Feb 27, 2016 12:09 am
Very little activity around here, so let's spice it up. I'm struggling with a design decision and would love some feedback. If you want more background check this thread, but I hope to provide enough here that it's not required.
Context: Bionic is a cyberpunk RPG where players are basically like 'runners' from Shadow Run. Characters are all humans, and almost always augmented. Humans, however, can be born with latent psionic powers. These latent powers can interact with augmentation (in potentially horrible ways) and so those with psionics walk a careful line between harnessing the natural capacities, and seeking further enhancement. Those without psionics have to augment to keep up.
So, in a given game session the team of characters will do a job, say breaking into a corporate warehouse, stealing some vital intelligence, meeting your employer at a secure drop point and exchanging the intel for the promised reward. This will certainly involve lots of 'skill checks' and combat and hacking and so on.
System Overview: A session of Bionic is divided into Scenes. Each scene has a number (I don't have a good name for it yet) of 'success points' that the players need to accumulate to achieve the primary goal of the scene. The scene will also include opposition, NPCs, and all the window dressing you come to expect from an RPG. The problem I'm having is deciding between two different resolution mechanics.
Resolution Mechanics: The first thing you need to know is that Bionic uses a custom deck of cards. Each card has a number, and some icons on it (an attribute icon, a skill icon, a GM icon) and a keyword (like "Marksmanship"). Players have a hand of cards, and use them in a variety of ways. The main use is to discard a card to activate an ability. Each ability has a keyword, discard a card with that keyword and use the ability. Cards are also used to to make 'checks', that is to resolve actions characters take during a scene. The problem I'm having is deciding between two resolution mechanics. Here's what I have (not as 'rules' but as a description of what you do):
A player describes an action, say they want to shoot a security guard. ...
Mechanic 1: Resource Management
All tasks have a base Risk value of 3. The GM secretly sets aside a number of red poker chips (representing Danger, a resource the GM works with). Each one will increase the Risk by 1, but the player won't know how much Danger is assigned until after their check. The player spends 3 ranks of their Fight skill to draw 3 cards off the deck. This becomes their check pool. They then elect to spend 1 rank of Stamina to swap a Stamina card in their hand with a card in the pool that has a keyword on it they can use (this is optional). Then, the GM reveals the Danger tokens and the player adds up the value of the cards in the pool and compares it to the modified Risk (3 + # of Danger). If the value is less than the modified Risk, the character succeeds with a consequence (they gain 1 'success point', but the GM can spend Plot Twist and/or Wild tokens to generate a negative side-effect). If the value is equal or greater than the Risk the character succeeds (they gain 2 'success points').
In this system, the game is about resource management. You spend your skill ranks and attribute ranks to control the outcome of checks as best as you can. You need to decide if you will hold back points for later scenes, or if you really need to get the current task done now. The amount of Plot Twist and Wilds the GM accumulates as you play will probably influence your decisions, as you want to 'strategically' fail on checks to keep the volume of Plot Twist that the GM has at their disposal relatively low.
Mechanic 2:
The GM and player decide which skill is the most appropriate for the action. Every action has a difficulty of 1. The GM may then spend Danger tokens to increase the difficulty (the GM is encouraged to spend at least 1 on every check). The player then draws cards off the deck equal to the modified difficulty (1 + Danger). The player may spend an essence of the skill they are using to swap a card in the pool with a card in their hand (this is optional, and does not reduce your skill rank). The value of cards in the pool is added up then compared with the players skill + linked attribute (so Fighting + Stamina in this case). If the players skill is greater than the pool value, they succeed (+2 success points). Otherwise, they succeed with a consequence (+1 success point, but the GM may spend Plot Twist/Wilds to generate consequences and side effects).
This system is more about luck pushing. You have more limited control over cards in the pool, and you will want to use a variety of skills as you play, but you don't 'run out of steam' in the same was as the other system. This is less 'gamey' and probably will play out more rapidly.
