GODSEND Agenda (Character progression system)

[Sydney Freedberg]

What do you do with the guy (and You know he's out there) thats says his agenda  is " to be the best super hero, or Brawler there is in the world"?

Well, if you limit your sources of power to community & emotional ties -- he's SCREWED. He doesn't care about anyone else, therefore he never gets bonuses by fighting for anyone else.

If you work the numbers right, the ratio of "cost in XP" to "benefit in combat bonsues" from creating a relationship (i.e. caring about people) could actually be better than the cost:benefit ratio of simply dumping your XP into higher combat skills, which means piling the points into yourself as opposed to into the wider world is actually not cost effective.

See The Riddle of Steel for an example of how to bolt such a system (there called "spiritual attributes") on top of a fairly crunchy, traditional RPG combat engine.

[Jerry D. Grayson]

Ok, herer is something I whipped up tonight. It's kinda rough and still needs somepolish. Tell me what you think and what could be refined or tweeked. I'm not married to this idea so any input would be great.

RENOWN and AGENDAS

Ka using beings have existed in the world for thousands of years. Many of these beings used their extraordinary powers to set themselves above the rest of humanity as gods. All of these beings used the GODSEND Agenda to pursue their own private schemes; some for personal glory and grandeur, and some for the sake of the common man.

Every character in GODSEND Agenda has a personal drive to do what they do. The greatest goals and ambitions are called Agendas. Theses are the things that the character drives toward during the game. Unlike standard 4 color comics and the games that strive to emulate them characters in GODSEND should be more proactive rather than being reactive to problems. They should want to use their powers for more than stopping the bank robber from robbing the bank, they should want to influence and change the world.
You have been blessed with super human abilities and powers...what do you do with them? Do you sue them for personal gain, do you try to make a difference in the world, or do you just sit back and use them only to react to problems around you?

Agendas can be anything from wanting to becoming the worlds most famous super powered celebrity to wanting to take over a small nation and have the natives there worship you as a god.

Arthur wanted to unite England and shrug off the tyranny of the Saxon invaders, Lui Bei sought to unite the warring kingdoms of China, and Hitler envisioned a world where the Ayran master race ruled the world. These are all Agendas.

[[[Sidebar]]]
The Intentions of Renown and Agendas

This is an optional rule that can be used in conjunction with the standard game play and supplements the standard experience point award system. The xxx is used to add another layer to the character giving the player a since of accomplishment while immersing him deeper into the game environment.

Everyone in the game should have some sort of driving motivation that keeps their character progressing. This system is designed to help the character feel a since of accomplishment that they have sole control over. As the Games master you should not feel threatened by giving a small amount of narrative control over to the players, it can only make them feel more a part of the game. Some many times in super hero games the characters are only reacting to what is thrown at them that they fail to go beyond and start being proactive with their powers. This meta-system gives the players the opportunity to do just that; be PROACTIVE.

Feel free to use what you want here or completely ignore it, it is your choice.
[[[End Sidebar]]]

RENOWN
This is a pool of points received when characters get experience points during a game. The amount given depends on how the character performed during the game.
1-2 points for perform as expected during the adventure
3-5 for performing beyond expectations
6-10 for performing well beyond the capabilities of the character
11-15 the character has performed a great feat of heroism

Renown can also be taken away for acts unbecoming a "hero" or performing something that would make him infamous and this number can even go into the negatives. Failing a task or being beaten by a villain can end with the character loosing renown.

For the sake of the system positive and negative points work in the same way when spending them on agendas since villains have sinister goals. Beyond spending these points on Agendas renown also has the added bonus of making the character more recognizable and celebrated or reviled.

0:  A complete unknown
1-10 A neighborhood big brother or thug
11-20 A local hero or small time hood
21-30 A obscure hero or criminal (+1 on all social interaction rolls)
31-40 A lesser known hero or villain
41-50 A minor hero of the people or (+2 on all social interaction rolls) the character may choose one benefit from the list below.*
51-60 A hero
61-70 A Major Hero (the character has achieved enough notoriety that most people know of him) (+3 on all social interaction rolls)*
71-80 A super hero (stories are written of the character's exploits) *
81-90 A legendary hero (+1D+1 on all social interaction rolls)*
91-100+ living god or diabolic archfiend of legend (common people are awed in your presence) (+1D+2 on all social interaction rolls)*

* At this level the character may choose one Renown Benefit from the list below.

