darklordforhire

SOSV Backstory

2009-02-10T23:08:29Z

Deep in the picturesque wilderness of the Western United States lies the sleepy little town of Hannah, Montana. But this small town hides a secret. If you visit, you soon realize something is amiss. Perhaps it is the ornate church in the center of town dedicated to the Valorous Saints. Perhaps it is how the population is surprisingly fit. Perhaps it's because rather than small dogs, the women of Hannah, Montana walk small cherubic beasts with wings and fat pink bodies.

The truth is, Hannah, Montana is the home of the Sanguine Order of Santus Valentinus an ancient order of Church Knights founded over 2,500 years ago. An esoteric order focusing largely on learning and study, they under go a fascinating transformation during the late Winter season. During this time members of the order travel the world, bringing love, romance, and joy to potential couples which they select through curious divination routines (such as plucking rose petals or examining cards for hidden messages). Then, as the day of their namesakes arrives, the knights slaughter the chosen couples with as much brutality and collateral damage as feasible.

562 B.C. The Three Most Worthy Knights (Ejekial, Riguriel, and Susan) found the order of Santus Valentinus on the dual principles of love and brutality. The order is tasked by Pope Morris II with the elimination of dragons and the romantics on which they feed.

315 B.C. The first Rainbow Dragon is encountered by the Order. More civilized and intelligent than most dragons, this was the first true challenge they encountered since their formation. In the following four centuries the Order was nearly wiped out by subtle plots and romantic entanglements.

8 B.C. Following the Order's discovery of a Rainbow Dragon enclave containing the largest cupid farm known to date, the Order requests assistance from the Church at large. But the Church is engaged in other business, leading to an ever widening schism between the Order and the Church.

128 A.D The Truce of Corinth is forged, where the Rainbow Dragons join with the Order in the elimination of all other dragons. Grand Mistress Susan (descended from the Most Worthy Knight) and Chubbs, now known as the Valentine's Day Dragon, are the signatories. The Church threatens excommunication over the treaty, especially the Dragon's condition of editing the Seven Deadly Sins article, but the paper work was lost.

171 A.D. After many years of successful collaboration, the Rainbow Dragons have become full members of the order, as signified by the election of Chubbs, the Valentine's Day Dragon to lead the order following the combat death of Grand Mistress Susan.

831 A.D. Order's Seven Deadly Sins is revised to combat the growth of Emo across Europe.

1194 A.D. Chubbs is killed by a Crimson Dragon warrior. Much beloved his body is displayed across the lands patrolled by the Order in what is Known as the Black Parade. After this mass ritual, the members of the order discover they gain blessings from slaughter, drawing upon the Death of the dragons the order has slain. To this day a Black Parade is the final step to becoming a full Brother or Sister in the order.

1244 A.D. The final Crimson Dragon is defeated. Scrolls found among the Crimson clan of dragons indicate that they and several other clans worked together to cast a ritual, ensuring their eventual rebirth. To counteract this rebirth, the Order constructs a yearly ritual of love and slaughter to keep the dragons imprisoned in Death.

1352 A.D. Under the cover of the first colonists to the American West, the Order secrets itself away and replants itself. Their new headquarters is called Hannah, the Rainbow Dragon word for Hope.

1703 A.D. The Research and Matchmaking Branch of the Order is founded, with experiments in weaponizing chocolate and heart shaped candies.

Sanguine Order of Santus Valentinus

2009-02-04T19:26:10Z

Some years back I wrote an RPG based on a list of 17 and a half words and phrases, in about 4 hours. This RPG has been remarkably successful - Christmas Ninjas. But recently I've been asked to create another seasonal RPG, A Valentine's Day RPG for singles. Clearly the intention is to incorporate as much nonsensical mayhem as Christmas Ninjas, but in a different vein. As such, I've struck upon the idea of an order of Church Knights, dating back over 2500 years to the first Saint Valentine, using the same core mechanics (which I've vetted significantly by now) in the revised version of Christmas Ninjas.

And just like Christmas Ninjas, I've asked for a list of words and phrases. Although I believe I've now stuck with a bit more than 17 and a half. So, let's see where this goes.

Sharp darts

Aphrodite

Enchanted bows and arrows

STDs

Death

Emo

Denial

Carotid

Flirtatious

Paranoid

Envy

Seven deadly sins

Cards

Flesh

Impalement

Plasma

Lovesickness

Head on a pike

Et tu, Brute

Pyramid head

Hannah Montana

Death notes

Rainbow dragon

Chubbs the Valentine’s Day Dragon

Conversation hearts

Tendons

Ligaments

Lovers quarrel

Catfight

Torching malls

Graffiti

The pimpmobile

Unrequited love

Sacrificial love

Cupid

Roses

Red

Pink

Heart

Chocolate

Blood

Arterial spray in the shape of a rainbow

Jugular

King Loveton

Shameless commercialism

Shuriken in the shape of broken hearts

Happy pills

Men in white coats

“They coming to take me away, ha ha”

Derivatives

Canadia

Black Parade

Publication Thoughts on Coming of Age

2008-07-28T13:34:29Z

I've been thinking over some of the advice about Coming of Age that I received at Dreamation earlier this year. The main thing is that the game isn't in a terribly exciting package.

Putting a bunch of setting sheets with the main rules and saying "Play it!" certainly appeals. On the other hand, without an overarching theme or connection between the settings it's difficult to really push the game towards something which I can easily market. So I've been thinking of alternatives:p

Magic Academy - combine the Coming of Age rules and Magic setting sheets with my old design a magic club / magic school process (which was always the most fun part about playing Magic Academy). Maybe this could be combined with Squires of Sword and Sorcery and Space Police Academy, dealing with the entire school-based sub-genre of coming of age stories.

Darker Journeys - take some of the more mature themes from the setting sheets. Includes Heroes of the Revolution, Family Matters (crime drama), and The Next Day (post disaster/apocalypse). Really look into character death and maybe even include the reverse rules for Last Hurray.

Rites of Passage - this focuses on real cultures and situations, and will probably require doing some more research. Survival stories and spiritual journeys both belong here, as well as some options for more structured play and rules to encourage stronger cooperation between players.

I think these three book ideas would neatly cover much of the ground I want to expose within Coming of Age. But I've less idea on how to approach publishing them. Perhaps one at a time, or maybe all together.

Making a Mystery

2008-07-17T16:40:41Z

I've been asked recently to build on the mystery creation mechanics I suggested on Story Games a some months ago. They rose from the mission creation mechanics in Drift, but turned a few corners along the way. Unfortunately, what I posted at Story Games didn't work when I tried it.

But this modified mechanic seems to.

The basic idea is you start with a list of clue types - like the GUMSHOE investigative skills. These should be spread around the capabilities of the PCs, with some duplication if it's a very common technique (if all the PCs are historians, History should show up several times).

Given this starting list, how do you come up with a mystery for those PCs to investigate, and eventually solve? That's what this method is meant to solve. Note, that the mystery you create may not be the one you initially had in mind. This is more like creating a town in Dogs in the Vineyards than it is like creating an adventure. But the result should be a mystery which challenges the players in the way you want, and can easily be expanded in response to unexpected player decisions.

Take a sheet of paper, turn it so the long side is horizontal, and on the left side put each PCs name in a circle. Then draw more circles, each with a clue type listed inside. If you're duplicating put those clues types farther apart.

Once you've used up all the clues, draw a few dashed lines vertically on the paper between, not through, the circles. These lines will indicate when an escalation or threat will occur. You should try to have about two layers of circles between each line. These act as a reminder to crank up the threat level when the line is first crossed.

Now it's time to link up the circles. Each link will be a situation or a person. Draw lines between the close-by circles, connecting the entire group. Eventually these lines will become arrows, but wait until you've figured out the situation for that.

Choose one or more of the links on the right side of the paper. These will be the "final confrontation". In other words, it will the a situation which resolves the mystery, captures or defeats the villains, or brings some other closure. That is the eventual goal of the PCs, to reach one of these endings.

For each line starting with a PC, describe some hook, puzzle, or situation which draws that character into the mystery. The link should relate to the clue type indicated on the other side of the link, as solving that type of clue will enable the PC to learn more and make it to the next situation or person. Then put an arrow head on the clue side of the link.

Then, starting from the left, for each link describe a situation or a person revealed by the previous clue, and will reveal something new due to the next clue. Put the arrow head on the link leading to the next clue. Sometimes a link goes both ways, in which case it can be revealed in either way, put an arrow head on both sides of the link to indicate that.

