Well, this is me hoping that there's not some last-minute voters who come in and vote for something else in my poll besides "Beliefs". That would suck. So, then, I'm going to plunge ahead, in hopes that my writing is not in vain. Actually, it shouldn't be, seeing as I'm planning on blogging about all the primary attributes. Whew. (And yeah, I know this is taking a while to blog out...bear with me, doing this blog is a pretty hefty work on its own. Hopefully when I get some good amounts of free time, I can write up and compile together a test PDF of the system, in some sort of Beta incarnation. Anyone interested in testing it and giving feedback?)
What You Believe In...or What Drives You?
Well, I've touched upon the idea of Beliefs before, so I won't rehash that here. Instead, I want to talk about just how they're going to be approached and viewed in the Journey System. One question I'll answer first is a question that came up on my "vote now!" post: "What's the difference between Beliefs and Passion?" Back there, I offered in answer the analogy of a campfire (Beliefs) versus a flamethrower (Passion), but I'd like to go a bit more in-depth to just how the two of them work in conjunction in the game.
Passion, first and foremost, is the fighting spirit of a character. It's their determination to succeed against all odds, to stand up in the face of total defeat and scream defiance into the tempest. It's the reserve you draw upon for a Heroic Surge, a Crowning Moment of Awesome. It's the raw power and fire of your spirit. So on the downside, it's rather uncontrolled, and it tends to burn you out really quick. I'm considering a mechanic whereby burning large amounts of Passion from the corresponding Pool gives you large bonuses to Affinity, but at the cost of greatly reducing the Affinity of all tasks following, to reflect your exhaustion.
Belief is somewhat like Passion, but also unlike, because it represents a controlled force, and a force that has been established and stabilized. It's more of a slow burn, one which fuels you with energy as you seek to emerge victorious. It's what gives you the strength to keep fighting, even when you've been beaten down to a pulp. It's what you cling to, the last thing that you still hold on to. The biggest immediate effect of Belief is the ability to "shrug off" Affinity penalties. Your Belief also gives you a series of rules to abide by, and you can't ignore those rules without risking a loss of Belief.
A Force of Stability
Taking inspiration from the Storyteller System, I'm marking down not only Belief but also Wisdom and Dexterity as somewhat defensive stats. They help you keep (relatively) a stable and unified soul, mind, and body. So, in keeping with that idea, Belief can act as a protecting force. In the midst of the chaos and terrors that a hero faces on their journey, their beliefs form an anchor. Most importantly, Beliefs help characters reduce fear against terrifying tasks. There are some things which are so scary that a character has to make what's known as a Resolve roll to even attempt to take action against them. The Affinity of this roll is based in Belief.
Resolve rolls are also used whenever something shocking and surprising happens. This reduces players' Affinity for about a turn or two. If the roll fails badly, the duration continues. Belief, though, reflects a stability of self that is able to be calm. For this reason, Wisdom is the secondary attribute for Resolve rolls. (I'll go and explain Wisdom later on, of course) The other interesting thing about Resolve rolls? Like any roll, you can burn Passion points to boost it.
A Little Bit of Boosting
When you follow your Beliefs, you also get a little bit of reward. When you follow a Belief, you get to make a Fate Roll, with an Affinity of 4, rolling a number of dice equal to your Belief. The Affinity increases according to the cost you have to pay to follow that belief. It scales from +1 (a minor inconvenience) to +4 (devastating consequences). The number of successes gained is the amount of Fate Points that you gain from the roll. What are Fate Points?
Think of them as little ways to shape the story. In the game, they're considered to be the little powerings of Wyrd that someone receives, able to make things "convenient" for themselves. If you're in a city, for instance, where you know a friend might be, you can spend Fate Points to have them show up and help you and your companions. If you're in a brawl, you could spend Fate Points to have a bar patron stagger across the room and into an opponent. If you're in a prison, you can spend a Fate Point to have a communication hole with a fellow prisoner. Essentially, Fate Points let you control some little aspect of a scene as if you were the GM.
I know that was a lot to get through, but there's a lot of ideas to go with this whole concept. Next week...it'll be time for another stat!
Banner Ad
Showing posts with label journeysystem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journeysystem. Show all posts
Friday, March 5, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Journey System: Wyrd
Well, hopefully you people aren't quite tired of hearing about the Journey System. This time through, I'm going into something which should end up as one of the core concepts of the game, and that's Wyrd. Coming from the Old English "weohrtan", "to become", wyrd sometimes gets tossed around a lot in fantasy settings, because it deals with the concept of fate, of destiny. This RPG aims to make it a central focus, but not a required part of the game. If your character doesn't feel like following destiny, they'll not be able to become as powerful, but they'll also be freer to pursue their own ends. Characters who take on a Wyrd become more powerful, but they end up sacrificing their own freedom in exchange. If they defy their Wyrd too much, they can end up losing that power.
