_____________________________________
MUSI SUPA PONA V1.0.0
Manual for Players and Game Masters
mounderfod
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Table of Contents
_________________
1 Preamble
2 Characters
.. 2.1 Character Stats
..... 2.1.1 Calculating Stats
.. 2.2 Other Character Information
..... 2.2.1 Name
..... 2.2.2 Background
..... 2.2.3 Inventory
..... 2.2.4 Health Points and Disaster Rolls
..... 2.2.5 Experience
..... 2.2.6 Notes
.. 2.3 The Character Sheet
3 Items
..... 3.0.1 Equipment
..... 3.0.2 Food
..... 3.0.3 Currency
4 The Structure of Play
.. 4.1 Actions
.. 4.2 Battle
.. 4.3 Movement
.. 4.4 Resting
5 Postamble
.. 5.1 Next Steps for Players
.. 5.2 Next Steps for Game Masters
.. 5.3 Credits
.. 5.4 Sharing this Document
1 Preamble
==========
*musi supa pona* /(toki pona for "simple table game")/ is a simplistic
tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) inspired by 5th edition Dungeons &
Dragons. The game aims to abstract much of the features of a TTRPG in
order to give more power to the game master and their storytelling as
opposed to complex game mechanics as seen in other entertaining, but
difficult to pick up, tabletop games. The side effect of the game's
simplicity is that game masters have a lot more work to do in creating
content for their players - *this is intentional*, and if that doesn't
sound like your thing then musi supa pona is not the game for you.
This manual serves as a guide for both players and game masters alike;
due to the game's relative simplicity it is possible to contain all
information about the game into one document. Additional information
and resources can be found at [https://mounderfod.online/msp].
2 Characters
============
One of the key aspects of musi supa pona, as with many TTRPGs, is the
character. The game character is the way in which the real world
player interacts with the internal world of the game, and as such,
great importance is put into the character in musi supa pona.
2.1 Character Stats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most important part of a character is their in-game stats. These
are used to determine various parts of the game using dice rolls. Each
statistic is a positive or negative number which represents how a
d20[1]'s output will be modified (similar to DnD). The statistics are
as follows:
- *Strength*: A character's physical capabilites.
- *Intelligence*: A character's ability to be observant of the world
around them and interpret and work with complex ideas.
- *Speed*: A character's agility of movement.
- *Defence*: A character's ability to deal with injury.
- *Charisma*: A character's ability to manipulate or otherwise
convince those around them.
2.1.1 Calculating Stats
-----------------------
Each statistic is calculated by rolling a d20 and 2d6. The sum of the
2d6 is subtracted from the d20, allowing for a maximum stat of +18 and
a minimum of -11.
This should be calculated before a session begins, when the character
is created. It may only be done once in the creation of a character,
and you cannot reroll unless given permission by the game master.
2.2 Other Character Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.2.1 Name
----------
The character's name. Make this anything you like.
2.2.2 Background
----------------
The character's race, character class, alignment[2], and
occupation. By default this has noeffect on gameplay, but at the game
master's discretion, the character class may influence a character's
e.g. equipment, and similarly a player may choose to make decisions
that are influenced by the character's background.
2.2.3 Inventory
---------------
The items that the character is carrying with them. Every item has a
weight in grams, and the maximum quantity that a character can carry
in their inventory is determined by the formula:
$$ w = (20 + s) * 1.5 * 500 $$
...with $s$ representing the character's *Strength* statistic. For
more information about the contents of an Inventory, see [Items].
[Items] See section 3
2.2.4 Health Points and Disaster Rolls
--------------------------------------
A character has a set number of health points, which is equal to 20
plus the character's *Defence* statistic.
If the character's health reaches 0 as a result of damage, the player
must roll 3d20 as disaster rolls. If the sum of the rolls is more than
30, the character's health is increased to 1 and the character is
unable to attack or defend themselves unless their health increases
(if the character's health is 1 for other reasons, this rule does not
apply). If the sum is less than 30, the character dies and can no
longer be used in the current session (the game master can decide how
to proceed in future sessions).
2.2.5 Experience
----------------
A character has experience points corresponding to experience levels.
Experience points may be granted at the game master's discretion. To
level up, the player must accumulate:
- Level 1: 10 points total
- Level 2: 100 points total
- Level 3: 1000 points total
etc.
2.2.6 Notes
-----------
A blank space for lore or any other information relevant to the
character.
2.3 The Character Sheet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The character sheet is used to contain all of the details regarding a
musi supa pona character. A blank one may be seen at
[https://www.mounderfod.online/assets/Sheet.pdf], and players or game
masters may create their own based on this template.
