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[MrWiggles]

I'm working on a new mu* that is a contemporary urban action adventure fantasy set in Orange County, CA. It pulls chiefly from Dresden Files and Warehouse 13. This will be a role play enforced mush. There are no mobs. It will be focus on inter player drama, and gaining new abilities through role playing character progression, with some game events thrown in for fun.

This will be my second one. My first one is on its forth year. So I have decent hopes for this one. The game system will use three systems.  I am currently hosting it on my home box, as I create the basic stuff. If you're interested in coming by and see what most muds have to start with before they let players on, hit me up in IRC room.

The Action System!: This system deals with attacks, defense as well as buffs or healing.- Mostly Done and mostly transcribed.

The Alteration System: This system deals with transformations, weapons, armors, and even things like fighting styles. This is also where some Banes will inflict their ill will. Sorta Done and not transcribed.

The Arbiter System!: This system deals with RP events that require a skill contest between players, that are none combative. It will get started eventually. 

The world is as it is, as magic and super natural creature of all sorts are rare. Technology development went on how it did through the centuries, as even though its possible to get a magical light-bulb, it couldn't be mass produced. Science academia is well aware of magic. There plenty of published papers on various supernatrual subjects. Most colleges have departments for the super natural subjects, though they tend to be small and poorly funded. Like UC Medical College in Anaheim, has Paraxenobiology courses. Civil authorities are also aware. A City PD may not have the ability to deal with a rampaging werewolf, but the county SWAT team does. The average day person doesn't really know a lot about the SN, except for what the average person knows currently. Its like an extremely obscure fact.

The various SN factions, are treated like meta nations and have seats at the UN. There no one point on the globe where someone can point to the country of Wizards, for instance. However they are recognize as sovereign in their purviews. If a black wizard was caught by LAPD, the Wizard Metanation can extradite him and vice versa.

The various SN factions are still ill define in both history and personality. Nothing to exciting as of yet.

Wizards are collectively known as the White Hats. They form during the Wizard Unification Wars that caused the Black Death of Europe. White Hats wanted to band wizards under one banner, and impose restrictions on how to use their power. The Black Hats, however gave a middle finger to this. The White Hats were losing, due to their own rules, where as the Black Hats used everything and anything they could. The other SN factions realized that it was in their better interest if Wizards did regulate the use of their own power, and joined in. What started as a Wizard War, became Everyone vs. The Black Hats. This caused the Black Hats to dig in their heels and used forces that even made the Black Hats feel morally repugnant and from this they almost won.

Thats it for the SN factions. They aren't something players can start and join. Most of the Factions play for keeps, on the world scale and the players are playing for penny antes in one county on the west coast. Eventually though, they may be able to gain membership. They are always under the various purviews of the Metanations. They will be some of the catalyst for in game events.

The game won't have races or classes. It'll be based around a Plug In System to design your very own supernatural creature as well as character skills. Character pick the various plug in they feel will make the character they wish, then write an application to the staff who may or may not approve it. Mortals aren't pointless. As almost all SN creatures are corporeal, so stabbing, shooting and punching will kill everything eventually.

Spoiler: The Ability Plug Ins (click to show/hide)

Plug In System for Making the SN creature you want:

Gifted: Someone who picks Gifted is able to preform the feat of magic. Though most mages have a gift for one particular thing, they however are not restricted with what they can do with their magic. With gifted one most also pick up; Disruption: Modern Technology. In which the mage has a field of personal influence where technology involving integrated circuit boards and other objects subjected to EM fields are confudled and destroyed. The distribution increases in influence with the mages growth in skill and power. Bane: Running Water. In which the mage finds it difficult to wield magic to her will where she is in connection with running water. Such as rain, or a in a river. It is mutually exclusive with Incorporeal.

Singularly Gifted: Someone who picks Singularly Gifted has the ability to preform feat of magic, though unlike a true gift it only expresses itself in a very narrow manner. Classic example would be an Etcomancer, one who consorts with ghost. Unlike those with Gifted, they must only have Bane: Running Water. In which the mage finds it difficult to wield magic to her will, where she is in connection with running water. Such as rain, or in a river. It is mutually exclusive with Incorporeal.

Bane: Someone who picks Bane, is taking a detriment upon the character where situations or objects have undue influence upon the character. Classic banes include, sunlight for vampires, or silver for Werewolves. They may not always be harmful. They may also force actions of the character. Such as unable to pass barriers made with salt. They may also force personality changes.

