Legend of Zelda RPG

Note - since I'm putting the effort in to make this, I'm going to use the ideas I like. General consensus may disagree, but general consensus can go suck a Cucco edit this later.

The System So Far

Your stats are divided into three main categories: the Virtues of the Triforce (Power, Wisdom, and Courage), your character's basic Attributes (Physical, Mental, and Spiritual), and your various skills (most of which are related to item classes -- bows, tools, heavy weapons, etc.).

Conflict is resolved by a roll & keep d6 pool, using linear comparison for opposed checks. This means that you roll X dice (with X = your ranks in the relevant Attribute + your ranks in the relevant skill) and ignore all but the Y highest (with Y = your ranks in the relevant Virtue). Linear comparison means that in cases of a contested roll (such as in combat) you compare your highest roll to your opponent's highest, your second highest to their second highest, and so forth.

Character advancement will be classless and level-less, with advancement by investing XP to improve skills and attributes. Virtues are extremely difficult to improve, and shouldn't change much over the course of a typical game. There will be a number of special abilities available to choose from, available in a tree setup under the relevant skill. Higher skill ranks are prerequisites for more advanced abilities. Every even skill level gives you a free technique you meet the prerequisites for, but you can pay XP for more at any time.

Unopposed rolls are made against a set of fixed rolls. For example, if pushing a heavy block was 4,4,4,4,4 (2), two rolls higher than 4 would be required. One would roll one's Physical and keep one's Power for this case.

Core races consist of Deku Scrub, Gerudo, Goron, Hylian and Zora, with more under development. (Well, more development than the current ones.) Races recieve no bonuses to Virtues, save Hylians, who recieve +1 to a virtue of their choice.

Each character has a Mass attribute, determined by race and armor, and influenced by other items. Mass affects movement speed, sinking/swimming, use of hookshot, resistance to knockback, and so on. Mass 6+ sinks like a stone.

Each weapon has a specific increment of damage - i.e. a typical sword might deal 1/2 heart per increment, while an Iron Knuckle's axe would deal 2 hearts per increment. When attacking, the number of successes you achieve over your opponent determines how many increments of damage you deal to them. Each point in Power adds 1/4 heart to the total damage dealt by your attacks. Shields add to one's dice while defending, and Armor reduces the base damage increment of an enemy's attack.

A character's maximum heart meter is determined by 1 + Courage + Physical (everyone starts with 3), and their magic meter is Wisdom + Mental.

Character Generation

Choose a Race: Deku Scrub, Gerudo, Goron, Hylian, Kokiri or Zora.

Set your Virtues: "Courage," "Power," and "Wisdom." Each starts at 1, and players may allocate an additional 4 virtue points among them. No virtue may be higher than 4 at character creation, but may go beyond that later with character advancement.

Set your Attributes: "Mental," "Physical" and "Spiritual." Each starts at 1, and players may allocate an additional 4 attribute points among them. No attribute may be higher than 4 at character creation, but may go beyond that later with character advancement.

Skill	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Cost	0	1	4	6	8	10	12
Total	0	1	5	11	19	29	41

Acquire Skills: Characters normally start with no skills (or, all skills at rank 0). Players have 6 skill-points to purchase skills; a new skill costs 1 for rank 1, and another 4 points to raise the skill to rank 2. See the chart at right for the cost to advance a skill from the previous rank, and the total cost from rank 0. Skills may not be higher than rank 3 at character creation, and all skills have a maximum rank of 6.

Races

Deku Scrub: Deku Scrub are capable of generating an attack with Ranged 5 and a 1/4 Damage increment by spending X Magic Meter. Deku Scrubs benefit from an additional die to keep on all Social interactions (a Deku Scrub with 5k2 would have 5k3 in these instances). Deku Scrubs take +1 Damage from all Fire-based sources.
2 Mass, 8 Movement.

Gerudo: Gerudo are capable of using weapons as a full Shield Defense, rather than the penalty normally applied to using weapons as a Defense action. Gerudo benefit from an additional keep on acrobatic and athletic rolls (a Gerudo with 4k2 would have 4k3 in these instances). Gerudo take +1 Damage from Heavy-class weapons (such as the Megaton Hammer or Ball and Chain).
4 Mass, 6 Movement.

Goron: Goron may spend 1 turn in rolled-up form to generate magical Spikes with a 1/2 Damage increment; each turn this is active, the Goron spends X Magic Meter. If the Goron leaves the ball form, this must be reformed from the start. Goron take +1 Damage from Water-based sources.
6 Mass, 4 Movement.

Hylian: +1 to a Virtue of their choice (cannot exceed the character creation maximum).
4 Mass, 6 Movement.

