Classless Roleplaying Game needs devs

[Anecronwashere]

Hi forumites. Basically I am planning on making a new classless game but it is just a little bit too big for one person.

So I need others to help, to build, playtest and come up with ideas.

The basic premise is an ability tree type thing.
PCs get XP from doing things in a specific tree (or a base Character tree) that they then spend on upgrading like-abilities

Eg a Mage casting a Fireball gets Magic XP and Character XP. The XP from Magic can upgrade the Fireball, purchase new spells or metamagic.
The XP from Character can buy more Health, Spell Resistance, XP in any of the other trees (Magic, Melee, Ranged, Psi etc), Saves etc.


This is basically a recruitment thread for anyone who wants to sign on and help and a discussion thread for different ideas to implement.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

One thing to watch out for is that players may try to game the system with out-of-combat or unnecessary use of their abilities. A Wizard casting Fireball over and over for no real reason would level up quite fast, which you might want to constrain to prevent meta-gaming.

[Anecronwashere]

XP is gained on the success of the ability and learning the innate qualities of something.

So studying Magic = Magic XP
Hitting someone with a Fireball = XP
Torching a barn = XP
Attacking the sky = Nada, zippo nothing

I do need a way to stop PCs attacking each other though (I'm planning on having saving successfully, avoiding hits etc. give Char XP).
Maybe a limit on the amount of XP can be gained in {insert time period here}?

[Veklim]

I've played in a couple of games where the DM tried something like this, and you get the same trouble every time. One method of XP gain will ALWAYS have a loophole or balance issue which ends up giving one or two party members a lot more XP than the rest.

The WhiteWolf system actually gets around this pretty well, and is in many ways exactly what you're describing (with a few DnD-esque references to stats thrown in and multiple XP types, which is intriguing btw). I'm interested to see where this takes you, but I see many troubles ahead with your current model.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

So studying Magic = Magic XP
Hitting someone with a Fireball = XP
Torching a barn = XP
Attacking the sky = Nada, zippo nothing

Then PCs will torch all the barns, spend their downtime constantly studying or fighting or picking off civilians...there are to many exploits, and SOMEONE will use those exploits.



Maybe a limit on the amount of XP can be gained in {insert time period here}

I feel that if you do this, you may as well just award the maximum every time. In my experience, if you set an upper limit, players will ALWAYS find a way to reach it. That's the problem with a game...even if players aren't munchkins, they will usually strive to maximize their own in-game capability to the extent that their build and the system allows.

[ufo]

You should take a look at the "Burning Wheel" system. It doesn't work in the exact same way, but like this it's based on the philosophy that your character gets experience in the things he or she is actually doing.

The first 40-or-so pages of the rulebook (including the XP things) is published for free through download (PDF, I guess?). I don't have time to find the link right now, but you should be able to find it with Google.

[Xechon]

Ha! Burning Wheels, right here (http://www.veljeskunta.info/anttiki/bw/BW_Core.pdf), for your convenience! It is a largely storytelling type of game, but the skill system is made to increase only the skills you use.

Also, GURPS (http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG31-0004) is relevant. GURPS (http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG31-0004) is always relevant. Unless you do not like simulationist games, you are stupid, or simply a hater/fanboy of another game system.

[Craft (Cheese)]

Hi forumites. Basically I am planning on making a new classless game but it is just a little bit too big for one person.

So I need others to help, to build, playtest and come up with ideas.

Okay, first up: What is this game system meant to accomplish? Are there good reasons why a modification of an existing system would be insufficient? Unless you're looking to make a fast buck selling books (and there really are better cash cows than the tabletop gaming market), there's no need to reinvent the wheel.

Second, some general suggestions:

The fewer mechanics, the better. Especially in tabletop gaming. Anything you make part of the system is something players will have to deal with in real time. Having to do two hours of physics calculations to make a single attack sucks your combat system dry of any and all fun, even though a computer algorithm could do it in less than a single frame. Complexity is your enemy here.

Remember that depth and complexity are not the same thing. A simple rule can have far-reaching consequences in actual play: Chess would be radically different if you removed pawn promotion. These sorts of simple rules are your best friends as a game designer because they let you greatly increase the depth of the game without increasing the executional load on the player.

Good designers copy, great designers steal. Originality is vastly overrated: Unless you get into the territory of having to worry about violating patents (*coughtappingcough*), don't be afraid to take mechanics from other games that seem like they would work well. You'll save yourself tons of needless work.

That said, don't be afraid to break the mold. Genres and conventions exist because they let us use an old, proven solution. Never let them become a straightjacket. If you've think you've found a better way, go for it!

Always go for quality over quantity. Concerning class systems, for example, a game with 5 really fine-tuned classes will pretty much always have a superior class system to one with over 40 classes where almost all of them are sloppy messes. Aim for a small, well-polished set of meaningful options instead of 50 bajillion ones.

Finally, never ever follow any rule off a cliff, including this one. All of what I've said here are guidelines to help you make better games: If violating one or all of them would lead you to a better game, don't even hesitate.

I have some more to say about your specific ideas, but I have to leave now so I'll stop here and pick it up later.

[Anecronwashere]

@Everyone: So are you signing up to help or just offering advice? or something else?

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

@Everyone: So are you signing up to help or just offering advice? or something else?

Offering advice. I haven't seen enough of your thought and intents to know if I CAN really help you, let alone checked to make sure I have the time to devote to a system that's not one of my own pet projects. Your teaser is interesting and I may keep an eye on it, but I don't know enough about your proposed system to know anything more than that.

[Psilulz]

I'd like in on this. Sounds something like an Elder Scrolls game. I have also been wanting to create an xp-based, classless system, although never really got around to it.

[Anecronwashere]

@Craft: Basically I'm making it because I've always wanted to try my hand at making a system. Hopefully balanced too.
I saw the Legend System (and to a lesser extent Pathfinder) and thought "If they can, so can I!"

I hope to keep complexity down in combat or in the actual game. More complexity will be around the XP-Spending part than most other games due to, well the amount of stuff you would need.

I'll try for quality. That's partly why I'm asking for other dev's, to bounce ideas off of and to have other sources for those ideas to improve the general quality of the game.



Basics I am thinking of:

Ability Scores in a Spectrum
The ability scores instead of being say 6 scores going up are two opposers that give bonuses to certain skills. Each point towards one end giving more bonuses about that trait and penalties about the opposite. For instance Speedy or Bulky and Strong:

Strong - Fast
[X] - [Y]
[A] -
etc.

