Now what? Action Outcomes in Travellers Beyond

    I posted a while ago about converting Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn to my Travellers Beyond game.  One part of that, which might not be easy to understand, is the Action Outcome system.  TB is meant to be a modular-style game, that is, you can mix and match and connect different parts of the system to properly describe what you want.  This design idea came from the birth of TB, when I liked the games I was playing, I just wanted to use different rules with their settings.  So the hooks and classes describe something about your character and what he/she/it can do.  But, you also need to know the outcome, the change in the game world, that comes from each action/ability.  Which is why TB has 5 pairs of Action Outcomes:

    The first pair deals with measurements:
⦁ Increase - raises a stat.  Like 'healing', which increases your current hit points up to your maximum.  Or 'boosting', which increases both your current and maximum totals.  It also covers 'creating' or adding a brand new stat you did not have before.
⦁ Reduce - lowers a stat.  So 'damage' lowers your current total, 'limiting' reduces current and maximum, and 'destroying' completely eliminates an existing stat (though, Darth Vader did say "no disintegrations" ;).

    The second pair deals with control:
⦁ Operate - encourages something to happen.  This is not a mod, like a +2 to a roll, rather it bends the odds, like roll two dice and take the highest.  This can be for an action, so an Operate/Talker encourages you to talk to or interact with someone/anyone, or it could be for a target, so your best friend could be a form of Operate in that since they like you it is easier for you to interact with them (which, if you were fighting would also give you a bonus because you know them so well).  I've also recently thought this could be used to off-set penalties.  So, say the base target number to defuse the bomb is 15, but you have a -10 to your roll because it's raining and you're using your pen-knife instead of the proper tools.  But if you had the special ability of "so awesome I can defuse a bomb with my teeth" it might be an Operate/Worker(bomb disposal) that would off-set the penalties (some or all) but still keep the base target of 15.  Or, a thermal scope on your gun that can see through smoke would off-set the penalties for shooting through smoke, but not the penalties/target number for range or armor.
⦁ Constrain - discourages something from happening.  This is kind of backwards from Operate.  Operate/Talker makes it easier to talk, but Constrain/Talker makes it harder to do anything else.  So, all Fighter, Explorer, Investigator and Worker abilities would be at a penalty (roll two take lowest) while Talker would be a normal roll.  Rage, for example, is a Constrain/Fighter - it makes everything other than fighting harder to do (you could also say it was an Operate/Fighter making fighting easier/better too).  Like operate this can be a type of action or a target. Note: I do not like "save-or-die" effects, and this includes mind control because I think taking away control of a character from the player is just about a cardinal sin of RPGing.  Thus, while constrain  makes something harder, it does not dictate what has to happen.  The character can ignore or deal with the changes.  So a "mind control" ability that makes a Constrain/Fighter and Constrain/your friends - that is, harder to not fight and harder to do anything targeting someone other than your friends - does not force you to attack your buddies, but it makes you pretty much useless otherwise (roll 2 or 3 take worst).  This is a fine line, having control yet being crippled is not very fun either, but I think it is better than totally taking away control.

    Next pair deals with information:
⦁ Understand - presents information.  This is where the GM tells you more and more, and goes from generalities to specifics.  So your "Undead Lore" ability means the GM will give you a breakdown of roughly, between x and y, how strong a skeleton or zombie is.  I have sub-groups for present, past and future in here - so present is perception, seeing what's around you right now, past is forensics, looking at a crime scene and seeing where people where and what they did, while future is seeing something before it happens.  The sub-groups are just to make some abilities cost more than others.  So seeing the future costs more than seeing the past because in general seeing the future is more useful.  It also makes fun twists like having a bonus to see the future but a penalty to see the present because your mind is so lost in what-might-be that you can't focus easily on the here-and-now.
⦁ Deceive - hides something or presents false information.  So lies, stealth, disguises and forgeries, hidden doors and traps, fog - anything that makes it harder to tell what's going on.  I don't yet have some sub-categories I like.

    Then we deal with structure/change/interaction (not sure how to describe it in one word):
⦁ Transform - changes something into something else.  For example, casting a spell that changes a sword from Reducing health to Increasing health is a transformation.  Turning a person into a frog, or something colored green into something colored blue is a transformation.  What you are trying to change sets the cost or difficulty, and it is all or nothing; that is, if you can't meet the cost then nothing happens.  You can combine Reduce and Transform to get a sort of partial transformation effect, or create a nested list of transforms from cheapest to most expensive. (the all or nothing is just to distinguish this from increase/reduce, I want to keep each AO a separate type of effect)
⦁ Avoid - prevents a change, which could be any other AO really.  Dodging out of the way, re-winding time, negating or cancelling an ability are all avoids.  Like transform this is all or nothing.

    Finally we deal with connections (or perhaps influence):
⦁ Bond - uses one thing to influence another.  So your strength influences the damage you do with your sword, your teammate's feint creates an opening for you to strike (the 'aid another'), the lich comes back from the dead (or undeth?) until it's phylactory is destroyed.
⦁ Separate - negates influence.  Pretty much this cancels an existing bond and I haven't found anything bigger for it yet.  This last pair has not really fleshed out very well for some reason.

So, in the Mistborn conversion, there were two lines at the beginning of each ability like so:
    Iron ("Lurcher") [Bender]
    (Reduce/Physical(distance)--Others/metals only)
The first line has the name of the ability (and the type of hook, in this case "Bender" is a type of the Extraordinary Abilities hook), and the second line has the Action Outcome and Target.  In the case above, the AO was Reduce, but specifically it was a Physical reduction, and more specifically a reduction of distance.  The target was "Other," that is, not the character, and specifically metals only.  So this power reduces the distance between the character and a source of metal.
    Let's take a hypothetical example, and say we have a power that creates a field around the character that shields from laser beams.  There are several different ways to describe this.  If we say the field bends light, then it would likely be an Avoid/Physical--Self/light only.  If the field interrupts or reduces light, it might instead be a Reduce/Physical--Self/light only.  What AO is chosen effects how the ability works.  In the first case, the Avoid, it would completely negate the laser/light-based attack up to the strength of the ability, but anything stronger would not be effected.  That is, say the Avoid field is strength 5 and it is attacked by a strength 10 laser - the character would be hit by a strength 10 attack because Avoid is all or nothing.  On the other hand, the Reduce field would instead subtract its strength from the attack, so in the above example the character would be hit by a strength 5 laser (the base 10 minus the reduce 5).  However, every ability has a cost that is paid when the ability is used.  So the Avoid would pay its cost (in "battery power" or "magic points" depending on the hook it comes from) only when attacked; while the Reduce would pay a constant cost while it was running (I know that sounds like splitting hairs, but in the overall system it makes some sense). Abilities may also have more than one AO.  Take the Reduce light-bending field I've used for my example: I could add to it the AO of Reduce/Mental(perception)--Self/visual only.  So the field would not only bend away light-based attacks aimed at the character, it would also reduce the character's visual perception ability, because all the light-bending makes it hard to see out of the field.  Since TB is point-based, this type of disadvantage would help pay for the advantage of bending light in the first place.

