In which the basic traits of player characters are discussed, as well as various effects and possibilities with the basic mechanic. Comments, suggestions and questions desired.
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Mechanics:

Agent traits:

Synchronicity - A trait which is used to determine how well the agent will synch with their host. It
is denoted with a color, based on a circle of 12 colors with the Sync Level being based on the
proximity of the agent’s color and the hosts.

Power - The stat which measures the agent’s command of their special abilities, as well as their
capability to push the limits of reality. Anytime the agent wants to activate a special ability, or
violate the laws of physics or other accepted boundaries of reality, this stat will be used.

Perception - The ability to sense things which are not of the Coil. This includes both passive
perceptivity and active perceiving.

Mortis - This trait is a pool trait, measuring the total energy that the agent has to use while
Recoiled. It requires at least one point in the pool to remain within the Coil, and it can be reduced
through expenditure to activate abilities or defy reality, and it can also be reduced by attacks
directly upon the agent, rather than the host.

Conviction - The reason that the agent fights. It might differ from the reason that the agent first
fought off Oblivion long enough to be rescued by Mortis, and it might even change over the
course of several missions. Regardless, it is a measure of how strong is the agent’s will to fight.
If it ever reaches 0, the agent will be vulnerable to annihilation.

Host traits:

Body - a measure of toughness, endurance, strength and macro-movement abilities. Used to
determine how well you move, feats of strength and endurance and athletic activities such as
running or swimming.

Senses - A measure of how keen the host’s senses are. A general rating, with descriptors, such
as nearsighted, eagle-eyes, deaf, or Sensitive (which is a Host Talent). Used to determine how
well someone can sense physical things, either passively or actively.

Precision - A measure of hand-eye coordination, as well as the facility for doing fine detail work.
Used by a conscious host to commit most physical actions not covered by body, such as
shooting, or artistic endeavors. Used by an agent-controlled host specifically for fine
manipulations, such as painting, picking locks, or sewing.

Synched traits: Synched traits are traits which are determined upon reentering the Coil. The most
important of these is the Sync Level, but also included are Passive Perception, and Masking.

Sync Level - The sync level directly affects how much use the agent has of their host’s body and
abilities. They range from Sync 5 to Sync X, which are respectively total synchronization to the
inability to even Recoil into that host.
Sync 5 - The host is conscious of the agent, understands their basic motivations, and is
well-disposed toward being helpful. Capable of sharing control of the host’s body with the
host, and has full access to the host’s knowledges, skills and abilities.
Sync 4 - The host is unconscious during the time that the agent is using their body. The
agent is fully aware of the host’s history, and has full access to the host’s knowledges, skills
and abilities.
Sync 3 - The host is unconscious during the time that the agent is using their body. The
agent has no knowledge of the host’s identity or history, but has full access to the host’s
knowledges and skills.
Sync 2 - The host is unconscious during the time that the agent is using their body. The
agent has no knowledge of the host’s identity or history, and partial access only to the host’s
skills, not knowledges or abilities.
Sync 1 - The host is unconscious during the time that the agent is using their body. The
agent has no knowledge of the host’s identity or history, and has highly erratic access to the
host’s abilities.
Sync 0 - The host is either unconscious during the time that the agent is using their body, or
conscious, but unaware of the agent. When the host is conscious, the agent has no control of
the body, and will be required to contest for control if they wish to take over. They have no
knowledge of the host whatsoever, and may not even use the host’s native language
naturally.
Sync X - Recoil into the host will be a failure, requiring the agent to Recoil again, hopefully
into a more compatible host.

Passive Perception - At the time of ReCoil, a roll is made using the agent’s Perception trait. The
highest result is taken and noted as the passive perception rating. Any entity with a Masking
rating equal to or less than the passive perception rating will automatically be perceived as if a
single success were rolled on an active Perception roll.

