Post by Wolfe on Dec 25, 2018 18:38:44 GMT -5
Concept
This is a system for allowing site events to be played out in a moderation-lite way that allows the players to have significant control over what happens during the event and how it all turns out. It is a cooperative system that encourages teamwork, providing greater rewards when the characters help each other out. The system resolves around the players coming up with obstacles to their own goals, having their characters "find" those problems, and then attempting to solve those problems with the help of other players' characters.
The system involves deadlines and reaches its conclusion in a pre-determined amount of time (usually seven to nine four-day rounds). Events will be run every month, with the event itself lasting the entire month in most cases and stopping exactly on the end date. Players can post as many times as they like each round so long as they do not double post, but may only take one "action" which has bearing on how the event ultimately turns out. This action always involves picking a problem (described in the next section), picking a single skill to use, rolling a ten sided die, and adding a number to the result depending on the rank of the chosen skill. Semblances that double down on the same category get a +1 to the primary category on top of the regular bonus, which increases to +2 at A rank and +3 at S rank.
F: 0
E: 1
D: 2
C: 4
B: 6
A: 9
S: 12
Problems are player-defined obstacles to the characters' success in the event. During each event, each player may introduce a total of two problems for each character they control. So someone with 1 character will get to introduce up to 2 problems, and someone with 2 will get to introduce up to 4 (two for each character, not 3 for one and 1 for the other). Introducing the problem involves three steps:
In order to solve a problem, a character must spend their action attempting to solve it and meet the difficulty level using the die+skill bonus roll described above. However, the skills that may be chosen are restricted depending on the problem category. The problem categories are as follows.
For skills whose applicable category is ambiguous (notably semblances), players must decide which category they'll use that skill for at character creation. No skill may ever be used to solve a problem outside its category, but players can define new problems which make old ones less relevant - for example, if the gangsters mentioned above have taken hostages, a mobility-focused character could define a new "finding a stealthy way into the bank" problem which, if solved, would result in being able to sneak the hostages out of the building. In order to spend their turn attempting a problem, a character must actually have a usable skill (i.e. it must be rank F or above).
If a character has multiple skills in the same category, that character gets additional dice if those skills' ranks are equal or above the main skill they are using to roll. For example, if a character had Durability E, Martial Arts E, Strength E, and Marksmanship D, they'd get 1 die towards combatants if they used Marksmanship to roll. If they used Martial Arts or Strength, they'd get 3. Their Durability skill is not in the Combatants category, so it does not provide additional dice. Renown skills never provide additional dice and can never have additional dice provided to those rolls.
A single character can only introduce one problem per round, but more than one problem can be introduced per round as long as it's introduced by a different character. It does not take their action to do introduce the problem; they are free to use their action to attempt to solve a problem, whether it be their own problem or a problem someone else introduced. The problem's difficulty cannot be more than 10 points higher than their highest skill bonus.
Players have a lot of leeway to be creative in defining problems. They should keep the basic premise of the event in mind, but it's fine to control the antagonists and give them new tools or motivations as long as it doesn't explicitly contradict anything described by the other players up to that point. The difficulty levels should roughly follow these guidelines to match up with the site's power levels.
Resolution
During events using this system, players should post and roleplay as normal in the event thread. However, for posts where they take an action, they should put bolded text at the bottom of their posts indicating which problem they're attempting (including whether it's a new problem they're introducing), which skill(s) they used, their dice result, and whether the attempt solved the problem or not. For example:
New Problem: Finding a stealthy way into the bank. (Obstacle difficulty 8)
Using Speed E
Dice result 5 + skill 1 = 6 (not solved)
or
Attempting Problem: Finding a stealthy way into the bank. (Obstacle difficulty 8)
Using Speed D
Dice result 7 + skill 2 = 9 (solved)
At the end of each round, the person running the event should post a summary of which problems have been solved and which haven't. Once the entire event is over, the site administration will look at which problems were solved and which weren't in order to decide what the overall results were, but the players themselves are in charge of deciding what the outcome meant for their characters (e.g. combat injuries, NPC fates, etc.).
