Microtransaction:The RPG™

Jacob DC Ross
Microtransaction:The RPG™ by Jacob DC Ross
Here's how it works:
This game uses standard dice notation (d6, d8, d10 and so on). It also makes use of coins, here called a d$. A
d$ is based on US currency. Any coin is a d$, but you can differentiate them from one another as dN
(nickels), dD (dimes), and dQ (quarters). When you "roll" (flip) a d$, select which denomination you want to
use. The higher the value, the better the possible results:

(dN) Nickel Tails: 1

(dN) Nickel Heads: 2
(dD) Dime Tails: 3
(dD) Dime Heads: 4
(dQ) Quarter Tails: 5
(dQ) Quarter Heads: 6

Note that whenever you flip a coin, you give that coin to the GM to keep. That's their money now!

Using Microtransaction:The RPG™ with Other Games

You can graft the d$ system part of Microtransaction:The RPG™ into your favorite RPG. Simply use the
character creation rules, d$ roll bonus and the level-up bonus, all in the next few paragraphs, while keeping
the rest of the rules in place.

Character Creation
At character creation you roll 2d6 for each of the six attributes (Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity,
Intelligence, Strength and Wisdom). Roll in alphabetical order, recording the result.

If you want to add some power to your character's attributes, decide which coin die you're going to use to
enhance any or all of them. For instance you might be fine with your scores for Charisma, Dexterity, Strength
and Intelligence, but decide to add 1dP to Wisdom and 1dD to Constitution.You may only add one coin flip
to any attribute. Record the value of the coin flip and then add it to the dice result for your character's
attribute.

You begin with HP (Hit Points) equal to your Constitution score, and MP (Mental Points) equal to your
Charisma.

Empowering with a d$
At any time, if you fail a roll you can pay one coin to flip it and use the result as a bonus. If you're playing a
"roll-under" system, such as the Black Hack, where rolling below a certain number is better, then subtract
your d$ from the total rolled. Otherwise add your d$ to your results.

Powered d$ Leveling
When leveling up you can roll d$ to add its value to the HP or MP that you gain. This is in addition to any HP
or MP that your character normally earns.

Copyright 2020 by Jacob DC Ross, Artwork by Dean Spencer

International Games
Microtransaction:The RPG™ supports international play! You don't have to use U.S. Currency to play.
Here's the exchange rate:

Additionally, each of the four national currencies has a special coin that creates unique effects when spent.
Note that you don't have to be in the country where a special coin is legal tender to use it. For instance you
can spend a looney in Japan, the UK or the US.

USD: The Sacagawea dollar is the special coin of the United States. Because of Sacagawea's assistance to the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, this coin provides benefits when travelling overland. Spend a Sacagawea dollar to
automatically avoid any random overland, sea, space or other wilderness encounter and/or to find provisions
suitable to getting your party to the next point in their journey.

Yen: Flip a ¥100 coin to summon a ninja ally to your aid. On tails you get a single 3 HD ninja, and on heads
you summon two such ninja.You can spend unlimited ¥100 coins to summon more ninja, but each after the
first two have 1 HD. The ninja stay and fight for you until they succumb to injury or until the end of the
scene. Note that the allies are ALWAYS traditional ninja clad in black pajamas. This is true even if you're
playing a game set in the American West, outer space or ancient Egypt.

CAD: Flip a looney whenever an NPC is mad at anyone in the party. On tails you can say "sorry" to the
angry NPC and they calm down, so long as that NPC is a sentient being. On heads your apology can even
mollify beasts. A looney spent in this way cannot pacify a monarch or sovreign ruler of a nation, but instead
enrages them further.

GBP: The £1 allows you to find a second loot box whenever your GM awards you with a loot box.You get
to roll twice for results on this second loot box, choosing the result that you prefer.

Character Classes
Character classes in this game help determine what a PC is proficient at doing. There are three classes from
which to choose.

Paragon
Paragons excel at physical endeavors, whether they’re violent or not. As a paragon you gain 1d6 HP at every
new level, instead of 1d4. Step up the damage that you do in physical combat by one die step, as well as the
progress that you make in extended tasks based on physical might, endurance or agility.You are always
“prepared” against opponents whose HD is equal to or lower than your own when it comes to physical
conflict.

Prodigy
Prodigies are versatile and can succeed at many varied pursuits. As a prodigy you choose at each level
whether to gain 1d6 HP and 1d4 MP or 1d4 HP and 1d6 MP. Step up the progress that you make on any
extended task by one die step. Once per hour of in-game time you can give yourself Advantage for a single
non-combat roll.You are also “prepared” for non-combat tasks related to your backgrounds.
Mastermind
Masterminds use their wits to succeed in life. As a Mastermind you gain 1d6 MP at every level, instead of 1d4.
Step up the damage that you do in social conflict by one die step, as well as the progress that you make in
extended tasks based on charm, intellect or knowledge.You are always “prepared” for social conflict or
matching wits against opponents whose HD is equal to or less than your own level.

Backgrounds
Now choose three words that describe your character, where they come from, or what they’re capable of
doing well. When making an extended task to which one of these terms applies, you step up the die used to
make progress. Only one background term can apply to any given role.