Each of the spectrums go from 1 to 3 both ways (so 7 positions) and give increasing bonuses and penalties

eg. Strong - Fast
3 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3
+1 Damage when wielding a [Heavy] Weapon for every point in Strong
+1 Speed for every point in Fast
-10XP buying [Strong] tagged Powers for every point in Strong
-10XP buying [Fast] tagged Powers for every point in Strong
-1 Lifting for every point in Fast
-1 Initiative for every point in Strong

"Power Trees" (needs better name):
There are several Power-Trees that can be brought using "Character XP" and using the powers inside give "{Tree} XP".
There are 4 power-tree groupings. Well 3 and Character.

Character: There is only one Power-Tree of this type. Nearly every action that gives XP will give some amount of Character XP. More detail in the specific tree level.

Non-Combat: Power-Trees that are not directly related to fighting of the physical kind. This type gains XP from Studying or Practising the skills or using them in everyday life.
Example Power-Trees include: Survival, Social and Enchanting.

Combat: Power-trees about the art of war, or at least the art of minor skirmishes. This type gains XP from Studying or Practising their method of combat or actually Fighting.
Example Power-Trees include: Melee, Arcane Magic and Sneaky

Racial: Power-Trees about your Race, or Templates/Sub-Racial abilities.
This type is special as it does not generally gain XP on it's own but has to be given it by Character XP (see Character in the specific Trees for more detail).
They generally contain XP cost reducers or additions as the baseline powers gained when first given but do have buyable unique abilities (like a Beholder's more niche eye rays) and has powers that augment or add to the Combat or Non-Combat Power-Tree's powers (like Spells unique* to an Elf or Lich).
These are usually quite small compared to everything else in terms of buyable upgrades.
*By unique I mean requires Any of Races A, B or C.


Specific Power Trees generally have a few basic moves (Magic missile for Arcane, Swing for Melee) with smaller unlockable Sub-trees inside
For instance Melee could have Swing, Parry and Block powers (and some upgardes for them). Then for the Sub-Trees the Heavy Weapon, Multiweapon and Light Weapon Sub-trees specialize the character's powers and weapon choice

Example Power-Trees:

Empty:
[B]Title: the name of the tree
Description: General stuff about it, including example powers or the theme of the Power-Tree.
Auto Powers: What you get when you unlock the Tree for the first time.
Sub-Trees: A list of smaller, more specialized branches within this one and how much they cost to buy them (and what XP to buy them with, some powers and sub-trees have multiple sources (Arcane and Character for example, or a Gish Sub might have Melee and Arcane).
Powers: A list of the powers. Bonuses to checks or checks to be made go here. An example would be Forest Combat giving a boost to Attack in the forest or Fireball which makes an attack check.

Character Power-Tree: The generic Power-tree everyone has. Contains things such as Base Defence, Base Attack, Health and generic Powers for all adventurers
Auto-Powers:
Toughness x1
Level-Up +1
Sub-trees: None
Abilities:
Level Up: 300 Character XP. Raise your Level by 1. This has no effect except to act as a prerequisite.
Toughness: 100 Character XP. Increase your HP by 10, this number may be modified by your Strong score as well as some others. Note one may not take this feat more than [Level x2].
Will Save 50 Character XP. Increase your Will Save Modifier by +1. Can be taken to a maximum of [Level x3]
Fortitude Save: 50 Character XP. Increase your Fortitude Save Modifier by +1. Can be take to a maxium of [Level x3]
Duck and Cover!: 75 Character XP. By spending an Immediate Action when near some form of barrier or cover you and any nearby allies who are also near a barrier or cover gain a +2 against any Area-of-Effect attacks or any attack that requires a Reflex Save.
So on so forth.

Races that mean something:
Each playable race has it's own things that separate it from all the rest and mean something even as you get more and more stuff.
There isn't much of a difference between a Human Wizard and a Dwarf Wizard at lvl20 but I want to change that. A Human has an easier path down certain tracks and a harder one down others (XP reductions and increases) while a Dwarf has Ability X and can buy Ability Y that changes how Abilities A-D works in the Arcane Tree (or makes them available) making them different to the Human's A-D and their own changed Ability E.

For the Core Rulebook it will probably only have 3-5 races statted out but they should feel different and the decision should be an actual decision.
Not a toss up between "+2 Con or an extra feat" but instead "Do I play Blaster with a focus on Earth giving more damage but less versatility or be more versatile at the expense of being a Master-Of-None."

Monster Races don't need to be detailed as much as PCs, their unique abilities (if any) and a couple upgrades are enoguh.
PC versions can wait for splatbooks if there are any.

Monsters use PC rules (kinda):
Use a simplified version of the char-creation by buying "packs" of powers instead of individual powers on their own. Have a bunch of statted out monsters (built with the packs by us) for various levels with several optional Upgrades or Downgrades.
A Goblin with a club for fresh newbies becomes an acrobatic quaterstaff wielding Ninja-Goblin a few levels down with only a single "pack" added.
Alternatively the Lich in the book is a bit too powerful for your low level group? whack on this downgrade and let your party whack the undead BBEG.

This one will be hard to implement. But all monsters will be hard anyway.

[Anecronwashere]

Because my post above doesn't seem to register:


@Craft: Basically I'm making it because I've always wanted to try my hand at making a system. Hopefully balanced too.
I saw the Legend System (and to a lesser extent Pathfinder) and thought "If they can, so can I!"

I hope to keep complexity down in combat or in the actual game. More complexity will be around the XP-Spending part than most other games due to, well the amount of stuff you would need.

I'll try for quality. That's partly why I'm asking for other dev's, to bounce ideas off of and to have other sources for those ideas to improve the general quality of the game.



Basics I am thinking of:

Ability Scores in a Spectrum
The ability scores instead of being say 6 scores going up are two opposers that give bonuses to certain skills. Each point towards one end giving more bonuses about that trait and penalties about the opposite. For instance Speedy or Bulky and Strong:

Strong - Fast
[X] - [Y]
[A] -
etc.

Each of the spectrums go from 1 to 3 both ways (so 7 positions) and give increasing bonuses and penalties

eg. Strong - Fast
3 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3
+1 Damage when wielding a [Heavy] Weapon for every point in Strong
+1 Speed for every point in Fast
-10XP buying [Strong] tagged Powers for every point in Strong
-10XP buying [Fast] tagged Powers for every point in Strong
-1 Lifting for every point in Fast
-1 Initiative for every point in Strong

"Power Trees" (needs better name):
There are several Power-Trees that can be brought using "Character XP" and using the powers inside give "{Tree} XP".
There are 4 power-tree groupings. Well 3 and Character.