Scoring
Each character earns rewards as follows, using a new currency called Renown Points (RP).
Under this system, you get the most points for creating a problem too difficult for your own character to solve, but making sure that it's easy enough for another player's character to solve. This is easiest to do if the problem is not something your own character is good at. Meanwhile, most of your turns will be spent attempting to solve problems introduced by other players, collaborating together to describe how the problem turns out as it is either resolved or left undefeated by the end of the event. Because the system incentivizes making difficult problems, it's likely that at least some of them won't be beaten, so the results are likely to be a "mixed victory" at best.
There is no point reward for creating a problem which isn't solved by the end of the event. However, because the unsolved problems are the ones that have the greatest effect on how the event turns out, creating an interesting problem which doesn't get solved can be its own reward.
Scenarios and Scenario Outcome
Scenario is what we're going to call an event with a clear objective being fought over. Saving a town, a turf war, evacuating a town, defeating the giant Grimm, whatever. It's something with a clear objective that everyone is working towards, and will be in some events and some events will be entirely social with no real high stakes consequence depending on player choice.
The overall outcome of a scenario, beyond which problems were solved and left unsolved, depends on the characters' willingness to take risks and attempt difficult tasks, and on whether they were successful in those attempts. The Outcome Score measures this via Outcome Points (OP). The outcome score is equal to the sum of all OP gained during the event. If the Outcome Score is low, then even if all the problems were solved, the characters have "won the battle but lost the war." If the Outcome Score is high, then the problems that weren't solved by the end of the event can be wrapped up afterward with minimal fuss. In between the two extremes, the outcome is a mixed bag that leaves some both sides not completely satisfied.
For each event, the required score to reach a particular rank is different. Some events may have specific results attached to reaching a given rank. For example, in a battle to defend a city, a higher rank can translate to a higher number of defenders surviving, and a rank of C or higher might be necessary in order to avoid the city being taken over by the invaders.
Solving a problem gives Outcome Points equal to the difficulty of the problem towards the Scenario Outcome, as well as a bonus of 10 OP for solving the problem. Even if a problem is not solved, the total value of their roll is added towards the Scenario Outcome. So, if a problem has a difficulty of 13, and someone rolls a 7 with an E rank skill, they'd contribute 8 OP. If that same problem was attempted by someone else, and they rolled a 10 with a C rank skill, they'd contribute 13 OP because the amount they can contribute is capped at the challenge level of the problem.
Thus, even if the problem is not solved, the characters' attempts to solve it are often enough to chip away at the problem or make a difference. A high roll that doesn't quite solve the problem could represent getting close or trying to set someone else up, and a low roll could represent a mistake or not accomplishing as much as the character hoped.
Heroism and Crisis
In order to achieve high rankings, the characters will need to go above and beyond what they can safely accomplish without any risk to themselves. Before attempting a problem, a character may announce that they're using Heroism to get a bonus to the roll. This applies a massive +8 bonus and allows the character to use any skill you have regardless of category, but can introduce serious consequences even if the roll is successful. A roll of 1 on a heroism check creates a crisis no matter what, even if the problem is solved. The character should be written using a risky or high-cost method to try to solve the problem. It can represent something as straightforward as charging headfirst into a Grimm's large-scale attack, or as indirect as liquidating one's company's assets in order to purchase disaster relief supplies.