Kokiri: Kokiri are able to suss out enemy weak spots with an appropriate roll via their Faerie Guide. Kokiri take an extra point of damage from all non-Magic sources.
3 Mass, 7 Movement.

Zora: On successful Shield Defense, a Zora inflicts 1 Damage on the enemy who attacked her; this ability costs X Magic Meter. Zora have a natural Ranged-type weapon (launched fins), with a 1/2 Damage increment. Zora can breathe underwater and can move freely in water without needing to make any checks provided there aren't any particularly strong currents or turbulence. Zora take +1 damage from Ice-based sources.
4 Mass, 6 Movement.

Stats

While certain Virtue/Attribute combinations go better together than others, there's at least some application for each Virtue in the Physical, Mental, and Spiritual arenas.

Physical Power
Physical Power governs the use of |Heavy| weapons and general feats of strength.
Mental Power
Mental Power governs the use of offensive magic, both of the damaging and debilitating varieties.
Spiritual Power
A high Spiritual Power means an imposing presence. Spiritual Power governs the more forceful forms of social influence, such as intimidation and browbeating.

Physical Wisdom
Finesse, stealth, and that sort of tricky stuff. Think Shiek. |Bows| probably go here as well.
Mental Wisdom
Sounds redundant, I know. This governs knowledge of lore and useful information. It also governs defensive and healing magic.
Spiritual Wisdom
Spiritual Wisdom indicates understanding of subtle forces, including the ebb and flow of social exchanges. It governs social graces and logical rhetoric; a character with high Spiritual Wisdom is not only capable of making well-reasoned arguments, but also of noticing and working with the subtle cues indicating a person's disposition.

Physical Courage
Physical Courage governs the use of most |melee|, as well as riding, climbing, swimming, and other feats of adventurous derring-do.
Mental Courage
Naturally, Mental Courage governs tenacity, resolve, and...well, courage. It also governs the use of magic for travel and utility (think Farore's Wind).
Spiritual Courage
Spiritual Courage primarily governs your ability to inspire -- either to perform heroic deeds, or simply to trust and like you. Courage has a big impact on first impressions, and tends to have an attractive influence -- both on people, and on flighty magical beings like fairies. |Instruments| would most likely go here as well.

Skills

Here's what we have for skills so far. As you can see, most are related to item use, in keeping with the theme of the video games. The list is currently open to expansion as needed.

|Melee| - Sword, Club, Ace etc.
|Heavy| - Ball and Chain, Greatsword, Megaton Hammer, etc.
|Brawl| - Unarmed, Grappling, and certain weapons like claws and gauntlets.
|Ranged| - Bows, Crossbows, and thrown weapons.
|Stave| - Staves, Spears, Nimble Polearms, smashing people upside the head with the Cane of Somaria, Fire Rod, Cane of Byrna, etc.
|Instrument| - Ocarina, Flute, Pipes, Drums, etc.
|Magic| - The spells from Ocarina of Time, the medallions from A Link to the Past, the magical functions of Cane of Somaria, Fire Rod, Cane of Byrna, etc.
|Tool| - Hookshot, Boomerang, Grappling Hook, etc.
|Armor| - Magic Armor, Zora Armor, Darknut Armor, etc.
|Shield| - Mirror Shield, Hylian Shield, Kokiri Shield, etc.

|Alchemy| - Combining ingredients to make medicines and explosions [Potion Brewing, Bomb Crafting, etc.] Covers use of bombs as well as their creation.
|Craft| - Shaping wood, stone and steel to make weapons and tools [Sword Forging, Arrow Fletching, etc.]
|Stealth| - One of the few skills not specifically related to item use. Pretty self-explanatory.
|Acrobatics| - Another non-item skill; can be used in place of shields for defense and also covers wall-running, back-flipping, long-jumping, etc. For the more nimble, Shiek-like among us.

Skills for social interaction and most physical feats such as climbing, riding, and so forth probably will not be necessary, since they can probably be resolved simply through the Attributes and Virtues alone; however, this point is still being debated, particularly with regard to the social skills.

Techniques

There are quite a few of these, yes.
No, I'm not going to put them all in.

To be done:

Spin Attack
Helm Cleaver
Mortal Draw
Hurricane Spin
Chu Chu Refiner

Character Advancement

Virtue: 7 x Next Level XP
Attribute: 4 x Next Level XP
Skill: 2 x Next Level XP
Technique: as dictated by the Technique

Pieces of Heart and Heart Containers can't be bought with XP, but instead are a reward for defeating bosses, solving difficult puzzles, etc.

