Exile Game Studio

[HarrierPotter]

So here's a first rough version of a point-based species/racial creation system for use with Ubiquity. It starts with Size, which determines a number of things, then you modify from there. I haven't had time to whip up some nice examples yet, so feel free to try. And ask as many questions as come to mind, as I know it's barely even sketched out.

Point-based.pdf

I think this kind of thing adds a lot of flexibility to Ubiquity, even if you just tack it on to HEX. Plus, I think it would be useful for Stargate, and some of the other ideas that have cropped up over the last year. It can also be used to create background packages as are used in many games these days.
_________________
- Daniel Potter (MYTHIC ERAS)

LOCATION: "Back in Nagasaki / Where the fellas chew tabaccy / And the women wiki-waki-woo"

[Linwood]

Interesting...

I don't have any specific comments; I'd like to see some examples first. But this looks like a convenient way to build and scale creatures so, for example, you could determine if that pet bull elephant your Big Game Hunter wants is an Ally 2 or 3.

Or you could scale encounters similarly, if desired. But that's a little too D&D for my taste....

Looks good, HarrierPotter! I look forward to seeing where you're going w/ this!
_________________
"I think a plan is just a list of things that don't get done"

[HarrierPotter]

Since we all love Space 1889 so much, here are some PC baselines. I've put in explanations for a couple of them. If taken as a group, the highest cost baseline is the lizard-men at 10 points; so other baselines have a BP bonus equal to 10 minus each baselines' cost.

Lizard-men [10 BP]: Size –1; BOD/STR (0/4), DEX (2/6), INT (1/4), CHA/WIL (1/5) Survival 2; Swim
Size -1 (-6 BP); INT max -1 (-3 BP); Survival 2 (4 BP); Swim (15 BP)
(- 6 - 3 + 4 + 15 = 10)

Human [0 BP]: all Attributes (1/5) [bonus 10 BP]

Moon Men [1 BP]: BOD (0/3), STR (0/3), DEX (1/5), INT (2/6), CHA/WIL (1/5); Low Gravity Adaptation* [bonus 9 BP]

Selenites
Selenites [3 BP]: Size –1; BOD/STR (0/4), DEX (2/6), INT/WIL (1/5), CHA (1/3); Low Gravity Adaptation* [bonus 7 BP]
Selenite Specialists [7 BP]: Size –1; BOD/STR (0/4), INT/WIL (1/5), CHA (1/3); chosen Skill 2**; Low Gravity Adaptation* [bonus 3 BP]

Martians
Canal Martians [0 BP]: Size 1; BOD (2/5), STR (1/4), DEX (1/5), INT/CHA/WIL (1/5) [bonus 10 BP]
Hill Martians [4 BP]: Size 1; BOD (2/5), STR (1/4), DEX (1/5), INT/CHA/WIL (1/5); Survival 2 [bonus 6 BP]
Size 1 (6 BP); BOD max -1 (-3 BP); STR -1 min (-5 BP), STR -2 max (-6 BP); DEX min +1 (5 BP), DEX max +1 (3 BP); Survival 2 (4 BP)
(6 - 3 - 5 - 6 + 5 + 3 + 4 = 4)

* An as yet unwritten Talent; Unique, allowing normal operation in low/zero gravity environments
** Specialists are born with a specific skill with which to serve the hive

I also updated the PDF with a complete table for the above species, rather than just the modifications to the Size baselines.
_________________
- Daniel Potter (MYTHIC ERAS)

LOCATION: "Back in Nagasaki / Where the fellas chew tabaccy / And the women wiki-waki-woo"

[HarrierPotter]

I've just been jotting this stuff down between other jobs and find I keep forgetting to put things down. High Martians have been added to the Space 1889 baselines:

High Martians* [8 BP]: BOD (0/4), STR (1/5), DEX (1/5), INT (1/4), CHA (0/3), WIL (1/5); Flight 2** [bonus 2 BP]

* High Martians should probably have another new Talent along the lines of Grasping Feet to represent their multidexterity. This would increase the High Martian baseline BP cost to 23; rather than increase all the other baselines’ BP bonuses, I would probably give them all an extra Talent.
** Another unwritten Talent; I figure the first instance allows limited gliding (like a flying squirrel); an advancement allows full flight; a second advancement allows near-perfect control (hovering)

Other changes:
1) A note on starting Attributes: When using this system, Step 3 of character creation changes. Rather than all Attributes starting at 0, a baseline’s final Attribute minimums are the starting Attribute values for a character of that baseline, then 9 points are distributed by the player as he sees fit.
2) Social Class: If the Class Attribute is used, default minimums/maximums across all Sizes are 1/5, and 11 points are distributed amongst all Attributes during Step 3 of character creation.
3) Flaws: Alternatively, a Flaw could be given to a baseline to offset a Talent, but characters would receive no Style points when the Flaw comes into play, and most Flaws probably couldn't be bought off.

Updated PDF

Using this system, you want to keep the cost of PC baselines relatively close, or the large number of bonus BP possessed by lower-cost baselines allows too much flexibility. It might also be better to limit using BP to increase Attributes, either disallowing it completely, or maybe only allowing a single Attribute to be increased by 1 point. Note that the most likely Space 1889 baselines (Humans, Canal Martians, Hill Martians) are within 4 BP of each other, allowing at most a couple Skill point purchases.
_________________
- Daniel Potter (MYTHIC ERAS)

LOCATION: "Back in Nagasaki / Where the fellas chew tabaccy / And the women wiki-waki-woo"

[Linwood]

I'm struggling a little with the conversion of unused Baseline Pts to Attribute Pts, Skill Pts, etc. If I'm thinking about this correctly, a Baseline Pt is essentially worth 1 Attribute Pt. (since you can improve the minimum level of all Attributes by 1 for 5 Baseline Pts). Or, if you don't spend them all on Attributes, 2 Baseline Pts = 1 Skill Pt. Extra Baseline Pts left after that essentially count as extra Experience Pts - although you've limited what they can be spent on. Is that correct?