Masking - the TN for all Perception rolls and for Passive Perception. Masking has one of two
ratings; either P (the default rating, equal to the local Paradigm) or 10. An agent or Naughtwraith
may use a point of Power at any time to set it’s Masking to 10 for the duration of their time in the
Coil.

The basic die mechanic: You roll a number of dice equal to the applicable trait against a TN,
which is usually based upon the task and circumstances. For power rolls, this is based upon the
Paradigm. For attempts to do things with skill or natural ability, the GM sets a TN based on the
difficulty of the task at hand, and any modifying circumstances. TNs range from 2 (incredibly
easy, but still, possible to fail) to 10 (immensely difficult, but still possible to suceed). Any rolls
which equal or better the TN are counted as successes, with each used to describe a different
effect, or alternately improve a single basic effect.

Example: Love is fleeing pursuit, so the player rolls her host’s Body rating of 3. The GM
determines a TN of 6, average difficulty. Her roll comes up 6, 4, 8, two successes. Love the first
success is used to describe that she continues running fast enough to stay ahead of her
pursuers. She has the option of using the second success to throw some complication into her
pursuer’s way, such as overturning a trashcan, or dashing across a street just ahead of heavy
cross-traffic, or simply putting on a burst of speed to gain a greater lead on her pursuers.

In combat, these successes can be used a bit differently. The basic combat effect is a
damage level, from wounded to dead. They are as follows:
Wounded - The target is wounded in some way. It hurts, it’s possibly bleeding, but there’s no
real effect in game terms. This sort of wound might be enough to back someone down, or
whatever, dependent upon the nature of the wound.
Incapacitated - This can be anything from a bonk on the head which knocks someone out to
a shattered kneecap which puts someone out of commission for a long time. The only
defining effect of this level of wound is that the target is unable to effectively hinder or assist
for a period of time.
Critical - Badly wounded, maybe dying. In most cases, the target will die if immediate care is
not rendered, though the exact specifics are up to the attacker. A target could be rendered
comatose, or holding their entrails from spilling out, while flopping around in a slowly
widening pool of their own blood. They’re not dead yet, but they’re not much better off.
Dead - Pretty self-explanatory. This is essentially instantaneous death, often something gory.
Beheaded, chest exploded, or perhaps the life-force simply left the body. The description
and means are up to the attacker, but this is the point of no return.
Determining damaging effects is mostly up to the attacking character. Each level of
damage requires a success, so to instantly kill someone, you would need to put four successes
into it. Alternately, four successes could be used to wound the person four times, each probably
stinging like a bitch, but having no game effects, or any mix in between. Not all successes even
need to be expended in damaging a target. The below example will illustrate somewhat.

Example: Love is cornered, despite her earlier attempts to escape. Her pursuers are 3 police
officers who happened to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, and as such, she has
no desire to hurt them. Her host is a scrawny kid who was often picked on in school, but she
herself is more than adept in martial arts, with a rating of 7 in MA. As the police officers close in
on her warily, she steps smoothly into action. The player rolls her 7 dice, against a TN of 5
resulting in 8, 8, 8, 7, 9, 7 and 4, for 6 successes. The player crows victoriously as Love leaps up
in a spin-kick to the side of the first cop’s head, allocating 2 successes for an incapacitating
wound, knocking him out. She drops to the ground, sweeping the second cop off of his feet with
a level one wound, then uses a second success to take his pistol. With her two remaining
successes she slugs the third cop in the belly, then runs back down the alleyway whence she’d
come.

Note that I did not give the police officers any rolls to defend. This was intentional, as I’m not
trying to give a full description of battle at this time. Normally the police officers would have a
chance to fight back, but in this case it was ignored, to demonstrate the range of options inherent
in a single roll. While it is possible, through use of power points, to preempt the actions of other
characters, most situations like this will involve opposition, as in the next example.

