Twilight: 2000

Twilight: 2000 has two different character creation systems, a quick "Archetype" option and a more detailed "Lifepath" option.

Archetypes

There are nine archetypes in T:2000 to choose from.  Most are military-based (eg. The Officer, The Gunner, or The Grunt) but there are also two civilian ones (The Civilian and The Kid), and two that could be either (The Mechanic and The Medic).

Nationality, Branch and Rank

Next, the character selects which country they came from (this determines their starting languages and gear) which branch of the military they belong to (if applicable), and then finally they roll to determine their rank in that branch.

Attributes

Next the player chooses the character's attributes.  There are four attributes, similar to Dungeons and Dragons except that Constitution is combined with Strength, while Wisdom has merged with Intelligence and also Charisma (which has been renamed as "Empathy").  All attributes use letter grades, so a very strong character would have an "A" in Strength.

Characters start with Cs in all attributes and get two improvements (ie. two B's or one A).  They can also get a third improvement by lowering one stat to a D, and they can only raise their archetype's primary stat to an  A (all others max out at B).

Skills

Skills are similarly ranked by grade, and each character gets a single archetype-determined skill at A.   They then get to choose one skill at B, two at C, and three at D, and there are twelve skills to choose from.

Specialties

Each character starts with one speciality, which provides them a +1 bonus to a particular skill, but only in certain conditions.  For instance, one character might specialize in fighting in close combat without weapons (Brawler), while another might instead specialize in using close combat weapons (Melee).

Details

Next the player chooses details for their character such as their moral code, their "big dream", appearance, how they met the other PCs, and of course their name.  They also choose their "buddy": whenever the character makes a sacrifice for them they get +1 to the roll, and potentially extra experience for the act.

Equipment (and Rads)

Finally each player selects their equipment (from options based on their archetype), and then the group also selects group equipment, eg. a vehicle.

Finally each member rolls a d6 to determine how irradiated they start the game, and then they are ready to play.

Lifepath Option

The lifepath option lets the player follow the character through their life, potentially gaining more skills and specialties, but also risking losing attributes due to age.

With this option each character begins 18-years old, and then goes through periods of time (d6 years each) which build the character (although there's also a "childhood" roll).

To begin the player starts with their nationality and attributes, the same as an archetype character.  They then gain a random skill and a random speciality from childhood before selecting a career.  Their career gives them two skill ranks (in a relevant skill or skills).

Career Advancement

The player then makes a skill roll (using a career-relevant skill), and if they succeed they do well in that career path, gaining a random speciality and an increase in rank.

The character then ages d6 years, and if the result is less than the number of rounds they've completed they lose an attribute level.  They then roll a d8, and if it rolls lower than the number of rounds war breaks out (otherwise they repeat the above process until war does break out).

War Careers

At this point the player gets two more skill increases of their choice and a random skill specialization, and they also age three years (with no loss of attributes).

They then select all of the "story details" such as their name or how they met the party, and they also select their "buddy" at this point.

The primary success mechanic in Twilight: 2000 is the skill roll.

Skill Rolls

To make a skill roll a player rolls one die based on their skill rank, and one based on the corresponding attribute.  The die used varies by rank, from a d12 (for a rank of A) to a d6 (for a rank of D).

In order to succeed the die must roll a 6 or higher.  Also, if a die rolls 10 or higher it counts as two successes.  If there are no successes then the roll fails ... unless the player chooses to "push".

Pushing the Roll

For particularly important rolls a player can opt to "push" a failed roll by re-rolling it.  However, if they fail the re-roll they take a point of damage (for physical skills) or stress (for mental ones).

Mishaps

If both dice roll a one, or if the character was making an unskilled (ie. single die) roll and it rolls a one, the character suffers a mishap.  Similar to a critical failure in other systems, a mishap indicates that an unfortunate event occurs, such as the character's equipment breaking.

Players can't push a mishap roll, but they can suffer a mishap on a pushed re-roll.

Modifiers

There are a variety of modifiers that can apply to rolls.  For instance, having a relevant specialty or using familiar equipment (ie. your country's) offers a +1 modifier, while using unfamiliar equipment instead results in a -1 modifier.

Interestingly these modifiers do not apply to the roll itself, but rather to the highest die being used.  For instance, if you were going to roll a d8 and a d6 to set a mine, but you were using your country's mines to do so, you'd instead roll a d10 and a d6.

If a modifier pushes a die past d12 it instead increases the other die, and if both die are increased past d12 an extra d6 is added.

Opposed Rolls

When a roll depends on another PC or NPC (eg. when trying to persuade an NPC) the roll counts as an opposed roll.  Both characters make a skill roll, and the defender subtracts each success they make from the attacker (but the attacker still needs at least one success).

A Hex Grid System

Twilight:2000 relies on hexagonal grid maps for combat, where each hex represents 10' in the real world (the game provides several hex maps in the box, and also offers a free blank one for download on their website).  Each hex can have different terrain, which can affect movement and offer penalties to ranged attacks.

Instead of miniatures the game relies on tokens (which can represent both individuals and vehicles).

Initiative

When combat begins all participants draw one of ten initiative cards (the game provides some, or you can use playing cards).  The lowest card goes first, and play proceeds in order from there.

Surprise and Exchanging Initiative

If a character successfully ambushes another they automatically draw the first initiative card, before random cards are drawn.

Also, if two characters are in communication with each other their players can opt to trade their initiative cards (when the first character's turn comes).

Combat Rounds

A round of combat in T:2000 is 5-10 seconds long, and a character can complete one "fast" and one "slow" action in that time, plus any number of free actions.  Slow actions including firing weapons or crawling, while fast actions include normal movement or drawing a weapon.

Attacks

To make an attack in T:2000 a player makes a skill roll using the appropriate skill (eg. Close Combat or Ranged Combat).  Every success after the first adds an extra point of damage to the damage roll.

Ammo Dice

When firing ranged weapons the player gets to roll an additional ammo die (or potentially multiple depending on the rate of fire of the weapon).  These dice don't add successes that count towards hitting, but if the attack hits they do count for damage.

However, after the attack completes the player totals up all of the ammo dice used, and that much ammunition is used up by the attack.  Also, if at least two ammo dice both roll 1's, a mishap occurs.

Hit Locations

When a person is hit in T:2000 the location where they are hit (Legs, Torso, Arms, or Head) is determined randomly by rolling a d6.  If ammo dice added any extra hits those hits roll for hit location separately.

Armor

If the defender is wearing armor on the affected location the weapon first applies its armor modifier (ie. armor piercing ability), and then the armor's (remaining) rating reduces the damage dealt.  If any damage breaks through the armor, the armor itself loses a rank of armor as a result.

Incapacitation and Death

A character can take up to their "hit capacity" (ie. hit points) in damage before they are effectively incapacitated.  Incapacitated characters can be killed easily by an attacker, but to do so the attacker must fail an empathy check, and even if they do so they still lose a point of stress from doing so.