As you go through make notes where you need them. Description of specific clues, situations, or people can be very helpful, especially if you do something less obvious. When you've finished you'll find yourself with a skeleton of an adventure story, including multiple ways to solve the puzzle.

Sometimes two links will seem very similar, especially if they lead to the same clue. You can just connect those links together directly, making a link with 3 or 4 clues attached. As long as you keep the arrows clear, that won't cause any confusion.

Lastly, you can always add new situations, characters, and clues during game. This works much the same, and lets you deal with expected actions, or the effects of the PCs choosing to avoid parts of a mystery where one of them would truly shine.

Coming of Age: Continuity

2008-01-21T13:05:43Z

Continuity

At the center of roleplaying a character is the idea that the world of the character will retain a certain consistency, that events will flow from one moment or description to the next. Coming of Age relies on this continuity to help bring the characters and hence you the players together. Because the antagonists are shared among you, how you describe the changes in those antagonists and in the wider world of the game directly affects what your fellow players can do.

While often taken for granted, continuity isn't automatic. Most of the time, each of you will respond to each others ideas and incorporate them into your actions and description. But sometimes a player will forget some detail important to you, like the fact that the demon knight has entered the castle already. If that happens, tell him. Politely remind him of the fact, and if it changes what he was planning to do, try to give an alternate suggestion. Be open to clarification by others, they might have different ideas of what had happened. Most importantly, work together to resolve the gap.

It may seem odd, but one of the keys to keeping the continuity working in Coming of Age is to not plan too far ahead. You already know where your character is headed, because of her titles and her opposition, the purpose of the game is to discover how she gets there. The dice, and more importantly your fellow players will surprise you. And that's what you should look forward to as part of playing Coming of Age.

Whispers of Heaven's Fall - Beginnings

2007-11-28T23:20:55Z

I've just started pulling together ideas for a the friendship RPG design contest at knife fight. My present idea is martial artists in a world which is in the process of an ontological apocalypse, splintering into multiple worlds.

The design is based on three requests:

1) flexible / discovered characters within the rules and expressions of the system (examples here were Dogs in the Vineyards, My Life With Master, and something called Drifter's Escape)

2) emergent effectiveness from system complexity (examples here were D&D, Exalted, and Weapons of the Gods)

3) kung fu

Working from the last towards the first, I decided to borrow from some kung fu ideas and build the game based on state changes. Characters have a stance, which indicates their present physical and emotional state. They also have a path, which indicates their role within the world. In default, each path links the stances in one or more fixed cycles, indicating the predictable patterns of that path.

The next two states are global, shared by all characters, and the world around them. The first is the kingdom, which starts having only one state, and slowly splinters, creating alternate realities, where characters can discover they are very different people. The second of these is the horoscope, which does not directly affect the characters outside of a conflict. During a conflict however, resolution happens by progressing the horoscope, and hence advancing some of the events which lead to the splintering and destruction of the world.

I might be replacing the horoscope with a card draw of some sort, but as of now there is no randomness in the system. Another outcome of conflicts is to grant characters points which can be used to draw new links on their characters.

Beyond the default links, these represent secret arts, whether martial or philosophical. Player characters start with several of these arts already, enabling them to break from a single path and become heroes. There is one over-arching limitation to these arts - they may not cross each other. And since there are 6 stances and 6 paths, this limit will be reached fairly easily.

Each step from one state to another causes an effect (seduction, best someone in combat, meditate, and so on). The default links are pre-defined, but while suggested secret arts exist, the specific effect can be crafted by the player. In a bout, any player may cause an effect by stepping across a single link. Multiple effects which conflict with each other can lead to a conflict. Entering a conflict leads to gaining points (as yet unnamed) for new arts. Conflicts may require advancing the horoscope to resolve.

Coming of Age additions

2007-10-29T18:49:45Z

After playtesting and some careful thought, I've decided that two changes are needed in the Coming of Age playtest document. First, the pacing rules should not affect the short term dynamics of antagonists, only the longer term dynamics of opposition dice. Second, character versus character actions should be able to provide a benefit to the antagonist character. As such, I've decided to allow a victorious initiator to add a step to one of their antagonist's opposition dice. Literally they are teaching her or him a lesson.

Third paragraph, page 1, sentence 4: This describes how quickly the characters grow.

Seventh paragraph, page 3, first bullet, sentences 3 and 4: You may cross out any one goal antagonist die, gaining an additional story point. If you do so, describe how your success overcomes that goal (even temporarily).

Ninth paragraph, page 3, after sentence 3: If your title die is above all other dice, including the other character's title dice, then you may add a step to any one opposition die of that character. You have literally taught her or him a lesson.

Third paragraph, page 4, sentence 4 and 5: So Peter gains a story point and crosses out the Transport Accident, gaining another.

Third paragraph, page 4, sentence 8: He describes how the patients are handled and things come back to a relative calm. He then spends a story point to bring back the Transport Accident, this time as a d12, mentioning how another wave of trauma patients come into the space dock a few minutes later.

Fifth paragraph, page 4, sentence 3: Pace defines how many steps are needed to overcome obstacles during your actions.

Sixth paragraph and eighth paragraph, page 4: These paragraphs are deleted.

Significant Actions, second bullet, sentences 3 and 4: You may cross out any one goal die in your roll, gaining an additional story point. You may describe the achievement or overcoming of that goal as part of your success.

Pace, second sentence: Whenever you accumulate steps on an opposition die equal to the pace, reduce the die size according to the chart.

Pace: delete the bullets.

After Pace: Versus - If both players agree, you may use another player's title die as an antagonist die in your action. If you do so and your title die is above all other dice, you may add a step to one of that player's opposition dice, describing how your victory teaches a lesson.

Page 6: remove Steps space from Goal dice, and extend the Value space.

Dragon's Gate - Wyverns

2007-09-29T12:56:56Z

Dragon-kin are draconic beings that sentients can relate to, while dragonettes are much like beasts. Wyverns are another scale entirely. A wyvern is a draconic being on the scale of natural (hurricane, earthquake, or meteor strike) or unnatural (plague of undead, wave of madness, cloud of bliss) catastrophe. Wyverns are not so much hostile as forces of pure magic, and their motives are at best enigmatic. But wyvers, unlike the true dragons can be influenced and even destroyed by characters such as PCs.

A wyvern is a form of magic, much like a dragon-kin, although it has effectively unlimited potency. A wyvern also has a potency, between 1 and 10. The DC to affect a wyvern is 50 + 25 * its magnitude. Thus even the weakest wyvern requires a legendary action to affect. On the other hand, wyverns do not make saves, so meeting this DC is enough. The most powerful wyverns require a DC 300, impossible without careful preparation and planning (using the aiding rules).

Wyverns do not generally wait passively to be defeated or controlled. Instead they affect things in three different ways, using their innate magic to produce various effects. The scope of these effects is settlement for magnitude 1-3, countryside for 4-6, and local area for 7+. When the wyvern is simply present it produces magical effects of a level 10 + 5 * magnitude. When the wyvern is focusing on a specific place or situation within its scope, that raises to 20 + 10 * magnitude. And when provoked it can strike with a pinpoint focus against a person or object at an effect of 30 + 15 * magnitude.

Remember, wyverns rarely take notice of lesser beings. Only a failed roll which could have beaten it's affect DC will be sure to draw its attention, and even then for only a short while. This does not mean that wyverns won't have other, strange purposes and motivations. Wyverns are intended to be powerful challenges requiring preparation and cooperation, as well as atmospheric effects demonstrating some of the most exotic beings PCs will likely encounter in the world of Dragon's Gate.

Dragon's Gate - Beasts and Dragonettes

2007-09-28T21:14:23Z

Building a beast is much like making a character, but with more limited options. Beasts only ever have one innate potency, which is of the Dragon on which they dwell.

Abilities:

Beasts have the following ability minima and maxima:

Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom minimum of 2 and maximum of 10.
Charisma minimum of 2 and maximum of 5. They should be built from 25 ability points.

Traits:

Beasts also gain a number of traits. One of these is required, in addition to the lack of language and ability to use complex tools. This must be either Wild or Tame (see below). Two traits may be taken specially by reducing one ability maximum by 5. One of these traits must be Prowess, and these are the only two traits that may be Prowess. Each trait taken reduces the skill points available per level by 1. A number of traits may be taken up to your starting Wisdom.

