LD50 RPG SYSTEM

by Nancy Sadkov

LD50 is a minimalistic framework for fast-paced, high-lethality solo narrative RPGs, where the hero is expected to die.

Game Setup

1. Pick a setting with developed lore.Example:the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

2. Choose a hero.Example:Little Red Riding Hood herself.

3. Quickly describe your hero as a set of aspects.Note strengths and weaknesses. Example:

   • Red Riding Hood has intuition and starts with a basket of pies.
   • She is naive and physically weak (a child).

4. Set a starting scene.Decide where the hero begins. Example:Red Riding Hood sets off on the forest path.

5. Set an initial goal.Define what the hero is trying to achieve. Example:Deliver pies safely to grandmother.

6. Initialize CTD (Chance To Die) to 0.LD50 uses CTD instead of HP.

   • CTD represents how close the hero is to a lethal outcome; higher is worse.
   • If a (pre-modifier) roll is at or below CTD when the hero fails to overcome an obstacle, the hero dies — game over.

The Core Game Loop

1. Roll D20 Prompt two times(or use another idea generator) to produce two evocative prompts that vaguely describe what the hero perceives.

2. Interpret the prompt as an obstacle or situation your hero faces.

   • If a prompt cannot reasonably be interpreted as an obstacle, treat it as an intermission or branch in the story — record it and return to step 1.

   Examples:

   • Obstacle:Roll Change + Threat → Little Red Riding Hood sees a man turning into a werewolf on the forest road.
   • Branch:Roll Isolation + Sign → There is nobody on the road, but you hear some noise in the surrounding forest. Will you check it or stay on the road?

3. Choose an Action(what you do)and an Approach(how you do it) to address the obstacle.

4. Assign an Obstacle Resistance class(see the table below) to the chosen Action+Approach. Apply bonuses or penalties from aspects, training, or circumstances.

5. Roll d20to see if the hero overcomes the obstacle.

   • Failure rolling at or below CTD means death.

6. Resolve outcomes, boons, complications, aspects, and adjust CTD accordingly.Example: Got wounded, or the noises turned out to be hunters who scared the wolf.

7. If overcoming the obstacle completes the hero's goal, pick a new goal or conclude the game. Example:Wolf got neutralized → happy end.

D20 Prompt Table

Roll here to get inspiration for describing the world around the hero and its reaction to the hero's actions.

Actions

What action to perform at the obstacle.

Approaches

How the hero approaches that action.

Examples:

• Agilely Assault → Attempt to backstab one of the guards.
• Patiently Prepare → Set up a booby trap on the guard's patrol route.

Another example: The enemy will invade your kingdom in a month. You can bravely assault them first, or patiently prepare by strengthening your defenses, or cleverly parley by pointing out that a common enemy is waiting for both sides to weaken in war. Or you can agilely abandon your kingdom, seeking refuge in another place. Or maybe magically sneak into their castle and neutralize their leader.

Obstacle Resistance

To assess an obstacle's DC to the Action+Approach taken by your hero, use world lore and the D20 Oracle (see below).

Example: It can be hard to bravely divert a river of magma, but one can probably agilely assault (jump over it, if not too wide).

Resolution Rules:

• Attempting an obstacle involves rolling d20 and adding any modifiers (training in the chosen Action+Approach, applicable aspects, situational bonuses).
• If the combined total is below DC → your action+approach failed.
• Otherwise, you have successfully overcome the obstacle.

On Success:

• Treat odd rolls as complications. Example: You succeeded escaping wolves, but got bitten and now have acrippled legaspect.
• On success, unless some aspect prevents it, subtract DC from your roll and lower CTD by that amount. Example: You regain your breath hiding in the locker while the maniac moves away.

On Failure:

• Treat odd rolls as beneficial effects. Example: You failed to stop the maniac, but their chainsaw ran out of fuel.
• If you fail the resistance DC with roll N, subtract it from the DC, then increase CTD by that amount. Example: You face an overwhelming obstacle (DC=19), but roll 10 → add 19-10=9 to CTD. The maniac evades your attack and gains the upper hand.

Aspects & CTD:

• Some aspects may affect how CTD increases/decreases. Example: A bleeding wound may prevent CTD from decreasing until it’s treated.
• If you got maimed and are bleeding profusely, CTD won’t decrease — it will increase unless you manage to stop the bleeding.

Training:

• Each Action+Approach pair the hero is trained in grants a numeric bonus to the roll.
• Overcoming an obstacle grants 1 XP.
• After a failure, the hero may spend XP equal to their current training in that pair to increase its training. Example: You learned how to better hide in this environment, or that the maniac is stupid and can be easily distracted.

Hero Aspects:

• Specific hero aspects may give less abstract roll bonuses.

  • Example: A druid may get +1 to rolls related to survival in a forest per each 2 DC.
  • Example: A mage may cast fireball once per day, granting +1 per 2 DC against a group of monsters.

