Statistics
- Strength: physical power
- Toughness: physical resilience
- Reflexes: agility and speed
- Intellect: intelligence and reason
- Willpower: strength of mind and resolve
- Charisman: persuasive ability
Players will have 18 points to spend on statistics.
Skills
- Hand-to-Hand Combat
- Gunfighting (light)
- Gunfighting (assault)
- Drive
- Computer Use
- Stealth
- Perception
- Demolitions
- Pilot
- Avoid
- Athletics
- Diplomacy
- Linguistics
- Repair/Modify
Players will have 10 points to spend on skills. Skills cap at 5. No skill may be raised higher than 4 during character creation.
Resilience Values
- Wounds (Critical): Used in mortal combat; Wound boxes equal to Toughness, Critical boxes equal to half Toughness rounded up
- Resolve (Non-critical): Used in social combat; Resolve boxes equal to Willpower
- Spend 12 health points enhancing Wounds, Critical Wounds, and Resolve
- Wound boxes cost 2 hp, Critical Wounds and Resolve boxes cost 1 hp
SFXs
- Mortal Combat
- Social Combat
- Driving
Players will have 5 points to spend on SFXs.
Boons and Flaws
- Spend 6 general points on improving your character
- Boons cost x amount of gp
- Flaws give x amount of gp
- Statistic points cost 3 gp
- SFX points cost 2 gp
- Skill or health points cost 1 gp
Gradual Progression
Fueled by experience points (XP). At any time during the session, the player can spend his XP to improve aspects, if that aspect has been used during that session. The cost of increasing an aspect rises depending on how high the aspect is. Players may only increase an aspect by 1 level at a time, regardless of how much XP you have.
- Statistics cost a number of points equal to 5 multiplied by the level it was raised to
- Skills cost a number of points equal to 3 multiplied by the level it was raised to
- New skills may be purchased for 3 points each, and start at level 1
- New SFX cost 5 points plus double the number of SFXs that you have already
The goal of this character creation and progression is to give the players complete freedom and control over their characters. If they want their agent to be very Sam Fisher-esque they can possess high Stealth and snap necks at their leisure. If they want to be a deadly hand-to-hand combatant with a penchant for persuasion and demolitions, they can be.
The choice is yours
I think that there needs to be some reward and also some sort of a disadvantage for doing certain things. if people are able to almost max everything then the game may lose some of its challenge. How about playing a characters progression almost as more of a funnel effect. At the beginging you can be well rounded and do alot of things to a certain degree or you can start a guy of as being rele good at one thing and then move on to whatever you want. But the end goal is that they'll have strengths and weaknesses.
thats what i'm getting at.
i think that there has to be some sort of payout/collection system. for example a guy who specs in firearms can unlock a certain sfx or skill that grants him a bonus to firearms. by doing this the player will put more thought into his decisions rather than end up with a maxed out boring to play guy *cough* fable *cough*. but doesn't that mean that you'll just eventually spec at the opposite ends of a spectrum and still be too powerful?
heres the kicker
you can only spec in 2 skills. And the special skills you get will give you two new sfxs or skills. like firearms may
have the choice between the skill shotgun master (giving a +1 to all shotgun rolls) or the sfx steady shot(makes him next shot hit no matter what). if he also specd in martial arts he would have a similar decision with similar benifits.
And then a choice between unlocking a new special skill or getting a very powerful sfx that may only be used every so often. The special unlocked skill may be very specific and should somehow relate to the two specd skills. like for example in the firearms/martial arts guy above the may unlock the new skill called disarm which can only add when the player makes a roll against a disarm. or the player can choose to unlock the sfx called solid stance which removes the penalty for using a ranged weapon in hand to hand combat. this means player will have to decide between a quick payoff that may change an entire situation or a readily usable advantage that has less of a payoff but gives more often.
the drawbacks
not only does this give players more of a defined role and character they also come with drawbacks. For example some may go together rele well (diplomacy and linguistics) and make certain parts more rewarding or interesting (you're mastery of languages and persuasion prevents the death of a major character who normally couldn't be saved) while others will not even have a special final ultimate ability (there is none for combining avoid and computer use) but those combos will make a more rounded player. Specs not only cut off other pathways but may also have certain flaws/disadvantages. the firearm/martial guy above will have an enormous advantage in combat but will stick out like a sore thumb in a more clandestine situation and will easily attrach attention. These disadvantages are less of a numbers aspect and more of a how the story develops/the challenges you'll face kind of deal.
getting these bonuses shouldn't be a simple matter of putting points in them. the character must either 1)recive special training in the game 2)go through an ordeal thats teaches/forces them to do this 3)plot progression
The end goal is not to limit a character but is instead to make them plan ahead and think constantly. "shoulda done more with computer" well now the player has to think his way out more so than gun. "shoulda put more into pistols" now the player has to brawn his way out instead of think.