The Two Steps

I was playing with my nephews this weekend and I realized there are two steps to becoming a decent HiBRiD player.

Step 1: Learn what your character can do

It goes without saying, a player needs to learn the rules of the game. But there are only really three rules to learn, and I have found myself able to explain them in 10 minutes:

1. Learn how to make a task roll
2. Learn how to use Ite’
3. Learn how to determine damage

Once the players are briefed, I have noticed new players are usually filled with a sense of wonder and freedom. What happens next usually depends on the player’s gaming experience.

Players used to 3E, 4E, 5E, Pathfinder, and other rule-heavy or crunchy rulesets sometimes find the game uncomfortable to play, obviously discomforted by the lack of rules limiting their characters’ actions. Some of these players walk away from the table shaking their heads. Some just play half-heartedly until their characters die, then walk away from the table completely missing the point of the game. Those who stay, however, have a chance at making the jump from tyranny to freedom. Often, it takes more than a few sessions of them asking, “Can I do X” or “Can I do Y?” before they get used to the freedom. Players used to rules-light systems or altogether new to roleplaying seem to get the hang quickly and seem to jump right into the HiBRiD frame of mind. Regardless of whether they are experienced or novice roleplayers, once they are in the fold, seem to enjoy themselves there.

Step 2: Learn what your character can not do

Once they have accepted that their character can attempt anything they can imagine with no rules to stop them, they have to learn that while their characters are not limited by rules, they do need to appreciate the genre of the game and the abilities they have chosen to define when they build their characters. Often, this will result in one or more character deaths. It is in this way players learn the difference between heroic and foolhardy. They learn the limits of Ite’ and the joy of their character experiencing heroic achievement or dying while daring greatly. Those with closed minds walk, while those open to the HiBRiD aesthetic make another character and dive right back into the action.

And as I have reiterated elsewhere or demonstrated at the table, when a player walks, I have no problems with it. At all. HiBRiD is the way I want to play. While I enjoy sharing it with those willing to go along on the journey. I don’t have to answer to shareholders. I don’t have to sell my ideas to others with overpriced art. I don’t need to make them feel better or worry about their feelings. I just need to play, to teach, and to have fun.

Clarification of Purpose

I have been not promoting or posting much on social media over the past few weeks, as I have been experiencing some sort of intense desire to get the game done. It is surely a good thing, as I finally have the rough drafts for 3 of the 6 chapters complete. In the process, I have consolidated and eliminated 5 file folders of ideas and two 3-inch binders of paper cluttering my life.

In this same spirit, I wanted to kind of do a kind of consolidation of my purposes for writing the game. As of late, I have been fatigued by the onslaught of a-dozen-a-day new RPG Kickstarter projects crowding the net. It has soured me to the thought of crowdsourcing and made me review my focus and purpose for continuing this project. As I reviewed my various blog entries, I noticed that I have peppered my points with bits and pieces of my intents, desires, and reasons for continuing to write the HiBRiD™ game rules. As I am currently consolidating the rules themselves, I thought it would be a great time to take a minute to reflect and also consolidate and clarify my own (selfish) purposes for writing the game. This might provide insight for any of you who recently started reading my blog but have no desire to dig for the answers to the unstated and overarching question of “Why create HiBRiD™?”

At First…

I’m not writing the game to take over the market, make money, or even to be the next best thing since sliced bread. I have said this much before.

At the lowest level, I want to directly demonstrate to players the level of simplicity I like and the very core mechanic I prefer to use when I play a roleplaying game. I want to share my preference for the d20, a simplified mechanic to cover all situations, the separation of skills from attributes, and the simplification of supernatural abilities into a single system.

At the next level, I want to show my aesthetics of what I like to reflect in a roleplaying system. For example, I love the metric system and the integration of the trades, the arts, and the natural sciences into the skill system. I love defining a character’s attributes in a way that allows them to be used as easy uniform handles for the game mechanics to reflect BOTH physical and metaphysical abilities.