After using Heroism, unless the roll beat the difficulty by a margin of at least 3 points, a new problem is created. This is a Crisis problem which afflicts the character who overextended. Its difficulty is equal to the original problem's difficulty and its type is the same as the type of the skill used to attempt the problem. Solving a Crisis does not contribute points to the scenario outcome, but it does give the usual 20 RP reward to the one who solved it. The character afflicted by the Crisis does not gain any RP for having it solved, but if the Crisis is not solved by the end of the event, there are serious consequences for the character, regardless of the event's Outcome Score. The exact specifics of the consequences are up to the player, but they must be debilitating and persistent. Some examples of what kind of consequences are appropriate for different problem types follow. This should be considered a lower limit for how harsh they are - character death is also an appropriate outcome.
Even if a Crisis is eventually resolved, the character afflicted cannot perform any actions until the turn after its resolution. This makes Heroism very risky to use. It's usually possible to achieve a passing score on an event without using Heroism, but if the early rounds go poorly, characters may be forced to choose between allowing the enemy to triumph and risking their life and limb.
In low-stakes events without serious combat, the option to use Heroism may be disabled. The initial DM post will specify whether or not heroism is disabled, as well as a few details on what a high, low, or middling ranking will look like.
Teamwork Bonuses (Follow Up)
When a character attempts a problem but falls just short of solving it, other characters can use that attempt as a springboard in order to finish it off. Characters working together this way can solve problems that would be outright impossible for any of them alone. The benefits of teamwork are especially great for those who are getting help from a more skilled ally and approaches which normally wouldn't work can be much more achievable when one's allies have already created an opening for success.
Whenever an attempt comes up within 5 points of a problem's difficulty, other characters may "Follow Up" on that attempt when they attempt the same problem. This provides those characters an extra bonus on their rolls. When Following Up on an attempt by a player who used an equal- or lower-level skill, the bonus is +1. When Following Up on an attempt by a player who used a higher-level skill, the bonus becomes +2. The Follow Up bonus is applied as normal for determining whether an attempt got within 5 points of the problem's difficulty, which means that Follow Up attempts are especially likely to be useful for future Follow Ups in turn.
When performing a Follow Up, the player must declare as much and specify which attempts she's Following Up on before rolling the dice. This means that greedy players can decide not to Follow Up on previous attempts in order to try to get the full 20 RP reward for solving a problem themselves. However, note that no special action is required to give a Follow Up bonus to other characters - even a deliberate solo attempt can still be used by other characters to give their own later attempts a Follow Up bonus.
A character can perform a Follow Up on multiple previous attempts at once. The bonuses from those attempts are all added together. The only restrictions are that a character can only get a Follow Up bonus from an attempt made on the current turn or the previous turn and a character can't use her own previous attempt for a Follow Up bonus.
When a problem is solved using a Follow Up bonus, for the purpose of RP rewards, the attempts aren't treated as separate successful and unsuccessful attempts. Instead, the successful attempt and every attempt that contributed to the Follow Up bonus are all treated as "cooperative success," which awards 15 RP. This means that the one who finally solves the problem doesn't get any extra reward compared to those who lent their help, and there's no advantage to waiting for other people's attempts in order to follow up on them.
This is a system for allowing site events to be played out in a moderation-lite way that allows the players to have significant control over what happens during the event and how it all turns out. It is a cooperative system that encourages teamwork, providing greater rewards when the characters help each other out. The system resolves around the players coming up with obstacles to their own goals, having their characters "find" those problems, and then attempting to solve those problems with the help of other players' characters.
The system involves deadlines and reaches its conclusion in a pre-determined amount of time (usually seven to nine four-day rounds). Events will be run every month, with the event itself lasting the entire month in most cases and stopping exactly on the end date. Players can post as many times as they like each round so long as they do not double post, but may only take one "action" which has bearing on how the event ultimately turns out. This action always involves picking a problem (described in the next section), picking a single skill to use, rolling a ten sided die, and adding a number to the result depending on the rank of the chosen skill. Semblances that double down on the same category get a +1 to the primary category on top of the regular bonus, which increases to +2 at A rank and +3 at S rank.
