[Torg] new screwy ideas for Spirit based skills

[Benjamin Grant]

OK, before putting forth my ideas, why do I think we need more Spirit based
skills?

 

Well, first of all, in my game we don't use Reality since we don't have
cosms, axioms and the like.  Also, the only supernatural power we have is
Super Powers, so we don't have Faith or Focus in play either.

 

That pretty much leaves Intimidation as the sole reason to invest in Spirit.

 

That's not good.

 

The other stats may not be precisely balanced, but they each I think have
one or more strong things going for them (the way group uses them):

.         Strength is lifting as well as hand-to-hand damage

.         Dex is obviously a lot (including Maneuver, physical attacks,
physical defense, etc)

.         Tou is one's damage soak, obviously important

.         Mind are all the left brained abilities, like Ev.Anal., Test,
Science, Willpower, Survival, etc.

.         Perception are the right brained abilities, like Notice, Empathy,
Scholar, Art, Trick, etc.

.         Charisma are somewhat fewer, but still powerful abilities Charm,
Persuasion, and Taunt - furthermore our group treats Charisma as the "first
impression" stat.

.         Spirit has Intimidate.  Boo.  (grin)

 

I think if Spirit had 2 or 3 skills underneath it, skills that had some good
basic functionality and effectiveness, it could be decent - perhaps not as
useful as Dex, but decent.  And these new skills shouldn't be too obscure or
limited in scope or use, or there would not point to having them.  They
should have good utility both in round-by-round and in non round-by-round.
This is a challenge, as the majority of these kind of skills are already
well defined and in place.  But I came up with 4.  (Actually, 3 and two
halfs, but you know.)

 

Without further ado, these are the newish Spirit skills that I am working
on:

 

Determination.  This skill can be used exactly the same way as Willpower,
and suffers all the same issues and bonuses.  The only difference is that
the source of this ability is Spirit, not Mind.

 

Presence.  This skill is used to measure the force of personality.  It can
be turned on or off - one can have a high Presence for example, but not be
"standing forth".  This skill subsumes and replaces Intimidation, and can be
used for all the same uses, such as Interrogation, Awe, and of course,
Intimidation.  Additionally, this skill when purposefully used makes one
stand out, yielding an intangible "look at me" cool factor - the kind of
presence that draws all eyes in the room.  This skill differs from Charisma
based abilities as this does not charm or sway - just evinces force of
personality.

 

Sincerity.  This skill is used to cut through the bull and get someone, even
a foe, to believe what you are saying if you are not trying to deceive or
mislead.  This ability is used by making a Sincerity check versus the
Willpower of the target, and getting a result on the Charm chart of at least
the current attitude of the target.  The target's Empathy adds to the
Sincerity check.  So, if one tries to get a Hostile target to listen to one
that there is a bomb in the next room, and one's has a +2 Sincerity with a
12 Spirit, and rolls a +1 BN; and one's target has a 10 Willpower total and
+2 adds of Empathy, that's 12(Spirit)+2(Sincerity)+1(BN)+2(target's Empathy
adds) vs a willpower total of 10 = 7 result points, which when read on the
Charm NCI chart is enough for a target Hostile or better - which means that
this target believes you are sincere.  Of course, any use of Sincerity that
is dishonest, deceitful, or manipulative automatically fails.  Also, this
ability has no ability to persuade or influence the target - just to make
him believe the sincerity of the user.

 

Leadership.  This is the ability to lead people and build a community of
fellowship in the moment.  I am not sure how the mechanics of this ability
will work, but a successful use of this ability permits the Leader to
facilitate the movement of one or more possibility or hero points (or drama
deck cards) from one character in the party to another, including
potentially the Leader.  This transfer of a possibility or hero point/card
supersedes all limitations and barriers to doing so, as long as the Leader
can interact with both the giver and the receiver of the point/card.  Unlike
other ways to do this, the recipient does not and can not give back any
points or cards in the same action.  It is possible for multiple characters
to donate multiple points/cards to a single recipient with a successful
enough use of this skill.  Possibilities donated with this skill can be used
by the recipient during the same round they are received in without regard
to the one possibility per roll limit.