Character: There is only one Power-Tree of this type. Nearly every action that gives XP will give some amount of Character XP. More detail in the specific tree level.

Non-Combat: Power-Trees that are not directly related to fighting of the physical kind. This type gains XP from Studying or Practising the skills or using them in everyday life.
Example Power-Trees include: Survival, Social and Enchanting.

Combat: Power-trees about the art of war, or at least the art of minor skirmishes. This type gains XP from Studying or Practising their method of combat or actually Fighting.
Example Power-Trees include: Melee, Arcane Magic and Sneaky

Racial: Power-Trees about your Race, or Templates/Sub-Racial abilities.
This type is special as it does not generally gain XP on it's own but has to be given it by Character XP (see Character in the specific Trees for more detail).
They generally contain XP cost reducers or additions as the baseline powers gained when first given but do have buyable unique abilities (like a Beholder's more niche eye rays) and has powers that augment or add to the Combat or Non-Combat Power-Tree's powers (like Spells unique* to an Elf or Lich).
These are usually quite small compared to everything else in terms of buyable upgrades.
*By unique I mean requires Any of Races A, B or C.


Specific Power Trees generally have a few basic moves (Magic missile for Arcane, Swing for Melee) with smaller unlockable Sub-trees inside
For instance Melee could have Swing, Parry and Block powers (and some upgardes for them). Then for the Sub-Trees the Heavy Weapon, Multiweapon and Light Weapon Sub-trees specialize the character's powers and weapon choice

Example Power-Trees:

Empty:
[B]Title: the name of the tree
Description: General stuff about it, including example powers or the theme of the Power-Tree.
Auto Powers: What you get when you unlock the Tree for the first time.
Sub-Trees: A list of smaller, more specialized branches within this one and how much they cost to buy them (and what XP to buy them with, some powers and sub-trees have multiple sources (Arcane and Character for example, or a Gish Sub might have Melee and Arcane).
Powers: A list of the powers. Bonuses to checks or checks to be made go here. An example would be Forest Combat giving a boost to Attack in the forest or Fireball which makes an attack check.

Character Power-Tree: The generic Power-tree everyone has. Contains things such as Base Defence, Base Attack, Health and generic Powers for all adventurers
Auto-Powers:
Toughness x1
Level-Up +1
Sub-trees: None
Abilities:
Level Up: 300 Character XP. Raise your Level by 1. This has no effect except to act as a prerequisite.
Toughness: 100 Character XP. Increase your HP by 10, this number may be modified by your Strong score as well as some others. Note one may not take this feat more than [Level x2].
Will Save 50 Character XP. Increase your Will Save Modifier by +1. Can be taken to a maximum of [Level x3]
Fortitude Save: 50 Character XP. Increase your Fortitude Save Modifier by +1. Can be take to a maxium of [Level x3]
Duck and Cover!: 75 Character XP. By spending an Immediate Action when near some form of barrier or cover you and any nearby allies who are also near a barrier or cover gain a +2 against any Area-of-Effect attacks or any attack that requires a Reflex Save.
So on so forth.

Races that mean something:
Each playable race has it's own things that separate it from all the rest and mean something even as you get more and more stuff.
There isn't much of a difference between a Human Wizard and a Dwarf Wizard at lvl20 but I want to change that. A Human has an easier path down certain tracks and a harder one down others (XP reductions and increases) while a Dwarf has Ability X and can buy Ability Y that changes how Abilities A-D works in the Arcane Tree (or makes them available) making them different to the Human's A-D and their own changed Ability E.

For the Core Rulebook it will probably only have 3-5 races statted out but they should feel different and the decision should be an actual decision.
Not a toss up between "+2 Con or an extra feat" but instead "Do I play Blaster with a focus on Earth giving more damage but less versatility or be more versatile at the expense of being a Master-Of-None."

Monster Races don't need to be detailed as much as PCs, their unique abilities (if any) and a couple upgrades are enoguh.
PC versions can wait for splatbooks if there are any.

Monsters use PC rules (kinda):
Use a simplified version of the char-creation by buying "packs" of powers instead of individual powers on their own. Have a bunch of statted out monsters (built with the packs by us) for various levels with several optional Upgrades or Downgrades.
A Goblin with a club for fresh newbies becomes an acrobatic quaterstaff wielding Ninja-Goblin a few levels down with only a single "pack" added.
Alternatively the Lich in the book is a bit too powerful for your low level group? whack on this downgrade and let your party whack the undead BBEG.

This one will be hard to implement. But all monsters will be hard anyway.

[Craft (Cheese)]

@Craft: Basically I'm making it because I've always wanted to try my hand at making a system. Hopefully balanced too.
I saw the Legend System (and to a lesser extent Pathfinder) and thought "If they can, so can I!"

A full RPG is... a very large project. If what you really want to do is just make games, my suggestion is you start with simpler stuff and work your way up. Here's a challenge I've always found useful for myself: Limit yourself to 1 page. Absolutely everything you need to play should be described in that one, single page. Make the most interesting and exciting game you can within this limited design space. Chess and Go fit, assuming you're using just text and don't bother to include explanatory diagrams, and these games are still being played and studied after many centuries.

The one-page limitation forces you to focus on the meat of the game instead of getting lost in all the complex character options and statistics that bog down RPGs. Best part is, you'll probably come up with tons of ideas for these simpler games that can be directly applied to your larger RPG project.


Ability Scores in a Spectrum
The ability scores instead of being say 6 scores going up are two opposers that give bonuses to certain skills. Each point towards one end giving more bonuses about that trait and penalties about the opposite. For instance Speedy or Bulky and Strong:

Strong - Fast
[X] - [Y]
[A] -
etc.

Each of the spectrums go from 1 to 3 both ways (so 7 positions) and give increasing bonuses and penalties

eg. Strong - Fast
3 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3
+1 Damage when wielding a [Heavy] Weapon for every point in Strong
+1 Speed for every point in Fast
-10XP buying [Strong] tagged Powers for every point in Strong
-10XP buying [Fast] tagged Powers for every point in Strong
-1 Lifting for every point in Fast
-1 Initiative for every point in Strong

Now this is something I've always wanted to try, but have never really found a good application for. Two things I'd watch out for:

1. How do higher-leveled characters become stronger in this system? Increasing their attributes won't work because all points along the spectrum have their upsides and downsides. This isn't a difficult problem; There are tons of other ways to increase power aside from buffing attribute scores. Still though, something to think about.

