Current State of Donnut DIY RPG Mess
So I'm working on this OSRish heartbreaker I call now Donnut DIY RPG Mess. It is a thing inspired by Traveller, Troika!, as well as B/X and Sword and Sorcery in general. Can't really tell, it's inspired by everything actually.
Basic mechanic is this - roll 2d6, if you roll 8 or over you succeed. There is no difficulty besides fictional consequences of a failure. If a character is affected by something that can be mitigated - like spell, paralysis or sudden death - they may toss a coin to check if they managed to avoid some of that effect. There is also a reaction roll - 2d6 when you meet a new people, settlement or creature.
2-3 they are hostile and actively aggressive.
4-5 they are unfriendly set towards you.
6-8 stands for indifference.
9-10 they are curious about you.
11-12 they are friendly towards you.
Each character has four attributes: Strength, Agility, Finesse and Luck. They range from -2 to +2. In order to generate them roll 2d6 for each and note result 2 is -2, 3-4 is -1, 5-9 is 0, 10-11 is +1 and 12 is +2. These attributes are added to your rolls - Strength in case of athletic and forceful challenges, Agility for acrobatics, balancing and full body movement, Finesse is for dexterous activities, drawing occult symbols, picking locks and precision. Luck is for miscellaneous things YOU do - it is not to be mistaken with saving throws. Similarly in social interactions you may translate reaction results to modifiers so Hostility gives -2, Unfriendliness -1 and so on. [I am aware reaction modifiers will generally be bigger than attribute ones and it is by design - I don't want people to rely on attributes too much]
Each character starts with one "skill" called vocation - it is character background, position, profession. It should be setting specific and rather general, like Pirate. It gives +1 bonus to activities connected with gives ability, and it is good to have clear vision what it means. Pirate doesn't only grant +1 to sailing but also for combat and intimidation as well as knowledge about places, people and events centered around piracy. Starting characters also have one Heart which serves mitigating damage.
There are six levels of experience. First level is for starting characters. After getting to a milestone - whether it is getting treasure worth 1000 gold pieces from wilderness or resolving local problem-adventure - you get a level up. It is connected with a season of downtime (may be longer than a season) - you cannot level up while adventuring or right after another level up. During this downtime character is assumed to be resting, living their life and training. Each level a character gets corresponding vocation, and if it is the one you already have then it gives better bonus (on levels 1-2 maximum bonus from vocation is +1, on levels 3-4 it is +2 and on levels 5-6 it is +3) and may also change their implied function like Pirate becoming Pirate Captain, though not necessarily. On levels 3rd and 5th you also get additional Heart. Each season is also a chance to get diegetic development in terms of training with particular people, resolving a project or just mastering an ability you know but cannot do. Diegetic development is not strictly connected with leveling but it certainly helps.
Combat doesn't have specified separate rules. You attack roll for it, you defend roll for it. You may attack in melee with Strength, throw things with Agility or shoot with Finesse, dodging also comes from Agility. It is important for every participant to do something in a round but the order of things is determined by fiction. [optionally toss a coin to choose which side goes first] Weapons and armour have fictional effect, there are no modifiers. Being hurt is also a matter of fiction, though modifiers are encouraged - wounded fighter is not going to hit with the same ability. You can mitigate any damage from one source by spending one Heart. Spent Heart is regained after four days for rest in safe environment.
Encumbrance is this - if you have something heavy or bulky you cannot do most actions. You may have thing in one hand, thing in the other, armour, small bag or things on your belt in pockets. If you have more you're either useless or heavily disadvantaged.
As for supernatural elements they should be setting specific. I have an idea for a few types. In dead-almost-roman-empire there are Wild Mages (basically psionics), Low Mages (people making deals with spirits) and High Mages (Vancian mind spells, not the DnDs version). In baltic-sea-as-world-center there would be spells-as-rituals, nothing inherent, if you know what to do to activate supernatural effect then you can.
This'll be all for now. Attributes, Saves, Vocations, Combat, Reactions, Encumbrance, Supernatural Elements.