Thanks for taking a look, reader!

I've been kicking this one around in my head for a while, and I (probably) have more free time now, so I'd like to put this out here for you guys.

You have traveled from distant lands to make it to the great stone pillar before you. You know that beneath this pillar lies the Witch's Heart: a mythical object said to grant the first who should touch it a single wish before crumbling to dust. Many have lost their lives in the depths beneath in an attempt to secure this wish. You, travelers, are but the latest of those who venture towards the perils of the Labyrinth. Why do you seek the Heart, and what skill gives you the courage to risk your lives? Success or failure is yours to achieve.

Now of course, that is just the story. What I want to show you more than that is the idea for a "game engine" of sorts.

You see, I want to illustrate each character's abilities through stats. These stats would be used as currency for your character's limits. For example, Average Joe Isn't anything special, really. He is a Jack-of-All-Trades sort of guy. Starting off, his stats would look like this:

HP:{+}
BRAWN:{++++}
AGILITY:{++++}
WILL:{++++}
SPECIAL:{++}

ABILITY: {SPEAR PUNCH}

Now let's say Joe is fighting against a guy who throws big rocks. He's been doing a pretty good job hiding behind some cover in order to avoid the rocks. Unfortunately, something caused him to get caught between hiding spots and there is a rock headed straight for him! He could probably punch through it with his SPEAR PUNCH ability, but that takes a lot out of him and he might need it later. He decides to jump out of the way instead, and spends a point of AGILITY to do so.

AGILITY:{+++-}

In short, an action that causes stress or strain needs a point spent. If a character reaches 0 in any stat, any additional actions they try to take with that will use the HP stat. For example, trying to use BRAWN to block a heavy blow when it is at 0 will use the HP stat instead. All stats except HP would be refreshed after a night's rest, with SPECIAL being refreshed by only half.

Abilities would be a special skill or power your character has. They use the SPECIAL stat. They might be anything from a fighting style to transforming into a wolf. The only stipulation is that you have to be able to describe it in three words or less. Exceptions may be made upon request.

When creating characters, stat values can be distributed at will. You could end up with a character that looks like this:

HP:{+}
BRAWN:{+++++++++++}
AGILITY:{+}
WILL:{+}
SPECIAL:{+}

ABILITY: {HAM FIST}

Or this:

HP:{+++++}
BRAWN:{++}
AGILITY:{++++}
WILL:{+}
SPECIAL:{+++}

ABILITY: {PYROKINESIS}

So what do you think? I know that's a whole lot of things being thrown at you at once, but the general idea would be that I function as a Game Master of sorts, and describe results and environments. It won't be me against you, since I could simply say I win and be done with it. Instead, I want to present challenges and character interaction to tell a story. Of course, you may not even lose stats during the course of this RP. If you are clever enough you may not be put into a disadvantageous situation at all.

Anyway, thanks for reading this wall of text. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll answer them to the best of my ability!

Interesting idea... but the farthest I'll dedicate at the moment is "I'm watching."

@ArenaSnow
Well, I appreciate it regardless.

I may be interested, how would player v player combat work with your system?

Also what would be the consequence of getting hit by that boulder? It would have to be greater than the cost of one health. And could he 'Brawn' his way out of it?

I find this mildly interesting as well. Might ask some power gaming questions later when I look through this more closely.

@Dark Light

Player vs player combat would work similar to combat in other RPs. You describe your fight, and spend points for attacking or defending. If Average Joe wanted to make sure his punch was too fast to dodge at normal speed, he could spend an AGILITY point. The defender would have to use BRAWN to block it, AGILITY to dodge it, or a special ability to avoid it somehow. If you roleplay your fight well enough, you may get them to have to spend points without spending any of yours. I will also be acting as a referee for these fights, determining the sucess or failure of a character's attemt to hit or dodge.

I'm operating under the assumption that nobody is just going to take a hit, so the physical damage would be affecting the BRAWN if the boulder were to be blocked. In the interest of not killing people in one hit, everything will only ever take up one point, except for extreme circumstances which I will warn of.

@Smertless If over exerting only costs one hp and the damage costs one hp, you are instantly better off maxing hp.

The different stats sorta become obsolete, you just wind up with a number of times you can be attacked and attack back.

Not picking on ya just nutting out the system.

How does 'Will' come into play?

@Dark Light

But you see, HP doesn't refresh. You are stuck with the same HP all game unless you find a means of healing, and the one point rule applies to that as well.

WILL would come into play for resisting attacks of an elemental, magical, or otherwise not ordinary nature. A ghost's touch would require WILL to shake off. It could also be used to shake off an attack that, while it hits, you manage to power through by your force of will.

Most of the stats are pretty catch-all and vague because I want people to be able to build their characters' stats the way their personalities are, but without limiting their usefulness. Unless specifically said otherwise (I will probably end up color coding stats so that you can tell when something requires that stat) you could pretty much spend each stat how you like, as long as you have a reasonable explanation.

Power gaming questions were already asked, good for me. Another full read through leaves me confidently saying I'd like to play this :)

@Eklispe

Thank you! I'm glad to have one person who wants to play at least!

Sceptical about the system still but I'll give it a go.

Stats:
HP:{+}
BRAWN:{+++++}
AGILITY:{++++}
WILL:{+++}
SPECIAL:{++}

ABILITY: {Teleportation}

@Dark Light

Glad to have you with us! No need to worry about the stats just yet. We'll worry about that in the actual topic, assuming that this gets off the ground. And it's fine if you are skeptical of this system, this is its maiden voyage after all. I'm sure we'll reach a point where it falls flat but until then, it's going to be a lot of fun! If we can get one more person, then I think that that would be an acceptable number.

Bump!

Well, we'll wait one more day. If there is still nobody at the end of it, I'll get cracking on an OOC for just the three of us.

I'd like to express my interest.

Hot dog!

@rush99999@Eklispe@Dark Light

I have a 5-midnight shift tonight, so no OOC today, but I will have it up as soon as I can!

Anyone else who is interested as well, feel free to chime in!

@rush99999@Eklispe@Dark Light

In case it didn't show up before, the OOC is here: http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/127212-labyrinth-of-the-witchs-heart/ooc