2. Be very, very careful to make sure the abilities provided alongside the spectrum are different, not just mere numbers. If it turns out, for example, that +1 speed is always mathematically better than +1 to damage rolls, then almost every player will always max out speed and ignore the other end of the spectrum.


"Power Trees" (needs better name):
There are several Power-Trees that can be brought using "Character XP" and using the powers inside give "{Tree} XP".
There are 4 power-tree groupings. Well 3 and Character.

Character: There is only one Power-Tree of this type. Nearly every action that gives XP will give some amount of Character XP. More detail in the specific tree level.

Non-Combat: Power-Trees that are not directly related to fighting of the physical kind. This type gains XP from Studying or Practising the skills or using them in everyday life.
Example Power-Trees include: Survival, Social and Enchanting.

Combat: Power-trees about the art of war, or at least the art of minor skirmishes. This type gains XP from Studying or Practising their method of combat or actually Fighting.
Example Power-Trees include: Melee, Arcane Magic and Sneaky

Racial: Power-Trees about your Race, or Templates/Sub-Racial abilities.
This type is special as it does not generally gain XP on it's own but has to be given it by Character XP (see Character in the specific Trees for more detail).
They generally contain XP cost reducers or additions as the baseline powers gained when first given but do have buyable unique abilities (like a Beholder's more niche eye rays) and has powers that augment or add to the Combat or Non-Combat Power-Tree's powers (like Spells unique* to an Elf or Lich).
These are usually quite small compared to everything else in terms of buyable upgrades.
*By unique I mean requires Any of Races A, B or C.


Specific Power Trees generally have a few basic moves (Magic missile for Arcane, Swing for Melee) with smaller unlockable Sub-trees inside
For instance Melee could have Swing, Parry and Block powers (and some upgardes for them). Then for the Sub-Trees the Heavy Weapon, Multiweapon and Light Weapon Sub-trees specialize the character's powers and weapon choice

Example Power-Trees:

Empty:
[B]Title: the name of the tree
Description: General stuff about it, including example powers or the theme of the Power-Tree.
Auto Powers: What you get when you unlock the Tree for the first time.
Sub-Trees: A list of smaller, more specialized branches within this one and how much they cost to buy them (and what XP to buy them with, some powers and sub-trees have multiple sources (Arcane and Character for example, or a Gish Sub might have Melee and Arcane).
Powers: A list of the powers. Bonuses to checks or checks to be made go here. An example would be Forest Combat giving a boost to Attack in the forest or Fireball which makes an attack check.

Character Power-Tree: The generic Power-tree everyone has. Contains things such as Base Defence, Base Attack, Health and generic Powers for all adventurers
Auto-Powers:
Toughness x1
Level-Up +1
Sub-trees: None
Abilities:
Level Up: 300 Character XP. Raise your Level by 1. This has no effect except to act as a prerequisite.
Toughness: 100 Character XP. Increase your HP by 10, this number may be modified by your Strong score as well as some others. Note one may not take this feat more than [Level x2].
Will Save 50 Character XP. Increase your Will Save Modifier by +1. Can be taken to a maximum of [Level x3]
Fortitude Save: 50 Character XP. Increase your Fortitude Save Modifier by +1. Can be take to a maxium of [Level x3]
Duck and Cover!: 75 Character XP. By spending an Immediate Action when near some form of barrier or cover you and any nearby allies who are also near a barrier or cover gain a +2 against any Area-of-Effect attacks or any attack that requires a Reflex Save.
So on so forth.

On names: Eh, just call them talent trees. It's a name gamers will immediately recognize.

As for the tree structure itself... eh. Talent trees sound like a great idea, but in practice they're difficult to get right.

- It requires an exponentially-increasing number of abilities for purchase as you move toward deeper levels in the tree. You can go the WoW/DAO route and not have any branches, but where's the fun in that?

- It tends to make early-game characters homogenous. Your choices don't really open up until later, so every type of character at first level will have mostly the same ability loadout.

- Large risk of making unbalances hurt more than they otherwise would. Let's say there's a particular tree that happens to have an ability that pretty much every character wants, at depth 3. This means every character is going to buy those three abilities to get that one awesome one, which effectively means characters get 3 fewer abilities than they otherwise would. Without the prerequisites, they could just pick up that one awesome ability and spend the other two on whatever they want, so it wouldn't hurt character diversity as much.

- Finally, depending on your point structure, it can lower end-game diversity too. Let's say characters gain XP to spend on their abilities quadratically, but the costs of more and more powerful abilities increases linearly. This means eventually lower-level abilities become so cheap you can pick them up for basically nothing, so why not? This means endgame characters will have most of all their trees filled up, with only a few holes at the edges of a few trees.


Races that mean something:
Each playable race has it's own things that separate it from all the rest and mean something even as you get more and more stuff.
There isn't much of a difference between a Human Wizard and a Dwarf Wizard at lvl20 but I want to change that. A Human has an easier path down certain tracks and a harder one down others (XP reductions and increases) while a Dwarf has Ability X and can buy Ability Y that changes how Abilities A-D works in the Arcane Tree (or makes them available) making them different to the Human's A-D and their own changed Ability E.

For the Core Rulebook it will probably only have 3-5 races statted out but they should feel different and the decision should be an actual decision.
Not a toss up between "+2 Con or an extra feat" but instead "Do I play Blaster with a focus on Earth giving more damage but less versatility or be more versatile at the expense of being a Master-Of-None."

Monster Races don't need to be detailed as much as PCs, their unique abilities (if any) and a couple upgrades are enoguh.
PC versions can wait for splatbooks if there are any.

I would also be careful with this one: If you do something to, say, make Elves pretty much strictly better at magic, then everyone who wants to play a wizard will play an elf. They'll play the race that synergizes with their planned character type the best, and playing against type (like an Elf Warrior) will be difficult. This effectively means that your choice of race is determined by your choice of character type, rather than being a separate dimension of a character.


Monsters use PC rules (kinda):
Use a simplified version of the char-creation by buying "packs" of powers instead of individual powers on their own. Have a bunch of statted out monsters (built with the packs by us) for various levels with several optional Upgrades or Downgrades.
A Goblin with a club for fresh newbies becomes an acrobatic quaterstaff wielding Ninja-Goblin a few levels down with only a single "pack" added.
Alternatively the Lich in the book is a bit too powerful for your low level group? whack on this downgrade and let your party whack the undead BBEG.