Example: Love miscalculated, and finds herself in another blind alley. Cursing herself (and the
city designers) she turns to find the cop whom she’d punched in the gut at the end of the
alleyway, shouting at her to put the weapon down and give herself up. Love has no intention of
doing so, but likewise still doesn’t want to hurt the policeman. As it is growing late, the policeman
has to use his flashlight to see her at all, so she gets the idea of shooting out his light, so she can
sneak away in the darkness. This is an exceedingly difficult shot, especially with the policeman
behind partial cover, and the GM assigns a difficulty rating of 9. Love isn’t quite so good with
guns as she is with her body, but she decides to risk the shot anyhow. The policeman sees her
aim the weapon in his direction, and opens fire on her before she can get off her shot. Love
decides to dodge rather than shoot, so rolls her host’s Body rating instead, against a TN of 5.
The cop rolls his firearms skill of 4 against a difficulty of 7 (because of the darkness). He rolls a
5, 1, 9 and 1, Only one success. Before he can describe the results of his success, Love rolls 5,
8, 3, two successes. Because Love had more successes, she describes her first action before
the cop does. She decides that her first success allows her to avoid being shot. In turn, as the
cop only has one success to throw into it, he decides that he manages to shoot the weapon from
her hand instead. Love uses her second success to rapidly close the distance between her and
the cop, rather than trying to recover the weapon. Had the cop had 2 successes, and she three,
she might have had to have spent two successes to totally dodge the bullet. If she had only spent
one, then it might have ended up being a wound rather than incapacitating.

As demonstrated above, whoever has the most successes in a contest gets first choice on how to
allocate successes. Successes may be allocated either individually or in groups for improved
actions. As in the above example, if the policeman had scored two successes to love’s three, she
might have chosen to allocate two successes to an improved dodge, which would preclude him
from hitting her at all. If she had done so, he could have used a single success to shoot the
weapon from her hand, or two successes to shoot the weapon and damage it so that it could not
be used again. If he used only one success, he could use the second for another action after she
used her third success. Alternately, if she’d used only 1 success to dodge as her original action,
he could have used both to shoot her to wound, declaring that the impact was a thigh hit that
knocked her down, but doesn’t incapacitate her. She could then use her remaining two success
as she chose.

Use of powers, and character creation will be discussed in a later posting.

Hey Lance,

Is there any particular reason for having Sync X? It seems to exude a high degree of the 'whiff factor'. What real purpose does it have in play? Why not drop it all together instead of requiring a reroll? There may be game factors that are involved that I'm not aware of so I thought I'd ask.

-Chris

Honestly? Simply because it made sense to me.

Sync Level isn't determined by a random roll, well, not exactly. Basically, there are 12 colors, each with a certain level of synchronicity with the others. This is sort of an "aura pattern" sort of thing. The only one that is Sync X is the color directly opposing the color of the Agent's Synchronicity trait. For instance, if your synchronicity trait is Dark Red, then you'd have a Sync 5 with Dark Red or Bright Red, but you'd have Sync 0 with Dark Green, and Sync X with Bright Green.

It just makes sense to me that there will be certain people that you are highly incompatible with, and simply will not sync with. But I could be overanalyzing, as I'm wont to do. Do you think a 1 in 12 chance is enough to be a problem? Do you think it detracts from the game, whether or not it comes up often?

I like the synch system, though I do think that each colour should mean something, probably a kind of mindset and the closer you are to your host's natural mindset, the better the synch.

I must admit, 12 colours seems rather a lot though, what are they out of interest? I tried to come up with 12 significant colours but I could only make 9 (Blue Magenta Red Yellow Green Cyan White Grey Black).

Hey Lance,

I wouldn't go so far as to say that it detracts from the game but it does seem like an odd little cul de sac. You have a spot that requires a reroll for what seems to be simply for the sake of uniformity.

Perhaps if rerolling cost a point of Mortis it would be seen as a form of Complication inherent in the risk of ReCoiling. One possibility would be to drop the Synch X category all together, either by condensing the color wheel or just putting the opposing color in with Synch 1. Giving the player the choice of rerolling at the cost of Mortis to improve the characters Synch category would be an interesting option also.