Guise: Someone picks Guise has the ability to appear human, when otherwise they are not  passible human in appearance. They may have the ability to use many guises, create them on the fly or use only one. They may have to have an inspiration for their guise, such as stealing someone face. Someone who chooses Guise must also have a Bane that affects their ability to use their Guise.  It may not solely affect their Guise. It may also require a Compulsion.

Transformation: Someone who picks a Transformation has the ability to drastically change their body in that it also affects their physical characteristics. Classical example would be a werewolf  transformation. Any of the plug in except for; Transformation, Guise and Gifted, may be used in conjunction with Transformation. A Bane  and or a Disruption may be required.

Affinity: Someone who chooses an Affinity is someone who is allied with an aspect of reality. They can be something intangible, like a season or emotions. They also be attached to elements, or physical objects. When under the influence of an affinity the character may have personality changes, or physical changes. It may require a Bane to show ill effects when outside the influence of the Affinity.

Disruption: Someone who chooses a Disruption, has their sphere of influence affect the world around them. It may not be harmful or detrimental to the character, though it may be required. These will be in general, approved special effects that affects the game environment and other characters. They may make a mechanical impacts on other players or to the character itself. An example, would be a Ghost making its immediate surrounding colder, or Reaper incarnation causing flowers to wither and those close to death to pass much easier.

Incorporeal: Someone who chooses Incorporeal, is asking for simplicity to be a ghost. They lack a physical form, and may pass through physical objects. Physical environmental effects do not affect them. Most objects or abilities meant to affect physical objects/persons do not affect them. They ingeneral cannot affect physical objects without expending great amount of personal energy. It requires Bane: Running Water. An Incorporeal creature cannot cross open running water, or pass through wet walls of buildings. Rain also harms the character, and makes movement difficult. Bane: Sunlight. Coming in contact with sunlight severely damages and will kill the character. It is mutually exclusive with Gifted and Singularly Gifted.
 
Swarm: Someone who chooses Fio Plures Parum Iunctum is choosing the ability for their character to turn into a plethora of physical objects. These objects retain the person who became them and they become much harder to damage, and allow the character to gain access to harder to reach places. Classic example include, sunlight, mist, mass of insects or a mass of bats. The character sensory perceptions are muted. The character while in his Swarm state cannot use this form to spy. It however can still navigate the world around itself. The entire mass is not needed for the character to reform. All Actions and Alterations that the character has aquired are muted while in a Swarm. It may require a Bane, Sustenance, or a Compulsion. 
 
Compulsion: Someone who chooses a Compulsion is allowing an action or an object to drastically alter the way their character would normally act. Such as a compulsion of Debt would force the character to repay the debt no matter the personal feeling, or if your character has a profound need for pizza your character can be forced to do a series of dangerous acts in order to gain more pizza. This Compulsion may force your character to give out information they otherwise would not. Think of it, as an extreme addiction. What matters is getting the object or preforming the action as it has becomes paramount. 

Sustenance: Someone who chooses Sustenance is replacing the need for mortal foodstuff with another source. Classic example would be; blood for vampires, brains for zombies, emotions for psychic predators or the still warm flesh for some ghouls. Without quelling this, the character may be under detrimental affects, such as weaken, or inactive and possibly personality changes. It requires a Bane, to show the ill affects not properly feeding.

Flight: Someone who chooses Flight, gains the awesome ability of flight. This may be aided, via wings or unaided. How well one is able to fly is determined through skill use.

Regeneration: Someone who chooses Regeneration has character capable of recovering from extreme amount of damage, that would render mortal incapacitated for life or dead. It may be strong enough to heal light wounds during combat, or even grievous ones. It may be able to heal light wounds over a period of time, or grievous ones. It may require a Bane, Compulsion or a Sustenance.

Heighten Senses: Someone who chooses Heighten Sense is electing their character to have superior five senses to that of mortals. They may be active, or passive in nature. It maybe a selection of the senses, or all of them. It may also allow for the ability to sense magical workings. Though it could not also enhance normal sense. It would have to be taken separately.

Aetheric Conduit: Someone who choose Aetheric Conduit is allowing their character to be able to see the true spiritual aspect of reality. It sees through all environmental muck. It allows for the character to see the true spiritual figure, which is representation of the character true. If they present themselves as as a decent person, but in reality they are evil in vile, Aetheric Conduit will reveal it. Everything has a spiritual form. Please see the expanded News Article. The Aetheric Conduit is always an Active Ability (as opposed to a passive ability). Anything seen with the Aetheric Conduit cannot be forgotten, nor forcibly forgotten.

Stat Buffs: Someone who chooses Stat Buffs is asking for one of their attributes to leave the realm of most mortals and be superior in that respect. For each stat, it mush be taken individually.

