Aug 20, 2015 9:02 pm
You can read the primer but we'll go over a few things in more detail here! As this is a play test, we'll take a casual approach to things like respecifying and balancing on the fly.
For simplicity's sake, consider picking one of the following 25XP attribute/talent arrays:
4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 0 - Talent A +2, Talent B +1
3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 - Talent A +2, Talent B +2
3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 - Talent A +3, Talent B +1
4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1 - Talent A +1
5, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0 - Talent A +2
4, 2, 1, 1, 0, 0 - Talent A +4
(XP is spent Shadowrun style, with XP cost being the same as the value purchased. STR 1 costs 1XP, STR 2 costs 2XP/3XP for the cumulative total, STR 3 costs 3XP/6XP cumulatively, and so on.)
You will then have 3 aspect abilities (4 if you only have a single talent): choose which attribute each aspect uses. Try and describe what kind of passive/active abilities you'd like and we'll figure something out in the OOC thread!
You also have 5 Resource slots: Resources are very abstract, taking the place of inventory, reputation, background etc. You might opt to have one or two powerful Resources, or multiple minor ones. The more slots you dedicate to the Resource, the more impactful it'll be, but conversely the bigger the downside. Resources can grant stat bonuses and/or additional aspects, but in return boss characters/dangerous events can Compromise them and saddle you with unexpected penalties. And, of course, you get to imply exactly what that Compromise will be when it comes.
Remember that any talent can be used with any attribute, but note that an aspect can only be used with the attribute it's tied to. If a Resource grants an aspect, that aspect can only be used in conjunction with that Resource (i.e., a sword that grants a critical bonus won't let your kicks and punches benefit).
You can present your character stats however you prefer, but if you'd like a suggestion:
Name: and a title if you like, e.g., Bob Bobson the Berserker
Biography:
VIT:
STR:
AGI:
FOC:
WIL:
KNO:
Hit Points: 5 (or your VIT+KNO if higher, potentially boosted by aspects too)
Edge Points: 3
Talents: 1 or 2 out of Bio, Insight, Melee, Mobility, Psi, Social, Stealth, Tech. Remember that a talent is a fairly broad field and represents more than just skill!
Aspects: 3 or 4 with catchy names and a vague idea of what you want them to do
Resources: 5 slots in the form of "description [slots taken up]", things like "martial arts [2]" or "sharp knife [1]" or "infamous hitman [2]" or "heavy cybernetic implants [4]" and so on. The greater the number of slots, the higher their impact in both a positive and negative sense. Losing your knife is very different to losing your robotic limbs!
And then we can see about making you a character card or character sheet! Sample character:
Ol' Grunt here doesn't really fit into any of the sample builds mentioned in the primer, but he's a close-quarters fighter with some support abilities, excelling in cover and then breaking that cover to distract enemies and give his friends a bit of a boost (in this system by the way, Advantage is a persistent +2 bonus to one roll in a turn, or you can spend and lose that Advantage for +1d6). No Sell has obvious use in combat, but thanks to his Social rank he could also use it outside of it to make an enemy's attempts at threats and intimidation backfire.
With item Resources, the better the user's stats, the better the Resources they can support. Grunt's armour will grant a little more damage reduction (6, to be precise) than a single-slot Resource normally would due to his impressive STR. The knife is straightforward enough, granting +2 to Melee damage rolls. The rifle is slightly different: it's a 2d8 standard attack that ignores 5 points of armour. Grunt can obviously use it at range, but with a poor to-hit and damage modifier thanks to that low FOC and his lack of Insight talent: but if the target shares his tile, he can use the rifle in Melee combat using his STR/Melee talent rank.
His military rep has more abstract use: you can feasibly invoke it at any time that his background would be relevant for an unconditional +1 bonus, even after rolling. Likewise you can use it in a more narrative sense, such as claiming that you have contacts and leads etc in an otherwise fresh and unfamiliar area.
It makes sense as he's a soldier, but you might think: that's a constant bonus, I can justify most anything using it. And you'd be right. But every time you invoke that background, a hidden counter goes up. Eventually it'll be Compromised and you might not like what happens (or maybe you will, as the Compromise event could easily be something you came up with in the first place)!