This one will be hard to implement. But all monsters will be hard anyway.

There's no need to make monsters as complex as PCs unless you plan to go the route of "every species is playable." A noble goal in theory, but in practice it just puts way more trouble than is necessary on both the designer and the DM. As for your "pack" idea, it... sounds suspiciously like templates.

[Xechon]

This (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209222) was on here a little while ago, and seems to me kind of what you're going for with ability scores. I stole this and rewrote it as my own homebrew (not on these forums), changing them so that they are not all mental, and keeping classics names so all of the fanboys are happy.

Essentially, I put Strength and Physical Fortitude (Con, but not including stamina) into just Strength. Dexterity is still speed and grace, but also stamina. Intelligence is pretty much the same, but is now the stat for initiative and perception-based skills. Wisdom is Charisma and willpower rolled up into one.

Just ideas.

I agree with the below about talent trees, and the sections on races and monsters are very valiant causes, which I would love to see in action. However, the races might be difficult, as said by Craft (Cheese), you must make special features that a race gets for every tree, or else steryotypes will rule.

And btw I will be happy to help, as a bouce-board for ideas, to come up with ideas, and to homebrew, at your command, with my limited amount of free time. Just PM me what needs to be done, and I can start brainstorming.

[Veklim]

Why not unique Racial Talent Trees? That way your general xp can buy you a specific ability/upgrade just like the other trees, but you can then marry up the abilities to specific talents in other trees without instantly pidgeon-holing each race. My friend and I are in early-stage development of a similar idea in ways, suppose I could share a few notes if you like..?

[Xechon]

Oh. Yeah. Um... I was thinking of them more as racial substitution levels. But you clearly stated that things would level at the same time. So its all okay. Sorry 'bout that:smallredface:

[Anecronwashere]

A full RPG is... a very large project. If what you really want to do is just make games, my suggestion is you start with simpler stuff and work your way up. Here's a challenge I've always found useful for myself: Limit yourself to 1 page. Absolutely everything you need to play should be described in that one, single page. Make the most interesting and exciting game you can within this limited design space. Chess and Go fit, assuming you're using just text and don't bother to include explanatory diagrams, and these games are still being played and studied after many centuries.

The one-page limitation forces you to focus on the meat of the game instead of getting lost in all the complex character options and statistics that bog down RPGs. Best part is, you'll probably come up with tons of ideas for these simpler games that can be directly applied to your larger RPG project.

I did that a while ago, though it was on my old lappie that died.
I do have other reasons for wanting to make a game, that was just the first to mind.
First the money, as everything is about money. If this game gets off the ground (Pelor willing) then it could be a good springboard and financial back-up for when I start up my own gaming/computer game business
Second so my friends will play something that ain't 4th Ed D&D. Every time we play it's always that, if I can get them to 'playtest' my game then I could start to introduce them to other things and diversify our sessions.
Third Practise. Experience with making a game now means that later in my life I can use skills learned here to make better games, better eyeball balance issues etc.


Now this is something I've always wanted to try, but have never really found a good application for. Two things I'd watch out for:

1. How do higher-leveled characters become stronger in this system? Increasing their attributes won't work because all points along the spectrum have their upsides and downsides. This isn't a difficult problem; There are tons of other ways to increase power aside from buffing attribute scores. Still though, something to think about.

2. Be very, very careful to make sure the abilities provided alongside the spectrum are different, not just mere numbers. If it turns out, for example, that +1 speed is always mathematically better than +1 to damage rolls, then almost every player will always max out speed and ignore the other end of the spectrum.

I'm thinking a Character Power that decreases the penalties (to a maximum of 0) and another that multiplies any bonuses (to skills for instance), so if SkillX is Fast+Level and PowerY multiplies Fast bonus by 1.5, you now have 1.5Fast+Level.


On names: Eh, just call them talent trees. It's a name gamers will immediately recognize.

As for the tree structure itself... eh. Talent trees sound like a great idea, but in practice they're difficult to get right.

1 It requires an exponentially-increasing number of abilities for purchase as you move toward deeper levels in the tree. You can go the WoW/DAO route and not have any branches, but where's the fun in that?

2 It tends to make early-game characters homogenous. Your choices don't really open up until later, so every type of character at first level will have mostly the same ability loadout.

3 Large risk of making unbalances hurt more than they otherwise would. Let's say there's a particular tree that happens to have an ability that pretty much every character wants, at depth 3. This means every character is going to buy those three abilities to get that one awesome one, which effectively means characters get 3 fewer abilities than they otherwise would. Without the prerequisites, they could just pick up that one awesome ability and spend the other two on whatever they want, so it wouldn't hurt character diversity as much.

4 Finally, depending on your point structure, it can lower end-game diversity too. Let's say characters gain XP to spend on their abilities quadratically, but the costs of more and more powerful abilities increases linearly. This means eventually lower-level abilities become so cheap you can pick them up for basically nothing, so why not? This means endgame characters will have most of all their trees filled up, with only a few holes at the edges of a few trees.

1. Yes that will be hard. That's why I am thinking of having 3 main level areas (and books to match).
The first book has all the 1-10 levels and also serves as a Beginners Guide with a starting adventure and all the char creation. It would have the humanoid races (elves humans etc.)
The second would have rules for starting above 1st level and more monstrous racial options and cover 11-20
The third covers Gods and the Extra-planar, including the ability to access other planes (technically possible in 11-20 but descriptions of Planes are here). This covers character levels 21-30+.
With the more bookspace we can have more abilities of a higher level/requiring a vast power-chain.


2. If every Character has 1 Racial Tree, 1 Character 2 and 2 Trees (Combat and/or Non-Combat), then inside each Combat/Non-Combat has several Sub-trees then having Homogenous would only come about by having vastly OP Trees and abilities. And if we give a lot of starting XP we can avoid that, even if there are Must-Haves


3. By depth 3 do you mean having a prerequisite of a Power that also has a prerequisite of a different power? or Arcane-Elemental-Fire?
For the 1st then all we have to do is make more powerful abilities have a Level prereq or Balance it so each Tree has several "must-have" abilities tailored to several archetypes.
For the second they would just make a Fire-based caster rather than an Illusionist but that again assumes we have stuffed up and made Fire Elementalist better than Illusionists or any other Arcane-type character.