Special Effect: Someone who choosing a Special Effect for their character is seeking special effect with no mechanical impact, it does not affect other characters or the environment. An example would be glowing eyes, smelling rancid beef or turning water into rose tea.

There will be no hard define rules on what plug in can go with, outside what is already posted in the Plug Ins. I want character to make a shape changing (guise) yeti wizard (gifted) who can regrow their arms(Regeneration, active, serve)  and transform (transform) into a heap of snakes(swarm). That can also fly(Fly).

Or an extremely good marksmen who can recover from even the most serious injurious. (Stat Boost, Dex) (Heighten Senses) (Regeneration, passive, mild.)

[MrWiggles]

Action System!

Spoiler: Stats (click to show/hide)

Stats:

Characters will probably get 208 points to spend on stats. Each stat increase cost 2, until it reaches 15. Then after the cost increases by 1 for every five points increment for the stat. Using the Plug In Stat Post, reduce the starting cost by one.

Strength: Bodily power. Melee based actions will have reliance on this stat.
8
Low end of a adult mortal.
10
mortal average. Can left about 25% of his body weight with little issue.
15
Mortal High End, can lift about 50% of his body weight with little issue.
35
Mortal Limitation, can lift about 150% of his own body weight.

Each point starting at 10, is about 5% of the character body weight. This is a good RP framework as it doesn't give flat scale, but comparative to the character. The detriment is that size isn't accounted for. Though size shouldn't be a common issue. Expected to be humanoid proportions.

This stat also does the damage for melee actions. Such as sword stab or a hammer.

Constitution: Bodily toughness. How many buildings you can bashed though.
8
Low end of a mortal.
Frail, easily bruised.
10
Average mortal.
Can take a few knocks without to much strain.
15
Average Mortal High End
Can crack dry wall, but still go after ya.
35
Mortal Limitation
Can crack a support beam, and even go through it, but still be okay, if dazed.
45
Can cleanly go through an internal wall.
55
Can go crack an exterior wall, or pavement and be fine.
65
Can go through an exterior wall.


>5% HP taken from an action, is a bruise or scrape or messily defended.
10-15% HP taken from an action is a cut or crack rib.
16-30% HP taken from an action is a broken bone, or been shot/stab through.
31-50% HP taken from an action is being gutted


Endurance: Bodily reserves. How long and hard a character can push before they need to take a nap.

8
Low End Mortal Average
Daily activity are tiring.
10
Average Mortal
Daily Activities are not tiring
15
High End Mortal
Manual Labor doesn't tire ya out.
35
Mortal Limitation
Run that marathon!

Dexterity: Hand eye coordination and manual dexterity.

8
Low End Mortal Average
Butterfingers everything.
10
Average Mortal
Throw and catch balls with out much effort.
15
High End Mortal
Juggle those knives! Or Pro Sport Person
35
Mortal Limitation
World Class Slight of Hand Magican

Agility: Bodily movement coordination. Running, jumping, and double somersault triple twist backflip.

8
Low End Mortal Average

10
Average Mortal

15
High End Mortal

35
Mortal Limitation


Willpower: Mental reserves. How much mental and spiritual reserve the character has.

8
Low End Mortal Average

10
Average Mortal

15
High End Mortal

35
Mortal Limitation


Finesse: Mental and spiritual dexterity. How well the character can manlipuate its own energy.

8
Low End Mortal Average

10
Average Mortal

15
High End Mortal

35
Mortal Limitation


Speed: Abstracted lateral movement scale.

8
Low End Mortal Average

10
Average Mortal

15
High End Mortal

35
Mortal Limitation

Spoiler: Action Attributes (click to show/hide)

Action attribute break down: Attacks defense, and buffs are treated as the same. The system relays possible actions not not all allowable actions. Just because it can be constructed doesn't mean a player can have it as an action for the character.


Type: This is the descriptive nature of the action, denoting intended action and distance. Two types may be selected. They are as follows:

Melee, Ranged, Block, Dodge, Parry, Area of Affect, Noncombative

Melee are actions in personal reach of the characters with conflicting actions.
   Punch to the face!
Ranged are actions meant to be taken outside of personal reach of the two characters with conflicting actions.
  Gun to the Face!
Block are actions which attempt to nullify conflicting actions through opposing force.
   Shield to the Punch! Bullets to the vest!
Parry  are actions which attempt to nullify other conflicting actions through redirectin said action.
   Defect the Fireball! Paint the Fence to the Punch!
Dodge are actions which attempt to nullify conflicting actions through moving out of the way.
   QUADDRUPEL BACK FLIP DODGE!
Area of Affect are actions taken that are meant to affect more then just caster of the action.
   EAT HELL ZONE GRENADE! Face the awesome might of my Barrier of Force!

