fits your character design better, please let us know so we can approve it.
Example Character: Zeldava Ellis
Note this is not the example skill list. Please continue scrolling for the full list of example skills.
Offensive Skills
Hand-to-Hand / Claws: 10
Two-Handed: 9
Defensive Skills
Parry: 10
Acrobatics: 9
Magicka Skills
Restoration: 9
General Skills
Perception: 8
Tracking: 9
Hunting: 6
Combat
Rules
Combat in our system follows the below rules. When doing combat, keep in mind that you should always try to describe what your character is doing. This will help the other people in the scene determine what skills they will use, how they will explain using those skills, and ensures everyone knows exactly what’s going on.
Combat is expected to be between two characters. If more characters are involved, make sure to establish a post order so everyone knows when they can react to an action.
For combat against another player:
The attacking player will describe their action, state which skill they are using, and then roll their offensive skill (adding their rating in that skill).
If the attacking player is using a summoned creature to attack, they will use the rating of whatever skill summoned the creature (example: necromancy for a skeleton attacking).
The defending player will describe their action, state which skill they are using, and then roll their defensive skill (also adding their rating in that skill).
The higher result wins.
For combat against an NPC:
If the attacking person is the player, they will use an offensive skill as normal, but the NPC will have a target number to beat. So, if the NPC has a target of 15 and the attacker rolls a 16, they win.
If the attacking person is the NPC, they will roll an offensive skill and the player will roll a defensive skill, just like they would against another player.
After the rolls:
If the attacker won, they deal a point of damage to the defender.
Each character can take 5 points of damage.
If the defender won, no damage is dealt.
Combat Example
Zeldava Ellis draws her greatsword in a single motion, sweeping a broad arc aimed at a hostile Orc, as though she’s trying to disembowel him.
This description means Zeldava is attacking with a greatsword, so she’ll roll Two-Handed.
Assuming the following skill layout for the orc:
Dodge 5
Armor 10
Block 7
The orc has several options on how to respond. Below are examples for what he might do in the scenario where he chooses each skill.
The orc sees Zeldava’s draw and realizes he has little time to respond. He turns slightly, letting his cuirass absorb the blow.
This description justifies the use of Armor. He’ll roll that skill.
The orc sees Zeldava drawing, and draws his shield, raising it to knock her blow out of the way.
This description justifies the use of Blocking. He’ll roll his block skill.
The orc sees Zeldava drawing and steps backwards, angling his torso to avoid the tip of her greatsword.
This description justifies the use of Dodging. He’ll roll his dodge skill.
Example Skills
Offensive Skills
Two Handed
One Handed
Dual-Wield
Bow
Hand-to-Hand
Claws
Can only be used if you have claws.
Werewolves have a special version of this skill. Please see the next section for details.
Defensive Skills
Armor
Can be used to represent taking the hit strategically on your armor or blocking, including with a shield
Blocking
Can be used for any kind of blocking - shield, weapon, gauntlet, table, other person, etc. If your intent is to deflect a blow, blocking is the skill to use.
Acrobatics
Dodging, climbing, etc.
Parry
Can be used to block blows with the intention of count-attacking. Unlock blocking, parry rolls are often followed immediately by an attack.
Magicka Skills
Alteration
Can be used defensively
Conjuration
Can be used offensively through a summoned creature
Destruction
Can be used offensively
Divination
Enchanting
Illusion
Mysticism
Can be used offensively
Necromancy
Can be used offensively through a summoned creature
Restoration
Can be used defensively
Willpower
Used to defend against certain mind-altering magic attacks.
General Skills
Perception
Sneaking
Sleight of Hand
Lockpicking, Pickpocketing, etc.
Alchemy
Cooking
Brewing
Armour/Weapons Crafting
Jewelry Crafting
Hunting
The knowledge of killing/skinning/other things related to hunting down animals. Also used if you can see the quarry you are following.
Tracking
The knowledge of following tracks, finding subtle clues with the intention of following something, and related knowledge. Primarily used if you cannot see the quarry you are following.
