Roll for Feats: the weirdo lovechild of d&d 3.5 and Roll for Shoes

i used to run a ton of 3.5/3.P/3.X before i got into OSR. still do appreciate a lot of the homebrew scene for that game; Grammarie fuckin rocks. that said, game as a whole sucks. system is like 80% bad. 

was trying to make it good, but made this instead. it's 3.X as deconstructed, blended, emulsified, foamed, and served by Ralph Fiennes to Anya Taylor-Joy. 

like alright Todd Lockwood!!! there's some real dynamism here!

to do ANYTHING (that's an all caps ANYTHING for a reason; walking across the room, jumping out a window, taking a sip, catching a bullet, blowing a kiss) players have to use one or more of their Feats. STARE at that mf character sheet. 

GM sets the difficulty class (lol) of the action, probably between 5-20 and declares the consequences of failure. there MUST be consequences. 

Player rolls D20, adds the bonuses from the Feat(s) they're using and any Modifiers that apply; tie or better succeeds. give extra bonuses due to circumstance or equipment, but make them rare/minimal.

20 always succeeds, 1 always fails. characters also have critical triggers that occur (if possible in-fiction) on 1s and 20s. 
couple ideas to add mechanical weight to injury and other character-impairing consequences:
  1. just don't; characters get injured as consequences and then when they've really been fucked over properly they can start getting killed
  2. characters accumulate negative modifiers for injuries; at -10 and beyond, death is on the table for action consequences. I'd roll standard damage dice to assign these modifiers; ymmv, d12s could fuck a character up real fast. 
  3. the number the player rolled for an action where their character became injured/impaired is cursed; it becomes an auto-fail and expands by 1 in both directions if rolled again (so if a 10 was rolled, 10 is now an auto-fail and becomes a range from 9-11 if rolled again). 
  4. your lame ass can use HP if you really want
XP is  roll for shoes  style. whenever you successfully use a NON ITALICIZED Feat in a way that stretches the definition of the Feat (table has the final say); for example, using "Devour Metal" to catch a bullet in your teeth or something, RECIEVE 1 XP or SPEND any amount of XP to:
  1. Create a new Feat that describes the action you just took at +X, where X is the amount of XP spent
  2. Increase the level (bonus provided) of ANY Feat by 1 by paying XP equal to the current level of the Feat. 

i guess you can't keep a good man down for long though because jfc Wayne

Burnished Prince

Feats

Be Flamboyant +2

Be Entitled +2

Demand +2

Goad +2

Flatter +2

Produce Useful Object From Your Person +2


Modifiers

+2 in the presence of an competent artistic rendering of yourself

+2 if your clothing and jewelry is the most expensive

+2 if clean, perfumed, and made up


Criticals
20 - your noble bearing causes someone in the scene to recollect their families long maligned oath to always serve your house and pledges themselves to you anew
1 - one of your items is recognized as an heirloom of someone in the scene; they will see it returned to them and will not be reasoned with

Covetous Creep

Feats

Be Whimsical +2

Be Nightmarish +2

Go Unheard +2

Go Unseen +2

Walk on Walls +2

Open Locks +2


Modifiers

+2 if you’re trying to steal something emotionally important to its owner

+2 if your target is frightened of you

+2 if you’ve stalked your target for at least 3 consecutive nights


Criticals
20 - someone in the scene mentions a dream in which a deep fear or strong attachment of theirs is revealed
1 - someone in the scene reveals their deep affection for you and amusement at your nature; they are utterly tickled by your antics, actively look out for you, and it is impossible to frighten them. Their basic agenda towards you does not change; enemies are still enemies. 

Drowned Prophet

Feats

Be Tragic +2
Be Cryptic +2
Drink +2
Terrify +2
See Omens +2
Puke Brine +2

Modifiers
+2 if bloated with liquid
+2 in the presence of your followers
+2 if you foretold this a day or more ago

Criticals
20 - a true prophecy of great fortune for someone else in the scene rises within you; you must deliver it
1 - a prophecy of dire woe for someone else in the scene rises within you; you must deliver it


Wiregut Fabricator

Feats

Be Twitchy +2

Be Hyperfocused +2

Devour Metal +2

Digest Into Essential Components +2

Build Device in Gut +2

Grab With Wire Intestines +2


Modifiers

+2 if using something you built

+2 if stomach is full of metal

+2 if charged with electricity

Criticals
20 - randomly choose a non-player character in the scene; they are revealed to be a robot of your construction, controlled by a very thin wire leading from your gut; they have enough juice left to perform 1 more action!
1 - an ominous ticking from within your gut; your intestines have constructed a bomb with enough power to level a small house, and it detonates without fail in 1 minute!

Rust-Saint

Feats

Be Solemn +2

Be Graceful +2

Lay Bare Imperfection +2

Shape the Damaged and Dirty  +2

Rust With a Touch +2

Fling Filthy Waters +2


Modifiers

+2 if Raining

+2 if Damaged, Dirtied, or Sullied

+2 if Being Worshiped

Criticals
20 - someone in the scene recognizes you as the saint that comforted them or a loved one when they were broken and badly in need of mending; they will not harm you, and venerate you highly.
1 - someone has been tailing you, hoping to harvest your body for relics; they reveal themselves now, and make their play!

Crisis Choir

Feats

Be Joyful +2

Be Frenzied +2

Incite Riot +2

Amplify Disaster +2

Withstand Devastation +2

Inspire Others to See Beauty +2


Modifiers

+2 with an audience

+2 if surrounded by disaster

+2 if at least one member of the Choir is near death

Criticals
20 - your gathered presence calls to the frenzied despair of someone in the scene; they are ready to throw away their former life and join the Choir's ranks.

1 - a catastrophically unlikely disaster devastates the scene; fire, flood, windstorm, earthquake, lightning, etc. 


I had this pic by Lars Grant West etched in my 8 year old brain with a fuckin CHISEL






Comments

  1. I feel you on the delightful nature of 3.5e homebrew. My vice of choice was always Mythos by Xefas, answering the question "what if every class was as powerful at high levels as the wizard?"

    https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?286983-3-5-Base-Class-quot-I-want-to-live-inside-a-castle-built-of-your-agony!-quot

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  2. I like this! This is kind of a jokey game but I think the idea of these feats as the main source of bonuses is very good. It's helpful for me and has me thinking about a new way to port my Weirdways Universal system to the d20 which is something I have been interested in for a while.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm actually kinda into this system, especially with the italicized feats providing bonuses for thematically described actions rather than specific ones

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