The Basic Idea
The concept of Wyrd is going to be a hybrid of sorts between traditional RPG levels and a dash of the Morality system of World of Darkness fame. You gain features as your Wyrd increases, but as your Wyrd increases, the things you must do to maintain it become more and more difficult. To stay true to Wyrd, a character must make a lot of sacrifices, and undergo many hardships. Fortunately, Wyrd is custom-made for each character. Depending on how you want the story to run, either the player or the GM can be in charge of how the Wyrd evolves...in fact, both of them can collaborate if they wish, to craft a destiny for the character.
Each time your Wyrd increases in level (something accomplished by spending Experience Points), you add a piece to your character's Wyrd. This is the destiny that they have been chosen to accomplish, and the abilities gained by following this Wyrd (called "Boons") are gifted specifically for the purpose of fulfilling the Wyrd. The more specific a piece of the Wyrd it is, the greater the Boon granted. These bits of wyrd stay with your character, and cannot be erased unless the character deliberately rebels against them. Even if the character rejects them at some time, pushing them aside and ignoring them, they still remain, nagging away at the character here and there.
Your Wyrd level also acts as a cap. Each ability that your character can purchase has a cost in experience points. Your Wyrd level serves as a cap on the amount of abilities that your character can have. If purchasing an ability would take your power level beyond your Wyrd cap, you are not allowed to purchase that ability. If your Wyrd lowers, however, beneath your current cap, you may still use the abilities you've acquired; you may not acquire any more, though, without sacrificing some of your existing abilities (which requires a good story explanation).
Some Examples...(probably to be balanced later)
Leader-- You have been chosen to lead in some way, either by leading a party of adventurers, a nation, or even an entire race.
Boon: When leading, you may reroll one 12 per Dilemma.
Obligation: If an opportunity to lead arises, you must take it. (Belief, Affinity 4)
Against the Great Foe-- You have been called to fight against the dark evil which threatens to conquer these lands.
Boon: When taking action against this dark evil or its servants/minions, the Affinity of all your tasks is +2.
Obligation: If you can inflict harm upon the Foe, you must take action to do so. (Passion-1, Affinity 3)
You'll notice that each entry has a Boon and Obligation. The Boon is the benefit you gain from the bit of Wyrd. The Obligation is what you must do to avoid ignoring/rejecting this bit of Wyrd, and decreasing your Wyrd. If you disobey the Obligation, you must make an attribute roll, indicated by the entry at the end of the Obligation. If you fail the roll, this means that your character's action reflects a change of heart about the Wyrd, and you decrease in Wyrd. You may not use that piece's Boon, and your Wyrd Cap is likewise decreased. If you succeed the roll, your action is considered to not reflect your true faith in your Wyrd, but rather an action that, because of necessity or inculpability, wasn't truly a rejection of the Wyrd.
Roleplaying will be important here, because the GM is at liberty to give bonuses or penalties to the Affinity of a Wyrd Roll, based on your explanation of your character's actions. Would following one bit of your Wyrd lead to the death of innocents, for instance, and your character values life heavily, this can provide a substantial Affinity bonus, making it far easier to succeed. Not only that, but if you can show that following this bit of Wyrd in this one case would contradict another bit of the Wyrd, you don't need to make a Wyrd Roll; the Wyrd remains, because it does not contradict.
Sound interesting? I hope it does! Stay tuned, for what I think will be a post on Beliefs in the Journey System...
The Basic Idea
The concept of Wyrd is going to be a hybrid of sorts between traditional RPG levels and a dash of the Morality system of World of Darkness fame. You gain features as your Wyrd increases, but as your Wyrd increases, the things you must do to maintain it become more and more difficult. To stay true to Wyrd, a character must make a lot of sacrifices, and undergo many hardships. Fortunately, Wyrd is custom-made for each character. Depending on how you want the story to run, either the player or the GM can be in charge of how the Wyrd evolves...in fact, both of them can collaborate if they wish, to craft a destiny for the character.
Each time your Wyrd increases in level (something accomplished by spending Experience Points), you add a piece to your character's Wyrd. This is the destiny that they have been chosen to accomplish, and the abilities gained by following this Wyrd (called "Boons") are gifted specifically for the purpose of fulfilling the Wyrd. The more specific a piece of the Wyrd it is, the greater the Boon granted. These bits of wyrd stay with your character, and cannot be erased unless the character deliberately rebels against them. Even if the character rejects them at some time, pushing them aside and ignoring them, they still remain, nagging away at the character here and there.