Which brings me to my second question - why do Skill Specializations cost more than Skills?

Otherwise - the conversion of unused/bonus Baseline Pts to other things seems a little complicated. But as long as the complexity occurs within creation of the template (where it's the GM/package creator's problem) and not with a player building a character using the template, I think I'm more or less OK with that. Then again, I liked the old Traveller Striker rules for creating vehicles and weapons and so forth, so my idea of complexity may be a little optimistic...
_________________
"I think a plan is just a list of things that don't get done"

[HarrierPotter]

[Linwood]

[HarrierPotter]

[Linwood]

[CharlieBananas]

I've been watching this with some interest, My "romance above and below the sands of mars" game was going to be Savage Worlds based, simply because I couldn't figure out how to make races in HEX. For what its worth I like the more rigid option too. Good work.

[HarrierPotter]

It's worth much CB I hate working in a vacuum, because I only know what works for me. I tend to like fairly complicated things. Sometimes things I do look more complicated than they are just because they're awkward to explain, but more often than not they're just crunchier than commonly preferred.
_________________
- Daniel Potter (MYTHIC ERAS)

LOCATION: "Back in Nagasaki / Where the fellas chew tabaccy / And the women wiki-waki-woo"

[CharlieBananas]

No probs mate, I'm going to get down and dirty with this and post up some races, kind of a playtest, see were I go wrong, give you some idea what you need to clear up.

[CharlieBananas]

ALL RACES CREATED TO A BASELINE OF 10BP

GHARKS - GREEN MEN OF MARS

The green men of mars are an insect like race of nomads, wondering across the red wasteland with free abandon. They are a strong warrior culture with a code all their own. Standing some nine feet tall, with four long muscular arms, they are an awe inspiring sight, few forget the first time they see a Ghark in full battle rage, those that survive that is.

Size – 1 (6BP)

Strong – Gharks Start with a 1 point bonus to strength (already in
baseline) (BP5)

Multiple Arms – Gharks have four arms this acts much like
Flurry (15BP)

Survival (2BP)

Chitinous Armor – Gharks have an external skeleton giving
them +2 armor in all locations. (15BP)

**Cold blooded – Gharks need the heat and find cold
insufferable, they take a -2 to all actions when exposed to
extreme cold. (-15BP)

**Hive mind – The Ghark species can seem aloof and cold to
other races and a large part of their communication revolves
around chemical signals. Because of this they take -2 on all rolls
involving social interaction with other species, except when they are
trying to be intimidating. (-15BP)

Uncouth – Gharks have no need for polite conversation or the niceties
Of civilized society, in their eyes such things show weakness, and weakness leads to death. They take a -1 to maximum charisma. (-3BP)


Baseline stat block

BODY 2/6

DEX 1/4

STR 3/6*

CHR 1/4

INT 1/5

WIL 1/5

ATT/DEF -1/-1

HP +1


Gharks Start character generation, with 8 attribute points, 15 Skill points. They may choose 1 talent/resource and 1 flaw as standard.

**Racial flaw – players cannot earn style from racial flaws.

[CharlieBananas]

RASTHAS – THE SYNTHI-MEN OF MARS

The Rasthas were created eons ago, as little more than slave labour. They are made in large vats of chemicals, and although some have the outward appearance of male and others females, they have no reproductive organs. They are made to fill specific roles in society and as such will always have at least one skill specialization. They do everything from maintaining the canal system to front line fodder, others are used as butlers, but most are just left to fulfil their given task in endless monotony. The body of the Synthi-Man looks like its covered by a shiny black hooded
jump suite, while their face is mainly featureless, except for a set of large round amber eyes and a small slit like mouth, they are totally hairless.

Size – 0 (BP0)

Strong – Rasthas Start with a 1 point bonus to base and max strength (already in baseline) (8BP)

Hard to Kill – As Talent (15BP)

Skill Mastery – The Synthi-Men are hard wired to perform a specific task, this talent reflects that, if the field for which they were designed does not require a specialized skill, then they receive a +2 in their chosen skill group. (15BP)

**Slave Mentality – The Rasthas have been built with a failsafe, their creator (Rasthoras) had made a mistake when creating the Arkzoon, who rebelled killing many Red-men. On he’s second attempt Rasthoras corrected this mistake. Synthi-men take -2 when attempting any action that endangers or contradicts the direct orders of a Red-Man. They also take a -1 to base and max Willpower (-23BP)

**Photosynthesis – For each five hours the Rasthas is deprived of sunlight they take a -2 on all actions, if they are in darkness for more than 15 hours they shutdown and slip into hibernation, they can survive indefinitely in this state. (-15BP)

Baseline stat block
BOD 1/5 - DEX 1/5 - STR 2/6 - CHR 1/5 - INT 1/5 - WIL 1/4 - ATT/DEF 0 - HP 0

Rasthas Start character generation, with 8 attribute points, 19 skill points and 2 free specialization in any two skills. They may choose 1 talent/resource and 1 flaw as standard.
**Racial flaw – players cannot earn style from racial flaws.

[CharlieBananas]

I'm not going to clog up the thread with anymore races, but it seems to work fine, very elegant, I don't think I've made any mistakes. The only thing I would like to see added to the doc is a table of costs at the end for quick referance. One thought that did strike me was why not just convert bonus BP into XP adding to the starting XP all characters get.

The only other comment I can add is that using your system, the races I created came out closer to my original vision than the versions I created using Savage Worlds, and this also opens up the creation of a racial talents list. Great work Daniel

All the best
Mike