Core: This where the skill group that the action uses are listed. The core that used by the character Action is stored on the character themselves instead in the Action system database. The core maybe blanked, and the Action will be rolled solely off of Stats and Character Advancement. There can be any number of skills. For Navitas (not a finalized list):

Thermomancy
  Adjusting ambient temaptures, and elemental spells such as fire and ice.
Pneumancy
  Gales of winds!
Holomancy
  The ability to alter other perceptions through external means. It also also for images to be constructed and can be movable.     
Neuromancy
  Messing with the Brain Magic (Mind Reading, Jedi Mind Trick, Mental Suggestion to Complusion)
Invitomancy
  I summon thee, Hockus Pokus to do mine bidding!
Vitasomancy
  Magic Missile, Bigsby Grasping Hands
Guns
  Shot stuff!
Fists
  Hit stuff!
Melee Weapons
  Sworded! Polearmed! Hammered!
First Aid
  Band Aids and Duct Tape

More as the Players Need
   I dont know. Other actions that can affect the stats of players that are not of a combat nature. Or ones that can make use of a skill level.  Hacking? Bluffing? Fraud?

Core Levels

Core levels, are an abstracted measurement of proficiency in the at skill. There wouldnt a finite list of skills. This has a few advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages is that it doesn't hog tie characters in what their character is skilled in. A character can name specific skills or be abstracted in a sense. This however requires some assumptions and may need a core tagging system to allow Actions which would affect a Core of that ability, even if it doesn't state that explicit Core. The tags wouldn't be very large, with a disadvantage of probably allowing Actions to affect things they shouldn't, but that type of issue will exist no matter what and can be made into informal play rules, that almost always come up.

Cursory Tag List
Magical skill, combative
Magical skill, noncombative
SN skill, Combative
SN skill, noncombative
Mortal skill, combative
Mortal skill, nonecombative

The largest assumption it makes is that the cores represent profency in not only positive but also negative actions. Such as my Core in Generic-O Martial Arts, assumes that I am equally skilled in attacking and defending with it. Or a computer skill allows me to defend my system and attack other systems. The game system can handle speciality, such as a Core that meant for only attacking, and placing defensive actions on a hidden or a different Core,  but it won't do so by default.


If we have a finite Core list then we can arrange them in groups, and can have a definitive tagging system for them. This will make the system easier to handle, but it seems to go against the spirit of the system intended goal.

For Core levels, 20 should mark Proficiency. Magic should have a finite list, or a hard justification for added cores to it. Specialization cores are possible and wouldn't be finite.

20
Profecient
Basic things dont require to much effort or luck to pull off.
30
Highly skilled.
Basics things are trival, and advance workings of the Core dont require to much effort or luck to pull off.
70
Master Level
Advance tasks are near or trival to preform. Any function of this Core is not out of reach. From herein its not a matter of understanding, but of experience in apply the skill.
       


Stats: These are the stats that the action uses in conjunction with the core.

Consumption:  This which energy pool that the action takes from. Most actions will take from at least two. This where it also denotes how much of the energy pool they take. They are follows:

Health
Navitas
Stamina
Action Points

Consumption Cost: The cost for the action on the energy pool.

Examination of the Resource Reserves

Health
The Health pool represents the character body to take harm before failing (EI Passing out.) or dying. It is another abstraction, describing ability to dodge, bumps and bruises. It is up to the player to describe how his character is harmed. Health is derived from the Constitution stat. If there is not enough Health to preform the action or at the behest of failed Action contests then the character is no longer able to preform any actions, and is either unconscious or dead.

Health Pool Formula

           1               2                3              4

1 Con Stat
2 Arbitrary. To ensure there enough of this pool to be used by the actions or at the behest of failed Action Contests.
3 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.
4 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.

Navitas
The Navitas pool represents the overall mental and mystical resources the character has in order to power various super natrual abilities or special mortal abilities. This pool is derived from the averages of the stats plus metric for character improvement. If an action requires more Navitas then what is available then it will be pulled from the Stamina pool.

Navitas Pool Formula

           1         2          3          4          5         6         7          8         9               10              11            12          13

1 Str Stat
2 Con Stat
3 End Stat
4 Dex Stat
5 Agi Stat
6 Wil Stat
7 Fin Stat
8 Spd Stat
9 To gain the average of all the stats.
10 To show experience adding to the Navitas reserve, With age comes power. Character advancement metric.
11 Arbitrary. To ensure there enough of this pool to be used by the actions.
12 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.
13 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.[/li][/list]


Stamina
The Stamina pool represent the overall bodily reserves of the character. It fuels character physical exertion. Stamina is derived from Endurance.  If an action requires more Stamina then what is left in the pool then it may be optionally taken from the Health pool. The player has to okay the exchange of resource reserves.