 

Inspiration.  This is the ability to inspire people to endure and ignore
hardship and to rise above their flaws and shortcomings.  The character
chooses a vehicle for Inspiration, such as "For glory and the love of
Scotland!", and makes an Inspiration check.  Each person exposed to the
Inspiration attempt who is allied to the Inspirer and who would be motivated
by the chosen vehicle compares the Inspiration total to their own Mind.  The
result points are read on the Power Push table, which yield's each person's
Inspiration level.  This level is the automatic beneficial modifier to all
defense and resistance totals and rolls for the next round, including dodge,
toughness, willpower, etc.  In addition, any penalties due to factors that
could be psychologically overcome, such as pain from a Wound, can be offset
by an amount up to the Inspiration level.  Each round that passes each
person's Inspiration level fades by one, until it reaches zero.  If a person
is Inspired by multiple sources, only the highest one counts, Inspiration is
not additive.  Finally, Inspiring other can inspire oneself:  For each
person a character is currently Inspiring, they gain a level of Inspiration
themselves, up to the max inspiration they are giving to any one person.

 

As Inspiration is a little complex, an example is useful.  Cad Calloway has
a 13 Spirit, and a +4 Inspiration.  He has eight people in his party as
allies, trying to break into a guarded castle to rescue a woman.  Six of the
eight know the kidnapped woman quite well, two others are allies but are not
personally involved.  Cad yells, "We must neither falter nor fail,
Desdemonia is depending on the steel of our blades and our souls!"  All
eight of his allies hear this call, but only six can be possibly Inspired,
as the other two are not personally connected to the woman at risk.

 

So Cad rolls, spending resources, and gets a +7!  13+4+7 = 24.  This number
is compared to each person's Mind score, and then the result points are read
on the power push chart.  For example, Artur has a Mind of 10, meaning 14
result points.  Read on the power push chart, that becomes a +5(6).  The (6)
is ignored, and Artur has 5 levels of Inspiration for the following round.
Next round he will have 4, the following round he will have 3, then 2, then
1, then the Inspiration will have worn off.  If Cad inspires all six people,
Cad's Inspiration is either +6 or the highest Inspiration among his
Inspirees, whichever is lower..  If Artur is the highest, then Cad will have
a +5 Inspiration - at least until next round.  Next round, we gain count the
total number of people still Inspired by Cad, and use that number or the
highest remaining Inspiration among his Inspirees, whichever is lower.

 

In terms of the effect, while Artur has 5 Inspiration Levels, his dodge,
willpower, and other defensive skills are increased by 5, his toughness
increased by 5, and he can ignore up to 5 penalty levels of situational
modifiers that could be overcome by mental effort, such as pain.  Note that
this ability never helps the Inspiree attain success in rolls such as
attacks or task attempts, except inasmuch as it reduces penalties from
situational modifiers.

 

Next round Artur will only have a 4 Inspiration.  And it will drop by one
each round until gone or until re-inspired.

 

Whew!  OK a couple of notes:

 

1)      I need a mechanic for Leadership, and I don't have one.

2)      I have the basic idea of Inspiration figured out, but I don't know
if it is balanced.  I may have to separate the mechanics of Inspiring one,
versus a small group versus a mob.  Also, if a character tries to Inpire a
mob of 100, let's say, I probably need a way to determine how many of the
mob get inspired - it probably should not be that he either Inspires all of
them or none of them.

 

But that's the idea.

 

Let the criticism commence.  *Try* to be gentle if it's within your ability.
;)

 

-Benn Grant

eFix Computer Consulting

 <mailto:benn at 4eFix.com> benn at 4eFix.com

603.283.6601

 

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