F: 0
E: 1
D: 2
C: 4
B: 6
A: 9
S: 12
Problems are player-defined obstacles to the characters' success in the event. During each event, each player may introduce a total of two problems for each character they control. So someone with 1 character will get to introduce up to 2 problems, and someone with 2 will get to introduce up to 4 (two for each character, not 3 for one and 1 for the other). Introducing the problem involves three steps:
[attr=class,basictable]
1 | Describing the problem | "The gangsters holding up the bank." |
2 | Deciding the problem's category | Combatants |
3 | Deciding the problem's difficulty | 10 |
In order to solve a problem, a character must spend their action attempting to solve it and meet the difficulty level using the die+skill bonus roll described above. However, the skills that may be chosen are restricted depending on the problem category. The problem categories are as follows.
[attr=class,basictable]
Category | Skill theme | Examples |
---|---|---|
Combatants | Destruction | MA/Marks/Str |
Hazard | Survival | Dura/Sta/Agi |
Obstacle | Mobility | Spd/Acro/Flight/Leap |
Social | Noncombat | Item acquisition, interpersonal skills, etc. |
For skills whose applicable category is ambiguous (notably semblances), players must decide which category they'll use that skill for at character creation. No skill may ever be used to solve a problem outside its category, but players can define new problems which make old ones less relevant - for example, if the gangsters mentioned above have taken hostages, a mobility-focused character could define a new "finding a stealthy way into the bank" problem which, if solved, would result in being able to sneak the hostages out of the building. In order to spend their turn attempting a problem, a character must actually have a usable skill (i.e. it must be rank F or above).
If a character has multiple skills in the same category, that character gets additional dice if those skills' ranks are equal or above the main skill they are using to roll. For example, if a character had Durability E, Martial Arts E, Strength E, and Marksmanship D, they'd get 1 die towards combatants if they used Marksmanship to roll. If they used Martial Arts or Strength, they'd get 3. Their Durability skill is not in the Combatants category, so it does not provide additional dice. Renown skills never provide additional dice and can never have additional dice provided to those rolls.
A single character can only introduce one problem per round, but more than one problem can be introduced per round as long as it's introduced by a different character. It does not take their action to do introduce the problem; they are free to use their action to attempt to solve a problem, whether it be their own problem or a problem someone else introduced. The problem's difficulty cannot be more than 10 points higher than their highest skill bonus.
Players have a lot of leeway to be creative in defining problems. They should keep the basic premise of the event in mind, but it's fine to control the antagonists and give them new tools or motivations as long as it doesn't explicitly contradict anything described by the other players up to that point. The difficulty levels should roughly follow these guidelines to match up with the site's power levels.
[attr=class,basictable]
Combatants | Hazard | Obstacle | Social | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1-7 | Some rowdy drunks | Burning building | Enter second-floor window | Bribe disinterested guard |
8-12 | Group of no-aura gangsters | Minefield | Defeat home security system | Talk down madman |
13-17 | Defeat elite mercenaries | Ocean floor pressure | Infiltrate military base | Manipulate local police |
18+ | Defeat an elite Huntsman | Molten metal immersion | Escape supermax prison | Manipulate regional policy |
Resolution
During events using this system, players should post and roleplay as normal in the event thread. However, for posts where they take an action, they should put bolded text at the bottom of their posts indicating which problem they're attempting (including whether it's a new problem they're introducing), which skill(s) they used, their dice result, and whether the attempt solved the problem or not. For example:
New Problem: Finding a stealthy way into the bank. (Obstacle difficulty 8)
Using Speed E
Dice result 5 + skill 1 = 6 (not solved)
or
Attempting Problem: Finding a stealthy way into the bank. (Obstacle difficulty 8)
Using Speed D
Dice result 7 + skill 2 = 9 (solved)
At the end of each round, the person running the event should post a summary of which problems have been solved and which haven't. Once the entire event is over, the site administration will look at which problems were solved and which weren't in order to decide what the overall results were, but the players themselves are in charge of deciding what the outcome meant for their characters (e.g. combat injuries, NPC fates, etc.).