But Then…

As the years have gone on and I have brought others into the HiBRiD fold, I noticed something else. Players get an intuitive feel for how the game works, even without ever having ever seen a ruleset! Those who come back to the game, whether at my house or at the various conventions again and again intuitively have a feel for how I like to play the game and we share that aesthetic sense. The rules, regardless of the level of crunch, have always come second to the tasks they want their characters to accomplish. This style of gameplay, as I have observed its development over the years, in combination with this sense of urgency I have recently begun feeling has led me to a higher goal of bringing players to intuitively understand the specific style of play I just mentioned.

Finally...

Intuition, however, is difficult to teach. With this in mind, I want to, at the most basic level, codify the situations in which I use a rule and those when I choose not to use a rule. This will enable experienced players coming from mechanics-heavy games to begin the process of weaning themselves from the fears, uncertainties, and doubts of not having a crunchy mechanic for every situation. It will also provide a simple structure for using the Ité Gaming Engine in a balanced way to prevent those coming from more freeform games from feeling inhibited. For beginning players, I want to bring them into the fold into this style of play as soon as they sit down to play.

Ultimately (and ideally), as players continue to play the game, they will begin to develop the intuitive sense of how I play the game and carry that sense to their own games.

Character Sheet Organization

Well, with the text complete, I have started creating the character sheets for the Essential version of the HiBRiD™ rules. For HiBRiD™ Esssential, players will pick one of six templates, (Thinker, Adept, Fighter, Survivor, Profiler, or Tradesman). Each template:

1.       Ranks 6 general skills 0-5, (5 is the one at which the character is best).

2.       Specifies 3 template skills and ranks them

3.       Aspects essential to the template

Players mark these down on their character sheet, then allocate their character’s Attributes, and finally, go through the character sheet and fill in all the values based on these numbers. Each blank on the character sheet gives a hint on how to calculate each value. The ultimate goal is to allow character creation in less than 5 minutes.

In order for this approach to work, the character sheet must be designed to fit in with this method, I am in the process of finalizing the character sheet layout (I’ll tackle typesetting afterwards). I have narrowed it down to between two layouts at this time and will be posting them here for everyone to see. The first one presented here was done in Microsoft Publisher; my next entry will be one done in Scribus, and I will point out the differences that I am concerned with between the two. (As always, your input will be appreciated.). And without further adieu….

Features:

• Title in banner across the entire top header
• Light pattern background
• Dark fields
• White text
• Vitals in 2 separate fields
• Large long Boxes for Attributes
• Ite' management is vertical with no place for maximum Floating Ite'

Here is the Scribus sheet (not complete but has all the defining features; the last two boxes will be the same except for the color scheme.):

Features:

• Title centered in top header
• Dark pattern background
• Lighter, colored fields
• White text
• Vitals in 1 separate field
• Smaller boxes for attributes
• Ite' management is horizontal with a place for maximum Floating Ite'

The color schemes are open to suggestion; I like the idea of creating pads of paper with multiple colors; Some people just want a pink character sheet, you know? Well, looking forward to input on legibility. I will playtest them with the character creation rules with the kids once the text is flowed and keep you all posted...

Enjoy.

HiBRiD Grappling- An Alternative Point of View

Introduction

Anyone still chewing on my previous post? Did it seem to simple? Too complicated? Not "dice-ish" enough? Perhaps 3 steps was 2 steps too many? Perhaps, you don't play or watch tennis and the scoring is just too "European"...too erudite....or for rich snobby people? (Let me guess, you hate the metric system too...)


Perhaps you felt there weren't enough game-slowing tables, flow charts, and pages of conditions to memorize so that you can feel like you're better than anyone who doesn't play your system. Your system is the best anyway, right? And any who don't play your system or might question it or wish to raise it as a topic for discussion are just a bunch of (insert plural expletive here).


Well, I have been thinking about it with a HiBRiD^TM eye for a long time and as I thought about it again after writing my previous post, it strengthened my belief and reinforced the question I have had answered in my own mind for quite a while now: "Why does there need to even BE a "grappling system", anyway?