Your Wyrd level also acts as a cap. Each ability that your character can purchase has a cost in experience points. Your Wyrd level serves as a cap on the amount of abilities that your character can have. If purchasing an ability would take your power level beyond your Wyrd cap, you are not allowed to purchase that ability. If your Wyrd lowers, however, beneath your current cap, you may still use the abilities you've acquired; you may not acquire any more, though, without sacrificing some of your existing abilities (which requires a good story explanation).
Some Examples...(probably to be balanced later)
Leader-- You have been chosen to lead in some way, either by leading a party of adventurers, a nation, or even an entire race.
Boon: When leading, you may reroll one 12 per Dilemma.
Obligation: If an opportunity to lead arises, you must take it. (Belief, Affinity 4)
Against the Great Foe-- You have been called to fight against the dark evil which threatens to conquer these lands.
Boon: When taking action against this dark evil or its servants/minions, the Affinity of all your tasks is +2.
Obligation: If you can inflict harm upon the Foe, you must take action to do so. (Passion-1, Affinity 3)
You'll notice that each entry has a Boon and Obligation. The Boon is the benefit you gain from the bit of Wyrd. The Obligation is what you must do to avoid ignoring/rejecting this bit of Wyrd, and decreasing your Wyrd. If you disobey the Obligation, you must make an attribute roll, indicated by the entry at the end of the Obligation. If you fail the roll, this means that your character's action reflects a change of heart about the Wyrd, and you decrease in Wyrd. You may not use that piece's Boon, and your Wyrd Cap is likewise decreased. If you succeed the roll, your action is considered to not reflect your true faith in your Wyrd, but rather an action that, because of necessity or inculpability, wasn't truly a rejection of the Wyrd.
Roleplaying will be important here, because the GM is at liberty to give bonuses or penalties to the Affinity of a Wyrd Roll, based on your explanation of your character's actions. Would following one bit of your Wyrd lead to the death of innocents, for instance, and your character values life heavily, this can provide a substantial Affinity bonus, making it far easier to succeed. Not only that, but if you can show that following this bit of Wyrd in this one case would contradict another bit of the Wyrd, you don't need to make a Wyrd Roll; the Wyrd remains, because it does not contradict.
Sound interesting? I hope it does! Stay tuned, for what I think will be a post on Beliefs in the Journey System...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Journey System: A Little Poll
So, for the first time in the history of this blog *drumroll*, I'm going to take a vaguely scientific approach to things, and give all of you a poll! So, here's the topic. I'm going to start covering attributes from the Journey System, doing a bit of a writeup on what each one means, in my mind, and a little sample of how they interact with the game. (Each attribute will, if all is as I hope, have a unique twist on interacting with the rules) So, that being said...vote in the poll at the right, and let me know what you're interested in hearing about!
Strength: The way of physical power
Dexterity: The path of the fleet-footed and agile
Craft: All the cunning you'd ever want
Wisdom: The insight to peer into the soul
Passion: The fire that levels mountains
Belief: The guiding strength that drives a hero
Strength: The way of physical power
Dexterity: The path of the fleet-footed and agile
Craft: All the cunning you'd ever want
Wisdom: The insight to peer into the soul
Passion: The fire that levels mountains
Belief: The guiding strength that drives a hero
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Journey System: Rolling Dice
So, looks like it's time again to delve into that monster known as the Journey System. This time, it's to flesh out and come up with a complete core mechanic. I've given a lot of thought to it, and finally arrived at what I think is an interesting solution. It avoids the cut-and-dry addition of stats algorithm, in favor of a roll-under mechanic. It also takes an unusual approach, of sorts, to the concept of task difficulty, but one which allows for flexibility.
What's in a Statistic?
Like I've mentioned before, two statistics bolster your roll. There's a primary statistic and a secondary statistic. Your primary statistic determines the base difficulty of a task, and your secondary statistic provides a point pool which can be spent to add dice to your roll. To flesh that first one out, however, your primary statistic actually plays directly into the difficulty of a roll.
When making a roll, you first determine the Affinity of a task. This is simply how matched the task is to your abilities. You can attempt tasks with low Affinity, but you're not well suited to those tasks, so you'll do worse. Affinity starts, at its base, with the value of your primary statistic. If, for instance, it's a Strength-based task, and you have a strength of 4, the Affinity of that task begins at 4. This is the number that you must roll beneath in order to succeed at the task. If you match the number, you run into what's known as a Compromise situation, where you pick something to go right, and the GM picks something to go wrong.
