Post by simonf on May 2, 2019 23:23:33 GMT
I wasn't wholly comfortable with the notion of awarding characters increases to Attributes and Skills on the basis laid out in the rules, i.e. however much of an increase feels right, whenever it feels right, so I put together something a bit more concrete using the TARDIS Advancement rules from The Time Traveller's Companion. I'm very open to suggestions for tweaking any of the guidelines here.
CHARACTER GROWTH
Some players and GMs may want a more systematic method for determining character advancement, and this system is based on the TARDIS growth rules in The Time Traveller’s Companion. As players may feel somewhat put out if everything is based on a single die roll, achievements in adventures and Ingenuity are also taken into account.
After each adventure, each player rolls 2d6 + Ingenuity, with the difficulty determined by the overall challenge and scale of the adventure according to the following chart:
Epic, with numerous difficult challenges and serious danger – average roll difficulty 21 9
Heroic, with easier challenges to overcome – average roll difficulty 15 12
A Lark, without any serious risk or danger – average roll difficulty 9 15
Basically, the less challenged the players are the less likely they are to progress. For each Fantastic success in the adventure, add 1 to the dice roll. Other really noteworthy accomplishments may further modify the roll at the GM’s discretion. Disastrous failures with awful consequences may also have effects: subtract 1 for each, increasing the risk of picking up Bad Traits such as Unadventurous. For successful rolls players gain advancement points, as indicated by the chart below:
RESULT
Fantastic! Ingenuity x1/5
Good Ingenuity x1
Success Ingenuity ½
Failure 0
Bad 0
Disastrous Gain a minor Bad Trait.
Advancements are handled the same way as for TARDISes, in that points can be spent or saved up to buy Good Traits, buy off Bad Traits or increase Attributes, Abilities or Story Points.
ADVANCEMENT COST
Reduce a Bad Trait by one level 2
Add a Skill Point 2
Add an Attribute Point 4
Add a Minor Trait 2
Add a Major Trait 3
Add a Special Trait 4
Add a Story Point 4
The GM may veto or otherwise restrict expenditure of Advancement Points. In particular there should be strong justification for adding Good Traits or reducing Bad ones, and in general Advancement Points should be spend on Attributes or Abilities that the players actually used.
THE LONG WAY ROUND
Somehow over the course of their normal lives prior to going off on wild adventures, player characters acquire the Attributes, Skills and Traits that they start off with. That process does not just stop but in everyday life it may be somewhat more gradual and success is not guaranteed. It also requires lengthy periods of everyday life, work and study, i.e. retirement from adventuring. However, in a game about time travel it is quite plausible that a character could part company with his time travelling associates and cross paths with them again somewhat later on, as did Professor Travers, Captain Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith.
The same basic advancement system outlined above is used for improving or acquiring Attributes, Traits and Skills the long way. However, only one roll is made for each year of ordinary life and the Difficulty for the Ingenuity roll is always 15. Well, almost always. If the character allocates all Advancement Points gained on improving just one Attribute or Skill, or gaining, losing or modifying one particular Trait, the Difficulty is 12. In real life terms, this may necessitate an intensive gym regimen, taking a college course or joining UNIT.
SWAPPING STORY POINTS FOR EXPERIENCE
For players who prefer certainty of character advancement to rolling the dice and hoping for the best, there is the option of permanently expending Story Points to gain Character Points and Skill Points. Each Story Point spent grants 1 Character Point and 1 Skill Point and the option of taking one extra Minor or Major Bad Trait to gain more, but this does not happen overnight. Note that characters with the Experienced Trait such as the Brigadier tend to be getting on in years a bit, so the character gets the extra Character Points and Skill points after 2 D6 years have passed.
CHARACTER GROWTH
Some players and GMs may want a more systematic method for determining character advancement, and this system is based on the TARDIS growth rules in The Time Traveller’s Companion. As players may feel somewhat put out if everything is based on a single die roll, achievements in adventures and Ingenuity are also taken into account.
After each adventure, each player rolls 2d6 + Ingenuity, with the difficulty determined by the overall challenge and scale of the adventure according to the following chart:
Epic, with numerous difficult challenges and serious danger – average roll difficulty 21 9
Heroic, with easier challenges to overcome – average roll difficulty 15 12
A Lark, without any serious risk or danger – average roll difficulty 9 15
Basically, the less challenged the players are the less likely they are to progress. For each Fantastic success in the adventure, add 1 to the dice roll. Other really noteworthy accomplishments may further modify the roll at the GM’s discretion. Disastrous failures with awful consequences may also have effects: subtract 1 for each, increasing the risk of picking up Bad Traits such as Unadventurous. For successful rolls players gain advancement points, as indicated by the chart below:
RESULT
Fantastic! Ingenuity x1/5
Good Ingenuity x1
Success Ingenuity ½
Failure 0
Bad 0
Disastrous Gain a minor Bad Trait.
Advancements are handled the same way as for TARDISes, in that points can be spent or saved up to buy Good Traits, buy off Bad Traits or increase Attributes, Abilities or Story Points.
ADVANCEMENT COST
Reduce a Bad Trait by one level 2
Add a Skill Point 2
Add an Attribute Point 4
Add a Minor Trait 2
Add a Major Trait 3
Add a Special Trait 4
Add a Story Point 4
The GM may veto or otherwise restrict expenditure of Advancement Points. In particular there should be strong justification for adding Good Traits or reducing Bad ones, and in general Advancement Points should be spend on Attributes or Abilities that the players actually used.
THE LONG WAY ROUND
Somehow over the course of their normal lives prior to going off on wild adventures, player characters acquire the Attributes, Skills and Traits that they start off with. That process does not just stop but in everyday life it may be somewhat more gradual and success is not guaranteed. It also requires lengthy periods of everyday life, work and study, i.e. retirement from adventuring. However, in a game about time travel it is quite plausible that a character could part company with his time travelling associates and cross paths with them again somewhat later on, as did Professor Travers, Captain Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith.
The same basic advancement system outlined above is used for improving or acquiring Attributes, Traits and Skills the long way. However, only one roll is made for each year of ordinary life and the Difficulty for the Ingenuity roll is always 15. Well, almost always. If the character allocates all Advancement Points gained on improving just one Attribute or Skill, or gaining, losing or modifying one particular Trait, the Difficulty is 12. In real life terms, this may necessitate an intensive gym regimen, taking a college course or joining UNIT.
SWAPPING STORY POINTS FOR EXPERIENCE
For players who prefer certainty of character advancement to rolling the dice and hoping for the best, there is the option of permanently expending Story Points to gain Character Points and Skill Points. Each Story Point spent grants 1 Character Point and 1 Skill Point and the option of taking one extra Minor or Major Bad Trait to gain more, but this does not happen overnight. Note that characters with the Experienced Trait such as the Brigadier tend to be getting on in years a bit, so the character gets the extra Character Points and Skill points after 2 D6 years have passed.