Before you go off, let's think about it for a second.

Let me start with the fact that in HiBRiD^TM1.0, I fell victim to the "need for grappling rules" myth. For all unarmed combat, characters had a %KO stat that different moves increased by different amounts, modified by the degree of success. When the opponent hit 100%, it was knocked out, given a broken arm, et cetera.  It was fun, but slow as all get out.

When I sat down to write v2.0, the %KO rule was one of the last rules I shredded. But why did I get rid of it? It came down to a fundamental HiBRiD^TMconcept that I wanted to capture in the ruleset: Players want to do stuff, and make things happen. This is mitigated significantly in a hit-point-based system (HPBS), which requires round after round of whittling down an opponent to 0 hit points. When a weapon is used in an HPBS, the opponent is whittled down to 0, killing them or at the least making them no longer a threat. The ultimate goal, then, whether it is to put an opponent down temporarily or kill the opponent, is simply remove that opponent as an obstacle. (Though some storylines require the killing of a monster as a central goal, of course)

In a HBPS (or any simulationist) system, what do hit points represent? They represent heroism. They represent a knowledge of how to avoid taking damage due to experience gained. They do not represent, however, actual physical damage. Unless you overlay a system of critical-hits or some other determinant for specifying damage locations, things such as lacerations, broken bones, bruises, sprains, et cetera are all abstracted into hit-points. If they weren’t, you would be playing something else (Rolemaster, Blue Planet v1.0, Morrow Project, et cetera) or have added an elaborate set of rules (which begs the question of why aren’t you playing something else?).

The Essence of Grappling

In the HiBRiD^TM way of thinking, grappling is just the same thing as fighting with a weapon just restated. If you are using an HBPS, you have made the conscious choice to have things such as broken bones, joint locks, and internal injuries abstracted away into the loss of hit points. The ultimate goal is to hold or delay an opponent, throw an opponent, control an opponent, or break an appendage. All of these things can be handled in an HPBS without the need for special rules. So, looking at it this way, a grab is just a simple roll to hit. The defender’s hit points represent all of the opponent’s resources toward avoiding the desired goal of the grapple. Hit points administered by a grapple represent the attacking character’s efforts to actually overcome the opponent’s physical and experiential resources. Once the opponent is reduced to 0 hit points, the ultimate goal of the grapple is obtained.

Why a Separate Grappling System?

If a player wants something quicker, then the group can simply agree to a house rule saying a critical success doesn’t do damage-it simply means the goal is obtained immediately. Or the group could tack on the Ité Gaming Engine. Or that player could quit whining and find a group playing something else. I would put forth that many players that want a system for grappling just want a quick workaround the hit point abstraction for their strategic advantage; players truly wanting more realism or quicker resolution would be playing something else. A director can test this easily by having a number of grappling enemies breaking a few of that player’s character’s arms, legs, and necks and gauging the player’s response.

Conclusion

Adding an additional system is inefficient, repugnant, and totally not HiBRiD^TMish . A HiBRiD^TMish system is one where one system is applied equally to all situations, with few if any special cases; there is no need for a separate grappling system and players should be subject to the same effects when opponents grapple them. In HiBRiD^TM, a modified HPBS, any character goal is represented by depleting the opponent’s hit points, regardless of whether it is a grapple, an unarmed strike, or an armed attack. And for those who have played, it is easy to see why the Ité gaming engine fits in so neatly with heroic combat; it allows the players a clean and integrated mechanic to  allow them to “make things happen”!

An Addendum:

If players want grappling to be crippling and instantly drop opponents, all they really need to do is agree to a house rule to jack up the number of hit points inflicted by a successful attack. Maybe a 1d6+STR per character level or monster hit die. That will make it ridiculously unbalanced and ridiculously quick in a snap...and gauge the same tactics to the monster power level. I would recommend the characters meet up with grapplers as skilled as themselves just to make sure they get a taste of it on the receiving end as well!