Making it Easier
Well, that doesn't strike one as incredibly good odds to undergo when trying to attempt a task. Statistically, pumping extra dice into the equation goes a long way towards helping, but something that can also help is numbers. A Task's Affinity, first and foremost, can be increased when you leverage aspects of your character appropriate to the task. When you take on a task, you may pick one appropriate Skill or Ability (special, innate power) that your character possesses, and add its value to the task's Affinity. Say you're trying to lift a heavy crate, a Strength-based task, you can also add in your two ranks of Athletics, making the total Affinity 2.
There's also situational bonuses that can come in, which individually give bonuses of +1 each. Those are less common to come by, though. And on the flip side, ways in which the odds are stacked against you subtract from a Task's Affinity. Your Wyrd also plays into this. Tasks can have Wyrd values, because some things are suited only to those who have embraced their destiny. Often, these are big, epic quests such as retrieving a magic item or confronting a great foe (Wyrd is always a factor in combat). Your specific Wyrd will also affect, in general, what sorts of tasks are better-suited to you. The higher your Wyrd is, the more specific those Tasks get. (I'll go into exactly how the Wyrd mechanic works later on. It's kinda like choosing class features, though, in an RPG, as you level up.)
A Little Goodie
I've also put together an Excel spreadsheet to calculate exactly what sort of odds you can expect while working with the Journey System's "roll and replace" mechanic. This shows the average die roll, which is very helpful to know as a straight probability counter. Later on, I'll probably update it with even more data, although at the moment, I'm needing that data to crunch numbers.
What's in a Statistic?
Like I've mentioned before, two statistics bolster your roll. There's a primary statistic and a secondary statistic. Your primary statistic determines the base difficulty of a task, and your secondary statistic provides a point pool which can be spent to add dice to your roll. To flesh that first one out, however, your primary statistic actually plays directly into the difficulty of a roll.
When making a roll, you first determine the Affinity of a task. This is simply how matched the task is to your abilities. You can attempt tasks with low Affinity, but you're not well suited to those tasks, so you'll do worse. Affinity starts, at its base, with the value of your primary statistic. If, for instance, it's a Strength-based task, and you have a strength of 4, the Affinity of that task begins at 4. This is the number that you must roll beneath in order to succeed at the task. If you match the number, you run into what's known as a Compromise situation, where you pick something to go right, and the GM picks something to go wrong.
Making it Easier
Well, that doesn't strike one as incredibly good odds to undergo when trying to attempt a task. Statistically, pumping extra dice into the equation goes a long way towards helping, but something that can also help is numbers. A Task's Affinity, first and foremost, can be increased when you leverage aspects of your character appropriate to the task. When you take on a task, you may pick one appropriate Skill or Ability (special, innate power) that your character possesses, and add its value to the task's Affinity. Say you're trying to lift a heavy crate, a Strength-based task, you can also add in your two ranks of Athletics, making the total Affinity 2.
There's also situational bonuses that can come in, which individually give bonuses of +1 each. Those are less common to come by, though. And on the flip side, ways in which the odds are stacked against you subtract from a Task's Affinity. Your Wyrd also plays into this. Tasks can have Wyrd values, because some things are suited only to those who have embraced their destiny. Often, these are big, epic quests such as retrieving a magic item or confronting a great foe (Wyrd is always a factor in combat). Your specific Wyrd will also affect, in general, what sorts of tasks are better-suited to you. The higher your Wyrd is, the more specific those Tasks get. (I'll go into exactly how the Wyrd mechanic works later on. It's kinda like choosing class features, though, in an RPG, as you level up.)
A Little Goodie
I've also put together an Excel spreadsheet to calculate exactly what sort of odds you can expect while working with the Journey System's "roll and replace" mechanic. This shows the average die roll, which is very helpful to know as a straight probability counter. Later on, I'll probably update it with even more data, although at the moment, I'm needing that data to crunch numbers.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Journey System: Trials
Again, sorry for the bit of late posting. I'm actually considering moving my "Fluff" posts to Fridays, simply to give myself a little more breathing room in between. As it stands, I had a major test to study for, but I think I rolled 18 to 20 on my Take Exam check...and I'm pretty sure my brain has an increased threat range for crits. That being said, it's time to jump into a post advancing the Journey System.
The Inspiration of Real Life
This idea came to me while I was reflecting on my religious tradition, actually. See, around this time of year (the 40 days before Easter), we have a ritual time called Lent. It's the time of year where we aim to grow spiritually by increasing our prayer and also denying ourselves comforts and pleasures of normal life. It's a concept of self-mastery and growth through a mild sort of asceticism. I realized, thinking upon it, that there's some really interesting ideas there that could be implemented in a roleplaying game.
