High Point Rangers

November is #NaGaDeMon, National Game Design Month. This year, 2024, I've decided to make High Point Rangers the project I attempt for the month. Prior to November this was just a loose collection of ideas. See what I make of it below!

High Point Rangers is a Space Opera RPG. I won't go into the influences and intent too much now. It's in my head. I'll start by laying down some game and go from there. I would like the game to support a wide variety of Space Opera goodness but I think it is also useful to provide a "default campaign" to give some structure for folks new to gaming and to give them something to grab on to to start. That default idea is for the player characters to be members of the High Point Rangers. What are the High Point Rangers? Well, the basic idea is that there are tons of frontier worlds all working to make the best of things. The colonists and inhabitants of these worlds are largely normal folks. The core worlds support the frontier worlds through the service of the High Point Rangers. A particular world may only have 1 High Point Ranger assigned to it, or a handful. Generally, there is a small "High Point" installation in orbit from which the Ranger(s) are based, though they may have a surface office as well (perhaps with the High Point installation largely in stasis until needed). The High Point Rangers are general troubleshooters for any space mischief or trouble that may come up, acting more or less as a sheriff when it comes to space business. Larger worlds generally have their own law-enforcement, and where they do the High Point Rangers really just act to aid the frontier world with the trouble of the week.

Rules in Bullet-point Form

Let's do it.

• Mechanically, characters in High Point Rangers are primarily defined by their Attributes and Talents. The Attribute labels are those used in academy assessments of a Ranger's capabilities and consists of ratings for: Combatives, Motor Skill, Strength, Conditioning, Reasoning, Instincts and Willpower
• When a Ranger's capabilities are tested, a pool of 6-sided dice are rolled and checked to see which dice score by rolling 6. The number of 6s rolled determine the level of success in that endeavot.
• A "standard roll" consists of a "null die" (a die of a different color than the others rolled) plus 3 additional standard dice. A standard die scores on a roll of 6. The null die also scores on a roll of 6, but then may be rolled again if it scores to see if it rolls another 6 (until it no longer rolls a 6). This means that the null die may theoretically score multiple times in a single roll. Should none of the dice score by rolling a 6 AND the null die has rolled a 1, a fumble has occurred.
• To determine how many dice are rolled for a test, take the Ranger's rating in the most relevant Attribute (plus Talent, if available) and subtract the difficulty of the task. Modify the standard roll by this result, but note that regardless of the task difficulty, the Ranger is always able to roll the null die. For example, if a Ranger is attempting a task with a difficulty or 2, but they have a rating of 3, they get to add 1 die to their standard roll (so, the Null Die plus 4 standard dice). If the difficulty is 5 and they have a rating of 4, they would subtract 1 die from their standard roll (so, the Null Die plus 2 standard dice). If the difficulty is 7 and they have a rating of 2, well, that would eat up all of the dice, but because you always get to roll the Null die, they would roll it and hope for the best!
• Talents: Unless otherwise noted, Talents add 1 to a Ranger's rating while attempting a task related to it. In addition, Talents often have additional results they provide based on the level of success achieved, compared to a Ranger attempting the action without the Talent.
• Levels of Success: Fumbles (Black Result) occur when no dice on a roll score and the Null Die rolls a 1. Failures (White Result) occur when no dice on a roll score and the Null Die is not a 1. Success (Green Result) occurs when a single die scores. Exceptional Success (Yellow Result) occurs when 2 dice score. Critical Success (Red Result) occurs when 3+ dice score. Shift occurs for each die that scores over 3. What is shift? It is the same as a Critical Success, but additionally the effect of the action is 1 higher per score over 3. This will make more sense as I flesh things out.
• Character Creation: I don't know what this looks like yet. As far as a "random generation" I have ideas like: Roll attributes in order, 1d6 for each, then roll an additional d6 and you can use the number rolled on that d6 as additional attribute points to distribute as you wish. Or, roll 7d6 and assign the dice to attributes as desired, or 8d6 discard lowest and assign? Or, point buy, distribute 25 points as you desire? These are pretty generic and do the job, but nothing really innovative going on with it, so it's very "First Draft" brainstorming.