Using minifigures with Roll for Shoes?

Question

I would like to combine the simplicity of Roll for Shoes with the satisfaction of having figurines to walk around dungeons and other settings. Can anyone suggest a good system to do this? I am introducing a couple friends to role playing and I thought jumping straight into D&D4e was too far. I would like a way to incorporate movement and turns without using too many numbers.

Note: I understand that Roll for Shoes is minimal, and not designed for fully fleshed-out combat scenes. It is perfect for on-the-go role play. However, what I am looking for is to make an in-between level which incorporates the rules of Roll for Shoes with some of the play style of moving figurines and combat.

Instead of each character having a pre-determined speed, I thought that each could roll a check, varying difficulty with distance. The problem I see with this is that the characters might generate skills such as Walking 2 which allow them to easily increase their speed to the point where they can move 100 or more squares in one turn.

Perhaps have a set speed (say, 8) and the player and DM both roll. The player's score is added to that speed and the DM's score is subtracted. This means the players must beat the DM to run farther.

As for a health system, I thought that when a player makes a check to attack something and succeeds, the amount they beat the DM by is their damage. This way I can have a sort of health system going. The same thing would happen when an enemy attacks a player.

How do I make a system such as the ones above which is stable, and allows a sort of movement and health system which doesn't involve too many numbers? Ideally, all i wIant is a number for the health of each player and each enemy, and a list of skills and XP on each character sheet.

Answer 1

To answer your question, yes it should be possible to make a system that is stable that allows for movement and health. You are going to need to decide how you are going do the mechanics and then either spend some time playing with the numbers to check they are stable enough, or pick some numbers and then adjust them to what suits as you play with your group. Below are some suggestions on how to add the mechanics you want to Roll For Shoes.

Because Roll For Shoes is a very minimal system it would make sense to make the additional mechanics simple and intuitive.

For movement I would suggest a base movement speed that players can spend experience on to improve, but perhaps with an increasing cost so as to prohibit players gaining speeds beyond what is physically possible in the game, e.g. 1 XP for movement+1, 3 XP (i.e. an additional 2) to get movement+2, and so on. The main reason for this is because dice rolls slow down combat, especailly when two parties have to roll and compare, as is the main mechanic of Roll For Shoes, so the more excess dice rolling that can be cut without hurting the base game, the better.

During their turn a player could move their speed for free and then perform an action, whether it be interacting with the environment in a way that doesn't require a roll, or using a skill. Here would be a good place to use skills for additional movement. The player moves their base speed and then for their action they use a skill like Power Walking 2. Here you could pick a number of dice that represents how difficult the terrain is to walk over instead of an opposing skill, with more dice being more difficult terrain. If they succeed you could let them move their base speed again, and if they fail you could have them move just one square, or maybe half their speed.

When someone attacks using on of their skills, you could use a skill of the target to dodge or resist or otherwise prevent the attack. You could also make armour an item that grants a skill (that they couldn't branch from) called Armoured, with more dice for heavier armour, which characters can use to resist attacks. You could even make rulings on different skills not being usable to resist certain types of attacks, "No, your armour does not help you being psychically brutalised".

For health, I would suggest a similar system to movement. A base amount that everyone gets that can be improved with experience. I would also say that each successful attack removes a single hit point, maybe even go as far as getting twice or more the amount of your opponent's resist roll on your roll is worth 2 hit points, three times or more 3 hit points, etc. When an enemy is dropped to zero hit points, they are out of the fight. When a player is dropped to zero hit points they are unconcious until someone spends an action to heal them at least one hit point through magic, a potion, a med kit, nano-tech, whatever your game's theme uses. Perhaps have them roll a d6 on their turn and on a 6 they get back up with a single hit point.

Additionally, here is an expansion on the Roll For Shoes system that someone else has previously made which they have called Advanced Roll For Shoes First Edition. It may also have some inspiration for you. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dF5o8b-7A-KeX0J6815JW8vXZGnWUFcvB02GSZmmvUI/edit