See, the main idea is that you grow through trials. The trials help to "burn away" everything that you don't really need, so that you can focus on everything that is essential. The more I thought about that, the more I realized that this idea could play really well into the Journey System. So, the next question comes: exactly how does it become implemented?
Some Practical Considerations
Obviously, it won't do if Trials are getting tossed left and right at you. That just cheapens it, and...well...it really doesn't work like that, especially not in heroic stories. Trials are supposed to be big, dramatic, heart-stabbing...well, yeah. You get the picture. A Trial, then, is a special type of conflict. It's a pricey conflict; to succeed, you have to make a sacrifice. There's no other way around it. In exchange, though, your character gets something big. Exactly what that is I haven't quite figured out yet, along with the cost, but I really want to implement this idea.
The other major thing I want to add to it is the idea of priorities. A Trial, first and foremost, should be demanding your character to make priorities. What do they really care about? What are they willing to let go to achieve victory? A Trial, ideally, should see two major priorities of the character in conflict. They can't both happen. Maybe your character has determined to never resort to violence, but faces a Trial of witnessing a thug beating up a civilian, which is heavily contrary to their sense of justice. Does your character forsake their total spurning of violence to help the civilian, thus sacrificing a belief in nonviolence to further their belief in justice? Or, on the other hand, does the character step back, letting it go, shutting Justice down for the time being because they're not ready to face that conflict.
So yeah, there's an idea I'm throwing out there, hopefully I'll be able to implement it in the system soon. Coming up on Tuesday, though, is our first look at the actual core mechanic of the Journey System!
The Inspiration of Real Life
This idea came to me while I was reflecting on my religious tradition, actually. See, around this time of year (the 40 days before Easter), we have a ritual time called Lent. It's the time of year where we aim to grow spiritually by increasing our prayer and also denying ourselves comforts and pleasures of normal life. It's a concept of self-mastery and growth through a mild sort of asceticism. I realized, thinking upon it, that there's some really interesting ideas there that could be implemented in a roleplaying game.
See, the main idea is that you grow through trials. The trials help to "burn away" everything that you don't really need, so that you can focus on everything that is essential. The more I thought about that, the more I realized that this idea could play really well into the Journey System. So, the next question comes: exactly how does it become implemented?
Some Practical Considerations
Obviously, it won't do if Trials are getting tossed left and right at you. That just cheapens it, and...well...it really doesn't work like that, especially not in heroic stories. Trials are supposed to be big, dramatic, heart-stabbing...well, yeah. You get the picture. A Trial, then, is a special type of conflict. It's a pricey conflict; to succeed, you have to make a sacrifice. There's no other way around it. In exchange, though, your character gets something big. Exactly what that is I haven't quite figured out yet, along with the cost, but I really want to implement this idea.
The other major thing I want to add to it is the idea of priorities. A Trial, first and foremost, should be demanding your character to make priorities. What do they really care about? What are they willing to let go to achieve victory? A Trial, ideally, should see two major priorities of the character in conflict. They can't both happen. Maybe your character has determined to never resort to violence, but faces a Trial of witnessing a thug beating up a civilian, which is heavily contrary to their sense of justice. Does your character forsake their total spurning of violence to help the civilian, thus sacrificing a belief in nonviolence to further their belief in justice? Or, on the other hand, does the character step back, letting it go, shutting Justice down for the time being because they're not ready to face that conflict.
So yeah, there's an idea I'm throwing out there, hopefully I'll be able to implement it in the system soon. Coming up on Tuesday, though, is our first look at the actual core mechanic of the Journey System!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Journey System: Core Stats
As you may have gathered, I'll be doing a little bit of planning and brainstorming for the Journey System throughout most of my upcoming posts. (Next week, actually, I may be doing a little bit of a gameplay report on the New World of Darkness campaign that I'm currently playing in.) This day being the "miscellaneous" day, I figured it was as good a day as ever to start talking about the "primary stats" of the game.
Starting Basic and Simple
A traditional way to represent characters is through the concepts of Body, Mind, and Soul: the body interacts physically with the world, the soul acts spiritually, and the mind blends and reconciles the two. This seems like a pretty decent way to encapsulate the entirety of a character. I'd even like to go a step further, and propose a little more elaboration on it.
Each of the three areas can be practically subdivided into two types: an aggressive, powerful type and a finessed, skill-based type. This is, in part, inspired by the principles of "hard" and "soft" martial arts techniques,. Overlaying this on Body, Mind, and Soul, we get six statistics. If you note, this is the same number of statistics found in the classic d20 system. They don't exactly match up, however.
A Little Elaboration
These words can go in many different directions, so I'll be describing my views on them in a little more detail. Some will be familiar...some may be a little new to you.