Disguise
Medicine
Survival
Speechcraft
Most conversations will not include rolls, but if your character is particularly persuasive and you want to try to use a roll to guarantee a successful result, you can use this to help the NPC ‘see the light’ as it were.
Miscellaneous Rules
Dealing with Edge Cases
Sometimes, edge cases happen. This section is for those edge cases that need specific rules. While the below rules will be used to determine the outcome of various special conditions during guild-sanctioned RP, players are welcome to adjust these rules to meet their needs during scenes, at the discretion of players and GM approval.
Werewolves
While the specifics of a player’s infections are left to each player, if a character plans to use their wolf form in combat, they can do the following:
Werewolves can designate one offensive combat skill to be their Claws skill and provide an explanation to a council member explaining their choice.
Example: Zeldava’s werewolf makes her fighting style very brutal, and this has bled into her human form, making her better at fighting hand-to-hand. Her Hand-to-Hand skill is also her Claws skill and appears on her character sheet as Hand-to-Hand / Claws.
While in wolf form, the werewolf will use the designated Claws skill as their main offensive skill, with the flavor that it is them using their claws.
Buff Spells
A buff spell is any spell that gives a target a positive status effect. All buff spells take one turn to cast, last until their bonus is used, and come in one of two varieties, either offensive or defensive.
Offensive Buff Spells
An offensive buff spell is a buff that improves the target’s combat skills. This can include giving them a bonus to their attack rolls, an increase in damage on their next attack, or other effects the player deems appropriate.
Defensive Buff Spells
A defensive buff spell is a buff that improves the target’s defensive skills. These can take one of two forms:
A roll bonus that adds a flat modifier to the target’s next defensive roll, lasting until the target needs to make a defensive roll.
A replacement roll effect. For this effect, the player casting the buff spell will note the result they got.
The next time the target makes a defensive roll, they can choose to use the result the caster got on their skill roll instead of whatever they rolled.
When they do, their roll will be treated as though they got the result the caster got for their defensive roll, and the spell will be consumed, ending the buff effect.
Casting Buff Spells
To cast a buff spell:
Target a willing player, declare the desired effects of the spell, and roll the appropriate magicka skill.
Based on the results, the GM (or a consensus of the players involved in the scene, if the scene does not have an active GM), will determine how close to the desired results the caster gets.
Debuff Spells
A debuff spell is any spell that gives a target a negative status effect. Unlike buff spells, these effects only last for a single round, and always fall off at the beginning of the next turn of the player who cast the spell.
Debuff spells can come in many varieties and do a variety of things, like:
Inflicting a penalty to a target’s rolls
Reducing a target’s damage
Forcing a target to reroll a successful attack
And more!
As with most things, discuss with your GM (or the other players in the scene when there is no GM) what you want to do for a debuff spell. However, there are a few specific cases that should be noted, covered below.
Casting A Debuff Spell
To cast a debuff spell:
Choose your target, declare the desired effects of the spell, and roll the appropriate magicka skill.
If the target is a player, they roll either willpower or another appropriate defense skill, depending on the type of spell targeting them.
If the target is an NPC, the roll must simply beat their AC.
Based on the results, determine the effect applied.
Paralysis
A successful cast of paralysis will cause the target to lose their next turn and lose half their AC, if they are an NPC. During their turn, they will need to spend an action to end the paralysis effect.
However, to successfully cause the target to lose their next turn, the caster must beat the target’s defense roll (or AC, for an NPC), by double. Otherwise, the target only loses half their AC.
Grapple
Similar to paralysis, a grappled target must spend their turn ending the grapple effect and breaking free of the hold, while also losing half their AC. However, the person must continue making grapple checks every turn. For this reason, a successful grapple only requires beating the defense roll of the target.
Additionally, unlike paralysis, a grappled target can still attack the person grappling them, instead of breaking free of the grapple on their turn.
Stun, Daze, Knocked Down, and similar effects
While these effects will not cause a target to lose their turn, they will halve their AC until the effect ends on their next turn.