Sometimes I repeat myself in order to refine ideas. You may have guessed by now that posts here tend to be lightly edited. The goal is to put ideas in print quickly to enable refinement of ideas later. This post is an example of refining an idea.
Character Groups
There are five character groups in the as of yet unnamed 2e inspired clone: (AYUTIC)
Warrior - The warrior depends on his/her strength and mastery of weapons to achieve success. Warriors are the only characters that benefit from weapon specialization, namely bonuses to base attack and damage. As warriors attain higher levels, they become masters of a large number of different weapons.
Rogue - The rogue depends on his/her skills to achieve success. Rogues characters begin play with double the normal non-weapon proficiencies. With these extra proficiencies, they enjoy exclusive access to certain convenient, if not entirely legal set of skills. As rogues attain higher levels, they become master problem-solving, often able to get out of difficult situations in multiple ways.
Priest - The priest depends on his/her faith to achieve success. Priest characters are the only ones with access to divine magic. With this power, priests extend the will of their patron deity and attempt to reshape the world. As priests attain higher levels, they become powerful emissaries of their deity and hold sway over the souls of thousands that look to them for guidance, leadership and/or protection.
Wizard - The wizard character depends on his knowledge of magic to achieve success. Wizard characters enjoy access to a dizzying array of arcane spells and the ability to create magic items. Whether specialists in a specific type of magic or mages that employ a diverse set of spells, wizards demonstrate a tremendous amount of power. As wizards attain higher levels, they become powerful shapers of the world around them, attracting the attention of other-worldly beings and even the gods themselves. Powerful wizards are respected and feared throughout the world.
Psionicists - The psionicist character depends on their force of will to achieve success. Psionicists have access to powers of the mind that transcend magic. As psionicists exert more control over their surroundings and their own bodies, they are able to enforce their will on the world. As psionicists attain higher levels, they are able to alter themselves and their world in different ways. Hated by priests and feared by many, powerful psionicists at once hold sway over thousands and live isolated from the world they influence.
In game terms, it is easy to see the prime attribute of each character group. Warrior - STR, Rogue - DEX, Priest - WIS, Wizard - INT, Psionicist - CHA. Where is the character group based on CON? There have been a couple of misfires (barbarians, defneders) attempting to generate this character group. Ultimately I decided that CON is entirely a defensive attribute. A character with great CON has extra hit points, can resist poisons and survive deadly encounters. However, without any offense, there is a limited effectiveness. How many times can a character be a human shield?
Core Mechanic
- Success is determined by rolling equal or under a target number.
- Positive numbers increase the target number thereby increasing odds of success.
- Low numbers are good:
- Armor Class is descending - the lower the AC the harder to hit
- Critical Success is achieved by rolling a 1.
- Random tables have beneficial results matching low rolls.
Classes and Kits
Classes are character types within a character group that demonstrate different powers. Within the Priest character group, there are Clerics, Druids, and Paladins. All three rely on their faith, but are different in how that is expressed. Druids are more in-tune with the natural world, Paladins rely more on their weapons to extend the faith than clerics.
Kits are character types within a class that are differentiated by proficiencies or spell choices. Fighters in the Warrior character group can specialize in swords (swordsman), pistols (shootist), rifles (sharpshooter), bows (archer), siege weapons (engineer) or unarmed combat (martial arts). Rangers in the Warrior group can specialize in wilderness areas of different climates (various names) or urban areas (Urbanist). Clerics in the Priest group have access to different domains of spells. Mages in the Wizard character group can specialize in different schools of magic (Invoker, Necromancer, Transfigurist, etc.) Psionicists have access to different specializations (Egoist, Shaper, etc.)
The goal of kits is to allow great choice in characters without necessarily taking a long time to create a character. Individual mixing and matching outside of established kits is only allowed by the DM. Otherwise, a player is guides through a process of narrowing their options in order to choose a character. The first question determines the character group. The second question determines the character class. The third question determines the character kit. After that, rolls attributes, choose non-weapon proficiencies and begin play.
If a player does not have a given non-weapon proficiency, roll 7 or under for success.
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