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:

1. The Virtues of the Triforce (Power, Wisdom, and Courage),
2. Your character's basic Attributes (Physical, Mental, and Spiritual),
3. Your various skills (most of which are related to item classes -- bows, tools, heavy weapons, etc.).

Conflict is resolved with a d6 roll & keep system, using linear comparison for opposed checks. This means that you roll X six-sided dice (with X = your ranks in the relevant Attribute + your ranks in the relevant skill) and only use the Y highest rolls (with Y = your ranks in the relevant Virtue). Linear comparison means that in the case 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 is free-form, with XP investment improving skills and attributes. Virtues are extremely difficult to improve, and shouldn't change much over the course of a typical game. There are a number of special techniques available to choose from, each classified under a relevant skill. Higher skill ranks are prerequisites for more advanced techniques. 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, Kokiri, and Zora, with more under discussion. Races receive no bonuses to Virtues, save Hylians, who receive +1 to a virtue of their choice. Races other than Hylians receive various special abilities, as detailed in the Races section.

Each character has a Mass attribute, determined by race and armour, 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 Armour 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	1	2	2	3	3
Total	0	1	2	4	6	9	12

Acquire Skills: Characters normally start with no skills (that is, all skills at rank 0). Players have 6 skill-points to purchase skills. A new skill costs 1 for rank 1, with the cost increasing by 1 at every odd-numbered rank. 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 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.
Blessing: Deku Scrub are capable of generating an attack with Ranged 5 and a 1/4 Damage increment by spending X Magic Meter.
2 Mass, 8 Movement.

Gerudo: Gerudo can treat weapons as shields for the purposes of Shield Defence and |Shield| techniques. 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: Gorons can spend a turn to assume a rolled-up form. In this form, the Goron moves their Mass + 5 (typically 11) in a fairly straight line. Goron take +1 Damage from Water-based sources.
Blessing: 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.
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: 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.
Blessing: 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.
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 feats requiring great bodily strength. Examples: |Heavy| weapons, wrestling a Goron, moving heavy boulders.

Mental Power

Mental Power is used for solving conundrums, and governs the use of offensive magic, damaging or debilitating. Examples: doing complex math in one's head, Fire Rod, Bombos Medallion, Thunder Spell, Din's Fire.

Spiritual Power

A high Spiritual Power means an imposing presence, and an aptitude for the more forceful forms of social influence. Examples: intimidation, silencing fools, being a Commissar, "fear me! but follow"

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Physical Wisdom

Finesse, stealth, control, and that sort of tricky stuff. Examples: the Sheikah, |Bows|, balance, grappling.

Mental Wisdom

Knowledge and understanding of lore, as well as defensive magic. Examples: useful information about an unfamiliar item or village, recalling details about something seen only once, Nayru's Love, Reflect Spell.

Spiritual Wisdom

Spiritual Wisdom gives an 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. Examples: sense motive, spot hidden, haggling for prices, diplomacy checks.

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Physical Courage

Physical Courage governs the use of most |melee|, as well as other feats of adventurous derring-do. Examples: horseback riding, swimming in rough waters, climbing a cliff.

Mental Courage

Mental Courage governs tenacity, resolve, and... well, courage. It also governs the use of magic for travel and utility. Examples: resisting a ReDead's cry, going without rest for long periods of time, "I shall not fear; fear is the mind-killer," not getting lost in the wilderness, Farore's Wind.

Spiritual Courage

Spiritual Courage primarily governs your ability to inspire, so people will trust and like you. Spiritual Courage has a big impact on first impressions, and tends to have an attractive influence -- not just with people, but with flighty magical beings like fairies. Examples: leadership, improving the general disposition of NPCs, performing with |Instruments|.

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.

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.

Item skills

• |Armour| - Magic Armour, Zora Armour, Darknut Armour, etc.
• |Shield| - Mirror Shield, Hylian Shield, Kokiri Shield, etc.
• |Brawl| - Unarmed, Grappling, and certain weapons like claws and gauntlets.
• |Heavy| - Ball and Chain, Biggoron Sword, Skull Hammer, etc.
• |Melee| - Sword, Club, Ace etc.
• |Stave| - Staves, Spears, Nimble Polearms, smashing people upside the head with the Cane of Somaria, Fire Rod, Cane of Byrna, etc.
• |Ranged| - Bows, Crossbows, and thrown weapons.
• |Tool| - Hookshot, Boomerang, Grappling Hook, Spinner, 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. (remember: each spell is an inventory item to be used)

Non-Item skills

• |Alchemy| - Combining various liquids and powders to concoct and administer medicines and explosives [Potion Brewing, Bomb Crafting, etc.]
• |Craft| - Shaping wood, stone and steel to make and repair weapons and tools [Sword Forging, Arrow Fletching, etc.]
• |Acrobatics| - Can be used instead of |Shield| for defence and also covers wall-running, back-flipping, long-jumping, etc. For the more nimble, Sheik-like among us.
• |Stealth| - One of the few skills not specifically related to item use. Pretty self-explanatory.

Techniques

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

To be done:

Spin Attack
Back Slash
Helm Cleaver
Mortal Draw
Hurricane Spin
Chu Chu Refiner

Character Advancement

Virtue: 7 x Next Level XP
Attribute: 4 x Next Level XP
Skill: as noted above in the Character Generation section
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.]
• AoE X: Affects everything within X of its origin [Spin Attack with "AoE 1"; Bombs with "AoE 2"; Quicksand with "AoE 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 condition Z is fulfilled.
  Switch X <-> Y (Z): Changes the state of something between X and Y when condition Z is fulfilled. Examples:
  • A target with "Switch Bridge [1] <-> Bridge [2] (Pierce)" causes a bridge to rotate between position 1 and 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 any effect with the Light tag.
• Source (X/Y): Energy X (Light, Ice, Fire, etc.) or material Y (Water, Sand, 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/Y): When an effect with the Source (X/Y) tag strikes it, the object gains Source (X/Y). [Mirror with "Reflect (Light); Mirror Shield with "Reflect (Energy); Pipe with "Reflect (Water), 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.

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• 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.

Dungeons

Just roughing this out right now:

Boxes connected by arrows:

• Each box is an area with the same characteristics (pool of water, field, metal grating, etc.).
  
• Each arrow tells you what you need to do to move from area to another ("Defeat Miniboss", "Activate Line of Switches in Order 3, 5, 2, 4, 1"; "Use the Boss Key", etc.), if you can travel back the way you came (falling down is one-way, etc.), if the new area is on a different floor of the dungeon, etc.

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