Stamina Pool Formula
   
          1                   2             3             4

1 End Stat
2 Arbitrary. To ensure there enough of this pool to be used by the actions.
3 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.
4 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.

Action Point
The Action Point pool is the action limiter for game rounds. They abstractly represent the time and concentrate a character may exert during a single round.  If the action requires more stamina then what is in the pool, then the action will carry over into multiple rounds until the Action Point Cost is meant.

Action Point Pool Formula

            1                2             3         4            5       6           7                 8


1 This is the stamina derived energy pool.
2 Arbitrary. To ensure the AP pool is kept at a reasonable number.
3 Dex Stat
4 Speed Stat
5 To get the average of the dex and speed stat. This is the reaction derived stat, that will be called upon a lot.
6 This number is ensure that some actions may always be taken, and to prevent large negative numbers.
7 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.
8 For actions that may results in changes to this resource reserve.


Multiaction Cost: The cost for the action to be used more then once in succession.
 
Condition:  This is here if the action is capable of canceling a conflicting action or being canceled by a conflicting action.

An action capable of not being dodged, such as an area affect action. Thusly a conflicting action that is of the Dodge Type will be ignored.
I cant think of an example where an action can be cancelled by another conflicting action.

Composition: This is more or less the damage type, and what the action is made from.  There are generally two items listed here.

Blunt
Sharp
Electrcity
Metal
Earth
Fire
Wind
Water
Navitas
Poison
Iron Alloy
Silver
Cure All
Specific Bane
Stamina

Strong: If the action has a strength against a particular Type, Core or Composition then this action receives a bonus. Optional.

    Strong Bonus: Lister on how the bonus affects this action.

Weak: If the has a weakness against a particular Type, Core, or Composition then this action receives a penalty. Optional.

    Weak Penalty:  List on how the penalty affects this action.

Affect: What this action if successful affects the target. This can be, any of the energy pools, stats and cores.

Dealt: How the action affects the target. This is where the damage formula would be placed in.

Duration: This how many rounds the action may persist.

    Duration Cost Source: This is the where the cost of the Duration is stored. This will probably be the same as the Consummation of the action.
   
    Duration Cost: This is the secondary cost of the of action paid every round the action persists.

Dynamic Rolling Mechanic:
Unlike other table top games, the random nature of the dice grows with the character.

Forty percent of the character action total is randomized.

Action Total=10. 40% of 10, is 4. So that comes to 6+(1-4).

[[-spasm-]]

Interested, have a couple of questions from my preliminary skim-read: Does Bane: Running Water also apply to standing water, like lakes or puddles, and can Transformation be used to transform into in-animate objects?

EDIT: Also, maybe I missed something, but whats SN? Just let me know if you don't want someone who has never played one of these before slowing you down

[Armok]

This sounds interesting. I got a good idea for a char with Affinity: discrete mathematics, Swarm: Digital information, Bane: [Disruption: Modern Technology.] , and Sustenance: information.

You forgot to post links thou.

[MrWiggles]

Interested, have a couple of questions from my preliminary skim-read: Does Bane: Running Water also apply to standing water, like lakes or puddles, and can Transformation be used to transform into in-animate objects?

EDIT: Also, maybe I missed something, but whats SN? Just let me know if you don't want someone who has never played one of these before slowing you down

SN means Supernatrual.

Water in this universe acts as a grounder for SN energies. Running water takes the energy away with them, making it harder for the various SN creatures that are affected by it. A large still body of water, would be like having a copper wire attached to a live water, that touching a metal plate. It doesn't draw all the energy away but it is tapping it out. Its like pulling it from poor conductive wire.

This sounds interesting. I got a good idea for a char with Affinity: discrete mathematics, Swarm: Digital information, Bane: [Disruption: Modern Technology.] , and Sustenance: information.

You forgot to post links thou.

Thats an interesting character. Hrm. And what links did I not post? oO

[Armok]

The links to the MU* server, and the IRC room that we could talk to you on.

[MrWiggles]

Oh, well its my naked IP address. I'm not going to post that on a forum.

As for the IRC room, its the #bay12games that has a link to on df home page. And you can find me in #scratchrp.

[MrWiggles]

Action system posted.

[haileyquinade]

A link to the active thread, with more updates from MrWiggles. Just in case anyone was following here. ^_^

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=113699.0