?-VECTORS (title to be determined) is an attempt at bringing a structured game to a diceless medium where only strategy has any consequences and randmonization is no longer an issue. The idea is that you chose your ?-factor then you chose your Virtues and then make characters and play. I'd like to get it to the point where all traditional settings are included in one document.
MECHANICS
A. Basic Resolution
1. Personal Task
2. Social Conflict
3. Physical Conflict
B. Focused Resolution
1. Argument
2. Fight
C. Growth
1. Lessons
2. Excercise
3. Rewards
4. Accumulate Wealth
D. Pools
CHARACTER CREATION
Character Concept
Priority System
Priority Chart
Force of Character
Character Creation Worksheet
Character Sheet
?-VECTORS
?-Factor
V. Virtues
E. Emotional Attributes
1. Love
2. Hate
3. Crave
4. Grieve
5. Idealize
C. Creeds
T. Talent
1. Vigor
2. Coordination
3. Beauty
4. Reason
5. Awareness
6. Essence
O. Origin
A. Class Restrictions
1. Royalty
2. Nobility
3. Landowner
4. Freeman
5. Peasant/Slave
B. Resources
1. Relationships
2. Associations
3. Contacts
4. Wealth
i. Property
ii. Gear
iii. Funds
R. Rewards
A. Major Rewards
1. Major Celestial Gifts
2. Major Karmic Gifts
3. Major Terrestial Gifts
B. Minor Rewards
1. Minor Celestial Gifts
2. Minor Karmic Gifts
3. Minor Terrestial Gifts
S. Skills
A. Skill Descriptions
1. Personal
2. Social
3. Physical
B. Skill Sets
1. Royal Skill Sets
2. Noble Skill Sets
3. Landowner Skill Sets
4. Freeman Skill Sets
5. Serf/Slave Skill Sets
C. Comprehensive Skill List
here's my idea for a game. originally it was intended to be a cleaner version of TXWD that my friends created, but now it's such a different beast, i'm gonna go it on my own, or with you guys anyway. i'm thinking it's gonna be diceless. no more randmonization, but plenty of pool spending and a little number crunching to get the statistics going... maybe i'll add a dice back in eventually
this is the culmination of the 'ultimate game' for my rp-ing tastes. all the games i like, thrown into the neckercube matrix
?-VECTORS
PREMISE
there are 8 parts to the system. eventually i think they can tranlsate to almost any setting, given enough 'world building' so i'll start by describing them generally
First thing you have to decide is
?- What is the ? factor?
what is the thing that makes this setting/characters different? is it a supernatural ability like 'chi' in ancient china, or 'magic' in fantasy, or 'bionics' in a futuristic game, or 'engineering' in a steampunk game. if you want to allow more than one, go for it.
then you decide
V - What are the Virtues of the setting?
pick 5 moreys or moral bounderies expected in the world. they should be on a bipolar scale. for example,
mercy vs. cruelty. humility vs. arrogance. loyalty vs. selfishness. ceremony vs. rudeness. righteousness vs. corruption these are key virtues in the ancient chinese civilization based on confuciousses teachings.
this is the cultural component. this is what your are exploring in the setting. this is what the character's must attest to.
that is it with setting creation.
next begins character creation
you must ask ...
E - What are the Emotional Attributes of your character
this is the human component. what the character is driven by. this is what you are exploring as individual players. it involves answering 5 questions
these are people/groups/concepts specific to each character. a major part of character creation. each emotional attribute gets a rating from 1-5. this rating changes over the course of play, based on dramatic exchanges.
C -Creeds
these are the words the characters live by. each character gets 3 creeds. examples, 'my word is my bond', 'my friends are my life,' 'death before dishonor' - a creed is something a person can say, a chant to get him through a hard decision
then we break down the more mechanical stuff,
T - Talent
this is the statistic for the inborn raw talent of the character
it includes Vigor, Coordination, Beauty, Reason, Awareness and Essenc
these are the basic stats for a sentient being, everything is derived off of the character's talent..