Movement - Grants a version of the skill Movement in the Instinct group. When you take this trait select a specific mode of movement associated with this skill. You may take this multiple times as different modes of movement. If any of these traits is taken in exchange for a skill point reduction then halve your land speed.

Natural Weaponry - Grants the skill Natural Weaponry in the Instinct group. You may only take this trait once.

Personality - Increase your Charisma maximum by 2 and gain access to the Personality skill group. You also gain a social save. You may only take this trait once.

Prowess - Grants a version of the skill Prowess in the Instinct group. When you take this trait select a physical ability score. You may take this up to twice as described above.

Survival - Grants a version of the skill Survival in the Instinct group. When you take this trait select an environment in which you can survive. You may take this multiple times as different environments.

Tame - Grants access to the Tame skill group. You gain a +2 gifted bonus to all of its skills. You may only take this trait once and you may not take Wild.

Wild - Grants access to the Wild skill group. You gain a +2 gifted bonus to all of its skills. You may only take this trait once and you may not take Tame.

Skills Groups:

A beast starts with access to the Instinct and Athletics skill groups, plus either the Wild or Tame group. Depending on traits, they may also have access to the Personality skill group. And due to feats, beasts may have access to both Wild and Tame. Beasts use their Wisdom in place of Intelligence for determining skill points, and this total is reduced each level by the number of traits.

Personality
     Acting (Cha)
     Dance (Dex)
     Impress (Cha)
     Music (Cha)

Tame
     Empathy (Wis)
     Labor (Str)
     Household (Wis)
     Observe (Wis)

Wild
     Foraging (Wis)
     Hunting (Wis)
     Navigation (Wis)
     Tracking (Wis)

Feats:

Beasts have no social save, unless they have the Personality trait. Beasts may not select magic feats or social feats. They may select Education, Virtuoso, any Physical feat and the following Combat and Mental feats:

Combat
     Quick Reflexes
     Blind Fighting
     Weapon Finesse (Unarmed or Natural)
     Martial Arts
     Weapon Focus (Unarmed or Natural)
     Weapon Defense (Unarmed or Natural)
     Accurate Strike (Unarmed or Natural)
     Combat Awareness
     Unpredictable
     Stealth

Mental
     Strong Will
     Notice
     Situational Awareness
     Uncanny Sense

Beasts may also have three new general feats:

Civilized - This beast has been civilized.
Effect: Gain access to the Tame skill group.

Feral - This beast has gone feral.
Effect: Gain access to the Wild skill group.

Stand Out - This beast has a little something extra.
Effect: Gain access to the Personality skill group and gains a social save.

Dragonettes

Dragonettes are beasts with an additional option, a trait called Eldritch. Many dragonettes lack this trait, being simply draconic beasts, and there is some debate as to where the classification of beast versus dragonette comes in. But some clearly have unique draconic powers.

Eldritch - gain a unique potency associated with one dragon of your choice. This potency is determined in the same was as the potency for Dragon-kin (highest ability + base save + 2 * level). Gain access to one skill in the Innate skill group. You may take this additional times for more Innate skills.

Innate
     Absorb (Con) - Pith
     Blast (Wis - Magic) - Sorcery (different ability)
     Counter (Dex - Magic) - Artifice
     Deathcraft (Con - Magic)
     Deceive (Dex - Magic) - Artifice
     Drain (Cha) - Brood (different ability)
     Engulf (Wis - Magic) - Sorcery (different ability)
     Feast (Cha) - Brood
     Ferocity (Con - Magic) - Brood
     Fortify (Str - Magic) - Channel
     Lifecraft (Con - Magic) - Pith
     Linking (Cha - Magic) - Sympathy
     Manifest (Cha - Magic) - Sympathy
     Manipulate (Wis - Magic) - Sorcery (different ability)
     Resist (Str - Magic) - Channel

Dragonettes also gain the general feat:

Innate Magic - The dragonette has developed a new magical skill.
Prerequisite: Dragonette and Eldritch trait
Effect: Gain access to a new skill in the Innate skill group.
Special: You may take this feat up to once per three levels.

Dragon's Gate - Revised Aiding Rules

2007-09-28T19:36:34Z

Originally aiding was an action you could take in combat to give a character a +2 bonus on all actions of a specific type for a round. We decided, given the scaling, that this was insufficient. The first change was to make aiding give a +5. That seemed to work well, but opened up some other problems, not the least of which was the question of aiding outside of combat. To answer those questions I've worked out the following:

Aiding is any action (i.e. skill use) that is meant to assist a character on another action (you may assist yourself). The relationship of the assist to the bonus must be explained, and may use any skill that logically could affect the final action. Aiding adds a +5 assist bonus, which stacks with other assist bonuses, if the aiding character beats a DC equal to the current bonus on that action, including assist bonuses, but not bonuses from magic skills. If the skill being assisted is a magic skill, then a point of potency must be expended in the aiding action, even if the aiding skill is not a magic skill.

(Of special note, in combat the assist bonuses now apply to one action, not for the rest of the round. This was needed to streamline the mechanic for out of combat use.)

For example, if a character has an attack bonus of +13, not counting a +6 ferocity bonus, then if a character wishes aid the eventual attack they must beat a 13 DC to add +5, if another assist is attempted, that will be versus a 18 DC, and then a 23 DC and so on. The aiding characters need not use a combat skill, they could, for example, use Wit, Distract, or even a minor magical effect from a magic skill like Deceive (which would cost no potency). After being aided three times the total bonus on the attack would be a +34 (28 + 6 from Ferocity).

Remember aiding must always have a reason to make a substantial effect on the final action. Thus additional attempts to aid must have a reasonable effect in addition to the previous attempts. This is especially important outside of combat. Also, it is entirely viable to aid an an attempt to aid. Indeed, an entire session could be constructed around a single vital action in this way (such as convincing the king or cracking a code).

Also, aiding largely replaces a direct attempt at an action. Hence, aiding with Distract wouldn't prevent people from noticing you or aiding with a magic skill wouldn't enable you to convert potency to a magical effect. While there is some effect, it is in influencing the situation to enhance the outcome of the final action.

Dragon's Gate Additions - Dragons and Their Kin

2007-08-31T20:07:30Z

The Dragon's Gate setting is founded on seven dragons, called the Great Dragons. These are Ourboros, Demiurge, Ialdaboth, Fafnir, Leviathan, Quetzalcoatl, and Lucifer. On average these beings are significantly bigger than Earth, despite being inhabited much like planets. For example, Ourboros has a circumference roughly the same as Jupiter's Red Spot. Each dragon's very blood and essence is one of the seven building block elements of existence.

On the scale beneath them are the Lesser Dragons, planetoids and moons of the Great Dragons. There are dozens, perhaps even hundreds of these. These are mystically distinct from their primaries, although tainted by proximity and the strange radiations that permeate the space of Dragon's Gate.

Beneath the Lesser Dragons are the Wyverns, the asteroids and comets, as well as symbiotic or parasitic beings dwelling on the Dragons. The wyverns are on the edge of being comprehensible to the peoples inhabiting the Dragons. Still, the relationship is more one of natural disasters and cosmic encounters. Often an earthquake or a meteor strike will be due to the movements of a wyvern. They space born ones seem to travel between the Dragons, for reasons scholars can only speculate.

The next tiers down are the Dragonkin and Dragonettes, the distinction between these types is always somewhat hazy. Loosely speaking, a Dragonkin is a draconic being which acknowledges the humans and other such beings and are at least as capable or aware. Here are where mythic dragons of Earth legend would be placed, as well as stranger beings.

If the draconic being is no more than any other animal it is considered a dragonette. There are many forms of dragonettes, from graceful flocking dragonettes living on the savannas of Demiurge's wings to the crawling draconic forms found beneath a rotted stump. Indeed, dragonettes are so plentiful that they occupy many of the wild niches taken by insects and other animals. In any given environment only a handful of the creatures will be of an identifiable Earth-like creature.

Because of this hierarchy of draconic beings, it is really only important to describe Wyverns Dragonkin, and Dragonettes. In particular, the only playable option of these three are the Dragonkin.

Like all things draconic, dragonkin are not merely imbued with magical potency, they are entirely composed of it. And like the others their potency is a unique aspect, tinged by that of the Dragons. So the first step in making a dragonkin is to choose what their magical nature is. Part of this is reflected in their appearance and personality.

As part of this step, choose seven skills (as though you are gaining a level). You may choose from the Instinct skill group and any magical skill groups, but you may not choose an entire skill group. These define the matters in which your magical aspect is most applicable. These are also locked skills you must select for each level gained.

