Hello. Total Newbie here...

[Ron Edwards]

Hi RH,

Actually, I think Paul is asking something much more deeply philosophical (and crucial) than whether game-play is to interfere with the canon established by your comic or game-text.

He's asking, is a player (GM, whoever, anyone) of your game ... basically, a fellow comics author. That is to say, if you put out your game and I buy and play it, am I and my group essentially making our own comic in our heads, using your stuff and style as a jumping-off point?

You see, I love your comics. As a major fan of Vaughn Bode and many other funky-delic comics/cartoonists, this stuff floats my boat.

But if I'm playing a game based on them, it's not because I want to "bathe" in your comics world. No, I want to make stuff like you do, adopting your creative mode and being inspired in a way that we - as separate people - already share. The game will be my medium (and the players') for creating this stuff, just as board, paper, and pen are yours.

Whereas another person might have a completely different outlook from mine. He says, "Ooooh, I want to meet that nifty guy or thing from the comic. I want to be in the comic as it stands." That person is expecting his games to be a form of reading the comic in the medium of role-playing.

I can guarantee you that me and this other guy are not going to do well as players together, not in the long term. I can also suggest, based on a bezillion zillion role-playing text experiences, that a game that tries to please us both is either going to be very innovative or go all kerflooey.

Which person do you think you'd rather satisfy with your game?

Best,
Ron

[RHJunior]

Well, I would say it's more of a jumping-off point.

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Well, I would say it's more of a jumping-off point.

OK. I figured this was what you wanted and it's why I really didn't read any of your proposed mechanics very closely. What little I did see looked like you were aiming to make a Fantasy Heartbreaker (parts 1 & 2) which if that was your goal, then OK. Fuzzy D&D. But you want something other than that by stating this here. If you haven't yet, you might want to read upon Narrativism in the ariticles section in the big GNS essay. ANd if you have read it, it may bear re-reading knowing that Narrativism seems to be what you are shooting for. Maybe not, per se. But it does bear looking into. And this can go from here.[/url]

[RHJunior]

My initial goal was simply to provide something for the fans I have who might want to RP a RacConan.... Okay, I confess-- I wanted to RP them myself... that still remains the primary goal. I still intend to draw up basic stats for the most common RP systems out there to that end. But also, time and resources permitting, I'll be trying to make a fuller RPG world all its own.

[RHJunior]

Okay, thus far I've got  a VERY roughed-out basis for the magic system.

Essentially, what it is, is a spell *constructing* system...  You can use the spells that would come with the sourcebook--- but beyond that *you can custom design spells and magical artifacts to suit your own needs.* This is far more flexible than looking up spells in game sourcebooks, and it encourages both creativity and the "brains over brawn" attitude I'm looking for in magicking.

It's very akin to a "programming language"-- except that the glossary of commands are essentially very basic spells, which any mage is assumed to be able to cast. By stringing them togethor, or more accurately by arranging them into a flowchart, more complex effects can be accomplished.

Okay, starting with the basics: mages have two basic attributes: FLOW, which indicates how much Lux (magical energy) they can channel, and POOL, which indicates how much Lux they can contain within themselves. These are the upward limits for that mage, without the aid of artifacts. Some improvement is possible in those areas, but the player's own versatility is going to be more important.

There are two ways to use this "Spellcoding;" live casting the spell, which consists of mentally visualizing and assembling the spell, and creating a magical artifact by INFUSING the spell into a material object.
Live casting is affected by the caster's mental attributes; since the spellcasting method is basically the equivalent of mentally assembling a clock one piece at a time, it's both demanding of concentration and intelligence.... and after a certain point, spells become too complex to visualize in their entirety. Also, the larger a spell, the longer it takes--- one node/command can be formulated per 1/8 of a turn. ( a definite incentive for avoiding thaumaturgical "bloatware.")

Magical artifacts are a different matter: ENGRAVING a single node takes five to fifteen minutes... so creating a truly kickass magical weapon takes a darn good amount of time.  Magical artifacts have their own FLOW and POOL attributes, dependent upon their size and what materials they're made of. Some artifacts can be designed without POOLS.... but it's inadvisable, because although Lux is readily renewed by the natural world, it is-- save for only certain exceptions-- neither bountiful nor uniform. The POOL acts as a rechargeable battery, providing you needed magical energy at times the stuff may be scarce on the ground.