Scoring
Each character earns rewards as follows, using a new currency called Renown Points (RP).
[attr=class,basictable]
Solving your own problem | RP equal to difficulty |
Having your problem solved by another player | RP equal to difficulty |
Attempting but not solving another player's problem | 10 RP |
Successfully solving another player's problem | 20 RP |
Followed Up on another players roll | 15 RP once the problem is solved |
Solved a problem with follow up | 15 RP |
Under this system, you get the most points for creating a problem too difficult for your own character to solve, but making sure that it's easy enough for another player's character to solve. This is easiest to do if the problem is not something your own character is good at. Meanwhile, most of your turns will be spent attempting to solve problems introduced by other players, collaborating together to describe how the problem turns out as it is either resolved or left undefeated by the end of the event. Because the system incentivizes making difficult problems, it's likely that at least some of them won't be beaten, so the results are likely to be a "mixed victory" at best.
There is no point reward for creating a problem which isn't solved by the end of the event. However, because the unsolved problems are the ones that have the greatest effect on how the event turns out, creating an interesting problem which doesn't get solved can be its own reward.
Scenarios and Scenario Outcome
Scenario is what we're going to call an event with a clear objective being fought over. Saving a town, a turf war, evacuating a town, defeating the giant Grimm, whatever. It's something with a clear objective that everyone is working towards, and will be in some events and some events will be entirely social with no real high stakes consequence depending on player choice.
The overall outcome of a scenario, beyond which problems were solved and left unsolved, depends on the characters' willingness to take risks and attempt difficult tasks, and on whether they were successful in those attempts. The Outcome Score measures this via Outcome Points (OP). The outcome score is equal to the sum of all OP gained during the event. If the Outcome Score is low, then even if all the problems were solved, the characters have "won the battle but lost the war." If the Outcome Score is high, then the problems that weren't solved by the end of the event can be wrapped up afterward with minimal fuss. In between the two extremes, the outcome is a mixed bag that leaves some both sides not completely satisfied.
For each event, the required score to reach a particular rank is different. Some events may have specific results attached to reaching a given rank. For example, in a battle to defend a city, a higher rank can translate to a higher number of defenders surviving, and a rank of C or higher might be necessary in order to avoid the city being taken over by the invaders.
[attr=class,basictable]
Rank | Outcome |
---|---|
S | Total victory. Remaining problems can be resolved without resistance. |
A | Incomplete victory. Remaining problems do not affect the overall result. |
B | Mixed victory. Remaining problems may jeopardize long-term results. |
C | Stalemate. Status quo holds with exception of matters directly related to solved/unsolved problems. |
D | Minor defeat. However, solved problems still leave an impact. |
E | Major defeat. Solved problems may come back in the long term. |
F | Crushing defeat. Solved problems only represent very short-term success. |
Solving a problem gives Outcome Points equal to the difficulty of the problem towards the Scenario Outcome, as well as a bonus of 10 OP for solving the problem. Even if a problem is not solved, the total value of their roll is added towards the Scenario Outcome. So, if a problem has a difficulty of 13, and someone rolls a 7 with an E rank skill, they'd contribute 8 OP. If that same problem was attempted by someone else, and they rolled a 10 with a C rank skill, they'd contribute 13 OP because the amount they can contribute is capped at the challenge level of the problem.
Thus, even if the problem is not solved, the characters' attempts to solve it are often enough to chip away at the problem or make a difference. A high roll that doesn't quite solve the problem could represent getting close or trying to set someone else up, and a low roll could represent a mistake or not accomplishing as much as the character hoped.
