Operation R.P.G.

Just now saw this, I’m going to go through the questions and try to answer them. 

“I had to read the paragraph about assigning dice for character creation a number of times before I understood it, but perhaps I am just not that smart?”

The idea is that you do all three things. 6 of your 9 stats should have ratings higher than zero. If you can think of a more clear way to word it, I will gladly change the text to something more comprehensible, but I was stumped on how to explain it better than what I put in the document.

“What exactly is a ‘unique item’, and how do I create one?”

In this case, a ‘unique item’ is a piece of equipment that you think your character would own, use, and have customized. For example, a getaway driver might have a fast car with nos capabilities, and a safe cracker might have an automatic lock picking device of some sort. In essence, a unique item is a piece of gear that reinforces the sort of character that you want to play. As for making one, it’s simply a matter of thinking up an item that you think your character would have, and proposing it to your GM. If they approve, it’s an item that you can always call on in the fiction to do things that you might not be able to do otherwise, as long as you would be able to reasonably do so (I.E. you have the item with you in the fiction). If they don’t approve of the item, you’ll have to think up a new item for your character and propose that one instead.

“What does “Your game master will pick another…” mean in regards to the outcome rolls?”

So, this is my favorite part of my rendition of the Caltrop Core system. The idea is that when you go to roll the dice, the player starts by saying what they want to roll with, a la Blades in the Dark. Then, the GM picks an additional attribute. Then, you combine the pools of the two attributes chosen, and roll that many dice.
For example: say I’m trying to hack a computer without setting off any alarms. I have a Smart of 2, so naturally, I want to use Smart for the roll. My GM sees that I’m trying to something without being noticed (in this case, by the alarm system of the computer), and picks Sneak, which I have a 1 in. Then, I combine the two attributes that were picked, bringing me to a total pool of 3 dice, which I now roll.

“Is the Task Resolution really like Dungeon World or was I just filling in the gaps incorrectly?”

Yeah. It’s built on the Caltrop Core engine, which has a system for different levels of success built in, similarly to PBTA games like Dungeon World.

“How do the Characters advance?”

Well, the only built in method of advancement in Operation R.P.G. is the increase in maximum stress that happens as you complete missions/adventures. I plan to make a second edition sometime, and expand on the rules, maybe even add a violence engine built on Caltrop Core EX. My current idea for an official advancement system has to do with coming up with an experience system based on having your character do cool stuff, then spending experience to get mostly narrative advancements (such as additional pieces of unique gear, gaining contacts, and the like), with the possibility of occasionally increasing your character’s attributes.