For the most part, the clever magician splits the difference between artifacting and spellcasting, and keeps himself supplied with pocketfuls of cheap, discardable, quick-and-dirty magical artifacts to get himself through the day. They also keep at least one or two artifacts-- medallions, rings, staves, so forth--on their person that serve no other purpose but to act as artificial POOLS to dip into in an emergency, as well as a rather largish one at their home residence.


BASIC COMMANDS

DRAW--- pulls in Lux each cycle; limited to maximum Flow of spellcaster/artifact or maximum available Lux within 1 hex radius, whichever is lowest. Cannot tap committed Lux resources(eg, Lux pools within an artifact or the Lux within another Spellcaster's body.) (Note: if a spellcaster is casting a spell with no DRAW stated, it is assumed the spell is drawing from the mage's own internal Lux pool. All artifacts must state a DRAW or they will not work unless INFUSED manually.)

POOL-- specified storage space for Lux. capacity varies based upon materials. If no POOL is specified, it is assumed the spellcaster's own body; in the case of an artifact, it is assumed the lux is spent or expelled at the same rate it is absorbed.

INFUSE--- directs Lux to be infused into a material target. Target is assumed to be within 1 hex of spellcaster or artifact or in physical contact.

FORM--- determines the physical shape of a specified spell effect. (EG "FORM Ball," "Hollow Tube," "Dome," etc)

AREA-- determines size or area (in hexes) to be filled by a specified spell effect. Default area is one hex.

PRECISE-- specifies location of spell manifestation within its given AREA (such as "end of fingertip" or "one inch from end of wand", etc)

COLOUR-- determines colour of specified amount of lux (see notes on Lux Colour)

UNCOLOUR-- Returns specified amount of lux to "clear" or colourless state.

MANIFEST-- the "execute" line of the spell; to be used after all the parameters of the spell are set, and right before the spell cycle repeats.

SENSE-- detects a specified phenomenon. (Note: basic rule--- anything a spell can use lux to create, a spell can use SENSE to detect. See notes on Lux Colour.)

QUERY statement (also known as IF/THEN)--- a basic decision branch within the spell.

RANGE--- determines distance at which spell effect takes place. Default range is 0 (so don't cast a battle spell without at least a RANGE modifier, unless you want to rain death on yourself!) expense goes up with distance.

LOB--- essentially used to make the spell a "magic missile." Requires uncommitted lux to "throw" the effect; distance is determined by amount of lux LOB uses.


<amount>--- modifier, determines how much Lux will be accessed or modified by the rule.


ENGRAVE--- the process of imprinting a spell-node onto a material object. Takes one turn per  node engraved.


LUX COLOUR NOTES

"Natural" lux is known as "Clear" lux-- not due to color (though it is invisible to the nonmagical eye)-- but due to the fact that it is clear of any specific effect.  Natural Lux is divisible/transformable into four basic colors, which can be manipulated for three types of effects each. Coloured Lux can be absorbed by a DRAW, but has to be retransformed to clear lux or UNCOLOURED before it can be manipulated further.



The four types of lux and their associated effects are


RED---
Gross Movement
Vibration or Sound
Heat

YELLOW--
Light
electromagnetics
Material State (solid, liquid or gaseous-- can make solids act like liquids, gases act like solids, etc by manipulating molecular cohesion and adhesion)

GREEN--
Molecular bonds
Chemical reactions
Life functions

BLUE--
Sensations
Emotions
Thought


Below is an example of an artifact--- a rather crude magic lamp.

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For reference, one point of Lux equals one candlepower for one turn.

[RHJunior]

I suspect I am putting overemphasis on the magic system at this point. But I can't help it; I love systems that let you tinker and be creative. Hey, I was the kind of kid who passed up all the other toys and went straight for the Legos and tinkertoys.

But I digress. Back to the point:

RPGs tend to have a central goal, I've noted. In D+D, the goal is apparently treasure and power-- "leveling up." In Werewolf:The Nihilism (sorry, but honestly--) the objective seems to be  "Renown," whatever that might be.