4. More powerful abilities don't increase in cost, because XP gain doesn't. If you get 10XP for hitting Gobbo the Goblin with a Burning hands spell, why would you get 25XP for hitting King Humie the human with a Meteor Swarm? higher level abilities have a prerequisite of spending points on Level-Up.

Level-Up unlocks the ability to have higher and more powerful abilities as well as having higher and more powerful saves. Toughness has a limit of 2/level and gives between 7-13 every time you take it. Fireball might be worth 75XP to buy and deal 4-6 damage on a successful hit, but when you hit level2 you can buy Fireball Damage1 to deal say 8-10 per hit. But Meteor Swarm has a prerequisite of Fireball Damage x7 (requiring Character level8) and deals 40 damage per hit. This new Power might cost the same as a Fireball (75XP) but has a mark-up on damage, maybe a secondary effect etc. Each lower-level Power (or maybe a group of powers) paves the way for higher level Powers of the same cost but with prereqs that keep them out of reach for a long time (until it's level-appropriate)


I would also be careful with this one: If you do something to, say, make Elves pretty much strictly better at magic, then everyone who wants to play a wizard will play an elf. They'll play the race that synergizes with their planned character type the best, and playing against type (like an Elf Warrior) will be difficult. This effectively means that your choice of race is determined by your choice of character type, rather than being a separate dimension of a character.

Elves wouldn't be better at Wizardry, Elves would be better at Nature Wizardry or have a couple unique Spells based on their fluff.
They would have buyable Powers that upgrade or augment most Trees in some way.
See my spoiler box up above which had a (rather long-winded) kinda-explanation. Dwarves and Humans had bonuses to Arcane, but different ones. One discounted Earthy spells, the other made being versatile much easier. Being an Earth-Wizard or an Elemental-Wizard are both options for Wizardry and (hopefully) roughly equal so if you wanted to be a Wizard specializing in using all the Elements you chose Human but if you wanted to be even more specialized (into Earth) you chose Dwarf.
Dwarf and human could also have bonuses/hindrances in other Trees as well, like Melee or Ranged that meant you say Human Elementalists and Human Archers and so on.


There's no need to make monsters as complex as PCs unless you plan to go the route of "every species is playable." A noble goal in theory, but in practice it just puts way more trouble than is necessary on both the designer and the DM. As for your "pack" idea, it... sounds suspiciously like templates.

Well they kind of are Templates but Universal ones.
Though I do see your point in the workload.
Not every species would be playable from round 1


This (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209222) was on here a little while ago, and seems to me kind of what you're going for with ability scores. I stole this and rewrote it as my own homebrew (not on these forums), changing them so that they are not all mental, and keeping classics names so all of the fanboys are happy.

Essentially, I put Strength and Physical Fortitude (Con, but not including stamina) into just Strength. Dexterity is still speed and grace, but also stamina. Intelligence is pretty much the same, but is now the stat for initiative and perception-based skills. Wisdom is Charisma and willpower rolled up into one.

Just ideas.

I agree with the below about talent trees, and the sections on races and monsters are very valiant causes, which I would love to see in action. However, the races might be difficult, as said by Craft (Cheese), you must make special features that a race gets for every tree, or else steryotypes will rule.

And btw I will be happy to help, as a bouce-board for ideas, to come up with ideas, and to homebrew, at your command, with my limited amount of free time. Just PM me what needs to be done, and I can start brainstorming.

Thanks for the link and offering to bounce ideas off.
Well not every tree needs bonuses, but the majority yes. And maybe some general stuff that helps multiple Trees?


Why not unique Racial Talent Trees? That way your general xp can buy you a specific ability/upgrade just like the other trees, but you can then marry up the abilities to specific talents in other trees without instantly pidgeon-holing each race. My friend and I are in early-stage development of a similar idea in ways, suppose I could share a few notes if you like..?

That's what I was thinking off, each Racial tree has it's own Powers and buyable upgrades for some/most of the Combat/Non-Combat trees but you have to buy them.
And sure, I'd love to share notes. Shoot me a PM plz and thank you :smallbiggrin:

[Psilulz]

So I've been thinking about this for some time, and some questions popped up.
1. When you were explaining how you wanted to to do attributes, Strength and Speed were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Are those two scores invariably linked? Or could, perhaps, the players choose their own? For example, using D&D abilities, could I have something like:
Strength <-----> Wisdom
Dexterity<-----> Charisma
Constitution <----> Intelligence

or even:
Int <----> Wis
Str <----> Con
Dex<----> Cha

2. How general/ specific are you going to make your trees? Like will there be a 'Wizard' tree? Or like Elementalist? Or broken down further into Fire/ Earth/ etc.? Or would those be sub-trees?

3. Have you considered some sort of point system to limit abilities? Something like fatigue/ mana/ essence/ energy/ etc. so that a caster will not be able to, or might not want to, spam their ungodly death every turn. Or so that a combat oriented character won't want to spend chunks of their energy in single attacks. Personally, if you do choose to incorporate something like this, I think it'd be a good idea to simply roll whatever points you use all into one, because it seems like everyone has access to pretty much any tree; it would be a pain on the players' part to keep track of 5 (probably exaggerating) different point scales, and would be less bookkeeping, and more playing.

4. What kind of dice are you going to be using?

5. How is turn order determined, and what can you do during a turn? What kind of actions do you get? Are actions point-based?

And yeah, I think that's it for now... :smallbiggrin:

[Anecronwashere]

1. Linked for now. That way we only have to create balance between 2 opposing stats rather than all of them together.
It would also allow Powergaming if they were mix&match by choosing all the terribad (to your build) stats opposite your main ability (the one pumping to 3).

2. Well the way I'm going now Combat has roughly these Trees:
Melee, Arcane, Divine, Psionic, Ranged, Sneaky
Melee splitting into 3 Sub-trees (Heavy, TWF, Light)
Heavy splits into weapon groups (Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing)

Theoretically it is possible to have several Sub-trees within Sub-trees but that becomes needlessly complicated.

