Nexus Game Concepts
From Nexus D20 Wiki
Differences with standard D20
There are several important differences with standard D20 that may confuse players at first. They were mainly changes that simplify the game or for flavour.
Class Framework – Instead of having a hundred different classes based on different settings and such the system has a Class Framework so that you effectively create your own class specifically for your character. Class Features are folded into Feats so that you choose what you want for your character instead of what someone else thinks you would want. This vastly simplifies the game and keep in mind the incredible number of possible character types available to players.
Character Levels - Characters have Character Levels which are the total number of levels the character has with any Level Adjustments. A Character can have some of their levels in things such as Race, Magic, or even Devices. These cost levels based on how powerful they are. Then they have their Class Levels which are the number of levels spent increasing the Character through the Class Framework. A Character can only have up to half of their Character Levels spent in Level Adjustments. This makes it easier to balance out characters with each other.
No XP - Progression of characters is set into steps. There are 4 steps per level. Any game session where something useful was accomplished the GM can declare it as a step. Once you have four steps then the next session you start at a new level and the steps reset. This means that the game will increase in level every fifth session. If you have several sessions that it takes to resolve an encounter the GM may reserve the step to the end of the encounter. This system comes from McWoD D20. It vastly simplifies bookkeeping for both the players and the GM. Hero points are used for rewarding clever gaming or good role play.
No separate Savings Throws – Savings throws are integrated into the skill list instead of being listed per class. This means that it is more of a choice of the player.
No separate Base Attack Bonus – Character have a few skills that cover what would normally be based on BAB. This means that you have have a character that is great at one thing and poor at another. It also breaks up the glut of combat feats into each skill.
Feats are Skill Based – Instead of having a lot of combat feats and a few other feats this system has feats under each skill and a lot more of them without making it cumbersome.
No Skill Points – The skill system is based on an extrapolation of the Star Wars Saga Edition skill system. Skills are defined either as Base, Trained, Focused, or Mastery which determines the bonus added to the skill. You take the attribute mod plus your class level bonus. It means that you don't need to allocate points per level. This is one of the most time consuming part of character creation and eliminating it speeds up the game a lot.
Wound System – This game uses a wound level system to determine the effect of getting hit. This means that each attack has immediate effect and even a high level character can die from one shot. You can increase your Resistance with upgrades. This also greatly decreases the bookkeeping for all parties.
No Attacks of Opportunity – This vastly simplified the system. There is a system of control actions that replaced it.
No rolling for Attributes – This system uses the +9 mod system. Instead of making 8 (or more) rolls and then figuring out your ability modifiers, this systems does away with the base attribute ratings. You only use the modifiers anyway so no need for them. You take a total of 9 points and buy the bonuses you want were you want them. It's easy, fast, and gives much more control to the player.
Magic Powers - Nexus has a Magic System that is more like the Magic systems of novels and stories instead of a list of spells. Each type of Magic is a skill with the spells for that kind of Magic as feats. Characters have a few Magic Skills that cover a lot of effects and allow you to shape those effects as you like. This covers everything from Enchantment to Psionics. It is designed to be dynamic and creative in it's use without leaving you so much rope that you hang yourself for lack of a concrete understanding of the system.
Speed of Play - This game is designed to be extremely fast for play without giving up quality or detail. That has been my goal the whole time. People have told me over and over that you have to sacrifice detail for simplicity. Then they explained how Hit Points were close enough to realistic for them! Most of the time you only need one roll per action! Combats go so fast that I have wondered if we forgot something.
Unified Scale System - The system uses a unifed scale system for creatures, vehicles, structures and weapons. The general idea is that all objects of a certain size have roughly the same number of wound levels but the difference lay in the armor of the target. So a large creature could have the same wound levels as a small car. They are about the same size, but the car has some DR because it is made of metal. There are four levels in each scale to show that somethings that are the same size are tougher then others. Standard scale covers animals and soft structures. Strong covers civilian vehicles, standard buildings, and tougher animals. Mighty covers light military vehicles, some supernatural creatures and reinforced buildings. Adamant scale covers robots, , heavy military vehicles, and bunkers.
All you have to do to figure out the wound levels for most anything is to figure out it's size and scale type. The armor will vary but there is a minimum based on the scale. Weapons are based on what size target it is designed to take on. This means that it can be very easy to construct enemy NPCs on the fly.
Combat Concepts
Initiative
1d20 + Wits + Perception + Class level Bonus
Melee Combat
Attack 1d20 + Str + Melee Upgrade Level + Class level bonus
Defense 10 + Dex + Melee Upgrade Level + Class Level Bonus + Parry Bonus
Ranged Combat
Attack 1d20 + Dex + Ranged Upgrade Level + Class Level Bonus
Defense 10 + Dex + Athletics Upgrade Level + Class Level Bonus
Martial Arts
Attack 1d20 + Str + Martial Arts Level + Class Level Bonus
Defense 10 + Dex + Martial Arts Upgrade Level + Class Level Bonus
If attack roll equals the defense trait then the attack succeeds. The margin of success over the Defense trait increases damage.
Damage
Damage = Base Damage + Margin of Success
Armor
DR = DR – Penetration
Damage = Damage – DR
Wound Levels
Compare the damage left after Armor to your wound levels. If it is less then or equal to one of the levels then that is the level of damage you took.
Wound levels are laid out like this: (Light/Moderate/Serious/Heavy) so if you had this (5/10/15/20) and took 4 damage then you would have a light wound. If you took 5 it would still be light, but 6 would be Moderate. If you took 20 then it would be heavy damage, but 21 would kill you.
After you figure out your wound level then you don't keep the damage value for anything. If you took 15 damage then you mark that you have a serious wound and then forget the 15.
Damage Marks
Each level of damage has an effect. They all give you a number of damage marks.
Light = 1 damage mark
Moderate = 2 damage marks and stunned for 1 round
Serious = 3 damage marks and staggered for the rest of combat
Heavy = 4 damage marks and Dying/Unconscious
You accumulate these damage marks until they heal or are fixed with medicine. Each damage mark is a -1 to your attacks, defenses, and skill checks. So if you have accumulated 5 damage marks then you have a -5. There are two kinds of damage: Bashing which gives bruises, and Lethal which gives injuries. You keep up with them them separately but both combine for most effects.
Now having that number of damage marks doesn't mean that you go up on the wound chart. You can get several light wounds without it becoming a moderate wound. However there is a limit to the amount of damage you can take before it overwhelms you. Once you take 8 damage marks then you go unconscious. If you take just one more damage mark then you are dying. You can last a number of minutes equal to your Con bonus before you die. This can be stopped by being stabilized.
Defense
Every time your Defense is applied you take a -1 to the next defense. Don't reduce the first defense but every one after that. This resets at the beginning of your next turn.
Your Defense from injuries and cascading defense can not go below 10 + cover modifiers.