    The Action Outcome system is one of the parts of TB I am rather proud of.  I think it does a good job of describing what something does, how actions effect the world, which helps when deciding how powerful an ability is/what it should cost and what that ability is good for/meant to do.  If you want to use an ability in a creative way, the AO pairs and fields give you a framework to see how far away your creative idea is from the baseline of what the power was designed for.  So far it also seems to be fairly atomic, that is, its the smallest set of building blocks for defining how something works.  But, most importantly, what do you think?  Feel free to leave some feedback/comments below.

Converting Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn to Travellers Beyond

    In my last post I talked about the TB classes and Hooks, which while possibly amusing was also not terribly useful I bet.  So let me try to illustrate how my hook/class system works for TB.  I am going to convert the magic system used in the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson into the TB format.  Now, if you haven't read the Mistborn books this might not mean anything to you - so you should go read them right now !!! :)  Seriously, if you like fantasy at all, even just a tiny bit, you have to read Brandon Sanderson.  The Mistborn series is a fantastic trilogy about God Emperors and overthrowing them, with a very unique magic system based on metals.  It was then followed up by The Alloy of Law which took fantasy into the old west era.  Not to mention the great work he did finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and his book Warbreaker (the first of his works I read).  He's got another series, Elantris, which I haven't read, and a few more books aimed at younger readers I also haven't read, yet.
    Anyways.  Mr. Sanderson's books are awesome, and his magic systems are very unique.  In the Mistborn series all magic revolves around metal.  Different types of metals can give different powers.  There are three classes of magic, Allomancy, Feruchemy and Hemalurgy.  I am only going to present my notes on Allomancy here.  So, read along and see if anything makes any sense (I firmly believe a well-designed game is somewhat intelligible even if you haven't read the rules - so here's a test of how well-designed my game is so far).


Allomancy- the ability to 'burn' ingested metals to gain supernatural abilities.  One is either a Misting and has only one of the following abilities, or a Mistborn and has all (Mistings are somewhat common while Mistborn are very rare).  Hereditary power of the nobility, a skaa Allomancer has noble blood somewhere, and will be put to death if discovered (note, for skaa this ability must come with the Secret Hinderance or else the character would have been caught and executed).  For nobles being a Misting or Mistborn is a position of status.  Mistings tend to work openly, selling their unique abilities while Mistborn tend to hide their abilities and work in secret as spies and assassins.  Mistings are often referred to by a nickname given in parenthesis below, and burning that type of metal is also sometimes referred to by the same/similar nickname.

Extraordinary Abilities  (Augment/Evolve/Bender)
Powers are based on the metal being used:

    Iron ("Lurcher") [Bender]
    (Reduce/Physical(distance)--Others/metals only)
  Fighter- as this can only bring the metal source to the character, it can be used to attack if the source of metal is behind the target, which is a form of Indirect Combat using the Maneuver skill instead of Offense; this can also be used to pull metal weapons/items out of the hands of others which is a Disarm using the Offense skill.
  Explorer- used for limited travel, by pulling on a heavier or anchored piece of metal one can 'jump' directly towards that metal.  Combined with Steel by a Mistborn allows fully three-dimensional movement in an area with lots of metals, like a city.
  Investigator- burning this metal allows the character to see faint blue lines leading from them-self to all nearby metal sources, the strength of the line increasing for more metal and decreasing the further away (a large, far source looking roughly the same as a small, close source).
  Worker- metals can only be moved in a straight line towards the character, they cannot be turned or twisted; also the weights involved determine if the metal source will move or if the character will move instead (the lighter one being the one to move towards the heavier).
  Talker- not typically useful in conversation except for possibly distraction or intimidation.

    Steel ("Coinshot") [Bender]
    (Increase/Physical(distance)--Others/metals only)
  Fighter- frequently used for combat by throwing coins or small metal items the character is holding (which uses Ammo), uses regular Offense/Weapon skill and Ranged Combat rules.
  Explorer- used for limited travel, by pushing off a heavier or anchored piece of metal one can 'jump' directly away from that metal.  Combined with Iron by a Mistborn allows fully three-dimensional movement in an area with lots of metals, like a city.
  Investigator- burning this metal allows the character to see faint blue lines leading from them-self to all nearby metal sources, the strength of the line increasing for more metal and decreasing the further away (a large, far source looking roughly the same as a small, close source).
  Worker- metals can only be moved in a straight line away from the character, they cannot be turned or twisted; also the weights involved determine if the metal source will move or if the character will move instead (the lighter one being the one to move).
  Talker- not typically useful in conversation except for possibly distraction or intimidation.

    Tin ("Tineye") [Augment]
    (Increase/Mental(perception)--Self)
  Fighter- not significantly useful in combat if one can already see one's opponent, can be used to reduce the penalties for Ranged combat or when fighting with limited visibility (ie, darkness, smoke).
  Explorer- the perception increase can be used to detect creatures, ambushes and hidden or concealed people/places/things.
Investigator- aids in finding clues and investigating locations.
  Worker- not significantly beneficial.
  Talker- aids in detecting lies/deceptions and seeing through disguises/forgeries, only works reactivly though (ie, does not give a bonus to tell a lie).

    Pewter ("Pewterarm" or, more vulgar, "Thug") [Augment]
    (Increase/Physical--Self)
  Fighter- the boost to strength and speed are added to all Offense, Defense and Maneuver rolls as if the character had a higher Physical attribute score.
  Explorer- allows for faster sprinting and as a bonus in pursuits.  Can "pewter drag" (see below) for an extended period to increase non-combat/overland movement rate.
  Investigator- not significantly beneficial.
  Worker- adds to all Physical-based activities (ie, manual labor, sports).
  Talker- not significantly beneficial, except for Intimidation.

    Brass ("Soother") [Bender]
    (Reduce/Emotional--Others)
  Fighter- against opponents with Emot-based fighting abilities (ie, the Rage power of a Barbarian) this can be used to decrease that effect and it's corresponding penalties (for the example of Rage, it would decrease both the bonus to attack and the penalty to defense).  Can be used as a bonus when a Talker skill is being used to try to stop combat.
  Explorer- not significantly useful.
  Investigator- only gives a bonus when used during an interrogation.
  Worker- can be used when attempting to get another to do an action/work.
  Talker- this can be used to reduce the difficulty of a Talker action/skill related to a specific emotion (when that emotion would conflict with what the character wants the target to do), however, it does not give any special ability to read emotions.  Can effect only one person or a group.

