oldnemrod
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 92
Preferred Game Systems: WOD (old and new), 4E DnD, Shadowrun, 5E DND,
Currently Playing: Star Wars Saga Edition( I'M A MANDALORIAN!)
Currently Running: 5E Hoard of the Dragon Queen
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Post by oldnemrod on Dec 16, 2013 12:29:24 GMT -8
I posted this in RPG.net, but I would like to hear you guys' opinions.
I am currently building a system geared around a setting about the world emerging from a Vancian-age by using modified Lich phylacteries as magical batteries.
It is a D10 dice pool system. I am trying a couple new ideas and one of them is stepping away from the idea of player hitpoints and villains having individual hitpoints. With that in mind, I have the idea that any dramatic scene has its own Narrative points that the players whittle down while Threats try to take them out of the action by subtracting from their Plot Armor.
On a player's turn, they decide their action and make the appropriate roll. The successes will subtract from the Narrative Total. When the Narrative Total reaches zero, each player gets to narrate how they overcome that particular dramatic scene. As the Narrative Total dwindles, the GM will allow players to narrate overcoming various Threats thrown at them.
At the beginning of the dramatic scene, the GM will determine what and how many Threats will be impeding the characters. Then he decides a Threshold(number of successes needed to survive) for each Threat. The total of all Thresholds determines the Narrative Total. On the GM's turn during the dramatic scene, they will use a Threat to work against the character. The character will then have to respond with an appropriate roll and beat the Threshold. If they don't, the difference will be applied against the character's own points (their Plot Armor).
When a character's Plot Armor reaches zero, they must narrate themselves out of the scene.
Sorry if it is a little gobbled. Its still a little mixed up in my head. As far as initial ideas go, what do you think?
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sbloyd
Supporter
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Post by sbloyd on Dec 16, 2013 13:13:50 GMT -8
Wasn't there a Wuxia rpg that functioned this way, rather than having hit points for characters, scenes had points; you advanced the scene and "defeated" it, or were "defeated" by it.
Sounds like there's some elements of Fate in this idea, as well.
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Post by guitarspider on Dec 16, 2013 20:23:38 GMT -8
Do you even need a GM turn? If the player fails, time for the GM to knock down their Plot Armor. Maybe no need to roll.
Depends on what kind of feel you're going for of course, which isn't very clear to me yet.
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oldnemrod
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 92
Preferred Game Systems: WOD (old and new), 4E DnD, Shadowrun, 5E DND,
Currently Playing: Star Wars Saga Edition( I'M A MANDALORIAN!)
Currently Running: 5E Hoard of the Dragon Queen
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Post by oldnemrod on Dec 17, 2013 3:13:30 GMT -8
I wanted to write a game with a more cinematic take. I would have the GM just take away Plot Armor, but that takes away the chance for the player to resist the loss. Player agency is one thing I want to enforce with this system.
There are more rules included within these that I didn't post just because this is the bare bones of the Initiative and Dramatic Scene mechanics. If anyone wants I can post the added rules too.
How do you feel about getting rid of Wounds, Hitpoints, and Health altogether and simply using a character's force of presence in the scene as the measurement instead?
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Post by guitarspider on Dec 17, 2013 5:50:16 GMT -8
Well, I said if the player FAILS the GM gets to take away plot armor. That's not restricting player agency, that's just consequences of a failed roll. The reason I suggested it: it's more flexible than the GM turn model. If you have a fix turn order, the game will probably play a little more rigid than without. So if you want to use force of presence, which I like, you may want more dynamism instead of the structure.
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daniel
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 217
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Post by daniel on Dec 21, 2013 14:34:02 GMT -8
So your idea of getting away from HP is a numerical value assigned to the PC and the NPC that you then slowly whittle down over rounds?
You know that sounds like HP to me, we are just giving it fancy names and its assigned by random DM feels like it instead of Con and HD or Str and Points spent.
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oldnemrod
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 92
Preferred Game Systems: WOD (old and new), 4E DnD, Shadowrun, 5E DND,
Currently Playing: Star Wars Saga Edition( I'M A MANDALORIAN!)
Currently Running: 5E Hoard of the Dragon Queen
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Post by oldnemrod on Dec 23, 2013 1:55:34 GMT -8
I guess my idea still needs to be thought out further. The problem is, any resource that, when it reaches zero, takes your character out of the game could be considered hitpoints. I feel hitpoints are not their raw definition but what they stand for. So yes, these are probably hitpoints, but thats not the meaning I'm trying to get across.
Plot Armor is just a place holder until I figure out the right term. What it means for the purpose in this game is a strength of the character in the narrative under the stressors of a dramatic scene.
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Post by guitarspider on Dec 23, 2013 11:37:32 GMT -8
Taking someone out of a scene is fundamentally different from hitpoints, which when depleted, take you out of the game altogether. Your Plot Armor doesn't appear (to me) to say anything about fictional consequences other than a character not being able to participate further in this scene. Fictionally, that might just mean someone is stepping back from the negotiation table and spends the rest of the scene brooding in the corner.
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daniel
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 217
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Post by daniel on Dec 24, 2013 10:36:43 GMT -8
Taking someone out of a scene is fundamentally different from hitpoints, which when depleted, take you out of the game altogether. Actually no it dos not, most systems i know of have a built in buffer for "your down and out" rather then dead that use hit points. And no shitty 2E dnd dont count
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oldnemrod
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 92
Preferred Game Systems: WOD (old and new), 4E DnD, Shadowrun, 5E DND,
Currently Playing: Star Wars Saga Edition( I'M A MANDALORIAN!)
Currently Running: 5E Hoard of the Dragon Queen
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Post by oldnemrod on Dec 27, 2013 8:59:34 GMT -8
^Right.
I said Plot Armor included all dramatic scenes. These do not have to be combat. Plot Armor encompasses what FATE has as mental, social, and physical hitpoints.
I guess to help everything be clearer, here are the other rules tied to it:
Limitations
Sometimes, a Threat will affect a PC in a non-lethal fashion. They can do this by either reducing the target PC's dice pools or apply a Limitation. Limitations are key words or phrases that sum up a handicap imposed on the player. The difference of the character's successes and the Threshold presented by a Threat determine the number of successes needed next turn to overcome the Limitation. Limitations can be anything as long as they can be explained simply and as long as they hinder a character in some way. Bound, Socially Obligated, or even Dazed can be Limitations.
When under the affect of a Limitation, a character has three choices on their turn: Operate within the restrictions of the Limitation, make a roll to get rid of the Limitation early, or ignore the Limitation but take a narrative consequence decided by the Storyteller.
A character could be Bound, tied up with little chance of escape. They could try and work within the Limitation, talking to their captors using Empathy rolls to gain information or plea for release. They could use their Legerdemain or Secretive skills to escape their bonds. If none of those seems like something the character would do, they could just immediately get rid of the Limitation and escape but with a consequence decided by the Storyteller. This consequence could be that the character dislocated their shoulder to wiggle out of their bonds or that they broke their hand to slip out of some manacles.
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