Dragonkin gain magical potency equal to their base save plus their highest ability, plus twice their level. This is their own unique form of potency, and has associations worked out at character creation between the player and the GM (use the Great Dragons as examples). Dragonkin do not gain a Talent. Once per level, a dragonkin may take the following feat:

Freedom - You have learned greater flexibility.
Prerequisite: Must have one or more locked skills selections.
Effect: Unlock one of your skill selections. This may be chosen freely for this level, and all subsequent levels. It may also be joined with three other (non-locked) skill selections to select a skill group.
Special: You may select this feat up to once per level. This is a general feat, and so provides no save bonus.

Dragon's Gate Additions

2007-08-30T21:03:02Z

Alchemy - You can alter the material and spiritual forms of the world around you.
Prerequisite: Assembled Heritage or 5 ranks of Research
Effect: Gain a new save starting at Constitution plus base save. This save is a base amount of Fafnir power and can be used in place of a Fortitude save to avoid physical transformations. You also gain a new skill area with three skills:

Metamorphose (Wis - Magic) - convert potency to a transformation of a being (who may be yourself). You must defeat their Constitution + 10 or their Fortitude DC (or Alchemy DC) if they are unwilling, and any remaining potency may be converted to a single Instinct skill weakness (see Chosen), alternatively you may provide an Instinct Skill (other than Mindspeak or Mindtouch) at a bonus of +5 per potency spent. Providing an Instinct skill does not stack with that skill if already possessed, and the bonus lasts for one day. This effect may be resisted by a Will save versus five times the potency spent, reduced by half after one day elapses. Failing this Will save leaves the transformed trapped until a use of this power successfully exceeds their Fortitude DC to turn them back to their original form.

Enrich (Con - Magic) - Convert potency to a transformation of associated material forces or substances to a spiritual one. You may enrich up to twice the potency you expended.

Degenerate (Con - Magic) - Convert potency to a transformation of associated spiritual forces or substances to a material one. You may degenerate up to twice the potency you expended.

Star Wars Homeworld Project

2007-07-27T15:55:28Z

I've been discussing with Gàbor how to use Homeworld Project (pdf) to run Star Wars. Admittedly, one of my thought experiment examples of the game is based on the movies (the original trilogy), so I figure that shouldn't be too difficult. After some thought, it seems the only real change is to re-define the modes (basically the species of Homeworld Project) to become factions within the world of Star Wars. Each mode has a verb - indicating the types of things they excel at, I'm keeping the same idea for the Star Wars version, so here are my first attempt at the factions:

Fringer - On the edge of galactic society, fringer are largely trying to get by. Their verb is Frolic.

Corporate - Traders, merchants, and manipulators, value and worth is always important to them. Their verb is Build.

Criminal - The scum of the galaxy, smugglers, thieves, and troublemakers. Their verb is Master.

Imperial - The political faction struggling for order and safety, best described by the Empire. Their verb is Preserve.

Republican - The political faction struggling for freedom and openness, best described by the Republics. Their verb is Believe.

Outsider - Lost worlders, people who have no ties to the greater galactic world, with they stay neutral or take a side? Their verb is Seek.

Legacy - Remnants of lost civilizations and past glories, they are all that remain of their hopes. Their verb is Survive.

(There may be better verbs, but I chose to use the same seven as the modes originally used. They seem to present a good mix of options. Perhaps that will change later...)

As an aside, while there are many aliens in the Star Wars universe their alien-ness is generally an important part of them (they tend to be representative of their species). So, aliens could be of any of the factions, but they should have a grain which is their species, and likely a reflection of that species as well.

All together that ought to be enough to build a solid Star Wars epic - and after all, doesn't it make sense to play Star Wars in a system where the Millennium Falcon is a character in its own right?

Alternative d20 Craft

2007-07-13T22:29:30Z

Each rank of the craft skill gives the character some number of "patterns", lets say 3. Each time a a crafter constructs something with that craft, she may use a pattern to design the specifics - materials, quality level, size, as well as the item itself. If a pattern is totally new (sharing neither material or item type with a previous pattern) it costs 2.

Crafting without a pattern uses the standard (slow) crafting rules. Crafting with a pattern doubles the "money" generated by a successful craft roll, while giving the default even on a failed roll. A crafter can devote more pattern slots to increase success modifier by one, up to a x5.

A warning, this may make it cost effective to craft rather than adventure for money, at least if the DM lets the demand keep pace with your supply. The nice thing here is that the crafters will specialize. DMs can even make some patterns "trade secrets" making them valuable treasure as well.

Thoughts on the Big Score

2007-06-21T21:08:08Z

I've likely mentioned this idea before, a d20-based game for heist and big con genre stories, heavily inspired by the Ocean's 11 movies. I've recently put together a few more ideas, based on things I could do to the d20 system that would be deeply innovative, and possibly quite useful for this design.

The basic gist is that leveling becomes something that happens all the time, as in during the course of the con / heist you will go from 1st up to the some specified top level. Indeed during the game the players are competing to get to that top level first, even if they are teammates. This means gaining levels needs to be easy - which means cutting out most of the d20 complexity of classes - saves, hit points, and the like.

Instead I'm merging most of that with skills - making the ranks of skills ablative. If you are scene, you take "damage" to your Stealth. If you are injured you take damage to your combat. If you run out of ranks the damage hits your ability score, and may drop you out of that arena.

I'm planning to keep feats, but make them very different. The basic idea is feats are one time nifty things you can do to reinvent the present facts about the heist. They're limited by your ability scores, so some characters will be able to use You Just Didn't See Me, while others can access I Know a Guy. This allows you to change a fact into a different one, aiding in re-envisioning the facts into a new truth. That will be one of the keys to gaining levels, which then translates to being the one on top, who decides what actually happened in the con / heist.

Mostly I'm intrigued by the possibilities of using leveling as an active mechanic, as part of the action. I envision this as a revelation of competency, after all getting to the top meant you were the most competent con artist / thief, so it turned out everyone else was playing your game all along.

Homeworld Project - GM Advice

2007-03-16T18:22:56Z

At first glance, being the GM in Homeworld Project seems difficult. Unlike many RPGs, you have specific restrictions on what you can do, namely the reflections. You can't just bring in a situation or a problem that doesn't link to them in some way. But in practice that restriction is more of a benefit. If a player asks for a reflection, then that is a clear sign that at least that player wants to see more about that reflection.

As the GM, it is your role to help provide that. If you want to see something in particular, suggest that to the players as they select reflections. If no one bites, then more than likely that idea won't work for this group as is. And there is always the chance of opening a new reflection from a player's free mark.

Instead, you should focus on the tools you have at hand. There are three ways to use reflections. First you can dedicate layers to introduce manifests. Do this to start with, but not to excess. You want to keep room for expending layers as well. Also, remember you don't need to manifest a handful of thugs individually, they can just be one manifest.

The second use is to expend those layers. That gives you some flexibility, but you usually have less available than all of the players, so expend your layers were it counts. Either to place a particularly interesting consequence or to add some marks.

The last, and most easily forgotten, use is to raise or lower the reflections. You can do this as easily as the players, and it can be an important way to introduce conflict. If a player is trying to grow a reflection, make sure you reduce it somewhat occasionally, to keep things interesting. Likewise a reflection won't simply go quietly as a player attempts to reduce it to oblivion.

But remember, making things challenging should help make things fun. Remember, the players are taking on the role of the heroes. It's not a question of whether they will win. What is important is what happens along the way. This is Space Opera after all.

Beyond providing a challenge, you have two other duties. The first is to keep an eye on pacing. This generally a matter of making sure that players aren't uncertain about what to do next. If they are, then manifest something and make things interesting. Look at the reflections you haven't used as much recently.

The other duty is related to pacing. Its to make sure that players get a fair access to bouts. As GM you shouldn't be getting into bouts with yourself, just decide those outcomes. That means each bout that happens will have at least one player in it. You should make sure that a few players aren't taking most of those bouts, at least not without other players have the option for bouts of their own.

Most of the time this shouldn't be difficult. But sometimes player will be competing to take the free marks from Turning Points or otherwise two players both want the next bout. If this becomes a problem, you can resolve it in a few ways. One way is to go around the table, giving each player the chance to start a bout. Another is to break ties with the lowest die showing. But the best way to resolve it is to talk to the players about it before feelings are hurt.

