Rise from the depths, thread, and stand once more among the living!
EDIT:
Note that the rules text here is functionally dead. It won't be seeing play, at least not in this game, although maybe if I decide to write a smaller game that's directly about dealing with abstract ideals then maybe I might recycle it. It's just not a good fit for the system, I realized. I'm leaving it here because, well, it's not actually bad rules. Somebody might be able to use them for something, or be inspired, or whatever, and if that's the case it's better off here than not. Worst case, I'm just taking up space.
So, I've been puttering away at learning math and programming and such. Nothing directly applicable, just trying to get myself set to actually take classes. I've got enough ideas down to know that I can't even start playtesting without a basic interface, which has set my timetable back significantly. Such is life, though. Anyway, meanwhile, I'm still working on foundational aspects of the game, trying to get them to some degree of elegance and depth, but I'm a terrible judge of how much complexity is acceptable. I wanted to get some opinions on a part of the game that I think is reasonably polished, and which isn't heavily tied to the interface directly, so a sense can still be gotten of what's going on. A side effect, though, is that it isn't exceptionally well-suited to the medium, so it's not really an exemplar of the game's primary design goal, so keep that in mind. I just mostly hope that it doesn't
clash with it.
So, here's my answer to Alignments. It clocks in at about half the length of D&D's section, but this is a somewhat abbreviated version to be used in character creation - a more in-depth look at each choice would probably extend the length significantly, and could possibly double it.
In addition to the design-philosophy, it's also important that it be satisfying in terms of straight-up philosophy. Are these reasonable divisions and terminology, or are they likely to lead to the same sort of confusion as Good and Evil, or (even worse) complete player disinterest? Do I need clearer language, or a complete rewrite? Are my ideas bad, and should I feel bad? Basically, any feedback on whether any of this is even a good idea is as welcome as feedback on whether I executed it well or not.
Ethics
Next, you determine your ethics. This isn't about how moral your character is, but rather describes how your character defines “morality”. You have several potential values that determine your beliefs, organized into systems of mutually exclusive ideals. While this might be a little unrealistic for modeling real people, who are often inconsistent or hypocritical, fictional characters tend to be a little more consistent in their motivations and beliefs. Each system of ideals has a Devotion score that describes the degree to which you are dedicated to the chosen ideal.
These rules don't usually affect your ability to interact with the world, but they might affect how you get along with other people, who might not share your views. It's important to note that while even characters with opposed beliefs and high Devotion scores can work together, they probably won't get along and the potential for a violent falling out can be very high, depending on their temperaments. For this reason, make sure your choices will work with those of other players.
Many creatures have 0 in all of their Devotion scores, and their choices of ideal are more dependent on the local culture than anything else. Most people simply don't have a strong opinion one way or the other, and are more interested in getting by than upholding deep principles. Even so, Devotion scores of 1 or 2 are reasonably common, and tend to be split evenly between each option. At around Devotion 3, characters become likely to argue that their beliefs are right for everybody, but aren't fanatical and probably don't go out of their way to convince people. It isn't until Devotion 5 that serious frictions are probable appear within a group with opposed beliefs. A creature with a Devotion of 10 is the sort of person you might expect to be heading a crusade of some kind, and people with even higher degrees of dedication might even turn on people who profess to share their own ideals, for being insufficiently devoted. Even so, there's no theoretical upper limit to a creature's Devotion score – no matter how fanatical somebody might be, there's bound to be somebody out there even moreso.
These are the four systems, each with three possible values:
Compassion vs Indifference vs Severity – This system describes a person's views on altruism. A compassionate character is one who believes sacrifice for others is moral. An indifferent character believes that philanthropy can be good, but isn't always really helpful. A severe character is one who believes that encouraging self-reliance is the way to help people be their best.
Honor vs Neutrality vs Pragmatism – This system describes a person's views on honesty and adherence to accepted burdens. An honorable character is one who believes that the truth is always right and that their word is a sacred bond. A neutral character believes that honesty and agreements are helpful, but aren't inherently good. A pragmatic character is one who believes that commitment is, at best, a necessary evil that can leave you trapped by your mistakes.
Indulgence vs Balance vs Temperance – This system describes a person's views on pleasure. An indulgent character is one who believes that pleasure is inherently good, and ought to be sought out to the maximum degree possible. A balanced character believes that pleasure needs to be contrasted with self-control. A temperate character is one who believes that short-term pleasure should be shunned for the greater good.
