Creating Traits in Torchbearer

[Shreyas Sampat]

This is partly in response to Christoffer's query in the Wayfarer's Song - Soulburn thread, which itself was an outgrowth of his own thread on Ygg: Demonic Weird, and partly in response to my own concerns about Traits in Torchbearer.

A Trait "can be anything that defines a character".  This is terrible; what does that mean?  Objects, circumstances, nearly anything can have Traits.  I'll be drawing from my earlier examples for a good deal of these; I'll also introduce a new mechanic set to the Torchbearer System.  I think I'm on the verge of a serious terminology change...

Traits always come in pairs, one positive and one negative.  The positive Trait is called Flame, the negative Smoke.  There are two distinct types of Traits independent of the positive/negative distinction: constant and activated.  Activated Traits represent all manner of unusual abilities in Torchbearer.

All Traits should be phrased as if the character were describing himself or recounting stories that exemplify characteristics, or in the case of objects as if the object's possessor were speaking.  This is a guideline, not a rule.

Constant Traits represent the most continuous aspects of a character - personality traits, relationships, common skills, qualities of body.
Constant Traits can take these forms:
Relationship: Generally relationships operate in-game as contacts or emotions; Neranja Killed My Lover could provide bonuses to actions that antagonize Neranja (if it were a Flame), or penalties when Neranja was the antagonist (if it were a Smoke.)
Examples: Neranja Killed My Lover, Khalilia Told Me a Secret, I Founded the Dawndrinker Fencing School.
Personality Traits: Personality traits are a little vaguer than relationships.  They can suggest philosophies or thought processes, as well as overt consequences of personality.
Examples: Authority is Earned - not Assumed, The Ocean Eats Me in My Dreams, Everyone in Town Knows My Name.
Skills: Skills are something that a character knows stuff about.
Examples: I Built My Ship, I Used to Be the Village Blacksmith, I Bought This Horse for a Cow.
Bodily Characteristics: These describe physical qualities of a character.  Note that these can have the same effect as certain skills, but are worded differently.
Examples: Dancing is in My Blood, I was Weak as Tea, I Never Get Sick.

Activated Traits fall into several categories:
Sparks are Trait-pairs, that, when activated, replace a constant Trait-pair.
Coals are Trait-pairs that, when activated, add to the list of active Traits.
Embers create Trait-pairs that can behave like Coals.  (Theoretically, I could also create Embers that acted like Sparks, but...)
Activated Traits tend to me more desirable and mythical than their constant counterparts.

Sparks: Sparks represent transformations of person.  They are always associated with another Trait-pair; when they activate they always replace this pair.  Skinchangers' Sparks often represent their alternate forms.
Example: (F)I am a Smoke Jaguar / (S)I Must Eat More replaces (F)My Smile Lights Up the Room / (S)I am Weak as Tea.
Coals: Coals represent difficult feats and mystical powers, along with their mystical cost; I'm considering scrapping this completely in favor of Embers and the Spark mechanic.
Example: (F)The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships / (S)My Homeland Crumbles, (F)The Legendary Dawndrinker Parry / (S)Someday the Sword Will Break.
Embers: These represent areas of mystical connection or skilled mastery.  Embers are unusual in that they create Traits; they are not Traits themselves.  I'll give examples in the form of an Ember and one each Smoke and Flame that could be derived from it.
Examples:
I Mastered the Elements: Winter Walks With Me, The Ocean Takes Its Due.
Secret of Sublimating the Flesh: I Need Not Eat, Suppurating Sores of Purity.
Beautiful, Terrible Nobility: Withering Gaze of Disdain, They Fear to Speak Truth.

[Jonathan Walton]

I really like Sparks, but that should be no surprise (since they're a great variation on the "Story Traits" I was messing with).  If you ditch Coals, though, it'll put a great emphasis on transformation as a major theme in Torchbearer.  If that's what you want, I say go for it.  Transformation is already evident in the experience system of Crises, so making it a major part of the supernatural powers seems reasonable too.

A couple thoughts:

1. You really need a name for normal, constant Trait pairs.  If you're going to ditch Coals altogether, you might think about retaining that word for this use.

2. Do Traits created by Embers temporarily ADD to the character's Traits or do they temporarily REPLACE pre-existing traits?  If you're going to go with the transformation theme, you might as well go all the way.  Magic, then, would be the power of transforming into what you desire to be.  How cool is that?