In many ways, you are not the only one who has these duties. Players can and often should participate in making things challenging, well paced, and fair. Encouraging that behavior will make things easier and more rewarding. After each person has a responsibility to help make the game fun for everyone else.

Homeworld Project - Conceptual Overview

2007-03-16T17:51:31Z

Homeworld Project is a RPG that is built somewhat differently than most. It is a dynamic game where each piece of the game interacts with other pieces, in an almost cyclic manner. So it is especially important to understand how all the pieces fit together, before delving into each one.

One of the starting places is the action. The action is where everything interesting occurs, a flow of events, people, ships, and plots. If you are in the action then you can be influenced by others in the action. And if you are not, you cannot do anything consequential. One of the important parts of the action are manifests. These are people, groups, ships, or events introduced by a player or the GM to help drive things. In addition to manifests, the action also has the characters and ships directly belonging to the players.

At any given point of the action there can be a bout, a contest between any two elements in the action. The outcome of a bout is determined by dice, as well as aspects of the characters, ships, and manifests involved. And the result of a bout is called a consequence. This gives some difficulty or after effect to the loser, as determined by the bout's winner. How much of these consequences someone or something can bear before being driven out of the action is based on their importance.

One way of affecting a bout is to spend the layers of a grain (if you are a player) or a reflection (if you are the GM). That can change the dice you compare to determine the winner of the bout. But if that changes a die to a 12 it will also help increase that grain or reflection, and if it changes a die to a 1 it will help decrease that grain or reflection. In some ways this is the purpose of the bouts. While consequences are the immediate outcome, the longer term goals are to raise a grain to thirteen layers or to diminish it to zero layers.

What ties this together is the fact that grains and reflections are not independent. Indeed each grain has a reflection, which shares the same number of layers. Grains describe inner or personal aspects of a character or ship. On the other hand, reflections are the global scale counterparts. So your Quest for Vengeance can be mirrored in The Pirate Fleet that slew your family.

Even as your grains and reflections change, each time a 1 or a 12 appears the game moves toward a partial climax, called a Turning Point. Turning Points occurs periodically, and reset the expended grains and reflections, as well as allowing the GM to describe a global change to the action. Everyone can be affected, and some will even be removed from the action. Then play continues once more, eventually building to a new Turning Point.

A Turning Point occurs because each time a 1 or a 12 appears two numbers are brought closer together. These numbers affect the dice as they are used. The higher of these numbers starts at 11, and any die showing that number or above will increase by one up to 12 on its next use. Likewise the lower number starts at 2, and causes dice to reduce. Grains can change this, to a point. A grain layer allows you to skip a use of your die, so if the low number was 4 and you rolled a 3, then you could skip the 3 and the 2, and go directly to 1.

But 1's and 12's cannot be skipped, and they roll randomly for their next use. Also, high rolls win bouts. So you can be stuck at a low number for several bouts, or spend layers to jump to 1 directly. But if you do, you will be weakening that grain or reflection. On the other hand, you can jump directly to a 12 to strengthen your grain or reflection, but that usually means giving up a few bouts of assuredly high rolls.

Thus choosing to succeed affects your grains, which in turn affect those grain's reflections. And like wise, the GM's choices can affect the reflections, in turn affecting the grains they mirror. In both cases that changes how the action will evolve, feeding back into the cycle.

Don't expect to control everything that happens in Homeworld Project. Instead, try to go with the flow, and see where it takes you. Heroics and villainy, cunning and brute force, they all have their place in the action. And if you are careful you will be able to find your homeworld.

Homeworld Project - Grains and Reflections

2007-03-16T17:00:32Z

The ultimate purpose of Homeworld Project is to change yourself and to change the world in the process. Your character is built of grains, small aspects of the self that stir you to action and inspire growth. Just as a pearl forms, layers are formed on these grains, building that small aspect into something potent and pervasive. These layers represent the ability of that grain to affect the world, and the people in it. Each layer adds a new piece of description, so a new layer on the Swordsman grain could be Blooded or Open Stance or even My Sword Protects the Weak. These descriptions allow you to define and mold what is true about that grain. If they are lost, then that description is weakened or removed in turn.

But grains are not merely the growth within a character's life. They also affect Astral Space at large. Because each character's grain has a reflection, behaving much like a grain, but on a broader scale. A reflection is a force, cause, or group whose fortune is tied to its images, the grains of which it is a reflection. When any grain changes (gaining or losing a layer), the reflection changes as well. This works in reverse as well. As a reflection changes its images also change.

While a grain may have only one reflection, a reflection can have multiple images. For example, if one character has a grain of Family Honor, and another has a grain of Genius, these grains may both be images of the Zurmak Corporation (whether as an heir to a board seat or as a lead researcher). Thus both of these grains and this reflection are tied together. If Zurmak Corporation gains a layer, then so too will Family Honor and Genius. Likewise, if Family Honor loses a level, then so will the Zurmak Corporation, which in turn causes Genius to lose a level as well.

As you make your characters, the number of layers for a grain determine the number of layers in that grain's reflection. If two grains share the same reflection, they must start with the same number of layers. Thus, as a grain rises, so too will the reflection. This interaction can be exploited in a variety of ways.

A reflection can be antagonistic, something the character wants to destroy. By tying that reflection to an important grain, the player can ensure that the destruction of their foe is something that only happens with sacrifice. And it means that choosing to use that grain can materially hinder the reflection, by causing the player's grain to reduce. For example, you could choose to have your Swordsman grain reflected by the Dream Armada. This means that while you may be encouraged to fight them with your sword, if you want to truly defeat the Dream Armada you must give up the way of the sword.

Alternatively, a reflection can be a goal or ideal, something you want to grow at all costs. The GM will challenge you with it, but if you can grow your grain to the 13th layer, then you can remove it from your character sheet, as your reflection has become something that will exist independent of your goals and ideal. In many cases this is the ultimate goal of Homeworld Project, after all, only then could you have crafted a homeworld.

While the players determine the descriptions for each grain layer, the GM determines these for the reflections, building these aspects of the world. The GM will continue to control these reflections, using them to produce manifests (see below) and progress the dice for those manifests (see Dramatic d12), just as players can do for their characters, ships, and manifests. Reflections are the GMs tools to influence the action and introduce challenges for the players.

The primary use of grain layers is to affect the action directly, they may also be used to create manifests, characters, ships, organizations, or even events which exist in the action by the dedication of some number of layers from a grain or a reflection. Manifests have dice and are controlled by the player who dedicated layers to them (or the GM if reflection layers were used). For as long as they exist in the action, the layers spent to introduce them are unavailable. Manifests should be related to the grain or reflection used, but may be obstacles or enemies, rather than being supportive.

Manifests also gain consequences, and they have an importance rating. Unlike characters, however, manifests may have variable importance. To introduce a manifest, you must dedicate twice as many layers as its importance, all from the same grain or reflection. All manifests will have a Mode. For each importance above one, the manifest can have a Panache as well. These Panache can be selected from the character list, the ship list, or be invented during play. These Panache must make sense for the role of that manifest.

For example, say the GM dedicates four layers of the Homeworld Quest reflection into a manifest Rage Storm, depicting a ravening storm across this region of Astral Space. Then the one invented Panache for the storm could be Disaster, describing how the storm will tend to affect those who pass through it. If the storm instead made people angry, then the Rake Panache might be a better choice.

Homeworld Project - Ship Modes and Panache

2007-03-15T19:44:49Z

Ships are built communally, by all the players contributing at least one grain layer to the ship. In addition to purchasing grains for the ship, those players also get to describe the ship's appearance and amenities, most especially picking the ship's Mode, and selecting two Panache. These work in exactly the same manner as for characters, giving advantages during bouts where the ship is acting in accordance with the Mode's verb or the Panache.

The owners of the ship (all the players who donated grain levels to it, either in character creation or using a free mark from a turning point) determine who will handle the ship. That player treats the ship much like a character, including describing bouts, spending grain layers, and keeping track of the ship's consequences. That player can change over time, as the owner's agree, often based on which characters are present on the ship.

Modes:

Native (Preserve) - Natives tend to build ships that are simple, resilient and large. Spheres, domes, and towers are a common motif. Native ships always feel very much like a ground-side building, reflecting the homes of those who made them. Nearly all native ships contain a small biosphere, reminiscent to the homeworld of the natives that crafted it. Sometimes these small nature reserves are essential to the ships operation, other times their benefits are more ephemeral.

