HiBRiD Things for Your Game #4: Vitality is Bizaare: (A HiBRID Genre Description)

Before I go back to game mechanics for your own OSR/d20 games, I am going to make another detour.

I was recently inspired by the game Life is Strange, a Square Enix computer/platform game where you play a teenage girl having to make decisions that effect the world around her. The story is fantastic, and after listening to the Monkey In The Cage guys, I decided to watch a few Let's Plays. The story moved me so much, that I wrote a real quick Genre Description for anyone wanting to make characters that might fit within the game and play it on the tabletop.

One thing about the game is that it is definitely NOT designed as a typical FPS or stealth-based combat game, though there are several scenes in the game that fall into that category. The world is dark and emotional while at the same time poking fun at teen angst. It approached me as a great roleplaying environment, so I once again tested the Creation Rules and wrote the following Genre Description.  

Genre Description: Vitality is Bizaare: A Teen Angst RPG

The World

The world of Vitality is Bizaare is a basic, rules-light genre where players play high school students in a Pacific Northwest art school in the small town of Cajun Cove, USA. filled with pretentious artist types, rainy days, and hidden psychopathic adults. This is a low-heroic level setting featuring minor telekinetic abilities, psychoperceptive abilities, and correspondent abilities.

The People

Every student suffers from a form of teen angst, which is the source of the single mystic power they possess. All adults in the game possess at least one dark secret, however, some have more than one.

The Heroes

CHARACTER STATS

Characters have 6 attributes that default to the following values:

STR     0        WILL   0       HEIGHT= Player’s Choice (168 cm is average)

RSIL    0        INTL   0        MASS= Player’s Choice (70kg is average)

RFLX   0        PERC   0       

The remaining default stats are as follows:

STUN= 10 + RSIL X 5

PHYS= PHYS + 10

ARMV= 0

Action Move   = 20 m/round

Action Load   = 10 + STR KG   

Action Range = 10 m + 1m/PERC

ORIGIN TRAITS:

All characters are of Human Origin

SKILLS:

All characters possess the six skills listed below. Characters assign a rank to each of these skills (+5, +4, +3, +2, and +1) and adds the indicated attribute to determine their ACTION LEVELS with each skill.

• Cute Cool Popular = RANK + RFLX (Anything having to do with what is trendy, cool and now and fashionable)
• Jock = RANK + STR (Anything having to do with sports or underage drinking)
• Geek = RANK + INTL (Anything having to do with technology, comic books, non-dramatic movies, or gaming of any type)
• Stoner = RANK + RSIL (Anything having to do with drugs, the 60s, the 70s)
• Pretentious Artist = RANK+WILL (Anything having to do with old movies, the fine arts, or the performing arts)
• Shy = RANK+PERC = Anything about the real world outside of school + 1 Field of Knowledge, Player’s Choice

POINT POOLS

All players receive the following:

ASPECT POINT POOLS

There are no point pools for Aspects in this Genre. Instead, each player may select one of the following aspects for their character:

• (M) Read Thoughts: Can read the surface thoughts of a target within  action range
• (M) Read Feelings: Can read the emotions of a target within  action range
• (M) Read Memories: Can read and search the memories of a target within  action range
• (M) Read Perceptions: Can read the perceptions of a target within  action range
• (M) Read Emotions: Can read the emotions of a target within  action range
• (T) Telekinetic Blast: Inflicts 2d10 (10) Points of damage and be used to move a mass of 200 kgs roughly
• (T) Telekinetic Control: Inflicts 2 points of damage and can be used to move a mass of 2 kg very finely
• (C) Temporal Jaunt: Can move back through time and change the outcome of one action
• (C) Jaunt: Can instantaneously move from a location to another within line of sight
• (C) Precognition: Can see into the future over a desired 20 second time frame and ask 2 questions about the results of things that happened in that time frame.
• (C) Post cognition: Can look into the past over a desired 20 second time frame and ask 2 questions about the results of things that happened in that time frame.

Any Aspect with an (M) in the list above is a Mentalic Aspect. These Aspects inflict 2d10 (10) points of STUN on your character each time they are used.  Line of sight is not required to use these aspects.

Any Aspect with a (T) in the list above is a Telekinetic aspect. These Aspects inflict 1d10 (5) points of STUN on your character each time they are used. Line of sight is required to use these aspects.

Any Aspect with a (C) in the list above is a Correspondent aspect. These Aspects inflict a point of negative Ite’ on your character each time they are used. This point of Negative Ite’ may be used by the director to confound something in your character’s storyline as the game is played. Once this has happened, the director will make you aware. You may then erase the point of Ite' from your character sheet.

ATTRIBUTE POINT POOL

10 Attribute Points (The player spends 10 points between the standard 6 attributes. Each point spent increases an attribute by +1)

ITE' POINT POOL

3 points of Ité may be given to players for use during play of the game, if using the Ité Gaming Engine™

CHARACTER CREATION STEPS

1.     Determine your height, weight, and appearance

2.     Spend your Attribute Points (10 points)

3.     Calculate your skill ACTION LEVELS (Ranks and add the attributes)

4.     Choose your Aspect

5.     Calculate your remaining stats

6.     Describe your character’s home

7.     Describe your character’s relationships with his/her prominent family members.

ACTION RESOLUTION

Standard HiBRiD rules apply. To play the game, players roll a d20 and add a single modifier to the roll:

• Add the ACTION LEVELS if using a skill
• Add the relevant attribute for any other action

Every character gets 1 action per round with no penalty. Attacking an opponent counts as a single action. Rounds last 10 seconds, roughly. Multiple actions increase all task roll difficulty ratings by 2 times the number of actions.

• Any opponent may oppose an action taken against them with a task roll unless surprised.
• Ties go to attacker/initiator of an action.
• If damage is scored, average may be take or the number/types of die may be rolled.
• Damage scored is subtracted from STUN. When STUN=0 or less, creature is unconscious and begins to bleed to death, losing 1 point of PHYS/round until dead. There is no hospital in Cajun Cove
• Armor subtracts number of points of damage from wounds equal to the ARMV. For example, if your character is attacked for 5 points of damage and it is wearing armor with an ARMV of 2, only 3 points are subtracted from the victim's STUN.