O - Origins
- this is where the character came from. in a medievil china setting, it's broken down into Royalty, Nobility, Landowner, Freeman, or Peasant/Slave. the character's origins denote the range of possibilities he has to start from
R - Rewards
- these are gifts the character has been given, be it for good karma from their past life or duties performed in this one. they can be treasures, secret knowledges, supernatural traits, etc. they are the resources the character uses to survive
S - Skills
- this is what the character has worked for. the character spent his life learning these to make his way in the world
CHARACTER CREATION
Character Creation is based on assigning a priority from A-E to the 5 tangibles: Talent, Origin, Resource, Skills and X-factor. each priority allows for a certain statistical number assigned to each category.
then, you go back and rate your intangibles
A. assign virtue ratings, from +4 to -4 for each bipolar axis.
B. choose your character's emotional attributes
C. write three creeds
and boom, you're ready to play
MECHANICS
the talents are the base effect for any skill, trained or untrained. the ratings, i'm thinking, are gonna be 1-5. 1 is below average, 2 is average. 3 is above average, 4 is superhuman, 5 is godly.
then there are derived stats.
the three i have so far are
Will (vigor + reason)
Initiative (coordination + awareness)
Persona (beauty + essence)
each kind of resolution is based on the effect rating
an effect rating for
task resolution = (skill+talent) - taking into account training and talent
social conflict = (skill+persona) - training and charisma
physical conflict = (skill+initiative) - training and hand-eye coordination
and then, if damage is needed
physical damage = (weapon+will) - representing desire to injure
pyschological damage = (persona+will) - representing sway over another
i want to work more on combat and debate. i like having mechanics for social conflict, and i want to play with the emotional attributes as psychological 'hit points' if you will. a debate is won when attacks are made to mitigate emotional attributes.
for instance, i'm trying to 'convince you i'm related to your lover'. i use my sincerity skill against your insight skill. if i exceed yours, you take damage to your love 'attribute.' once i bring it to 0, you are convinced i'm telling the truth. there can be an interplay of rounds and argument techniques, etc. back and forth, testing skills against each other, etc.
with physical combat, it would be based on a combat pool. will+ weapon skill or something. you spend points from the pool to activate specific maneuvers, etc. there will be exchanges, and if it's a martial arts game, a chi pool to spend, etc. i like the idea of parry/strike, strategy, but without rolling. each maneuver has an effect rating. the effect rating breaks down an enemies combat pool. if it hits 0 in any given round, they take damage.
obviously this needs more specifics and playtesting, but i want to mirror the old TXWD martial arts system, but make it diceless... you can spend combat pool for things like aimed shots and damage, etc. but if you run out in any given round, you take damage or something.
Basic and Focused.
Resolution = Effect-Intent
The basic mechanics for VECTORS revolve around Effect Ratings. To achieve a goal, a character states his intent. If their are no Story Consequences, then there is no need to check for resolution. If a Story Consequence is evident, then a test must be made.
There are 3 basic types of Resolution. The type of resolution depends on the source of the opposition
Task Resolution - a character's endeavor is opposed by a non-character entity, such as a locked door, a swift river, or a steep cliff, without opposing another character. Craft skills also fall into this category
Social Conflict Resolution - a characters attempt to effect another's Emotional Attributes
Physical Conflict Resolution - one player attempts to achieve an opposing intention: from sneaking up on an enemy to running faster than an opponent to knocking an enemy out.
To activate any given skill, a character must spend points from the relative Talent Pool. If the character does not have the skill, the effect=points spent from the Talent pool + # related skills.
A. Task Resolution
This is quick and simple.
Effect = Skills + # Complimentary Skills + Extra Talent spent
If the Effect achieves the obstacle, the character successfully performs his task. If his effect is over the obstacle, it cuts down the time spent on the task by %10 or it increases the quality of the results
B. Social Conflict Resolution
Initiating Character's Effect = Persona + Skills + # Complimentary Skills
Defending Character's Effect = Will + Skills # Complimentary Skills
C. Physical Conflict Resolution
Effect = Initiative + Skills + # Complimentary Skills
When any player believes that basic resolution of conflicts doesn't do the story justice, they may call to bring the story to Focused Resolution
Sometimes the basics just aren't enough. Sometimes more is at stake than can be resolved with a simple comparison of Effect That is where things must be focused. This is the heart of the Story.
Focused Resolution can be broken down into two parts. The Argument is the focused resolution to a social conflict while the Fight is the focused resolution to a physical conflict.