Renown Benefits
Action: Add 2 to all skill or attribute totals for the round.
Alertness: The character has a "sixth sense" outside of all other rules and situations that will help him to spot a previously unseen item, character, or clue selected by the Game Master. The benefit does not confer omniscience, however, and the Game Master can select a time for having it come into effect. It is normally used to allow a character to spot something he missed in a previous search that is important to the adventure.
Breakthrough: Add 1D to any one skill die code in which the character has no additional pips or dice (in other words, a skill in which the character is untrained). The benefit also eliminates the unskilled modifier for using that skill.
Haste: Gain one additional action for one round.
Hero: Receive one bonus Fate Point, which the character must use immediately.
Opponent fails: After an opponent or enemy has completed an action against the character, the character may call upon this benefit to cancel the effects entirely. This nullifies the opponent's action, and play continues. The lucky character may not use this benefit to cancel an action that is not directed at least partially at him.
Second chance: Using this benefit allows the character to "do over" any action she has just tried, from the very beginning. This benefit cannot negate "bad choices" – the character must perform the same action again – nor does it allow the character to "get back" Fate Points, Character Points, or cards spent on the original action. The character merely gets another chance, immediately following the first attempt, to perform the action again. All effects from the first attempt are ignored.


AGENDAS
Agendas come in all shapes and sizes but all have in common that they are important to the character. Each character decides what his Agenda is and it is ok to have more than just one. Each agenda is rated on the chart below and cost Renown points to achieve.

Spending Renown points do not lower the character's renown rating. The hero is just as famous as he was before he spent the points, but once the points are spent they cannot be spent again and are considered tied to the accomplishment; this will be primarily why the character is famous.


Agenda

The Agenda is small and personal: I'm going to quit eating chocolate. Cost 1 Renown point

The Agenda affects a small group of people close to the hero. I'm going to use these great powers to make my family's life comfortable. Cost 5 Renowned points
The Agenda affects a small community. "I wanna clean up this neighborhood". Cost 20 Renown Points

The Agenda affects the city. "This is my town, I protect it". Cost 40 Renown Points. The character receives additional 1-5 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda

The Agenda affects the region. "The people of this area have no acces to the river, so I'll divert it". Cost 60 Renown Points. The character receives additional 5-10 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the country. "There is no need for a vote, I will assume control of the Senate". Cost 80 Renown Points. The character receives additional 10-15 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the continent. "All Australians will worship me as their god". Cost 100 Renown Points. The character receives additional 20-30 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the World. "No being on this planet will go to bed hungry". Cost 150 Renown Points The character receives additional 40-50 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the galaxy. "I will single handedly wipe out the Chimeran threat". Cost 200 Renown Points. The character receives additional 75-100 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

[Jerry D. Grayson]

No suggestions or critiques?

Come on gang, any kind of input would be greatly appreciated. If nothing else tell me how the above system can be broken so that I can try and fix it.

[Sydney Freedberg]

I don't know the D6 system, so I hesitated to comment on your detailed  implementation, but, well, two things:

1) I see you have an investment dynamic here: If you spend X Reknown to get an Agenda, when you fulfill that Agenda you get Y Reknown back, where Y > X. This is a good incentive, but (a) it'll require playtesting to make sure the numbers work in practice and (b) it's a closed loop, as far as I can tell, since once you get Reknown you can only spend it on getting Agendas to get more Reknown to get more Agendas to get more (etc.)

2) The primary benefit of Reknown is reaction bonuses, which makes perfect sense. But the optional benefits for various levels of being reknowned -- 6th sense, extra dice here and there -- don't really encourage involvement int the world. They're basically just like going up a level in D&D and getting new abilities. You might want to instead offer bonuses that have something to do with Reknown, like allies, a home base, favors you can call in, and so on. (See examples given earlier in this thread, or the HeroQuest book aif you've $40 to spare).

[Jerry D. Grayson]

Ok, I've finally had time to go back and tweak this a bit. any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks! What I have changed is the way characters benefit from the gaining of renown.

