AWW: Split Decisions

One reason for the proliferation of Character Qualities is that sometimes I have thematic difficulties with one concept and realize that's because it's actually two divergent ones.

For instance, I was working on a Construct CQ, meant to be an all-purpose fantasy artificial life form. So you could use it for golems, Fronkensteenian creations, clockwork soldiers, and simulacra a la Alias from Forgotten Realm's Azure Bonds. In order to accommodate that whole spectrum I ended up filling up the description box with options that would add or drop or modify the special abilities.

I finally realized this was like making "Humanoid" as a Folk Quality. I was trying to do too many things that were too different.

So I'm splitting it in two.

There's Construct, which is meant for golems of homogeneous construction or patchwork creatures who are imbued with such strength and vitality that all those nerves and sinews and blood vessels and stuff are just stuff. And there's Mechanoid, which is for clockwork or steam-powered mechanical beings.

The Construct focuses on being nigh-indestructible and unstoppable: no pain, no fatigue, soaks up damage like a sponge, and also gains a bonus to predictable/repetitive tasks and any task where there's someone directly directing them, with the most extreme form being that allies can essentially make their own check using their own abilities through the Construct if they have enough time to talk through it (e.g., the lock's on the outside of the cell and the party's locksmith is trapped inside it). The Construct has an option that makes it count as undead but doesn't really have any other effects, just because the same concept works well without modification for a certain type of re-animated corpse.

And then there's Mechanoid, which has more complex abilities.

They can't be healed by normal means, but must be repaired. This is generally a better deal if regular maintenance is possible, because the difficulty of healing them completely is proportional to how wounded they are... fix them after battle and they'll be fresh in every battle. The downside is that field repairs are just patch jobs, and the maintenance cost at the end of the adventure depends on how many times they were repaired.

They can "overclock" an ability, which drastically improves their performance at the risk of degrading future performance.

They have a bonus to anything that requires precise timing, which also allows them to cancel an enemy's movement bonus to dodge. If they're spending an action acting as a spotter, this ability is transferable.

Both the Construct and the Mechanoid have the ability to specify that any of their gear is built-in, but the Mechanoid has a special allotment of Gear Points specifically for such attachments and has some bonuses for mechanical weapons and devices that are intrinsic to their form.

Neither of these would really cover the "android" variation, but if a magically created being is indistinguishable from a Human (or a Dwarf, or whatever), that doesn't really require a CQ to cover it.

Also note that while I'm calling these CQs because Construct wasn't labeled a Folk Quality before the split, I think they both actually will be listed as Folk Qualities. Though as always, FQs can be taken as CQs. So if you want to be a wind-up Dwarf who is not just cosmetically a Dwarf but has the abilities and cultural background of a Dwarf, you could do that.

A better example of a CQ that worked well for two disparate concepts is the Chameleon CQ, the "actor/impostor/master of disguise" character concept. I got done with it and realized that 1) I could think of at least one player I knew who would take it and declare that the disguise abilities were actually shapeshifting and 2) It wouldn't take much to add mechanical support for that.

So the Chameleon CQ, which is written as being a social engineer and master of disguise, has a "CHANGELING OPTION" that makes your abilities internal to you, with all the pros and cons that go along with that. This could be a random magical mutation, an Illusionist with a high level of specialization, or if you're a Goblin you could just be something of a prodigy. Regardless of the backstory, though, a face-altering Chameleon doesn't occupy a materially different role from one with improbable costume and mask skills, so there's little sense making them separate.

AWW: Fun with naming.

One of the best parts about codifying a character concept as a Character Quality is naming the special abilities. A lot of them are just straightforward descriptions. I go for evocative when I can manage it, and sometimes there's an oblique pop culture reference. But sometimes it's just fun.

For instance, there's the Durable CQ. Durable is just... your character is durable. It's a "What It Says On The Tin" CQ, as most ones that have an adjective for a name (Swift, Deadly) are.

Durable's not completely passive, but its most dramatic benefits are an increase in Fight Points and a once-per-scene Second Wind ability which can be a no-brainer since you can use it even in the instant you're defeated.

But it does have one ability that has to be actively invoked, though it won't come up in the simplest games/scenarios since it only applies to attacks for effect.

It's a limited use ability that allows you to partially or wholly negate such attacks. So if somebody tries to snare your legs or throw you against a wall or make you tremble and run with fear or disarm you and their attack succeeds, you declare this ability and you wipe out some or all of the effect points they'd need to spend to achieve this.

It's a way of making it so that effect attacks aren't the Durable character's giant gaping Achilles' heel* and also it just fits the image of the implacable tower of muscle and willpower.

The name of the ability is what I'm proud of, though.

It's called "No". Just that one word. No.

"The horned demon's whip wraps itself around the blade of your long sword. She gives a flick of her wrist--"

"NO."

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*It's a system feature that most ways to represent extreme toughness in the system can be circumvented with attacks for effect. NPCs who are damage-absorbant or invulnerable are half the reason such attacks are so prominent in the system... the other half being giant set-piece monsters like giant slime creatures or multi-tentacled things that would be a curb stomp if they were attacking constantly for damage but can be an interesting challenge if they have a pattern of attacking for effect punctuated with damage.

But a heroic PC who is super tough in most battles shouldn't be suddenly useless in the set piece ones, so the Durable CQ gets this ability. Its rate of use is once per level per adventure, so absent other abilities effects will still be their weak spot, just not their giant gaping one.

AWW: Teaser - Mammalian Folk

Okay, so it's been a while since I linked to a WIP version of the guides, and it will be a while longer since I'm basically planning on trying to make an entirely feature complete version before I move, which will then be put up for review and comment.

But pursuant to me giving Folk Qualities their own chapter in the character guide, I have more than half a page of space to devote to fleshing them out.

And so I've been having some fun with that, when I'm not in the brain space to work on rules.

So here's a partial draft of the section on mammalian folk. Some of them are more complete than others, they'll probably all eventually be broken up into sub-sections with their own headings and have more about the special abilities, and there's at least one more type of mammalian folk that will be included that is currently missing (Ogres), but it gives some cultural background on Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Humans, and Wildkind.

Here's the link.