3. I am thinking of having several Recharge powers and perhaps have a Sub- or Talent-Tree specific power source to use (Magic Points, Maneuvers, Faith Slots) but not every Power will drain from that. Having At-Wills or Recharge helps prevent a 15-minute workday by letting the PCs keep going after their resource is used up (and some resources may recharge at different times)

I am also hoping on having each PC only using 1-2 Combat Talent Trees and just exploring inside of them (though the number would most probably expand to 2-4 as levels head skyward). a main-Melee character probably won't have much to gain from Arcane (something I am planning on making a mid to long distance style of combat mostly) but everything to gain from Divine (Buffs and front-line style magic will abound).
That's not to say that there won't be anything to get from Arcane or that all Melee should buy the Divine Talent Tree, just that they synergize well simply from being in the same range of combat (close)

4. Well I'm intending on a D20 system but that's simply from familiarity with D20 games.

5. Turn-based Initiative-decides-order combat with no idea on how much a turn will contain. I am leaning towards Move, Minor, Standard (Full combining Move and Standard) with Minor either providing a limit on certain Buffs (eg. spend a Minor action to add +1 Rounds to the duration, Duration 2 Rounds)

[Psilulz]

1. I can see what you're trying to do here. But at the same time, it seems kind of limiting; if strength and speed (assuming that's the "rogue" stat) are tied to each other, then making a stealthy-warrior type wouldn't be very practical, as you would take a penalty to one side, or have them both at 0.

3. I think the idea of At-Will/ Encounter powers is nice, but 4th ed. did it wrong imo. It made everything feel repetetive and bland.
Using a point pool of some type, however, adds a greater sense of tactics and strategy; do I conserve my energy now? Do I spend it on defensive bonuses, and hope that my opponent runs out before I do? My problem with 3.5 psionics (and the spellpoint system) was that they never recharged, and thus, you get your 15 min day. By lowering the cap on points, and slapping on a recharge rate, you avoid this. This rate could increase between encounters, representing the PC's catching their breath, etc. There could even be exhaustion or something, to temporarily reduce max energy, but this should probably only be used for really powerful abilities.
Also, by using this system, it makes sense for a PC to diversify their combat techniques. Sure the pyromancer can shoot mega-inferno-blah blah, but its extremely expensive, so it wouldn't be very practical to spam it, especially if theres only like one monster.

5. Seems like that'd work, if not, a good place to start.

[Anecronwashere]

1. That is true but the penalties or lack of bonuses can be offset by simply buying the right bonuses. It does make using both sides a bad decision.
Can anyone come up with a better way of doing a Spectrum-based Attribute?

3. I want to utilize variation so we might have Psionics using your idea (with the Point recharge) Divine having a DC that gets harder each time you use any spell and Arcane with Prepared Spells/Encounter (10minutes to prepare any number of spells into any unfilled slot).
Melee could have Maneuvers he can refresh but TWF (a Sub-Tree of Melee) could have Recharge times on her abilities.

[Xechon]

For the spectrum based attributes, you could keep them, and then put everything into the skill system so they can increase the effects of the score, but not the base score. You could have floating stats like suggested above. You could do a graph spectrum like on the obsidian tabletop that someone on these forums created (I'll link later if I can find it again). It uses Agility, Body, Mind, and Spirit on the x axis, and action, damage, defense and reaction. Then there is a stat on each intersection, except each stat has one intersection that is blank. They let you put points into the x/y axis stats, and then give you more points to put into the intersections.

If your going for realism, which I always do, strength is separated into fast and slow twitch fibers. If you train specifically for endurance activities, then your slow twitch fiber % will increase, and fast twitch (power) will decrease slightly, still with a net gain of muscles. And vise versa. Also, as you exercise, you wear down bone, which gets built up again, stronger. Not only do these muscle and bone amounts increasing boost your HP or dr (weapons have to go deeper to have the same effect), it also helps greatly with your immune system and recovering from blood loss, as blood cells are generated in the bone marrow.

That system would be a bit complicated though, and I am not quite finished trying to capture flexibility and the inner workings of a human mind.

[Anecronwashere]

Bump and more information.

First up Layers of Play (mentioned earlier with the 3 books)
Basically I'm thinking that each Layer would span 10 levels
1-10 being Human-like, basic E6 stuff with Dungeon crawls. Stopping the Evil Cultist from finishing a Ritual to summon a Demon is the quest-of-the-day and a travelling caravan is the way to get there. Magic is very specific, often focusing on dealing [Tag] damage or setting off a few conditions, Melee is about stabbing people or tripping them.
11-20 is moving up, leading armies and foiling End-Of-The-World stuff, where the revolving door afterlife comes into play. Teleportation, shattering stone and metal enemies with bare hands and being stealthy enough to be unseen in broad daylight is standardized combat. Terrorizing armies, courts and enterprising Extraplanar beings is what they do
21-30+ is the Plane-Shifting, God-Killing stage, PCs are killed and ressurected several times a fight and are routinely bumped around the Planes during battle, dragging and being dragged to capitalize on Planar Traits, Battlefield Control stops being about creating sticky webs but sending your opponent to the Plane of Spiders who you made an alliance with. Melee shatters mountains and rips holes in between Planes.

The transistion between are strong ones, unlocking swathes of Powers, Monsters and bonuses.

Levels of protection:
Every form of Buff, Debuff or long-lasting effect (Polymorph for example) has a level of protection. It also applies to forms of Armour and AC increases of equipment.
This is for several reasons: First, Dispel Magic (or equivalent Power) generally gets rid of Magical effects equal to or below a certain level (unless explicitly stated to be different). Some only affect certain types of magic or has a bonus against areas of magic and are stated to have a higher rating against those.
Second is Overlap. A bonus with a higher protection rating will trump a lower one, preventing buff-stacking from the same source.
Third is Temporary Disabling. This is similar to the first reason but the Buffs/Debuffs/Magical Effects are simply dormant. Dormant effects do not require sustaining until they return to being active and cannot progress. Some Powers are rendered Dormant for a period of time instead of Removed due to their effects when hit with Dispel magic (or equivalent) Anti-magic Fields render effects Dormant and Dormant effects are unable to be Removed by Dispel (or equivalent). Smart players in the higher levels will have multiple Overlapping (and Dormant) Powers so a single Dispel will not render all their preparation moot though this can be costly to maintain properly.
Protection also applies to magical items or innate Powers thatprotect against certain tagged attacks, a Water Wall Power might provide Immunity and be Protection 1 but a Fireball (Remove Protection 2 or less trying to stop this Power) will act as a Dispel Magic on the Wall destroying it's Damage Reduction.
Note: Increasing AC does not count as trying to stop a Power, it is an indirect bonus, aplying to every attack targetting that defence. Water Wall would be a Damage Reduction to [Fire] tagged and thus affect Fireball, but Armour of Lava (see below) would not and thus stay intact .