E Z Grappling

Grappling can be conducted as an opposed task roll and resolved like a tennis match using a deuce-advantage-game scale. Players start at a score of deuce before engaging. An attacker must first obtain a success to upgrade the deuce to advantage, then a second success to convert the advantage to game. Critical results move the score two steps along the scale.

A character with game can either control, damage, or throw an opponent, depending on the player's goal description for his turn. Game is automatically maintained by an attacker until the defender can restore deuce through two consecutive opposed task rolls, the first to drive the condition back to advantage then the second to once again bring the condition back to deuce. Until deuce is obtained by the defender, attacker automatically applies damage or maintains control.

Control can be a pin, joint lock, or any other tactical immobilization. Control is subject to other mass, strength, and scale rules.

Damage inflicted is 2d6 (6) per round.  Throw damage is also 2d6 (6), but if the opponent is moving quickly, this number is multiplied by the number of action moves made in the previous round. When total damage applied exceeds the PHYS of the opponent, the limb is incapacitated, 2x the PHYS means the limb is broken, 3x means the limb is irreparably damaged.  Naturally, these same rules apply to an opponent's head as well. 

Average characters have 10 points of PHYS. Firing at grappling opponents is handled the same as firing into melee.There are no other penalties applied. Until game is obtained, all actions are standard actions. After game is obtained, all actions between grapplers are involved actions. 

Done.

HiBRiD Rule: Opposed Task Rolls

In HiBRiD, an opposed task roll reflects dynamic action and an assertion of a character’s desire to make something happen. In situations where an opposed task roll results in a tie, the initiator of an action always wins, never the defender or preventer of the action. If the described goal of a turn is simply to cancel or prevent an opponent’s action, that character will also lose in the event of a tie.

In a situation where two characters act during the same initiative count, both characters are considered initiators of an action. As a result, a tie means both characters succeed in their actions and effects are applied at the same time. In the event of completely contradictory actions, the director will determine how the two actions interact.

In some cases, this may seem complicated, such as in the case where a character in a faster initiative phase of the round holds initiative to interact with a character in a slower phase or two characters are grappling. In these situations, the faster character will get to act first and if successful, may interrupt the character’s turn description, but the slower character’s turn is not eliminated. Instead, the slower character will just need to change the description and goal of his turn to reflect the faster character’s success. The director may then apply any penalties she thinks might have resulted from the interruption.

Sees pretty clean to me. I just eliminated the need for pages of grappling rules and tables or die mechanics to tell me what to do. Wow! 

RPG Review: Tiny Horsies The Role Paying Game - Part 4: Magic

What You Get

Tiny Horsies is not a game of battle mages, dark magic, or defilers of the land. It is, instead, a game of creatures using magic to solve problems, and sometimes, to kick a little butt. 

The magic abilities open to a character are determined by the type of tiny horsie (see Part 2 to learn more about horsie types). Unicorn and Pegacorn horsie PCs (I like to think of them as “magical horsies”) possess Magical Attributes and are able to use them as if they were just another attribute, or may purchase levels in the Magical Object attribute to be able to create magic objects. Terra and Pegasus horsie PCs (or, in other words, might I say “nonmagical horsies”) cannot possess Magical Attributes, however, they can still obtain access to magical effects by purchasing the Magical Object Attribute and putting points into it as magical horsies can.

The individual Magical Attributes have consistent effects that are described in the book and may be enhanced by spending points on them, just like any other attribute. The Magical Objects Attributes can be used to create items that manifest identical effects to those manifested by Magical Attributes or a number of additional effects that are listed in the book.

Spending points on the Create Magic Objects Attribute increases the number of types of items, the number of types of abilities, or the level of power of the items a horsie may create. Magical objects have an Attribute Level just like any of the horsie’s other Attributes, enabling them to be used in an exact manner during character action resolution. For the most part, magic items described in the book are one-shot disposable items with their own Magical Attributes.

My Take

The system appears on the surface to be an apparent dichotomy of two magic systems that in theory seem different, as one is a skill-based system used by only the “magical horsies”, and one is akin to a Vancian System with physical components for both magical and nonmagical horsies. The neat thing is that the mechanics of the two systems are identical, so they flow together seamlessly during play.