A Paragon who has “sailor” as a background term steps up their progress die from a d4 to a d6 when
charting a course on the open sea, while a Prodigy with “Norseman” as a background term might step up
their progress die for extended tasks made to travel in the wilderness of their homeland.

Leveling Up
At the end of an adventure everyone in the party levels up. Their character level, which begins at 1, increases
to the next level. Roll the dice indicated by the characters’ classes for both HP and MP, and increase your
maximum HP and MP by the amount on the appropriate dice. Leveling up also closes the level and HD gap
between your PC and more powerful enemies, allowing you to more effectively combat greater threats.

At levels 3, 6, and 9 you get to add another background to your character sheet. This should relate to what
you’ve been doing in the game and may reflect a reward that you receive.

The Core Rules

To take any action where the outcome is uncertain, you roll 1d20 and compare it to one of your character’s
stats. The GM chooses which stat to use. If your roll is less than your stat value, you succeed.

Charisma represents force of personality, charm and je nais ce quoi. Intelligence is the ability to see patterns
and solve puzzles. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. While Intelligence is what you use to affect the
world, Wisdom is what you use to keep the world from affecting you. Constitution is your physical hardiness.
Strength is the measure of your ability to work and how hard you hit. Lastly, Dexterity is a measure of
physical adroitness and is useful for dodging incoming attacks.

Sometimes circumstances make it easier or more difficult to achieve your goals. If they make things harder
they’re called penalties, and if they improve your chances for success they’re called bonuses. Penalties get
subtracted from your stats, for one roll only. Bonuses get subtracted from the total shown on the d20.

A very common penalty is when you take actions against an NPC whose HD is higher than your own PC
level. In that case you receive a penalty equal to the difference between their HD and your level.

Regular tasks have difficulty levels, which range from 1 to 10. These difficulties are penalties applied to your
relevant stat for the roll. Equipment and training can negate these penalties. If your character is “prepared”
for a challenge, they can then reduce the penalty imposed on their stat by subtracting their character level
from the difficulty of the roll. This can’t create a bonus to the roll, but instead only reduces or eliminates an
existing penalty.
Paying d$ for Bonuses
When you pay a d$ to get a bonus on your roll you flip your selected coin and then subtract that amount
from the total shown on your d20.

Advantage and Disadvantage

When circumstances are highly in your favor, you gain Advantage. Advantage allows you to roll an extra d20
and then take the most favorable result. Disadvantage is the opposite of Advantage, applied when you are
facing extremely unfavorable odds. In that case roll an extra d20 and take the least favorable. If a roll would
somehow have both Advantage and Disadvantage, these cancel one another out and you roll normally.

Crits and Fumbles

When the face of a d20 shows a “1”, that result is a critical hit, or a crit. Crits are always successful, even if
the roll normally wouldn’t have succeeded. Conversely, a d20 that shows a “20” is a fumble, or automatic
failure.

NPCs
NPCs are the non-player characters that populate a game world. They can be hostile, indifferent or helpful.
An NPC’s most important statistic is their HD, or Hit Dice rating. HD roughly corresponds to a PC’s
character level. NPCs have HP equal to 3 times their HD, or you can roll a number of d6 equal to the NPC’s
HD and add them up for a random HP total.

Players can choose to try to evade, persuade, deceive, outmaneuver or defeat through combat hostile NPCs.
Combat does not have to be a first choice for problem solving.

Combat, Conflict and Extended Tasks

The combat system represents not only fighting and killing but can also abstract a contest of wills or a war of
words. The combat sequence emulates fast, pointed struggle with dramatic stakes.

Combat is divided into rounds during which every involved PC and NPC gets to take a turn to try and defeat
their enemies. PCs get to take their turns firs, in an order they decide among themselves, followed by the
NPCs. The action unfolds in the theater of the mind, but you can choose to use maps, playmats and
miniatures to portray the action.
Movement in this system is broken into range bands. They are:

If you choose to use maps and table mats for your battles, one easy conversion is to divide the map into
squares or hexes, with each unit being 4m.

During combat you can take two actions per turn. Each action you dedicate to moving allows you to travel
either up to 5 hexes or squares, or up to a Near distance. In theater of the mindstyle you can travel up to a
Far distance if you commit your entire turn to movement.

Besides movement you can also use your actions to attack. Working on tasks, such as defeating a security
lock, treating wounds or anything else that requires your attention takes an action, or possibly your entire
turn, at the GM’s discretion.
To make bare-handed or melee weapon attacks against an opponent that’s at Close distance or in an adjacent
space declare your intention and roll Strength. To attack using a ranged weapon, roll Dexterity.

If an enemy attacks you in combat, roll Dexterity to avoid it.

For social conflict, you use words as your weapons, rolling Intelligence to attack and Wisdom to defend. The
range of attack in social conflict is limited to earshot of your opponent. If you’re in an area where it’s
inappropriate to shout, such as at a royal court, then your Intelligence is halved for he attack roll if you
“attack” someone at Far or greater distance, which is five or more squares or hexes away.