    Zinc ("Rioter") [Bender]
    (Increase/Emotional--Others)
  Fighter- against opponents with Emot-based fighting abilities (ie, the Rage power of a Barbarian) this can be used to increase that effect and it's corresponding penalties (for the example of Rage, it would increase both the bonus to attack and the penalty to defense).  Can be used as a bonus when a Talker skill is being used to try to start combat.
  Explorer- not significantly useful.
  Investigator- only gives a bonus when used during an interrogation.
  Worker- can be used when attempting to get another to do an action/work.
  Talker- this can be used to reduce the difficulty of a Talker action/skill related to a specific emotion (when that emotion coincides with what the character wants the target to do), however, it does not give any special ability to read emotions.    Can effect only one person or a group.

    Copper ("Smoker" or "Coppercloud") [Evolve]
    (Deceive/Mental(perception)--Self/Allomantic powers only)
  Fighter- not significantly useful, though can hide the character's Allomantic abilities from an opponent burning Bronze (however, note that several Allomantic powers have some sort of visible effect).
  Explorer- can be used to hide oneself and those nearby (same Range-band) from someone burning Bronze.
  Investigator- hiding one's abilities, and/or those nearby, makes it more difficult for an investigation to Suspect the character and/or accomplices of having Allomanic powers.
  Worker- not significantly useful.
  Talker- makes you (only) immune to the effects of Brass/Zinc, but also unaware of those metals being burned to influence you.

    Bronze ("Seeker") [Evolve]
    (Understand/Mental(perception)--Others/Allomantic powers only)
  Fighter- can be used to reveal what Allomantic powers an opponent possesses, as they are used.  Cannot penetrate a coppercloud unless your ability is of a higher scale.
  Explorer- can be used to detect active Allomancers in the vicinity.  Cannot penetrate a coppercloud unless your ability is of a higher scale.
  Investigator- not significantly useful since it only detects active Allomantic activity and not past events.
  Worker- not significantly useful.
  Talker- not significantly useful.

    Gold ("Augur") [Evolve]
    (Understand/Mental(perception)--Self/Time(alternate present only))
  Fighter- not significantly useful.
  Explorer- not significantly useful.
  Investigator- the insight into one's own possible life-paths could help reveal any Mysteries in the character's background.  It could possibly be used to track one's own position on a scale of corruption (ie, if moving from the "light side" to the "dark side") by burning periodically to see changes in one's alternate selves.  Otherwise this is not significantly useful.
  Worker- not significantly useful.
  Talker- not significantly useful.

    Electrum ("Oracle")  [Evolve]
    (Understand/Mental(perception)--Self/Time(future only))
  Fighter- the ability to see one's own future will counter the effects of Atium on oneself (ie, the character's Fighter skills will not drop to 0 against an Atium-burning opponent) but gives no other bonuses.  Against non-Atuim users it gives a bonus to Defense only (as it does not reveal anything outside the character).
  Explorer- the future-sight will reveal any traps or surprises that effect the character (not those that effect others around/near the character).
  Investigator- not significantly useful.
  Worker- not significantly useful.
  Talker- not significantly useful.

    Atium ("Seer") [Evolve]
    (Understand/Mental(perception)--Others/Time(future only))
  Fighter- reveals every action another person could take before they happen, reducing the Fighter skills of all opponents to 0.  If both character and opponent are burning Atium the opposing effects cancel each other out and there is no change.
  Explorer- will reveal any ambushes or surprise attacks by another person, but does not reveal the actions of objects/places/things.
  Investigator- not significantly useful as it only shows the actions of people and not places/things.
  Worker- not significantly useful as it only shows the actions of people and not places/things.
  Talker- not significantly useful, it does not allow one to hear reactions of others (though reading lips or faces could give some indication to how a person would respond to an action by the character).

    Malatium (not commonly known) [Evolve]
    (Understand/Mental(perception)--Others/Time(alternate present only))
  Fighter- not significantly useful.
  Explorer- not significantly useful.
  Investigator- Seeing the alternate paths of another's life can be potentially helpful in determining their character, and possibly reveal any Secrets or Mysteries related to their past/actions.
  Worker- not significantly useful.
  Talker- Seeing the alternate paths of another's life can be potentially helpful in determining thier character, and possibly reveal any Secrets or Mysteries related to their past/actions.

Limits:
    Ammo/Fuel--Must "burn"/consume metals to maintain abilities, each has a different rate.  Short duration- atium (trns) ; Medium- pewter (min) ; Long- tin (hrs?), copper [note: Mr. Sanderson does not specify durations in his stories]
    Rarity--Gold is highly valuable (Luxury item), Atium is highly valuable and its sale is controlled (Luxury item, to purchase character must have the Allies & Influence (Organization: Noble Houses) Hook, or it must be stolen by taking the Secret Hindrance/Suspicion), the others are only moderately valuable (Material or Refined items).
    Ingestion--the metals to burn must be ingested, usually carried in vials of metal flakes suspended in oil.  It takes an action to drink a vial.
    Limited Compounds--only certain metals are usable for Allomancy, the ones listed above (plus a few others), and they must be mixed in the proper way.  Attempting to burn an improper metal can make the Allomancer sick or even be fatal.
    External Targets Only--an Allomancer cannot effect metals inside the body (ie, the iron inherent in blood or metals that were ingested by another Allomancer)[note: this is technically possible if the character can increase their Allomantic powers by 2 Scales, ie, Flaring is not enough by itself].

Development and Usage:
    Snapping--even though Allomancy is a hereditary gift, it lies dormant in the character.  In order to be able to use the power the character must Snap, go through a significant physical and/or emotional trauma, to awaken the ability.  It is possible, though extremely rare, for a significantly positive experience to also cause the Snap.
    Unconscious Usage--as an innate ability, a Misting or Mistborn will typically burn any metal they need even if unconscious.  For example, if wounded and unconscious a team-mate could force a Mistborn to drink pewter which would then be used to increase all Physical checks to resist dying.
    Flaring--metals can be burned at a faster rate to gain a larger increase, this uses the metal up at x5 the normal rate, but gives a bonus of +1 Scale to the effect (thus, using pewter would normally be Human-scaled (same as the character) but can be flared to make it Enhanced-scaled, with the appropriate increases to damage/effect and penalties to aim/precision)
    Dragging--with a sufficient supply of metals one can burn the longer-lasting types for an extended duration.  This process, called dragging, is potentially harmful to the body however.  Dragging a Pushing metal like Pewter requires an extended rest when the drag ends, and if wounded the loss of temporary strength could kill the character (also, any items carried with enhanced strength will be dropped, possibly harming the character, when that strength wears off).  Dragging a Pulling metal like Tin makes one Addicted to that metal over time.