Put short, Exigency encounters are intended to support and enable storytelling and a little world building: but that doesn't mean we don't want them to be balanced and fun too! All questions welcome!
For simplicity's sake, consider picking one of the following 25XP attribute/talent arrays:
4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 0 - Talent A +2, Talent B +1
3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 - Talent A +2, Talent B +2
3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 - Talent A +3, Talent B +1
4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1 - Talent A +1
5, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0 - Talent A +2
4, 2, 1, 1, 0, 0 - Talent A +4
(XP is spent Shadowrun style, with XP cost being the same as the value purchased. STR 1 costs 1XP, STR 2 costs 2XP/3XP for the cumulative total, STR 3 costs 3XP/6XP cumulatively, and so on.)
You will then have 3 aspect abilities (4 if you only have a single talent): choose which attribute each aspect uses. Try and describe what kind of passive/active abilities you'd like and we'll figure something out in the OOC thread!
You also have 5 Resource slots: Resources are very abstract, taking the place of inventory, reputation, background etc. You might opt to have one or two powerful Resources, or multiple minor ones. The more slots you dedicate to the Resource, the more impactful it'll be, but conversely the bigger the downside. Resources can grant stat bonuses and/or additional aspects, but in return boss characters/dangerous events can Compromise them and saddle you with unexpected penalties. And, of course, you get to imply exactly what that Compromise will be when it comes.
Remember that any talent can be used with any attribute, but note that an aspect can only be used with the attribute it's tied to. If a Resource grants an aspect, that aspect can only be used in conjunction with that Resource (i.e., a sword that grants a critical bonus won't let your kicks and punches benefit).
You can present your character stats however you prefer, but if you'd like a suggestion:
Name: and a title if you like, e.g., Bob Bobson the Berserker
Biography:
VIT:
STR:
AGI:
FOC:
WIL:
KNO:
Hit Points: 5 (or your VIT+KNO if higher, potentially boosted by aspects too)
Edge Points: 3
Talents: 1 or 2 out of Bio, Insight, Melee, Mobility, Psi, Social, Stealth, Tech. Remember that a talent is a fairly broad field and represents more than just skill!
Aspects: 3 or 4 with catchy names and a vague idea of what you want them to do
Resources: 5 slots in the form of "description [slots taken up]", things like "martial arts [2]" or "sharp knife [1]" or "infamous hitman [2]" or "heavy cybernetic implants [4]" and so on. The greater the number of slots, the higher their impact in both a positive and negative sense. Losing your knife is very different to losing your robotic limbs!
And then we can see about making you a character card or character sheet! Sample character:
Ol' Grunt here doesn't really fit into any of the sample builds mentioned in the primer, but he's a close-quarters fighter with some support abilities, excelling in cover and then breaking that cover to distract enemies and give his friends a bit of a boost (in this system by the way, Advantage is a persistent +2 bonus to one roll in a turn, or you can spend and lose that Advantage for +1d6). No Sell has obvious use in combat, but thanks to his Social rank he could also use it outside of it to make an enemy's attempts at threats and intimidation backfire.
With item Resources, the better the user's stats, the better the Resources they can support. Grunt's armour will grant a little more damage reduction (6, to be precise) than a single-slot Resource normally would due to his impressive STR. The knife is straightforward enough, granting +2 to Melee damage rolls. The rifle is slightly different: it's a 2d8 standard attack that ignores 5 points of armour. Grunt can obviously use it at range, but with a poor to-hit and damage modifier thanks to that low FOC and his lack of Insight talent: but if the target shares his tile, he can use the rifle in Melee combat using his STR/Melee talent rank.
His military rep has more abstract use: you can feasibly invoke it at any time that his background would be relevant for an unconditional +1 bonus, even after rolling. Likewise you can use it in a more narrative sense, such as claiming that you have contacts and leads etc in an otherwise fresh and unfamiliar area.
It makes sense as he's a soldier, but you might think: that's a constant bonus, I can justify most anything using it. And you'd be right. But every time you invoke that background, a hidden counter goes up. Eventually it'll be Compromised and you might not like what happens (or maybe you will, as the Compromise event could easily be something you came up with in the first place)!
Put short, Exigency encounters are intended to support and enable storytelling and a little world building: but that doesn't mean we don't want them to be balanced and fun too! All questions welcome!