PDA

View Full Version : Idea for a game



Paganboy28
2009-09-13, 01:14 PM
I have been thinking (dangerous thing!) of either modifying the WoD system or sort of combining it with the Mutants and Masterminds system.

Why?

Well I like dice pools as there is something to be said for rolling lots of dice rather than just one and adding or subtracting a modifier. It makes you feel more powerful somehow. However, the WoD system requires step-by-step abilities, ie you have to have level 3 before you can get level 4.

How much would it break the game to remove those pre-requisites so that if a player wanted an ability at 5th level they could buy it without having the prior 4 levels?

This would increase the customisation ability of characters.


Failing that how could you build dice pools into MnM?

Yuki Akuma
2009-09-13, 02:11 PM
...Well the thing with most levelled abilities is that they come with different powers at the different levels.

So if you bought Weapon Style: Kung-Fu level 5, you'd also have all the abilities from levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Also, some powers build off of lower levels of themselves - Level 3 might let you deal lethal damage with a special attack, for instance, while level 5 lets you deal aggravated by spending a point of Willpower/Mana/Vitae/Plasm/Pyros/Whatever.

Also, having Forces 3 without Forces 1 makes no sense.

Basically, you'd need to go through all the abilities with a fine-toothed comb to find what works and what doesn't, and make any changes necessary (or just throw stuff out wholesale).

Xenre
2009-09-13, 02:42 PM
WoD is World of Darkness, right? So each "level" of a power does something different. One could easily be a vampire that can disguise itself but not hide in the shadows.

I'd assign different buy values to each power, like they do with the merits and flaws. I would use Shadow Run's (another good dice pool system) skill buy as a guide (to get leve 6 you pay 5, to get level 10 you pay 9, levels 1 and two would cost 1). A little tweeking to get the balance you like and there you have it.

Paganboy28
2009-09-13, 03:03 PM
Exactly. If you do it the way RAW then every say, vampire with a discipline at level 5 has the 1,2,3,4 abilities as well and has to go through all of them first.

To give more variety, what would be wrong with assigning points cost to each level and leaving characters to purchase what they like. So you could have level 5 without having to have 1,2,3,4 first. Effectively dipping into and out of disciplines as you like.

The only ones that would have to be scaled are those ones that improve directly as you go up, say strength or resilience.

Also, I tend to dislike disciplines and the whole "clan" background. I like it more as described in "Interview with a Vampire" where each vampire's gifts are "unique". So removing the clan restrictions, effectively making them all non-clan disciplines.

Ashes
2009-09-13, 05:22 PM
Werewolf: The Forsaken's Gifts do not require you to buy them in a series. You can just cherry-pick the ones you want, from the gift lists available to you.

Kurald Galain
2009-09-13, 05:32 PM
To give more variety, what would be wrong with assigning points cost to each level and leaving characters to purchase what they like. So you could have level 5 without having to have 1,2,3,4 first. Effectively dipping into and out of disciplines as you like.
An issue is that the lower-level abilities are often weaker versions of higher-level abilities within the same discipline.

For instance, it would be weird to be able to do Vanish from Mind's Eye (obfuscate 4, oWOD) without knowing how to be an Unseen Presence (obfuscate 2).

It wouldn't "break the game", really, but it would break some of the immersion, and it doesn't really allow for greater character diversity.

Jlerpy
2009-09-13, 09:39 PM
Failing that how could you build dice pools into MnM?

The simplest way would be to take one of the bell curve options from the Masterminds manual (shamelessly copied from the old Unearthed Arcana stuff) and use the rule from Unearthed Arcana for turning bonuses into dice. Can't give you an exact link as my work blocks the sites.

That immediately means you're working from a basis of more dice (2d10 or 3d6), then adding more as you're better.

Alternatively, reverse-engineer the power design system from M&M to a dice pool system.

More alternatively, check out Wild Talents. It runs on the One-Roll Engine (ORE), which is dice-pool based with the interesting dynamic of looking for pairs, triples or other matches, rather than just high numbers.
And it has a similarly freeform but robust power-creation model.