    So, does this make any sense?  Even if you haven't read the books, do you feel like maybe you could use this magic system in your game and know what it could do?  If you have read the books, does this feel the same, is it a good guide for playing a Mistborn/Misting character?  Granted, there are no numbers, no explicit rules, but right now I'm more curious about the format and feel.  Please leave a comment below, I know I mention that at the end of most of my posts, but in this case I really, really mean it.  Travellers Beyond is a game I have been working on for many years.  It exists pretty much only in my head, so I really need to know how other people see it.  As I said, this is an incomplete fragment, but does it seem like something you would want to learn more about?  I hope to keep posting more examples of how TB works (well, the pieces of it I have, it is a work in progress after all) in the near future.

Why I Hate Classes and How I'd Improve Them

    I've been following a lot of old-school blogs, that is, bloggers who love the original Dungeons & Dragons (usually pre-2nd edition) - which I find amusing because I am not an old school player/GM.  I have played D&D, starting with the Red Box and up to 3.5 with a detour to my current game of Pathfinder.  I like D&D well enough, but I don't love the system.  For two main reasons, first it is fantasy-based.  Now don't get me wrong, I love fantasy and I love magic - but I also like science-fiction, and I really love mash-ups of the two.  My favorite settings were Torg and Rifts.  Torg was an Earth almost like ours that had been invaded by other realities.  So England had been taken over by a fantasy reality, Egypt by a pulp fiction reality, parts of America by a cave-man prehistoric reality, and on and on.  By crossing state/country lines you could be changing more than the scenery.  Rifts was a far future post-apocalypse Earth where magic had been accidentally released and now 'rifts' - doorways between dimensions - open at random and drop all sorts of strange beings into the world.  This kind of cross-genera role-playing is impossible with D&D in any of its versions.

    But the biggest thing I don't like about D&D, and what I'd like to bend you ear (eyes?) about in this post, is the class system.  Classes bother me because they conflate at least three different things: what someone does, what someone has and how someone acts.  Let me explain by examining the core classes that have been (mostly) central to D&D through all the editions: the fighter, magic-user, thief and cleric.
    The fighter is the simplest class, and the one I like, because it is so focused.  The fighter fights.  That is, they hit things, shoot things, stab things, and generally kill things that get in their way.  This is class as "what someone does" in its purest and proper form.
    But add on the magic-user, and now things get muddy.  The magic-user, as the name suggests, uses magic.  They may use magic to fight, to kill things, or maybe not.  They may just fly off into space or turn invisible and hide.  Because unlike the fighter, the magic-user class is not about what someone does, it is about what someone has.  The magic-user has the ability to cast magic.  What they do with it is another matter entirely.  It is perfectly possible and common to see a magic-user slinging spells killing things alongside the fighter swinging a sword killing things - and while both are fighters, one has magic and one has steel.
    So let's throw in the thief and mix it up even more.  A thief class is not about what they have, or even what they do.  Let's back up, a thief is, at heart, a criminal, right?  And a criminal is someone who breaks the law, right?  That is class as how someone acts.  Criminals/thieves may "do" a wide variety of things (pick locks, hide in shadows and then back-stab/assassinate, fast-talk/con vulnerable old ladies, etc, etc, ad nauseam).  They may "have" all sorts of things (magic can help with a lot of those activities, so can weapons and tools, even just plain old innate charisma).  What defines them however is "how" they act.  And I think a part of the uproar over adding the thief class way back in the day, and why some hate it today, is because they unconsciously realize it is a different type of class (though most overlook the whole fighter-does/magic-user-has dichotomy) that does not fit quite right.
    The cleric is another, even worse, conflated class.  A cleric 'does', they are the only ones who can heal, a cleric 'has', since they cast magic, and a cleric 'acts', because they follow their deity of choice.  But a cleric of a rage deity should be doing a whole lot more fighting than the oddball "no sharp objects" class we originally got.  Even now, with Pathfinder, a cleric deity (as measured by the two Domains chosen) is frosting and fluff, not real substance.  So this class is the poor duck-billed-platypus of the game, a hybrid of ideas without any proper structure.
    Which is the other problem I have with a class.  When you choose a class, you are choosing a future.  You have locked and rail-roaded yourself through the grave.  Your class progression tells you exactly how you will advance, what you will become good at, and you don't get to change things.  This has been given a little more flex in recent years with multi-classing, and Pathfinder in particular with all the Alternate Classes in the Ultimate line of books.  Still, once you get on that train, it is hard to turn it.  Which amuses me since so many people hate, with a fiery passion hate, being rail-roaded in a game but do not blink an eye at doing it to their character's future.  One reason I like skills is that I can put points in the skills I want and leave points out of the ones I don't and so progress my character exactly how I think my character should progress (in fact, I would love to get rid of the "base attack bonus" and have a separate skill for every weapon group (so, say, "long blades" or "axes"), then also have a skill for every magic group (abjuration, evocation, etc), and then you could really and properly make a hybrid fighter-mage class)(but I digress).

