Difference between revisions of "Black Sun, White Moon Alternate System"

Latest revision as of 19:17, 16 September 2009

Since we've had a lot of sessions drop out recently, and given that Nate's friends are interested in WoD themed stuff, I think I may try to go forward with one shots in a WoD-like game world at some point in the future. It will retain a few of the ideas mentioned in the main thread, probably including the "dream origins" of power, but very little else. I will try out a narrativist system that I have been working on for this, which will probably make it rocky at first. But we'll see how it goes.

The System:

A character consists of 5 traits, which are ranked 5-1 for a WoD intro character power level game: distributions can be changed for different power levels.

The characteristics are:
Action: Physical actions and fighting.
Drama: Social Interactions, Investigation: nonphysical exciting parts.
Background: training, equipment, wealth: ie anything you would get based on your upbringing/training/lifestyle.
Special: Magic/Special powers.
Chaos: randomness, for the player who likes that sort of thing.

A character may assign to each characteristic a number of traits equal to the points value assigned to that characteristic. A trait is just a descriptive term that illustrates how your character's rating is what it is. So a ninja with a high action might take "stalking tiger martial arts" "acrobatics", etc. You can "double up" on a single trait, which carries with it advantages and disads.

Anytime there is a challenge: either contested or static, the comparison is straight up: whoever has the higher number wins. However, the two parties in secret may "bid" any number of traits: each trait bid increases your "score" for that action by 1. Once the bids are revealed, all bid traits are Used up for the given scene.

most challenges will come down to Drama and Action, but Special and Background can be added to these characteristics as follows:
Background: at the beginning of each scene a character may assign background according to his/her traits: this assignment must be fairly specific. Challenges during that scene where the assigned uses come into play may add the background rating assigned to that action.
Special: a character may use his/her special characteristic as many times per scene as he/she has points assigned to it (ie, so a 5 in special nets you 5 uses per scene). Activation of special effects must be trait appropriate: some special effects may last the whole scene, others may only affect a single action. In general, everytime you use a power for a challenge, you must "Reactivate" it. Special can add to action or drama for purpposes of challenges, like background above. For AoE special attacks, assume that you can hit as many targets as you have permanent dots in special. you can get multiply by that number for each extra point of special you spend on the attack.

Chaos:
For each level in chaos, a character can choose to roll a dice when performing an action. On the roll of 6, something spectacular happens (bigger for more sixes): on a one (and no sixes) something catastrophically bad happens. ones cancel sixes, but as long as one six is rolled, no catastrophe ensues, even if there are more ones. on a 2-5, nothing happens.

Forming Up: Groups of opponents that might otherwise be insignificant can "form up": in this case, use the characteristics of the "best" of the group, and add one to the relevant stat per extra person up to a maximum of +5. Against opponents who have double or more the base value of the leader, forming up nets no bonus. Anybody forming up loses the "hindered" health level for as long as they are formed up.

The story: Vitality and Flow.
For the purposes of this, I will say that in a given game, people are basically interested in Vitality, which I define as cool stuff happening, and Flow, meaning that the cool stuff fits together in a cool way. Players are largely invested in protecting the vitality of their character. The GM tends to maintain vitality, but is basically the only person who can really monitor flow, since he/she controls the game world.
I don't really think the GM being the only enforcer of the rules works. Especially if we posit that everyone is interested in a cool story. Thus the following:
The Vitality Tab
Each player gets one Vitality Tab.Anytime a player OR the GM does something that anyone at the table thinks is unfair, unsporting, or unfitting/inappropriate given the circumstances or the characters involved, he/she can throw down his/her vitality tab to challenge that action. Whether or not the action goes through is subject to a simple vote: the GM's vote can count double in the case of ties, or ties can go to the defender. If the acting player loses, he/she may do-over his/her action: if the second action also elicits a challenge, the action fails without a vote and the player forfeits his/her turn. Any time a vitality tab is dropped against you, regardless of how the vote comes out, you get the tab. You can accumulate them and use them to issue challenges later, OR you may use the tabs at any time to get an extra action or regenerate a single trait (or used up characteristic point) (such as in combat), or go a step down a health ladder, or to "assign" background points by returning them to the bank. Vitality tabs reset at the end of the night (ie, you can't save them).
IF the player chooses to yield, he/she immediately gets a flow tab in addition to automatically getting the vitality tab. A flow tab has all the benefits of a vitality tab, EXCEPT that it doesn't disappear at the end of the night: you can hoard these all you want.

Conflict:
conflict of any kind is resolved through the challenges described above. so when does a conflict end? That is determined by "health levels". A character has a health bar for Each characteristic: the bar used for a given conflict is based on which characteristic is the primary arena of the conflict (so, a battle of "luck" would use the "chaos" characteristic, for instance; rarely applicable, but potentially interesting). Each health bar has the following "levels":

baseline/unimpeded
hindered
severely hindered
incapacitated
catastrophic

If an attack exceeds the defenders defense, he/she inflicts 1 level of damage. if the attack is 2x the defense, inflict 2 levels. 3x, 3 levels, etc.
this should be seen as an "exponential" bar, to some degree. Therefore, for a "1 level" attack to move a character 2 levels (such as from a second attack), double the number of successful strikes required. double it again for each further level. THis rule may require way too much bookkeeping, so it will easily get scrapped.
a character may spend a turn to go from hindered to shift their status one step down the bar. you cannot move more than one step in this way.
a character may spend a vitality tab to go one step down the bar until the end of the scene.
a character cannot get out of the catastrophic level without an immediate expenditure of a vitality tab.

Penalties:
hindered: -1 on all actions in that arena.
severely hindered: must spend a trait to act: -2 on all actions.
incapacitated: just that. if attack appropriate, target dies at the end of the scene.
catastrophic: cinematic, gruesome, and/or spectacular version of "incapacitated". recovery impossible without expenditure of vitality tabs.