Argument = a coherent series of statements leading from a premise to a conclusion
When a player wants to focus in on a social conflict they enter an Argument. Instead of talking forever, the Argument allows the conflict to come to a climax and resolve. This Argument is not necessarily always a verbal battle. Perhaps it is an interplay of seduction and playing hard-to-get or the coy manipulation of a testy superior. It might be an attempt to bring a case before a judge and jury. Whatever the scenario The Argument is merely a way to provide dynamic narrative structure to resolve an otherwise unruly social conflict.
The Argument
1. Determine Intent - who wants what? this stage decides which Emotional Attribute is at stake for each character.
2. Decide Initiative (who speaks first)
Initiative = persona + (Emotional Attribute at stake) + (Virtue Modifiers)
3. Declaration - Determine Applicable Skills
Action - - depending on what they want, the characters determine which social skill they will use to get it.
They spend a point of the applicable Talent to activate the skill.
If the Talent Rating reaches zero, they can no longer use that skill.
Intimidation (Costs Vigor)
Persuasion (Costs Reason)
Sincerity (Costs Beauty)
Oration (Costs Awareness)
Defense - Determine Applicable Skill - depending on what attacker is using, defender may use social skills to avoid damage
Intuition (Costs Awareness)
Meditation (Costs Essence)
Intimidation (Costs Vigor)
Scheming (Costs Reason)
4. Resolution - Aggressor bids Persona, Defender bids Will
The character's make bids from their respective pools and add the Skill Rating to the bid. If the aggressor wins the bid, the defender takes Damage = degree of success to the applicable Emotional Attribute.
5. Rebuttal or Further Action
If Defender is undamaged, they gain the initiative and declare the next Action. If they have taken damage, the offender can attack again.
6. Repeat Declaration and Resolution Phase as necessary
7. Decide Argument
When one of the characters' Emotional Attributes reaches 0 they are emotionally exhausted and begin to lose points from their Will. If the Will is completely depleted, the character cannot defend himself and the argument is over. The winner may gloat. The defender may become enraged. A Fight may ensue.
Fight = to resolve by physical struggle
When a character wishes to create a detailed resolution to a scenario physically, they enter a Fight. A Fight is not necessarily physical Combat, although it often results in that combat. The purpose of entering a Fight is to provide a dramatic narrative structure with a climax and resolution to a physical conflict.
A Fight can be a detailed climactic resolution of a contest of abilities such as two characters climbing a structure in a race to get the prize at the top. There will be checks for positioning, balance, acrobatics and possibly even attacks, depending on the rules of the contest.
Perhaps a really important race will decide who is the next Queen of the Realm. The Fight mechanics are designed to break the race down into a series of detailed exhertions to imbue an important scene with a dramatic flair with a climax and resolution.
Fight, in ?-VECTORS is broken down into Counts. Any Action taken is resolved on the Count it is taken in. It takes 5 counts to recover Initiative and be Ready for another Action.
Decide Relative Positioning - this may be obvious (as in a race) or dependant on combatants intent. Character with higher unmodified Initiative always decides Relative Positioning when contested.
Initiative
During a physical conflict, one character has the advantage of Initiatative. While there are many factors that decide Initiative it comes down to readiness for the conflict. Base Initiative is a combination of mental alertness and physical responsiveness, but during a conflict, the presence of Emotional Attributes and the impetus of Virtues are what really make a human ready to Fight. Often, points from an ?-Factor Pool can be spent to increase a character's readiness as well. This is dependant on the level of Mastery of the ?-Factor Ability being used.
Initiative = Initiative + Virtues + Emotional Attributes + X-Factor
Action Declaration
Once the conflict has ensued and Initiative has been decided, the combatants count down from the highest initiative. The character with the highest initiative can declare an Intended Action, or hold to see what his enemy is doing. While this might intuitively seem foolish, it's actually quite common in Merciful combatants to allow another to strike first.
Defensive Declaration
Once the first action is declared, defensive actions may be declared as well. Defensive actions can only be taken by those being physically Acted upon unless a character is Ready because they held from a higher Initiative Count or have an Action on the same count. (Certain Rewards or ?-Factor Abilities may defy this general rule.)
Resolve Actions
If one character is physically acting on another, an action is resolved by comparing the agressors sum of Initiative the Skill being used and any modifiers from Virtues, Emotional Attributes or ?-Factors Abilities and subtracting the defenders combined Initiative, Skill, Virtues, Emotional Attributes and Virtues. If the Agressors Effect is higher than defenders, they succesfully execute their Declared Intent.