    So what, you may ask, who cares if classes conflate different ideas?  Well, firstly this is a game, and games have rules, and when things get muddy the rules can break down in new and interesting ways.  Take, for example, choosing an encounter.  As GM this is a difficult and important decision to make- what monster(s) should I throw at the party?  After all, we want to challenge the party, not kill them all (though, some GMs don't care, they figure the party should run away from any challenge too great - but that's not always as easy as it sounds).  So we need to know about how strong the party is, then compare that to the monster, no problem, right?  Ummm.... well, let's see.  The Base Attack Bonus is kind of the starting point, how likely you are to hit.  And every class has a different BAB.  But then you get magic items, which increase the chance to hit and the amount of damage done.  Then there are spells, which usually hit, and do variable damage based on the spell and the caster level and the number of said spells memorized, and for some spells the type of target changes the damage too.  The thief does only a little damage, unless he backstabs and then he does a lot of damage, but only to targets that take critical hits.  And then of course, what kind of damage?  Fire spells and magic items won't be very useful against a fire elemental who's immune to fire.  All of which is just the tip of the iceberg of considerations needed.
    Now, all of that is not just the fault of the class system, it's the abundance of mechanics in general (which I'm sure any old-schoolers reading this are screaming to their monitors).  However this does illustrate that when you conflate different concepts it makes measuring them more difficult.  A level 10 fighter could be horribly and quickly slaughtered by a level 5 fighter, if said level 5 had a ton of magic items.  Because the fighter class measures what you can do - but equipment measures what you have, and that influences what you can do.  The fighter armed with lots of magic items and the magic-user who can fight are roughly equal - both can do and have things.  By tracking them separately you can get a better feel for what is close; by merging them together, or not tracking them at all, you have a much harder time.  We track how much gold is in a character's pockets, but the amount of gold spent on items is just as much a measure of ability/power as the amount of xp spent on levels.
    Secondly, there is creating the character you want to play and keeping that character playable.  Sure, my fighter can splash some magic-user levels, and suck at two things.  But what about Gandalf, he sure could fight, and cast a few spells?  What about making a character along those lines?  The thing is that a class is all or nothing- you get the whole package or you get nada, zip, zero.  I mentioned above splitting weapons and spell-casting into different skills.  This way I can make a level 5 character who can swing a sword and cast a fireball like a level 5 fighter or wizard - but who can't shoot a bow or summon a monster at all (assuming a balanced skill point system).  Buy splitting the class into skills, which is the basis of class as what you can do, I can make myself good at one thing by being bad at another - and that is an interesting strategic decision.  By taking levels in multiple classes I just suck at everything.  Since this is my game and my character, I kind of figure I should be able to do whatever I want (within reason of course, again you take some sort of penalty or missed opportunity for your benefits).  Conflated classes make it easy to play that particular stereotype, but do not let you do anything outside that box (again, something key to old school play that is totally missing from old school character design).  I don't blame my friends for not wanting to ever play a paladin or cleric because those are very limited stereotypes with limited appeal, but I can describe or imagine one that might interest them (at the cost of having to make a custom/prestige/alternate class; and just how many classes can you track before your head explodes?).

    So now that I've ranted about why I don't like something, let me say how I'd fix it - or, at least, some of the basis of my own game, Travellers Beyond.
    First off, I like class as measuring what you can do, and that really means measuring skills.  I've created 5 classes: fighter, explorer, investigator, worker and talker.

• Fighters, well, fight.  There's a reason that class has been around forever.  But fighter skills/abilities are broken down by the desired outcome for the fight: kill, cripple, incapacitate, subdue, and survive.  Kill abilities, well, kill things.  Cripple are the 'critical hits' that reduce the opponent's ability to act/fight (blind, deafen, dismember).  Incapacitate is like cripple but not as long-term or harsh: blocking a magic-user's ability to cast spells or disarming someone is incapacitating.  Subdue means to take someone alive, and includes grappling and entangling/paralysis.  While survive is meant to get you out of the fight in one piece, distractions, 'aid another' and reading an opponent's fighting style go here.
• Explorers go places and see things.  Survival, trap disarming, finding secret doors, picking locks, navigation and transportation, carrying cargo, all of these are explorer things.
• Investigators seek out information.  This is a class I'm having trouble with, because it is kinda conflated itself.  At the same time though it seems just different enough to possibly warrant its own class/abilities.  I may not keep this one (which is why TB is a work in progress).
• Workers do work, they craft, heal, design, maintain.  A lot of these are 'downtime' activities, if you've got Ultimate Campaign.  Not always something you'd do in the adventure - though I'm trying to make a system where you could play as doctors investigating an outbreak of a new virus, or even just like the TV show House.
• Talkers do all that interpersonal stuff.  They bluff, diplomacize, intimidate, etc.  The thing is, each person has a different personality and outlook, which sets the target numbers for using each different skill on them.  So you have to read the person and the feedback from your dice to see if what you're trying to do might work or if it will just make them storm off and stop talking to you.

    Those 5 classes cover the "what do you do" part, and also what do you want to do - that is, what kind of adventure do you want to play.  If everybody is a fighter, then you all want to fight things, and will likely become upset if I as GM throw a lot of political intrigue and talking at you.  If you're all explorers then you want to travel and see the world and get past all those traps and locks and find all those secret doors.  The classes tell the GM what sorts of things the players want to see from the adventure/campaign.

    Then we have hooks, and those are the "what you have" section.  There are 2 groups of hooks, Metaphysical and Special Item, and each group has 5 individual hooks.  On the Metaphysical side:

• Extraordinary Abilities are special, innate powers.  This could be low-key/realistic meaning you are an Olympic athlete or Nobel Prize-winning scientist.  Or they could mean leaping tall buildings with a single bound and moving anything made of metal with your mind.  Because these are innate, they are hard for others to take away from you or block, but they also are hard to control.  When you're strong enough to carry a plane, you have to hold yourself back to shake someone's hand and not crush it.
• Martial Arts covers training and study to be the best at something.  I have long been and am still debating re-naming this to Kung Fu.  Both have 'fighter' connotations, but kung fu was really about being excellent at anything, not just combat (and it is still used this way sometimes).  Training is not very spectacular, and it grows slowly, but is also very reliable.
• Pattern Users are what we call magic.  Defining and categorizing them has been the biggest headache of the whole game design process.  "Magic" encompasses so very many different things.  This is part innate and part learned and totally dependent on the character and nature of the person using it.  I've discarded dozens of systems for this and have yet to find one I like.
•  Split Beings are characters who have been changed from their original state.  A vampire is a split being, the human base and the vampire transformation, so is a werewolf.  But even the Hulk, normal Bruce Banner and Giant Green Rage Monster in one body, is a split being.  The Sorcerer from Pathfinder, a person with an arcane/magical heritage, is also one.
• Allies & Influence covers when what a character has is a tie or relationship to another character or group.  Animal companions, familiars, henchmen, being a soldier or city guard - even up to King or Media Tycoon; all fall in this hook.  Here what you have is not your own power, but rather you can call upon the powers of others to assist you.

    All the Metaphysical hooks are focused on the character, even Allies & Influence is about the character's relationships, actions and obligations to others.  The Special Item hooks are all things outside the character:

• Cybernetic Implants are foreign objects implanted or attached to the character to give new abilities.  The cyberpunk metal limbs and cranial computers go here, but so do magic tattoos and grafted demonic wings.  The trick is that these are not innate like Extraordinary Abilities, this is something different, and unnatural, which damages the self-image and psyche of the character.
• Weapons & Equipment is pretty much self-explanatory.  You have stuff.  By tracking it as a hook we can measure how much stuff you have objectively.  But remember, things that are outside you can be taken or disabled the easiest.  Disarming a sword-wielding fighter is a lot easier that disarming a spell-casting fighter.
• Vehicles & Constructs covers boats, powered combat suits, houses, secret lairs and even starships.  These are the really big items, the ones that carry/hold you.  That size and scope also limits them (Moria is not a place for horses, after all).
• Fabrication & Harvesting is the newest hook I've added.  It just seems like something that needs to be a bit bigger than a skill.  Batman has the bat-belt that always carries a new and unusual item, for whatever class/skill/purpose he needs.  This one is really rough though, and I'm not sure about its future.
• Hacking/Cracking is the last hook (bet you're glad for that) and its all about taking over other things.  The traditional element of this hook is the computer hacker, but even the D&D 3.5 Use Magic Device skill is a part of this, so is a non-Pattern User disabling magical traps (hacking magic).  Even time travel (hacking reality) and psychological warfare (hacking people) can go here, as well as secret identities (hacking organizations).