D20 Oracle

This table is used to answer clarifying yes/no questions. Pick the likelihood based on your world’s lore. Example: Hunters in Red Riding Hood are Expected to be armed.

DOOM Tokens:

• When your hero acts against their nature, give them DOOM tokens.
• DOOM is added to the d20 when “yes” would be harmful, or subtracted when “yes” would be beneficial.
• DOOM models how the hero’s world is falling apart, leading to bad situations or sanity loss.
• Hero loses 1 DOOM each time they fail an obstacle.
• DOOM count cannot exceed +7. Example: A lawful good hero robs an innocent person → +1 DOOM. Later, they get robbed themselves → -1 DOOM.

INSPIRATION Tokens:

• When the hero acts according to their virtues and flaws (e.g. a chaotic good person spends all their money to save a dying stranger), give them an INSPIRATION token.
• INSPIRATION allows the hero to reroll any d20 roll.
• A hero can have at most 1 INSPIRATION.

Example Play

1. Heroes openly confront the orcs (they Bravely Assault).

   • Goal: Release their friend held captive by the orcs (obstacle).

2. Heroes are well-trained and well-armed, but orcs come in larger numbers.

   • Obstacle Resistance: Strong (DC 15).

3. A mage starts combat with a fireball cast (crowd control aspect).

   • Bonus: +7 to overcoming the DC roll.

Possible Outcomes:

1. Heroes roll 12+7=19 (odd = negative complication).

   • Reduce CTD by (19-15)/2 = 4.
   • Heroes succeed, but one is dead, captured, or maimed, or orcs remain a big danger.
   • Next prompt must address this complication.
   • If the captive is rescued, express their presence as a new party aspect.

2. Heroes roll 13+7=20 (even).

   • Reduce CTD by (20-15)/2 = 4.
   • Heroes succeed, and the orcs are no longer a danger.
   • Unless that was the milestone, the next prompt moves them closer to the milestone.

3. Heroes roll 2+7=9 (odd = beneficial failure).

   • Increase CTD by (15-9)=6.
   • They haven’t freed the friend.
   • Roll D20 Prompt and interpret it in a beneficial way.
   • Maybe the majority of orcs were neutralized, so the next attempt has lower DC (10 or 5).

4. Heroes roll 3+7=10 (even failure).

   • Increase CTD by (15-10)=5.
   • Roll D20 Prompt and interpret it in a negative way.
   • Maybe the friend was killed, one hero maimed, or more orcs were present than expected.
   • If CTD is high, perhaps the heroes were captured.

5. Heroes roll below CTD.

   • Orcs slay all the heroes.Game over.

D8 Rooms Dungeon

Sometimes your hero explores a dangerous location — a cave, dungeon, or abandoned building. To keep play fast and structured, roll d8 to determine the number of important dungeon sections (rooms). The first room is always the entrance. Each room contains an obstacle that hinders progress.

Use the D20 Oracle to decide how rooms connect, and whether a room has traps or monsters.

Treat discovering who inhabits the dungeon as an optional obstacle, overcoming which allows you to, roll d4 + d100 to pick a monster manual page (or whatever is your source of monsters).

Example

• An archaeology professor stands before the entrance to ancient ruins.
• He attempts to Cleverly Investigate who lives there now (DC15 obstacle).
• He has strong historical knowledge → +7 bonus to the roll.
• He succeeds, so he rolls monster manual page 216 (Rakshasa in 4e D&D).
• Now he must decide if he truly wants to enter.

Closing Words

I hope you find LD50 useful for quickly roleplaying arbitrary scenarios. It embraces failure as a storytelling device, rewarding your creative interpretation of prompts and thoughtful use of the D20 Oracle.

Now what are you waiting for? Pick a hero, roll the dice, and see how long you can last.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Amid Evil (Original Game Soundtrack)
Tags: gamedev

Here is how I see it:

• Personal transition goals → “I want to pass, stabilize my life, and reduce friction with the world.”
• Collective political expectations → “As a trans person, you owe loyalty to the movement, to activism, to representation.”
• External trolling/hostility → “You’ll never succeed; your effort is pointless.”

For someone like me, both the community’s expectations and the trolls’ taunts feel like different flavors of conscription. I never volunteered to be a soldier in anyone’s war, but both “sides” demand me play that role.

So when the “mobilization officers” (activist types) show up, they say:

• “You’re trans, so you must march with us, speak for us, and uphold our narrative.”

And when the trolls show up, they say:

• “You’ll never fully succeed, so give up or admit defeat.”

To me, both are intrusions. I just want to secure a private, livable identity — not to fight battles, not to rewrite society, not to be a mascot.

Hope that helps explain my harshness. I perceive myself as being dragged into conflicts I didn’t sign up for, while already struggling with internal challenges. So instead of aligning with one camp, I lash out at both, because for a potential conscript, all armies are the enemies.

Current Mood: contemplative
Tags: russia, transitioning, ukraine, ww3

Current Mood: contemplative
Tags: russia, transitioning, ukraine, ww3