Vigilance vs Impartiality vs Audacity – This system describes a person's views on prudence. A vigilant character is one who believes that it's a great virtue to resist tempting risks, instead remaining cautious and waiting for ideal opportunities. An impartial character believes that taking risky chances can be helpful, but appropriate management is also be important. An audacious character is one who believes that risks should actively pursued in order to achieve goals.
Religion
Religions involve devotion to a particular deity, pantheon, cosmic principle, or even a ritualized way of life. You don't need to have one, even if you acknowledge the existence or validity of a religion's focus. Being a part of a religion is more than an acknowledgment of truth; it is a profession of faith, and so it even comes with its own Devotion score. If you do have a religion, then you can substitute its tenets for your values in many situations. Whenever a rule would use a value of yours and one of another being's, if that being is part of the same religion, an allied religion, or an opposed religion, you can use religion instead of values. Identical or allied religions act as though they were the same value, while opposed religions act as though they were different values. Completely unrelated religions don't interact in this way, so you're forced to use your actual values in such situations. Each religion will list its particular allies and enemies.
For instance, suppose you're a priest of Lor'hatay, Goddess of Light and Sun, and Destroyer of the Unliving. You have Altruism 3, your paladin ally and fellow worshipper has Severity 1, and you are facing a necromancer with Altruism 2, who worships Dorgamos, God of the Eternal Sleep, and Keeper of Troubles. There is also a nearby mare, who, for the sake of argument, reveres the stablehand that feeds her, knowing no power greater than the Bringer of Sustenance. Horses, after all, are not terribly wise. With your first spell, you attempt to smite the necromancer with a sacred lightning bolt that heals those who are also Altruistic and damages others. Because your deities are opposed, the attack works as intended. During the next round, you may wish to heal the paladin, and you can do this, as well, because you share a deity. If the horse should be wounded in the crossfire, you might need it to be a slightly Altruistic horse if you want to heal it with the same power.
Religion would essentially be a sidebar, but I don't know how to do that with the forum's formatting. Deity names and titles are placeholders with no real significance.
The full write-up would include guidelines for creating your own ideal systems to suit your particular campaign needs, up to and including a Law/Chaos and Good/Evil one if you want it.
Angels and demons would still be tied to these ideals, as they're tied to beliefs in other games, but you'd have angels and demons for each possible value, since I want a point of the core game to be that none of them, not even the "neutral" options, are inherently good or evil. Instead, since I'm going for a specifically heroic storytelling type of game, I want it to be less about your choice of goal or motivation, and more about whatever epic struggles occur in pursuit of it.
Tied to that, I could stand to balance out some of the blurbs a bit better. My own biases still come through too strongly, in particular in Pragmatism, which I don't think I've written to sound very good at all. Each one's supposed to be presented and justified on its own terms, so I need to work on that. I might be able to do a better job in the full write-up, but it's still crucial that I manage to compress into a single sentence why somebody might actively pursue freedom from commitment as a moral choice.
I've set up fanaticism as an obvious evil, since it facilitates clashes of ideology, but I'm not sure that's necessarily the right way to go. You could probably get a pretty decent story out of a struggle against apathy, too. I'd extend the scale into the negatives, but I feel like that might complicate things too much, since it's already pretty overdone as is, and an absolute floor with no absolute ceiling matches the rules for other statistics more closely.
I should probably change the horse to some sapient bystander to make it less silly.
EDIT: Aw, hell, I might as well ask. If anybody would be interested in working on the coding end of this thing, I'd be grateful. If you know how you would put together
Gametable or one of the other, similar things mentioned earlier in the thread, my admittedly scant knowledge of programming suggests that you have all the skills you'd need for the bare minimum. My magical Christmasland vision would also involve a video chat client of sorts, but that's a higher bar than I can realistically aim for, and it's not strictly necessary. Moneywise, I could probably afford $200 each month, possibly $300, which isn't much, so chances are I'd need to pay for the work over several months - and that's contingent on getting my current financial woes under control. I've only got assurances from other people in that regard, no money in the bank yet, so I'm not going to make any promises I can't keep yet, but I have no intention of asking somebody for help on this and not paying for it.
If I get any actual interest, I'll throw together an actual specification and we'll see what we can do. Send me a PM if you're interested. In case of competition, I'll give preference to somebody who's familiar with video chat and/or web design, since those are both things that will be very relevant in the future. I'd also be okay with a team effort, but since that involves dividing up what I'm able to pay, you might not be. If you wouldn't mind, let me know, otherwise I'll assume you'd rather be the sole person involved.
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Topic: A Desktop RPG: Big Damn Heroes (Read 2491 times)