    Between these 10 hooks and sub-hooks you can define any ability that any character in a game, book or movie has.  Combined with the classes you get a good image of what that character can do and what the player wants to do.  A Pattern User--Investigator is like an oracle or diviner, while a Pattern User--Fighter is the traditional fireball-throwing catapult.  A Hacking/Cracking--Explorer is the trap-disarming character, while the Hacking/Cracking--Talker might be a mentalist or hypnotist.  Most characters will have two, even three hooks (4+ should be rare).  A D&D fighter has Martial Arts for training and Weapons & Equipment for stuff.  A D&D magic-user is a Pattern User, but also Fabrication & Harvesting for creating magic items, and likely is carrying some Weapons & Equipment as well.

    The last part are 'class as actions' like our thief.  Sadly for this one I do not have a neat list of stuff to show you.  I've been creating and discarding about as many psychology systems as magic systems and have yet to find one I like (for either).  This is such an important part, to me, of building a character - and yet is so darn hard to make a group of categories or classes that isn't overly-broad or too-specific.  Someday I hope to have an epiphany and find something I like for this.

    Well, that's my rundown of classes and why I don't like them, as well as what I'm trying to do for my own game.  Is this any help to anyone else, or even interesting enough to read?  I don't know.  I love game design, as challenging and headache-inducing as it is, so it fascinates me.  As always feel free to leave your own comment below.

Role or Character?

    As a game player and game designer I like to examine my games as I play them, trying to understand how they work mechanically as well as aesthetically.  As a primarily role-player (as opposed to shooter or strategist or other common game type) I am always looking at the role-playing aspects of a game.  I loved Borderlands, with its skill trees, spent far too many hours on Morrowind, played the entire Mass Effect series, and so on and so forth.  Recently however, something struck me when thinking about the role-playing game that I have been designing for some time now.  And it came from thinking about real life.
    Whenever two people meet, invariably early on in the conversation a question will arise: what do you do?  This is, of course, the signal for the person being asked to give his or her occupation.  So, if you asked me that, I would say, "I'm a computer technician."  And that simple and common fact suddenly struck me with regards to games.  See, the thing is, asking someone's occupation does not always tell you very much about them.  You might assume, from mine, that I was a computer geek who loved to work with computers, could program and hack and fix things, and likely I am not very good with people (since the stereotypical geek/nerd is a shy person).  Which is all well and good, even somewhat accurate in my own case.  But it is missing something.
    That something is very clearly shown in an odd dichotomy with regards to games.  See, we talk about role-playing games, thus the point is to, well, play a role, right?  But then, we call such role-players by the odd title of "player characters" which, it would seem, defines their job as playing a character.  So, which is it?  Are we playing a role or a character, because they are two very different things.
    See, computer technician is my role.  But it is not me.  My first job was security guard, worked a lot of odd jobs after that, spent about 5 years as a baker and cook, then the last 10 off-and-on as a computer tech, with a few other odd jobs thrown in.  I like computers, but I don't love them.  I love games, specifically I love designing games - having worked on one of my own for literally over half my life to date.  I like people well enough, and while kinda shy I get along with just about everybody and don't mind at all talking to or teaching someone.  I've got lots of patience.  I can write HTML and CSS but not really code, and as a hacker, well, I'm more a script kiddie.  More over, I'd rather play a game than fix a computer, will talk your ear off for hours about movies and comics and fantasy or science-fiction books and, well, you get the picture.  The role I play is only a small part of my actual character.  Which was the realization that hit me, we tend to confuse the two an awful lot.
    A lot of table-top players like me wish there was more role-playing in most computer games.  But really, there is.  When I play my tank in an MMO, or good Shephard/bad Shephard in Mass Effect, I am playing a role.  What we really mean by that, is that we wish there was more character playing in computer games.  And, in fact, I wish there was more character playing in table-top role playing games too!  Maybe it is a quiet thread, a legacy of the roots of the first role playing game.  Dungeons and Dragons, which all of the old timers like me started on actually began life as a wargame, called Chainmail.  In a wargame, each piece has a role to playing the larger army, like you could say each piece in Chess plays a role.  Characterization meant giving your miniatures a custom paint job.  When D&D arrived, what we got was really just an extension of that.  The class-based system is a system of roles.  I'm the fighter, I'm the healer, I'm the thief, I'm the wizard (once, then my spell is gone and I'm the one hiding behind the thief).  It was a list of job descriptions.  And many games of the era, the 80s, followed that same general template.
    Then as we progressed the industry grew and changed, like all industries do.  Role-playing games began to focus more on story and all those things we didn't have any rules for, and well, we got the storytelling-game.  Now it wasn't about your specific role being played, it was about the larger narrative of us together.  Still, though, it wasn't about character.  Well, let me clarify that.  Any game is about whatever it has rules for.  That's a good functional definition of a game, an activity with rules - as distinguished from make-believe in general.  While the top-down approach of the storytelling game allows playing a character, it is only tangentially.  The rules of a storytelling game are usually all about who has control of the narrative, who gets to make up what happened, they are not mechanically tied to the characters (on average).  The bottom-up of role-playing also allows the same thing, doing your role allows you a chance to show your character, but again there are no real rules for it, you just make believe something you like.  Character, how you feel about and react to the things that have happened to you and the things that you have done, sits right in the middle of both typical game mechanics.
    So, how do we have a character-playing game, what sort of mechanics do we need?  Well, that's a very fine question, and hopefully someday I'll have an answer for you.  In my own game I'm designing I am struggling with that very issue, overturning many years of mechanics and ideas in realization of something I missed and want to implement.  While I'm working on mine, I think it would be a healthy, lively debate to start though.  I'd love to hear what sort of mechanics and games other people feel capture the elusive 'character-playing.'  Please leave a comment below if you have an example or an idea (or just want to comment on how crazy I am for asking).

