First, please bear with some initial context:

I am creating a MUD engine from the ground up. I am nearing the point in development, where I will have to carve out a player/combat system, however I admittedly have zero experience playing TTRPGs. The only understanding I have is of being a player of existing MUDs and RPG computer games.

My understanding is the majority of MUDs are based upon D&D rulesets, occasionally modified to varying degrees. I would personally like a bit of an edge, and model my system after something else.

The engine is geared towards worlds that:

  • Encourage solo exploration and survival.
  • Have distant sci-fi, cyberpunk, and dystopian themes.
  • In addition to equipment, implant, and class bonuses, will incorporate gunplay.

It would be ideal to base off a ruleset that isn’t [[[extremely]]] complex, but also allows for customization and flexibility.

Any suggestions are appreciated, and if there are any further questions, please ask.

Thanks!

EDIT: If anyone is curious about or wants to follow development, here is the github repo.

  • The Doctor@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    You might want to look at some of the open source RPG rulesets out there to get a sense for what there is. That’ll help you come up with a set of internal rules (i.e., how the MUD actually implements game mechanics) for your game engine.

    Two possible mechanics that just came to mind would be Nd6 (roll some number of d6) (which goes all the way back to Illuminati by SJG) and blackjack style (closest to some difficulty without going over) (Eclipse Phase implements this with d100, and leaves a lot of wiggle room for modifiers).