3. You forgot examples of Traits that represent possessions.  What ever happened to "My Sword is Sharp as Winter"?  The character could own other things, of course, but they could easily be stolen or lost or whatever.  Objects that were described in Traits, though, would only be altered through Crises or special needs of the narrative. (Obviously, this is a suggestion; do as you will.)

So... when will Torchbearer be ready for playtest? ;)  I have the whole month of January reserved, because it'll be too cold outside to do anything else.

Later.
Jonathan

[Shreyas Sampat]

I'm in conflict about whether a character can have Traits that refer to items, or whether items can simply have Traits; you have the excellent point that it would take some narrative effect like a Crisis to have an effect on a character-tied object Trait.  I think that I may use Coal for the common Trait-pair if I'm to be having Sparks as a mechanic...

I'm looking for spending Novenber polishing up and trying to typeset Torchbearer (I need to learn TeX, incidentally) and running a first playtest in the neighborhood of December/January... I had this wild idea for a setting where there are two groups of mystical beings, and every thousand years or so one group forgets its mystical nature and becomes mundane as the other reawakens... but the most mystical or inspired can resist the effects of the Forgetting.  It's sort of drawing on the conflict that WW's Changeling failed to take advantage of, that of the waves of European changelings displacing the native spirits, which echoes the European mundane displacement of the First Nation peoples.  So, like Changeling, the mysticals live in a world of mundanes who are not-quite-aware... there are faerie cities that no human has set eyes on, and other strange things.

The Thousand Nights and a Night can be a metaphor for maintaining remembrance through the creation of an interesting story - Shaharizaad holds onto her mystical power by holding Shahryar and Dunyazaad interested in her tale.  So, in this setting, there are the mysterious Inspired, like Hanuman, Oberon, Shaharizaad, who somehow crystallized their Myth through their great and powerful stories; those of lesser Myth and Memory ebb and flow with the mystic tide.  The setting depends on the time of play being close to a new shifting of the tide, and the characters are doing all they can to hold onto their mythic selves.

[Jonathan Walton]

The setting depends on the time of play being close to a new shifting of the tide, and the characters are doing all they can to hold onto their mythic selves.

Actually, with this idea, you get two interesting types of stories to tell.  The first type is exactly as you described, empowered beings trying to hold onto their mythic nature.  The second type is that of the non-empowered beings gaining power as the tide turns.  I still think you're right to emphasize the first type, though, since the second type is already popular in other games (mostly WW-type stuff).  Actually, in a player group, you might have some old guard and some new guard together, which could lead to interesting interactions.  All this dualism also matches the dualism that permeates the whole Torchbearer system, which is sweet.

You never mentioned what you though of my Embers-replacing-Traits idea.  Are you just thinking it over?  Or do you not think it would be appropriate?

Later.
Jonathan

[Bob McNamee]

You mean "coals" replacing "traits" for name right?

I like it myself, "coals" have a quiet permanence to them in my mind

[Jonathan Walton]

I totally agree about "Coals."  I was referring to my suggestion that Traits created by Embers replace existing Coals (constant Traits), just like those activated by Sparks.  Right now, Shreyas has them simply ADDING new Traits to a character.

[Bob McNamee]

ahhh... i was mixing parts together, sorry :>

[Bob McNamee]

By the way, did anybody look at the rough logos for torchbearer in my art area?

Should I bother to make a more refined lettering...or are these ideas not where you want to go...

http://www.geocities.com/bob_mcnamee/html/art.htm

about halfway down...two images
Click them for enlargement

[Shreyas Sampat]

Okay, several things here.

Embers acting like Sparks:
You make an excellent point about emphasizing the theme of transformation.  Right now I'm debating whether that should be the core of Torchbearer's mechanics, or if I should emphasize the duality of Embers/Sparks by making one additive and one transformative.  The problem with Embers being transformative is that it makes it very strange for them to have Traces.  On the other hand, Traces are only important because the additive Traits increase the possible effectiveness of the character for a while.  So, though I like them, it may be that with transformation they're unnecessary.
This could be the foundation of some interesting stuff, actually, if there's the possibility that a character's magic works in the additive, residue-producing way or the transformative, instant-gratification way... ...Though that forces me to have new nomenclature, again... argh.

Bob, I did take a look at your logos, and Jon's logo that he posted on the older thread recently.  I'm working on my own at the moment, but thank you both... I've got some crazy ideas.

Edit: Realized I failed to address a point that Christoffer raised a few days ago - Who Creates Traits?  Now, in a perfect world Torchbearer will end up being a GM-less system; I'm looking into games that implement this for ideas.  So, the player who 'controls' the character creates Traits when necessary.