There are some other features worthy of note.

First, there are only 18 magical effects described in detail in the book. Specifically, the magical horsie abilities and scrolls make the following effects available to horsies:

• Telekinesis
• Order
• Cancel Magic
• Energy Ray
• Transformation
• Healing
• Teleportation

Potions enable horsies to create objects with the following effects:

• Aversion
• Healing
• Underwater Breathing
• Charisma
• Invisibility
• Illness
• Curing Diseases
• Cure Magical Conditions
• Truth
• Rest
• Sleep

It would seem there are more magical effects for potions when compared to scrolls or magical horsies at first glance. Like everything else in the game, however, the rules say that these are common, not absolute, and that horsies may find other magical items and effects over the course of their adventures. And of course, horsies and Game Masters can always develop and playtest their own. For our home campaign, we say all effects are available to all items or magical horsies. If a Unicorn wants to be able to Breath Underwater, then we follow the rules for that potion ability and the horsie may have it as a magical attribute instead. If a Terra wants to make a potion of teleportation, have at it!

Upon reading the effect descriptions, only one is really able to inflict damage, the Energy Rays. There are no fireballs, lightning bolts, or life draining touches, although a Naughty Horsie might have these…hmm, that is an idea for a game…I have to go write that down…back in a minute…

...O. K., I’m back

Energy rays in Tiny Horsies are unique from normal damage-causing spells in other games,  because,  in addition to their ability to inflict damage, they also have a secondary effect as well. When a character chooses to purchase an energy ray for a character, a specific ray type must be declared, which also determines the special ability the ray provides. A darkness ray, for instance, may be used by the horsie firing it to see in the dark. It also specifically cancels out a light ray if it is fired at the horsie. In our home campaign, we use the rules for damage and side effects of energy rays, but allow the players to define how they manifest. Our resident flying manatee manifests the fire energy ray as a large cloud of gas that comes out of her butt, and our little wolfie likes to manifest his fire energy ray as fireballs that spring from his paws.

One final note: As I previously pointed out, of the 18 magical effects described in the text, only one has a real potential to do damage to other creatures. Even that effect has side abilities associated with it to make it more useful as a tool rather than a weapon. This keeps the magic system in alignment with my original point in my other chapters of this review: that Tiny Horsies treats combat as just one way to solve a problem, not the end-all-be-all of character action.

Conclusion

The Tiny Horsies magic system is functional , easy to use, and consistent with the mechanics used for the rest of the game. While only an eyelash shy of a score of effects are described, they are functional and will cover routine situations horsies will come across.

For mechanic-loving, simulationist gamers who want to lay waste to legions of evildoers, look elsewhere.

For role players, people who want to manifest combat with flair and pizzazz, problem-solving players looking for unique ways to solve problems, and creative types that want a system that allows for easy creation and testing of unique spells or magical effects, the magic system is easy to learn, quick to resolve, and fun to tinker with.  

What is HiBRiD about this?

As the 3 of you that have read the blog regularly know, HiBRiD has no magic system per se, though I have created a wrapper to convert D&D (and its derivatives' ) spells into skills (only requiring a task roll when characters are allowed a saving throw). This allows spells to fit within the framework of the HiBRiD system, making the development of further magical spells easy by offloading it onto other systems and enabling players to use the books they have already bought without having to feel like they wasted their money) and ensures the focus remains on heroic action rather than the spellcasting itself.

The 18 defined spell descriptions provided in Tiny Horsies provide just enough diversity and clarity to give free-form gaming groups the fundamental guidelines needed for designing their own spells and magical effects to fit within their own games. This is in alignment with HiBRiD, as they lie in a zone where they are not so crunchy as to prevent the unpredictable yet entertaining effects from Game Master interpretations (as 3E and beyond spells are) while still having just enough structure to keep the core effects well-defined so as not to take away from the story (unlike Storyteller systems, where the spells often can take spotlight away from the heroes).