Of course, if you feel that Synch should remain as it is pay absolutely no attention to any of the above. :) This is your game after all.

-Chris

Thomas,

The twelve colors are dark and bright variants of the primary six(red, yellow blue, rather than the magenta, cyan, yellow set) colors. I've toyed with the idea of each having a mindset, but I've not really decided on it. I use a similar system with the Primary Sphere trait in Mage Blade, but I'm wondering if it might be restrictive to roleplay in a game which tries to define the characters very loosely. Perhaps I could replace the color wheel with a zodiac wheel? I think that my original intent was something close to that anyhow.

Chris,

The process of ReCoiling can be done one of two ways at GM or Player option. The default way basically creates the host from scratch at the time of ReCoil, in the sense that the person existed before the agent inhabited them, but they were one of thousands of possible hosts, rather than a distinct individual. The first thing determined is the host's Synchronicity trait. If it's a Sync 0 or above, the agent can enter, and other traits are then determined. The second option comes into play if the agent has Attuned with a host in that particular geographic region. If they have, they can choose to enter that host, rather than be randomly determined.

And as I write this, I realize that it is indeed meaningless. If you roll a Sync X, you simply roll again. With the fact that time is relatively meaningless Outside, the delay will be nil, and be nothing more than color, having no particular effect on the game. So yeah.. Looks like I'll drop Sync X, and simply make it another Sync 0 category.

Oh, and there is an ability which allows the characters to have an improved Sync Level. I've not determined exactly how it will work, but it will be one of the Talents which will be described during character creation, and the example character Love has it, that personable little minx.

Ooh - I REALLY like the idea of the synch being a zodiac sign. There are built-in personality descriptors, just about everyone can list them all off the top of their head and a lot of people will know what they mean - while they are still open enough that they won't be telling you that you've defined someone wrong.

My only caveat would be to include a 'cheat sheet' for people who know the signs but not what they signify.

Thomas Tamblyn wrote: Ooh - I REALLY like the idea of the synch being a zodiac sign.

That's part of my hesitation, Chris, as well as not knowing right off the top of my head which zodiac signs are compatible with which, etc. Additionally, though I've not really made it clear, but I'm wanting to make the "setting" somewhat ambiguous. Plainly, it doesn't even have to be earth. Or if it is, it doesn't have to be modern earth. You can have the characters originate from some totally alien world, as non-human as you desire, if you desire. The examples will take place in a modern earth setting, simply because it allows me to focus on the example, without confusing people with some bizarre setting. A western styled zodiac would be even less appropriate to a more esoteric setting than your dead Chinese guy. My consideration of using the western zodiac is based on the fact that any players I have are likely to be familiar with it, so it would be an easy reference point.

For now, I'll keep the color wheel, and consider adding personality components. It's simpler, and will allow me to focus on the other mechanics of the game right now, which are still less than final.

So, any comments on anything besides Sync?

Wolfen wrote: So, any comments on anything besides Sync?

Wolfen wrote: As demonstrated above, whoever has the most successes in a contest gets first choice on how to allocate successes. Successes may be allocated either individually or in groups for improved actions.

Wolfen wrote: If she had done so, he could have used a single success to shoot the weapon from her hand, or two successes to shoot the weapon and damage it so that it could not be used again.

I kind liked Synch X. But I assumed that assignment wasn't random, or it was time sensitive.

If, for instance, a character had some choice in who to Re Coil to, then the roll would be crucial. Maybe the player wants to be in some big bruiser. The Synch X roll means that he can't. I mean, I assume that there's some force acting to Re Coil the character to near the place where he needs to be for the mission? Which means that at least locality is selectable by someone. Why not particular hosts as well?

