Revisiting "Advantage"

I thought I had this one in the bag, but after a solid conversation with a good friend of mine, I got to thinking about "advantage" all over again.

I love the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic in D&D 5e.  It's so simple and elegant, and it works perfectly with how the players interact with the d20 and the rest of the skills.  In D&D, it's not about stacking advantages (in 5e anyway), it's about all of the other cool stuff the game provides.  Adv/Dis is a easy solution that soaks up a wide range of situational buffs that D&D doesn't want to focus on.

But if you look at a game like Numenera, this simple solution actually doesn't work - at least not as well.  This is because in Numenera, the "target number" to roll against is usually known to the player, and the player uses multiple different skills and abilities to determine if they can lower the TN (likewise, the GM would raise it for situational effects that make the task more difficult).

Known target numbers mean that it quickly becomes confusing whether the target number should change or if the player should have adv/dis. Hidden TNs on the other hand mean that the players only care about one thing (adv/dis) rather than two, and it's easier for the GM to apply adv/dis without debating back and forth with the players about the TN.

Skills and abilities must affect the players somehow, and in D&D they add to your roll as you try to get over the TN.  In Numenera, they instead lower the TN.  That brings the focus on raising and lowering the TN, rather than worrying about modifiers to the roll.

My game Hostargo is much more like Numenera: it has known target numbers, and as a roll-under system it was much easier to have skills/abilities affect the TN rather than subtracting from a roll [insert obligatory comment about THAC0].  The focus is different than D&D: I want the players to be thinking about ways to help each other out in order to boost their rolls.  But if I only include an adv/dis system, that means that either A) the player has some ability that gives them adv, and no one's help is required, or B) one person is able to help, and the rest are just chumps.

But what other options do I have?  Abilities can directly affect the TN, but that's crunchy (it's much easier for the GM to have full control over that).  Because I use dice sizes like an inverse Savage Worlds, I can have abilities grow or shrink die sizes... but that becomes confusing to new players on which die they should roll.

I don't have an easy answer.  D&D's Adv/Dis works perfectly for me - except for the reasons above. As a GM, I don't know how to truly determine when to apply adv/dis vs. raising or lowering the TN. After all, it is more or less a +/-5 on the d20.

Have I missed something? Any other systems or suggestions?

Classes Continued

Sometimes design is very frustrating, in that even though you know you've worked a lot, thought long and hard about things, there's often not a lot to actually show for it. But, progress is progress, and I was able to fiddle with my class abilities until I came up with a system that I liked

I was going to have "specialties" of classes, much like D&D or FAGE, but eventually backpedaled and just put all abilities as upgradable, customizable packages.  I did the Marshal yesterday, and now that I have a clear direction I'm hoping to get the rest done as well (or at least as much as I can).

Not a lot of update, sorry, but as today's my last real day to do this, I wanted to say thanks again to those who have followed me this week.  I will be releasing a first alpha document hopefully sometime within the next couple weeks.

Cheers!

Class Act

Progress slowed yesterday, as I took the opportunity to do some yard work (It's finally getting nice in Michigan! I know I just cursed it...) and play video games (currently playing: Dex).  But that didn't stop me from finishing up some decisions on weapons and armor.  I've got a nice base lain out once again so I can expand it as ideas come.

I spent most of my time fixing up small things here and there, as well as editing some of the Shortcomings and other character creation stuff thanks to some of the feedback I got yesterday - much appreciated guys, please keep it coming.

In other exciting news, I've gotten a hold of the artist who painted the main picture of this blog, the talented Frank Attmannspacher, and he has agreed to do a full blown commission of the City of Hostargo! While I have been using Frank's art as inspiration, and plan on putting all of the illustrations I have from him in the final book, it will be amazing to see my specific vision of Hostargo come to life through his work.

Today I plan to tackle a huge issue: character classes.  I know what classes I want, and I even know what their main abilities will be.  But organizing those into actual customizable packages is not just a simple matter of "here's your stuff".  I don't want a linear level up system like D&D, and I don't want a full customization system like Shadowrun.  I want choosable "packages", each that give characters a significant change (in power/options).  Likely, each package will come with skill upgrades, special abilities, new knowledge, new contacts, and/or access to new items.

That's all for now, cheers!

Shortcomings

I felt very accomplished after day 2. I have fully fleshed out nearly all of the "before class" character creation, which includes upbringings, shortcomings, backgrounds, breeds (for Awakened), and callings.