TB- Hooks

    I am currently typing up my cmoputer class, so that is using most of my time.  But I wanted to post something, so here is another piece of Travellers Beyond.  The Intention Categories (last post) cover what sort of thing a character wants to do, Hooks cover what sort of power, ability or item is used to carry out that desire.  TB has 10 Hooks, and here's the section describing them in general:

Hooks

    So far the character sheet has been defining the average man, the things that virtually all people have in common. With the hooks however, now we get into what makes your character different from all the others. Hooks cover special abilities, powers and super-advanced skills, allies and equipment, things that not everyone has access to. But most characters are not common people, so most characters you make will have one or more Hooks.

    There are 10 Hooks total, divided into two sets of 5 – the Metaphysical Hooks cover things that are based on magic or special powers and abilities, as well as relationships, study and dedication. The Special Item Hooks cover equipment, things outside the character (though possibly implanted in them), and how the character uses outside items. Within each Hook there are several Types and Categories, which I'll describe later in the more detailed Hooks chapters. For now, here is an overview of the 10 Hooks:

The Metaphysical Hooks

Extraordinary Abilities (EA) – powers, super-human abilities, leaping tall buildings and out-running trains all fall under this Hook. You may have been born with these abilities, or perhaps some accident or experiment gave them to you. Regardless, they are now a part of you, as natural as breathing or moving.

Martial Arts (MA) – some are not born great, some make themselves great. The Martial Artist is one who has dedicated themselves to the pursuit of perfection – weather in combat or in their own development, perhaps in mastery of a skill. From bare-fisted warriors and master trackers to enlightened sages and trick-shooting circus performers; MA is all about improving oneself and one's abilities.

Pattern User (PU) – wizards, priests, those who have learned and studied how to bend reality fall under this Hook. This is part EA and part MA, it is a learned Hook, one of study and dedication, but also one of incredible semi-innate powers and abilities.

Split Being (SB) – EA is all about the powers and abilities that are added to your character – but what if your abilities come from the fact that you are no longer the same type of being you used to be? The Split Being Hook covers characters who have been changed: from vampires and werewolves to a fragmented psyche that turns you into an enormous green rage-monster.

Allies & Influence (AI) – having the right friends can be a power in itself. From companions who follow and assist you to super-secret spy organizations that outfit you in high-tech gadgets. With AI it is your relationship with someone or something else that gives you power.

The Special Item Hooks

Cybernetic Implants (CI) – with this Hook, something foreign has been implanted into your body. We have this Hook today, artificial hips allow people to move after injury. But it could also be a symbiotic organism or even a magically-grafted demon's arm.

Weapons & Equipment (WE) – having the right tool for the right job is a power as well. The WE Hook covers everything from bone clubs to supercomputers and even magical objects like flaming swords and crystal balls.

Vehicles & Constructs (VC) – vehicles from a sailboat to a starship sailing between the stars all go here. But so do houses, bases and other buildings – even pocket dimensions.

Fabrication & Harvesting (FH) – while the other Special Item Hooks are about having some item the FH Hook is about making your own items. With this Hook you can craft/create any of the others yourself.

Hacking/Cracking (HC) – lastly, the HC Hook is all about being able to manipulate other objects and even people and things. From the computer hacker to the time-traveller ('hacking' time/space), from master spies ('hacking' organizations) to psychological warfare ('hacking' people) – this Hook is all about taking something else, something not yours, and using it to your advantage.

TB- Intention Categories

    The Intention Category system originally started out as a way to divide skills into related groups.  But it has grown as I've realized that they cover all the different things you can do in the game.  So here's a look at TB's IC system:

Intention Categories

    The ICs are meant to be a quick way to compare characters and what their focus is. Many games use a “Class” system, like the Fighter, Thief, Cleric and Wizard. Typically the Fighter kills stuff (or stands around and gets hit, depending on your game), the Thief sneaks and disarms traps, the Cleric heals everybody and the Wizard does massive damage to everything in sight. Okay, that's fine to a point – the problem is that it's stereotyping. What about the smart fighter who excels at tactics and leadership? Or the war-priest who flies into a divine fury and slaughters the enemies of the faith? Or the con-man, who doesn't bother learning how to pick a lock because he just talks the owner into opening it? Or the wizard who is what the word's actually derived from, wise and knowledgeable? I could go on, but I hope this illustrates the problem with classes in many games: they limit freedom to create the kind of character you want to play, instead forcing you to play a stereotype.

    TB tries to combat this by instead focusing on what your character does, with the IC system. The ICs are active, they are how you approach the world and what you like to do. There are 8 Intention Categories:

Labor (LBR) – doing work with your own hands, brains, or with other living beings is covered under Labor. Beyond basic physical labor this IC covers- sports, games, surveyors, logistics (knowing how to get the right tools to the right place at the right time) and other “white-collar” activities too.

Technical (TEC) – operating machines, computers, and whatever other devices all go here. Repairing, creating and modifying machines is also a part of this IC.

Knowledge (KNW) – the Knowledge IC is all about perception and understanding. What you can see, and how well you can understand what you see go here. This also covers how to hide and deceive as well.

Warfare (WAR) – in this case we mean Warfare to be direct, personal combat to harm or disable another being (as well as avoiding said harm). Blowing up a building is actually Technical, so is working a siege engine. Using the weapons on a vehicle is Direction, which covers vehicles and such [though, I do debate changing that and making the piloting DIR and the shooting WAR and working on-board sensors or computers or such TEC -CJ].

Direction (DIR) – movement, of oneself or by a vehicle, and navigation, these are the Direction IC. If it's about going from point A to point B then it's here.

Holistic (HOL) – Holistic is all about actions that directly relate to other living beings – like teaching or healing.

Environmental (ENV) – no man is an island, the world is all around each of us; and the Environmental IC is about how to deal with it.  From building shelter, to finding food and dealing with animals - ENV covers everything "wilderness" related.

Interpersonal (INP) – not only are we surrounded by the world, but we are also surrounded by our fellow beings, which is where the Interpersonal IC comes in to play. Anything dealing with relationships between people goes here.

TB- Weapon Categories / Skills

    One of the key parts of Travellers Beyond I'm trying to finish is combat - since that is such a core part of most games, it makes a good starting point.  So here is what I've worked up on weapons, how to classify them for skills and relevant rules.  you'll note there are still some blank spaces and question marks, TB is very much a work in progress, but I think you can see how comprehensive I'm trying to make it:

Weapons

    Every attack is made with some kind of weapon. Even if it is natural like a fist, or improvised like a frying pan. So let's look at how we define weapons:

    The first grouping is in how close to the user the weapon is. Weapons that are a part of the user, like Unarmed weapons, rely on the user's abilities (so H-Scaled users usually have H-Scaled attacks). However Contained weapons, like firearms, do not depend on the power/strength of the user to do their damage – and thus tend to be higher than H-Scaled in damage. At the farthest end, Independent Weapons might have their own targeting skill, and not need the user for anything (except maybe to pick out which target to shoot).

