Thursday, June 16, 2022

Exemplar Update

 We now have two active playtest, one with a very experienced player and one for whom this is literally his third game session. The core mechanic seems to be working out well, and we are working systems for procedurally generating prompts that don't violate other peoples copy right.

It is slow and there are a lot of stumbles, but it is happening.

So far we have... 

A classic D&D module, Keep on the Borderlands being played with Exemplar rules.

A spun from the ground up space marines adventure.

And the beginnings of a mid level gothic horror game.

If the play testers give their permissions I will add a bit of the logs with necessary annotations to show the processes.

This is very exciting and a bit daunting, but it is a heck of a lot of fun.

Character Creation Draft 1

 Roll 3d6 x6. Re roll ones.


Place the outcomes in their rolling order in the following Traits.

Forceful xx

Cunning xx
Skillful xx
Intuitive xx
Resolve xx

Presence xx



If no score is above 14, reset one score to a 14. Then you may switch the position of two scores. Should the remaining scores have several low scores (say 8 or lower) re roll the character.


Fortune xx
The final trait, fortune is determined as an average of the six prior scores rounded up.


Fortune is both a point pool for pulling fate in your direction, a sort of a focused luck if you  will, and it is a Ability Trait that is rolled against to determine how dumb luck treats you. As you spend Fortune points (usually to add a scene detail, gain a +4 to a roll already made, or take a reroll), your score goes down. As you have bad luck in procedural luck checks, and if you spend no Fortune in that scene, your fortune goes up. Fortune can also be burned en mass for “hand of god” saves, but more on that later.


From the core Ability Traits you will generate the derived traits. This is simply done by subtracting the core trait from 22. Then note it as such

Example
Forceful 12/10

The original trait is the oppositional target number. If someone wants to beat you in an arm wrestling match they roll against a 12 on their turn (all ties to PC). If you want to gain on them you roll over a 10 or over on your turn.



Ability Traits.

The six ability traits work like Fate Accelerated Editions approaches. They are how you go about doing things. They set the baseline threshold that you must overcome or be overcome to effect the character or for the character to effect change in the world.

When the game suggests a challenge you pick an Ability Trait to explain how you overcome it. If it is a perfect match roll against the score. If it is imperfect there may be modifiers. More on modifiers later.


Concept, Culture, and Class
For the next part of character creation write an evocative sentence that includes what your ability traits tell you, and what you want to play.

Keep in mind this is an action forward game, so the more this sentence includes doing the better off it will serve you.

Your concept will greatly ease rolls by providing Advantage when the activity closely matches the concept. Your concept also provides permissions which are justifications for actions in the story.

Looking at the Concept you next derive from it the Class and Culture. Culture is simply where you come from. In a fantasy game that may be a type of elf. In a LotR themed game it could be a Hobbit, in a pure human game it could be a country or a social class. If your Concept lacks this element modify it to include it.

Certain culture concepts will have advantages. Do not worry about this. It is a solo game so balancing against other players isn’t necessary. Do keep the concept within the Tier of play. A T1 fantasy game wouldn’t have you playing dragons, but a T3 could.

Next derive your class from the description as well. It could be as simple as the core four from the classic D&D game (Fighter, Thief, Cleric, Magic User), or something more exotic, like paladin or cyborg warrior. Again keep it in the Tier that you have designated to play. If you can’t cleanly extract a Class from your Concept, modify the concept to include a basic class.

Your concept, culture, and class provide permissions to allow you to take actions. Be generous to yourself. It is a solo game and you have a lot of ground to cover.


Exemplar Ability Trait

Pick one Ability Trait in which you truly excel. This is your Exemplar ability trait. All rolls using this trait are done with 1 level of Advantage.


Traits

Traits are descriptions of things you are or things you can do. Most are derived from Concept, Culture, and Class at the beginning, but if you want to add some personality quirks, hobbies, ambitions, or Tier appropriate associates just put them down as Traits. While owing the local mob boss sounds bad, and will do you no good in a dungeon, it may save your bacon when he sends thugs to bail you out of trouble so you can choke up 1000 credits at the end of the month.

Traits expand during play. What you do, what you learn, and how you spend your down time and money, all affect your traits. If you want to expand your class abilities (or even multi class), your traits will grant you the necessary permissions to do that.




Monday, May 23, 2022

Exemplar core draft 1

 Exemplar is a derived from the classic D&D rules that have been around in one form or another since the mid 70s, but with changes to express the solo nature the intended game. The power level of characters is higher in resistance to damage and rate of success, and the game is simplified down allow for less complexity when a person is both the player and the GM.

