Nuclear Beasts

Keeping it simple

Let's keep it simple at first. No specializations, no knacks. A single Mana Gathering skill. Basic support for human-sized PCs (although I really want to allow pixies and giants, too). Something suitable for a playtest or two, just to see how well it works.

The Basics

1. The "average" stat is 2. The average skill for someone with training is 2 (for untrained folks, it's zero).
2. Task resolution is Stat + Skill + 2d10 vs difficulty. For a normal task, you get a critical success if you beat the target by 10+ or roll a natural 20 (both dice come up 10s). You get a botch if you roll a natural 2 (both dice come up 1s).
3. There is a special stat called Size, which is determined by your race. Size is added to Strength and subtracted from Agility. It also increases the amount of food you need, the damage you take from falls, and what areas you can fit into. "Normal sized" characters are Size zero (I might make it 2 for consistency, but zero is probably better since that way most folks can just ignore it).
4. Your basic Hit Points are equal to your Strength+Drive+10. You'll be knocked down if you get hit for more damage than your Strength + 5.
5. Hits with weapons do Weapon Damage + Strength, so even the average person gets a +2 to damage. Crits do double damage. I might add a D20-esque system where some weapons have an increased error/threat range or better multipliers on crits.
6. You have Skills and Meta-skills. Meta-skills are things like specializations, relationship ratings, and personal motivations. Meta-skills are limited to a max of +3 (+5 in a cinematic game) but will occasionally be applied as penalties instead of bonuses.
7. You'll get 60 points with which to buy stats and 60 points to buy skills. For simplicity, there will be a suggested set, such as getting two skills at +5, three at +3 and four at +2. Or two at +5, four at +3 and six at +1. Starting PCs should probably be prohibited from taking skills above +5 (that is a full quarter of their skill points in one ability).
8. Magic requires you to take Mana Gathering skill and one or more Magical Arts. Mana Gathering determines how much mana you have to play with, while the Arts are used to actually cast spells with it.
9. Your mana limit is equal to your Drive + Mana Gathering skill. A typical mage can hold 4 mp. A skilled one might have 10 or more.
10. Arts are described by keywords that represent what you have power over. Stuff like Fire, Lightning, Animals, Flesh, etc. There will be a decent-sized (but hardly comprehensive) list with guidelines for what sort of spells should be difficulty X.
11. I'm currently leaning towards 4 levels of spells (minor, major, dramatic and legendary) which correspond to difficulties 10, 20, 30 and 40. There's also a "Trivial" level, but I generally won't bother to describe that... it's any spell that fits in the theme of the Art but is too weak or useless to qualify as a "Minor" spell. Trivial spells would be difficulty 5 and no "real" mage should ever need to roll for one except under special circumstances.
12. Trivial spells are basically free so long as you have at least 1 MP left. Minor spells cost 1 MP. Major ones cost 3 MP. Dramatic ones cost 6 MP. Legendary ones cost 10 MP. Costs can be reduced by 1 MP by taking an extra round of preparation and by 2 if you take 5 minutes.
13. Mana manipulation is normally visible to the naked eye as glowing energy and little electric sparks dancing around. You can try to cast a spell without the visible effects, but it's more difficult.
14. You can get up to a +5 bonus to a skill test by taking lots and lots of time. Alternately, I might allow you to roll best 2 of 3d10 or best 2 of 4d10 instead. That would greatly shift the results up towards 20. No, actually having run the numbers, it wouldn't... best 2 of 5d10 still has an average of 13... it would be a lot more top-heavy, though. Hm.