There are a couple of TODOs, sure, and more importantly not all of what I came up with is perfect, but it's all lain out and easy to edit henceforth.  What I'd really like to share with you is a list of possible shortcomings, or "flaws" that characters might get.  There's 20 of them (randomly assigned via a d20), and they each come with certain skill drawbacks (a d12 is a "flawed" skill) but also some sort of potential benefit.

There's a few that aren't as "balanced" I'd say as the others, so feel free to shout out ideas at me:

Perfectionist

You gain a d12 in Instinct and Vigor.

Slow and steady wins the race they say.  You might be slow, but your methods are learned and precise.  You have advantage on any situation where you are not under pressure, and can apply at least a few minutes to the task at hand.

Giant

You gain a d12 in Instinct, and a d12 in either Control or Intellect.

You’re big. Tall.  Kinda fat.  But really just big boned.  Normal cover doesn’t give you advantage on dodging, but you always have advantage when attacking in melee (or grappling) with things smaller than you.

Paranoid

You gain a d12 in Instinct and Willpower.

You always overdrive on initiative rolls.  But, you don’t trust anyone, or anything.  Even those shadows. They just jumped at you, didn’t they?

Spacey

You gain a d12 in Instinct and either Empathy or Presence.

You’re always looking up at the sky, lost in your own thoughts. But, you’re really good at directions, time, and predicting the weather.  You can always ask the GM for these things, and they must tell you truthfully.

Dwarf

You gain a d12 in Vigor and Control.

You’ve been cursed with short limbs and a stubby body.  But, you can fit into small places, props and characters count as cover, and you never have to “duck” to get behind regular cover.  Unfortunately, you have disadvantage when being grappled by things larger than you.

Troublemaker

You gain a d12 in Vigor and either Intellect or Charm.

If you see an opportunity to cause a little chaos, you tend to take it. And while this gets you into sticky situations, you luckily you always find a good way out.  You gain an Ace whenever you crash on Intellect or Charm rolls with more than a value of 10 showing on your crash die (this is in addition to any Twists of Fate the GM might bargain with you for).

Bookworm

You gain a d12 in Vigor and either Ingenuity or Empathy.

You’ve read a LOT of books, and you always carry at least one pockets worth if at all possible.  But, your random knowledge can come in handy.  Any time the party might not otherwise know something, you can make an intellect roll (with a Challenge Rating based on the obscurity of the topic) to potentially recall certain information.

Imitator

You gain a d12 in Control and Ingenuity.

You have trouble coming up with your own style, so you often copy the acts of those around you. Luckily, this has made you really good at it. You gain advantage on performing any action that you’ve recently seen someone else do.

Curious

You gain a d12 in Control and Willpower.

You have advantage on instinct checks made to notice or spot things. If there are treasures, artifacts, mysterious levers, or other interesting baubles visible to you, you must make a willpower roll or immediately take action to “figure out what they do”.

Mellow

You gain a d12 in Control and Charm.

“It’s all cool duuude. I mean, we’re all good, right?”

You permanently gain 1 damage reduction, even when not wearing any armor.  This reduction happens even when your crash roll would otherwise not include your armor’s damage reduction.

Spotlight

You gain a d12 in Control and Presence.

You stick out, for better or for worse.  You automatically overdrive on presence rolls to have someone recognize or remember you, grabbing their attention.  But as if by magic, you have a knack for bumping into the right people at the right time.

Savant

You gain a d12 in Ingenuity and Intellect.

You were not good in school, not in the slightest. But your special knowledge in one area has made you a prime candidate for SEA work.  Pick one area of expertise: you always overdrive on intellect or ingenuity tests in this knowledge area.

Optimist

You gain a d12 in Ingenuity and either Empathy or Presence.

You always tend to “press on” despite your companions wanting to rest or plan for their next action. You are immune to the effects of fear and dampened morale. You gain two Aces for each Twist of Fate, instead of one.

“What could possibly go wrong?”

Phobia

You gain a d12 in Willpower and either Intellect or Ingenuity.

You’re deathly scared of something; what is it?  When you encounter that thing, you always have disadvantage.  But, whenever you personally overcome that thing, you gain an ace.

Introvert

You gain a d12 in Willpower and Charm.

You have a major fear of groups, and three’s a crowd.  Whenever you are “nearby” two or more characters that are not the other PCs, you must immediately take a reactionary move action to get away.  This action does not cost you a tick, but causes you mild social anxiety.

