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Grod_The_Giant
2013-07-06, 02:34 PM
I've been working on a new draft of my homebrew system, and one of the things I'm struggling most over is the order in which I want to go over the rules. Some things can obviously come later, but... there are three core mechanics, all of which are interconnected:

Abilities, which work as you'd expect-- the game more-or-less runs on ability checks.
Advantage and Disadvantage, which work kind of like the 5e versions.
Scale, which describes how much you can do with your ability checks-- does your Strength check let you lift a person? A car? A tank?


So... what order would you describe them in? Currently, I have the sections arranged Advantage, Scale, then Abilities, but...

The Rose Dragon
2013-07-06, 02:37 PM
Depend son what you mean by Abilities. If you use them as Mutants & Masterminds does, Abilities - Scale - Advantages. If you use them as Exalted does, Scale - Advantages - Abilities.

Grod_The_Giant
2013-07-06, 03:00 PM
Depend son what you mean by Abilities. If you use them as Mutants & Masterminds does, Abilities - Scale - Advantages. If you use them as Exalted does, Scale - Advantages - Abilities.
I know both systems, but I'm not sure what you mean by this.

The Rose Dragon
2013-07-06, 03:38 PM
In Mutants & Masterminds, Abilities refers to innate traits, such as Strength or Charisma. in Exalted, it refers to learned skills, such as Melee or Ride.

Of course, some systems. like Fate, or A Song of Ice and Fire, have no such distinction. In which case, I'd start with Scale, but continue with Abilities and then Advantages.

Raineh Daze
2013-07-06, 04:23 PM
Advantage -> Scale -> Abilities

Seems most sensible to me to start with an overall mechanic, then go onto the issue of size, then the more granular stuff.

Jay R
2013-07-06, 05:11 PM
Write them up. Give them to somebody to play with. Watch what they get wrong.

Re-write.

Repeat.

Raineh Daze
2013-07-06, 06:28 PM
Write them up. Give them to somebody to play with. Watch what they get wrong.

Re-write.

Repeat.

Probably not a useful tactic for 'what order do I arrange things in'. :smalltongue:

Mr.Bookworm
2013-07-06, 07:04 PM
Abilities first, and then the other two in whatever order you want. Advantage and Scale are both modifiers and add-ons to Ability checks, yes? If your entire game is based around a certain mechanic, put that mechanic first, just as you wouldn't start talking about Abilities without explaining what dice you're actually using to roll.

valadil
2013-07-06, 09:50 PM
1. Abilities.
2. Scale.
3. Advantages and disadvantages.

You need to define the ability itself before you can even think about scale. From there you can transition into scale when you come up with examples.

I'm not familiar with 5e yet, but in general advantages and disadvantages are exceptions. It's a new and improved (or old and busted) way to use an ability. You need the basic rule down before you can make an exception that works differently.

Raineh Daze
2013-07-06, 10:03 PM
Second option:

1) Ability Rules
2) Scale
3) Advantage/Disadvantage
4) List of Abilities & Scales

Get the details away from the rules. XD

Ozfer
2013-07-06, 10:10 PM
If by abilities, you mean attributes and skill checks, then Abilities, Advantage, Scale.

Grod_The_Giant
2013-07-06, 10:26 PM
Sorry for the confusion-- by Abilities I mean Strength, Agility, and the like. I have a list of stats, and what kind of activities they're used for.

Right now, I'm thinking Abilities, Scale, Advantage sounds best. Put the core mechanic before that (obviously), then follow into skills and combat. Thanks for the advice, friends.