Shadow (Build) - Shadow ships mirror their creators in the facade, whether beautiful and graceful or harsh and battle-pocked, surrounding an architecture of an almost organic nature. Strange pulsing energy runs through them, glowing in unreal hues. Whispers can be heard when alone, as though the ship was speaking just below the consciousness. However, shadow ships are built as places to live, not merely pass through, while not always fancy they have large quarters and simple amenities.

Stranger (Explore) - Strangers do not build one type of ship, instead their ships are as varied as they are. Some are flying saucers, with non-Euclidean nodules lying in their center, where the crew and pilots dwell. Others are built of millions of small interchangeable pieces, in constant flux, like a biomechanical organism. Still others appear as just glowing lights and shadow. Others are strange objects with doors in the wrong place and far too much space within.

Lunatic (Believe) - Lunatic ships are crafted with care, lines and curves present a statement against the void these ships traverse. Within, these ships are epitome of man-made technology, the craft humans imagine traveling through the space beyond their world. The oldest ships may be constructed of stone and precious metals, but even these have a relentless modernity to them. The newest are positively futurist. But each is imbued with the ideal of humanity's progress toward the unknown.

Dreamer (Frolic) - Dreamer ships are as eclectic as their creators. Often making little sense, dreamers ships do not appear intended for space travel. Whether a modified sailing ship, a shuttle bearing the unmistakable profile of a snow globe, or a skyscraper with rocket engines attached to the base, each has a piece of mundane humanity as part of it. These ships are often found derelict, as their architects leave them for other, more interesting diversions.

Guest (Master) - Guest ships are particularly rare, and always exude a personal touch. Guest ships are homes, first and foremost. Created as sanctuaries, their outer design is often simple and functional, but their inner spaces are opulent and diverse. Some guest ships are memory mansions pulled from some world to travel the stars. Others are temples or monasteries thrust into space.

Lost (Survive) - Lost ships are often more than they appear. On the outside they appear as collections of junk or small asteroids, but within is a paranoid's paradise of redundancy and safety. Pulled together from numerous pieces of debris and wreckage, the lost ship is joined together with an intense attention to detail. The chambers within lock securely, and often can act as small craft on their own.

Panache:

Courier - Couriers are fast and agile. They respond to situations by movement, whether fleeing, closing, dodging, or outmaneuvering. A courier gets where its going as fast as it can, and avoids anything that might get in its way.

Defender - Defenders are strong and resilient. They block aggression and hold the line against attackers. They absorb, shield, negate, and wear down their opposition. A defender is reactive, ready to halt others, to save, to protect.

Destroyer - Destroyers are powerful and well-armed. They strike first, and keep up the pressure. They crush their foes with ferocity, filling the void with fire and death. A destroyer is proactive, ready to strike, to attack, to annihilate.

Explorer - Explorers are enduring and vigilant. They travel farther and longer than other ships. They see things coming and plan for them, playing the long game. They persistent, clever, and prepared, going where ever is needed.

Transport - Transports are workhorses and carriers. They act by what they transport, whether those be troops, cargo, or fighters. They release what they carry, and sometimes take what others have left behind. Transports capture, smuggle, support, and deploy.

Homeworld Project - Character Modes and Panache

2007-03-12T20:15:20Z

Modes:

Native (Preserve) - Born of human thoughts, natives are elemental beings of astral space. Native characters have ascended, in the image of their creators. Their form is often human-like, but with a little something else - hooves and furry bent legs, green skin and fiery eyes, a body of sand, or even just pitch black eyes. A native almost always originate from one of the many worlds of astral space - typically each will be peopled by one or maybe a handful of native types, each distinctive in their personality, culture, and appearance. A native people born from the concept of mathematical proofs would be a very different people than ones born of memories of war. Native do not seek change, they desire stability as a rule. Even if they strive for chaos it is a constant, familiar chaos they seek. As such, a native's verb is to Preserve.

Natives are part of the underlying fabric of astral space. Individuals may be destroyed, but the thoughts and beliefs that give rise to a native people do fade so easily. When destroyed, a native character becomes inherited. Some time later that character's player may choose to bring a spiritual or physical descendant of the destroyed character into the action. While the descriptions may change, the grains and their layers will remain the same.

Shadow (Build) - The shadows are outsiders, immigrants, and refugees. Coming from some other place, but unable to go home, the shadows seek to build a home in astral space. The shadows exist as a number of clans - each presumably from some long lost world, but one facet remains the same for all of them. Each shadow has facade which lets them relate to the more human denizens of astral space. Beneath is something darker and more alien. One such clan are the fae, human forms both beautiful and terrifying, made too perfect. Another are the giants, beings whose unimaginably size is kept limited by their facade, merely tall they loom on the horizon when they show their true forms. A third clan are the ladies of secrets, and their consorts the whisperings, the former always veiled and the later always sheathed in shadow. The clans usually work together, although war is not unknown, seeking homeworlds for a new beginning. As such a shadow's verb is to Build.

Shadows are only partially beings of astral space, and their hold on it is tenuous. If destroyed they fade, disappearing forever. Perhaps they return to an ancient homeworld, or more likely with their last hope gone, they are forever trapped outside.

Stranger (Explore) - Beyond astral space are other universes, vast and alien. The beings who dwell in them occasionally arrive in astral space. Their forms, purposes, and beliefs are varied and bizarre. A stranger could be a seven winged, seven eyed angels, a demon of fire and darkness, a large-eyed gray humanoid, a knife limbed arachnid, or marriage of squid, ape, and clockwork. However, each is united by one fact. You do not come to a place like astral space without a reason, something to find. Each stranger may seek something different, but that purpose is what drives them. As such, a stranger
s verb is to Explore.

Strangers are not tied to astral space, instead they have a faint tie with some other universe, an alien place that calls to them as home and sanctuary. When destroyed a stranger is banished, cast out of astral space for a time. They may return, but only if someone else opens the way.

Lunatic (Believe) - Astral space is a place of beliefs and ideas, a sanctuary for those for whom the human world is insufficiently malleable. Chief among these are the lunatics, those troubled by madness and insanity in the human world, but made into leaders and shapers of the astral space. Lunatics, generally take human form (though some have been known to exist as animals), typically a fixed and alluring form. They have regal bearing and have formed themselves into houses, based on their philosophies. They exude confidence and assurance, for everywhere they are in astral space, they are meant to be. The Lunatics champion causes, begin and end wars, and act as the aristocracy of the humans in astral space. As such the lunatic's verb is to Believe.

Lunatics are present in astral space my the gift of madness. If they are destroyed that blessed madness is ended, and they are healed for a time, or perhaps forever, perhaps able to participate once more in the human world. It is possible for a lunatic to return as another mode in that case, albeit somewhat rare. Dreamers are the most common route for a healed lunatics, but some can become guests or even lost.

Dreamer (Frolic) - The most chaotic of the denizens of astral space, the dreamers are tourists and thrill-seekers. Each time they appear they will differ subtly, whether in clothing and physical appearance. Some will change genders or even species over time. Dreamers are free to behave as they will, and are the most common type of human within astral space. In the human world, they merely have vivid dreams occasionally retaining a tidbit of their adventures. But in the astral, it is the human world which is the dream. And without those cares, the dreamer is free. As such, the dreamer's verb is to Frolic.

Dreamers exist in astral space as they sleep. And when they sleep in the astral they awake in the human world. Time is flexible, but there are dangers. A dreamer who sleeps too long may become a lost or a lunatic, disappearing from the human world mentally or physically. But one who is destroyed in astral space becomes awakened, to traumatized to sleep, an insomniac suffering until rest can be found. Sometimes the will return as dreamers, but more likely, an awakened dreamer will only return in another mode.

Guest (Master) - Astral space is a place few choose to enter, but those few are the guests, marked by their faintly luminous bodies and the almost invisible thread leading back in a direction outside of all the normal ones in astral space. Guests manifest as idealized, self-images. They have delved into secrets, mediation, or rely upon natural talents, but they, alone among the modes, knowingly live in two worlds, the astral and the human. They come to astral to seek something that is not possible in the human world, a discovery of their inner potential. And that comes from applying their will upon astral space. As such, the guest's verb is to Master.

Guests are aware of both worlds, as so when they are destroyed in astral space they are punished. Their thread pulls them back forcefully, leaving them spiritually wounded. In time they may learn to undo the damage, but until then the astral space is bared to them, except perhaps as a dreamer. Sometimes guests are trapped in other ways. A guest who loses their cord is driven to madness in the human world, becoming a lunatic. Even more unfortunate a guest whose body is pulled into the astral by that cord becomes one of the lost.

