OURS

OURS is an acronym for Open Universal Role-Playing System, or Offenes Universal-RollenSpiel in German. OURS is a universal role-playing game system currently under development by Jörg Rhiemeier as an open alternative to GURPS.

Why OURS?

GURPS is a modular game characterized by a very open, flexible architecture. In theory, the game could be used to play any setting; but in practice, it is tied down by the Steve Jackson Games's restrictive licensing policy which effectively means that GURPS players are restricted to the settings published by SJG, or at least it is very difficult to legally publish one's own settings. While GURPS Lite is available for free, you are not allowed to include it into your own games.

OURS, in contrast, uses an open licensing model. Anyone is allowed to build and publish a role-playing game based on the OURS ruleset and using whichever game world he or she desires.

At the same time, the rules have been modified and streamlined, though staying in the general spirit of GURPS. If GURPS is the Esperanto among the universal RPG systems (though its licensing model more closely resembles Volapük), OURS is a kind of Ido.

System

The game system is still under development, so many things may change in the future, and everything in this section is preliminary.

Character creation

Characters are built by spending points on traits, which include attributes, advantages, disadvantages and skills. The difference between the kinds of traits are gradual rather than categorial: attributes are the most generic, skills the most specific.

Attributes are the most generic (and expensive) traits, affecting many kinds of activities (e.g., all activities requiring intelligence). Advantages and disadvantages are more specific. Attribute values can be positive or negative; an attribute value of 0 is the average level. Positive attribute values and advantages cost points; negative attribute values and disadvantages earn points.

Skills are the most specific traits in terms of the actions they are relevant to. There are two kinds of skills: Default skills can be used if the skill value is 0 (i.e. the characters hasn't learned it) at the skill value of 0. Threshold skills can only be used if the character has learned them at a value greater than 0. Each skill is based on one or more attributes. For example, most pre-modern weapons are based on Strength and Dexterity; most knowledge skills are based on Intelligence. Some skills may be based on different attributes depending on the task. It may take Intelligence alone to diagnose a defect on a machine, but Intelligence and Dexterity to fix it, though the relevant skill (Engineering or a specialization thereof) is the same.

Examples: Sword is a default skill as anyone can figure out how the thing works. It is based on Strength and Dexterity because you need muscle and agility to use a sword effectively. Computer Programming is a threshold skill as this is not self-evident. It is based on Intelligence as computer programming is a purely intellectual task.

Task resolution

OURS uses a simple 3d6 task resolution system. The basic formula is:

Success = 3d6 ± traits - (10 + difficulty level)

A success value of 1 or more means that the task succeeded. A raw dice roll of 3 is always a failure, even if the result is positive because of high attribute or skill values added to it.

A task may involve more than one skill, in which case all relevant skill values are added to the roll. Some actions involve contests. In a contest, both parties make a success roll, and the party achieving the higher success wins.

Combat is handled by the same rule. The attacker does a success roll on his relevant skill. The defender does another success roll to parry; the success score of the defense roll (if positive) is subtracted from that of the attack roll. If the result is positive, the attacker has hit, and the result is multiplied by the weapon's damage factor to determine the damage.

Example: The attacker rolls for a success value of 5. The defender rolls for a success value of 2. The weapon's damage factor is 2-1; this means that the attacker achieves 2*(5-2)-1 = 5 hit points.

Settings

OURS is a universal RPG and thus not tied to a particular setting. The game can be used for any setting, which the author may publish without paying royalties for using the game system. Currently, Inis Albion, a historical fantasy near-EDO setting based on The Elvenpath and located in Arthurian Britain, is under development as the first "native" setting for the game.