LordZoma Posted September 12, 2009 Posted September 12, 2009 Hi everyone! I created a brand new system that takes AD&D second edition and transforms it into something else entirely. I also created a simple standard campaign world that incorporates the way the new system works. Over the course of time I have beta tested this system with my gaming groups and have reached the point where I have worked out all the kinks and am now launching the system onto the internet. The website MaxOutRPG.com is now online (although in a skimpy beta mode) and the game manual is available there to download along with a link to the forums that will be the center for resources for game expansion. The primary difference between MaxOut and regular AD&D, is in the way how in AD&D a character's growth is limited by his experience which is gained through combat. If 10 playing sessions go by where no combat takes place, no experience is gained and the character has not changed at all. This is similarly the case if the character has combat but does not receive enough experience to level up. No change. Character growth in AD&D, aside from just being limited by experience points, is done in an extremely small manner. Every few levels get a skill point. Wow. Congratulations. Your character sure has grown a lot. Oh sorry, I didn't notice the higher saving throws and a Thac0 point or too. Wow, what a unique character. MaxOut solves the problem by utilizing a new way in which players are able to have their character grow and change, not just at the end of every few sessions but continuously throughout the game as part of the game mechanics. If any RPG you have ever played seems a little stale, MaxOut is the solution. The manual explains exactly how the system works and is all anyone needs to be able to start playing the game. An understanding of second edition ad&d helps, but otherwise the manual covers all the basics. I really think the world of this system and so do all of my gamers. I hope you spend the time to check out the manual and see for yourself. it's a great game and now I'm sharing it with the world! Thanks & Good Gaming! Quote
Trifletraxor Posted September 14, 2009 Posted September 14, 2009 Everyone loves free stuff! Only increasing the skills you actually use, that sounds like BRP's experience system. SGL. Quote Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub! 116/420. High Priest.
LordZoma Posted September 14, 2009 Author Posted September 14, 2009 Yay for free stuff! The only 'cost' for the max out system, is the request that people who play the game post the new stuff that they come up with for the game on the forum. BRP's system is to only increase the skills characters use? I'll have to order one of the main books online because my shops around here don't sell them. Quote
Trifletraxor Posted September 14, 2009 Posted September 14, 2009 Yay for free stuff! The only 'cost' for the max out system, is the request that people who play the game post the new stuff that they come up with for the game on the forum. Seems only fair. BRP's system is to only increase the skills characters use? I'll have to order one of the main books online because my shops around here don't sell them. It's a great system to pile for rules. The main rulebook is a collection of various rules and option you can use, and while the system is old, the generic version of it is pretty new. It's the system used in the Call of Cthulhu horror game and the old RuneQuest editions (not the newest one). It's quite deadly though, so not that good for heroic or cinematic type of settings. Grim and gritty, just the way I like it. :thumb: SGL. Quote Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub! 116/420. High Priest.
rust Posted September 14, 2009 Posted September 14, 2009 I'll have to order one of the main books online because my shops around here don't sell them. If you do not see it as a problem that BRP is somewhat more on the "simula- tionist" side than on the "gamist" side of roleplaying games (e.g. combat is very deadly, PCs are rarely more powerful than NPCs, etc.), I really would re- commend to take a close look at it - especially since there is only one book you need, and this one is full of most interesting and useful ideas and opti- ons. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan)
LordZoma Posted September 14, 2009 Author Posted September 14, 2009 It doesn't matter how old or new a system is. Besides, relatively speaking, all role playing games are 'new'. We've come a long way since the 80's, but that doesn't mean that new games have to try to be different in order to be successful. I always thought the Call of Cthulhu system was great. It was well geared for characters that were destined to die or go insane before you got too attached to them. Sort of like All Flesh Must Be Eaten, if you've ever played that. My MaxOut system is a far cry from one that isn't geared for epic campaigns. Max Out is pretty much geared specifically for epic campaigns. With the extreme growth for characters in the system, players can get extremely attached to their characters very fast. At least in Max Out if a character is going to be brutally slaughtered in the third session the player will feel the character got somewhere before he bit the dust. Let me know what you think of the game. It may seem complicated but it plays smooth and fun. Quote
LordZoma Posted September 14, 2009 Author Posted September 14, 2009 (edited) If you do not see it as a problem that BRP is somewhat more on the "simula- tionist" side than on the "gamist" side of roleplaying games (e.g. combat is very deadly, PCs are rarely more powerful than NPCs, etc.), I really would re- commend to take a close look at it - especially since there is only one book you need, and this one is full of most interesting and useful ideas and opti- ons. While the system I made may be brutally geared towards high profile combat, I've run sessions with the system that have lasted 6+ hours and barely involved combat. I'm more the type of GM that likes to take a lot of time to build a complex and highly interactive storyline that makes combat feel important rather than gratuitous, so a system that focuses primarily on noncombat would be fun to play and easy for me to run. Max Out RPG Max Out is a universal role playing system with extremely aggressive character growth and totally unique skill trees with endless possibilities. It is a hack for AD&D 2nd edition and is any munchkins wet dream and nightmare combined. It will make combat faster and more powerful than ever. With Max Out no two characters will ever be alike again. Chances are they won't even be remotely similar after a few sessions. With Max Out cookie cutter is a thing of the past. Play one game of Max Out and you will never go back to regular AD&D again. Foreword: I used to run a Final Fantasy campaign with AD&D 2nd edition that took place in a campaign world which incorporated all of the squaresoft games. Since each game had its own system of combat and utilized different things (like materia, guardian spirits, summoning, ability points, items that used ability points) I had to come up with different ways that each system could be incorporated into AD&D. The campaign flourished and lasted for a long time, but there were a few blaring problems that existed. Due to tons of different abilities and factors, calculating damage would take a long time. Calculators became the norm and combat slowed down tediously. For any game this can spell doom for an attempt at keeping a fast pace, and can whittle away suspension built by good story. Another problem was that it was difficult to determine just what new abilities would be gained after each level up. This would be very taxing for any game master trying to come up with different progressions on the fly. I became dedicated to solving these problems and creating a streamlined rpg hack that would incorporate every different unique character progression as well as make combat much quicker. Meanwhile, Rogue Galaxy for Playstation 2 was due to be released and I was desperate to create a new system and campaign. Thus Max Out was born. Requirements: The only things needed to play Max Out is 6 sided, 10 sided, and 20 sided dice, and basic understanding of the way AD&D works in second addition. A second edition players handbook would be ideal, but the only thing it is ever used for is bonuses gained from attributes, so a 3rd edition players handbook can be substituted. Anyone who has never played AD&D before could easily start playing Max Out. While the spells and the modifiers for attributes in the players handbooks are used in my gaming group, it is possible to use many different styles of magic in the system, and attribute modifiers could easily be made up or copied from a web site. Once you know how to play Max Out you could easily play without any books. All you need is a knowledge of the system. Edited September 14, 2009 by LordZoma Quote
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