Lost (Survive) - Ragged and uncertain, the lost are the only humans bodily present within astral space. And with that presence is the immediate understanding of how precarious a place that is to be. Perhaps the lost was once another mode, whose body followed where the mind dwelt. Strangers have been said to abduct some from the human world, for purposes unknown, stranding some in astral space. A lost is trapped, imprisoned within their own body, as such they are depressingly human for a creature in the astral, nothing special or luminous exudes from them, they do not change except to grow old or injured. They wear what they can scrounge from natives, and are on perpetual guard, all other modes have something to fall back upon, the lost do not. As such, the lost's verb is to Survive.

Lost often come from other modes, but rarely do they return if they can find that rare passage back to the human world. If a lost is destroyed, they are dead. There is no return or reprieve for the lost.

Panache:

Mystic - Mystics are subtle and occult. They do things indirectly, often with careful plans or baroque rituals. Mystics are wise, knowing or finding secrets, remembering lore, and finding hidden patterns.

Noble - Nobles are authority and elegance. They follow protocols and social conventions. They use intermediaries and employ others to do their dirty work. They are cultured and refined, appreciating and practicing the arts.

Pilot - Pilots are risk takers, going to new places, and relying upon their wits and honed skills to achieve their goals. They fly ships, chart unknown systems, and cut everything to the wire. The technology they use is familiar, like an old friend.

Rake - Rakes are seducers and tricksters, the sharks of social situations. They rely on charm and personality to get their way. To win, a rake will be more outrageous, more daring, and do it all with a smile.

Rogue - Rogues are the unseen, the underhanded manipulators, thieves, and assassins. They work behind the scenes, under the cover of darkness, or while others are distracted. Rogues will lie, cheat, steal, and betray whenever it suits their purposes.

Tech - Techs are the logical thinkers and intuitive geniuses. They are the masters of new technology and outsmarting their foes. Techs are clever, creative, and prone to complexity, they rely on tools, theories, and sheer engineering brilliance.

Warrior - Warriors are direct and physical, whether using a fist, a space ship, or an armada. A warrior will solve a problem through violence or force if at all possible. They rely only on tried and true technology, but to them the tools are less important than the hand that wields them.

Theories of Player(s)

2007-02-27T17:26:31Z

One of the problems in testing RPGs during design is the difficulty in simulating the processes behind play. While playtesting can never be replaced, effective pre-play testing can remove many of the problems which find their way into playtest drafts. And in doing so can free up the playtesting phase to deal with deeper and subtler concerns about the RPG.

RPG theory has many uses, whether to aid design or to understand play better. But one of the less studied areas is the motivations of players as they take part in RPGs. Certainly taxonomies of players have been a corner stone of RPGs for decades, but these serve to simplify things for easier social interaction. Recognizing that someone is, say, an actor or a powergamer, can help streamline your interaction with them.

But all a classification like that gives you is an idea of what a player tends to do. Not why. It doesn't open up the motives underneath. Stereotypical archetypes can even gloss over important distinctions between motives. A powergamer may seek social acceptance or be fascinated by the game mechanics. Both may behave the same way for one game, but completely differently for another. And you cannot predict which unless you can delve to the deeper level of player motives.

Gesalt Aesthetics

One theory of player motives comes from the RPG theory developed at the Forge. Specifically, the concept of creative agenda acts as a common thread to many of those developments. But what exactly is a creative agenda, and how does it link to player motives?

The most important thing to do is to recognize what creative agendas don't do. In a sense they cannot be isolated: they aren't something a player can have alone or something a game can contain. And creative agendas are not overarching limits on the game. They specifically influence important decisions of the play group as a whole. In a very real way they are aesthetics, criteria by which options and valued. And they are the aesthetics of the play group as they are playing.

A great deal of work has been done with creative agendas, but for our purposes they are very simple. To simulate with creative agendas means to assume that a play group has a consistent aesthetic for play, that on some level the players all agree to certain values or can negotiate out fairly easily any differences. This gestalt is not always easy. It is a socially emergent state, not something that can always be expected.

Some aesthetics may be more feasible for an entire group than others. An important component of GNS and Big Model theories (both developed at the Forge), is those specific classes of creative agendas which are feasible for a play group to follow. This can be a fairly limiting view, but these categories (GNS has Gamism, Narrativism, and Simulationism, while Big Model has Step on Up, Story Now, and Right to Dream) are open enough to support a wide class of design goals.

Unfortunately, the idea of creative agendas falls apart when you turn to single players, or even player groups where no unified aesthetic emerges. If we want to look into those situations we need something that reveals these motives of by the player.

Sockets, Goals, and Payoffs

One of the most succinct break downs of player motives for RPGs are the three concepts of sockets, goals, and payoffs, as developed by Moyra Turkington. Rather than attempting to produce a monolithic scheme of group decision making, these concepts break down player motives into various pieces, sometime cooperating and sometimes at odds.

Sockets are the "locus of enjoyment", the aspects of play which engage a player. Different players can easily work together with quite different sockets, as long as the play dynamics can respect each of them. However, differing sockets can produce quite a different sense of play. Playing with a story socket, a character socket, or a social socket will bring up different aspects of play. And players often tend towards and even adopt in play multiple sockets. Sockets are also related to innate channels in the Channel Theory of Role-playing.

Goals are fairly direct. These are the goals a specific player works towards. Admittedly the loosest part of this theory, it offers a place for explicit or concrete goals to influence a players decisions. Interestingly enough the success of a goal may or may not be part of the reasons to play. Having a goal simply means working towards it. One may have a goal to kill another player's character and will have great fun trying, but succeeding on that goal may not be something the player in fact wants.

Payoffs are the other side, those are events in play which you want to experience. Generally positive, if you consider the denial of a desired payoff a negative payoff, then this concept links quite closely with rewards in the Process Model of Role-playing. The important thing about payoffs is that players will want to achieve their desired payoffs, but may not recognize others. Payoffs are perhaps the simplest player motive, and my original Ur-Game simulation used a theory of player based solely on success and failure payoffs.

Dynamic Views

So far I've discussed a variety of theories of player motives, one for groups of players, and others for a single player. But none of these theories deals with a common circumstance in play. Namely how players change their motive, whether they be sockets, goals, or payoffs. The problem is none of these theories suggests when a player simply becomes frustrated with play versus when a player adapts to find a different way to enjoy play.

One approach to this problem is the theory of views, which I discussed earlier. Views are much like sockets, except generalized to any way of pulling out a small piece of everything that is going on during play. The theory states that you want a certain level of complexity from that piece of play, too much and you get frustrated, too little and the simplicity is boring.

But views are always in flux, since each piece is connected to the rest of the game. In a sense, you have edges which come in and out of view as you play. If you are unsatisfied by your current view, because, say, it is too simple, then a bit of complexity on the edge of that view can draw your view towards that complexity.

This process will naturally move you towards better and better suited views, up to a point. It could be the case that your ideal views are simply too far removed for you to even know which way to adjust your own views. In that case, rather than adapting you'll find yourself becoming bored or frustrated, and ultimately the game will not satisfy you. If you are focused on a character, it will be easier for you to notice that the character's story, if not the character itself, is interesting. However, the fiddling of another character's mechanics will likely be too far away to engage.

So to facilitate adaption you want to make sure that there is a taste of the best views far outside, leading back to the perspectives you, as a game designer, want your players to adopt. Perhaps they still won't partake, but at least you've shown a way to better enjoy the game.

Homeworld Project - Turning Point

2007-02-05T22:30:30Z

When the high value and low value match the GM has the opportunity to describe a change in the action. Every manifest and character in the action is included and in the process the GM may award one mark to each character and manifest. The GM describes how the affected grain is enhanced or inhibited by the turning point and awards a plus mark or a minus mark, respectively. In the process, the GM must meet the requirements of any consequence thresholds. Thus, even if a destroyed character or manifest avoids bouts it leaves the action during the turning point, unless it is rescued before then.

On the other hand, if a character or manifest controlled by someone other than the GM spent a grain layer to progress to the final 1 or 12, in addition to the mark gained in that last bout, the player also gains a free mark, which he or she can describe being added as plus or minus to any grain of the character or manifest, or to start a new grain.

A new grain must be given a reflection, also by that player, and if this reflection already exists then the new grain matches the layers of the reflection, although the layer details should be filled in over time, as the new grain makes an appearance. Alternatively, a new reflection would start both the grain and the reflection at one layer. Truly new grains are often fragile, but they have the greatest potential.