What would really be cool is to have the GM come up with a set of "suitable" hosts (maybe the powers that be have decided that certain individuals are "right" for the job, or require it as a form of penitance, whatever). Then each player selects one to hop into. If that turns up Synch X, then the player can try another. Also, you could have an "entry phase" where the character would sense the Synch of the character, and then could decide to try to ReCoil to someone else instead.

You could just have the Synch rating of pregens known before hand. But I think the whole charging in and then bouncing out idea is pretty cool. Even in the original rules, I like the idea of rolling because it gives the notion that there are incompatible people out there, and that the character does bounce around before landing in a "fit" occasionally. I mean it's the key color element of the game, ReCoiling.

Anyhow, another factor is time. We know that the missions are time sensitive. If it takes ten minutes on each ReCoil attempt, then it's important to get into someone quick. This makes that skill you mentioned, Lance, where you can improve the Synch really important, then. You might also allow a perception roll to tell the color of a particular target so that the player could predetermine if the host was suitable. Or, perhaps the roll would determine how long it took the character to determine the color (and Synch).

On the subject of time, you could track this mechanically. When anything takes time, you can increase the opposing pool (maybe fracionally depending).

This is all a bit loose as I've missed some of the setting material. But hopefully you can get some ideas out of it.

Anyhow, I like the idea of knowing what the hosta are like for when it's important. Even when unconscious, a popular person serving as a host might get recognized a lot or whatnot. Just adds a whole 'nother dimension to the game.

Mike

C. Edwards wrote:
What guage is used to determine what a certain number of Successes may accomplish? I understand from the examples that spending one more Success than your opponent can cancel out his original action and that damage is determined by the number of Successes used, but beyond that how is the range of their application determined? GM and player consensus? The original TN of the roll?

Now yer talkin. That sounds like a lot of fun. Look at Alyria for the Storymap presentation. It would be like that, except that players would come in and attempt to land in one of the characters. Instead of all the players just agreeing on who gets who.

Anyway, this lends a lot of instant weight to the mission, as the players may learn to care a lot about their hosts and what's going on with them. After all it may be that the mission revolves around them. Very cool.

BTW, and the wraiths are already presumably on the scene, I'd assume that the GM would get first selection of characters? Would this tip off the players as to who the wraiths were?

Mike

The wraiths may or may not be on the scene. Mortis is sending the agents back a variable time prior to the incident, so there's no knowing..

I'm also attempting to approach the idea of "No Myth" sort of roleplaying. Nothing, or at least very little is "real" prior to the agent's involvement. Only the incident has any reality, and as it hasn't happened yet, it's instantly malleable once the agents arrive in the Coil.

Mind you, I'm not actually going to phrase it this way in the game, considering that the game is about what is "real" it could lead to some rather confusing explanations.

That's cool. Anyhow, the GM can, at his option create characters that are "unavailable" due to wraiths inhabiting them. These just don't end up presented to the players. And wraiths may arrive at any time to inhabit the non-selected characters.

All very cool. I like that upon arrival the PCs will probably look around to see if they can find any wraiths, and then watch the remaining people on the Storymap for signs of possession. Neat.

I'm starting to get a real feel for what this could look like.

Mike

Example of Play: Beginning of a mission

Lance is the GM, with the players being Tara and Mitch, playing the characters Love and Morph.
Character names will be used to denote in-character speech, and player names will be used to
denote out-of-character, and descriptions of player actions.

Love: So let me get this straight. There was a subway accident that killed 15 people, somewhere
between terminals 15 and 20 on the main line?

Mortis: Correct.

Morph: Let’s get to it then. You said we have only 1 day and a few hours, so let’s not waste it.

Mortis: 26 hours, to be more exact. Are you sure you’re both ready?

(both players nod, signaling character’s actions)

Mortis: Alright then. ReCoil.

GM: The familiar sense of falling begins, and Mortis fades from view, leaving only the
featureless gray around you. Seemingly below, you see a vast swirl of lights, which is looming
ever closer. An unseen hand guides you toward a specific cluster of lights, which become to be
recognized as human souls... Okay, time to create the hosts.

