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Post by burningskies on May 19, 2010 19:13:45 GMT
Hi guys,
I was reading through the Serenity RPG, based on the Coretex system and noticed a lot of similarities to DWAITAS in character generation and general mechanics. Anyway I decided to adapt another trait from the system into something useful for DWAITAS.
“Nature Lover (minor) - You love the outdoors and are in tune with your surroundings when there. +2 to awareness roles in a natural environment (or at least one the character is familiar with), +1 to survival rolls as well in the same circumstances.”
I based it off of a trait with the same name in the Serenity RPG.
GMs may wish to apply restrictions. Characters could state the type of environment they are most home at. The bonus could be diminished depending on the difference in settings. The woodlands of the planet Tara may be similar enough to those of Earth that the bonuses apply (for someone who came from there), while the rocky landscape of Mars would be quite different. After continued exposure to the new environment, the character would grow accustomed to it.
This trait would be appropriate for people who spend a lot of time in the outdoors, for example inveterate hikers, explorers, outdoorsmen (and women), hunters, aboriginal peoples, etc. This might be a very common trait among people that live in low-tech hunter/gatherer and agricultural societies, but less so among those in industrialized society.
There may even be an equivalent trait for someone who is extremely comfortable in an urban setting or aboard a boat or spaceship. In the latter cases, such people might be able to tell that something is wrong by the feel and sound of their environment aboard ship.
Scotty, from Star Trek might be a good example of this. Come to think of it, “Nature Lover” might not be the name for it, if it’s applied to these other environments. Is there a better name for this? Maybe something like "In tune with their environment"?
Anyway, I'm still trying to work this out. Any comments, criticisms, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by Curufea on May 20, 2010 0:09:35 GMT
It'd be very appropriate for Leela, for example I like it.
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Post by renegadetimelord on May 20, 2010 6:07:24 GMT
Is there a better name for this? Comfort Zone?
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Post by lomythica on May 20, 2010 13:57:01 GMT
Very interesting.
If you're going to make a good trait of 'comfort zone' with 'insert your area of comfort', you might also consider a trait called 'Fish out of Water', with the opposite effect.
This might come in handy for 'fishlike' aliens, Druids (who prefer nature to urban settings), or creatures with a particular elemental affinity that are susceptible to the opposite element (fire enabled creatures in a watery environment).
It wouldn't mimic a fishlike creature that has only gills and comes out of the water, but more like a mermaid type creature that dries out when not in the water for a period of time.
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misterharry
Dominus Tempus
Dalek Caan's Lovechild
Posts: 3,236
Favourite Doctors: Second, Third, Fourth, Eleventh, Thirteenth
Traits: Empathic, Face in the Crowd, Insatiable Curiosity, Stubborn, Phobia (Heights), Unadventurous
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Post by misterharry on May 20, 2010 15:55:47 GMT
Very interesting. If you're going to make a good trait of 'comfort zone' with 'insert your area of comfort', you might also consider a trait called 'Fish out of Water', with the opposite effect. This might come in handy for 'fishlike' aliens, Druids (who prefer nature to urban settings), or creatures with a particular elemental affinity that are susceptible to the opposite element (fire enabled creatures in a watery environment). It wouldn't mimic a fishlike creature that has only gills and comes out of the water, but more like a mermaid type creature that dries out when not in the water for a period of time. Personally, I'd cover the mermaid example with a Minor Dependency on being in water. However, I like the idea of the reverse of the OP's suggested trait - I see your Druid example as being more suited to this, or a sailor who's more comfortable at sea than ashore.
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Post by lomythica on May 20, 2010 16:23:39 GMT
Basically, the opposite trait isn't required in all circumstances, but could behave as a more extreme case for the appropriate character.
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Post by dvalkyrie74 on May 21, 2010 22:15:20 GMT
Wow!!! reading a friend's copy of Serenity RPG from work and there is a whole list of traits that can be tweaked into the Doctor Who RPG.
Mark
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Post by burningskies on May 23, 2010 15:36:41 GMT
Hi guys,
Thanks for your feed back! I balanced out the positive trait with a negative one and renamed them.