The core mechanic is a d20 over a target, which is familiar to most RPers at this point. The difference is that the target are derived from the character seven stats. In this way it has a similarity to roll under games such as the Black Hack, White Hack, and SS&SS (Sharp Swords & Sinister Secrets), but instead of rolling under the stat is “inverted” by subtracting it from 22 to generate the base target.

The six original D&D stats are employed, but renamed to express their expanded use. Here we are drawing from the idea of Approaches as was first suggested in Fate Accelerated Edition. Each Ability Trait (Replacing the more well known ability score)

Forceful - Strength. Actions such as fighting or athletics or intimidation

Skillful - Dexterity. Stealth or Archery, but also anywhere else a body of knowledge meets manual expression

Resolve - Constitution. Resistance of the mind and body

Cunning - Intelligence. Actions, such as solving math problems and recalling obscure lore.

Intuitive - Wisdom. Actions like sensing danger or spotting a detail at a glance.

Presence - Charisma. Persuasion, and magnetism, whether used by a leader or a conman


Lastly there is a seventh stat

Fortune- A heroic luck and ability to push fate in a preferred direction.

Examples will follow  but here is a a stat block of a PC.

Forceful 14/8

Cunning 11/11

Skillful 13/9

Intuitive 9/13

Resolve 16/6

Presence 10/12

Fortune 13/9

If a PC wanted to attack an unmodified foe it would be a d20 roll against an 8. To walk a tight rope, assuming he is skilled, it would be an d20 dif 11. To randomly pick right between two options (say picking of two cards) it would be a luck check against an 8.

The original stats are kept because they are the target of opposition. Someone trying to push a PC down a flight of stairs would roll against Con (for resistance) of 10. Trying to sneak past them would be 16 (assuming no advantage), and trying to best a PC with a logic puzzle would be a 9. As you can see the offense and the defense come to the same odds, which is fine, as many rolls will be more convenient if player facing. (Naturally whether the player character or NPC are acting you would apply all applicable bonuses to either side. See opposition document and examples to follow). Note that Skillful Ability Trait is Bold. That is because it is the Exemplar trait. Any roll using this trait gets an automatic Advantage to the roll. This doesn't have to be the highest trait, or even a trait associated with the Class or Culture of the character. It is just a field of action which the Exemplar is above and beyond.

This is the base core to the game. Simple. The goal at this point to to add satisfying complexity.


A glossary of useful terms (Draft 1)

 Traits

Traits are a collection of descriptions that explain aptitudes, skills, knowledges, possessions, experiences, and other qualities that are a permanent part of the character. The most commonly used traits are Ability, Culture, Archetype, and Class, but as the PCs' experiences grow more will be added to the list. Traits after character creation are developed from roleplaying and story rewards, but guidelines will be provided to make that an easy and fun task. A traits primary purpose is to grant Permissions.

Permission: Permission is a concept closely tied to traits. A permission is the ability to take an action that is given by possessing a trait. If you can’t suggest through some trait, how to take an action, even badly, you cannot attempt the check.

Ability Traits

Ability Traits are the core traits that describe the capabilities of characters. Rather than define a specific skill or aptitude, they describe the natural abilities to go about solving problems and expressing other traits. These traits are derived from those originally given in the 1970s version of the world's most popular RPG. To that is added one more, Fortune, which is especially useful for the solo gamer.

Forceful: This replaces Strength in the classic game and is used in all situations where the Character is exerting themselves using some aggressive quality, whether combat, a stare down, intimidating another character, or standing up to bullying with a show of forceful resistance. It is also useful in athletic situations which are defined by aggressively hurling oneself into it, such as competitive sports like football, or a foot race, or a chase. 


Cunning: This replaces Intelligence from the classic game and is used in situations where intellect and quick thinking rule the day. This is a combination of bringing to mind the knowledge base that is provided by background, class, culture, and character development in the most useful fashion possible, but it has other applications as well. When the ability to put together clues that are available (rather than unseen factors which is covered by intuitive), in a Holmesian way, such as a crime scene examination, a tracker, or someone looking for a secret or concealed door, Cunning is the most useful approach. When concepts like coding, or academic magic are in question, Cunning is also most useful.

Skillful: This replaces Dexterity in the classic game and is used when a combination of thinking and movement are necessary. It encompasses grace, mechanical aptitude, hand eye coordination, and the ability to do complex things under pressure. It differs from Forceful as it isn’t about drive related tasks but skill related tasks. It differs from Cunning in that it isn’t about manipulating a body of knowledge, but a body of techniques. Though it could well be used to express a graceful martial arts kata or the ability to do a precise long range shot, it would be hard to maintain this poise in the heat of battle, especially when damage begins to pile up.

