Hello, fellow Labyrinth Lords and assorted Dungeon Denizens (and even any Heroic Explorers!), been a bit since I've been around, lovely new forums you have here...
I have been considering the possibility of combining some aspects (literally ) of the FATE rpg ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FATE_%28role-playing_game_system%29 ) to Labyrinth Lord. Here's what I've come up with so far (with some included explanation):
Fate Points: FP are the basic currency of the FATE system, as shown below. I'm thinking of setting the "refresh" (how many FPs a character would start each adventure with) at 3 at first level, increasing by 1 for every 2 levels thereafter. I'm not sure this isn't too few at lower levels, nor am I certain if increasing refresh as you level is the best idea... (Note: the LL has an effectively infinite number of FPs, but when he uses one he gives it to the affected player.) Ideally FPs are represented by some physical token (I use "stones" to refer to these, but poker chips etc. are good too, M&Ms not so much...)
Aspects: Aspects are little narrative "truths" about the game. Characters (PCs & NPCs), locations / scenes, and objects / items can all have aspects to them. I'm thinking of starting each PC with 3 at 1st level, gaining one additional at 3rd, 5th, and 7th levels (to a maximum of 6 total). Your 1st-level aspects should be tied to three of: your character's race and/or class, your character's background / training, your character's highest and/or lowest ability score, and why exactly your character has taken up life as an adventurer instead of settling down like normal folk. Later aspects should have to do with the events of actual play. You can also change an aspect at an appropriate point - usually when you level, and only if something significant has happened to the character to warrant that change.
Aspects on NPCs, etc. are more open-ended. They should be assigned as needed, and the LL should be open to (good / reasonable) player suggestions. For instance, if you've described how wet and slimy the stones of the dungeon are, the players could choose to tag "Wet and slimy" as an aspect to gain a bonus when attempting to upset the footing of monsters they encounter, even if you never specifically decided that was an actual aspect of the dungeon. Of course, now that you've had it pointed it out to you it could well be that the next time the M-U casts a fireball you push a stone his way and describe the huge cloud of steam created...
As an example, a 1st level Dwarf with a 16 Dexterity and a 6 Wisdom who is a former tunnel-scout for a Dwarven hold might choose three of:
* "Holds his friends close to his heart - and his gold just a bit closer."
* "Stand back - I'm a professional!"
* "Light-fingered but lacking in judgment."
* "Honestly, I meant to give it back!"
Note that aspects should generally have both good and bad sides to them. This creates a kind of economy - the LL has bad things happen to your character, but that gets you the resource (FPs) you need to make good things happen to your character... And, ideally, getting FPs should be a win-win situation for the players, as it not only gives their character an advantage to save for later but should be making the game more interesting right now.
FPs are spent to say "Hey, this aspect is important to the story right now!", in three ways: You can spend a FP to "tag" an appropriate aspect, gaining a +2 bonus to a roll or a re-roll (more on that in a second). You can also spend a FP to "compel" an aspect (this is normally something the LL would do, but I'm definitely amenable to players throwing compels at NPCs where appropriate). When you compel an aspect you force an appropriate course of action on the target of the compel, although the player or LL still has control over the character as appropriate. So, for example, the LL could compel the above character's "Stand back - I'm a professional!" aspect to have him step forward to deal with a trap the party has encountered, but the player gets to actually choose how to go about it. You can also outright refuse a compel, but it costs you a FP (so, if the LL compels one of your aspects and you accept, then you gain a FP; if you won't go along with it, then it costs you a FP instead). Lastly, you can make a "declaration" related to an aspect for a FP. A declaration is some reasonable (usually fairly minor) fact or statement about the game-world. Declarations are handled at the LL's discretion; the LL can over-rule a declaration outright and/or suggest a more reasonable alternative. If the declaration is over-ruled or the player doesn't accept the alternative then no FP is spent and nothing happens.
Bonuses and re-rolls: A +2 bonus in FATE is really significant, but IMO it works well OK d20 rolls (given the scarcity of other large bonuses). Re-rolls would, IMO, be more problematic, I'm thinking of maybe making them cost 2 FP or more. For other checks (d6 rolls etc.) I think the issue is reversed - re-rolls are the way to go, +2 is too much. In either case I think I'd go ahead and allow tagging after a roll is made, especially since it avoids situations where you'd waste your FPs otherwise.
Any thoughts and/or suggestions? I need to clean this up a bit, but it's basically what I'd be presenting to the players as info; any ideas on making it clearer or even more interesting to them?