Comfort Zone (minor good): Your character is very comfortable in one particular environment and ‘in tune’ with their surroundings when there. They gain a +2 to awareness rolls when they are in their element as well as +1 to survival rolls in the same circumstances. The player should specify the environment with which they are especially comfortable – for example, a forest ranger or explorer may be especially at home in Earthlike woodlands. An Ice Warrior, growing up in the caverns of Mars, may feel very comfortable in cave systems or underground. A spacer (someone who spent their life on a spaceship) may be in their comfort zone aboard a starship or space station. Whatever their comfort zone, while there, they are especially aware of their environment and notice subtle changes (smells, sounds, etc.) that other people might otherwise miss.
The bonus could be diminished depending on the difference in settings. The woodlands of the planet Tara may be similar enough to those of Earth that the bonuses apply (for someone who came from there), while the rocky landscape of Mars would be quite different.
Fish out of Water (minor bad): Your character is at home in one environment, one in which he has been immersed for most of his life. He is not as quick to adapt as others and when out of this environment he is noticeably uncomfortable or bewildered and suffers a -1 to all awareness rolls. It could be a life-long sailor when he’s ashore or a career civil servant who rarely goes outside her office and is suddenly wisked off in the TARDIS to visit new worlds. If played well, this may also provide a source of further character and plot development. Because of unfamiliarity with other environments, the character is likely to miss (or perhaps overreact?) to slight changes in background sensations (smell, ambient noise, etc.) that someone intimately familiar with it would not.
Presumably a character could buy this trait off (with GM’s approval) after travelling in the TARDIS and experiencing different planets, environments and so on.
These traits are not mutually required; that is to say that someone who has a particular “comfort zone”, such as Earth woodlands does not have to take “Fish out of Water” to represent their reactions to other environments, like a starship. These two traits represent a stronger association with an environment (for good or worse) than average. They can be taken to balance one another out and to make for a more interesting character
Notes: It seems that minor traits usually give a bonus of +/- 2 to a certain skill or attribute roll in particular circumstances. As it is now, I thought that because the scope of Fish out of Water is fairly broad (all environments other than the character’s home environment) that a lower penalty to awareness was justified. Do you think this is being too gentle for a minor trait? Would also adding a -1 penalty to survival rolls when outside of their environment be too much for a minor negative trait?
Steve
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Post by da professor on May 24, 2010 14:08:11 GMT
I think the reduced penalty is fine, especially as the trait also implies a roleplay requirement.
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Post by lomythica on May 24, 2010 15:45:30 GMT
Why did you choose to make 'Fish out of Water' not include a -2 to survival checks (congruent to 'Comfort Zone')?
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Post by burningskies on May 26, 2010 4:40:49 GMT
Why did you choose to make 'Fish out of Water' not include a -2 to survival checks (congruent to 'Comfort Zone')? Hi Lomythica, The bonus to survival check (which is a +1; the awareness bonus is +2) applies only in limited circumstances - the player is in their favored environment. The reason I limited the penalty in "Fish out of water" was that the penalty would apply whenever the person is not in their preferred environment, which is far broader than having the bonus only apply when they are in it. It might even be the vast majority of the time, depending on the settings of the adventures and the deviousness of the GM. That's my reasoning anyway. If the -2 penalty applied everywhere but their comfort zone, maybe it could be considered a major negative trait? I dunno. Da Professor made a good point too - that the "fish out of water" also implies (or seems to imply) a roleplay requirement (i.e. making the player do a little extra work). On a related note, I just realized that if a player wanted to get the most use out of the "comfort zone" advantage (at least going by the original series), they probably should choose 'swamp' or 'rock quarry' as those two seem to describe probably 50-60% (just a rough guess) of the alien environments the Doctor lands in! Steve
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Post by ugavine on May 26, 2010 11:24:04 GMT
Serenity RPG is on my list of games to look out for at UK Games Expo in a weeks time. As for the idea of a Nature Lover/Comfort Zone trait I think that's a great one.
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