A turning point is a moment where fortune and the strange synchronicity of Astral Space reigns supreme. It can be an upheaval, a revelation, or a climax. Turning points punctuate the action, giving definition to the changes occurring within. The GM should watch carefully for how a turning point can arise as the high and low values approach. And players should be ready with suggestions, just like with consequences. The action should remain engaging and fun, and turning points should be one of the tools to do just that.

Homeworld Project - Consequences

2007-02-05T21:57:03Z

Over the course of the action, different characters and manifests will incur consequences from losing bouts. Some consequences are minimal (1-2), some significant (3-6), and others severe (7 and above). Indeed the value of a single consequence can go up to 14. Consequences indicate the trouble or changes that the character or manifest is now facing. However, consequences accumulate. All characters and manifests have three thresholds for total consequences - disabled, doomed, and destroyed.

These are based on the importance of a character or manifest, rated from 1 to 5. For example, a player's characters have an importance of 3. The threshold for disabled is always 5 times the importance. For doomed it is 5 more than the disabled threshold. And for destroyed the threshold is 5 more than the doomed threshold. Thus for a player's character the disabled threshold is 15, the doomed threshold is 20, and the destroyed threshold is 25.

Disabled - in the initial description of a bout you must mention how your character or manifest is forced to work around some limitation or disability. When disabled, nothing is easy or commonplace, the typical approach to the bout may be unavailable requiring more effort or care to attempt what you want.

Doomed - in the initial description of a bout you must mention how your character or manifest is making its own situation worse by the attempt. The doom is immediate and overwhelming, a sense that everything is going wrong and anything can go awry. Trying to achieve something more is like re-opening your wounds.

Destroyed - in the initial description of a bout you must mention how your character of manifest is removed from the action by this attempt. Destruction may be death, banishment, or simply the inability to go on. What is destroyed is on the lip of oblivion, and the slightest push is all it takes.

When a consequence is used to cancel another consequence it can only cancel one, and must equal or exceed the value of the consequence to be removed. This can be described as healing, intervention, or more subtle ways of aiding another in their troubles.

When consequences are applied, the over-ridding rule is that they must stem from the bout in which they occurred. This is fair flexible. Wounds, lost footing or weapons, or even unquenchable rage can be consequences from a sword duel. Likewise, distraction, depression, or vicious gossip can be consequences from a more social bout. But some of these could also be caused by the outcome of a duel. And social outcomes can occasionally be more physical as well.

While consequences are inflicted by the winner in a bout, it is best done with some discussion. A good consequence is acceptable to the loser as well. If a pilot progresses to a 1 on an attempt to land on a planet, facing 11 from the planet, then a value 8 consequence will be inflicted by the GM (remember, Pilot reduces the consequence by two). But the GM shouldn't just strand the ship in a falling orbit unless the player involved is interested in dealing with that consequence. Making another suggestion, such as landing far off target, or a rough landing causing a concussion, gives the player some more options, and helps to make the action more interesting for all the participants.

Homeworld Project - Dramatic d12

2007-02-05T17:48:08Z

During the course of Homeworld Project, the player's characters will want to change the world around them. And the manifestations of their grains will want to change things as well, under the control of the GM. And often they will disagree on what should or will be done. These sorts of conflicts are the most basic part of Homeworld Project.

In a game of Homeworld Project, the players (including the GM) will craft an arc of events and dramatic conflicts, called the action. Astral Space is vast, literally holding all that can be imagined, but only the parts in the action matter to the journey the player's characters are taking. People, places, objects, and the like can all enter the action, or leave it. When they do so, they exist as manifestations of a grain - whether of a character, ship, or the GM's reflections.

The action does not need to occur in one place, or in a specific time frame. What matters is that nothing changes outside of the action, and being in the action allows you to affect anyone or anything also in the action. Player's characters are always considered in the action, they are the protagonists, the forces that drive the action and lead to new worlds and new discoveries.

The action is broken down into bouts, a give and take of description around a conflict between two things already in the action. A seductive wink, an exchange in a sword duel, or a ship's approach to a planet are all bouts. What matters is that a bout must have consequences and that it flows from the action so far. The players involved in a bout should decided which characters or manifests best represent the two sides, these are the most at risk in the face of consequences.

Then the players controlling the two characters or manifests describe how the bout is initiated. This should reasonably flow from the action so far. Trying to stab someone during a duel flows more easily than doing so to someone on another planet. However, Astral Space is flexible, so things like travel time, and set-up can be glossed over to make the bout that the participants want. This initial description is important, because is sets the stage of what is risked in the bout, and what costs have already been paid to attempt this change. Specifically, here is where a disabled, doomed, or destroyed character must describe their condition as part of the initial description.

Resolving a bout is the purpose of the dramatic d12. Each character or manifest in the action should be assigned a d12. Typically this is done for the first bout involving that character or manifest. Until then the d12 should be kept off the table, or in the case of a dramatic turn taken off the table and kept off until used in a bout.

In the first bout of the session (or after a dramatic turn), the d12 is rolled by the player controlling the character or manifest. From this point on, the value showing on the d12 should not be changed unless it is progressed. In each following bout where that character or manifest is involved, you will progress that die.

Progression works the following way:

If the die shows a 1 or a 12, roll the die.

If the die shows a value below 12 and equal or above the high value, turn the die to the next highest value.

If the die shows a value above 1 and equal or beneath the low value, turn the die to the next lowest value.

If the die shows any other value (above the low value and beneath the high value), then roll the die.

The high value and low value are shown on a sheet in the middle of the table. They start at 11 and 2 respectively. Every time a die progresses to a 1, the high value decreases. Every time a die progresses to a 12, the low value increases by 1. When those values meet, a dramatic turn occurs, under the control of the GM. When that happens, the values return to 11 and 2, respectively.

In each bout, the character or manifest with the higher value showing is the winner. If there is a tie, nothing happens, and the bout is unresolved. The difference between the loser's die and the winner's die is the level of the consequence the winner apply in one of three ways: to harm the loser - who then records that consequences, to affect the action in general - in a manner in which the winner describes limited by the level of the consequence, or to remove an existing consequence. The consequence must be appropriate to the situation, and cannot remove a manifest or character from the action on their own.

Each bout is resolved in this way. Modes, Panache, and Grains can all affect a bout as well. If your Mode's verb or your Panache's area of expertise is involved in the bout, then if you win you add one to the consequence for each matching Mode or Panache. If you lose, reduce the consequence by 2 if it is inflicted on you, for each matching Mode or Panache.

A grain level can be expended (until the dramatic turn), to progress your own die, or the die of an ally (if that player permits it). This cannot progress the die if it shows a 1 or a 12, and if you expend a grain level to progress and the resulting value is a 1 or a 12, then you add a minus mark or a plus mark, respectively, to that grain. This is the primary way in which minus marks and plus marks are applied to grains - allowing them to grow or fade over time.

Homeworld Project

2007-01-29T15:41:38Z

Last night, after Nobilis, I started fiddling with an old design, Homeworld Project. I'm anticipating a RPGnet article on that game in two months, so I decided I should get things moving once more on it.

Homeworld project is an odd amalgam, Astral Space Opera. In Homeworld Project, the PCs live in a dramatic world, with an odd little dice mechanic ensuring twists and turns - by combining randomness with rising and falling chains of success, the players can literally see their character's destiny ebb and flow. By expending their resources, they can influence their fate, but there is no avoiding the most critical moments. These moments lead to a turning point, where something important changes.

As they encounter these highs and lows, PCs will slowly change their core stats, called grains. But this is more than weakening or strengthening the character, for each grain as it gains or loses layers is reflected by something on a global scale, an organization, an ideal, a world. Changing one changes the other, after all this is Astral Space, and as above, so below. These are the resources the GM uses on her side of the table, and ties those two sides together.

Ships are an intrinsic part of Space Opera, as are journeys. The former are treated as communal characters, with grains and panache (styles/archetypes) of their own. On the other hand, the journeys are marked by turning points, and by the capacity for players (and the GM) can influence their character's destiny in more material ways, by spending resources (really depleting layers on their grains) to cause an event to occur - based on the grain or its reflection.

I've powered through nearly all the design changes I want before writing up a playtest document. Now I only need to refine the modes (type of being in Astral Space) and panache (style or archetype of character). It is a wonderful thing when your inspiration cascades.