Tara: A subway accident, huh. Anyone could be on the subway. I want to start with a street kid.

Morph: An undercover cop, looking for drug dealers.

Tara: Hm. The cop’s wife, who works as a social worker. Not on the subway, though.

Mitch: The police chief, also not on the subway. Ooh, maybe the street kid’s little sister, waiting
for her to get some food to bring back to where they live.

Tara: (smiles at Mitch briefly) Good one. Hm. How about a drug dealer, nervously watching the
cop?

Mitch: Cool. Maybe your street kid runs errands for the drug dealer.

GM: What about a security guard in one of the terminals?

(both players shrug)

Tara: I want to play that little sister. I like the idea of helping a child who needs a hand up in the
world.

Morph: I think I’ll go with my original cop. If you’re going to play a kid, someone’s going to need
to be capable.

The hosts are rolled up, and Mitch’s cop turns out to sync badly with him (level 0). Tara gets a
maximum (level 5) sync with the child.

Mitch: Well, he’s physically capable, at least. Good thing we’re in America, or else I’d have a
serious communication problem.

Tara: Don’t worry Morphy, Love will take care of you. Alright, let’s get to playing.

GM: Morph finds himself sitting in traffic in a beat up old Corolla in a poorer section of town. He’s
wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, but there is the feel of something strapped around his ankle.

Mitch: I pull off at the first parking lot, and park. I’m gonna check my pockets for ID, and see
what that is at my ankle.

GM: The ID gives your name as John Harland, and there’s about $30 in the wallet as well.
Around your ankle you find a small, 5 round pistol, obviously a holdout. Inside the pistol strap
you also find police identification.

Morph: Sorry John, but it looks like you’re not going to make it to your appointment. We’ve got
bigger fish to fry.

Mitch: I’m going to check the car, see what else I can find.

GM: Your turn, Love. You find yourself huddled behind a dumpster, wrapped in a dirty blanket.
The child’s mind registers awe at finding you there, but she soon realizes that you’re there to
help, and that you’ll need her help to save her sister.

Tara: What’s her name?

GM: Don’t ask me, ask her.

Love: I’m Love. What’s your name?

Girl: My name is Sarah.

So in this example were all the characters "created" by the suggestions given? That is, I'm assuming that the Cop at least exists as he was bounced out of. But what about the Security Guard? Was the shrug by the players a tacit acceptance? So, maybe the rule is that all character mentioned are created unless somebody objects? Whether they get used or not in play? Basically they are on the scene for the GM to use if the need arises?

That would be pretty cool.

Who is the undercover cop, though? Where did he come from? Was he just a spontaneous creation of the GM?

Mike

Ah.. I obviously was less than clear.

All of the potential host characters exist once they've been introduced into the relationship map, but they'd not be rolled up unless the GM decided he wanted them to be. They are all available as potential hosts later, or as potential hosts for the Naughtwraiths (though, honestly, after play begins anyone or anything is fair game). They're also available to be used as NPCs in the story, as necessary.

The cop was not bounced out of. Mitch rolled a Synchronicity trait which was very poorly matched with Morph's (a level 0 sync) but it was not a sync X. At that point, he could have chosen another host, but he decided that Morph's abilities were enough to see him through, and that the cop's body would be sufficient, without any knowledge of the cop's skills or background. He accepted the undercover cop, despite the slight disadvantage he was at.

The shrug was a tacit approval of the GM's contribution to the relationship map. They neither really liked it, nor disliked it. All characters suggested (unless it's something like weird space alien, which wouldn't fit in this particular setting) go into the relationship map, regardless of who suggests it.