Tags

Universal

• Ranged X: Can affect things out to distance X. [Bows with "Ranged 20"; Hookshots with "Ranged 10"; Longshots with "Ranged 20"; Octorocks with "Ranged 5", etc.]
• Immobile; Cannot move under its own power [Sliding Blocks, etc.]
• Burn X: Ignite effects destroy it in X turns. Gains the Ignite tag until destroyed. [Ice with "Burn 1"; Deku Sticks with "Burn 5"; Keese and Torches with "Burn N/A", etc.]
• Blow: Moves away from Wind effects (spins on the spot if Immobile). [Poison Gas, Fan Switches, etc.]
• Hold (X): Objects with the Grip tag and tag X can attach to it. [Wooden Posts with Hold (Pierce); Gratings with Hold (Claw), etc.]
• Switch X -> Y (Z): Changes X to Y when something with tag Z affects it. Examples:
  • A room with a target with "Switch Bridge [1] -> Bridge [2] (Pierce)" that causes a bridge to rotate from position 1 to position 2 when hit by a piercing weapon, such as an arrow.
  • Gibdos with "Switch Self -> Stalfos (Ignite)".
  • A panel with "Switch Door [1] -> Open (Light)", unlocking the next room when stuck by anything tagged with Light.
• Source (X): Energy or material X (Light, Water, Ice, Fire, etc.) originates from the object, then moves in a straight line until it strikes something. [Beamos with "Source (Laser)"; Waterfall with "Source (Water)"; Koume with "Source (Fire)", Kotate with "Source (Ice)" and Twinrova with "Source (Fire, Ice)", etc.]
• Reflect (X): When an effect with the Source (X) tag strikes it, the object gains Source (X). [Mirror with "Reflect (Light); Mirror Shield with "Reflect (All), etc.]
• Dark X: Nothing can be seen within distance X of the object. [Certain spells and attacks; dark dungeons; night without moonlight, etc.]
• Light X: Negates effects with the Dark tag within distance X. [Light Arrows, large torches, etc.]
• Invisible: Cloaked, and can only be seen through its effects on the environment. Can be seen using an item with the Reveal tag. [Certain enemies, chests, bridges, etc.]

Items/Magic

• Ignite: Destroys objects with the Burn tag, makes Bombs explode, etc. [Fire Arrows, etc.]
• Wind: Moves objects with the Blow tag, etc. [Gust Jar, etc.]
• Freeze: Turns water into ice platforms, puts out fires, etc. [Ice Arrows, etc.]
• Explode: Destroys objects with the Crack tag when destroyed, etc. [Bombs, etc.]
• Smash: Destroys objects with the Crack tag, activates certain switches, etc. [Hammers, etc.]
• Pierce: Activates certain switches, affects certain enemies, etc. [Bow, Hookshot, etc.]
• Cut: Removes objects with the Taut tag, affects certain enemies, etc. [Sword, Boomerang, etc.]
• Fetch X: Brings objects with Mass < X to the wielder. [Boomerang, Hookshot, etc.]
• Grip: Attaches to enemies/object with the Hold tag. [Hookshot, Clawshot, etc.]
• Claw: Attaches to certain objects, etc. [Clawshot, Grappling Claw, etc.]
• Pull: When attached, brings the lower Mass to the higher Mass (Pull-switch to item-holder, item-holder to wall, etc.). [Hookshot, Clawshot, etc.]
• Reveal: Negates effects with the Invisible tag. [Lens of Truth, etc.]

Monsters

• Flying: Can only be hit with ranged attacks unless it's attacking in melee. [Keese, etc.]
• Split X: Spawns X copies of itself with 1/4 Heart of health upon death.
• Spawn X (Y): The creature can spend a round spawning X copies of creature Y. [Queen Gohma, etc.]
• Electrified: The creature deals 1/2 heart of damage to anyone who attacks it in melee.

---

• Surprise: Covers any stealth-based ability such as Bongo-Bongo's invisibility, Queen Gohma's scuttling or Lanmolas' digging. It allows the creature to take an action to hide itself, and make a Wisdom/Physical check (which we'd give some base rating per trait I guess, like we were doing for Attack?) to make a surprise attack against the target(s). A monster in Surprise mode is not exposed by an item with the Reveal tag.
• Shell: Functions like Shield Defense for a PC, up to and including Reflecting.
• Knockdown: The monster's attacks have the Knockdown/Knockback capability. Large monsters like Bongo-Bongo or Iron Knuckle would have this.

Environment

• Crack: Can be destroyed by effects with the Smash or Explode tag.
• Taut X: Can be removed by effects with the Cut tag; can support a total Mass of X.
• Buoyant X: Object has negligible Mass; reduces the total Mass of everything supported by the object by X.
• Launch X: When the object is activated, anything in contact with it moves a distance X straight up and falls a distance equal to its Mass at the start of every round.

External Links

• First thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14975165
• Second thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15007189
• Third thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15015368
• Fourth (current) thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15029972
• Source of info: http://www.zeldawiki.org/Main_Page