Strength
Not only is this your physical strength, but your raw physical ability. This is your ability to, through sheer physical power, withstand injury and perform tasks.
Dexterity
This is the trained use of the body. It doesn't have as much pure power to bring to bear, but it is incredibly efficient in its operation. Dexterity measures agility, grace, and speed.
Craft
This is the pure power of your intellect, your ability to solve problems, gather and apply information, think quickly and efficiently, and respond swiftly to a situation.
Wisdom
This is a far more intuitive aspect of the mind, the one which gathers information and seeks to understand what goes on behind the scenes. It is the empathic and emotionally connected aspect of the mind.
Passion
Potentially one of the most visible and dangerous aspects of the person, passion is what drives one to heights greater than they think possible. It is the raw drive and power of the soul.
Belief
Unguided, passion can lead down very dangerous roads. One's Belief in something is the main way in which the passions can be tempered. It is a structured organization of the soul's drive, in service of a higher purpose.
A Distinctive Approach
Something that I think is very important to have in this game is a distinctive feel to each of the core abilities. Now, this will probably take a lot of work, but I'll be working to flesh it out as best as possible. I really do want to make sure that they feel differently. And yes, I'll be fleshing out each of these, I'm sure, with posts in the future. What I'm really excited about, though, is the incorporation of Wyrd.
Starting Basic and Simple
A traditional way to represent characters is through the concepts of Body, Mind, and Soul: the body interacts physically with the world, the soul acts spiritually, and the mind blends and reconciles the two. This seems like a pretty decent way to encapsulate the entirety of a character. I'd even like to go a step further, and propose a little more elaboration on it.
Each of the three areas can be practically subdivided into two types: an aggressive, powerful type and a finessed, skill-based type. This is, in part, inspired by the principles of "hard" and "soft" martial arts techniques,. Overlaying this on Body, Mind, and Soul, we get six statistics. If you note, this is the same number of statistics found in the classic d20 system. They don't exactly match up, however.
- Strength [Body]
- Dexterity [Body]
- Craft [Mind]
- Wisdom [Mind]
- Passion [Soul]
- Belief [Soul]
A Little Elaboration
These words can go in many different directions, so I'll be describing my views on them in a little more detail. Some will be familiar...some may be a little new to you.
Strength
Not only is this your physical strength, but your raw physical ability. This is your ability to, through sheer physical power, withstand injury and perform tasks.
Dexterity
This is the trained use of the body. It doesn't have as much pure power to bring to bear, but it is incredibly efficient in its operation. Dexterity measures agility, grace, and speed.
Craft
This is the pure power of your intellect, your ability to solve problems, gather and apply information, think quickly and efficiently, and respond swiftly to a situation.
Wisdom
This is a far more intuitive aspect of the mind, the one which gathers information and seeks to understand what goes on behind the scenes. It is the empathic and emotionally connected aspect of the mind.
Passion
Potentially one of the most visible and dangerous aspects of the person, passion is what drives one to heights greater than they think possible. It is the raw drive and power of the soul.
Belief
Unguided, passion can lead down very dangerous roads. One's Belief in something is the main way in which the passions can be tempered. It is a structured organization of the soul's drive, in service of a higher purpose.
A Distinctive Approach
Something that I think is very important to have in this game is a distinctive feel to each of the core abilities. Now, this will probably take a lot of work, but I'll be working to flesh it out as best as possible. I really do want to make sure that they feel differently. And yes, I'll be fleshing out each of these, I'm sure, with posts in the future. What I'm really excited about, though, is the incorporation of Wyrd.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Journey System: The Main Idea
We now come to the time where I technically "officially" begin my work on something called the Journey System. I suppose that, first and foremost, I should talk about exactly why the system is called this. That's because of the main design philosophy behind it. This system is supposed to focus on something called "The Hero's Journey", yet not in the familiar form proposed by Joseph Campbell.
What is the Hero's Journey?
Campbell, who is one of the most famous studiers of mythology and folk tales, claimed that all heros in myths followed the following pattern: 1) a call to adventure (and refusal of the call), 2) a descent into the "underworld", a fantastic world separated from the normal world, 3) an ultimate low point, "the belly of the whale, 4) the learning of special skills/powers, 5) the return home, and the bringing back of a "boon".
There's a few problems that I have with his basic model (not to mention his later elaborations), but I won't be going into that now. Rather, I'd like to propose my own take on The Hero's Journey, serving as the core philosophy for the Journey System. It goes as follows:
As a quick note, I don't believe this is the pattern that all heroic stories fall into. Rather, this is one type of hero, the main type that will be encouraged in this system. There is definitely room for other types, however, and the interaction between all of them will be something to add interest and variety within the course of gameplay.