Where I'm wanting to go with this next is something that I'm finding difficult to figure out how. At this point, the GM and the players know that incident W (subway accident) is going to take place in vicinity X (between terminals 15 and 20) and that Y (people died) at Z time (26 hours from ReCoil) The GM also knows the Oblivion power level of the wraiths. They have all determined a web of some of the possible characters killed or otherwise connected to the incident. Next the player characters will need to find a way to meet up (use of power to communicate is one easy method..) and begin figuring out some of the specifics, tracking down the Naughtwraiths, or in some way foiling their dastardly plot.

And this is where I'm uncertain. I want all of the details of said dastardly plot to lie in the hands of the players. The GM should only be applying bangs if things slow down, doing the NPC interactions, and responding to what the players want to happen. This scenario could go a dozen ways. There could be a bomb. There could be a disconnect in the tracks. Both very simplistic methods, but the Naughtwraiths will want to do it in as "unrealistic" a way as possible, attempting to create a Rift at the point of the incident.

I've looked over games which sort of do what I want, such as InSpectres, but I don't think I really understand how it goes about it. Also, with InSpectres, there seems to be a great amount of potential for slapstick and silliness, though I understand that may be greatly influenced by the setting.

Wolfen wrote: I've looked over games which sort of do what I want, such as InSpectres, but I don't think I really understand how it goes about it.

Also, with InSpectres, there seems to be a great amount of potential for slapstick and silliness, though I understand that may be greatly influenced by the setting.

Okay, finally got a chance to actually read through and think about what you wrote, Mike.

For example, players could make Synchronicity rolls to see if they can "discover" some skill that their host has. So the guy that takes over the cop might try to get to the cop's "drive fast" skill. The cop doesn't have the skill listed at all until the player creates it. If the roll fails, he never had it, or it's buried too deep to get; the player doesn't know. BTW, this would take care of "rolling up" characters.

Yeah, profession in Sorcerer is called Cover (because it's a cover for the fact that the character is a Sorcerer, duh). I think you ought to keep that. It's one thing right now that differentiates character from each other. And you have precious little of that right now.

Mike

You understand that Profession is for the host, not the agent, right?

The agents will have their differentiating traits, but the rather 2D feel of PCs is intentional, in the beginning. Each agent is a collection of a few vague memories and abilities to begin, but they rediscover who they are- not who they were- during play.

The agents specifically will be different, as far as the mechanics go, in their Convictions, their Synchronicity (which I'm growing more fond of the idea of having these be personality types), some of their skills and their Talents, of which there will be three per agent.

I'm about finished with the character creation section. I'll make some notes tonight at work, and try to post the initial write up in the morning.

I have nothing in particular to say except that I have been enjoying following ReCoil and am looking forward to more info. It's quite similar to a concept I had been trying to work on for a couple of years (although mine were parasitic life forms instead of ghosts who are "back from the future".

Nice work.

Brian.

Brian Leybourne wrote: ghosts who are "back from the future".

It would be cool if Slivers of Mortality required that the player take additional memories related to each sliver. And the skills then relate to the memory. Makes for a more coherent selection process, IMO.

Mike

It would be cool if Slivers of Mortality required that the player take additional memories related to each sliver. And the skills then relate to the memory. Makes for a more coherent selection process, IMO.

I really like the Slivers of Mortality, but I'm not liking the wide range so much.

Two starting characters who take 2 points of SoM each could end up with very different scores - one could get 6 points and one could get 20. I understand balance is not necessarily anything you're interested in, but as a player I would be a little upset if I was the guy who got hosed with the 6 and everyone else got 15-20.

Just a thought. Otherwise, very nice so far.

Brian.

To be totally honest, I usually really dislike any sort of character creation that has randomness to it. I dislike not being able to make the character I want, but in this case it made sense.. What each player is capable of is somewhat in doubt.

But while skills are very nice to have, remember that every character is essentially capable of anything, simply by editing reality, or what have you.