Intuitive: This replaces Wisdom from the classic game, which has always been something of a nebulous term. Here we refer to the ability to glean insights subconsciously, whether from the environment, or from a character's own internal or animal instincts. The way a ranger understands the intentions of an animal, an actor, the mood of a crowd, or any adventure the danger lurking up behind them is ruled by the Intuitive trait. While some conclusions drawn by Intuitive and Cunning would be the same, they represent two different approaches. A Cunning investigator could present his chain of evidence, but an Intuitive cop would just know he is on the right path. This would be a prime skill for priests and psychics drawing power from that which cannot be understood, only accepted.

Resolve: This trait replaces and expands on Constitution from the classic game. Resolve does cover physical resilience, but not just as health, but also as a reservoir of internal strength that allows it to be used equally well resisting the charming eyes of a warlock or the poison of a snake bite. Likewise, exhaustion from sleeplessness or physical exertion. Here we see the qualities of willpower that were once given to a Wisdom ability. If your character has some power from an internal reserve his Resolve will effect that. If you resist a bully or a charging brute by planting your feet or planting your gumption Resolve will cover that as well. A monk chi’ or a dwarf hardiness and magical resistance would spring from their Resolve.

Presence: This trait replaces the classic trait of Charisma, and serves a very similar purpose. It is a combination of gripping noticeability, and the ability to manipulate the emotions and actions through that magnetism. Fast talking, slow cons, working a room, gathering followers, or inspiring the troops would all be done with the Presence trait.

Fortune: This is the only trait that is not based on a classic ability score, but it is one of the most important features of Exemplar. The Fortune trait is only possessed by Exemplars and other Exemplary characters. Fortune is a luck trait and a fate trait.  By rolling against it you can determine how well or poorly things are going for a character. By draining it off, which does raise the chance of ill fortune befalling you, you can manipulate the strands of Fortune. When misfortune befalls the Exemplar the Fortune score can mitigate it or, if accepted, it will swell the Fortune Pool (which we will discuss later). The Fortune trait is how a single PC can stand, with some cleverness, against all the trials of the world.



Other Traits


A Character is more than just its aptitudes. They are also where they come from and what they have learned along the way. Your other core traits will help to define these qualities. 




Culture: Everyone has a past, and for RPG characters sometimes it gives them a leg up in the world. Whether you are a young wizard from a secret wizarding subculture, or from a farm town in Iowa, where your character comes from imparts a certain character to them, and if far enough removed from their starting point it will give them a collection of advantages and disadvantages.
Define the culture of your character in the context of the game you are playing. If you are in a human centric world, but are an alien species, that is going to have a lot more importance than whether you are also from a farming community, as the two different views of farming are probably worlds apart. But if your character is playing in the same city he was born into, just like all the NPCs, then the subculture of the character will play a much bigger role.

The biggest role of your Culture trait is to grant permission to do the skills that are common to your culture, species, or training, but if they would grant an extraordinary benefit they can have a positive effect on Ability Trait Checks. On the other hand if you are a skater boy from Chicago, you won’t know how to replace a wagon wheel unless you learned that skill elsewhere. Thus the Culture trait can also close doors when appropriate. 


Concept (formerly archetype): If your Culture trait is broadly where you come from, your Concept is broadly what you do. Depending on the genre of the game this could be as mundane as, cab driver, (or better yet hot tempered plucky cab driver) to as exotic Queen's Champion. A Concept  describes your character's profession or lifestyle, and to some degree their outlook. It also gives you a collection of shadow traits that are implied in the phrase. These give permission and sometimes expertise. Like culture they can also offer restrictions, but mostly through the perceptions of others. Some people don’t like the Queen, so her Champion may not be welcome. 


Class: A thing that separates an Exemplar from other talented persons is their professions. A class trait is a broad collection of extraordinary abilities that makes an Exemplar uniquely suited to a life of adventure. The most common classes are Warrior, Mystic, Specialist. But these are too broad of definitions to be much fun. Instead you may be a Weapons Master, a Fire Master, or an Infiltrator. A character's Class trait gives them a certain expertise and a certain generality. It shows that they can do all the basic adventure things, such as searching, jumping, hiding, and dodging, but it also grants permissions to do extraordinary things, like conjuring fire, shield disarms, and opening high tech security safes. 


Shadow Traits and Overlapping Traits: While every trait listed above has some very obvious applications, all of them imply more than they say. A Weapons Master Dwarf who is the Queen's Champion has an incredible implied list of abilities that a Fighting Smith Monk Dwarf would. Though both are Warrior Class Dwarf Culture the entire feel is different. These traits that are hidden in the depth of a Descriptor or created by two crossing descriptors are Shadow and Overlapping Traits.