A Touch of Wyrd
The Old English word "wyrd" is one of my personal fantasy favorites, particularly in conjunction with the above concept of The Hero's Journey. In a nutshell, it roughly corresponds to the English "fate", or "destiny". Wyrd is a guiding force, of some supernatural origin, which shapes and guides the life of someone. Within the world of the Journey System, I would go a bit further.
I propose that wyrd, here, is something which (in the tradition of Robert Jordan) can shape and direct events, when a person is acting in accordance with their own personal wyrd. Thus, when someone continues to act in accordance with their Wyrd, they gain more and more ability to shape important events around them. Not in a flashy, overt way, but a more subtle way. Maybe things just "line up right", or maybe a critical strike turns aside, or a foe stumbles at just the right moment. Anything to help turn events in accordance with Wyrd.
Wrapping it Up
You may have, if you were looking closely, noted that one of the steps in my Hero's Journey was that of effort and sacrifice. This keys exactly into the sort of system I was talking about: a system that rewards you for expending effort. I also had another thought while writing this up: what if you replaced Experience with Wyrd? Thus, you get rewarded for sacrificing much in order to accomplish goals. What do you think?
What is the Hero's Journey?
Campbell, who is one of the most famous studiers of mythology and folk tales, claimed that all heros in myths followed the following pattern: 1) a call to adventure (and refusal of the call), 2) a descent into the "underworld", a fantastic world separated from the normal world, 3) an ultimate low point, "the belly of the whale, 4) the learning of special skills/powers, 5) the return home, and the bringing back of a "boon".
There's a few problems that I have with his basic model (not to mention his later elaborations), but I won't be going into that now. Rather, I'd like to propose my own take on The Hero's Journey, serving as the core philosophy for the Journey System. It goes as follows:
- A hero is born with a destiny (some purpose to fulfill, however big or small)
- The hero grows into a stable life
- Something upsets the stability of the hero's life
- The hero is given opportunities to accept or reject their destiny
- The choices of the hero have far-reaching consequences: either causing the downfall of the enemy (accept destiny) or a costly victory against the enemy (reject destiny), or even a costly defeat at the hands of the enemy (rebel against destiny)
- The choices will involve increasing effort and sacrifice on the part of the hero, if Wyrd is accepted
- The hero returns home, and must learn to cope with the change at home, the change within himself, or both
As a quick note, I don't believe this is the pattern that all heroic stories fall into. Rather, this is one type of hero, the main type that will be encouraged in this system. There is definitely room for other types, however, and the interaction between all of them will be something to add interest and variety within the course of gameplay.
A Touch of Wyrd
The Old English word "wyrd" is one of my personal fantasy favorites, particularly in conjunction with the above concept of The Hero's Journey. In a nutshell, it roughly corresponds to the English "fate", or "destiny". Wyrd is a guiding force, of some supernatural origin, which shapes and guides the life of someone. Within the world of the Journey System, I would go a bit further.
I propose that wyrd, here, is something which (in the tradition of Robert Jordan) can shape and direct events, when a person is acting in accordance with their own personal wyrd. Thus, when someone continues to act in accordance with their Wyrd, they gain more and more ability to shape important events around them. Not in a flashy, overt way, but a more subtle way. Maybe things just "line up right", or maybe a critical strike turns aside, or a foe stumbles at just the right moment. Anything to help turn events in accordance with Wyrd.
Wrapping it Up
You may have, if you were looking closely, noted that one of the steps in my Hero's Journey was that of effort and sacrifice. This keys exactly into the sort of system I was talking about: a system that rewards you for expending effort. I also had another thought while writing this up: what if you replaced Experience with Wyrd? Thus, you get rewarded for sacrificing much in order to accomplish goals. What do you think?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Journey System: Core Mechanic
Well, this post is actually going to tie into one of my previous posts, particularly "A Modest Proposal" (Part I, Part II). For reasons that I'll explain later, I'm naming this the Journey System. I figured that I should probably explain exactly where I want to go with the core mechanic, and see what my readers think of it. Like I mentioned before, I'm going to be using a d12, which isn't exactly unheard of. I can actually think of a couple smaller RPGs that use it effectively as their main die. With that set out, it's time for me to work through exactly what sort of system I'm going for. I've already waxed descriptive on core mechanics previously, and that means I'll be pulling a lot of that into here.
What I've Said Already
First and foremost, in A Modest Proposal, I decided that my approach to the system would be one that rewards you for expending resources, with more of a reward coming if you don't decide to immediately replenish those resources. I spoke of a "pool" system of sorts, where you spend stats. This will probably lead to a system whereby each stat has a value, which is permanent, and that value denotes how many points are generated to be spent from that stat to improve your odds.
