Galactic - system notes

[Matt Wilson]

So Galactic as I see it is setting-based narrativism, ideally. Therefore if there's a reward system, it comes from the players addressing the premise, which is again embedded in setting situation, and the reward should be based on the player's decisions, not their outcome. That is, you don't get XP for succeeding, you get XP for trying.

In Galactic, since every action a character makes has the potential to make ripples (like igniting wars and stuff), there's only one way not to address premise, and that's to sit still and do nothing. So every action a character makes should lead to a reward.

The reward at the moment I'm calling "Fortune." It's both karma and wealth at the same time. Ever notice how heroes down on their luck are always broke, and vice versa? Here's the trait to represent that. With Fortune, you can buy better odds on a roll or buy gear that you can spend later for the same thing.

The resolution system works sort of like this... roll x dice and count 4+ as a point. Get more points than the opposition. It's a little more involved than that, but that's the core of it.

Character traits are primarily divided into archetypes, sort of like character classes in D&D, except the lines are blurred a bit. Archetypes give you d6s to roll, and have no consequences tied to them. So if I need to do something sneaky, and I have a 2 in Outlaw, I get 2d6.

Various bits of gear offer additional d6s in a pinch, as long as the gear applies to the situation.

Followers, which are sort of like redshirts, grant additional d8s that you can choose to roll or not. Maybe 1d8 is one follower, or maybe a handful. It's the die that matters.

Cronies, which are like "named" redshirts, or connections from Primetime Adventures (what, I can't steal from myself?), give d10s. In this case, an individual crony will have his or her own dice score, and you say, "__" is helping me on this, so I get Nd10 to add to this roll.

And then there's influence, which is having the support of a faction behind you. That gives you d12s to roll. Maybe you're waving a flag, or maybe you have better equipment, or maybe it's just their blessing.

Here's the catch: any d8, d10 or d12 that comes up a 1 is a bad thing. So when you use NPCs to help you roll, you're deciding it's worth risking their lives, or your relationships with them. When you apply faction support, you're risking their reputation, or status, or even their power. Oh, and a 1 means your related score drops by 1 as well. "___" says thanks for almost getting me killed, you jerk, and won't support you as much.

And, if a support die doesn't help you on the roll, you can "burn" it, willingly causing the repercussions to get that extra point you needed.

So for every larger "quest" you undertake, you're accepting the possible repercussions, and for every roll of the dice, you're accepting the possible repercussions. Fun?

Still in the works: the high level political stuff, spaceships, and the events that lead to endgame.

[John Harper]

This is sounding good to me, Matt. As the proponent of "burning" dice, I like how you've incorporated that idea.

Can you elaborate on the system economy? How do I spend the Fortune to buy Followers, Cronies, and Influence? Do I have to take specific actions in the game world that will result in getting Influence with a certain faction, or is it purely a metagame resource?

Who decides how much Fortune a PC earns, and when, and why?

[Matt Wilson]

Can you elaborate on the system economy? How do I spend the Fortune to buy Followers, Cronies, and Influence?  

I'm pretty sure that cronies and influence are only gained through play, but since Fortune can assist with rolls, you can sort of spend it indirectly to gain more influence.

So say you earned 5 fortune. Maybe you looted some ancient ruin and the fortune is valuable technology. So you dump it into a roll to gain influence with a faction, and the "story" is that you're giving them this stuff in order to get favors from them in return. So you get this huge advantage to a roll that would otherwise be really hard to make.

Each faction has a score like a demon's power in Sorcerer. It represents both the faction's general might in comparison with others, and the total bonus dice that could possibly be given to a character. The more powerful the faction, the harder it is to get that support, so it's harder to get 1 die of support from a city state than it is from a small mercenary company or a corporation. Also, your actions can potentially raise the faction's score, so that if you gain influence and do stuff where the faction's dice come into play, the faction might get more powerful. When that happens, you run the risk of political instability, like they think they're powerful enough to break the peace and beat up their neighbors.

Who decides how much Fortune a PC earns, and when, and why?

Well, the point of the game is for characters to make waves of some kind. So the reward should come at that point. It might work out that fortune is kind of a traditional "story award," where you get stuff for reaching certain points. The points aren't crafted by the GM or anything. They're just times in the game where the character makes a ripple. They'll likely coincide with the climaxes or endings of various adventures.

How much, I dunno yet. That'll take some crunching. It'll depend probably on the stakes of the adventure.

There's some obvious GM prep becoming apparent, in that the players need access to lots of different people and organizations with various schemes and needs, so the players have many choices available.

[Tony Irwin]

The resolution system works sort of like this... roll x dice and count 4+ as a point. Get more points than the opposition. It's a little more involved than that, but that's the core of it.

This is like, the most insignificant feedback you're going to get on your great looking game... but I just wanted to say what a great idea it was to have dice scoring "points"! I recently was introducing someone to Samurai Badges and trying to explain how to count the number of successes you've earned from a roll. It wasn't fair on them - they'd had to take on so many new (but very typical for rpgs) concepts already. But "points" - everyone gets points.

"Roll your dice and count how many points you got"

"Yeah I got 3 points! That's good right?"

Its like the difference between

a) "You'll be devising a persona that you are completely responsible for. You'll get to narrate their thoughts, feelings, and actions. I'll be responsible for the world that character lives in and telling you how it responds to your character's actions"

b) "We're going to put together a TV show and improvise an episode's story as we go. You get to make your own star, I'll be the producer."

I'm amazed that even I didn't get turned off by the a) option straight away, let alone all the people I've introduced to it.

[Matt Wilson]

But "points" - everyone gets points.

Well, except seasoned roleplayers, right? "Why a confusing new term? Why not stick with successes?"

One of my goals, I've decided, is to be as jargon-free as possible, even if that means it ends up sounding like jargon to experienced players. I'd much rather have games seem welcoming to folks on the outside.

Thanks for the encouragement.