Hinderance Traits: This is another trait that may be implied or it could be spelled out. A hindrance is when a Trait works against a character. Some are implied, such as a person who just can’t stand Wizards and you happen to be one, then there is an implied Hindrance to Presence Ability Trait Checks. Others are explicit. If you have a wound on your right leg, and right leg actions would have a Hinderance Trait which would reduce their effectiveness.


Friday, May 20, 2022

Why solo play? Why now?

I have been a GM or gamer for about 35 years. There is no hobby like it. There have been times I played all the time. Other times I would just sit around and read the books, but at no point has it been far from my life.

I also had the amazing good fortune that about 28 of those years I had the sort of stable gaming groups that are the dreams of GMs everywhere. Then life happened. Circumstances that happened to involve a major hurricane, the near loss of my online job, moving across a state, semi homelessness, and starting a new life elsewhere, made my old style of gaming impossible. I didn’t have the community connections and didn’t live in a time or lifestyle that would allow me to form them.

Like so many gamers in that later circumstance I turned to gaming online. I tried the Roll20 VTT, I worked with some play by post (PbP) sites, and I played with some excellent people on Discord…. And none of it quite worked. I had some good scenes, but no good games. Part of it is I am an old dog and new tricks are HARD, but a much bigger part was the general instability of life.

Then the pandemic hit a couple years back and suddenly everyone was talking about solo RPGs. I took to them like ducks take to water. I realized I had been half doing them in game prep and daydreaming for years. Soon I realized something else. In their own way they were as much fun as a group RPG yet very different.

Well, the pandemic is passing, but I am still a busy middle aged man with a family, and I am still solo playing primarily. That is no problem though because I enjoy the hobby in this new phase as much as I ever have. Not better, but not worse: different.

One last confession. I am diagnosed with a difficult chronic illness. This has made it very difficult since I moved to my current town and rebooted my life to go out and meet other gamers.

With the finding of the solo gaming community this has become a non problem. There are many reasons people player RPGs solo, but as a whole the community has been friendly, inviting, and helpful.

Well now I want to do my part as well. I, and my generous cohorts, are embarking on a project to make a solo gaming platform to help people, who are less experienced at spinning the gossamer threads of imagination, to build their own castles in the clouds.

Exemplar will be a simple game specifically designed for solo play. It will be supported by robust modular setting pieces, in various genres (eventually), which will allow people one place to find and play their games. Should it work out as planned, players will be able to play their games, build their campaign settings, and share their ideas. Maybe your playground, or a clone there of, will be where other people want to play. And then you too will have given back.

-Hob


Thursday, May 19, 2022

Project Updage: We are Off!


Our talented technical director Mr. Peel has made us a fillable character sheet. The next step is a glossary of terms, and then the basic play rules.
This is just the beginning. The next step is more challenging. We are working on a series of prompts and modular content so people can have good quality pieces to make their own solo rpg campaigns.
It will be a step by step process, as all things are, but this first step means a lot.
In addition to my stepson Jack, Mr. Stern is coming on to playtest, and assist with modular content creation. So there are four of us. That is four hundred percent growth.
I would say sky is the limit, but I don't see the point in limits right now.
Thank you Graham. Thank you Bill. Thank you Jack.
Thank you to all that have shown interest.
I am shooting for a first playtest in a month, and at least one to two blog posts a week.
-Hob

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

The Green Ghost and the Night Star


 


The Green Ghost and the Night Star


During a time of stress and strife the green ghost a appeared in the nigh sky. It was a point of unseeable darkness surrounded by a green glowing cloud. Some pointed telescopes at the sky and called it a comet. For most it just felt like a nightmare. 


In its wake the dark became the nightmare, as creatures of myth and legend, or at least the darkest of them, crawled out of abandoned places, holes in the ground, and cracks in our minds. The impossible became possible, and we lived as if damned.

One year later another apparition appeared in the sky. This comet was brilliant white, and as it bore down on the earth it cast a cold radiance. The astrologers with their crude instruments were baffled, as it acted as if were made of pure light, with no mass, but moved like a slow astronomic body. Rather than hit the earth it passed around it thrice and streaked off into the wake of the green ghost.

Then came the Exemplars. Men and woman, and sometimes beings as if from a fairy tale, who raised arms and arts against the Ghost-spawn. The impossible became possible, and and we cheered.

In the hundred years that followed many exemplars arose and died, but the nights became safe. Now there are few Goblins in the night and few Exemplars in the day, and the world has found its new normal.

Still sometimes the world needs a hero. Be our hero Exemplar.




Ok, cheesy I know, but game writing doesn't have to be brilliant. I doesn't have to be perfect. It has to be engaging and above all it should be brief. Exposition isn't as interesting as game writers seem to think it is. Above is a perfectly good lead up for a fantasy or steam punk game to explain hero's and monsters. I may even use it.