Weapon Types-

Unarmed – innate/racial attacks

Symbiotic – weapons that are tied to the body (ie, EA and CI abilities)

Extension – weapons that are extensions of the body (ie, swords and bows)

Contained – weapons that are separate from the body (ie, firearms)

Independent – weapons that act on their own with minimal direction/requirements from the user (ie, AI-driven auto-blasters, motion-sensing machine guns)

    In combat Range is a very important factor. If you can hit the other guy from farther away than he can hit you, you are almost guaranteed to win. So there are two classes of weapons representing this.

Weapon Classes-

Melee – work within short range / a few feet, or even direct contact.

Ranged – can travel farther than melee, even beyond line of sight.

Indirect ?? - I'm thinking we need another category for indirect weapons, like siege engines and artillery, since while they are ranged they work a bit differently

Placed ?? - also placed weapons, like mines and traps, seem like they could easily make their own category

    With those two types and classes, let's look at the different Weapon Groups:

Unarmed Weapon Groups-

Melee:

Strikes (?) – xxx

Kicks (?) – xxx

Grabs (?) – xxx

Ranged:

xxx – xxx (um, humans don't really have any ranged unarmed attacks ?)(what animal attacks maybe, like quills or spit ??)

Symbiotic Weapon Groups-

Melee:

xxx – xxx

Ranged:

xxx – xxx

[Patterns/spells? Cybernetic weapons, Extraordinary Abilities ? Anything else ?]

Extension Weapon Groups-

Melee:

Clubs – a solid weight used to hit / bash opponents. Does Impact damage by default. Little extra damage beyond the user's Strength.

Short blades – smaller edged weapons, one foot or shorter in length. Does Wounding damage by default. Difficult to parry with, but faster to use.

Long blades – edged weapons over one foot long. Does Wounding damage by default. The middle-ground weapon, neither exceptionally bad or good at anything.

Axes – a curved or perpendicular edge that is backed by weight. Does Wounding damage by default. Difficult to parry with, and a slow attack speed, but does high damage.

Shafted – a club or blade or axe mounted on a long shaft / handle. Greatest range, but very weak against opponents who close within that range. Slowest, most defensive type.

Articulated – a chain, hinge or some flexible material allowing extra speed (and therefore force) to be generated. Most difficult type to use, often potentially hazardous to the user.

Mixed – a single weapon that has two or more of the above types merged together, or a weapon that is capable of changing its type in combat.

Ranged:

Thrown – an object moved at range entirely by the user's Strength.

Slings – a strip of material used to propel an object.

Bows – bent wood under tension to magnify the user's Strength in damage – but still requiring sufficient Strength to draw / use.

Contained Weapon Groups-

Melee:

xxx – xxx (um, a lightsaber is the only kind of contained melee I can think of)(this is a hard one, because it has to not rely on the user's strength/ability – so a vibro-blade has its own power supply and cuts easier, but seems like it still relies on the user's strength, it just multiplies it better. The lightsaber, that seems like it does so much damage that no matter who wields it it is deadly, but other than something so specific, what is there?? maybe the WH40K Chainsword ??)

Ranged:

Crossbows – a bow mounted to a stock, using a winch or other device to generate the required tension, thus allowing weaker users to get off powerful shots.

Handguns – the smallest firearms, usually one-handed.

Sub-machine Guns (SMG) – larger than a pistol, and designed to fire multiple shots.

Shotguns – are larger firearms, rifle-sized, that fire large shells. They are usually mid-ranged, but the larger shell allows for more ammunition types than the typical rifle.

Rifles – are firearms with long barrels, allowing greater range and accuracy.

Man-portable Weapons (MPW) – like rocket launchers and grenade launchers, weapons meant to take on very large or tough targets (almost always V Scaled damage or higher).

Independent Weapon Types-

Melee:

Mines / Tripwires – these weapons are placed in one spot and wait for the enemy to come to them. Placement, stealth and guiding / forcing the enemy's movement are vitally important to the success of this type.

hover / personal shield / covering – weapons that move on their own around the user attacking anything that comes close ?? generally do not take any “hands” to wield, but have some type of time/power limit ??

Ranged:

Grenades (??) – xxx (they are kind of Thrown, yet also Contained – so do they really go here instead ??)

Guided – weapons that need the user to choose targets, but fire on their own.

Autonomous – weapons that choose their own targets and fire on their own.

Mobile – these look, move and shoot on their own.

My Travellers Beyond Role-Playing Game

    Ever since High School I have been designing an RPG called Travellers Beyond (or just TB for short).  It has taken literally decades to work on because 1) I've been designing it as a hobby in my spare time, 2) I don't really play much anymore, and 3) it is a huge, complicated game.  Currently, having an excess of time on my hands, I have been devoting at least an hour of every day working on the game.  I can only use the library computers for 2 hours a day (sadly I don't have one of my own anymore), but I have managed to type about 160 pages - which is about half-way to the completed, basic game.
    I'm going to be posting parts of the game as I work on them, just for the heck of it and because I'd love to get feedback on if the game sounds promising or like the deluded ramblings of a madman :)  But first, a quick overview of what TB is about.
    TB is a universal, customizable role-playing game.  Universal because it is designed to handle any type of setting and characters and abilities.  From fantasy to science-fiction, wizards to cybernetic dragons, from leaping tall buildings in a single bound to a pet dinosaur.  A part of what has taken so long in designing TB is continually stretching and expanding the rules to cover every story I have read or seen.
    Customizable is because TB has several levels of detail, from "rules lite" to "rules heavy" as well as different methods for rolling dice / resolving conflicts.  The many different styles of games are just like the many different settings - and TB tries to cover everything so that you can make the game you like, in content as well as feel and mechanics.
    Role-Playing Game is something I take seriously.  I read an awesome post by Justin Alexander on his blog The Alexandrian about dissociated mechanics (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17231/roleplaying-games/dissociated-mechanics-a-brief-primer).  These are rules that the Player thinks about, but that the Character does not.  Like the "usable three times per day" abilities in Pathfinder/DnD.  The Player has to track the uses, but what exactly is that Character thinking?  Why is it only three times, why not four?  It is a break from actually playing a character, instead you're "gaming the system."  I loved the post because it articulated something I have felt since designing TB - every rule, every effect needs to have a role-playing reason behind it.  That is the only way to maintain a logical system, and it helps keep the player in character.  I have tried very hard in designing TB to avoid any dissociated mechanics, even traditional ones like experience and character creation.
    TB is a huge, potentially wonderful game - if I can write it right, and if I can ever finish it.  Starting soon I'll begin posting sections of the rules and I welcome any and all comments.