I've also said that I'm a big fan of the dice pool mechanic for games. That being said, I don't exactly like the idea of mimicking the Storyteller System (of World of Darkness fame), because that just feels cheap to me. At the same time, I do want to introduce the idea of relying on two of your stats, and not just one, for whatever task you attempt. So here's what I'm planning. First, there are two stats involved in any roll: a primary statistic and a secondary statistic. The primary statistic is the bonus given to the roll, and the secondary statistic is the one with a point pool you can spend. I'll clarify it here below. First, though, the question--what does spending points do?
A Pool...Kinda
The thing is, rolling a bunch of dice in a pool just screams World of Darkness to me. So, how else can you use the idea of a dice pool in conjunction with the game? Well, there's one fun and interesting solution that came to mind. What if you rolled a dice pool, and then picked the best die out of the pool to be your roll? I took that, rolled it around a little, and here's the idea I came up with, in the end.
You have your stats. They have values. Starting out, each Stat also comes with an equal (or maybe 1/2 value, rounded up, we'll see) pool of Heroic Points to be spent. When you want to do a task, figure out the Primary and Secondary stats. The Primary stat is added to your roll. You roll one 12-sided die. Alternatively, you can burn any number of points in the Heroic Points pool for the Secondary stat, to roll an additional 12-sided die for each point burned. The end result? You roll a bunch of dice, and pick the best one. So really, it offers you the opportunity of control over your luck, to a small extent.
Example
This is essentially what the system would look like. This is for the character attempting to move aside a boulder burying an ally.
Primary Stat: Strength Value 7
Secondary Stat: Passion 6 Heroic Points
Your character really wants to succeed, so you burn 4 of those Heroic Points. You roll 4d12, and they come up with 4, 6, 2, 9. You pick the 9, and add in the Strength value, for a total roll of 16. You now have 2 Heroic Points in Passion.
So, I know this is a bit rambly for a post, but hopefully it gives a bit of insight into what I've got in store. I'll really be introducing the system proper in a following post (either Thursday or maybe Saturday), and then it should start to make some more sense.
What I've Said Already
First and foremost, in A Modest Proposal, I decided that my approach to the system would be one that rewards you for expending resources, with more of a reward coming if you don't decide to immediately replenish those resources. I spoke of a "pool" system of sorts, where you spend stats. This will probably lead to a system whereby each stat has a value, which is permanent, and that value denotes how many points are generated to be spent from that stat to improve your odds.
I've also said that I'm a big fan of the dice pool mechanic for games. That being said, I don't exactly like the idea of mimicking the Storyteller System (of World of Darkness fame), because that just feels cheap to me. At the same time, I do want to introduce the idea of relying on two of your stats, and not just one, for whatever task you attempt. So here's what I'm planning. First, there are two stats involved in any roll: a primary statistic and a secondary statistic. The primary statistic is the bonus given to the roll, and the secondary statistic is the one with a point pool you can spend. I'll clarify it here below. First, though, the question--what does spending points do?
A Pool...Kinda
The thing is, rolling a bunch of dice in a pool just screams World of Darkness to me. So, how else can you use the idea of a dice pool in conjunction with the game? Well, there's one fun and interesting solution that came to mind. What if you rolled a dice pool, and then picked the best die out of the pool to be your roll? I took that, rolled it around a little, and here's the idea I came up with, in the end.
You have your stats. They have values. Starting out, each Stat also comes with an equal (or maybe 1/2 value, rounded up, we'll see) pool of Heroic Points to be spent. When you want to do a task, figure out the Primary and Secondary stats. The Primary stat is added to your roll. You roll one 12-sided die. Alternatively, you can burn any number of points in the Heroic Points pool for the Secondary stat, to roll an additional 12-sided die for each point burned. The end result? You roll a bunch of dice, and pick the best one. So really, it offers you the opportunity of control over your luck, to a small extent.
Example
This is essentially what the system would look like. This is for the character attempting to move aside a boulder burying an ally.
Primary Stat: Strength Value 7
Secondary Stat: Passion 6 Heroic Points
Your character really wants to succeed, so you burn 4 of those Heroic Points. You roll 4d12, and they come up with 4, 6, 2, 9. You pick the 9, and add in the Strength value, for a total roll of 16. You now have 2 Heroic Points in Passion.
So, I know this is a bit rambly for a post, but hopefully it gives a bit of insight into what I've got in store. I'll really be introducing the system proper in a following post (either Thursday or maybe Saturday), and then it should start to make some more sense.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
