New rules (Take whateverythehellitisnowdearzombiejesuscan'tIjustpicksomethingandgetonwithplayingSkyrim?!)
OK. I'm knackered from my new job, but I played with some rule ideas of Christmas and this is what I came up with. I don't have the same guys around to argue it with, so feel free to kick the tyres.
I have a bunch of principles that basically run along the ideas of keeping it idiot friendly (I'm the idiot in this example; I hate having to remember more than a couple of numbers at a time), easy to grasp but very flexible in the long term.
Oh yeah, and rules should support play and setting. You'll see what I mean with the virtue/vice thing.
Characters
and character generation:
At this point rewards can change, but the basic system is predicated on using Drama points as currency. You gain them by playing to their sins (and creating drama) and spend them on boosting your stat+skill test result. Wyrd points are more powerful Drama Points. Of course, all of this is unstable - it only lasts until I think of better ideas.
Each character begins with named traits.
Destiny
|
Your destiny is your ultimate goal and
should be suitably epic; if you are uncertain, or new, ask the ST to create
one for you, with some input.
The
reward for advancing your destiny is to receive Wyrd point(s).
|
Passions
(5)
|
Passions are your smaller objectives;
anything from the political ('become
renowned at duelling') to the personal ('woo the lady Serafina').
The
player gains XP for advancing their Passions.
They also gain a one-off payment of XP upon completion of their
Passion. Passions are basically goals and exist on top of the GM-inspired plots. A little player power in defining what they want to do and getting a reward for it.
|
Strength
|
The character has taken one of the
Seven Virtues to heart (see table).
The
player may take a bonus based on ½ their Spirit stat at a critical juncture in their Task. Not sure about the reward on this one, but I like teh idea of a temporary buff for doing something like that.
|
Sin
|
The character is prey to one of the
Seven Sins (see table).
The
player regains Drama Points in-session by giving in to their weakness and
creating drama. I totally got the idea for this after playing ICONS. FS is often about human frailty and players are notoriously frit of showing or acknowledging ANY weakness, so this is a gentle push.
|
Here are the quick-and-dirty descriptions of FS's virtues and sins.
The Seven Virtues
|
||
Virtue
|
Patron
|
Tasks
|
Questing
|
Paulus the Traveller
|
Investigating mysteries.
|
Loyalty
|
Lextius the Knight
|
Upholding a pledge.
|
Compassion
|
Amalthea the Healer
|
Aiding those in need.
|
Protection
|
Mantius the Soldier
|
Defending the faithful.
|
Justice
|
Maya the Scorned Woman
|
Punishing the guilty.
|
Wisdom
|
Horace the Learned Man
|
Learning something new.
|
Humility
|
Hombor the Beggar
|
Selfless acts of charity.
|
Discipline
|
Ven Lohji the Alien
|
Investigating occult mysteries.
|
The Seven Sins
|
|
Sin
|
Acts
|
Pride
|
Insisting on primacy; ignoring the
social order.
|
Greed
|
Extracting too much from others, be it
money or other goods. Stealing.
|
Lust
|
Overt seduction, lascivious excess,
miscegenation (xenophilia).
|
Envy
|
Acts designed to deny or take a
desired person or object from another.
|
Sloth
|
Failing to advance a Passion.
|
Wrath
|
Becoming angry or violent against
those weaker than thyself.
|
Oathbreaking
|
Choosing not to honour
agreements/contracts.
|
Technosophy
|
Relying on technology to do something
for you.
|
Characters
have three main traits: Body, Mind and Spirit. These traits act as
health tracks and limits - a character cannot have a skill rating higher than
their trait rating.
A
character's Body represents how much
damage they can take before falling unconscious. Health
is lost through physical conflict, with each point of damage removing one
point of health. See the Combat section for more details.
A
character's Mind is the measure of
their mental stability and their defence against the Darkness Between the
Stars. Stability is lost when the player comes across horrific situations
(grisly occult rituals, facing the Darkness Between the Stars and so on).
Players can also make mental attacks against one another, seeking to sow
confusion and uncertainty in their enemies through debate.
A
character's Spirit is their
worthiness, be it in the Pancreator's eyes or their own. Theurgic or Psychic characters need a strong soul
to control their abilities, while the ungifted may offer their Spirit points to
demons in unholy bargains. A character's conviction is lost when installing cyberwear, or engaging in spiritual combat.
Falling
to Zero
When
a character's trait falls to zero, they are temporarily taken out of play.
A
character with zero
Body is grievously wounded and
unconscious. They can recover through healing, be it chemical, technological or
mystical.
A
character with zero Mind is insane and must be locked up for their own good. Psychological healing is a limited art in the
Known Worlds; instead, many go on quests to recover their minds, exploring
their history in order to recover their personality.
A
character with zero Spirit no longer abides
by their own morality; instead they act as they please. A character must either
return to their path through spiritual acts, or choose an alternative,
such as soul death through
transhumanism, or demon worship.
Combat is sketched out but basically runs like this: a character's total health is their Body + any armour rating (armour is extra health). If all the armour points are used up, its effectiveness in subsequent battles is 1/2 total until repaired and is halved again every time it's used up.
Energy shields protect against a range of damage values for X many hits.
Weapons do X damage. That's basically it.
Things to add: Feats(?), a proper skill list, crafting and whatever else I've forgotten.
Posts
