Mobile Dungeon TaskForce - Playtest Report 2

Aight second playtest down. For those new here, MDTF is a game where spec ops soldiers fight fantasy dungeons. Simple OSR-style rules and compatibility with existing OSR adventures.

What Works

• The basic Mark of the Odd core combined with ideas from Vagabond is still great.
• The game features only 4 weapons but they feel distinct and interesting despite simple rules. Adding little modifiers like shotguns being short but AOE and snipers being long-distance but powerful force varying playstyles well.
• Shadow of the Demon Lord style initiative over side-based initiative introduced fun tactical elements without bogging down play. I toyed around with a 3-action combat economy which was certainly crunchier but I think lean but tactical is more fitting for the game.
• New story framing. Instead of fighting dungeons that are summoned by cultists, players fight the god of stories that is bringing fiction to life one dungeon at a time. More varied dungeons, a proper world-ending threat and overall more fun.
• Vagabond-style saves against damage. Players always hit but will roll to avoid enemy attacks. Players have very little healt but doing well with saving throws allows them to feel special and stay alive.
• STATs, CAPs, MAXes and SAVEs. I'll reserve a whole section explaining this system.

STATS, CAPS, etc.

What I have created is a funky combination of Into the Odd and Vagabond. Here's how it works:

• You have three stats: Endurance, Reflex and Character
• Each stat is a number between 2 and 7, a'la Vagabond. This is the MAX of the stat. The CAP of the STAT and the stat itself start here too.
• For SAVES you roll a d20 and try to hit [20 - (2xSTAT)]. Classic saving throw stuff with precalculated static DC. Easy for the modern audience that likes to roll high.
• Your stats are also resources. Endurance is your health and Character is your luck points for rerolls, asking free questions from the GM, pulling grenades out of your pocket etc.
• Your Endurance resets after each combat to its CAP.
• If your Endurance goes below 0 the remaining damage is reduced from the CAPs of your stats.
• If a CAP goes below the current value of the STAT, the STAT also reduces (not MAXes or SAVEs though).
• Your Character resets between adventures.
• If your CAPs go to 0 you die.

Why is this cool? It's super simple once set up. You have your health and resources (Reflex will also feature use cases) that are small enough that you can't just spam them. But when you do take damage you must choose if you want to heal to a lower maximum or reduce your resources. Optimally you would spend your resources a little to give you a buffer against damage, preventing you from holding on to them too long. But spending them all on an encounter is also not that wise because this game can be pretty lethal.

What Didn't Work

• Players did not spend Reflex points on Mythic Bastionland style gambits. Next up is gonna be a test for a called shot table utilizing the classic d12-shaped bodypart targeting die that is sold in some stores.
• Character points cannot be used on rerolls because then you should always reroll when you are at risk of losing your CAP. Some kind of rerolls might still be needed because Vagabond-style saves can suffer from bad luck.
• Dungeons only exist when there are witnesses. I wanted players to extract the civilians safely. But after they did they considered just dying so there is no-one to see the dungeon anymore. So I'm gonna figure out what incentives I can put in the narrative for them to fight like hell.
• Guns had mods where each gun would have various types of attachments. This was fun but the added complexity might not be worth it as I found myself having to come up with more mods than I had inspiration for. Next test will feature simpler guns again, complexity can be brought in later.
• I've decided to not care about XP for the time being. Leveling up is a future problem after the core works. Perhaps you get +1 HP per level or reroll a stat or something.

The game is not currently available anywhere but you can follow me on Bluesky or Itch to be the first to know when a playable version is out. Cheers!