I'm leaning towards Mechanic 2, but I'm open to discussion and thoughts on either (or suggestions for other ways to go, or modifications to these)
Context: Bionic is a cyberpunk RPG where players are basically like 'runners' from Shadow Run. Characters are all humans, and almost always augmented. Humans, however, can be born with latent psionic powers. These latent powers can interact with augmentation (in potentially horrible ways) and so those with psionics walk a careful line between harnessing the natural capacities, and seeking further enhancement. Those without psionics have to augment to keep up.
So, in a given game session the team of characters will do a job, say breaking into a corporate warehouse, stealing some vital intelligence, meeting your employer at a secure drop point and exchanging the intel for the promised reward. This will certainly involve lots of 'skill checks' and combat and hacking and so on.
System Overview: A session of Bionic is divided into Scenes. Each scene has a number (I don't have a good name for it yet) of 'success points' that the players need to accumulate to achieve the primary goal of the scene. The scene will also include opposition, NPCs, and all the window dressing you come to expect from an RPG. The problem I'm having is deciding between two different resolution mechanics.
Resolution Mechanics: The first thing you need to know is that Bionic uses a custom deck of cards. Each card has a number, and some icons on it (an attribute icon, a skill icon, a GM icon) and a keyword (like "Marksmanship"). Players have a hand of cards, and use them in a variety of ways. The main use is to discard a card to activate an ability. Each ability has a keyword, discard a card with that keyword and use the ability. Cards are also used to to make 'checks', that is to resolve actions characters take during a scene. The problem I'm having is deciding between two resolution mechanics. Here's what I have (not as 'rules' but as a description of what you do):
A player describes an action, say they want to shoot a security guard. ...
Mechanic 1: Resource Management
All tasks have a base Risk value of 3. The GM secretly sets aside a number of red poker chips (representing Danger, a resource the GM works with). Each one will increase the Risk by 1, but the player won't know how much Danger is assigned until after their check. The player spends 3 ranks of their Fight skill to draw 3 cards off the deck. This becomes their check pool. They then elect to spend 1 rank of Stamina to swap a Stamina card in their hand with a card in the pool that has a keyword on it they can use (this is optional). Then, the GM reveals the Danger tokens and the player adds up the value of the cards in the pool and compares it to the modified Risk (3 + # of Danger). If the value is less than the modified Risk, the character succeeds with a consequence (they gain 1 'success point', but the GM can spend Plot Twist and/or Wild tokens to generate a negative side-effect). If the value is equal or greater than the Risk the character succeeds (they gain 2 'success points').
In this system, the game is about resource management. You spend your skill ranks and attribute ranks to control the outcome of checks as best as you can. You need to decide if you will hold back points for later scenes, or if you really need to get the current task done now. The amount of Plot Twist and Wilds the GM accumulates as you play will probably influence your decisions, as you want to 'strategically' fail on checks to keep the volume of Plot Twist that the GM has at their disposal relatively low.
Mechanic 2:
The GM and player decide which skill is the most appropriate for the action. Every action has a difficulty of 1. The GM may then spend Danger tokens to increase the difficulty (the GM is encouraged to spend at least 1 on every check). The player then draws cards off the deck equal to the modified difficulty (1 + Danger). The player may spend an essence of the skill they are using to swap a card in the pool with a card in their hand (this is optional, and does not reduce your skill rank). The value of cards in the pool is added up then compared with the players skill + linked attribute (so Fighting + Stamina in this case). If the players skill is greater than the pool value, they succeed (+2 success points). Otherwise, they succeed with a consequence (+1 success point, but the GM may spend Plot Twist/Wilds to generate consequences and side effects).
This system is more about luck pushing. You have more limited control over cards in the pool, and you will want to use a variety of skills as you play, but you don't 'run out of steam' in the same was as the other system. This is less 'gamey' and probably will play out more rapidly.
I'm leaning towards Mechanic 2, but I'm open to discussion and thoughts on either (or suggestions for other ways to go, or modifications to these)