However, in "Little Fears," the central concept is Innocence, or the preservation thereof....  a more emotional and spiritual approach to character evolution.

I like that.

The measure of really good high fantasy such as JRR Tolkein was never the flashy magic or the ferocious battles-- though those are great fun. It was about the characters' *inner changes.* Their beliefs, their hopes and fears, their determination or despair in the face of adversity..... AKA, *character development.*

All real battles take place on the inside, and a good writer knows that.

I'm a semiprofessional fantasy writer/illustrator, among other things. I am heavily right-brained. The mathematics you people throw around for combat mechanics gives me headaches. But I can most certainly understand things like character motivation.

And it makes sense that such should be the central focus of Questor:The Dice-rolling Colossal Waste of Time >:D


The way I see it, there are at least four basic emotional ingredients to my characters: Spirit, Faith, and Will, and Calling.

Spirit-- how much "keep the course" stamina you have. Your determination.

Faith-- what you believe in.

Will-- your resistance to losing Spirit or Faith.

Calling-- the keystone of your character's personality, and their first Article of Faith....What you believe your life mission to be. The "Quest" part of being a Questor, or the "Mission" part of being a Missionary.

All characters start out with a basic number of points to divide up between their Will, Faith and Spirit, with bonuses and penalties based upon their Calling and the character's background, among other modifiers.

SPIRIT is how much gumption you have. It would essentially be a pool of "emotional hit points." As characters face setbacks and failures--- lost battles, injuries, deaths of allies and friends, physical weariness, even persistent rotten weather--- they lose points of Spirit.  Spirit can be restored by time, rest, successful endeavors, and especially by deeds related to the character's Faith or Calling.

WILL is your stubbornness, essentially. It provides a saving throw against losing Spirit or Faith.

Faith would be a measure of how quickly you recuperate your Spirit. (x number of Spirit points per day.) Your amount of Faith is measured by what or how many things your characters have faith *in*... for instance, a code of honor, a philosophy, a particular king, the faithfulness of a lover, their friends... a particular theology or religion provides a tremendous boost, especially if the character is a practitioner of that faith (a cleric or paladin, for instance.) You divide up your Faith between the different things you have faith *in*-- your Articles of Faith, as it were (One of those articles of Faith has to be your character's Calling.) Subsequent deeds or activities related to that Article of Faith pump up your Spirit by that amount. For instance, suppose you had 5 points of Faith invested in True Love--- reading a long-awaited love letter would give you a boost of Spirit.

Take note, though: whatever you have Faith in makes you vulnerable to betrayals of that Faith. Say you were a Knight Errant who had profound amount of faith in your King... and you discovered that he was a murderer, a thief or a drunken philanderer, or had otherwise violated the code of honor. Savage hit to the Spirit should it overwhelm your Will.  Be careful where you put your Faith.

Every time your Spirit hits zero, you have the option to Lose Faith--- to drop points from your Articles of Faith(first preference to be to whatever Article of Faith dropped you to zero Spirit.) This makes you less vulnerable to betrayals, and gives you a one-time boost in Spirit (Cynicism points), but it also makes it harder to reboost your Spirit later on.

Cynicism is its own punishment in this game.

Regaining Faith/Replacing Faith.... Loss of Faith, IRL or RPG, is a traumatic experience. Regaining an article of faith-- or finding something new to place your faith in-- is going to be a challenge. This, I believe, should be at the GM's discretion--- presenting the characters in play with a tremendous "faith affirming incident," then afterward giving them the option to roll *against* their Will to add a point of Faith to their Articles... or to move points out of one of their Articles into another related to the incident.
Example given: A thief is betrayed by his former partners in crime, who leave him to the hangman's gallows-- and is subsequently rescued by a companion he formerly scorned, at great risk to the companion's life. After the Thief's loss of spirit due to this betrayal, the GM gives the player the option of rolling against his will to shift Faith points out of "honor among thieves" and placing them into "friendship".... or  (foolishly) keeping his faith in his criminal partners, and rolling against his will (which would represent his muleheadedness in this case) for a point in "friendship" (Which is more reflective of how people behave in reality anyway.)