Effect = Initiative + Skill + Emotional Attributes + Virtues + ?-Factor Ability
If the defender exceeds the agressors Effect, the defender may reduce the # of counts until he is Ready to Act against that Agressor and that Agressor only. If he wishes to Act against a different foe, he must wait until he is Ready.
Certain successful actions such as Strike and Grapple result in Damage to the opponent. Damage is calculated based on the Will of the Agressor. You have to want to hurt an opponent to effectively damage them. The location and type of Damage depends on the Intended Action.
Strike = damage to Vigor
Grapple = damage to Coordination
Knockout = damage to Awareness
Once any of the Talents are brought to 0, the damage resulting is applied to Initiative. Once Initiative is brought to 0, a character may no longer act. To Kill an opponent, an agressor must deplete a Talent, then Initiative, and then the Will of the opponent. These makes it difficult to kill an enemy in one blow, but fairly easy to completely incapacitate them. Death is a serious matter and it takes a fair ammount of determination to kill an opponent.
Count
Once Actions on a given Count Resolve, continue Counting Down to the next Count where a character is Ready to act. If no one is Ready on a Count, move to the next. After committing an Action, a character needs to wait 5 Counts until he is Ready again. This # is mitigated only by ?-Factor abilities and certain Rewards.
Refresh Initiative
Once a Round of Counts has finished (the Count has reached 0), Initiative is refreshed. Relative Positioning is no longer decided, but Initiative is decided again, taking any Damage into account. The Conflict continues in this manner until only one side of the Conflict retains Initiative.
so, i'm trying to rebirth this chimera project...
here's my idea for a game. originally it was intended to be a cleaner version of TXWD that my friends created, but now it's such a different beast, i'm gonna goit on my own, or with you guys anyway. i'm thinking it's gonna be diceless. no more randmonization, but plenty of pool spending and a little number crunching to get the statistics going... maybe i'll add a dice back in eventually
this is the culmination of the 'ultimate game' for my rp-ing tastes. all the games i like, thrown into the neckercube matrix
Premise
there are 8 parts to the system. eventually i think they can tranlsate to almost any setting, given enough 'world building' so i'll start by describing them generally
First thing you have to decide is
X - What is the X factor? what is the thing that makes this setting/characters different? is it a supernatural ability like 'chi' in ancient china, or 'magic' in fantasy, or 'bionics' in a futuristic game, or 'engineering' in a steampunk game. if you want to allow more than one, go for it.
then you decide
V - what are the virtues of the setting? pick 5 moreys or moral bounderies expected in the world. they should be on a bipolar scale. for example,
mercy vs. cruelty. humility vs. arrogance. loyalty vs. selfishness. ceremony vs. rudeness. righteousness vs. corruption these are key virtues in the ancient chinese civilization based on confuciousses teachings.
this is the cultural component. this is what your are exploring in the setting. this is what the character's must attest to.
that is it with setting creation. next begins character creation
you must ask ...
E - what are the Emotional Attributes of your character
this is the human component. what the character is driven by. this is what you are exploring as individual players. it involves answering 5 questions
who do you love? - a person or group of people
who do you hate? - a person or group of people
what do you crave? - is it sex, food, drugs, recognition, power, money?
what do you grieve? - what makes the character sad?
What do you idealize? - what is the characters dream?
these are people/groups/concepts specific to each character. a major part of character creation. each emotional attribute gets a rating from 1-5. this rating changes over the course of play, based on dramatic exchanges.
next is C for Creed - these are the words the characters live by. each character gets 3 creeds. examples, 'my word is my bond', 'my friends are my life,' 'death before dishonor' - a creed is something a person can say, a chant to get him through a hard decision
then we break down the more mechanical stuff,
T - Talent - this is the statistic for the inborn raw talent of the character
it includes Vigor, Coordination, Beauty, Reason, Awareness and Essenc
these are the basic stats for a sentient being, everything is derived off of the character's talent..
O - origins - this is where the character came from. in a medievil china setting, it's broken down into Royalty, Nobility, Landowner, Freeman, or Peasant/Slave. the character's origins denote the range of possibilities he has to start from
R - resources - these are gifts the character has been given. they can be treasures, secret knowledges, supernatural traits, etc.
S - skills - this is what the character has worked for. the character spent his life learning these to make his way in the world
i'm putting this and the genral mechanics ideas i have on the chimera page...
http://www.rollinitiative.com/chimera/index.php
if i can figure out how ...