RENOWN
This is a pool of points received when characters get experience points during a game. The amount given depends on how the character performed during the game.
1-2 points for perform as expected during the adventure
3-5 for performing beyond expectations
6-10 for performing well beyond the capabilities of the character
11-15 the character has performed a great feat of heroism
20+ The character died in the line of duty (all renown benefits are awarded posthumously)

Renown can also be taken away for acts unbecoming a "hero" or performing something that would make him infamous and this number can even go into the negatives. Failing a task or being beaten by a villain can end with the character loosing renown.
For the sake of the system positive and negative points work in the same way when spending them on agendas since villains have sinister goals. Beyond spending these points on Agendas renown also has the added bonus of making the character more recognizable and celebrated or reviled.

0:  A complete unknown
1-10 A neighborhood big brother or thug
11-20 A local hero or small time hood
21-30 A obscure hero or criminal (+1 on all social interaction rolls)
31-40 A lesser known hero or villain
41-50 A minor hero of the people or (+2 on all social interaction rolls) the character may choose one benefit from the list below.*
51-60 A hero
61-70 A Major Hero (the character has achieved enough notoriety that most people know of him) (+3 on all social interaction rolls)*
71-80 A super hero (stories are written of the character's exploits) *, F1
81-90 A legendary hero (+1D+1 on all social interaction rolls)*, F2
91-100+ living god or diabolic archfiend of legend (common people are awed in your presence) (+1D+2 on all social interaction rolls)*, F3
For every Additional 50 Renown the character receives the benefits of the 100+ renown level.

*= More and more Ka is being directed by those who revere or worship the character. At this level the character's Ka points increase by 1D+2 points. These points are kept as long as the character remains at the renown level or above. If she should ever fall below the threshold then the points are lost.

F1: Followers
The hero becomes so well know that people who believe in his cause flock to his side. The followers could be anything from a fan club to a small church devoted to the character. The followers will do what ever they can within reason to help promote and facilitate the ideas of the character. The followers believe in the ideas of the character but will not endanger their own lives in any way.
Once the characters Renown reaches 90+ the followers will willing lay down their lives to help the character achieve his goal. Followers will take abuse but will eventually leave if treated poorly on a regular basis, some may even lash out and turn of the character.
The character receives a number of followers equal to 4D multiplied by their Presence die code. Their stats follow;
Follower
All attributes at 2D
Skills: 5 points in various skills
Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Devotion (R1) to the characters goals
Move: 10. Strength Damage: 1D. Fate Points: 0. Character Points: 0. Body Points: 18/Wound levels: 2. Equipment: varies
Point Value:

The character receives additional followers equal to their Presence die code multiplied by 50. (Example: A character with a presence of 3D would roll 3D and multiply the result by 50.)

F2: The character receives additional followers equal to their Presence die code multiplied by 100 plus 2 champions built with 100 character points. The standard followers become zealots willing to give their lives for the character at this level. The champions may have super human abilities and are loyal to a fault to the character.

F3: The character receives additional followers equal to their Presence die code multiplied by 1000 plus 2D+2 champions built with 100 character points.

AGENDAS
Agendas come in all shapes and sizes but all have in common that they are important to the character. Each character decides what his Agenda is and it is ok to have more than just one. Each agenda is rated on the chart below and cost Renown points to achieve. Spending Renown points do not lower the character's renown rating. The hero is just as famous as he was before he spent the points, but once the points are spent they cannot be spent again and are considered tied to the accomplishment; this will be primarily why the character is famous.

Agenda
The Agenda is small and personal: I'm going to quit eating chocolate. Cost 1 Renown point
The Agenda affects a small group of people close to the hero. I'm going to use these great powers to make my family's life comfortable. Cost 5 Renowned points
The Agenda affects a small community. "I wanna clean up this neighborhood". Cost 20 Renown Points
The Agenda affects the city. "This is my town, I protect it". Cost 40 Renown Points. The character receives additional 1-5 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda

The Agenda affects the region. "The people of this area have no acces to the river, so I'll divert it". Cost 60 Renown Points. The character receives additional 5-10 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the country. "There is no need for a vote, I will assume control of the Senate". Cost 80 Renown Points. The character receives additional 10-15 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the continent. "All Australians will worship me as their god". Cost 100 Renown Points. The character receives additional 20-30 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the World. "No being on this planet will go to bed hungry". Cost 150 Renown Points The character receives additional 40-50 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.

The Agenda affects the galaxy. "I will single handedly wipe out the Chimeran threat". Cost 200 Renown Points. The character receives additional 75-100 points of Renown when he completes this Agenda.