Heroism and Crisis
In order to achieve high rankings, the characters will need to go above and beyond what they can safely accomplish without any risk to themselves. Before attempting a problem, a character may announce that they're using Heroism to get a bonus to the roll. This applies a massive +8 bonus and allows the character to use any skill you have regardless of category, but can introduce serious consequences even if the roll is successful. A roll of 1 on a heroism check creates a crisis no matter what, even if the problem is solved. The character should be written using a risky or high-cost method to try to solve the problem. It can represent something as straightforward as charging headfirst into a Grimm's large-scale attack, or as indirect as liquidating one's company's assets in order to purchase disaster relief supplies.
After using Heroism, unless the roll beat the difficulty by a margin of at least 3 points, a new problem is created. This is a Crisis problem which afflicts the character who overextended. Its difficulty is equal to the original problem's difficulty and its type is the same as the type of the skill used to attempt the problem. Solving a Crisis does not contribute points to the scenario outcome, but it does give the usual 20 RP reward to the one who solved it. The character afflicted by the Crisis does not gain any RP for having it solved, but if the Crisis is not solved by the end of the event, there are serious consequences for the character, regardless of the event's Outcome Score. The exact specifics of the consequences are up to the player, but they must be debilitating and persistent. Some examples of what kind of consequences are appropriate for different problem types follow. This should be considered a lower limit for how harsh they are - character death is also an appropriate outcome.
[attr=class,basictable]
Type | Consequence |
---|---|
Combatants | Long-term capture by the enemy |
Hazard | Severe disfigurement, long-term health issues |
Obstacle | Maiming, partial paralysis |
Social | Death of major NPCs, large-scale destruction to community |
Even if a Crisis is eventually resolved, the character afflicted cannot perform any actions until the turn after its resolution. This makes Heroism very risky to use. It's usually possible to achieve a passing score on an event without using Heroism, but if the early rounds go poorly, characters may be forced to choose between allowing the enemy to triumph and risking their life and limb.
In low-stakes events without serious combat, the option to use Heroism may be disabled. The initial DM post will specify whether or not heroism is disabled, as well as a few details on what a high, low, or middling ranking will look like.
Teamwork Bonuses (Follow Up)
When a character attempts a problem but falls just short of solving it, other characters can use that attempt as a springboard in order to finish it off. Characters working together this way can solve problems that would be outright impossible for any of them alone. The benefits of teamwork are especially great for those who are getting help from a more skilled ally and approaches which normally wouldn't work can be much more achievable when one's allies have already created an opening for success.
Whenever an attempt comes up within 5 points of a problem's difficulty, other characters may "Follow Up" on that attempt when they attempt the same problem. This provides those characters an extra bonus on their rolls. When Following Up on an attempt by a player who used an equal- or lower-level skill, the bonus is +1. When Following Up on an attempt by a player who used a higher-level skill, the bonus becomes +2. The Follow Up bonus is applied as normal for determining whether an attempt got within 5 points of the problem's difficulty, which means that Follow Up attempts are especially likely to be useful for future Follow Ups in turn.
When performing a Follow Up, the player must declare as much and specify which attempts she's Following Up on before rolling the dice. This means that greedy players can decide not to Follow Up on previous attempts in order to try to get the full 20 RP reward for solving a problem themselves. However, note that no special action is required to give a Follow Up bonus to other characters - even a deliberate solo attempt can still be used by other characters to give their own later attempts a Follow Up bonus.
A character can perform a Follow Up on multiple previous attempts at once. The bonuses from those attempts are all added together. The only restrictions are that a character can only get a Follow Up bonus from an attempt made on the current turn or the previous turn and a character can't use her own previous attempt for a Follow Up bonus.
When a problem is solved using a Follow Up bonus, for the purpose of RP rewards, the attempts aren't treated as separate successful and unsuccessful attempts. Instead, the successful attempt and every attempt that contributed to the Follow Up bonus are all treated as "cooperative success," which awards 15 RP. This means that the one who finally solves the problem doesn't get any extra reward compared to those who lent their help, and there's no advantage to waiting for other people's attempts in order to follow up on them.