Levelling Up, Min and Max XP, etc:
Levelling Up is a big step, it unlocks the next stage of your abilities, perhaps even utilities only tangentally, or thematically, related to your main focus. It also allows you to gain more health, defenses, attack bonuses, more Powers etc.
The minimum amount of XP spent is the amount you must have spent on Powers before being able to buy the LevelUp Power from the Character Tier. This amount is twofold, first is the amount of CharXP spent (on Character or Racial Powers) and the second is the amount of Other XP (Magic, Melee etc.) combined, add all the Melee, Psionic, Magic, Divine XP together (known as Tier1XP) and you have this number. You must have spent at least X amount of both to buy the upgrade.
Maximum XP is the opposite, the amount of Spent XP (both Char and Tier1) you can have at a certain level without buying the upgrade. You cannot go over this level without improving your Character level except to buy another level. If you have spent 1,000 points where 1,000 is the max XP you can have for your level then the only point expenditure you can make is Level Up. You may not add a +1 To-Hit or to Fort Save or anything.

Sample Power Chain
An example of what I think a Power-Chain (upgrading Powers sharing a thematic or mechanical similarity with prereqs to each other) would look like:
lvl1:
Burning Hands. Type/Range: Magical Touch. Action: Attack (6 ticks), deals 1D6+IntMod damage. Trigger DC: 5
Increase Flame: (Prereq: Burning Hands) add 2 to Damage when using Burning Hands or any Attack power with Burning Hands listed as a direct Prerequisite. May only be taken 3 times.
lvl2:
Flaming Deflection. (Prereq: Burning Hands) Type/Range: Magical Personal. Action: Sustain Defence (2 ticks/round), add +1 Magical Bonus to AC (Level1 protection)
Project Flame: (Prereq: Burning Hands, Increase Flame x2) Type/Range: Upgrade Short. Action: N/A, Burning Hands may now be used on any opponent within 3 squares. This Power may be taken again to increase the range to 5 squares. A third time will improve Burning Hands to Medium Range, which is 10 squares.
lvl3:
Flame Ward (Prereq: Flaming Deflection) reduce any [Fire] Damage by 3 points.
lvl5:
Armour of Lava: (Prereq Flaming Deflection) Type/Range: Magical Personal. Action: Sustain Defence 6 ticks to start, 4 ticks/5rounds sustain, add +4 Armour Bonus to AC (Level1 protection). Replaces any Armour Bonus of lower bonus with an equal or lower Protection (1 or less)
lvl7:
Balls of Fire: (Prereq: Burning Hands, Project Flame x2, Increase Flame x3) Type/Range: Magical Medium. Action: Attack (6 ticks), 2d6+IntMod damage, Range of 10 squares. Trigger DC: 10(Note: Increase Flame affects this, as Burning Hands is a direct prereq, so is listed in the Prereqs. so it actually deals 2D6+6+IntMod)
lvl8:
Fireball: (Prereq, Balls of Fire) Type/Range: Magical, Medium. Action: Attack (6 ticks), 2D8+Int Mod, Range of 10 squares. Trigger DC: 15. Removes Protection of 2 or less that would otherwise affect this Power. (Fireball, while indirectly requiring Burning Hands does not have it as a direct Prereq so does not benefit from the +6 damage Balls of Fire does)

There would be more an potentially branching off (into Armour or Longer-ranged Firebombing r maybe something else) but you get the idea.

Templates and Racial stuff:
Templates are additional Racial Talent Trees that can be brought with Character XP. They are in general acquired Templates of a transformation In-Game as a PC gains the benefits of their heritage, is bitten by an infectious creature or gifted by an extra-planar entity.
They are treated the same as a Racial Tree, giving several Racial features upon being brought and having both specific Tier Powers and general Powers.
Most Races and Templates will have 2-3 Tiers (Melee, Magic, Divine etc.) they have specific benefits or discounts nd several more general Powers not reliant on those Trees.

Action System:
This system is a turn-based. Initiative is less important than D&D as it merely determines which acts first if two+ people act on the same tick.
Each round is divided into 12 Ticks. Each tick represents a single second in Game Time.
Every Action uses a number of Ticks (except Free Actions below) which is how many one has to sit out for (called Cool-Down), until their action comes up again.
List of Actions:
Attack: This costs 6 ticks (so if an Attack is declared on Tick 1, then the next action for that PC is on Tick 7) and is the most basic. It involves choosing an Attack Power, rolling to hit the Trigger DC* then the defender rolling a Defence Roll to beat the Attacker's roll. At level11 (the start of Layer two) the cost of this Action decreases by 2 (down to 4) then again at 21st (Layer 3) down to 2 Ticks.
Movement: This costs 4 ticks and allows one to move up to their Move Speed (generally 4)
Sustain: This one is special as it's a variable. Any Sustainable Power is usually a Buff/Debuff that needs to be renewed. The player with a Sustained Buff has to spend the requested number of Ticks whenever the duration would otherwise expire. This is generally less than the starting amount (the amount to trigger the sustaining). Example: Amour of Lava requires 6 ticks to trigger, then 4 ticks every 5 full rounds (from when the Tick was triggered, so if it was on Tick 3 when the 4 Ticks were used to Sustain, then another 4 are rquired on Tick 3 in 5 rounds, if the pc is in Cool-Down they add the 4round wait onto their remaining cool-down). The effect ends when the player refuses to spend the Ticks to Sustain.
Sustained Debuff is similar to Sustained Buff but is a negative. Whenever the Debuff triggers the player loses the stated Ticks either fighting off a worse effect (that triggers if the Player refuses to spend the Ticks) or is unable to stop, shutting them down for the stated time.
Free Actions/Reactions: These two are different in that they cost 0 Ticks and able to trigger even when in Cool-Down. Attack of Opportunities and some Powers are Free or Reactionary, generally the Passive ones. Attack Bonus and Saves are both Reactionary Passive Powers, aiding the dice roll when one is called for.

*Triggering DCs. When an attacker wants to use a Power they must beat the inherent difficulty of doing so, be it calling a Ball of Flame from the Plane of Fire or finding the weak spot of an opponent's armour with a glance. If they roll over the Triggering DC, that roll sets the Defense DC for the defender, who rolls and adds their AC, or save or similar.

EDIT: I've been thinking about dice sized. What would change if I move into a D10? It would have a lower dice spread, allowing less randomness and making smaller numbers (and numbers altogether really) more meaningful but is there anything else changing? This is my first crack at game design so I want as much info as I can get about these kinds of changes before implementation