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Rules Discussion & Clarification
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:13 am
by SpaceMonkey
SotS reads pretty well so far, and I like the changes I see from the prior playtests.
i would be in favor of implementing the Will mechanic, if you are still considering whether to put that in officially or not. That being said, endurance and resolve seem like they are getting a lot of emphasis as skills..
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:25 am
by devlin1
[quote="dnd3eplayer"]SotS reads pretty well so far, and I like the changes I see from the prior playtests.[/quote]
Thanks -- there have been a quite few changes just within the past week or so. It may bite us in the ass to change so much at once, but I think it'll be good.
[quote]i would be in favor of implementing the Will mechanic, if you are still considering whether to put that in officially or not. [/quote]
So noted. Also, if anyone can think of a better name than "Will," I'm all ears.
[quote]That being said, endurance and resolve seem like they are getting a lot of emphasis as skills..[/quote]
Yeah, that's true, but I'm not sure if I really dislike that. It encourages characters who are brave and tough, but it may also result in every character having an apex skill of Endurance or Resolve. I admit I'm biased -- I really like the flavor of the Resolve skill -- but when it comes to, say, Will, I don't see what else I could base it on [i]but[/i] Resolve.
"Spirit of the Fist" sorta avoids this problem by conflating Endurance and Resolve into Spirit, making it a no-brainer to have a high Spirit. But then again, a martial artist without courage and conviction isn't much of a martial artist at all.
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:33 pm
by devlin1
BTW, the Will mechanic worked a treat at OrcCon, so consider it in.
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:30 am
by jimmy corrigan
what are "gifts" considered? where would they go in my character sheet?
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:37 am
by devlin1
[quote="jimmy corrigan"]what are "gifts" considered? where would they go in my character sheet?[/quote]
They're a subset of the Heritage boon -- if you take the Heritage boon, it's made up of three individual Gifts, selected from your race and culture.
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:17 am
by jimmy corrigan
cool, thanks! when are we going to make characters? should we come to the first session having already eaten/made characters?
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:15 am
by devlin1
[quote="jimmy corrigan"]cool, thanks! when are we going to make characters? should we come to the first session having already eaten/made characters?[/quote]
I think it'd probably be good to have your Origins phase and maybe one or two others sorted out, but in the interest of interconnecting your backgrounds we should probably save some for when we meet. As far as I'm concerned, you can go ahead and put the numbers together and show me what you end up with -- maybe on the Character Scratchpad thread, or we can start another.
I'm thinking of fiddling with the phases, though. In making those characters for OrcCon, I found that not every phase really made much sense for every character. What if you don't have any real long-term goals? Should you really have to force one in there? So I'm considering adding one or more new [i]types [/i]of phases, like Beliefs or Possessions, but still limiting PCs to five in total. This lets you pick and choose what's right for your character. I'm also thinking about letting PCs take a phase more than once, for emphasis, but I'm not sure what that would do. It would mean having to write two or more paragraphs on the same basic idea (for example, taking three Profession phases would necessitate writing about this side of your character from three different angles), but it appeals to me.
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:59 pm
by jimmy corrigan
i would appreciate a beliefs phase for the character i have in mind.
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:10 pm
by devlin1
[quote="jimmy corrigan"]i would appreciate a beliefs phase for the character i have in mind.[/quote]
Cool. Any ideas for other phases? Right now the list looks like this:
[b]Origins [/b](where you're from, etc.)
[b]Profession [/b](what you do when you're not doing this)
[b]Goals [/b](what you [i]want [/i]to do or accomplish)
[b]People [/b](friends, contacts, acquaintances, enemies, etc.)
[b]Adventure [/b](something cool you've already done)
[b]Beliefs [/b](something important you believe, true or not)
[b]Possessions [/b](something important you own, or used to own)
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:29 pm
by jimmy corrigan
naw. that pretty much covers it.
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:40 pm
by devlin1
[quote="jimmy corrigan"]naw. that pretty much covers it.[/quote]
Then done and done!
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:22 am
by devlin1
There's now a PDF of the current rules available for download on the site, so if you'd been hoping to have the non-setting portion of the website in a 20-page PDF, your prayers have been answered.
