System Vivo

Status: Complete! Sent to distributor.

246 Pages, Black and White, 6″ x 9″
Vivo is a rules system designed to run a horror, near future, historical fiction, or low fantasy campaign where the players’ protagonists are human or near-human. We supply the rules, you supply your setting.
Designed for Theatre-of-the-Mind style play.
Core Mechanic is a d6 based dice pool system. Determine the number of dice to roll, and roll that may d6s. A die that comes up 4-6 is a success; the more successes you roll, the better your protagonist performs. With each die having a 50/50 probability of success, the odds are easy to calculate.
Subsystems, such as those for social and physical conflict, build upon the core mechanic for ease of use.
A social conflict system that gives negotiations, persuasions, and interrogations tactical depth (but without resorting to tedious mini-games).
Expert advice on building your campaign from a game master with 35+ years experience. Includes a step-by-step example of building a campaign perfect for the new GM who needs a guide with some solid advice for fellow old hands.
Expert advice on building your own game subsystems from the core mechanic. Want to add magic or super-science to your campaign? We show you how to do it with examples.

One Rule System, Many Worlds

I created System Vivo for use at my own game table. We like to play campaigns in different genres, but we do not want to learn a new set of rules when we switch from horror, to science fiction, to urban fantasy. We want to focus on collaborative storytelling, and need a simple yet flexible system that remains a constant through our campaigns. Thus, I designed System Vivo. How does Vivo work?

I started out with a standard dice pool system where you add your attribute rating to your skill rating and roll that number of d6s. Why d6s? Because they are easy to obtain. I also wanted my players, not to mention myself, to be able to eyeball the likelihood of succeeding on a roll without breaking out a calculator. If a die comes up 4, 5, or 6 on a roll it is a success. the more successes you get, the better you do. Each die you roll has a 50/50 chance of coming up a success, making it easy to see how likely you are to roll any number of successes. I also want you to keep the game moving, without having to take multiple breaks to hunt through numerous weighty volumes to find an obscure rule.

Role playing games tend to be adventure games, which means that they need a way to adjudicate fights. Vivo strikes a balance between tactical depth while keeping the game moving. While Theatre-of-the-Mind style play is at the heart of VIvo, sometimes your do need to know where everybody is during a fight. For those moments, Vivo has an optional zones system that adds schematic representations of a conflict-space while maintaining the theatre-of-the-mind spirit. Use it when you need it, and don’t use it when you don’t.

Where Vivo really shines is its social conflict system. I wanted a system that is more detailed than “roll high to persuade the guard to let you in” without falling into the trap of creating tedious mini-games (or worse, using physical conflict rules, but for arguments). Instead the focus is on building up advantages in the social conflict before making your ultimate negotiation or persuasion role. During testing, we played out negotiations and debates that were as exciting as any combat but while still feeling like a social conflict. In short, your talker/face protagonists will play an important role.

Finally, VIvo included detailed examples for building out your own campaigns and adding new rules and systems. I want you to make Vivo your own. I think your table will enjoy telling new stories with it.