Boosting Spirit/Will/Faith pools: Follow the basic example above. Profound victories--- successful Quests, victories in battle, and so forth-- should be rewarded at their end by the GM with added points to the PC's pool points.
What sort of points (will, spirit, or faith) should be based on gameplay. The clergyman who has an encounter with his Deity should obviously get one mother of a boost to his religious Article of Faith (well, assuming the encounter with the Deity in question didn't turn out to be horrendously disillusioning.) A PC who takes a pounding in battle and who keeps going in spite of it all to defeat the villain hand to hand, deserves a subtle markup in Will. The PC who keeps the spirits of the party from flagging by his acts of charity and loyalty should get an upper in Spirit. Or the GM may simply choose to award blank points, for the players to disperse as they see fit....


BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS. The player has the option, in bad circumstances, of "burning" a certain number of Spirit points for a one-day gain in Will. Think of it as protecting that last one inch of your courage... For example, suppose the PC has been captured and is being tortured. He may choose to trade in all but the last one or two points of Spirit to raise his Will to iron-hard levels, to keep himself from cracking under the torturers' hands.  Next morning though, his Will is back at its original levels. So unless he's been rescued, he'll have to spend whatever Spirit he recuperated overnight to do it all over again...


Overall this "spirit attribute" system has the advantage of replicating a wide array of personalities--- ranging from the unshakeable hero to the hardened cynic to the self-doubter to the moodswing dayflower who loses hope like a punctured balloon, yet jumps out of bed the next morning bursting with confidence (couldn't you just *kill* them?)... and it also provides rewards for faith, friendship, loyalty, honor and other abstract attributes rarely touched in RPGs. It also makes teamwork not only advantageous but *beneficial* to the PCs.... and not just for slaying monsters, either.

[Shadeling]

I suspect I am putting overemphasis on the magic system at this point. But I can't help it; I love systems that let you tinker and be creative. Hey, I was the kind of kid who passed up all the other toys and went straight for the Legos and tinkertoys.

But I digress. Back to the point:

RPGs tend to have a central goal, I've noted. In D+D, the goal is apparently treasure and power-- "leveling up." In Werewolf:The Nihilism (sorry, but honestly--) the objective seems to be  "Renown," whatever that might be.

However, in "Little Fears," the central concept is Innocence, or the preservation thereof....  a more emotional and spiritual approach to character evolution.

I like that.

The measure of really good high fantasy such as JRR Tolkein was never the flashy magic or the ferocious battles-- though those are great fun. It was about the characters' *inner changes.* Their beliefs, their hopes and fears, their determination or despair in the face of adversity..... AKA, *character development.*

All real battles take place on the inside, and a good writer knows that.

I'm a semiprofessional fantasy writer/illustrator, among other things. I am heavily right-brained. The mathematics you people throw around for combat mechanics gives me headaches. But I can most certainly understand things like character motivation.

And it makes sense that such should be the central focus of Questor:The Dice-rolling Colossal Waste of Time >:D


The way I see it, there are at least four basic emotional ingredients to my characters: Spirit, Faith, and Will, and Calling.

Spirit-- how much "keep the course" stamina you have. Your determination.

Faith-- what you believe in.

Will-- your resistance to losing Spirit or Faith.

Calling-- the keystone of your character's personality, and their first Article of Faith....What you believe your life mission to be. The "Quest" part of being a Questor, or the "Mission" part of being a Missionary.

All characters start out with a basic number of points to divide up between their Will, Faith and Spirit, with bonuses and penalties based upon their Calling and the character's background, among other modifiers.

SPIRIT is how much gumption you have. It would essentially be a pool of "emotional hit points." As characters face setbacks and failures--- lost battles, injuries, deaths of allies and friends, physical weariness, even persistent rotten weather--- they lose points of Spirit.  Spirit can be restored by time, rest, successful endeavors, and especially by deeds related to the character's Faith or Calling.

WILL is your stubbornness, essentially. It provides a saving throw against losing Spirit or Faith.