Damage done in physical combat is deducted from your HP, while damage in social conflict is deducted from
your MP. Losing all of your HP takes you out of the scene, or kills you, depending on the context or on the
GM’s ruling. Being reduced to 0 MP severely damages your standing among any party who witnessed your
loss. Most of the time it also means that the party in conflict with you gets what they want. This depends on
the context and stakes of the argument. Though if person is trying to get you to do something against your
code of ethics or sense of personal protection you can always run away.

To determine damage you roll 1d6 and deduct that amount from the opponent’s total. Unarmed physical
damage does 1d4 damage instead. So long as the attacker is “prepared” and the receiving party is
“unprepared”, increase the damage done by one die step, from 1d4 to 1d6, 1d6 to 1d8 and so on. In physical
combat someone is prepared if they have proper arms and armor, while in social conflict a person is
prepared if they are dressed appropriately and have a relevant social station for what they’re trying to do.
Thus, a noble courtier in his finery is prepared for trading barbs at court, while a disheveled street punk is
prepared for intimidating opponents in public. Step up damage rolled by one die step if you score a crit on
your attack roll.

NPCs roll 1d6 damage against PCs that are “unprepared”, and 1d4 against “prepared” PCs. NPCs also add the
difference between their level and the PC’s level to damage against PCs.

Extended Tasks
Most tasks, such as haggling a good price on equipment or convincing a guard to let you pass are simple to
resolve. Just roll under your relevant stat and you’re good to proceed. Other tasks take more time to
accomplish, such as disabling the security protocols of a fortified building.

Some tasks that are normally become more intensive when there’s danger about. For instance, you can
usually pick a lock free from distractions, so it only takes a single roll. If you’re trying to pick a lock while your
teammates are in the middle of heated combat, that task might take you longer to do.

Extended tasks require you to make a certain amount of progress before completion. If you successfully
make your task roll, then you roll 1d4 to see how much progress you make this turn. Once you meet or
exceed the set progress number, you succeed at your task. If you roll a crit on an extended task then step up
the die you use to roll for progress by one step this turn.

A good range for progress totals made during dramatic scenes is 4 to 12. At 4 you have something that it’s
possible someone with skill and a good roll could complete in a single attempt. Going much higher than 12
could slow things down considerably.
Besides in-game extended tasks, you can also create extended tasks to represent what a character does
during their downtime. Say that a character wants to forge the ultimate sword of final destiny during their
spare time. In addition to stipulating that the PC has to find components for the sword through questing,
they also make a roll at the end of each game session to see how well they did at the forge that session. This
type of task can have a required progress total that’s very high without slowing the pace of the story.

Equipment
General equipment in this game is simpler than in most systems. In other games each specific piece of gear
has its own effect and statistics to track. In Microtransaction: The RPG™, gear is more abstract. Each piece of
equipment has a name and a level.
The name describes the object, such as “rope” “pistol” or “Damascus sword”. The level of a weapon or
armor indicates the level of challenge to which the item is appropriate. A warrior wearing level 3 armor and
wielding a level 3 sword is ”prepared” for combat against opponents of HD 3 or lower.

While a PC can carry, wear or use a piece of equipment whose level is higher than their own character level,
they only receive a maximum bonus of +2. A level 2 character wielding level 5 equipment is only “prepared”
against opponents of HD 4 or lower. This also effectively boost your character level for the purpose of
determining the difference between your level and an NPC’s HD, but only for purposes appropriate for the
equipment’s purpose. A level 7 sword puts a level 5 PC on par with a level 7 warrior for the purposes of
combat, but it won’t increase a PC’s level for the purposes of social conflict or matching wits in a game of
chess.

Purchasing Equipment
There’s no need to keep track of every gold piece and silver coin that you acquire. Throughout the game.
When you need to purchase equipment, just make a Charisma roll to be able to haggle down the merchant. If
you haven’t made any purchases since the last time you were paid for completing a quest, excepting lodging,
food and such, then you roll with advantage. If you have a Background that indicates wealth, privilege or
mercantile savvy, you can take a -1 bonus to you roll. Subtract an item’s level from your Charisma when you
make the roll to buy it.

The Money
If you’re like me, it might feel weird charging your friends to play a game with you, or at least charging them
for perks. I wrote the d$ rules for this system as a bit of a joke. I got fed up seeing how badly
microtransactions have infiltrated online and single-player video games. I got to thinking about how that sort
of garbage would look at a game table. Thus the d$ was born.

If you don’t want to charge your friends money, use poker chips and hand out a few of each denomination at
the beginning of the game. Or instead of pocketing the cash from each session for yourself, use it to buy
snacks for the group.You could even use the money in this game to budget for the group’s further
adventures, such as purchasing game modules, dice trays or other game-related accessories. Of course, you
could always send some of that sweet lucre my way!

There’s no need to use the entirety of the rules in this book. The rules on the first page can be grafted onto
many different games seamlessly. They’re designed for OSR and 5E integration and are adaptable to others.

What’s next for this game system? DLC, of course! Yup, get ready to pay to win. We’ve got loot boxes,
mystery packs, expansions, powers, and more!