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:37 am
by jimmy corrigan
awesome! i look forwarded to downloading it... now! thanks.
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:46 pm
by devlin1
I made some minor modifications to the PDF, but none of it involved a change in any rules, so... y'know, no pressure to download it again.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:13 pm
by devlin1
I'm toying with the idea of making which phases you choose mechanically significant somehow -- like restricting which certain boons to certain phases, or having something like WFRP's "career exit" thing, with each phase leading to two or three other phases, or... I dunno. Any ideas? Thoughts?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:21 pm
by mordraine
Any specific reason why you'd want to do that? I'm generally against restrictions, especially in a game that is sprung from Spirit of the Century. But I'm open to the idea if it's a good one.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:48 pm
by devlin1
[quote="mordraine"]Any specific reason why you'd want to do that? I'm generally against restrictions, especially in a game that is sprung from Spirit of the Century. But I'm open to the idea if it's a good one.[/quote]
I'm trying to decide if I want the choice to take the same phase more than once to be meaningful.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:32 pm
by Cthulhu
Like Mord, I prefer a less restrictive chargen, but I've also seen people, myself included, have trouble coming up with all their aspects, and more structure would help with that. That didn't help at all did it. Optional rules maybe?
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:26 am
by devlin1
[quote="Cthulhu"]Like Mord, I prefer a less restrictive chargen, but I've also seen people, myself included, have trouble coming up with all their aspects, and more structure would help with that. That didn't help at all did it. Optional rules maybe?[/quote]
Well, I was hoping for something that wasn't so much "restrictive" as something that would facilitate more focus during chargen -- as long as it makes sense, of course. If it's too fiddly, then forget it.
BTW, I don't actually have any [i]ideas [/i]for this. I just have the idea that I [i]could [/i]have an idea for this. It feels like there's something there, but I don't know what that something is.
Anyway.
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:32 pm
by jimmy corrigan
maybe with some funding your concept can become an idea.
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:13 am
by devlin1
[quote="dnd3eplayer"]i would be in favor of implementing the Will mechanic, if you are still considering whether to put that in officially or not. That being said, endurance and resolve seem like they are getting a lot of emphasis as skills..[/quote]
I had a thought about this yesterday.
Instead of starting with some Will, you start with none (the opposite of some!). Every time you obtain spin on a roll, no matter the roll, you gain a point of Will, to a maximum of your Resolve + 1. Multiple spin gets you multiple Will. Thereafter, Will can be spent as described.
This makes Will a matter of confidence-building and momentum (plus gamism -- if you really want to nab yourself a point of Will, spend the Fate Points!). Actually, speaking of momentum, the only thing that I can say I liked about the otherwise-dire [i]The Chronicles of Ramlar[/i] was the concept of Momentum -- the better you perform, the more likely you are to keep performing well.
It also kinda solves two problems: One, the problem of Resolve possibly being overpowered (it's still relevant, but someone with Great Resolve now has to [i]earn [/i]the right to roll 4d6 instead of 4dF rather than being able to do it in the first round of combat), and two, the question of how to recover Will (do better!).
A more sadistic, Sam-like part of me wants to say that if you roll ++++ and don't succeed, you [i]lose[/i] a point of Will. "Oh, come [i]on[/i] -- what's it gonna take?!" Or I could model it after Andy: If you roll ----, you lose a point of Will and have to throw a die across the room.
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:36 am
by mordraine
[quote="devlin1"]Or I could model it after Andy: If you roll ----, you lose a point of Will and have to throw a die across the room.[/quote]
I'm considering taking meds for my anger problems.
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:50 am
by devlin1
[quote="mordraine"]I'm considering taking meds for my anger problems.[/quote]
I can score you some Tylenol. I got a connection, dig?
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:55 am
by SpaceMonkey
[quote="mordraine"]I'm considering taking meds for my anger problems.[/quote]
pfft.. it'll only make you boring.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 6:56 pm
by devlin1
Just an update: I revised/codified the Will rules, and added rules for size and scale (e.g., a human fighting a giant). The latter is something I pretty much just thought of within the last few days, so if it looks like too much, or if it seems unworkable, let me know.