[freeroleplay] Character Generation (long)
- From: Samuel Penn <sam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: freeroleplay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:38:01 +0100
I'm currently fiddling around with character generation in Yags (again),
and I thought I'd seek some ideas from the list. Since I'm currently in
two minds about which way to go, I'm going to discuss both and see whether
anyone else can come up with more pros and cons for each.
As I see it, there are two ways to do character generation. The first is
where you have a single pool of points from which to build a character,
the second is where you have multiple point pools. Before anyone complains
that there's more ways of doing it, I'm actually being very inclusive in
these definitions, which you'll see below:
One Pool to Rule Them All
The best example of the first is probably GURPS. You get 100 points to
spend, which can be used to buy attributes, skills, advantages, background,
social status and that sort of thing. Everything is on the same scale,
so 10 points of skills is considered equivalent to an advantage worth
10 points (which may be magical aptitude, or might be wealth).
The advantage of such a method is that it is highly flexible for a player.
They can take a character who isn't very good physically, but has large
numbers of contacts and wealth to call upon. They can create balanced
characters or highly specialised characters. It's all up to them.
There are a couple of downsides. Firstly, the game designer has to balance
everything, and this can be very difficult to do. Is level 20 in the Fencing
skill equivalent to being up to turn invisible at will? If they both cost
the same, then they should be. Balancing this can be a nightmare however,
so from a design point of view, it's difficult.
It can also be difficult from a player pov as well. The flexibility can be
a curse if a player doesn't know exactly what they are doing. You can often
end up with broken or overpowered characters, either by mistake or design.
Is the increased flexibility worth the extra hassle? In one sense it is
simple in that there's only one pool for the player to worry about - they
just add up everything at the end.
Many Pools
The other way is to have several pools to build characters from. So, you
might get 10 points to spend on attribute, 20 to spend on skills and 5 to
spend on attributes. 1 point of attribute might be 'worth' 3 or 4 skill
points - there doesn't need to be a balance since one can't be spent on
the other.
Ars Magica is an example of this. Attributes are rolled, you then get
skill points from a template you choose, then you get 10 points to buy
virtues (advantages) with. In this case, the mechanics change between the
pools - one is random, one you choose a single option, and the final ones
you buy several options, up to a point limit.
d20 is similar - roll or point buy attributes, then get points to spend on
skills (according to character class) and a number of Feats to choose.
Most games are I think of the 'Many Pools' variety - character design is
split into several sections which have little impact on each other (or if
they do, it's indirect - choosing a character class in d20 governs how
many skill points you have, but the class doesn't have a point cost
associated with it).
How many skills is a Feat worth? It doesn't matter, since neither affect
each other. This makes it simpler from a game design perspective - there's
less option combinations you have to worry about players min-maxing.
It can be more complex from a player's view however, and it is definitely
more restricting. If you don't want any feats, but want a lot of Lore skills,
then tough, you can't do it unless there's a class tailored just for you.
You also have to keep track of more things - the mechanics for generating
attributes is different from that used in buying skills which is different
from that used in buying advantages/virtues/feats. You also have to keep
looking up how many of each you're allowed to buy (I have seen players
get confused with this before, especially when each pool is a similar but
slightly different number, such as 20 on one thing, 24 on another, 21 on
a third).
However, it may be seen as simpler for first time players. The character
generation rules can be split according to what the player is generating,
and since each section is independent, the player only has to worry about
one thing at a time. It only becomes restrictive once you've done a few
characters and realise what you actually want is something that the game
designers haven't thought of.
Summary
So... what do people prefer, and does anyone have thoughts on other
advantages of either system? Are there other ways of doing it? I can't
think of one - even the 'bidding wars' of diceless Amber are a One Pool
system since the cost of everything just goes into a single number.
Are many pools really that restrictive, or do they add flavour to the
system? Is the flexibility of systems like GURPS really worth the
design time complexity?
Thoughts?
--
Be seeing you, http://www.glendale.org.uk
Sam.
IM: samuel.penn@xxxxxxxxxx or samuel.penn@xxxxxxxxx
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