The Pinwheels Role-Playing System is a tabletop RPG that is designed to mimic the natural learning process and provide realistic interactions while maintaining fluid, simple playability. It is designed to be used in a traditional fantasy setting, not unlike AD&D or any number of other tabletop and computer RPGs. Each decision to include each rule in the system was thoroughly analyzed, and we felt no particular need to build in concepts from past systems simply for the sake of nostalgia. Our goal has always been to make the system feel "real" without becoming cumbersome to use.
This page is meant to give players who are new to the system an idea of what the system is all about. We'll be covering concepts, but not numbers here, so once you are done going over this page, we suggest you download the latest version of the book to get the full rules set.
Attributes
Like many other RPG systems, a character's basic attributes are what make the character who he is. Each character has 11 attributes that cover everything from how strong he is, to leadership and problem solving abilities. Attributes generally start at an average level and increase as the character gains experience.
Attributes contribute to a character's talent in his various skills, and as the character becomes specialized in skills, he will have a chance to increase related attributes. So, in a way, your attributes affect your skills, and in turn, your skills affect your attributes.
Pinwheels & Skills
Everything a character can learn, from how to wield a weapon, to how to cast spells, or to haggle for a better deal at the marketplace, is represented by a skill. The skills are organized into groups of five in a circle around a center point, called a Pinwheel. One pinwheel, for example, may be Healer, and the skills around it would be Medicine, Healing, Biology, Nursing, and Toxicology.
To become proficient in any of the skills around a pinwheel, you must first gain access to the pinwheel. This is often accomplished by spending points or picking the pinwheel as one of your freebies during character creation.
A character can have any number of pinwheels. Some characters might like to concentrate in just a few, becoming masters in a single field of study. Other characters may like to learn a little bit about a lot of skills, becoming a jack-of-all-trades. There is not limit on how or where you spend your points, so you can pretty much construct your character however you wish. This makes every character truly unique.
Once you have access to a pinwheel, you can start learning the skills in it. As you learn a skill in a pinwheel, it becomes easier to learn the other related skills. Becoming good in a few skills actually helps you become good in others that are similar.
Many skills fall into more than one pinwheel. Medicine, for example, can be found in both the Healer and Naturalist pinwheels. Becoming highly skilled in Medicine as a Healer can help you gain access to the skills in Naturalist. In this way, you are able to move around the pinwheels by perfecting your talents in these "shared skills".
Pinwheel Levels & Perks
As you increase your expertise in skills around a pinwheel, your skill ratings average together to give you a level of expertise for the pinwheel as a whole. This is called the Pinwheel Level. As your pinwheel level increases in Healer, for example, you are considered to be better in that field of study. You could have widely varied levels in your different pinwheels, meaning that you are better in some things than others.
As your pinwheel level increases, you have a chance to choose Perks. Perks are little bonuses that add uniqueness to your character. You could choose to increase an attribute, learn a specialized combat maneuver, move faster, or any number of other cool abilities. Perks in a pinwheel are often related to the areas of expertise of that pinwheel.
Of Brains & Brawn
The Pinwheel System is designed to provide a rich experience for characters both in and out of combat. Too often, in too many gaming systems, non-combat skills get little or no use. The structure of the pinwheels web encourages players to choose both combat and non-combat skills and provides creative GMs with the tools they need to make use of non-combat skills rewarding for the characters.
Making a character more powerful requires spending character points. In the Pinwheels System, you gain character points from everything you do, not just from killing monsters. If a player wants to become really good at talking his way out of sticky situations, as far as we're concerned, that's a perfectly legitimate way to be successful at an encounter. When you are building your character, think beyond what you use in your favorite online PC RPG.
Ready! Fight!
Okay, let's get down to business. You have your character, now lets go beat the crap out of something. To make combat a bit more manageable, it is broken down into 10-second long rounds. Each round is then further broken down into ten 1-second long phases. A smart character will make use of each and every phase.
Every character has what are called "Action Dice," which are represented by several 20-sided dice. Action dice represent the amount effort your character can put forth in one round. Each character starts out with three action dice. Each action die could be used to perform any number of different actions. For example, you may spend an action die to run up to your opponent, another one to strike him with your sword, and the last one to dodge out of the way of a strike from his sword. In this way, a character can mix-and-match what he wants to do in a round. You could spend all of your action dice to attack, but then you would have none left to defend yourself. The choice is completely up to you.
Action dice are also used to cast spells. If you have a lot of action dice, you could cast several different spells in the same round. Again, action dice let you mix-and-match to your heart's content.
Perks, gained from increasing your pinwheel levels, give you a chance to get extra action dice to use during combat. Some action dice are generic and can be used for any kind of action. Other action dice are more specialized and can only be used to make attacks, defend yourself, or cast spells.
One really important thing to remember is that action dice represent effort, not just how many things you can do in a round. This is probably one of the most interesting aspects to action dice. Here's an example: you can normally spend one action die to run from one spot on the battlefield to another. Now, say you put twice as much effort into running across the battlefield. That would cost you two action dice instead of one, and it would allow you to go twice as far in the same amount of time. The same could be true for an attack. If you put two action dice into one attack (this is called overloading an action), you get to roll two dice and pick your best roll. Overloading can be applied to nearly any action you take in combat, from attacking, to defending, or even casting a spell. So, if that sword is coming down towards your head and you really, really need to stop it, you can put your heart into it and dump all of your action dice into blocking.
My Stuff Is My Stuff, Your Stuff Is Your Stuff
One of the key themes that is weaved throughout the system is the idea that the better you are, the harder it is for a less skilled person to stop you. Generally, every action has an opposite action which can stop, or at least reduce, its effects. When you roll a skill check, you will look at how much you made your roll by. Your opponent then will need to make his defensive roll by at least that amount to stop you.
For the most part, your rolls are made up of contributions only from your character's attributes, skills, and perks. Likewise, your opponent's checks are based only upon bonuses and penalties related to their stats. So, what does this mean in gameplay? Well, what it means is that you are always in control of how good you are. This is a level of control that is unmatched in most other RPGs, and that invisible line between the two facing characters is a theme that drives the whole system.
This is just a brief overview of a very interesting, solid, unified system. Again, we encourage you to download the core rulebook to get more details. We designed this system because our gaming sessions really needed a punch of life, and we believe that many gamers are looking for the same. We hope you enjoy what we have created and invite you to email any comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism.