Faith would be a measure of how quickly you recuperate your Spirit. (x number of Spirit points per day.) Your amount of Faith is measured by what or how many things your characters have faith *in*... for instance, a code of honor, a philosophy, a particular king, the faithfulness of a lover, their friends... a particular theology or religion provides a tremendous boost, especially if the character is a practitioner of that faith (a cleric or paladin, for instance.) You divide up your Faith between the different things you have faith *in*-- your Articles of Faith, as it were (One of those articles of Faith has to be your character's Calling.) Subsequent deeds or activities related to that Article of Faith pump up your Spirit by that amount. For instance, suppose you had 5 points of Faith invested in True Love--- reading a long-awaited love letter would give you a boost of Spirit.

Take note, though: whatever you have Faith in makes you vulnerable to betrayals of that Faith. Say you were a Knight Errant who had profound amount of faith in your King... and you discovered that he was a murderer, a thief or a drunken philanderer, or had otherwise violated the code of honor. Savage hit to the Spirit should it overwhelm your Will.  Be careful where you put your Faith.

Every time your Spirit hits zero, you have the option to Lose Faith--- to drop points from your Articles of Faith(first preference to be to whatever Article of Faith dropped you to zero Spirit.) This makes you less vulnerable to betrayals, and gives you a one-time boost in Spirit (Cynicism points), but it also makes it harder to reboost your Spirit later on.

Cynicism is its own punishment in this game.

Regaining Faith/Replacing Faith.... Loss of Faith, IRL or RPG, is a traumatic experience. Regaining an article of faith-- or finding something new to place your faith in-- is going to be a challenge. This, I believe, should be at the GM's discretion--- presenting the characters in play with a tremendous "faith affirming incident," then afterward giving them the option to roll *against* their Will to add a point of Faith to their Articles... or to move points out of one of their Articles into another related to the incident.
Example given: A thief is betrayed by his former partners in crime, who leave him to the hangman's gallows-- and is subsequently rescued by a companion he formerly scorned, at great risk to the companion's life. After the Thief's loss of spirit due to this betrayal, the GM gives the player the option of rolling against his will to shift Faith points out of "honor among thieves" and placing them into "friendship".... or  (foolishly) keeping his faith in his criminal partners, and rolling against his will (which would represent his muleheadedness in this case) for a point in "friendship" (Which is more reflective of how people behave in reality anyway.)

Boosting Spirit/Will/Faith pools: Follow the basic example above. Profound victories--- successful Quests, victories in battle, and so forth-- should be rewarded at their end by the GM with added points to the PC's pool points.
What sort of points (will, spirit, or faith) should be based on gameplay. The clergyman who has an encounter with his Deity should obviously get one mother of a boost to his religious Article of Faith (well, assuming the encounter with the Deity in question didn't turn out to be horrendously disillusioning.) A PC who takes a pounding in battle and who keeps going in spite of it all to defeat the villain hand to hand, deserves a subtle markup in Will. The PC who keeps the spirits of the party from flagging by his acts of charity and loyalty should get an upper in Spirit. Or the GM may simply choose to award blank points, for the players to disperse as they see fit....


BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS. The player has the option, in bad circumstances, of "burning" a certain number of Spirit points for a one-day gain in Will. Think of it as protecting that last one inch of your courage... For example, suppose the PC has been captured and is being tortured. He may choose to trade in all but the last one or two points of Spirit to raise his Will to iron-hard levels, to keep himself from cracking under the torturers' hands.  Next morning though, his Will is back at its original levels. So unless he's been rescued, he'll have to spend whatever Spirit he recuperated overnight to do it all over again...


Overall this "spirit attribute" system has the advantage of replicating a wide array of personalities--- ranging from the unshakeable hero to the hardened cynic to the self-doubter to the moodswing dayflower who loses hope like a punctured balloon, yet jumps out of bed the next morning bursting with confidence (couldn't you just *kill* them?)... and it also provides rewards for faith, friendship, loyalty, honor and other abstract attributes rarely touched in RPGs. It also makes teamwork not only advantageous but *beneficial* to the PCs.... and not just for slaying monsters, either.

I like it. I think it is a very workable attribute system. A bit different than a lot of published games.