Addict

You gain a d12 in Willpower and Empathy.

You are addicted to something that the city provides: gambling, sex, drugs, alcohol, magical mind trips, or some other exploitable vice.  Luckily, your ‘hookup’ knows you're a cop, and can get you information that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to dig up.

Humorless

You gain a d12 in Intellect and Charm.

Jokes might be lost on you, but you are immune to charm attempts, illusions, and other superficial distractions.

Kidder

You gain a d12 in Presence and either Intellect or Charm.

You are always kidding, joking, or otherwise being sarcastic when you talk.  But this is because even when you try, no one seems to take you seriously. Even strangers rarely believe anything you say, even if it’s the truth.  “But but… these are the droids you’re looking for!”

Egomaniac

You gain a d12 in Charm and Empathy.

People might not like your self-absorbed attitude, but your boasting gives you incredible self confidence.  Whenever you can boast about your exploits to a new named NPC or a group of new NPCs (such as an audience at a concert or town hall meeting), you gain an ace.  You can only gain this once per scene, per group of people, and per named NPC.

Forgettable

You gain a d12 in Presence and Empathy.

You are so plain, so standard, so… forgettable, that only your close friends, family, and employer can remember your face.  Even those that get a good look at you can’t recall exact details.  If presented with a picture of you, witnesses will not be able to determine if you’re the one they actually saw.  Your visage literally warps people’s memories of you.

The Cartographer's Guild

Yesterday was a large step forward.  I sat down, worked for many hours, and actually got some things on the TODO list done.

My biggest accomplishment was reorganizing my character creation processes, and fleshing out more of the details of each step.  I currently have ten "steps" to character creation - each with unique options for both mechanical and non-mechanical character differences.  I didn't quite get through all of the steps' details, but that's my goal for today (everything except character classes anyway).

I also started the processes of looking for a cartographer: someone that can make a map of the world Hostargo lives in.  That's not something you usually get to say these days, and so I was unsure of where to start.  I first posted an ad to a couple G+ groups, and got some comments but no one really jumping up and down for work.  A quick google search, however, revealed that there's a huge online community over at The Cartographer's Guild.  It was quick and easy to sign up, post an ad, and within the hour I had e-mails start pouring in (I exaggerate, but it was a lot more than I was expecting).

Now my problem was that I had to choose between all of these nice people.  In fact I'm not done doing so, as there's still one last pricing I'd like to get from someone.  These people are incredibly talented, with so many different styles and methods like you wouldn't believe.  And they - so far - have been really nice in talking about their craft.  Quite the pleasure!

My side quest didn't make much progress, unfortunately.  It's at a point in the design stage where I have everything I want down on paper, but none of it's coming together at the end.  It's very unfortunate, as I was excited about it: a samurai strategy game where the two swordsman run at each other and, just like the epic movies/anime, only slash once before pausing... and only one of them falls.  I was going to call it "Single Slash", but unless a random spark of inspiration hits, I'm not going to dwell on it too much this week.

Overall, I'm just getting the ball rolling.  Day 2 will consist of more character creation goodness, at the end of which I hope to share with ya'll a least a bit of some of the choices you'll have during that process.

Cheers!

Making Time

There's a constant phrase in this community of ours, that you have to make time for it. Our lives are so busy (adulthood... blah) that in order to do the things we love, we literally have to push other things aside, in order to make room for the one thing we'd really just like to do all the time.

This post isn't going to be out design exactly, so sorry. But it is my first entry in a hopefully week long journey this week.  I have "made time", and taken off work for a whole week to do nothing but sit at home and work on the things I actually love to work on: games.

I have one main goal, and it's unfortunately a slightly over-scoped one... but that is to get "Hostargo" back into a playable state.  I've ripped it apart after last year's playtests, and I've been slow in putting it back together.  To make things more complicated, I have a "side quest" to create a prototype for a new card game idea I had last week.  Whoops >.<

This blog has helped me keep focused, since I've had a lot of thoughts and questions to write down, and the few readers I've picked up along the way have certainly given me insights and ideas that I would have not had otherwise, so here's a shout out to you good folks!  Without the discussions that have taken place here and on G+, I doubt I would have settled on some of the mechanics I did.

I hope you'll stick with me this week, but I won't be posting too much up into the G+ communities, so it'll be more of a person journal.  I can't promise any truly thought-provoking material, but I'll try :)

Cheers!