3 Items
=======
Generally, items and their properties are determined by the game
master, but there are some special cases:
3.0.1 Equipment
---------------
Equipment refers to any item that is actively used by a character to
perform an action. A character should have starting equipment, though
what this is should be decided between the player and the game master,
taking into account the player's background, etc.
3.0.2 Food
----------
Food items heal a set number of health points for a character. Some
food items can be consumed only once, while others can be eaten in
multiple pieces. This is decided by the game master.
3.0.3 Currency
--------------
musi supa pona has its own custom currency system. In short, it works
as follows:
- The base unit is copper
- 1 silver = 10 copper
- 1 gold = 50 silver = 500 copper
- 1 platinum = 100 gold = 5000 silver = 50000 copper
Every character starts with a currency bag (50g empty), and can store
up to 15 of each type of coin (8g each) - a full currency bag weighs
480g.
4 The Structure of Play
=======================
The game loop of musi supa pona is simple, and largely the same as
Dungeons and Dragons.
1. The game master describes the scenario in which the characters are
found.
2. The game master will ask one player (by convention, the one to
their left, but it doesn't matter) what they are going to do. If
the player desires to perform an *action*, the dice are rolled, and
the game master describes the result of the action.
3. The game master repeats this for every player at the table, then
repeats the whole thing again.
4.1 Actions
~~~~~~~~~~~
Actions are any thing that a character can do that involves one of
their statistics. Unlike Dungeons and Dragons, musi supa pona does
not feature sub-statistics in the form of skills[3] and only the base
ones are used. For each action, the game master will declare which
skill is involved and a d20 is rolled, adding the modifier listed on
the character sheet to the result. Without telling the player, the
game master will determine the minimum (or maximum) result needed for
the action to be successful.
4.2 Battle
~~~~~~~~~~
A core part of gameplay is battle, when the characters are confronted
with enemies to defeat. Battle works as follows:
1. Every character's player rolls a d6, and the game master rolls a d6
for every NPC involved. This determines the turn order (from lowest
to highest). If two participants roll the same number, the one
with the greatest *Speed* statistic goes first (NPCs have no speed
statistic and so for this purpose it is 0).
2. On their turn, each player (or NPC, controlled by the game master)
picks which enemy their character is going to attack. Their turn
can alternatively be used to perform a non-battle action (such as
using an item to heal a friend).
3. If attacking, both the character's player and the enemy's
controller (i.e. the game master) roll a d6 dice. The attack is
successful if the attacker's result is greater than the defender's
result. If the defender's result is exactly twice that of the
attacker, then the defender gets an extra turn just after the
attacker's turn.
4. This repeats for every player and NPC until either there are no
more enemies or all the player characters have died.
The effect of the attack is determined by the equipment the character
has (and ultimately, the game master).
4.3 Movement
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is assumed that all characters will move between actions at the
same speed, for simplicity and to reduce the amount of calculation
required from the game master. If the game master wishes to implement
a more specific movement system, they are welcome to do so.
4.4 Resting
~~~~~~~~~~~
At any point, characters may choose to rest:
- *Short Rest*: The player does not get a turn in the next round of
actions. Instead, the player will regain 5 health points.
- *Long Rest*: The player does not get a turn in the next three rounds
of actions. Instead, the player will regain all of their health
points.
The way in which the passage of time is handled and how it interacts
with rest is up to the game master; they may choose to have a
day/night cycle with characters resting at night or to just have a
constant linear session, with characters resting during gameplay as
described above.
5 Postamble
===========
5.1 Next Steps for Players
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Find a game master and other players to have a session with, create a
character and have fun!
5.2 Next Steps for Game Masters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You should create some content for your next session or campaign. It
may be useful to include:
- Details about places in the in-game world (e.g. towns, villages,
forests)
- A preset list of common items in the in-game world (weapons, armor,
etc.)
- A preset list of common creatures, their actions, their attacks and
their health points
- Some prepared dungeons, quests and adventures
If you don't want to come up with all of this yourself, you can borrow
content and ideas from other musi supa pona game masters or other
TTRPGs. Alternatively, you may want to consider playing a less
abstract TTRPG.
5.3 Credits
~~~~~~~~~~~
This TTRPG is heavily inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, designed by
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974.
5.4 Sharing this Document
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
license (CC-BY). You may do whatever you wish with this document, as
long as you give proper attribution to its source (i.e. us).
Footnotes
_________
[1] a dice with 20 sides
[2] (lawful/neutral/chaotic)(good/neutral/evil)
[3] e.g. Animal Handling, etc.