Likewise, I think it will be fairly easy to get new skills, and get skills into the lower levels, but it will grow exceedingly more difficult to get skills into the upper levels. I haven't decided exactly how the advancement system is going to play out, but the idea I'm playing with will use the Conviction score as a scale of relative difficulty in improvement. The higher the Conviction score, the easier it is, the lower, the more difficult.

Wolfen wrote: Likewise, I think it will be fairly easy to get new skills, and get skills into the lower levels, but it will grow exceedingly more difficult to get skills into the upper levels. I haven't decided exactly how the advancement system is going to play out, but the idea I'm playing with will use the Conviction score as a scale of relative difficulty in improvement. The higher the Conviction score, the easier it is, the lower, the more difficult.

I agree with Brian. If it's not important, then why mess it up by making it random. IOW, what does the randomness get you? Perhaps there's some opposite side of a low roll. That's always cool.

Mike

I can see your points, and I will definitely consider them. However...

a) No starting skills skills will be vastly different, as they are capped at 4.
b) Conviction is a trait I see as being highly fluid, moving up and down multiple times per session. I may even allow some sort of voluntary spending down of Conviction for specific purposes in the game, such as perhaps a free (as in, not from the Mortis Pool) refill of the character's Mortis.

The Conviction trait is still probably the most loosely defined in my mind, because I want to make it highly important to the game..

Okay, brainstorm briefly, before my fatigued mind loses it.

Conviction can only be gained by meeting the raise breakpoint condition. Players will actively want to meet this breakpoint condition. In most cases, this will mean conflict, which should encourage the player to create their own conflicts. It is important to have a high Conviction because (still theoretical) it makes it easier to advance stats. Maybe. Likewise it is important, because the ways to lower Conviction outnumber the ways to raise it. First off is the lower breakpoint condition. Players will actively avoid this. Next, each time one of the character's traits is improved, it costs a point of Conviction in addition to the expenditure of whatever points are required. Finally, a single point of Conviction can be spent to totally refill the character's Mortis trait.

For this last, it might occur to some that it could essentially be done for free. If Morph were to blow his Mortis points stopping a convenience store robbery, he could spend the Conviction point he'd just earned by doing this to refill his Mortis.

And that's perfectly acceptable, and is in fact, encouraged.

I'm tired, just got in from a trying night at work, so I'm sure there are so many holes in this post that swiss cheese would be jealous. I'm sure you'll obligingly point them out to me, and I'll try to address them when I'm better rested.

Wolfen wrote: For this last, it might occur to some that it could essentially be done for free. If Morph were to blow his Mortis points stopping a convenience store robbery, he could spend the Conviction point he'd just earned by doing this to refill his Mortis.

And that's perfectly acceptable, and is in fact, encouraged.

Hm, wow. I seem to have missed this.

Do you think it'll be that much of an issue, Mike? I blatantly stole the idea of Conviction being a helpful stat from TRoS, obviously, but put my own spin on it, because even with only one "SA" the comparative levels would make just adding dice be too much.

Okay, a couple variant ideas, then.

1. Conviction can be spent to refill Mortis, as described below, but it can only be done with a point just earned, and it must be done immediately upon earning it. This will still have the tight circles you mentioned, but it would keep it from being used too often, and only when the character is doing something important to them.

2. Conviction can be spent to refill Mortis, but the process goes as follows: Dice equal to the Conviction level before the point is spent are rolled, against a TN of (either Paradigm, or I'm actually considering making the TN equal to the current Conviction. would make higher conviction a double-edged sword... but eh.) the successes are added to Mortis.

I dunno. I can't see it being too much of a problem, but then I've not had as much experience with this sort of mechanic as some, not even with TRoS.. I'm a staunch supporter, but it's been hard to get a game going.

I don't see it as a huge problem, and your ideas should make it a non-issue. But that's just a guess. The only real way to determine how effective (or problematic) mechanics like this are, is to playtest. You're getting very close to needing that, I think. A little more general flesh, and some writing to solid it all up, and a playtest will be the only way to proceed, IMO.

Mike